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Speaker 1: Hi, Dan.
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Speaker 2: I think I'll do that, Dan. Thanks for the invitation. What's up?
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Speaker 3: I'm Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530. Thanks for listening. Hope you're having an awesome Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, I said. Show preview is available. You can go watch it right now. At Mo Egger. Thanks to my friends and yours at ShareFax Credit Union. Go to ShareFax.org. While you're on Twitter, you could also watch this show as it's happening. You could also watch it. I'm watching it on YouTube right now. I've gotten over the last, I don't know, couple of days, a lot of feedback regarding the video simulcast, which thank you. A, thank you for watching. B, thank you for your feedback. Just very, very quickly to address some, we have one camera. We don't have like a full-blown like commercial shoot crew or anything like that. No film crew. So just to keep that, we're doing, it's beta. We're doing the best. doing the best we can. He's by himself, and he's doing like a thousand things on top of making sure that you could watch a guy sit in front of a microphone and talk about sports. This is going to be a short segment because we want to be on time, even though Joe Burrow never is. He's never on time for his weekly press conference, but I know you love to hear it, so I have it. He's supposed to talk at 3.15. I am going to put my money on Joe Burrow. I love the idea now that like the Bengals' biggest issue is Joe Burrow isn't reliable in big situations. Joe Burrow isn't clutch.
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Speaker 4: Really?
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Speaker 3: We're doing this? We're doing this? Has anybody paid attention to why this franchise has lost so many games in recent years?
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Speaker 5: Anybody?
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Speaker 3: I mean, like, am I the only one who has seen a quarterback whose best efforts have often gone for naught because the defense can't stop anybody? Like the Bengals lost that game on Sunday and Joe Burrow was complicit in his team's demise. There's no getting around that. My guy, you got to protect the football. But they allowed an old, seemingly washed up immobile quarterback all day to throw. They let the Pittsburgh Steelers do whatever they wanted in the offense in the first half of the game. They committed two massive special teams mistakes. Come on, man. I wish the offense would have come up big. And your quarterback should be held responsible when he can't hang on to the football, even when he's under duress, even when he's getting hit. But this is what we're going to do now in reaction to losing that game is Joe Burrow isn't clutch. I don't think on this show we have done a clutch topic in 13 years. I think the last time we did a clutch, it's either clutch or elite, right? Clutch. Last time we did clutch might've been 2013, Joey Votto, when he was the best hitter in baseball, but people didn't think he drove in enough runs. Come on, man. So that one in 34 stat, when somebody throws it in your face, ask them if they've actually watched the games. Ask them if they've actually paid attention. You and I have. I would imagine if you're listening to this right now, you consume the Bengals on a fairly regular basis. You know why they've lost a lot of games in recent years. And you know the main reasons why they lost that game on Sunday. It's not because Joe Burrow's not reliable in big moments. He has often been in his career. And if this game on Sunday against the Jags, where, by the way, we will sort through the long list of issues the Bengals have right now in the secondary. If this game on Sunday comes down to the Bengals getting the football down by four, two, two and a half, three minutes to go, one or two timeouts in their back pocket, and they have to go 70 yards, 75 yards. I feel good. I feel good that they will find a way to score. It doesn't mean they will. The odds are always in the defense's favor. More possessions end in non-points than points. But I feel good. And I would be willing to bet that if you asked most fans of most other NFL teams, you want your guy in that situation or you want our guy in that situation, they'll say, I'd like your guy. Bengals have one of those guys. What happened on Sunday and that 1-34 number that is just being chewed on on the internet and on national radio shows, like, fine. I still have, the Bengals still have one of those guys I feel pretty good about. And if he was the quarterback of another team, fans of that team would feel pretty good about their team winning. Joe Burrow was in the situation that he may find himself on Sunday and that he didn't come up in, come up big in this past Sunday. We're going to dive deeper into that a little bit later on.
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Speaker 5: Bengals do have a lot of issues in the secondary.
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Speaker 3: Dana and I talked about it yesterday. If you missed that conversation, it's on the iHeartRadio app. No Jalen Davis. Brian Cook's not practicing today. Kyle Duggar's not practicing today. They did go through the walkthrough today. More on that a little bit later on. But let's step aside. And let's knock on wood that Joe Burrow will be on time-ish today. And I personally don't care. It just, you know, we carry the press conferences live and we sort of carve out a window for Joe to talk. And it just, it helps us if he's on time.
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Speaker 6: What did I say?
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Speaker 3: I said it helps us if he's on time. 11 after 3 o'clock. At Mo Egger on Twitter, thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all. Go to deltadentaloh.com. We expect to hear Joe Burrow next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
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Speaker 7: Jamar Chase plays here on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Speaker 3: All right, holding pattern. It's officially Joe Burrow watch time.
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Speaker 5: The quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals is.
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Speaker 3: Expected to speak here momentarily. We'll have him for you live because I know how much you love Joe Burrow and I understand why. We've got some baseball postseason stuff to get to a little bit later on. The Bengals injury situation is going to be a major talking point this week. especially in the secondary where Al Golden, it feels like he's going to have a pretty big test on his hands. So Jalen Davis, we've already talked about his absence. He's going to be gone for a while. It feels like DJ Ivy is going to be given a shot to play on the outside with Dax Hill moving into the slot. And that's certainly going to be interesting. You know, we talked about this, Tony and Austin and I, before the top of the hour at the end of their show, Dax Hill is, is going to do and say all the right things. Team first guy, your coaches say, Hey, we need you to move. You move on one level though. You have to feel kind of bad for the guy. Like he finally establishes, establishes himself as a good outside corner. This guy who has had kind of this nomadic existence, if you will, Since getting to the NFL, he's been, they've tried him at safety. Obviously, they've tried him on the outside. They've tried him in the slot, found a home on the outside. Now he's got to move inside. And so that looks like that's what the plan is going to be for Sunday. Our guy, Charlie Goldsmith, his newsletter does a very, very good job of kind of outlining what's happening with him and why they're moving Dax Hill to the slot and how significant this is going to be. But it's a big test for the Bengals. It's a big test for Al Golden. Parker Washington, the slot receiver for the Jags, is one of the best in the NFL. But what compounds all of this is Brian Cook is hurt. not practicing today. Kyle Duggar, not practicing today. Jordan Battle, I think is going today, but is a little bit banged up. And so we're, we're going down on the depth chart here and we're talking about the likes of maybe PJ Jules or Rust Yeast. I called him Rust, Rust Yeast, or one of the guys they picked up and added to the practice squad yesterday. And so like, I think there's still a lot of faith in Al Golden, and maybe he doesn't deserve it because of how atrocious the team was last year, how atrocious the defense was last year. But I think there's still a sense that if they have all their pieces, Al Golden's going to figure out a way to mold this into a pretty good defense. I think this past Sunday, notwithstanding, their early returns have been really good. Certainly were against Houston, and for the most part, they were against the Jacksonville Jaguars as well, but were coaches and coordinators... I think carve out reputations is when they have to make adjustments on the fly. And I remember in 2010 feeling like, you know what? Mike Zimmer is a terrific defensive coordinator because the team was awful that year, but they had so many injuries. They had to go sign a corner by the name of Jonathan Wade on a Tuesday to play. And if I recall, start on Thanksgiving night in a road game against the Jets and And I remember it being okay. They didn't win the game, but I remember it was okay. Jonathan Wade held up and the secondary had an answer, had a plan. And that to me is like when a coordinator is at his best or maybe at his worst, when they can find a way to make do. And the Bengals ideally have Jalen Davis. And ideally they have a healthy Brian Cook and they've got a healthy Kyle Duggar. And maybe those guys still give it a go on Sunday, but It's going to be a pretty significant test for Bengals defense. It's going to be a pretty significant test for Al Golden, and we'll see how they do against a Jacksonville offense that here in the first three weeks of the season, I think they have spent two of those weeks looking very, very prolific. so um we'll see we'll see we'll hear what joe burrow has to say about any of that coming up in uh in just a bit i i touched on this a little bit yesterday and uh i'll try to do it in a more coherent manner today because i felt like garbage during yesterday's show And I think if you went back and listened to it, you would hear a guy who's not making a lot of sense because he sounds like garbage. I tried to thread the needle a little bit yesterday. And the point that I was trying to make is in the aftermath of a game like the Pittsburgh game, we have there's this tendency to go to one of two extremes, which is, I think, how we we live every day. Like you hear about how either everything is the greatest ever or the worst thing ever. In the aftermath of a game like that, you have folks who will pat you on the head and say, nothing to see here. No big deal. Don't worry. This team is fine. The good news has been good for months on end. There's no reason to think this team is going to stink because they lost one game. Um, okay. And then all the way over here, it's the walls are closing in. The sky is falling. Same old bangles. They're going to fail. They're going to disappoint. They're going to underwhelm. Why did everybody get excited in the first place? And I don't agree with either of those two. I think the way to view it is this. And if you disagree, that's fine. If you agree, that's cool too. But I think my perspective is simply this. There's not enough of a sample size for me or anybody else to change our minds. If you believed three weeks ago the Bengals are going to finish 12-5, I don't think they've done enough, good or bad, to compel you to change your mind. Also, while they're dealing with a lot of injuries right now, they haven't had that just like season-crushing injury like to a quarterback or a superstar player. The season, they haven't played enough games to make me change my mind. I don't think they've played enough games to make anybody change their mind. So if you feel like, you know what, they're going to be terrible. If you thought they were going to be a seven win team three weeks ago, you should probably still feel that way. And if you feel like they're going to be a 12 win team, as I do, you should probably still feel that way. At the same time, they also don't have enough of a track record to For you to just go, you know what? They're fine. They're going to be cool, right? Like, I'm a big believer in track records. When you've got a track record, I'll defer to you. I'll defer to Joe Burrow's track record. When he plays a full season, he puts up MVP caliber numbers. That is a fact. That is something that happens. I'll defer to Joe Burrow's track record. These Cincinnati Bengals and this team top to bottom do not have enough of a track record to to just simply ignore what happened on Sunday. Yes, what we saw against Tampa Bay and Houston, those performances, especially by the defense, were very encouraging, extraordinarily encouraging, and most important, they got the win. It was two games. So like if I, and I, I look at this on social media and social media is the place where people go to just, you know, not, not try to be in the middle, not be nuanced. I look at social media for non-sports reasons. And usually I'm on an Island by myself. Cause I'm kind of in the middle of watching people just scream at each other. And it's like, I don't think either of you are right. But when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals, Ask me in six or seven weeks when they've piled up a lot of games, when they've played only three, I don't know that this collection of players, and I certainly don't believe that this franchise as a whole has earned the benefit of the doubt enough to make anybody go, you know what? No big deal. They'll be fine. Ignore how they played. Heck, if you can't ignore that they lost. I think that's the proper way to look at it. They haven't done, they haven't played enough games to make anybody change their mind. Most of us thought this team is going to be pretty good. I think most of us still believe this team is going to be pretty good. But if you have some mild concerns about the way things unfolded, okay, those are fair. Those are legitimate. Those are valid. And if somebody tells you, well, you're overreacting, even if you're mildly concerned, all you have to do is say, where's the track record? Where is the track record of success? for me to just sort of chalk it up as a bad week. We're not there. The next two or three weeks, I think, will tell us how we should react to the Pittsburgh game. Because either we're going to see more of the same, and they're going to lose more games, or we're going to see the total opposite, and chances are they're going to win a bunch more games. We'll see. 26 after 3 o'clock. Taryn, I will step aside here. Joe Burrow is officially 11 minutes late. By the way, I've just decided we're done breaking early for him. I got a show to run here. I know folks love it when we carry Joe Burrow. He is the most important person on any sports team in town. He's the quarterback. Everybody wants to hear what he has to say. Everybody loves the Joe Burrow psychoanalysis. But we can't revolve our entire life around whether or not Joe Burrow is going to be on time. Why don't the Bengals just release the thing that says he's going to show up and do his press conference? Why don't they say 3.30? Because as will be the case today, he's always closer to 3.30 than he is 3.15. By the way, if you're a great quarterback as Joe is, you can get away with showing up late. If this is a guy who's not as good, he is being crushed. There are quarterbacks that if they consistently don't show up on time for their live press conference, they get hammered. Nobody's doing that with Joe Burrow. I'm not doing it with Joe Burrow. Hopefully we hear from him next. 27 after three on Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:56
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:16:00
Speaker 9: From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC. Eastbound 279.
00:16:14
Speaker 3: All right, only 15 minutes late. Joe Burrow talking with the media down at the venue, originally known as Paul Brown Stadium. Go!
00:16:19
Speaker 4: It's week four.
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Speaker 10: Just got to go try to get one this week, be one of them this week, and just keep getting better.
00:16:27
Speaker 11: Good job.
00:16:29
Speaker 4: It wasn't gone long. What are the next few days like for you and Mitch to make.
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Speaker 2: Sure he's ready to do his stuff?
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Speaker 4: Not much different.
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Speaker 10: You know, we'll get our reps and routes on air, and, you know, if he has any that he needs, we'll get some after practice. If I feel that way, then we'll get some after practice. But, you know, he was here for, what, a year and a half or so.
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Speaker 4: So he knows the offense. He knows what we're trying to do.
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Speaker 10: He'll have his packages that he'll be in for that he'll be dialed in on, and he's a hard worker and a smart guy.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's been tried and true. You went into training camp, Joe. You kind of had an idea of just like getting a wide receiver room. Now you're kind of seeing it come to fruition.
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Speaker 2: What have you seen in the H-team that you're going to have enough quality that you can pull.
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Speaker 4: The machine out? Yeah, we have plenty of guys that we feel comfortable with. going out there. And like we said last week, it's going to be a bi-committee thing. It'll be Mitch and Dante, obviously, but Tanner and Mike can fill those roles as well.
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Speaker 10: So we've got plenty of guys that we feel comfortable throwing out there in a lot of different personnel packages against a lot of different levels.
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Speaker 12: What was your first reaction when you found out that it was going to be Mitch that they were bringing back?
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Speaker 4: I thought it was pretty much a no-brainer.
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Speaker 10: He played well for us last year and gave us some good good reps, made a lot of plays for us in his limited opportunities. And so to get a guy like that back that we weren't sure we were going to is good for the Bengals.
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Speaker 13: Is there a big psychological difference in being 3-1 versus 2-2 given how y'all started the year?
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Speaker 4: For sure.
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Speaker 10: You try to stay up on your record, try to stay in the positives.
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Speaker 4: So like I said, we just got to keep getting better and try to go 1-0 this week. What about Jacksonville's front?
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Speaker 13: It kind of makes them maybe more unique than some of the other fronts you face.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, they're deep. They're deep.
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Speaker 10: Their two edge rushers are really good. Armstead is really good. Davon is really good. All those guys can play really good football, get pressure on the quarterback, stop the run, play with high motors, care about it. And then the rest of their defense plays their roles really well, understands what they're trying to do with their coverages, and I think they're really good in man coverage. I think they trust their guys on the outside, as do we. So we'll see what their plan is early, and we'll have to be ready to adapt to whatever they're showing.
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Speaker 12: How did you feel about your play and the play of the offense overall after you reviewed the film?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought we were pretty dang good, pretty dang good.
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Speaker 10: Just like every game, there's a couple that I'd like back.
00:19:18
Speaker 4: But I think for the most part, we were pretty good. It's not good enough.
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Speaker 13: A lot of discourse about your play in particular at the fourth quarter when trailing over the years how do you feel like you've been in those situations when you guys have needed a score how do you feel like you've would evaluate the way that you've played.
00:19:34
Speaker 10: Yeah it's tough to tough to recall specific times but you know i feel like i'm pretty good in those moments.
00:19:46
Speaker 4: I'm really confident in myself in those moments. Typically, we're going to try to get it done. Does it feel different in the second quarter or fourth quarter? Anything like that?
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Speaker 10: You have to be ready for different defenses. You've got to be ready for different things in different moments. Teams have situational calls.
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Speaker 4: As do we. We know we game plan for that.
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Speaker 12: When you're When you're deep in the game, final two minutes, final three minutes, and there's different frustrations that hit you, whether it's helmet miscommunication or anything like that, is there anything that you do specifically to sort of reel yourself back in to get the job done and keep going?
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Speaker 4: No, no, I'm in it. I'm in it. In those moments, I'm in the zone. You get frustrated sometimes, but that's football.
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Speaker 13: What do you like most about those moments when y'all need to score and you have the ball playing the game?
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Speaker 10: Yeah, there's no place I'd rather be. I want it in my hands with the game on the line. I trust myself in those spots. I trust our guys in those spots. We feel confident that we're going to get it done.
00:20:49
Speaker 4: How do you feel you guys are running the ball? We've been running it good. We could be a lot better.
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Speaker 10: We've been efficient, not explosive. And We need to try some things to try to find those explosive plays, just like we do in the past game. We've been efficient but not explosive, so we've got to continue to get better in that.
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Speaker 2: A lot of people have this impression that you have to run, especially in an offense like this, with you as a quarterback to keep the defense honest.
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Speaker 4: Do you feel you guys are doing that? Yeah, I think we are.
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Speaker 10: I think with our play calls and our efficiency, like I said, we can do some things to try to break those five-yard runs and to make them 12 and 15-yard runs.
00:21:31
Speaker 4: We can do better at that, but I think we've been efficient. You mentioned that you checked on him on the bus. Why did you feel the need to have a conversation? I'll keep any conversations that I have with my teammates confidential.
00:21:46
Speaker 12: Jacksonville's defense in the red zone, have they been really tough back there?
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Speaker 4: Anything that stood out?
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Speaker 10: Teams haven't scored many points against them, and I hope through these first couple games, you know, two of the teams got down a lot early, and that changes how the game is played.
00:22:06
Speaker 4: That changes a lot of things about it. You know, we.
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Speaker 10: Have to, we've got to score points, and we've got to score points early. We know what kind of offense that they have, and we've got to be good in the red zone, like you said, and we've got to be good on third down. We've got to be really good situationally. Just to kind of, just to kind of have an example, you've got a defense that likes to play man, but Jason's.
00:22:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, usually teams against us like to mix it up.
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Speaker 10: Sometimes they'll double, sometimes they'll blitz and play zone, sometimes they'll blitz and play man, sometimes they'll play man and double one of the guys. That's typically how teams like to play us. They like to mix it up, and so we've got to be ready for all those different things.
00:22:49
Speaker 11: One of the signs of a good team is when you're coming off of a disappointing loss to not let it snowball and quickly change the course and bounce back with the win. Do you think that that shows that the team is able to put potentially one.
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Speaker 4: Bad game behind them? It depends.
00:23:05
Speaker 10: There's a lot of different factors that go into playing football.
00:23:09
Speaker 4: One week certainly doesn't affect the next week. So when you have a loss like that, obviously it sucks. But it sucks for a day, and then you move on.
00:23:18
Speaker 9: That's life.
00:23:19
Speaker 13: You've played teams you've been injured against, taken serious ones like Jacksonville. Does that linger in your mind when it comes up?
00:23:24
Speaker 4: Does that ever come up in your mind at all?
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Speaker 13: You've talked a lot about how much you've really enjoyed being out there, especially since you came back.
00:23:31
Speaker 14: How's that feeling now?
00:23:33
Speaker 4: Is that something you've kind of maybe.
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Speaker 13: Dwelled on a little bit more over the last 12 months, given it's almost a year since?
00:23:38
Speaker 4: Is that just enjoying being out there? How much more has that made you top of mind than previously? Yeah, I love playing football, especially after Sunday. You just want to get back out there and play. Yeah. You know, I'm excited for Sunday.
00:23:50
Speaker 10: Got to get through these next couple days of practice, get through our work.
00:23:54
Speaker 4: But very excited for Sunday. Is it special going against that?
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Speaker 10: I mean, you think about going against a guy like Trevor, who's, you know, also an overall number one pick.
00:24:04
Speaker 4: At the top of your class. Get that in the back of your mind when you go against a guy like that? Whenever you play a good quarterback like.
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Speaker 10: That, you have to be ready to change your mindset about the game and Sometimes that changes how you call the game depending on how good the other team's offense is. We'll see how it goes early in the game, see what kind of game it's going to be. But you've got to be ready to go score.
00:24:28
Speaker 4: Who do you think he's evolved since entering the league?
00:24:32
Speaker 6: Say again?
00:24:32
Speaker 4: How do you think he's evolved since entering the league?
00:24:34
Speaker 15: Who, Trevor?
00:24:34
Speaker 11: Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's a good quarterback.
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Speaker 10: He makes some great throws, can make plays with his legs, and they've got a lot of weapons around them.
00:24:42
Speaker 4: So you've got to be ready to go.
00:24:44
Speaker 16: Thanks, guys.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: Chatting with the local professional football media in advance of Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The game kicks off at one. You'll hear it live on ESPN 1530. More tonight. Bengals game plan at Buffalo Wild Wings and Mason starring Dan Horde and Wayne Boxmiller. Louis Breeden. Louis Breeden is going to be out there. one of the best cornerbacks in Bengals history, 6-8 tonight live on ESPN 1530. Bengals injury report not yet released, but Zach Taylor today did say that neither Brian Cook or Kyle Duggar would participate. A couple of other items. Tay Baker, who is the only person to be the head coach of the UC men's basketball program and the head coach of the Xavier University men's basketball program. died yesterday, 99 years old. He just celebrated his 99th birthday the other day. He was an assistant coach on UC's national title teams in 61 and 62, became the program's head coach in 1965, went 125 in 60. Then later on, coached at Xavier, had a record of 70 and 89. Game two in four different Major League Baseball wildcard series. By the way, like, I remember 1995. 1995, for what it's worth, is the last year the Reds advanced in the postseason. I was a freshman at the University of Dayton. Been a long damn time. That is the era of the baseball network, which was not well-received. And that year they decided we're not playing daytime baseball games in the postseason. We're going to play all the games at the exact same time. And I remember vividly Reds Dodgers playing in the division series, first ever Reds division series appearance. And because it was the first year of the division series in the wildcard format. But anyway, I remember vividly A student at UD because the Reds game against the Dodgers and the Indians game, they were playing the Red Sox, were happening at the exact same time. And Dayton, the University of Dayton, a lot of kids from Cleveland, me being from Cincinnati, we got the Reds game on, right? But there were a lot of Indians fans who were like, we can't watch our team in the postseason. That Indians team was awesome, played in the World Series, right? On top of that, the Yankees and Mariners were in the playoffs that year against each other, played in this iconic five-game series. All the games were on opposite each other. Now, some of those series ended in three, like Reds-Dodgers. Some of those series went the distance, like Yankees-Mariners. Nobody liked it. So then they got back to playing games during the day, which they've done every year since 1996. I'm looking at social media yesterday and folks are like apoplectic over the fact that the Phillies and Braves are playing a two o'clock game. Well, when they played all the games at night opposite each other, no one liked that. And understandably so. So then you have to create standalone windows. There's four different wildcard series. Now, I am opposed to expansion of the playoffs. I wish we had it the way we had it from 2012 through 2021. Baseball had about a 10-year stretch where their postseason format was perfect. Two wildcard teams, they play one game. That's it. That's it. And if you don't want to be in the wildcard game, win your division. But if we want this, we want more playoff teams are going to have more playoff games. They want them to stand alone, which means what? They're going to play at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. They're going to play at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I remember when all the games were played at night. Nobody liked it. No one liked it. So this is what we get. By the way, I should give you the score of the game, if you care. Tyler Malley has been fantastic for the Braves. Five innings of one-run baseball. Phillies and Atlanta tied at one. Atlanta looking to close out the series. Phillies trying to extend it to a game three. In Houston later today, Astros facing elimination. White Sox won game one yesterday. Game two of that series will be at five o'clock. The two night games last night were duds. Yankees pounded the Red Sox. Game two tonight in the Bronx. And the Padres clubbed the Cubs. Game two tonight in San Diego. You are up to date. 17 away from four o'clock. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. You bet against Joe Burrow. I will bet on Joe Burrow. I like my chances more than yours. That coming up at 4.05 on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:29:20
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:29:25
Speaker 9: From the UC Health Traffic Center.
00:29:29
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
00:29:58
Speaker 3: Nine from four. This is ESPN 1530, and you are not being pulled over. If you missed the Tony and Mo football show this week, the PJ Fitzpatrick Tony and Mo football show this week, It is available on the iHeartRadio app. If you missed Paul Daner Jr. yesterday, he was, as usual, just simply outstanding from the Athletic and the Growler podcast. That conversation is available on the iHeartRadio app as well. We talked about Bengals cutting Keyshawn Williams and all the different issues they're dealing with in the secondary and that one in 34 Joe Burrow record thingy. that has set the internet ablaze. Internet's been a weird place over the last few weeks. Not that it's ever not, but anyway, you can listen to those conversations. Plus, plus our guy, attorney steward, W Penrose on the protect college sports act and a major league baseball player that wants to sue a team that he was playing against and Antonio Brown, who's going to go from facing decades in prison to probation, all of that and more. on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts of this show, as always, in service of Long Neck Sports Grill with game day specials for pro and college football. No better place to post up this season than Long Neck's with locations in Wilder, Hebron, and Richwood. On the Protect College Sports Act, I know this is not the first time I have talked about this. I'm still trying to figure out who it needs to be protected from. And I know this is the direction I go in every single time. Ratings for the first few weeks of the college football season have been insanely good. The stadiums for all the big games are full. This past Saturday was one of the best college football slates I can recall. There's a lot about conference realignment that I hate, but the fact that we get conference matchups like Texas and Tennessee, two schools that hadn't met since the 60s, is terrific. Everybody's getting paid. Coaches' salaries are skyrocketing. Players are getting paid. NIL and the Transfer Portal have created jobs in college football that did not exist six, seven years ago. Every major college football program has a general manager and a personnel department. The folks who are in those jobs are in jobs that used to not exist. If everybody's getting paid... And everybody's watching. What does college sports need to be protected from? There's a lot about this era of college sports I don't love. Look, man, I still pine for the days when you could watch a guy for four years as a UC football fan. I love the story of Antoine Peake Jr., who started at this program as a walk-on. Obviously, those of us who follow UC football know how good his dad was. He's gone from walk-on to a guy who's got a chance to be an all-Big 12 performer. He's forced nine fumbles in his football career. He's changed positions, leads the team in tackles. I miss players like that. But if business is good, what are we trying to protect college sports from? And so I just, I'm watching folks on Saturday and I was doing it because the Saturday slate was a lot of fun and there's going to be more Saturdays like it. And I'm going, yeah, everybody I know is gorging themselves on college football and We certainly need a piece of congressional legislation to change and fix this and somehow protect it. So we talked about it yesterday. We'll see what's next. I joked with Stuart that I was amazed how many people seemingly didn't pay attention in civics class in the seventh grade, didn't know how a bill gets passed. That because that legislation got through the Senate, like it's suddenly law and it's like, nah, man, it's got a ways to go. There's a lot of complexities involved there. But I've asked this question pseudo-rhetorically, admittedly, for a while now. Like, who are we trying to protect college sports from? If business is good, if fans aren't being turned off, and everybody's getting paid, and it's creating more jobs, what are we trying to save? And at the end of the day, what the answer is, and nobody will say it is, just don't like the fact that the help is getting paid. That's what it is. And a lot of folks won't say that, but I know it's out there. Just don't like the fact that the guys are getting coin. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. Wise Money Sports on the fallout from the baseball lockout coming up at 435. Kelsey Conway from Cincinnati.com and the Beyond Sunday podcast on the Bengals' secondary injury situation coming up at 520. We'll also go to Jacksonville. And learn about the Jaguars, who after week one, everybody sort of had earmarked them for the AFC championship game. Then everybody jumped off the bandwagon after they lost to Denver. And I feel like now everybody is back on after they throttled the New England Patriots this past week. This game on Sunday is really good. And it does feel like the difference between three and one going to Miami is And 2-2 going to Miami is massive. And for what it's worth, either Cleveland or Pittsburgh is going to be 3-1 at the end of this week. So you hate to say must win this early, and I won't. But it does feel like the difference between being 3-1 and 2-2 is more than just a game. At Mo Egger on Twitter, I'll propose a scenario to you. You tell me how you feel about it next on ESPN 1530.
00:35:39
Speaker 7: For midweek Bengals fix tonight at 6 o'clock on Bengals Game Plan on ESPN 1530.
00:35:47
Speaker 3: I got it. The show's tonight at 6. I'll be listening. Horton and Wayne Voxmiller and Louis Frieden. So the Globetrotters don't play the Washington Generals anymore? Is that what I gathered? Taryn, did you gather that from that commercial? The new rivalries? Who are they going to be playing? Like the Pacers and Knicks? Like who?
00:36:05
Speaker 9: Who?
00:36:07
Speaker 3: Who are the Globetrotters?
00:36:09
Speaker 15: I'm in.
00:36:10
Speaker 3: I saw the Globetrotters when I was 10 years old. And everybody makes the same comparison when people get mad at the Savannah Bananas. And I go, dude, I went and saw the Globetrotters when I was 10. I watched a Globetrotter pull down the pants of one of the players on the generals. And then another ball was brought onto the court. Some popcorn was spilled. They did circles around one of the officials. And, you know, I didn't go home and say to dad, like, wait a minute. So that's not the Lakers and Celtics. But the Globetrot was so have the Washington generals folded. I need to know more about this. If like the Globetrot, are they going to be playing like real basketball teams? Or are they kind of adopting the Savannah Bananas model where the Savannah Bananas, there's like three other teams they play. It's not the same team they play, right? I'm intrigued. I may go. I'm intrigued.
00:37:06
Speaker 6: How do you sign up to play for the other team? I want to play for the other team. Yeah, I mean, me too.
00:37:09
Speaker 3: Why not? Right? Let's go. How do you become? I always wondered that. How do you become a Washington general? On some level, you have to have some level of basketball proficiency that would compel them to put you on the floor in a game, and I use game in quotes, that fans are paying to watch. I need to know more about this. I need to know more about this. The Globetrotters, new teams, do they still pull down the pants of opposing defenders? I guess we'll find out as the Globetrotters season unfolds. Six after four, this is ESPN 1530. I'm Mo Egger. Thank you for listening today. Hope you're having fun. Just a bang-up Wednesday afternoon. Wise Money Sports coming up in 30 minutes. We'll keep you up to date with the baseball. There's going to be no Reds Fest, which is apparently a surprise to a lot of folks. Braves and Phillies 1-1. Chris Sanchez gets out of a bases-loaded jam. Tyler Malley is pitched very well for Atlanta today. It's an elimination game. The Phillies lose. They're done.
00:38:17
Speaker 4: They win.
00:38:17
Speaker 3: They play Game 3 tomorrow. You heard Joe Burrow earlier today. So in the aftermath... of the Bengals lost to the Steelers, which this is a fact, okay? There have been six games since 2023. Paul Danner Jr. was the first to bring this to our attention in his post-game story on Sunday. Since 2023, six times Joe Burrow and the offense have gotten the ball, less than four minutes to go with a chance to take the lead. They've lost all those games. And that's interesting and unfortunate and not good for a team that's identity revolves around the offensive weaponry. But this 1-34 thing that's being thrown out there, well, 35 games, Bengals have trailed eight minutes or less and they've lost. Like, I'll just, there's many of these, but I'll just, I'll use as a quick example, last season, the last game of the year, just the last game of the year, which was totally meaningless. Bengals and Browns, awful game. With 2.41 to go, Bengals are down five. They get the ball at their own 39. Burrow leads a touchdown drive. They take the lead 18 to 17 they went for two they didn't get it but Burrow takes his team 61 yards and he completes a completes a pass to Jamar Chase for a touchdown I know everybody has forgotten about it low stakes game Bengals were eliminated by about Halloween last year but still What then happened? Shador Sanders goes down the field, goes 65 yards, or starts at the Cincinnati 35-yard line. He didn't go 65 yards. He drives his team to the Cincinnati 31. Cleveland kicks a field goal at the gun. Browns win. So, yes, the Bengals lost that game. That's one of the 34. I guess it's one of the six. Bengals lost that game. Did they lose because Joe Burrow was in clutch? I'll just put it to you this way. My guess is Sunday's game is close. My guess is most Bengals games are in doubt in the fourth quarter because we just don't have blowouts in the NFL. If the Bengals have a really good record, it's going to be because they're really good in close games. This isn't baseball where the Reds won something like 25 and 15 in one run games, but were terrible over the course of the season. If the Bengals are good, it's going to be because they're good in close games. So my guess is Sunday's game is close. I hope not. I hope the Bengals win 56 to nothing. But if it's close and it's 20, let's say, let's.
00:40:59
Speaker 5: Say 20, let's say 27, 23 Jacksonville. 306 to go.
00:41:09
Speaker 3: And the Bengals have the ball in their own territory. Let's give Joe a timeout. He'll get the timeout on the two-minute warning. Do you feel confident that the Bengals will score? You might not bet your life on it. You might not bet a large amount of money. You may not start celebrating a win before the first play of the drive. but I'd bet you feel pretty good. You would feel better if the Bengals were winning. You would feel better if the game didn't come down to that. This is an inexact and admittedly unscientific way of looking at this, but we have not yet arrived at the point in Joe Burrow's career evolution where when he and the offense are on the field in a situation like that, in a situation like the one they faced on Sunday against Pittsburgh in Where there's not some degree of confidence that he and they are going to come through. This isn't apologizing for Joe's mistakes. My guy's got to hang on to the football. In the situation where he fumbled on Sunday, we could talk about Reisner not making the block, whatever. Joe may be trying to do too much. The quarterback's first job is to protect possession of the football. Joe should be held culpable for not doing that. whatever amount of criticism you want to throw his way for not protecting the football, I think is valid. But like, this will be thrown in your face. And like, I think Josh Allen of the Bills is to the point where he should be considered the best player in the NFL. I am fine admitting that. And there certainly are a list of quarterbacks that Josh Allen is on that fans of their team is, they're comfortable with who that quarterback is. But around the country, when folks talk about 1-34, to me, the question is simple. 2-12 to go, one timeout, Bengals got to go 70 yards. You want your guy? You want the guy in Cincinnati? Overwhelmingly so, I think the answer is going to be the guy in Cincinnati. By the way, for what it's worth. Again, this is a little bit unscientific. But if you just look at him statistically... Look at his numbers in the fourth quarter compared to the first three quarters. His fourth quarter numbers are not bad at all. Passer rating is over 100.
00:43:42
Speaker 6: 47 touchdowns, 21 picks.
00:43:46
Speaker 3: Um, not as good as they might be in the second quarter, 51 touchdowns, eight picks, but like just statistically yards per attempt in line with his overall averages, uh, completion percentage in line with his overall averages, 67.15%. It's, it's not like there's a long track record of him completely wilting in the fourth quarter, uh, And, you know, there have been there have been plenty of of of instances like the one that I just outlined in the last game of the season last year or instances where the offense has come up and made a play late and Joe is about to be a hero and then something happens on defense and the game gets taken away. Or like in Baltimore two years ago, there's two penalties that, and trust me, I hate blaming the rest for anything, but there are two penalties not called on a two-point conversion after Joe has put his team in a position for the game-winning two-point conversion. I don't know, man. I just, I think the one in 34, like context is needed. How many of those games has Joe been otherwise exemplary? And yet the game is in doubt because the defense stunk. And so now here's Joe, late in the game, having to do it again when he has done it all afternoon. Like the game in Pittsburgh. Joe Burrow was awesome for most of that game. And again, what might matter most, and I get that it does, is do they win the football game or not? Joe didn't come through. He's paid $ 50 million to come through. Okay, fine. But still, like... He's awesome all day long. There's two special teams mistakes that lead to 10 points. It's a defense that, again, allowed the Steelers to do whatever they wanted to do in the first half. They miss a billion tackles. But yeah, Joe Burrow's not clutch. Again, man, you got to hang on to the ball. But still, is that the main reason why they lost that game? A lot of games where Joe has been awesome, yet he's in a position to have to be Superman late because everything else stinks around him. 1-34 needs context. 1-34 needs, and I cannot emphasize this enough, there have been certainly moments where we've talked about the Bengals, I can't even say it, where we've talked about the Bengals going through protracted offensive lulls, or we've talked about the Bengals not coming up big late, and does Joe get and deserve heat for that? Of course he does. This isn't apologizing for Joe, it's just, if suddenly this whole thing is, well, Joe's not clutch, cool. Fine, whatever. Replace him with replacement-level quarterback. Tell me what you're getting then. Legitimately, if Joe's not clutch, replace him with whoever's behind door number two for what it's worth prior to the 2025 season. No quarterback in the league since 2020, Joe's rookie season. According to sharpfootball.com, trailing in the last five minutes since 2020, Joe Burrow statistically based on EPA per dropback, minimum 85 dropbacks, no quarterback in the league better than Joe Burrow. Between 2020 and the 2024 season. Now you might go, wait a minute, what about 2025? Well, 2025... He didn't play half the season. When he came back, they win a game against Baltimore that they led pretty much the entire way. By the time he was playing late in the season, they were out of it. He was injured in the second game. They barely held on them in the first game. Like, I don't know, not a large sample of games where Joe failed in 2020. And the season this year is three games old. By the way, the first game of the year this year, game number one, Bengals-Bucks. Now look, man, Joe threw a pick in that game. And Joe's pick six, that pick six kind of opened the door for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Right when it felt like they might shut the door, Joe throws a pick six. Can't do it. Uncharacteristic. It's not a guy that you expect to throw a lot of pick sixes. But the Bengals never relinquished the lead. The Bucs, though, do come through and score a touchdown to make it 33-26 with about three and a half minutes to go. Now the Bengals get the football back. They are winning, but the offense has some work to do. What does Joe do? He throws a completion to Dante Myers. He throws another completion to Samaj P.
00:48:20
Speaker 5: Ryan.
00:48:21
Speaker 3: He then throws another completion to T. Higgins, who makes a great catch. Are those not clutch throws? Are those not important high leverage plays? It's not a comeback. You know, it's not coming back from down six points, but the game is hanging in the balance right there. I was at that game screaming, Joe, close it out. Those aren't clutch throws. Those aren't big time throws. If he doesn't complete those, Bucks get the ball back. Your guess is as good as mine then as to what happens. That doesn't go in the one in 34, does it? You know, it's like baseball relief pitchers get holds. But, you know, sometimes the game hinges not so much on the three batters you got to get out of the ninth inning, but it hinges on, you know, do your outs when there's the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning and the score is tied? Nobody's getting a save for getting those outs. Might not get a win if you get those outs. But those are high leverage outs. High leverage situation game one of the seasons. And by the way, the degree of difficulty of the Tee Higgins throw was pretty damn high. So again, man, I'll make this very, very simple. Sunday, right around 345 in the afternoon, Bengals are down four points. We'll say they need a touchdown. Two and change or three and change to go. Timeout or two in their back pocket. They're on the minus side of the field, so they have to go a ways. You're going to feel pretty good. I'll feel pretty good. I'll take my chances. And I don't know, but I have felt good and sometimes let down Sunday. I was let down in the Super Bowl. I was let down in the AFC championship game. The second one against Kansas City let down like it's not always going to work. Not every clutch quarterback comes through every single time. But if he is in a position where we're asking him to close out games, if he's in a position where he is being asked to win, and not like win games where can they hang on and win, you know, 52 to 49, where the defense has just been atrocious all day, but like a 27 to 23 game, something like that. I'll take my chances. If you look at him statistically, number one in the fourth quarter, the numbers are in line with what they have been for the rest of the game. Number two, prior to the 2025 season, And he's only played 11 games since. And in a lot of those games, the defense was terrible. In a lot of those games, it didn't really matter what Joe was doing in the fourth quarter. And in some of those games, he played poorly for the entire game, like against Baltimore in the game here last year in the cold weather. But from 2020 to 2024, that is a five-year sample size, statistically the best quarterback, the best quarterback in the entire league trailing in the last five minutes. Doesn't mean he comes through every single time. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be frustrated or even angry when he doesn't. But if the biggest problem the Bengals face is the clutchness of their quarterback, I am of the belief, and you could tell me if I'm wrong, that that will be rectified. Because I trust great players. Joe Burrow is a great player. 20 after 4. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. At Mo Egger is how you can hit us up on Twitter. Atlanta has taken a 2-1 lead over the Phillies in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Braves are still batting. Wise Money Sports coming up in 15-minute sports headlines in a bit. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:52:15
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:52:17
Speaker 3: Traffic. Bengals!
00:52:24
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to choke the Jaguars, and trust me, through and fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's Spunt vs.
00:52:38
Speaker 3: Stripes.
00:52:39
Speaker 16: The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
00:52:52
Speaker 3: No cook, no dugger in today's practice. This is Football in the Natty.
00:52:57
Speaker 7: Brought to you by Belterra Casino and Belterra Park on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:53:06
Speaker 5: No cook, no dugger for the Bengals at practice today as they get set for Sunday's game against the Jags.
00:53:11
Speaker 3: 1 o'clock Sunday, ESPN 1530. More tonight on Bengals game plan from 6 to 8. on ESPN 1530 as well. By the way, it's a 3-1 Atlanta now going to the eighth inning. Atlanta scored the go-ahead run on a Bryce Harper misplay in right field that allowed the go-ahead run to score. Bryce Harper splits his time between DH first base and right field. I think only played right field like 40 games this year. And while he's played that position more than any other in the big leagues, it looked like he had just played the position for the first time when he tried to catch that fly ball. We'll update you as the afternoon unfolds. We'll go to Jacksonville at five Oh five. Talk about the Jags and our buddy Kelsey Conway from the inquire and Cincinnati.com at a four or five 20, four 20 already happened. We got, we got to talk. We got to talk to folks who have been waiting. Cody, you're on ESPN 1530. Cody, good afternoon.
00:54:09
Speaker 4: How are you?
00:54:10
Speaker 16: All right.
00:54:11
Speaker 17: How are you doing?
00:54:11
Speaker 3: I'm well, man. What's up?
00:54:14
Speaker 17: I called a couple weeks ago and we talked because I admitted I'm not the biggest Joe Burrow fan. And again, I'm glad that he's the quarterback of the team I cheer for, although there are a couple.
00:54:25
Speaker 15: Quarterbacks I would prefer to have.
00:54:27
Speaker 17: But I think what I see, and I never played football, I'm no expert, is that I'll be watching the games more last year, not last year, the year before, and it's like Joe Burrow's four minutes in the third quarter and he's thrown for 170 yards in a score.
00:54:40
Speaker 3: I'm like, well, okay, not bad.
00:54:42
Speaker 17: Then he'll throw the ball in the backfield to Jamar Chase, who runs 75 yards. And it's like, oh, Joe Burrow's thrown for 260 yards and two scores. So I think a lot of times what ends up happening when we're arguing statistics is that I think he, whether it's fair or not, I think people look at Josh Allen, and they're like, he's making things happen without weapons. But when you look at Joe Burrow's stats, like, well, if Jamar doesn't make that catch in week two, which no other receiver in the league makes, Joe doesn't have that extra touchdown and those extra yards. If T doesn't make that catch, like you said, against the Bucs, which was unbelievable, most receivers don't make that catch. So when you're like, well, these are Joe's stats, I think a lot of people say, well, it's Joe's stats with two of the best receivers in the league who are making catches that most people wouldn't make. So then I would go back to, okay, you had the ball in the Super Bowl with a chance to win.
00:55:37
Speaker 15: Blame the offensive line. That's fine, but, like, didn't win. AFC Championship game, you.
00:55:41
Speaker 3: Have the ball.
00:55:43
Speaker 15: You can't make it happen. Drive stalls at midfield.
00:55:46
Speaker 17: Then last year, okay, you're hurt.
00:55:48
Speaker 15: You come back.
00:55:49
Speaker 17: If you beat Buffalo, you got a chance to make the playoffs, and then anything can happen. Like, okay, through two interceptions and two consecutive passes that end up, you.
00:55:58
Speaker 15: Know, completely changing the game.
00:55:59
Speaker 3: He played poorly, yes.
00:56:02
Speaker 17: So I think, fair or not, I think.
00:56:06
Speaker 15: That's why a lot of people don't think he's as clutch maybe as some of these other quarterbacks. Again, I still think he's great. I'm not his biggest fan. But I think sometimes when you're arguing.
00:56:15
Speaker 17: Statistics, you have to consider, like you've already pointed out, that you have two of the best receivers in the game. And when we blame the defense, I'm like, Joe has used his organizational capital, his capital within the organization, to lobby for.
00:56:27
Speaker 15: More offensive weapons. And so the money's been spent.
00:56:30
Speaker 17: On that side of the ball, and not until this year did they spend more money on the defensive side of the ball. So I'm like, you know, you can't have it both ways and want more offensive weapons but then complain when the defense isn't good because we don't have any quality players because we haven't.
00:56:43
Speaker 15: Spent the money on that side of the ball. I don't know if that's a fair argument or not.
00:56:48
Speaker 3: I haven't heard Joe Burrow make those complaints, and I think what the team has proven this year is you could do both, right? I mean, because Joe Burrow lobbied for Tee Higgins, that should have not precluded them from adding to the defense list. in 2025. I think you make some fair points. And the one thing that's worth mentioning about Joe statistically is in terms of, you know, average air yards per completion, he's always sort of middle of the pack, you know, as opposed to other QBs where they just, they throw the ball deeper. And I think to a degree, Joe gets dinged because people say, well, look at the weaponry that he has. And then there's maybe something to that, but like You know, you talked about you talked about the postseason where I think Joe gets not as much credit as he should. The Super Bowl year is not turning the football over when he gets sacked 10 times by the Tennessee Titans in a game that was decided by three points, making the throws that he had to make. And look, he had help from his defense that year, but making the throws that he had to make when they're down by multiple scores in the second half against the Chiefs. in the AFC championship game. The throws that he makes in the snow early against the Buffalo Bills in a game where you kind of had to play ahead from ahead because of the weather conditions. And I think Joe has played okay in the postseason. I'll admit that. I don't think he's been great. I just I feel like there have been a lot of moments that have gotten washed away where they haven't won. And Joe's play isn't the primary reason why, but he gets dinged for it more than anybody else. And part of that does come with the territory of being a quarterback. I just think when you throw out this one in 34 and go down the route of like Joe's not clutch, I think some context does need to be applied.
00:58:27
Speaker 15: Yeah, and I agree with you.
00:58:28
Speaker 17: I think stylistically, when you see Josh Allen pushing the ball down the field, even going back to Carson Palmer, the way he would push the ball down the field, this big guy in the pocket, just like throwing these absolute darts on the sideline and Chad catching him with his toes like dragons. I guess stylistically, the offense that they run, which again, I think goes back to.
00:58:45
Speaker 1: The play calling.
00:58:46
Speaker 17: Which I think needs maybe to get more press here than maybe Joe.
00:58:51
Speaker 15: Because I'm like, they just don't run the same style of offense.
00:58:54
Speaker 17: And it's not as like, wow, look what Joe Burrow did. It's like, well, I'm going to read. I'm going to get rid of the ball quick. I'm going to pick up five yards here, seven yards here, 11 yards here, where some of these other guys are picking up chunk plays with two minutes to go. And they're moving down the field quickly.
00:59:07
Speaker 15: And it's like, oh, wow, Josh.
00:59:08
Speaker 3: Allen led that drive. Patrick Mahomes led that drive. led that drive.
00:59:11
Speaker 15: Yeah.
00:59:11
Speaker 17: Where it was like, well, no, he used his weapons, and we picked up a couple yards here, and then we score, which, again, I always think we score too early, and I know you score when you can score, but then we leave enough time on the clock when we know our defense stinks, and then we let them get into a cool position.
00:59:23
Speaker 1: And tie the game or win.
00:59:24
Speaker 15: I think some of that— He doesn't have.
00:59:29
Speaker 17: The wow factor, I don't think, in some of these other quarterbacks that I think are considered more clutch than he is.
00:59:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think part of it is, though, how defenses play him, right? All the conversations we had this offseason about going under center were about getting more explosive plays because the explosive plays have kind of dried up.
00:59:46
Speaker 9: Why?
00:59:46
Speaker 3: Because how they typically play is put Joe in the gun, let him diagnose, and have him get rid of it quickly. And we really haven't seen... you know, aside from the Jamar catch against the Texans, we haven't seen the deep ball, the explosive play. They threw one to Gesicki for the touchdown where he split four defenders. But I think a lot of that is a function of how they're defensed. And I could look this up. I would be willing to bet that like air yards per completion for Joe Burrow, 2020, 2021, there's a very good chance higher than the last three years because I think teams have changed how they've played against the Bengals. And that's why the Bengals are going under center more. Cody, I enjoyed it, man. Thanks so much.
01:00:23
Speaker 6: Yeah, thanks.
01:00:24
Speaker 3: Appreciate it. All right, Phillies, I appreciate the phone call. Phillies have tied the game. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, back-to-back, 3-3, top eight in Atlanta. Phillies and Braves in a good one. Wise Money Sports next.
01:00:38
Speaker 7: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Kingdom Built Exteriors on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:00:50
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:00:54
Speaker 2: Traffic horde join wayne box miller and me for bengals game plan tonight starting at six on the official home of the bengals cincinnati's espn all.
01:01:03
Speaker 3: Right very late thank you dan sports headlines are a service of kelsey chevrolet home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed Credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. Bengals injury report is out. Dalton Reisner, no go because of a knee. We'll talk about that with Kelsey Conway at 520. No go for Kyle Duggar either. Quad issue. Brian Cook and Jordan Battle both listed as limited. Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 live on ESPN 1530. The only man to coach UC men's basketball and Xavier men's basketball, Tay Baker, who was an assistant coach on the 1961 and 62 national championship teams passes away at the age of 99 just a few days after his 99th birthday baseball playoffs uh national league wild card series bottom of the eighth inning in atlanta braves and phillies tied at three uh game three is set to begin in about 20 minutes in houston between the white socks and astros later tonight in the bronx it's the yankees and red socks game two yankees up one nothing in that one padres won game one last night In blowout fashion, they host the Cubs in game two. It's time. Wise Money Sports with our friend Brad Johansson from Omega Wealth Private Capital. And I got lots of questions about this. I know you don't want to go down this road, but the baseball lockout is coming.
01:02:22
Speaker 1: I really, you know, when they talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, I go, you know, I don't think it's coming. It's probably coming.
01:02:29
Speaker 3: The lockout is coming.
01:02:30
Speaker 18: Yeah.
01:02:30
Speaker 3: Does that mean we'll miss games? I don't know. But I read this, right? So MLB's got a myriad of TV deals, local and national. The magic number is 60.
01:02:41
Speaker 15: Uh-huh.
01:02:43
Speaker 3: If at least 60.
01:02:44
Speaker 5: Games are lost in 2027, most of baseball's national media agreements would reportedly extend an additional year.
01:02:52
Speaker 3: This is not what baseball wants.
01:02:54
Speaker 4: No.
01:02:55
Speaker 3: They want the short-term payday. They want to start negotiating right now. If they miss 60 games or more, this kicks that can down the sidewalk. So this is where a labor dispute becomes a financial planning problem for an entire industry.
01:03:10
Speaker 1: This is a financial planning problem of great proportion. But it works into that idea. Do you have a plan for the what if when it all goes south? All right. So 2027, even if games are missed, the networks still are going to owe.
01:03:29
Speaker 14: Okay.
01:03:30
Speaker 6: Okay.
01:03:30
Speaker 1: And we know that we've got network issues. We've got real big local issues that we can get into later. In exchange, you miss all of those games, at least by most national contracts. The networks would not have to pay the normal fee for this extension in 2029. So you can say, oh, networks would love that. Except what are networks going to do to fill games now? during this time. You've got a problem either way on the what if. That's the biggest deal. How do you fill airtime, and what's it going to cost you if it's missed?
01:04:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's the part of it that a lot of us don't really consider. Maybe a lot of folks don't care, but that's a lot of innings to use the baseball parlance. What do we do with the.
01:04:18
Speaker 1: Clicker all the time or the streamer or the whatever? Do we still call it a remote? It's still a remote.
01:04:23
Speaker 3: It is a remote control, yes.
01:04:25
Speaker 1: It used to be able to do the clicking. Now most people are doing the streaming, so it's irritating to go back and forth. and figure out what's on, there's nothing on, there's nothing on. And if you're a sports watcher and baseball season's gone, you've got an issue.
01:04:39
Speaker 3: So these negotiations, pretty much any negotiation, often about leverage. Who has more leverage here? Owners who could lose enormous long-term media value or the players who are going to be immediately losing paychecks, many of whom are not making seven figures.
01:04:55
Speaker 1: Many of whom are not making seven figures. So in the short term... It's the players. I can't do this anymore. I'm going to have to figure out something else to do because I can't do my paychecks. Owners get into it by saying, you know what? I have all of this. This is the leverage that I have. This really isn't paper money that I have. We've talked about this in other shows. It's leverage that I have. And where am I going to get it if I need it? Owners will get out. And we've already seen part of that. I don't know whether there's a winner here. Everybody loses in this.
01:05:35
Speaker 3: The national TV contracts are going to get all the attention when people write about this on a macro level. But what happens to individual teams, especially in smaller markets?
01:05:45
Speaker 1: Reds are hurting. We already know that on broadcast level. I've talked about this on news station levels, but now all of the games are going to other networks and how do you figure that whole thing and that's where i'm talking about filling the airtime uh what is it if you don't play roughly 125 do 145 depending on the individual agreement um you've got an issue and you've got to figure it out yankees can do it dodgers can do it mets can do it in big markets you can't you can't do it here because that's tied to what's coming in to helping you pay players and dealing with stadium. You're dealing with lost tickets, concessions, parking, advertising. This becomes an LW thing, you know, and everything that goes along with it. Potential broadcast rebates that you've got to deal with. It is a mess. I don't know how people are dealing with this, but if you see the market crashing, you got to figure out where else to get your money. The market's crashing right now in baseball, and you're going to have to figure out a way to get some more money.
01:07:03
Speaker 3: Let's talk about money meters, because we all have individual money meters. So for baseball, the money meter is 60 games.
01:07:12
Speaker 1: Okay.
01:07:13
Speaker 4: Yeah.
01:07:13
Speaker 1: So the financial end of this whole thing is.
01:07:19
Speaker 1: Potentially you get towards a media rights cycle. MLB wants a new deal. Everybody always wants it. We've seen this with NFL, seen it with NBA. Major League Baseball wants a new deal. Can't get into a new deal if you miss the 60s. So you've got national contracts extending for another year if you miss more than that. Potential delays for larger media paydays, which I have to have because they're going to include inflation. Complicated economically on both sides. Sometimes the most important thing, when we talk about a number in business, it is not the revenue. It's the number that's hidden in the fine print. So 60 is in the fine print. We've got some issues if we've got over 60. Are you flipping the coin on this? You're a betting man. Is it going to be more than 60 or not? I think we're going to get to like May 1st. I think we're going to get to May 1st, and that's going to wipe away some revenue. That's going to wipe away some tonnage. So you think under, because May 1st is way under 60. Yeah, I'm going to guess we have— Year 35, 40 kind of thing. Yeah, something like that. But it's funny. I've talked to people with the Reds.
01:08:41
Speaker 5: I talk to folks in media and people who cover the sport. And I can find, like, if you're looking for somebody to tell you they're going to play 162, you'll find that person. If you're looking for someone to give you doomsday, who will tell you maybe we'll play in 2028?
01:08:56
Speaker 1: Have you found somebody with the Reds who says they're going to play 162?
01:09:00
Speaker 3: No, but you can find folks who will say not necessarily with the Reds. Like, dude, we're going to play baseball maybe in.
01:09:06
Speaker 1: 2028, maybe.
01:09:06
Speaker 3: Like, you can run the gamut. What I hope for, and I think I told you this. Whatever the agreement is, I want it to be more than four years. I don't want to do this every four years. We did this in 2022. Give me a 10, 15 year agreement. That's probably unrealistic. I just don't want to be doing this every four years.
01:09:25
Speaker 6: Of course you don't.
01:09:26
Speaker 1: And yet we will, because that's what we do is that I'm not going beyond four years because in four years, how do I know how much it's going to be worth? That's the problem.
01:09:36
Speaker 3: Football is under a CBA right now that is currently an 11 year deal. I can't do this every four years. For me as a fan.
01:09:45
Speaker 1: So why do you think baseball is doing it differently than the NFL is doing it?
01:09:49
Speaker 5: I think when they approved the current CBA in 2022, that the agreement was made on both sides begrudgingly.
01:09:59
Speaker 3: They were coming out of COVID. It's like, dude, we didn't get ticket revenue in 2020. We had a weird season in 2021 because protocols were still in place. Are we really going to bag games in 2022?
01:10:10
Speaker 1: I'll put the over-under number on you at under 10% that they do more.
01:10:15
Speaker 3: More than a four-year deal. Oh, I think that's realistic, yeah. I just, as a fan, I'm tired of hearing. I'm tired of owners telling us how poor they are. I'm tired of players and the posturing. I'm tired of all of it. I just want baseball. I want the ancillary benefit. If the sport looks different coming out of this, fine. I just want it to be whatever it is for the foreseeable future. I don't want the CBA to be a presidential term. And I'll go back to this. I think finances coming in aren't the same as the NFL and the NBA.
01:10:47
Speaker 1: And you know why? They play 17 games for a season in the NFL, and everybody's.
01:10:53
Speaker 6: There for it.
01:10:55
Speaker 1: They play way too many games in the NBA because nobody cares until it gets to playoffs. But it's enough that it's still a place to be seen. I don't know whether baseball's a place to be seen for 162 games that people are going to last with that, that you're going to get a 10-year deal.
01:11:11
Speaker 15: Yes.
01:11:12
Speaker 3: When we have a CBA, we're probably going to get expansion. So here are some of the cities that are being discussed. Nashville, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Montreal, Orlando, Portland. There are others. ESPN's Jeff Passan did a piece sort of looking at the pros and cons of all the different cities.
01:11:26
Speaker 1: And I don't know how many. What's the belief on what's going to be added when you list these?
01:11:31
Speaker 9: Two.
01:11:32
Speaker 3: One East Coast, one West Coast. I think that's the realistic expectation. Baseball hasn't expanded since 98 at Tampa Bay and Arizona. What's interesting about this is in some of these cities, they don't know.
01:11:45
Speaker 1: Who the owner is going to be.
01:11:47
Speaker 3: And so we talk a lot about like, well, what if the Reds got sold? Here's my question for you. What's a better investment? Buying an existing major league team or buying one on the ground floor in a city like Nashville or Salt Lake City?
01:12:00
Speaker 1: I think this is ego and finance.
01:12:02
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:12:03
Speaker 1: Period. If I want bang for my buck, I'm going to pick a city where it's already there. Is it Cincinnati? Maybe. Is there enough for me to build on in Cincinnati?
01:12:17
Speaker 17: Maybe.
01:12:18
Speaker 1: I already have a stadium that people like. How long is it going to be likable? Do I have to build another one? My ego says, you know what, I want to start from scratch. Let me start from scratch and show you what I can do. But it's a $ 2. 5 billion buy-in for the franchise. That does not count the stadiums. That doesn't count front desk, front office, the players salary that you've got to pay for all the crap that you now know that you've got to build around your stadium and parking and all of this is a minimum $ 4 billion buy-in. And then some, because you've got to figure out how do I build this from scratch?
01:13:06
Speaker 3: Right.
01:13:07
Speaker 1: If you are that guy, who wants to architecturally say, you know what, that was me, then it's an ego thing. I would much rather write less of a check and start where I know I have it and say, you did this wrong, you did this wrong, you did this wrong. Let me try and fix this while I've got it there.
01:13:30
Speaker 3: I think I'd rather start from scratch. I mean, look, I'm not going to be in the market for a team either way.
01:13:35
Speaker 1: Why don't you want one that exists?
01:13:38
Speaker 3: I don't know.
01:13:40
Speaker 1: You want to start from scratch just because that's your building.
01:13:43
Speaker 3: Because that sounds more fun, quite frankly.
01:13:45
Speaker 6: Okay.
01:13:45
Speaker 3: That sounds more fun.
01:13:46
Speaker 1: And it costs you. So if you've got the deeper pockets from the ground up, then it's more fun to build from.
01:13:52
Speaker 3: The ground up. Because you could talk about, well, it's the owner with the white hat. He comes into the town where the team is struggling, and he's a hero. But people hate change. And so as an owner, you're going to change stuff people don't like. You're going to change the uniforms or the broadcaster. I want to start fresh where nobody's mad at me for anything I changed.
01:14:10
Speaker 1: Oh, you don't think people are going to be mad at you because you start from scratch? Every idea you come up with will be brilliant. Oh, those are great uniforms. That's a great design for a stadium.
01:14:21
Speaker 3: Here's the one thing I will say. I think we're out of cool team nicknames, right? I think we're out of cool team nicknames.
01:14:28
Speaker 1: I'm not with you on that either. I don't have one coming out of my head.
01:14:32
Speaker 3: They just moved a hockey team to Utah, called it the Mammoth. It's not even plural. We're out of cool team nicknames. It's brutal.
01:14:40
Speaker 1: That just means people are making bad decisions. So somebody there is pissed off that their team's now named the Mammoth.
01:14:49
Speaker 5: Let's talk about how to not make bad decisions. Omega Wealth Private Capital. Yeah, you need a vital report. And this is vital for MLB. This is vital for you. How do I deal with my volatility? Because here your market, could it potentially crash? Where's your money? Do you have your income set? What are your tax situations going to be? Not just now, but 20 years from now. How do you do on your asset preservation? Do you have a place to go for money? And what's your legacy plan?
01:15:18
Speaker 1: Do you know that your money's going where you want it to go instead of where the government wants it to go? You need a little vital report at Omega Wealth Private Capital.
01:15:29
Speaker 3: OWPrivateCapital.com. Brad, thanks so much. We'll go to Jacksonville next, ESPN 1530. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:15:38
Speaker 9: Traffic from the uc bangles it's a big cat clash and the bangles are on the prowl for a win.
01:15:46
Speaker 16: To get one they'll have to jolt the jaguars and trust me her will fly you might call it a pouncer palooza it's spot versus stripes the game kicks off at 1 p.m Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
01:16:09
Speaker 3: You know what's cool is when you get to the postseason, they actually play real baseball in extra innings, which is what's happening in Atlanta right now. And the Phillies, we've got back-to-back homers in the eighth. Just got a solo shot from Alec Boehm with still two guys on. Top ten in Atlanta. Phillies up 4-3. We'll keep you up to date. Kelsey Conway from TheEnquirer and Sensei.com. In 15 minutes, she'll sort through the mess of injuries the Bengals are dealing with in the secondary and also discuss what's up with Dalton Reisner, who popped up on the injury report today with a knee issue. That is just about 15 minutes away.
01:16:48
Speaker 19: But.
01:16:49
Speaker 3: with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming to town on Sunday for a second consecutive year. It's an opportunity for us to bring in somebody who knows more about the Jacksonville Jaguars than anybody from 1010XL in Jacksonville, Lauren Brooks. Two years in a row, we get to have a host of helmets and heels on that radio station. Hi, Lauren.
01:17:09
Speaker 18: Hello, how are you?
01:17:10
Speaker 10: I'm well.
01:17:10
Speaker 3: Give me a 30,000-foot encapsulation of the first three Jacksonville Jaguars games.
01:17:17
Speaker 14: Okay, it's nice and easy. Week one, butt-whooping. Week three, butt-whooping by the Jaguars. Both of those. Week two, Jaguars.
01:17:25
Speaker 19: Have a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter in Denver. Mile high going crazy. Jaguars obviously won there last year. Couldn't hold on to the lead, and Denver finished off that game winners 20-13. So Jaguars really felt like they let one go there, but obviously it was a revenge game for Denver.
01:17:43
Speaker 3: All right, so when they've been really good and they have spent most of their first three games, despite the loss in the middle, being really, really good, what have they been best at? Mm-hmm.
01:17:52
Speaker 19: So offensively, Trevor Lawrence is playing at an elite level, kind of like how he finished the season with the one caveat being that's our outlier being that game, the wildcard game against the Bills. He looks a little off that game. But each game this year, outside of maybe a few throws here and there, he's looked fantastic. And he's finding multiple weapons, too, like we talked about, really all offseason offensively.
01:18:16
Speaker 14: Who is going to be.
01:18:17
Speaker 19: The leading receiver on this Jaguars team? Some people thought Parker Washington, some people Brian Thomas Jr. since his rookie season was so good. And then, of course, you just paid Jacoby Myers the soft season as well after trading for him last year. Then you've got Britton Strange and you draft two tight ends. And then, of course, the running backs and Bashaw Tootin. And then they signed Chris Rodriguez from the commanders. Offensively, I would say they want to get the run game going more, but the passing offense has been elite. And then defensively, the run defense continues to be the best in the NFL. Deron Hamilton is, as Josh Heinz-Allens says, the best nose tackle in the NFL, even though he certainly doesn't get the credit or national acclaim for that.
01:18:56
Speaker 14: And then as far as the.
01:18:57
Speaker 19: Secondary, it needs some improvement, but we are seeing more snaps by Travis Hunter on defense. So going to probably see a little bit more man coming up against the Bengals. But as you well know, it's going to be hard no matter what you do to cover some of those guys.
01:19:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question about it. You mentioned the secondary needs to improve. What is the biggest... Either side of the ball, what's the biggest team deficiency?
01:19:20
Speaker 14: So I would say it's probably the.
01:19:24
Speaker 19: The passing defense, which, I mean, it gave up way too many yards to Jalen Waddell. Really, against the Browns, there was only the one touchdown that they gave up, so they played really well against the Browns, and then the Patriots didn't score a touchdown. So it's really hard to kind of nitpick, or I feel like I'm nitpicking. It's hard to say that there's a major deficiency.
01:19:41
Speaker 14: Really, but at times.
01:19:43
Speaker 19: the opponents have been able to take advantage of maybe like a Buster Brown's.
01:19:47
Speaker 14: Lack of speed.
01:19:48
Speaker 19: He was also paid this offseason. He's really a good corner against the run. But at times, if there's an elite receiver, they're going to probably take advantage of that matchup. So we are seeing a little bit more of Jarrion Jones. And then, like I mentioned, Travis Hunter. So I think they're just trying to find their best guys there as far as the secondary is concerned.
01:20:07
Speaker 3: Lauren Brooks from 1010XL in Jacksonville. Based on how the second half of the season went last year, where they were offensively, in particular, an absolute wagon. They obviously lost in the postseason. We paid attention to that here. But just based on winning 13 games last year, the success the Jags had, what's the overall fan sentiment about 2026? Is it they've got to get to the AFC Championship game? Is it deeper than that? Is it Super Bowl and bust? Like, what is it?
01:20:36
Speaker 14: Yeah, I think it's a good question.
01:20:37
Speaker 19: Everyone believes certainly in Liam Cohen, but the Jags fan base is so scarred from all the other years of having one good season and then falling completely off. That happened after 2017's great run and it happened after the 2022 season. So I think the standard or the expectation right now.
01:20:57
Speaker 14: They fell short of doing that last year. And I mean, a lot of fans obviously thought that.
01:21:01
Speaker 19: And media too, honestly, if the Jaguars had beaten the Bills, they thought the Jags would be in the Super Bowl, just the way that obviously everything shook out with Bo Nix and the Broncos, his injury. So, and the Jags, I think, would have beaten the Patriots not as easily as they did this past Sunday, but I.
01:21:16
Speaker 14: Think they would have beaten them.
01:21:17
Speaker 19: So either way, the i don't think fans are saying in year two under liam cohen they have to go to the fc championship game or they have to go to the super bowl but i think by next year that's certainly where the expectations uh will be but of course last year as you well know no chiefs no ravens no bangles so uh that's why it was your opportunity bills and they didn't take advantage of it and jags kind of feel like they let one slip but i would say uh The Jags fan base right now is just so thankful that they got to 2-1 because they were very afraid of going to 1-2 and then maybe losing to the Bengals and then going to London and losing either.
01:21:51
Speaker 14: To the Texans or Eagles or maybe both.
01:21:53
Speaker 3: What we knew about Liam Cohen at this time a year ago when you and I talked one game into his head coaching tenure was he was highly regarded as an offensive mind and also he never stayed in one city for more than a year. That's obviously changed in his current capacity. Give me what his biggest strength is as a head coach.
01:22:12
Speaker 19: Yeah, he's able to find the edge with his team. He's very relatable. He holds them accountable. And there's something about, I think, his age, like the fact that he's only around 40, that he really does connect with the players. But obviously, the play calling. If you have a head coach that you fully trust as your play caller, you don't have to worry as much about if you lose your offensive coordinator, right?
01:22:33
Speaker 14: Right.
01:22:34
Speaker 19: That's the thing that I don't think the Jags had had such confidence in a play call in a long time. There was this whole controversy here as far as Zach Taylor's brother press was Doug Peterson calling the plays was press Taylor calling the plays at the end of the day. I think it was press Taylor all along, but the play calling just got stagnant. And so Liam Cohen is a mastermind when it comes to the different formations and catching defenses off guard.
01:22:57
Speaker 3: Awesome stuff, Lauren. I appreciate the time. Thanks so much.
01:23:01
Speaker 14: Well, absolutely.
01:23:02
Speaker 19: Hope all goes well this week.
01:23:04
Speaker 3: Well, from our perspective, yes. From the Jacksonville perspective, maybe not quite as much, but should be a fun game nonetheless.
01:23:11
Speaker 14: Well, yeah, so many injuries I know piling up for you guys, so good luck.
01:23:14
Speaker 3: A bunch of them. It's going to be interesting. Lauren Brooks, awesome stuff. I appreciate it. 1010XL in Jacksonville. She does a nice job. Helmets and Heels, two to four weekday afternoons. 13 after five o'clock, Bengals and Jags on Sunday. Bengals game plan tonight, starring Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. At 6.05, Kelsey Conway is going to join us in a few minutes. Bengals injury report has on it Dalton Reisner with a knee, which that's a surprise relative to, I think, what we were expecting yesterday. I think it's unsurprising. Jordan Battle limited. Brian Cook limited. Kyle Duggar a no-go. Reisner a no-go with a knee issue. So we'll sift through all that with Kelsey in just a few minutes. Also, Taryn wants me to address... Some of the things happening on the chat on our video stream. Are they good? Are they things like, I'll ask you this. When I look at them, am I going to be mad?
01:24:10
Speaker 6: No, no, no, no.
01:24:11
Speaker 4: Okay.
01:24:11
Speaker 3: Are folks having fun?
01:24:13
Speaker 9: Yes.
01:24:13
Speaker 6: Just a lot going on in the chat.
01:24:14
Speaker 3: I got an email here from somebody who asked, I guess I mentioned this in passing a couple weeks ago. Am I ever going to tell my Chris Hammond story? Chris Hammond, the early 90s Reds pitcher. I don't think I can. I don't think I can do that. I don't know why I mentioned that, but there's a Chris Hammond story from my teenage years that I know. I like mentioning that I have a Chris Hammond story, but I don't think I could tell it. So I'll respond to that email on the air. I'm sorry I ever even mentioned that I had a Chris Hammond story, but no, I don't know that I can do that. 34 years have passed since the time of the Chris Hammond story, but the statute of limitations hasn't... Hasn't expired yet. Uh, we got to talk to Kelsey because there's more important things than my Chris Hammond story. Kelsey joins us next quarter after five, uh, Braves have a guy on one out bottom 10 Phillies up for three. And the guy on actually got on because he earned getting on base. I am in favor of nearly all the baseball rule changes we've dealt with this decade. And I know, like, we just got done with year seven of the Magic Runner on second base and extra innings in the regular season. You know that rule stinks because they don't play baseball that way when the games matter the most. 4-3 Phillies, bottom of the 10th inning. Phillies tried to even the series at a game apiece. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:25:45
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
01:25:50
Speaker 9: From the UC Health.
01:25:51
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.
01:26:00
Speaker 7: This is Football in the Natty, brought to you in part by Skyline Chili on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:26:12
Speaker 3: Very quickly, before we get to our friend Kelsey Conway, that game at Atlanta goes final. We had an ABS challenge, a successful ABS challenge that ended the game. with former Red Dominic Smith striking out, looking with two on and two outs. Bottom of the 10th inning, so the Phillies win that ball game 4-1. Decisive game three tomorrow. Also, the White Sox up early four in the first and still batting, leading the Astros four-zip game two there. Kelsey Conway is with us every Wednesday, 5-20, from the Enquirer and Cincinnati.com, host of the Beyond Sunday podcast. Who's going to play in the secondary on Sunday?
01:26:49
Speaker 20: You know, I actually just got done writing a story that will be up on the Inquirer momentarily. And boy, is it... You totally go through the depth chart because there's almost like a trickle-down effect for almost every single injury that the Bengals have in the secondary. And that's why it is a tricky situation that Al Golden and Zach Taylor are going to have to work through. Because when Jalen Davis went out, we haven't talked about Desir Taylor being on IR and how much... of an issue that is for them. So they're down their top two slot corners. So then, of course, that means Dax Hill, who wants to play outside, is better outside, has to move inside because he's their best option there. So then that leaves an opening opposite of DJ Turner outside at cornerback that will either be given to DJ Ivy or Takario Davis. Hasn't been a great showing for Takario Davis through three games, three costly penalties, little bit, So they're probably going to go with DJ Ivy for the start. But you've seen DJ Ivy here now. He's in his fourth season. You kind of know what you're going to get. He's a guy who plays hard. But can you trust him that he's going to be able to lock down the Jacksonville receivers? And then we're not even talking about safety.
01:28:07
Speaker 3: Safety is almost.
01:28:08
Speaker 20: even more of a concern because Jordan battle was limited today with a hamstring injury. Brian cook didn't practice neither did Kyle Duggar. So then you're focusing on a player like Russ yeast, who's currently on the practice squad. So they're going to give him some reps in practice this week. And they think if they have to go with him, they feel confident that, about that. They also can go towards PJ Jules. But again, that's a player who is mostly on the team for what he gives them from special teams standpoint. So it's kind of of a mess and they're going to wait and see how the rest of the week goes as far as Brian Cook. And Kyle Duggar, if they can get them to a position where maybe Saturday they gave them enough rest. Brian Cook's the type of player who I think could play at a high level if he doesn't practice. But it's a lot of moving pieces, and it's not going to be pretty. And of all games, for them to not have their top players in the secondary, this one's a tough one because... They're not talked about that much because it's a small market team, but Jacksonville's got a really, really strong trio.
01:29:12
Speaker 14: Of wide receivers.
01:29:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question. Then I look on the report and there's Dalton Reisner. What's up with that?
01:29:17
Speaker 8: Yeah.
01:29:18
Speaker 20: So I noticed that out of practice today because I try to take role of the attendance of the offensive lineman, and he wasn't out there. And he's had a bandage on his leg the last couple of weeks, I've noticed. So I don't know if something happened on that final play, obviously the game-sealing play that he got beat on. But it is a little bit of a concern that he wasn't even out there at practice. But I did see him in the locker room come out of the training room. He looked like he was walking okay. So we will see if he's able to come back in practice. Usually with a player like Dalton Reisner, who's a veteran, it's hard to gauge what what they could be because they are the type of players that can take a Wednesday off. So Thursday is going to be the really telling day for Dalton Reisner because Thursday is when they really put the entire game plan in and that's their heavy day of practice. So definitely keep an eye on the injury report tomorrow with Dalton Reisner. But yeah, not an ideal situation for the Bengals to be in with him being bagged up too.
01:30:20
Speaker 3: No, no, not at all. This team enjoyed such great health. Yeah, no, there's a lot there. This team enjoyed such great health that it's seemingly all come crashing down. What was, like, the most damning thing that you saw on Sunday in Pittsburgh?
01:30:36
Speaker 20: The most damning thing I saw is, and it all goes back to this conversation about injuries, because no team, unless, you know, you're a like it's going to go through a season where they don't have a few games where they just don't play their best. Like nobody and Dexter Lawrence said it, like we're not going to go undefeated without what that wasn't the goal. But what is concerning to me is that the way they played in Pittsburgh on defense wasn't great. And I, They still had a chance to win, and boy, it's going to be hard to say if the Bengals are going to win. They're going to have to play really, really well to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars with what they're dealing with in the secondary. But how much different would you feel if they had won that game in Pittsburgh and And they're 3-1 heading into a game against Miami that they should win. And then they have a chance to be 4-1 at the bye. I think what was concerning to me is that that was a game that the Bengals needed to win in Pittsburgh. They were definitely the better team. They just didn't show up on defense on all three levels. And that's what's concerning to me is because... If they do lose to the Jaguars, two and two is a very different look than three and one. And obviously it's still early in the season. I'm not trying to say like there's panic should be involved. But I think that's what's concerning is to me is because, you know, there's going to be games where you're not going to have your best players. And those are the ones where you can kind of live.
01:31:58
Speaker 14: With a loss.
01:31:59
Speaker 20: The one in Pittsburgh, it's hard to live with because it should have been a win.
01:32:04
Speaker 3: What do we do with this whole they're 1-34 when they're trailing with less than eight minutes to go stat that everybody's obsessing over?
01:32:12
Speaker 20: You know, I think that's being taken out of context, and I was glad that Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Fitzpatrick talked about it on their podcast. I do think that it's misleading to some extent, but I get why it's being talked about right now. Listen, until Joe Burrow can stay healthy and until he can string together four or five games where he has game-winning drive, that narrative probably won't change. But I think as someone who watched that game in Pittsburgh, I remember going into the fourth quarter like, Burrow has looked the best that he has looked all season today. Like I think to, to even point out a negative, he played really well in Pittsburgh and again, was far from the reason that they lost that game. I think the point to those things with how well Joe Burrow has played over the last couple of years, to me, it seems like a bit much, but I can see why it's, you know, something that's swirling. But I think the bigger conversation is, is how many times did they put him in a position to have to win the game where there's times where if they would just run the ball and play for the time, but they put the ball in his hand so much that it's going to lead to conversations about, is it too much? Are they putting too much on him? So I always look at those types of stats with, with, some perspective in mind because I think that's important because Joe Burrow played fantastic in Pittsburgh and it was not his fault that they lost that game.
01:33:38
Speaker 3: We're on the same page there. Thank you as always. We'll talk next week.
01:33:43
Speaker 20: Thanks for having me on, Mo.
01:33:44
Speaker 3: That's the great Kelsey Conway from The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com and host of the Beyond Sunday podcast which focuses on the significant others of Bengals players. It's 5.30. We have.
01:33:58
Speaker 3: The rest of the show is an open canvas, a blank canvas.
01:34:01
Speaker 6: Read the chat.
01:34:02
Speaker 3: I'll read the chat after sports headlines when we come back. 5.30, ESPN 1530, Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:34:11
Speaker 7: You've been listening to Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:34:21
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:34:22
Speaker 9: Traffic. From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC. Police and emergency.
01:34:40
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
01:35:11
Speaker 3: Sports headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of... Lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. What happened to me there? Puberty. I'm just going through it. The Bengals injury report. Are you ready? Dalton Reisner is on and out today. Did not practice.
01:35:35
Speaker 1: Knee issue.
01:35:35
Speaker 3: Jordan Battle. Hammy Limited. Brian Cook. Ankle Limited. Kyle Duggar.
01:35:39
Speaker 5: Quad.
01:35:40
Speaker 3: DNP. More tonight. Bengals game plan starting at 6 on ESPN 1530. And the game is on Sunday at 1 o'clock on ESPN 1530. Make sure you join us on Sunday morning starting at 9 a.m. Tony and I fresh off a plane from Arizona. It's going to be fun. starting at nine o'clock at the Holy Grail. Tay Baker, Tay Baker is a significant figure in local college basketball history. He coached both UC and Xavier. He was an assistant coach on Cincinnati's two national title teams in 61 and 62. He would then go on to become the program's head coach, had a record of 125 and 60. Later on, he would go coach at Xavier for a number of years with a record of 70 and 89 and I think I've told this story before. His 96th birthday. He just turned 99 a few days ago. His 96th birthday, and I'm almost certain it was 96. There was an event at a church in Norwood and Jim Scott, legendary radio host, was supposed to emcee it. He had just been diagnosed with ALS and didn't feel comfortable. So he asked me to do it in his stead and it was awesome. I got to meet Tay Baker, and it was this room full of players, men from the 61 and 62 team, and then a lot of players that he had coached at UC when he was the head coach, and a lot of guys that he had coached at Xavier when he was Xavier's head coach. Don Donaher was there, the legendary Dayton coach. That was an awesome event. At 96 years old at the time, he was very, very with it and very, very kind. That was really cool. Baseball playoffs. Phillies and Braves will go to a decisive game three. Alec Boehm with a home run in the top of the 10th inning. Phillies come from behind to win 4-3 over Atlanta. Right now, the White Sox and Astros are playing in the bottom of the first inning. Chicago put up a four spot. Houston has answered back. And it's 4-1 with the Astros batting in the top of the first inning. Jeremy Pena with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the first for Houston, but still some work to do down three. Later tonight in the Bronx, it's the Yankees and Red Sox game two. Game one of that series, a blowout. Cam Schlittler was terrific last night. And the Yankees with a 1-0 series lead after winning 9-0 in the Padres, winning 8-0 in Game 1 last night over the Cubs. Game 2 is later this evening. 20 from 6 o'clock. Taren, you want me to read the comments in the chat for the folks who are watching on our video stream?
01:38:27
Speaker 6: Yes, make them feel like they're a part of the show.
01:38:28
Speaker 3: On Twitter and on YouTube.
01:38:29
Speaker 5: All right all right do you want to read them or do you want me to just sift through them in real.
01:38:33
Speaker 6: Time you can sift through some of them all right.
01:38:38
Speaker 3: Uh there's a lot of them here they've been busy so if i scroll all day there's a time okay let's go let's go.
01:38:45
Speaker 6: There's a lot here.
01:38:49
Speaker 3: Um, so far here are the comments who day I, I, I appreciate that, but are, are the comments going to be, I don't know. I mean, like there's, there's not a lot to respond to. Like when someone says who day, it's like saying, hi, you just respond with a who day.
01:39:07
Speaker 5: So who day, uh, same person predicts the Bengals win the game on Sunday, 30 to 24. Uh, we've.
01:39:14
Speaker 3: Got another who day, a lot of O's in that one. Hope the defense doesn't let up 20-plus again.
01:39:20
Speaker 4: I agree.
01:39:21
Speaker 3: The injuries plus this Jacksonville offense. I'm scared. I'm nervous. A little apprehensive. All right, Taren, I'm going to keep going here. Not that I don't appreciate the folks who have left comments.
01:39:36
Speaker 6: Here's one.
01:39:36
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you. Thank you.
01:39:38
Speaker 6: It says, Mo, do you agree or not? Less money on wide receivers and more money on the offense on the lines. I don't know.
01:39:43
Speaker 3: It's not like they haven't paid Ted Karras. It's not like they haven't paid Orlando Brown. I think they're going to have... Amarius Mims is going to be the next guy to get paid. But until you have consistently good offensive lines, it's going to be hard to refute that. Now, they have a former first-round pick. They have a former second-round pick, both on the line right now. Dalton Reisner was... you know, a bargain-free agent that, you know.
01:40:13
Speaker 5: Him allowing contact on Joe Burrow, the pivotal one with the game last week, notwithstanding, has kind of worked out.
01:40:20
Speaker 3: But like, I mean, they've gone heavy early in the draft. Jackson Carman was an early round pick. All those guys, Kappa and Lyle Collins, and I mean, they've spent money on the offensive line. The fact that they've paid the wide receivers does not preclude you from spending elsewhere. They spent a lot of money on defense this offseason. They've invested heavy draft. If they're ever going to have an elite offensive line, it's mainly going to happen via the draft. I think we would all acknowledge that. And maybe there's some good long-term solutions with Brian Parker and Connor Lou, but like, I don't know that signing Higgins and Chase should preclude them from having a good offensive line. Could it keep them from getting the best of the best of the best guy, the most expensive free agent at one of the offensive line positions? I guess so, but Like when they got Orlando Brown, I, you know, right now he's paid kind of like an average left tackle. He was not when they first got him. Um, and again, like Amarius Mims, early round pick Dylan Fairchild, early round pick. That's if they're ever going to have a consistently great offensive line, that's where it's going to come from. Um, I just... I think the money has still been there to invest in an offensive line.
01:41:39
Speaker 15: See that?
01:41:39
Speaker 3: Now, Taren, that was better than me just sifting through this long list of people participating in the.
01:41:44
Speaker 6: I don't want the folks in the chat to know they are seen. We do see them. We see you.
01:41:48
Speaker 3: Like, I'll keep going here. There's one person left a lot. Mo, my UC Bearcat brother. I like that.
01:41:56
Speaker 18: Yes.
01:41:57
Speaker 3: By the way, this is a golden opportunity on Saturday for UC.
01:42:01
Speaker 5: Um.
01:42:03
Speaker 3: That was a good win over Kansas state. They fell behind 10 early. And then I'll stop short of saying they dominated the game on the ground, but Jabron pain and cold tab, cold tab. These last two games has been just terrific. They legitimately, I think can run the ball. Well, the question is when they are really, truly forced to have to throw it, are they going to be able to, and that's the skepticism that, Like you can talk about skepticism, Satterfield and you know, the track record in November and stuff like that. What I want to know is like when, when they're in a game where JC French has to make throws downfield, the question is, can he, but also will he be willing to? Cause there's just, it feels like there's a gun shyness to him and apprehensiveness to him. I don't think you could have that this week. Dan Hoard said this in the postgame show last week, that of all the losses the Bearcats incurred late last season, I think the one that stung the most was the loss to Arizona here. Their touchdown underdogs, I've said for a while, they need a win in the kind of game that they're not supposed to. Now, you could argue, well, wait a minute, they were five and a half or six and a half point underdogs against Kansas State. Okay, but that game was here. They need a make people perk up type of win. And playing Arizona isn't like playing Texas Tech. They'll get their shot at the Red Raiders in a few weeks. And I know the game is going to be close to midnight, but a win at Arizona, I think would make people perk up. Noah Fafita is a good quarterback. He's been at Arizona forever. He's a rarity in this day and age. Good player. They need a make people perk up type of win. And then if Rick is referring to basketball, I can't wait. Next Wednesday. I know it's an exhibition. I know we all wish that UC and Xavier and Dayton and UC and Xavier play each other and UD and UC play each other. I wish I know there's there's this thought. I get it, man. Wish these were regular season. I can't wait to see. That's the fun thing about this era. We're in a college basketball as hard as it is to follow the comings and goings. Like we get real exhibition games where you get a better sense, not a complete sense, but a better sense of what everybody has. I can't wait for that next Wednesday. I can't wait for college basketball to be here. All right, Taryn, how am I doing addressing the comments in the video chat?
01:44:27
Speaker 6: That's good. I just want to show some love to the chat.
01:44:29
Speaker 3: Okay, well, we do see you. We appreciate you watching. Please subscribe to our YouTube. I've been told, got to do a better job mentioning that you have a YouTube channel. Yes, the Moe Eggers show on YouTube. One person says, fire Zach Taylor by the by. Fire Zach Taylor talk by the by. Dude, they lose this week and to Miami?
01:44:52
Speaker 4: Yes.
01:44:54
Speaker 3: That's all anybody's going to be talking about. I think the Dolphins are going winless, by the way. If you go to the game this week, or if you go downtown at the banks and you're walking around, you should ask random strangers, can you name a Miami Dolphins wide receiver? Can you name, now that Devon Achan has heard, can you name an active Miami Dolphins skill player?
01:45:19
Speaker 6: What about this one? As a young listener, he really enjoys live streams.
01:45:24
Speaker 3: Well, thank you.
01:45:25
Speaker 6: How do you grade Zach Taylor so far this season?
01:45:33
Speaker 3: Boy, it's a small sample size, and so big mistakes matter more. The needing a timeout at the start of a drive with the game hanging in the balance is really unforgivable. So coach in his eighth year as the head coach slash play caller, you have the entire Pittsburgh offensive possession to kind of go through what now, obviously what you need and what you're going to do depends on whether or not Pittsburgh scores. And Zach took, took the blame for it said on Monday, that's on me, but like that, that cannot happen. And you could, you could throw blame at burrow. If you want fine, you could throw the pitcher or whatever, dude, you're the head coach play caller. You're in charge of the offense. That's lack of preparedness. It's situational football. Like he gets docked pretty heavily there. I haven't had a major issue with Zach Taylor's coaching in the first three games, except for that. Like Simmons is being beaten up for calling the fake punt and not the fake punt, the punt block where said Johnson got dinged for roughing the kicker. I don't have an issue. Darren Simmons is a good special teams coach. Sometimes you're going to call that and it's not going to work because the guy screws it up. If he blocks the punt, it's a great call. I'm not crushing Darren Simmons for that. I'll crush the head coach slash play caller for needing to burn a timeout to start a drive with the game hanging in the balance. I'll go B minus. I mean, like up until that, I didn't blame Zach for the way things had gone. Um, we'll see how this game unfolds on Sunday. That's a good question.
01:47:19
Speaker 4: It's a good question.
01:47:20
Speaker 6: Three minutes left in the show. How will you use them?
01:47:22
Speaker 3: Do we just keep looking at these, uh, chat comments?
01:47:25
Speaker 6: Or we get to our guy who's been on hold. Let's talk to Mike.
01:47:28
Speaker 3: Mike, what's up, man?
01:47:29
Speaker 6: How are you?
01:47:31
Speaker 15: Hey, thanks, Mo.
01:47:31
Speaker 18: Appreciate you. Do you get my email about my, uh, new treatment I'm getting?
01:47:35
Speaker 3: I did. And I've been thinking of you and, uh, my apologies for not emailing you back, but as always, you're in my thoughts.
01:47:42
Speaker 18: Thank you, Mo. Hello to you, Taren. I never get to speak to you much anymore. Hey, did you hear the interview with Joey Votto yesterday with Dan Patrick?
01:47:51
Speaker 4: I did.
01:47:52
Speaker 3: It was terrific, as is his work on NBC.
01:47:55
Speaker 18: Yeah, he's special. I think this playoff format sucks. I'm sure you probably mentioned it, where you get the lesser of the better teams in the one bracket and the best teams in the other bracket. It just makes no sense. Why don't they just seed it? You know, top record gets the worst record team. and just go that way? That's the best reward.
01:48:18
Speaker 3: The traditionalist in me hates that idea, but we have watched, they have almost completely gotten rid of the line between the National League and the American League, which as you well know, back in the day, used to be entirely separate entities. We had a National League president and an American League president. They were two separate entities. Now, with year-long interleague play, with the fact that both leagues play without a DH. I actually think there's validity to that. And again, the traditionalist in me says, National League over here, American League over here, and the respective brackets are what they are. But we have gotten rid of the distinction between the two leagues in every other realm. I actually think there's an argument that in favor of just seed the teams according to best record, the Cleveland Indians get a bye with 85 wins. The Atlanta Braves have to play in the first round with 98.
01:49:14
Speaker 18: Yeah, and the Rays are doing the same thing with almost 100 wins. It's crazy. They've got to play the Yankees or the Red Sox. I know you've got to go.
01:49:24
Speaker 16: Thanks, Mo.
01:49:24
Speaker 6: Okay, Mike.
01:49:25
Speaker 3: Have a great afternoon. All right, we'll do more. But we'll encourage folks to leave comments. But the show is better when you call it. So I don't want folks who are like, I was going to call Mo, but now I'm going to leave a comment on his video feed. But we do appreciate everybody. Any way you're consuming this show, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I do appreciate it. Anything you may have missed on the iHeartRadio app, go check that out. Podcast thanks to Long Necks Sports Grill. Chad Brendel is in for me tomorrow. I'll be in Tucson getting ready for UC and Arizona.
01:49:59
Speaker 6: By a pool.
01:50:00
Speaker 3: By a pool.
01:50:01
Speaker 1: Yes, by a pool.
01:50:03
Speaker 5: Lots of time by the pool over the next two days. I got to get used to the time zone by the pool.
01:50:08
Speaker 3: Stick around. Bengals game plan is coming up next. Louis Breeden. Going to be the guest of Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. That will be awesome. And Taron Bland's awesome. We thank him for producing and thanks to you for listening. Have a great night. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1: Hi, Dan.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: I think I'll do that, Dan. Thanks for the invitation. What's up?
00:00:08
Speaker 3: I'm Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530. Thanks for listening. Hope you're having an awesome Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, I said. Show preview is available. You can go watch it right now. At Mo Egger. Thanks to my friends and yours at ShareFax Credit Union. Go to ShareFax.org. While you're on Twitter, you could also watch this show as it's happening. You could also watch it. I'm watching it on YouTube right now. I've gotten over the last, I don't know, couple of days, a lot of feedback regarding the video simulcast, which thank you. A, thank you for watching. B, thank you for your feedback. Just very, very quickly to address some, we have one camera. We don't have like a full-blown like commercial shoot crew or anything like that. No film crew. So just to keep that, we're doing, it's beta. We're doing the best. doing the best we can. He's by himself, and he's doing like a thousand things on top of making sure that you could watch a guy sit in front of a microphone and talk about sports. This is going to be a short segment because we want to be on time, even though Joe Burrow never is. He's never on time for his weekly press conference, but I know you love to hear it, so I have it. He's supposed to talk at 3.15. I am going to put my money on Joe Burrow. I love the idea now that like the Bengals' biggest issue is Joe Burrow isn't reliable in big situations. Joe Burrow isn't clutch.
00:01:37
Speaker 4: Really?
00:01:38
Speaker 3: We're doing this? We're doing this? Has anybody paid attention to why this franchise has lost so many games in recent years?
00:01:46
Speaker 5: Anybody?
00:01:46
Speaker 3: I mean, like, am I the only one who has seen a quarterback whose best efforts have often gone for naught because the defense can't stop anybody? Like the Bengals lost that game on Sunday and Joe Burrow was complicit in his team's demise. There's no getting around that. My guy, you got to protect the football. But they allowed an old, seemingly washed up immobile quarterback all day to throw. They let the Pittsburgh Steelers do whatever they wanted in the offense in the first half of the game. They committed two massive special teams mistakes. Come on, man. I wish the offense would have come up big. And your quarterback should be held responsible when he can't hang on to the football, even when he's under duress, even when he's getting hit. But this is what we're going to do now in reaction to losing that game is Joe Burrow isn't clutch. I don't think on this show we have done a clutch topic in 13 years. I think the last time we did a clutch, it's either clutch or elite, right? Clutch. Last time we did clutch might've been 2013, Joey Votto, when he was the best hitter in baseball, but people didn't think he drove in enough runs. Come on, man. So that one in 34 stat, when somebody throws it in your face, ask them if they've actually watched the games. Ask them if they've actually paid attention. You and I have. I would imagine if you're listening to this right now, you consume the Bengals on a fairly regular basis. You know why they've lost a lot of games in recent years. And you know the main reasons why they lost that game on Sunday. It's not because Joe Burrow's not reliable in big moments. He has often been in his career. And if this game on Sunday against the Jags, where, by the way, we will sort through the long list of issues the Bengals have right now in the secondary. If this game on Sunday comes down to the Bengals getting the football down by four, two, two and a half, three minutes to go, one or two timeouts in their back pocket, and they have to go 70 yards, 75 yards. I feel good. I feel good that they will find a way to score. It doesn't mean they will. The odds are always in the defense's favor. More possessions end in non-points than points. But I feel good. And I would be willing to bet that if you asked most fans of most other NFL teams, you want your guy in that situation or you want our guy in that situation, they'll say, I'd like your guy. Bengals have one of those guys. What happened on Sunday and that 1-34 number that is just being chewed on on the internet and on national radio shows, like, fine. I still have, the Bengals still have one of those guys I feel pretty good about. And if he was the quarterback of another team, fans of that team would feel pretty good about their team winning. Joe Burrow was in the situation that he may find himself on Sunday and that he didn't come up in, come up big in this past Sunday. We're going to dive deeper into that a little bit later on.
00:04:57
Speaker 5: Bengals do have a lot of issues in the secondary.
00:05:00
Speaker 3: Dana and I talked about it yesterday. If you missed that conversation, it's on the iHeartRadio app. No Jalen Davis. Brian Cook's not practicing today. Kyle Duggar's not practicing today. They did go through the walkthrough today. More on that a little bit later on. But let's step aside. And let's knock on wood that Joe Burrow will be on time-ish today. And I personally don't care. It just, you know, we carry the press conferences live and we sort of carve out a window for Joe to talk. And it just, it helps us if he's on time.
00:05:34
Speaker 6: What did I say?
00:05:35
Speaker 3: I said it helps us if he's on time. 11 after 3 o'clock. At Mo Egger on Twitter, thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all. Go to deltadentaloh.com. We expect to hear Joe Burrow next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:05:52
Speaker 7: Jamar Chase plays here on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: All right, holding pattern. It's officially Joe Burrow watch time.
00:06:01
Speaker 5: The quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals is.
00:06:05
Speaker 3: Expected to speak here momentarily. We'll have him for you live because I know how much you love Joe Burrow and I understand why. We've got some baseball postseason stuff to get to a little bit later on. The Bengals injury situation is going to be a major talking point this week. especially in the secondary where Al Golden, it feels like he's going to have a pretty big test on his hands. So Jalen Davis, we've already talked about his absence. He's going to be gone for a while. It feels like DJ Ivy is going to be given a shot to play on the outside with Dax Hill moving into the slot. And that's certainly going to be interesting. You know, we talked about this, Tony and Austin and I, before the top of the hour at the end of their show, Dax Hill is, is going to do and say all the right things. Team first guy, your coaches say, Hey, we need you to move. You move on one level though. You have to feel kind of bad for the guy. Like he finally establishes, establishes himself as a good outside corner. This guy who has had kind of this nomadic existence, if you will, Since getting to the NFL, he's been, they've tried him at safety. Obviously, they've tried him on the outside. They've tried him in the slot, found a home on the outside. Now he's got to move inside. And so that looks like that's what the plan is going to be for Sunday. Our guy, Charlie Goldsmith, his newsletter does a very, very good job of kind of outlining what's happening with him and why they're moving Dax Hill to the slot and how significant this is going to be. But it's a big test for the Bengals. It's a big test for Al Golden. Parker Washington, the slot receiver for the Jags, is one of the best in the NFL. But what compounds all of this is Brian Cook is hurt. not practicing today. Kyle Duggar, not practicing today. Jordan Battle, I think is going today, but is a little bit banged up. And so we're, we're going down on the depth chart here and we're talking about the likes of maybe PJ Jules or Rust Yeast. I called him Rust, Rust Yeast, or one of the guys they picked up and added to the practice squad yesterday. And so like, I think there's still a lot of faith in Al Golden, and maybe he doesn't deserve it because of how atrocious the team was last year, how atrocious the defense was last year. But I think there's still a sense that if they have all their pieces, Al Golden's going to figure out a way to mold this into a pretty good defense. I think this past Sunday, notwithstanding, their early returns have been really good. Certainly were against Houston, and for the most part, they were against the Jacksonville Jaguars as well, but were coaches and coordinators... I think carve out reputations is when they have to make adjustments on the fly. And I remember in 2010 feeling like, you know what? Mike Zimmer is a terrific defensive coordinator because the team was awful that year, but they had so many injuries. They had to go sign a corner by the name of Jonathan Wade on a Tuesday to play. And if I recall, start on Thanksgiving night in a road game against the Jets and And I remember it being okay. They didn't win the game, but I remember it was okay. Jonathan Wade held up and the secondary had an answer, had a plan. And that to me is like when a coordinator is at his best or maybe at his worst, when they can find a way to make do. And the Bengals ideally have Jalen Davis. And ideally they have a healthy Brian Cook and they've got a healthy Kyle Duggar. And maybe those guys still give it a go on Sunday, but It's going to be a pretty significant test for Bengals defense. It's going to be a pretty significant test for Al Golden, and we'll see how they do against a Jacksonville offense that here in the first three weeks of the season, I think they have spent two of those weeks looking very, very prolific. so um we'll see we'll see we'll hear what joe burrow has to say about any of that coming up in uh in just a bit i i touched on this a little bit yesterday and uh i'll try to do it in a more coherent manner today because i felt like garbage during yesterday's show And I think if you went back and listened to it, you would hear a guy who's not making a lot of sense because he sounds like garbage. I tried to thread the needle a little bit yesterday. And the point that I was trying to make is in the aftermath of a game like the Pittsburgh game, we have there's this tendency to go to one of two extremes, which is, I think, how we we live every day. Like you hear about how either everything is the greatest ever or the worst thing ever. In the aftermath of a game like that, you have folks who will pat you on the head and say, nothing to see here. No big deal. Don't worry. This team is fine. The good news has been good for months on end. There's no reason to think this team is going to stink because they lost one game. Um, okay. And then all the way over here, it's the walls are closing in. The sky is falling. Same old bangles. They're going to fail. They're going to disappoint. They're going to underwhelm. Why did everybody get excited in the first place? And I don't agree with either of those two. I think the way to view it is this. And if you disagree, that's fine. If you agree, that's cool too. But I think my perspective is simply this. There's not enough of a sample size for me or anybody else to change our minds. If you believed three weeks ago the Bengals are going to finish 12-5, I don't think they've done enough, good or bad, to compel you to change your mind. Also, while they're dealing with a lot of injuries right now, they haven't had that just like season-crushing injury like to a quarterback or a superstar player. The season, they haven't played enough games to make me change my mind. I don't think they've played enough games to make anybody change their mind. So if you feel like, you know what, they're going to be terrible. If you thought they were going to be a seven win team three weeks ago, you should probably still feel that way. And if you feel like they're going to be a 12 win team, as I do, you should probably still feel that way. At the same time, they also don't have enough of a track record to For you to just go, you know what? They're fine. They're going to be cool, right? Like, I'm a big believer in track records. When you've got a track record, I'll defer to you. I'll defer to Joe Burrow's track record. When he plays a full season, he puts up MVP caliber numbers. That is a fact. That is something that happens. I'll defer to Joe Burrow's track record. These Cincinnati Bengals and this team top to bottom do not have enough of a track record to to just simply ignore what happened on Sunday. Yes, what we saw against Tampa Bay and Houston, those performances, especially by the defense, were very encouraging, extraordinarily encouraging, and most important, they got the win. It was two games. So like if I, and I, I look at this on social media and social media is the place where people go to just, you know, not, not try to be in the middle, not be nuanced. I look at social media for non-sports reasons. And usually I'm on an Island by myself. Cause I'm kind of in the middle of watching people just scream at each other. And it's like, I don't think either of you are right. But when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals, Ask me in six or seven weeks when they've piled up a lot of games, when they've played only three, I don't know that this collection of players, and I certainly don't believe that this franchise as a whole has earned the benefit of the doubt enough to make anybody go, you know what? No big deal. They'll be fine. Ignore how they played. Heck, if you can't ignore that they lost. I think that's the proper way to look at it. They haven't done, they haven't played enough games to make anybody change their mind. Most of us thought this team is going to be pretty good. I think most of us still believe this team is going to be pretty good. But if you have some mild concerns about the way things unfolded, okay, those are fair. Those are legitimate. Those are valid. And if somebody tells you, well, you're overreacting, even if you're mildly concerned, all you have to do is say, where's the track record? Where is the track record of success? for me to just sort of chalk it up as a bad week. We're not there. The next two or three weeks, I think, will tell us how we should react to the Pittsburgh game. Because either we're going to see more of the same, and they're going to lose more games, or we're going to see the total opposite, and chances are they're going to win a bunch more games. We'll see. 26 after 3 o'clock. Taryn, I will step aside here. Joe Burrow is officially 11 minutes late. By the way, I've just decided we're done breaking early for him. I got a show to run here. I know folks love it when we carry Joe Burrow. He is the most important person on any sports team in town. He's the quarterback. Everybody wants to hear what he has to say. Everybody loves the Joe Burrow psychoanalysis. But we can't revolve our entire life around whether or not Joe Burrow is going to be on time. Why don't the Bengals just release the thing that says he's going to show up and do his press conference? Why don't they say 3.30? Because as will be the case today, he's always closer to 3.30 than he is 3.15. By the way, if you're a great quarterback as Joe is, you can get away with showing up late. If this is a guy who's not as good, he is being crushed. There are quarterbacks that if they consistently don't show up on time for their live press conference, they get hammered. Nobody's doing that with Joe Burrow. I'm not doing it with Joe Burrow. Hopefully we hear from him next. 27 after three on Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:56
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:16:00
Speaker 9: From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC. Eastbound 279.
00:16:14
Speaker 3: All right, only 15 minutes late. Joe Burrow talking with the media down at the venue, originally known as Paul Brown Stadium. Go!
00:16:19
Speaker 4: It's week four.
00:16:22
Speaker 10: Just got to go try to get one this week, be one of them this week, and just keep getting better.
00:16:27
Speaker 11: Good job.
00:16:29
Speaker 4: It wasn't gone long. What are the next few days like for you and Mitch to make.
00:16:33
Speaker 2: Sure he's ready to do his stuff?
00:16:37
Speaker 4: Not much different.
00:16:40
Speaker 10: You know, we'll get our reps and routes on air, and, you know, if he has any that he needs, we'll get some after practice. If I feel that way, then we'll get some after practice. But, you know, he was here for, what, a year and a half or so.
00:16:55
Speaker 4: So he knows the offense. He knows what we're trying to do.
00:16:59
Speaker 10: He'll have his packages that he'll be in for that he'll be dialed in on, and he's a hard worker and a smart guy.
00:17:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's been tried and true. You went into training camp, Joe. You kind of had an idea of just like getting a wide receiver room. Now you're kind of seeing it come to fruition.
00:17:18
Speaker 2: What have you seen in the H-team that you're going to have enough quality that you can pull.
00:17:25
Speaker 4: The machine out? Yeah, we have plenty of guys that we feel comfortable with. going out there. And like we said last week, it's going to be a bi-committee thing. It'll be Mitch and Dante, obviously, but Tanner and Mike can fill those roles as well.
00:17:41
Speaker 10: So we've got plenty of guys that we feel comfortable throwing out there in a lot of different personnel packages against a lot of different levels.
00:17:48
Speaker 12: What was your first reaction when you found out that it was going to be Mitch that they were bringing back?
00:17:52
Speaker 4: I thought it was pretty much a no-brainer.
00:17:54
Speaker 10: He played well for us last year and gave us some good good reps, made a lot of plays for us in his limited opportunities. And so to get a guy like that back that we weren't sure we were going to is good for the Bengals.
00:18:10
Speaker 13: Is there a big psychological difference in being 3-1 versus 2-2 given how y'all started the year?
00:18:16
Speaker 4: For sure.
00:18:17
Speaker 10: You try to stay up on your record, try to stay in the positives.
00:18:22
Speaker 4: So like I said, we just got to keep getting better and try to go 1-0 this week. What about Jacksonville's front?
00:18:29
Speaker 13: It kind of makes them maybe more unique than some of the other fronts you face.
00:18:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're deep. They're deep.
00:18:33
Speaker 10: Their two edge rushers are really good. Armstead is really good. Davon is really good. All those guys can play really good football, get pressure on the quarterback, stop the run, play with high motors, care about it. And then the rest of their defense plays their roles really well, understands what they're trying to do with their coverages, and I think they're really good in man coverage. I think they trust their guys on the outside, as do we. So we'll see what their plan is early, and we'll have to be ready to adapt to whatever they're showing.
00:19:06
Speaker 12: How did you feel about your play and the play of the offense overall after you reviewed the film?
00:19:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought we were pretty dang good, pretty dang good.
00:19:14
Speaker 10: Just like every game, there's a couple that I'd like back.
00:19:18
Speaker 4: But I think for the most part, we were pretty good. It's not good enough.
00:19:24
Speaker 13: A lot of discourse about your play in particular at the fourth quarter when trailing over the years how do you feel like you've been in those situations when you guys have needed a score how do you feel like you've would evaluate the way that you've played.
00:19:34
Speaker 10: Yeah it's tough to tough to recall specific times but you know i feel like i'm pretty good in those moments.
00:19:46
Speaker 4: I'm really confident in myself in those moments. Typically, we're going to try to get it done. Does it feel different in the second quarter or fourth quarter? Anything like that?
00:19:57
Speaker 10: You have to be ready for different defenses. You've got to be ready for different things in different moments. Teams have situational calls.
00:20:04
Speaker 4: As do we. We know we game plan for that.
00:20:09
Speaker 12: When you're When you're deep in the game, final two minutes, final three minutes, and there's different frustrations that hit you, whether it's helmet miscommunication or anything like that, is there anything that you do specifically to sort of reel yourself back in to get the job done and keep going?
00:20:26
Speaker 4: No, no, I'm in it. I'm in it. In those moments, I'm in the zone. You get frustrated sometimes, but that's football.
00:20:33
Speaker 13: What do you like most about those moments when y'all need to score and you have the ball playing the game?
00:20:37
Speaker 10: Yeah, there's no place I'd rather be. I want it in my hands with the game on the line. I trust myself in those spots. I trust our guys in those spots. We feel confident that we're going to get it done.
00:20:49
Speaker 4: How do you feel you guys are running the ball? We've been running it good. We could be a lot better.
00:20:59
Speaker 10: We've been efficient, not explosive. And We need to try some things to try to find those explosive plays, just like we do in the past game. We've been efficient but not explosive, so we've got to continue to get better in that.
00:21:12
Speaker 2: A lot of people have this impression that you have to run, especially in an offense like this, with you as a quarterback to keep the defense honest.
00:21:19
Speaker 4: Do you feel you guys are doing that? Yeah, I think we are.
00:21:23
Speaker 10: I think with our play calls and our efficiency, like I said, we can do some things to try to break those five-yard runs and to make them 12 and 15-yard runs.
00:21:31
Speaker 4: We can do better at that, but I think we've been efficient. You mentioned that you checked on him on the bus. Why did you feel the need to have a conversation? I'll keep any conversations that I have with my teammates confidential.
00:21:46
Speaker 12: Jacksonville's defense in the red zone, have they been really tough back there?
00:21:50
Speaker 4: Anything that stood out?
00:21:53
Speaker 10: Teams haven't scored many points against them, and I hope through these first couple games, you know, two of the teams got down a lot early, and that changes how the game is played.
00:22:06
Speaker 4: That changes a lot of things about it. You know, we.
00:22:11
Speaker 10: Have to, we've got to score points, and we've got to score points early. We know what kind of offense that they have, and we've got to be good in the red zone, like you said, and we've got to be good on third down. We've got to be really good situationally. Just to kind of, just to kind of have an example, you've got a defense that likes to play man, but Jason's.
00:22:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, usually teams against us like to mix it up.
00:22:34
Speaker 10: Sometimes they'll double, sometimes they'll blitz and play zone, sometimes they'll blitz and play man, sometimes they'll play man and double one of the guys. That's typically how teams like to play us. They like to mix it up, and so we've got to be ready for all those different things.
00:22:49
Speaker 11: One of the signs of a good team is when you're coming off of a disappointing loss to not let it snowball and quickly change the course and bounce back with the win. Do you think that that shows that the team is able to put potentially one.
00:23:03
Speaker 4: Bad game behind them? It depends.
00:23:05
Speaker 10: There's a lot of different factors that go into playing football.
00:23:09
Speaker 4: One week certainly doesn't affect the next week. So when you have a loss like that, obviously it sucks. But it sucks for a day, and then you move on.
00:23:18
Speaker 9: That's life.
00:23:19
Speaker 13: You've played teams you've been injured against, taken serious ones like Jacksonville. Does that linger in your mind when it comes up?
00:23:24
Speaker 4: Does that ever come up in your mind at all?
00:23:27
Speaker 13: You've talked a lot about how much you've really enjoyed being out there, especially since you came back.
00:23:31
Speaker 14: How's that feeling now?
00:23:33
Speaker 4: Is that something you've kind of maybe.
00:23:34
Speaker 13: Dwelled on a little bit more over the last 12 months, given it's almost a year since?
00:23:38
Speaker 4: Is that just enjoying being out there? How much more has that made you top of mind than previously? Yeah, I love playing football, especially after Sunday. You just want to get back out there and play. Yeah. You know, I'm excited for Sunday.
00:23:50
Speaker 10: Got to get through these next couple days of practice, get through our work.
00:23:54
Speaker 4: But very excited for Sunday. Is it special going against that?
00:23:58
Speaker 10: I mean, you think about going against a guy like Trevor, who's, you know, also an overall number one pick.
00:24:04
Speaker 4: At the top of your class. Get that in the back of your mind when you go against a guy like that? Whenever you play a good quarterback like.
00:24:11
Speaker 10: That, you have to be ready to change your mindset about the game and Sometimes that changes how you call the game depending on how good the other team's offense is. We'll see how it goes early in the game, see what kind of game it's going to be. But you've got to be ready to go score.
00:24:28
Speaker 4: Who do you think he's evolved since entering the league?
00:24:32
Speaker 6: Say again?
00:24:32
Speaker 4: How do you think he's evolved since entering the league?
00:24:34
Speaker 15: Who, Trevor?
00:24:34
Speaker 11: Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's a good quarterback.
00:24:38
Speaker 10: He makes some great throws, can make plays with his legs, and they've got a lot of weapons around them.
00:24:42
Speaker 4: So you've got to be ready to go.
00:24:44
Speaker 16: Thanks, guys.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: Chatting with the local professional football media in advance of Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The game kicks off at one. You'll hear it live on ESPN 1530. More tonight. Bengals game plan at Buffalo Wild Wings and Mason starring Dan Horde and Wayne Boxmiller. Louis Breeden. Louis Breeden is going to be out there. one of the best cornerbacks in Bengals history, 6-8 tonight live on ESPN 1530. Bengals injury report not yet released, but Zach Taylor today did say that neither Brian Cook or Kyle Duggar would participate. A couple of other items. Tay Baker, who is the only person to be the head coach of the UC men's basketball program and the head coach of the Xavier University men's basketball program. died yesterday, 99 years old. He just celebrated his 99th birthday the other day. He was an assistant coach on UC's national title teams in 61 and 62, became the program's head coach in 1965, went 125 in 60. Then later on, coached at Xavier, had a record of 70 and 89. Game two in four different Major League Baseball wildcard series. By the way, like, I remember 1995. 1995, for what it's worth, is the last year the Reds advanced in the postseason. I was a freshman at the University of Dayton. Been a long damn time. That is the era of the baseball network, which was not well-received. And that year they decided we're not playing daytime baseball games in the postseason. We're going to play all the games at the exact same time. And I remember vividly Reds Dodgers playing in the division series, first ever Reds division series appearance. And because it was the first year of the division series in the wildcard format. But anyway, I remember vividly A student at UD because the Reds game against the Dodgers and the Indians game, they were playing the Red Sox, were happening at the exact same time. And Dayton, the University of Dayton, a lot of kids from Cleveland, me being from Cincinnati, we got the Reds game on, right? But there were a lot of Indians fans who were like, we can't watch our team in the postseason. That Indians team was awesome, played in the World Series, right? On top of that, the Yankees and Mariners were in the playoffs that year against each other, played in this iconic five-game series. All the games were on opposite each other. Now, some of those series ended in three, like Reds-Dodgers. Some of those series went the distance, like Yankees-Mariners. Nobody liked it. So then they got back to playing games during the day, which they've done every year since 1996. I'm looking at social media yesterday and folks are like apoplectic over the fact that the Phillies and Braves are playing a two o'clock game. Well, when they played all the games at night opposite each other, no one liked that. And understandably so. So then you have to create standalone windows. There's four different wildcard series. Now, I am opposed to expansion of the playoffs. I wish we had it the way we had it from 2012 through 2021. Baseball had about a 10-year stretch where their postseason format was perfect. Two wildcard teams, they play one game. That's it. That's it. And if you don't want to be in the wildcard game, win your division. But if we want this, we want more playoff teams are going to have more playoff games. They want them to stand alone, which means what? They're going to play at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. They're going to play at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I remember when all the games were played at night. Nobody liked it. No one liked it. So this is what we get. By the way, I should give you the score of the game, if you care. Tyler Malley has been fantastic for the Braves. Five innings of one-run baseball. Phillies and Atlanta tied at one. Atlanta looking to close out the series. Phillies trying to extend it to a game three. In Houston later today, Astros facing elimination. White Sox won game one yesterday. Game two of that series will be at five o'clock. The two night games last night were duds. Yankees pounded the Red Sox. Game two tonight in the Bronx. And the Padres clubbed the Cubs. Game two tonight in San Diego. You are up to date. 17 away from four o'clock. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. You bet against Joe Burrow. I will bet on Joe Burrow. I like my chances more than yours. That coming up at 4.05 on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:29:20
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:29:25
Speaker 9: From the UC Health Traffic Center.
00:29:29
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
00:29:58
Speaker 3: Nine from four. This is ESPN 1530, and you are not being pulled over. If you missed the Tony and Mo football show this week, the PJ Fitzpatrick Tony and Mo football show this week, It is available on the iHeartRadio app. If you missed Paul Daner Jr. yesterday, he was, as usual, just simply outstanding from the Athletic and the Growler podcast. That conversation is available on the iHeartRadio app as well. We talked about Bengals cutting Keyshawn Williams and all the different issues they're dealing with in the secondary and that one in 34 Joe Burrow record thingy. that has set the internet ablaze. Internet's been a weird place over the last few weeks. Not that it's ever not, but anyway, you can listen to those conversations. Plus, plus our guy, attorney steward, W Penrose on the protect college sports act and a major league baseball player that wants to sue a team that he was playing against and Antonio Brown, who's going to go from facing decades in prison to probation, all of that and more. on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts of this show, as always, in service of Long Neck Sports Grill with game day specials for pro and college football. No better place to post up this season than Long Neck's with locations in Wilder, Hebron, and Richwood. On the Protect College Sports Act, I know this is not the first time I have talked about this. I'm still trying to figure out who it needs to be protected from. And I know this is the direction I go in every single time. Ratings for the first few weeks of the college football season have been insanely good. The stadiums for all the big games are full. This past Saturday was one of the best college football slates I can recall. There's a lot about conference realignment that I hate, but the fact that we get conference matchups like Texas and Tennessee, two schools that hadn't met since the 60s, is terrific. Everybody's getting paid. Coaches' salaries are skyrocketing. Players are getting paid. NIL and the Transfer Portal have created jobs in college football that did not exist six, seven years ago. Every major college football program has a general manager and a personnel department. The folks who are in those jobs are in jobs that used to not exist. If everybody's getting paid... And everybody's watching. What does college sports need to be protected from? There's a lot about this era of college sports I don't love. Look, man, I still pine for the days when you could watch a guy for four years as a UC football fan. I love the story of Antoine Peake Jr., who started at this program as a walk-on. Obviously, those of us who follow UC football know how good his dad was. He's gone from walk-on to a guy who's got a chance to be an all-Big 12 performer. He's forced nine fumbles in his football career. He's changed positions, leads the team in tackles. I miss players like that. But if business is good, what are we trying to protect college sports from? And so I just, I'm watching folks on Saturday and I was doing it because the Saturday slate was a lot of fun and there's going to be more Saturdays like it. And I'm going, yeah, everybody I know is gorging themselves on college football and We certainly need a piece of congressional legislation to change and fix this and somehow protect it. So we talked about it yesterday. We'll see what's next. I joked with Stuart that I was amazed how many people seemingly didn't pay attention in civics class in the seventh grade, didn't know how a bill gets passed. That because that legislation got through the Senate, like it's suddenly law and it's like, nah, man, it's got a ways to go. There's a lot of complexities involved there. But I've asked this question pseudo-rhetorically, admittedly, for a while now. Like, who are we trying to protect college sports from? If business is good, if fans aren't being turned off, and everybody's getting paid, and it's creating more jobs, what are we trying to save? And at the end of the day, what the answer is, and nobody will say it is, just don't like the fact that the help is getting paid. That's what it is. And a lot of folks won't say that, but I know it's out there. Just don't like the fact that the guys are getting coin. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. Wise Money Sports on the fallout from the baseball lockout coming up at 435. Kelsey Conway from Cincinnati.com and the Beyond Sunday podcast on the Bengals' secondary injury situation coming up at 520. We'll also go to Jacksonville. And learn about the Jaguars, who after week one, everybody sort of had earmarked them for the AFC championship game. Then everybody jumped off the bandwagon after they lost to Denver. And I feel like now everybody is back on after they throttled the New England Patriots this past week. This game on Sunday is really good. And it does feel like the difference between three and one going to Miami is And 2-2 going to Miami is massive. And for what it's worth, either Cleveland or Pittsburgh is going to be 3-1 at the end of this week. So you hate to say must win this early, and I won't. But it does feel like the difference between being 3-1 and 2-2 is more than just a game. At Mo Egger on Twitter, I'll propose a scenario to you. You tell me how you feel about it next on ESPN 1530.
00:35:39
Speaker 7: For midweek Bengals fix tonight at 6 o'clock on Bengals Game Plan on ESPN 1530.
00:35:47
Speaker 3: I got it. The show's tonight at 6. I'll be listening. Horton and Wayne Voxmiller and Louis Frieden. So the Globetrotters don't play the Washington Generals anymore? Is that what I gathered? Taryn, did you gather that from that commercial? The new rivalries? Who are they going to be playing? Like the Pacers and Knicks? Like who?
00:36:05
Speaker 9: Who?
00:36:07
Speaker 3: Who are the Globetrotters?
00:36:09
Speaker 15: I'm in.
00:36:10
Speaker 3: I saw the Globetrotters when I was 10 years old. And everybody makes the same comparison when people get mad at the Savannah Bananas. And I go, dude, I went and saw the Globetrotters when I was 10. I watched a Globetrotter pull down the pants of one of the players on the generals. And then another ball was brought onto the court. Some popcorn was spilled. They did circles around one of the officials. And, you know, I didn't go home and say to dad, like, wait a minute. So that's not the Lakers and Celtics. But the Globetrot was so have the Washington generals folded. I need to know more about this. If like the Globetrot, are they going to be playing like real basketball teams? Or are they kind of adopting the Savannah Bananas model where the Savannah Bananas, there's like three other teams they play. It's not the same team they play, right? I'm intrigued. I may go. I'm intrigued.
00:37:06
Speaker 6: How do you sign up to play for the other team? I want to play for the other team. Yeah, I mean, me too.
00:37:09
Speaker 3: Why not? Right? Let's go. How do you become? I always wondered that. How do you become a Washington general? On some level, you have to have some level of basketball proficiency that would compel them to put you on the floor in a game, and I use game in quotes, that fans are paying to watch. I need to know more about this. I need to know more about this. The Globetrotters, new teams, do they still pull down the pants of opposing defenders? I guess we'll find out as the Globetrotters season unfolds. Six after four, this is ESPN 1530. I'm Mo Egger. Thank you for listening today. Hope you're having fun. Just a bang-up Wednesday afternoon. Wise Money Sports coming up in 30 minutes. We'll keep you up to date with the baseball. There's going to be no Reds Fest, which is apparently a surprise to a lot of folks. Braves and Phillies 1-1. Chris Sanchez gets out of a bases-loaded jam. Tyler Malley is pitched very well for Atlanta today. It's an elimination game. The Phillies lose. They're done.
00:38:17
Speaker 4: They win.
00:38:17
Speaker 3: They play Game 3 tomorrow. You heard Joe Burrow earlier today. So in the aftermath... of the Bengals lost to the Steelers, which this is a fact, okay? There have been six games since 2023. Paul Danner Jr. was the first to bring this to our attention in his post-game story on Sunday. Since 2023, six times Joe Burrow and the offense have gotten the ball, less than four minutes to go with a chance to take the lead. They've lost all those games. And that's interesting and unfortunate and not good for a team that's identity revolves around the offensive weaponry. But this 1-34 thing that's being thrown out there, well, 35 games, Bengals have trailed eight minutes or less and they've lost. Like, I'll just, there's many of these, but I'll just, I'll use as a quick example, last season, the last game of the year, just the last game of the year, which was totally meaningless. Bengals and Browns, awful game. With 2.41 to go, Bengals are down five. They get the ball at their own 39. Burrow leads a touchdown drive. They take the lead 18 to 17 they went for two they didn't get it but Burrow takes his team 61 yards and he completes a completes a pass to Jamar Chase for a touchdown I know everybody has forgotten about it low stakes game Bengals were eliminated by about Halloween last year but still What then happened? Shador Sanders goes down the field, goes 65 yards, or starts at the Cincinnati 35-yard line. He didn't go 65 yards. He drives his team to the Cincinnati 31. Cleveland kicks a field goal at the gun. Browns win. So, yes, the Bengals lost that game. That's one of the 34. I guess it's one of the six. Bengals lost that game. Did they lose because Joe Burrow was in clutch? I'll just put it to you this way. My guess is Sunday's game is close. My guess is most Bengals games are in doubt in the fourth quarter because we just don't have blowouts in the NFL. If the Bengals have a really good record, it's going to be because they're really good in close games. This isn't baseball where the Reds won something like 25 and 15 in one run games, but were terrible over the course of the season. If the Bengals are good, it's going to be because they're good in close games. So my guess is Sunday's game is close. I hope not. I hope the Bengals win 56 to nothing. But if it's close and it's 20, let's say, let's.
00:40:59
Speaker 5: Say 20, let's say 27, 23 Jacksonville. 306 to go.
00:41:09
Speaker 3: And the Bengals have the ball in their own territory. Let's give Joe a timeout. He'll get the timeout on the two-minute warning. Do you feel confident that the Bengals will score? You might not bet your life on it. You might not bet a large amount of money. You may not start celebrating a win before the first play of the drive. but I'd bet you feel pretty good. You would feel better if the Bengals were winning. You would feel better if the game didn't come down to that. This is an inexact and admittedly unscientific way of looking at this, but we have not yet arrived at the point in Joe Burrow's career evolution where when he and the offense are on the field in a situation like that, in a situation like the one they faced on Sunday against Pittsburgh in Where there's not some degree of confidence that he and they are going to come through. This isn't apologizing for Joe's mistakes. My guy's got to hang on to the football. In the situation where he fumbled on Sunday, we could talk about Reisner not making the block, whatever. Joe may be trying to do too much. The quarterback's first job is to protect possession of the football. Joe should be held culpable for not doing that. whatever amount of criticism you want to throw his way for not protecting the football, I think is valid. But like, this will be thrown in your face. And like, I think Josh Allen of the Bills is to the point where he should be considered the best player in the NFL. I am fine admitting that. And there certainly are a list of quarterbacks that Josh Allen is on that fans of their team is, they're comfortable with who that quarterback is. But around the country, when folks talk about 1-34, to me, the question is simple. 2-12 to go, one timeout, Bengals got to go 70 yards. You want your guy? You want the guy in Cincinnati? Overwhelmingly so, I think the answer is going to be the guy in Cincinnati. By the way, for what it's worth. Again, this is a little bit unscientific. But if you just look at him statistically... Look at his numbers in the fourth quarter compared to the first three quarters. His fourth quarter numbers are not bad at all. Passer rating is over 100.
00:43:42
Speaker 6: 47 touchdowns, 21 picks.
00:43:46
Speaker 3: Um, not as good as they might be in the second quarter, 51 touchdowns, eight picks, but like just statistically yards per attempt in line with his overall averages, uh, completion percentage in line with his overall averages, 67.15%. It's, it's not like there's a long track record of him completely wilting in the fourth quarter, uh, And, you know, there have been there have been plenty of of of instances like the one that I just outlined in the last game of the season last year or instances where the offense has come up and made a play late and Joe is about to be a hero and then something happens on defense and the game gets taken away. Or like in Baltimore two years ago, there's two penalties that, and trust me, I hate blaming the rest for anything, but there are two penalties not called on a two-point conversion after Joe has put his team in a position for the game-winning two-point conversion. I don't know, man. I just, I think the one in 34, like context is needed. How many of those games has Joe been otherwise exemplary? And yet the game is in doubt because the defense stunk. And so now here's Joe, late in the game, having to do it again when he has done it all afternoon. Like the game in Pittsburgh. Joe Burrow was awesome for most of that game. And again, what might matter most, and I get that it does, is do they win the football game or not? Joe didn't come through. He's paid $ 50 million to come through. Okay, fine. But still, like... He's awesome all day long. There's two special teams mistakes that lead to 10 points. It's a defense that, again, allowed the Steelers to do whatever they wanted to do in the first half. They miss a billion tackles. But yeah, Joe Burrow's not clutch. Again, man, you got to hang on to the ball. But still, is that the main reason why they lost that game? A lot of games where Joe has been awesome, yet he's in a position to have to be Superman late because everything else stinks around him. 1-34 needs context. 1-34 needs, and I cannot emphasize this enough, there have been certainly moments where we've talked about the Bengals, I can't even say it, where we've talked about the Bengals going through protracted offensive lulls, or we've talked about the Bengals not coming up big late, and does Joe get and deserve heat for that? Of course he does. This isn't apologizing for Joe, it's just, if suddenly this whole thing is, well, Joe's not clutch, cool. Fine, whatever. Replace him with replacement-level quarterback. Tell me what you're getting then. Legitimately, if Joe's not clutch, replace him with whoever's behind door number two for what it's worth prior to the 2025 season. No quarterback in the league since 2020, Joe's rookie season. According to sharpfootball.com, trailing in the last five minutes since 2020, Joe Burrow statistically based on EPA per dropback, minimum 85 dropbacks, no quarterback in the league better than Joe Burrow. Between 2020 and the 2024 season. Now you might go, wait a minute, what about 2025? Well, 2025... He didn't play half the season. When he came back, they win a game against Baltimore that they led pretty much the entire way. By the time he was playing late in the season, they were out of it. He was injured in the second game. They barely held on them in the first game. Like, I don't know, not a large sample of games where Joe failed in 2020. And the season this year is three games old. By the way, the first game of the year this year, game number one, Bengals-Bucks. Now look, man, Joe threw a pick in that game. And Joe's pick six, that pick six kind of opened the door for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Right when it felt like they might shut the door, Joe throws a pick six. Can't do it. Uncharacteristic. It's not a guy that you expect to throw a lot of pick sixes. But the Bengals never relinquished the lead. The Bucs, though, do come through and score a touchdown to make it 33-26 with about three and a half minutes to go. Now the Bengals get the football back. They are winning, but the offense has some work to do. What does Joe do? He throws a completion to Dante Myers. He throws another completion to Samaj P.
00:48:20
Speaker 5: Ryan.
00:48:21
Speaker 3: He then throws another completion to T. Higgins, who makes a great catch. Are those not clutch throws? Are those not important high leverage plays? It's not a comeback. You know, it's not coming back from down six points, but the game is hanging in the balance right there. I was at that game screaming, Joe, close it out. Those aren't clutch throws. Those aren't big time throws. If he doesn't complete those, Bucks get the ball back. Your guess is as good as mine then as to what happens. That doesn't go in the one in 34, does it? You know, it's like baseball relief pitchers get holds. But, you know, sometimes the game hinges not so much on the three batters you got to get out of the ninth inning, but it hinges on, you know, do your outs when there's the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning and the score is tied? Nobody's getting a save for getting those outs. Might not get a win if you get those outs. But those are high leverage outs. High leverage situation game one of the seasons. And by the way, the degree of difficulty of the Tee Higgins throw was pretty damn high. So again, man, I'll make this very, very simple. Sunday, right around 345 in the afternoon, Bengals are down four points. We'll say they need a touchdown. Two and change or three and change to go. Timeout or two in their back pocket. They're on the minus side of the field, so they have to go a ways. You're going to feel pretty good. I'll feel pretty good. I'll take my chances. And I don't know, but I have felt good and sometimes let down Sunday. I was let down in the Super Bowl. I was let down in the AFC championship game. The second one against Kansas City let down like it's not always going to work. Not every clutch quarterback comes through every single time. But if he is in a position where we're asking him to close out games, if he's in a position where he is being asked to win, and not like win games where can they hang on and win, you know, 52 to 49, where the defense has just been atrocious all day, but like a 27 to 23 game, something like that. I'll take my chances. If you look at him statistically, number one in the fourth quarter, the numbers are in line with what they have been for the rest of the game. Number two, prior to the 2025 season, And he's only played 11 games since. And in a lot of those games, the defense was terrible. In a lot of those games, it didn't really matter what Joe was doing in the fourth quarter. And in some of those games, he played poorly for the entire game, like against Baltimore in the game here last year in the cold weather. But from 2020 to 2024, that is a five-year sample size, statistically the best quarterback, the best quarterback in the entire league trailing in the last five minutes. Doesn't mean he comes through every single time. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be frustrated or even angry when he doesn't. But if the biggest problem the Bengals face is the clutchness of their quarterback, I am of the belief, and you could tell me if I'm wrong, that that will be rectified. Because I trust great players. Joe Burrow is a great player. 20 after 4. 513-749-1530 is our phone number. At Mo Egger is how you can hit us up on Twitter. Atlanta has taken a 2-1 lead over the Phillies in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Braves are still batting. Wise Money Sports coming up in 15-minute sports headlines in a bit. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:52:15
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:52:17
Speaker 3: Traffic. Bengals!
00:52:24
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to choke the Jaguars, and trust me, through and fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's Spunt vs.
00:52:38
Speaker 3: Stripes.
00:52:39
Speaker 16: The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
00:52:52
Speaker 3: No cook, no dugger in today's practice. This is Football in the Natty.
00:52:57
Speaker 7: Brought to you by Belterra Casino and Belterra Park on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:53:06
Speaker 5: No cook, no dugger for the Bengals at practice today as they get set for Sunday's game against the Jags.
00:53:11
Speaker 3: 1 o'clock Sunday, ESPN 1530. More tonight on Bengals game plan from 6 to 8. on ESPN 1530 as well. By the way, it's a 3-1 Atlanta now going to the eighth inning. Atlanta scored the go-ahead run on a Bryce Harper misplay in right field that allowed the go-ahead run to score. Bryce Harper splits his time between DH first base and right field. I think only played right field like 40 games this year. And while he's played that position more than any other in the big leagues, it looked like he had just played the position for the first time when he tried to catch that fly ball. We'll update you as the afternoon unfolds. We'll go to Jacksonville at five Oh five. Talk about the Jags and our buddy Kelsey Conway from the inquire and Cincinnati.com at a four or five 20, four 20 already happened. We got, we got to talk. We got to talk to folks who have been waiting. Cody, you're on ESPN 1530. Cody, good afternoon.
00:54:09
Speaker 4: How are you?
00:54:10
Speaker 16: All right.
00:54:11
Speaker 17: How are you doing?
00:54:11
Speaker 3: I'm well, man. What's up?
00:54:14
Speaker 17: I called a couple weeks ago and we talked because I admitted I'm not the biggest Joe Burrow fan. And again, I'm glad that he's the quarterback of the team I cheer for, although there are a couple.
00:54:25
Speaker 15: Quarterbacks I would prefer to have.
00:54:27
Speaker 17: But I think what I see, and I never played football, I'm no expert, is that I'll be watching the games more last year, not last year, the year before, and it's like Joe Burrow's four minutes in the third quarter and he's thrown for 170 yards in a score.
00:54:40
Speaker 3: I'm like, well, okay, not bad.
00:54:42
Speaker 17: Then he'll throw the ball in the backfield to Jamar Chase, who runs 75 yards. And it's like, oh, Joe Burrow's thrown for 260 yards and two scores. So I think a lot of times what ends up happening when we're arguing statistics is that I think he, whether it's fair or not, I think people look at Josh Allen, and they're like, he's making things happen without weapons. But when you look at Joe Burrow's stats, like, well, if Jamar doesn't make that catch in week two, which no other receiver in the league makes, Joe doesn't have that extra touchdown and those extra yards. If T doesn't make that catch, like you said, against the Bucs, which was unbelievable, most receivers don't make that catch. So when you're like, well, these are Joe's stats, I think a lot of people say, well, it's Joe's stats with two of the best receivers in the league who are making catches that most people wouldn't make. So then I would go back to, okay, you had the ball in the Super Bowl with a chance to win.
00:55:37
Speaker 15: Blame the offensive line. That's fine, but, like, didn't win. AFC Championship game, you.
00:55:41
Speaker 3: Have the ball.
00:55:43
Speaker 15: You can't make it happen. Drive stalls at midfield.
00:55:46
Speaker 17: Then last year, okay, you're hurt.
00:55:48
Speaker 15: You come back.
00:55:49
Speaker 17: If you beat Buffalo, you got a chance to make the playoffs, and then anything can happen. Like, okay, through two interceptions and two consecutive passes that end up, you.
00:55:58
Speaker 15: Know, completely changing the game.
00:55:59
Speaker 3: He played poorly, yes.
00:56:02
Speaker 17: So I think, fair or not, I think.
00:56:06
Speaker 15: That's why a lot of people don't think he's as clutch maybe as some of these other quarterbacks. Again, I still think he's great. I'm not his biggest fan. But I think sometimes when you're arguing.
00:56:15
Speaker 17: Statistics, you have to consider, like you've already pointed out, that you have two of the best receivers in the game. And when we blame the defense, I'm like, Joe has used his organizational capital, his capital within the organization, to lobby for.
00:56:27
Speaker 15: More offensive weapons. And so the money's been spent.
00:56:30
Speaker 17: On that side of the ball, and not until this year did they spend more money on the defensive side of the ball. So I'm like, you know, you can't have it both ways and want more offensive weapons but then complain when the defense isn't good because we don't have any quality players because we haven't.
00:56:43
Speaker 15: Spent the money on that side of the ball. I don't know if that's a fair argument or not.
00:56:48
Speaker 3: I haven't heard Joe Burrow make those complaints, and I think what the team has proven this year is you could do both, right? I mean, because Joe Burrow lobbied for Tee Higgins, that should have not precluded them from adding to the defense list. in 2025. I think you make some fair points. And the one thing that's worth mentioning about Joe statistically is in terms of, you know, average air yards per completion, he's always sort of middle of the pack, you know, as opposed to other QBs where they just, they throw the ball deeper. And I think to a degree, Joe gets dinged because people say, well, look at the weaponry that he has. And then there's maybe something to that, but like You know, you talked about you talked about the postseason where I think Joe gets not as much credit as he should. The Super Bowl year is not turning the football over when he gets sacked 10 times by the Tennessee Titans in a game that was decided by three points, making the throws that he had to make. And look, he had help from his defense that year, but making the throws that he had to make when they're down by multiple scores in the second half against the Chiefs. in the AFC championship game. The throws that he makes in the snow early against the Buffalo Bills in a game where you kind of had to play ahead from ahead because of the weather conditions. And I think Joe has played okay in the postseason. I'll admit that. I don't think he's been great. I just I feel like there have been a lot of moments that have gotten washed away where they haven't won. And Joe's play isn't the primary reason why, but he gets dinged for it more than anybody else. And part of that does come with the territory of being a quarterback. I just think when you throw out this one in 34 and go down the route of like Joe's not clutch, I think some context does need to be applied.
00:58:27
Speaker 15: Yeah, and I agree with you.
00:58:28
Speaker 17: I think stylistically, when you see Josh Allen pushing the ball down the field, even going back to Carson Palmer, the way he would push the ball down the field, this big guy in the pocket, just like throwing these absolute darts on the sideline and Chad catching him with his toes like dragons. I guess stylistically, the offense that they run, which again, I think goes back to.
00:58:45
Speaker 1: The play calling.
00:58:46
Speaker 17: Which I think needs maybe to get more press here than maybe Joe.
00:58:51
Speaker 15: Because I'm like, they just don't run the same style of offense.
00:58:54
Speaker 17: And it's not as like, wow, look what Joe Burrow did. It's like, well, I'm going to read. I'm going to get rid of the ball quick. I'm going to pick up five yards here, seven yards here, 11 yards here, where some of these other guys are picking up chunk plays with two minutes to go. And they're moving down the field quickly.
00:59:07
Speaker 15: And it's like, oh, wow, Josh.
00:59:08
Speaker 3: Allen led that drive. Patrick Mahomes led that drive. led that drive.
00:59:11
Speaker 15: Yeah.
00:59:11
Speaker 17: Where it was like, well, no, he used his weapons, and we picked up a couple yards here, and then we score, which, again, I always think we score too early, and I know you score when you can score, but then we leave enough time on the clock when we know our defense stinks, and then we let them get into a cool position.
00:59:23
Speaker 1: And tie the game or win.
00:59:24
Speaker 15: I think some of that— He doesn't have.
00:59:29
Speaker 17: The wow factor, I don't think, in some of these other quarterbacks that I think are considered more clutch than he is.
00:59:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think part of it is, though, how defenses play him, right? All the conversations we had this offseason about going under center were about getting more explosive plays because the explosive plays have kind of dried up.
00:59:46
Speaker 9: Why?
00:59:46
Speaker 3: Because how they typically play is put Joe in the gun, let him diagnose, and have him get rid of it quickly. And we really haven't seen... you know, aside from the Jamar catch against the Texans, we haven't seen the deep ball, the explosive play. They threw one to Gesicki for the touchdown where he split four defenders. But I think a lot of that is a function of how they're defensed. And I could look this up. I would be willing to bet that like air yards per completion for Joe Burrow, 2020, 2021, there's a very good chance higher than the last three years because I think teams have changed how they've played against the Bengals. And that's why the Bengals are going under center more. Cody, I enjoyed it, man. Thanks so much.
01:00:23
Speaker 6: Yeah, thanks.
01:00:24
Speaker 3: Appreciate it. All right, Phillies, I appreciate the phone call. Phillies have tied the game. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, back-to-back, 3-3, top eight in Atlanta. Phillies and Braves in a good one. Wise Money Sports next.
01:00:38
Speaker 7: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Kingdom Built Exteriors on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:00:50
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:00:54
Speaker 2: Traffic horde join wayne box miller and me for bengals game plan tonight starting at six on the official home of the bengals cincinnati's espn all.
01:01:03
Speaker 3: Right very late thank you dan sports headlines are a service of kelsey chevrolet home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed Credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. Bengals injury report is out. Dalton Reisner, no go because of a knee. We'll talk about that with Kelsey Conway at 520. No go for Kyle Duggar either. Quad issue. Brian Cook and Jordan Battle both listed as limited. Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 live on ESPN 1530. The only man to coach UC men's basketball and Xavier men's basketball, Tay Baker, who was an assistant coach on the 1961 and 62 national championship teams passes away at the age of 99 just a few days after his 99th birthday baseball playoffs uh national league wild card series bottom of the eighth inning in atlanta braves and phillies tied at three uh game three is set to begin in about 20 minutes in houston between the white socks and astros later tonight in the bronx it's the yankees and red socks game two yankees up one nothing in that one padres won game one last night In blowout fashion, they host the Cubs in game two. It's time. Wise Money Sports with our friend Brad Johansson from Omega Wealth Private Capital. And I got lots of questions about this. I know you don't want to go down this road, but the baseball lockout is coming.
01:02:22
Speaker 1: I really, you know, when they talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, I go, you know, I don't think it's coming. It's probably coming.
01:02:29
Speaker 3: The lockout is coming.
01:02:30
Speaker 18: Yeah.
01:02:30
Speaker 3: Does that mean we'll miss games? I don't know. But I read this, right? So MLB's got a myriad of TV deals, local and national. The magic number is 60.
01:02:41
Speaker 15: Uh-huh.
01:02:43
Speaker 3: If at least 60.
01:02:44
Speaker 5: Games are lost in 2027, most of baseball's national media agreements would reportedly extend an additional year.
01:02:52
Speaker 3: This is not what baseball wants.
01:02:54
Speaker 4: No.
01:02:55
Speaker 3: They want the short-term payday. They want to start negotiating right now. If they miss 60 games or more, this kicks that can down the sidewalk. So this is where a labor dispute becomes a financial planning problem for an entire industry.
01:03:10
Speaker 1: This is a financial planning problem of great proportion. But it works into that idea. Do you have a plan for the what if when it all goes south? All right. So 2027, even if games are missed, the networks still are going to owe.
01:03:29
Speaker 14: Okay.
01:03:30
Speaker 6: Okay.
01:03:30
Speaker 1: And we know that we've got network issues. We've got real big local issues that we can get into later. In exchange, you miss all of those games, at least by most national contracts. The networks would not have to pay the normal fee for this extension in 2029. So you can say, oh, networks would love that. Except what are networks going to do to fill games now? during this time. You've got a problem either way on the what if. That's the biggest deal. How do you fill airtime, and what's it going to cost you if it's missed?
01:04:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's the part of it that a lot of us don't really consider. Maybe a lot of folks don't care, but that's a lot of innings to use the baseball parlance. What do we do with the.
01:04:18
Speaker 1: Clicker all the time or the streamer or the whatever? Do we still call it a remote? It's still a remote.
01:04:23
Speaker 3: It is a remote control, yes.
01:04:25
Speaker 1: It used to be able to do the clicking. Now most people are doing the streaming, so it's irritating to go back and forth. and figure out what's on, there's nothing on, there's nothing on. And if you're a sports watcher and baseball season's gone, you've got an issue.
01:04:39
Speaker 3: So these negotiations, pretty much any negotiation, often about leverage. Who has more leverage here? Owners who could lose enormous long-term media value or the players who are going to be immediately losing paychecks, many of whom are not making seven figures.
01:04:55
Speaker 1: Many of whom are not making seven figures. So in the short term... It's the players. I can't do this anymore. I'm going to have to figure out something else to do because I can't do my paychecks. Owners get into it by saying, you know what? I have all of this. This is the leverage that I have. This really isn't paper money that I have. We've talked about this in other shows. It's leverage that I have. And where am I going to get it if I need it? Owners will get out. And we've already seen part of that. I don't know whether there's a winner here. Everybody loses in this.
01:05:35
Speaker 3: The national TV contracts are going to get all the attention when people write about this on a macro level. But what happens to individual teams, especially in smaller markets?
01:05:45
Speaker 1: Reds are hurting. We already know that on broadcast level. I've talked about this on news station levels, but now all of the games are going to other networks and how do you figure that whole thing and that's where i'm talking about filling the airtime uh what is it if you don't play roughly 125 do 145 depending on the individual agreement um you've got an issue and you've got to figure it out yankees can do it dodgers can do it mets can do it in big markets you can't you can't do it here because that's tied to what's coming in to helping you pay players and dealing with stadium. You're dealing with lost tickets, concessions, parking, advertising. This becomes an LW thing, you know, and everything that goes along with it. Potential broadcast rebates that you've got to deal with. It is a mess. I don't know how people are dealing with this, but if you see the market crashing, you got to figure out where else to get your money. The market's crashing right now in baseball, and you're going to have to figure out a way to get some more money.
01:07:03
Speaker 3: Let's talk about money meters, because we all have individual money meters. So for baseball, the money meter is 60 games.
01:07:12
Speaker 1: Okay.
01:07:13
Speaker 4: Yeah.
01:07:13
Speaker 1: So the financial end of this whole thing is.
01:07:19
Speaker 1: Potentially you get towards a media rights cycle. MLB wants a new deal. Everybody always wants it. We've seen this with NFL, seen it with NBA. Major League Baseball wants a new deal. Can't get into a new deal if you miss the 60s. So you've got national contracts extending for another year if you miss more than that. Potential delays for larger media paydays, which I have to have because they're going to include inflation. Complicated economically on both sides. Sometimes the most important thing, when we talk about a number in business, it is not the revenue. It's the number that's hidden in the fine print. So 60 is in the fine print. We've got some issues if we've got over 60. Are you flipping the coin on this? You're a betting man. Is it going to be more than 60 or not? I think we're going to get to like May 1st. I think we're going to get to May 1st, and that's going to wipe away some revenue. That's going to wipe away some tonnage. So you think under, because May 1st is way under 60. Yeah, I'm going to guess we have— Year 35, 40 kind of thing. Yeah, something like that. But it's funny. I've talked to people with the Reds.
01:08:41
Speaker 5: I talk to folks in media and people who cover the sport. And I can find, like, if you're looking for somebody to tell you they're going to play 162, you'll find that person. If you're looking for someone to give you doomsday, who will tell you maybe we'll play in 2028?
01:08:56
Speaker 1: Have you found somebody with the Reds who says they're going to play 162?
01:09:00
Speaker 3: No, but you can find folks who will say not necessarily with the Reds. Like, dude, we're going to play baseball maybe in.
01:09:06
Speaker 1: 2028, maybe.
01:09:06
Speaker 3: Like, you can run the gamut. What I hope for, and I think I told you this. Whatever the agreement is, I want it to be more than four years. I don't want to do this every four years. We did this in 2022. Give me a 10, 15 year agreement. That's probably unrealistic. I just don't want to be doing this every four years.
01:09:25
Speaker 6: Of course you don't.
01:09:26
Speaker 1: And yet we will, because that's what we do is that I'm not going beyond four years because in four years, how do I know how much it's going to be worth? That's the problem.
01:09:36
Speaker 3: Football is under a CBA right now that is currently an 11 year deal. I can't do this every four years. For me as a fan.
01:09:45
Speaker 1: So why do you think baseball is doing it differently than the NFL is doing it?
01:09:49
Speaker 5: I think when they approved the current CBA in 2022, that the agreement was made on both sides begrudgingly.
01:09:59
Speaker 3: They were coming out of COVID. It's like, dude, we didn't get ticket revenue in 2020. We had a weird season in 2021 because protocols were still in place. Are we really going to bag games in 2022?
01:10:10
Speaker 1: I'll put the over-under number on you at under 10% that they do more.
01:10:15
Speaker 3: More than a four-year deal. Oh, I think that's realistic, yeah. I just, as a fan, I'm tired of hearing. I'm tired of owners telling us how poor they are. I'm tired of players and the posturing. I'm tired of all of it. I just want baseball. I want the ancillary benefit. If the sport looks different coming out of this, fine. I just want it to be whatever it is for the foreseeable future. I don't want the CBA to be a presidential term. And I'll go back to this. I think finances coming in aren't the same as the NFL and the NBA.
01:10:47
Speaker 1: And you know why? They play 17 games for a season in the NFL, and everybody's.
01:10:53
Speaker 6: There for it.
01:10:55
Speaker 1: They play way too many games in the NBA because nobody cares until it gets to playoffs. But it's enough that it's still a place to be seen. I don't know whether baseball's a place to be seen for 162 games that people are going to last with that, that you're going to get a 10-year deal.
01:11:11
Speaker 15: Yes.
01:11:12
Speaker 3: When we have a CBA, we're probably going to get expansion. So here are some of the cities that are being discussed. Nashville, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Montreal, Orlando, Portland. There are others. ESPN's Jeff Passan did a piece sort of looking at the pros and cons of all the different cities.
01:11:26
Speaker 1: And I don't know how many. What's the belief on what's going to be added when you list these?
01:11:31
Speaker 9: Two.
01:11:32
Speaker 3: One East Coast, one West Coast. I think that's the realistic expectation. Baseball hasn't expanded since 98 at Tampa Bay and Arizona. What's interesting about this is in some of these cities, they don't know.
01:11:45
Speaker 1: Who the owner is going to be.
01:11:47
Speaker 3: And so we talk a lot about like, well, what if the Reds got sold? Here's my question for you. What's a better investment? Buying an existing major league team or buying one on the ground floor in a city like Nashville or Salt Lake City?
01:12:00
Speaker 1: I think this is ego and finance.
01:12:02
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:12:03
Speaker 1: Period. If I want bang for my buck, I'm going to pick a city where it's already there. Is it Cincinnati? Maybe. Is there enough for me to build on in Cincinnati?
01:12:17
Speaker 17: Maybe.
01:12:18
Speaker 1: I already have a stadium that people like. How long is it going to be likable? Do I have to build another one? My ego says, you know what, I want to start from scratch. Let me start from scratch and show you what I can do. But it's a $ 2. 5 billion buy-in for the franchise. That does not count the stadiums. That doesn't count front desk, front office, the players salary that you've got to pay for all the crap that you now know that you've got to build around your stadium and parking and all of this is a minimum $ 4 billion buy-in. And then some, because you've got to figure out how do I build this from scratch?
01:13:06
Speaker 3: Right.
01:13:07
Speaker 1: If you are that guy, who wants to architecturally say, you know what, that was me, then it's an ego thing. I would much rather write less of a check and start where I know I have it and say, you did this wrong, you did this wrong, you did this wrong. Let me try and fix this while I've got it there.
01:13:30
Speaker 3: I think I'd rather start from scratch. I mean, look, I'm not going to be in the market for a team either way.
01:13:35
Speaker 1: Why don't you want one that exists?
01:13:38
Speaker 3: I don't know.
01:13:40
Speaker 1: You want to start from scratch just because that's your building.
01:13:43
Speaker 3: Because that sounds more fun, quite frankly.
01:13:45
Speaker 6: Okay.
01:13:45
Speaker 3: That sounds more fun.
01:13:46
Speaker 1: And it costs you. So if you've got the deeper pockets from the ground up, then it's more fun to build from.
01:13:52
Speaker 3: The ground up. Because you could talk about, well, it's the owner with the white hat. He comes into the town where the team is struggling, and he's a hero. But people hate change. And so as an owner, you're going to change stuff people don't like. You're going to change the uniforms or the broadcaster. I want to start fresh where nobody's mad at me for anything I changed.
01:14:10
Speaker 1: Oh, you don't think people are going to be mad at you because you start from scratch? Every idea you come up with will be brilliant. Oh, those are great uniforms. That's a great design for a stadium.
01:14:21
Speaker 3: Here's the one thing I will say. I think we're out of cool team nicknames, right? I think we're out of cool team nicknames.
01:14:28
Speaker 1: I'm not with you on that either. I don't have one coming out of my head.
01:14:32
Speaker 3: They just moved a hockey team to Utah, called it the Mammoth. It's not even plural. We're out of cool team nicknames. It's brutal.
01:14:40
Speaker 1: That just means people are making bad decisions. So somebody there is pissed off that their team's now named the Mammoth.
01:14:49
Speaker 5: Let's talk about how to not make bad decisions. Omega Wealth Private Capital. Yeah, you need a vital report. And this is vital for MLB. This is vital for you. How do I deal with my volatility? Because here your market, could it potentially crash? Where's your money? Do you have your income set? What are your tax situations going to be? Not just now, but 20 years from now. How do you do on your asset preservation? Do you have a place to go for money? And what's your legacy plan?
01:15:18
Speaker 1: Do you know that your money's going where you want it to go instead of where the government wants it to go? You need a little vital report at Omega Wealth Private Capital.
01:15:29
Speaker 3: OWPrivateCapital.com. Brad, thanks so much. We'll go to Jacksonville next, ESPN 1530. Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:15:38
Speaker 9: Traffic from the uc bangles it's a big cat clash and the bangles are on the prowl for a win.
01:15:46
Speaker 16: To get one they'll have to jolt the jaguars and trust me her will fly you might call it a pouncer palooza it's spot versus stripes the game kicks off at 1 p.m Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
01:16:09
Speaker 3: You know what's cool is when you get to the postseason, they actually play real baseball in extra innings, which is what's happening in Atlanta right now. And the Phillies, we've got back-to-back homers in the eighth. Just got a solo shot from Alec Boehm with still two guys on. Top ten in Atlanta. Phillies up 4-3. We'll keep you up to date. Kelsey Conway from TheEnquirer and Sensei.com. In 15 minutes, she'll sort through the mess of injuries the Bengals are dealing with in the secondary and also discuss what's up with Dalton Reisner, who popped up on the injury report today with a knee issue. That is just about 15 minutes away.
01:16:48
Speaker 19: But.
01:16:49
Speaker 3: with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming to town on Sunday for a second consecutive year. It's an opportunity for us to bring in somebody who knows more about the Jacksonville Jaguars than anybody from 1010XL in Jacksonville, Lauren Brooks. Two years in a row, we get to have a host of helmets and heels on that radio station. Hi, Lauren.
01:17:09
Speaker 18: Hello, how are you?
01:17:10
Speaker 10: I'm well.
01:17:10
Speaker 3: Give me a 30,000-foot encapsulation of the first three Jacksonville Jaguars games.
01:17:17
Speaker 14: Okay, it's nice and easy. Week one, butt-whooping. Week three, butt-whooping by the Jaguars. Both of those. Week two, Jaguars.
01:17:25
Speaker 19: Have a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter in Denver. Mile high going crazy. Jaguars obviously won there last year. Couldn't hold on to the lead, and Denver finished off that game winners 20-13. So Jaguars really felt like they let one go there, but obviously it was a revenge game for Denver.
01:17:43
Speaker 3: All right, so when they've been really good and they have spent most of their first three games, despite the loss in the middle, being really, really good, what have they been best at? Mm-hmm.
01:17:52
Speaker 19: So offensively, Trevor Lawrence is playing at an elite level, kind of like how he finished the season with the one caveat being that's our outlier being that game, the wildcard game against the Bills. He looks a little off that game. But each game this year, outside of maybe a few throws here and there, he's looked fantastic. And he's finding multiple weapons, too, like we talked about, really all offseason offensively.
01:18:16
Speaker 14: Who is going to be.
01:18:17
Speaker 19: The leading receiver on this Jaguars team? Some people thought Parker Washington, some people Brian Thomas Jr. since his rookie season was so good. And then, of course, you just paid Jacoby Myers the soft season as well after trading for him last year. Then you've got Britton Strange and you draft two tight ends. And then, of course, the running backs and Bashaw Tootin. And then they signed Chris Rodriguez from the commanders. Offensively, I would say they want to get the run game going more, but the passing offense has been elite. And then defensively, the run defense continues to be the best in the NFL. Deron Hamilton is, as Josh Heinz-Allens says, the best nose tackle in the NFL, even though he certainly doesn't get the credit or national acclaim for that.
01:18:56
Speaker 14: And then as far as the.
01:18:57
Speaker 19: Secondary, it needs some improvement, but we are seeing more snaps by Travis Hunter on defense. So going to probably see a little bit more man coming up against the Bengals. But as you well know, it's going to be hard no matter what you do to cover some of those guys.
01:19:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question about it. You mentioned the secondary needs to improve. What is the biggest... Either side of the ball, what's the biggest team deficiency?
01:19:20
Speaker 14: So I would say it's probably the.
01:19:24
Speaker 19: The passing defense, which, I mean, it gave up way too many yards to Jalen Waddell. Really, against the Browns, there was only the one touchdown that they gave up, so they played really well against the Browns, and then the Patriots didn't score a touchdown. So it's really hard to kind of nitpick, or I feel like I'm nitpicking. It's hard to say that there's a major deficiency.
01:19:41
Speaker 14: Really, but at times.
01:19:43
Speaker 19: the opponents have been able to take advantage of maybe like a Buster Brown's.
01:19:47
Speaker 14: Lack of speed.
01:19:48
Speaker 19: He was also paid this offseason. He's really a good corner against the run. But at times, if there's an elite receiver, they're going to probably take advantage of that matchup. So we are seeing a little bit more of Jarrion Jones. And then, like I mentioned, Travis Hunter. So I think they're just trying to find their best guys there as far as the secondary is concerned.
01:20:07
Speaker 3: Lauren Brooks from 1010XL in Jacksonville. Based on how the second half of the season went last year, where they were offensively, in particular, an absolute wagon. They obviously lost in the postseason. We paid attention to that here. But just based on winning 13 games last year, the success the Jags had, what's the overall fan sentiment about 2026? Is it they've got to get to the AFC Championship game? Is it deeper than that? Is it Super Bowl and bust? Like, what is it?
01:20:36
Speaker 14: Yeah, I think it's a good question.
01:20:37
Speaker 19: Everyone believes certainly in Liam Cohen, but the Jags fan base is so scarred from all the other years of having one good season and then falling completely off. That happened after 2017's great run and it happened after the 2022 season. So I think the standard or the expectation right now.
01:20:57
Speaker 14: They fell short of doing that last year. And I mean, a lot of fans obviously thought that.
01:21:01
Speaker 19: And media too, honestly, if the Jaguars had beaten the Bills, they thought the Jags would be in the Super Bowl, just the way that obviously everything shook out with Bo Nix and the Broncos, his injury. So, and the Jags, I think, would have beaten the Patriots not as easily as they did this past Sunday, but I.
01:21:16
Speaker 14: Think they would have beaten them.
01:21:17
Speaker 19: So either way, the i don't think fans are saying in year two under liam cohen they have to go to the fc championship game or they have to go to the super bowl but i think by next year that's certainly where the expectations uh will be but of course last year as you well know no chiefs no ravens no bangles so uh that's why it was your opportunity bills and they didn't take advantage of it and jags kind of feel like they let one slip but i would say uh The Jags fan base right now is just so thankful that they got to 2-1 because they were very afraid of going to 1-2 and then maybe losing to the Bengals and then going to London and losing either.
01:21:51
Speaker 14: To the Texans or Eagles or maybe both.
01:21:53
Speaker 3: What we knew about Liam Cohen at this time a year ago when you and I talked one game into his head coaching tenure was he was highly regarded as an offensive mind and also he never stayed in one city for more than a year. That's obviously changed in his current capacity. Give me what his biggest strength is as a head coach.
01:22:12
Speaker 19: Yeah, he's able to find the edge with his team. He's very relatable. He holds them accountable. And there's something about, I think, his age, like the fact that he's only around 40, that he really does connect with the players. But obviously, the play calling. If you have a head coach that you fully trust as your play caller, you don't have to worry as much about if you lose your offensive coordinator, right?
01:22:33
Speaker 14: Right.
01:22:34
Speaker 19: That's the thing that I don't think the Jags had had such confidence in a play call in a long time. There was this whole controversy here as far as Zach Taylor's brother press was Doug Peterson calling the plays was press Taylor calling the plays at the end of the day. I think it was press Taylor all along, but the play calling just got stagnant. And so Liam Cohen is a mastermind when it comes to the different formations and catching defenses off guard.
01:22:57
Speaker 3: Awesome stuff, Lauren. I appreciate the time. Thanks so much.
01:23:01
Speaker 14: Well, absolutely.
01:23:02
Speaker 19: Hope all goes well this week.
01:23:04
Speaker 3: Well, from our perspective, yes. From the Jacksonville perspective, maybe not quite as much, but should be a fun game nonetheless.
01:23:11
Speaker 14: Well, yeah, so many injuries I know piling up for you guys, so good luck.
01:23:14
Speaker 3: A bunch of them. It's going to be interesting. Lauren Brooks, awesome stuff. I appreciate it. 1010XL in Jacksonville. She does a nice job. Helmets and Heels, two to four weekday afternoons. 13 after five o'clock, Bengals and Jags on Sunday. Bengals game plan tonight, starring Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. At 6.05, Kelsey Conway is going to join us in a few minutes. Bengals injury report has on it Dalton Reisner with a knee, which that's a surprise relative to, I think, what we were expecting yesterday. I think it's unsurprising. Jordan Battle limited. Brian Cook limited. Kyle Duggar a no-go. Reisner a no-go with a knee issue. So we'll sift through all that with Kelsey in just a few minutes. Also, Taryn wants me to address... Some of the things happening on the chat on our video stream. Are they good? Are they things like, I'll ask you this. When I look at them, am I going to be mad?
01:24:10
Speaker 6: No, no, no, no.
01:24:11
Speaker 4: Okay.
01:24:11
Speaker 3: Are folks having fun?
01:24:13
Speaker 9: Yes.
01:24:13
Speaker 6: Just a lot going on in the chat.
01:24:14
Speaker 3: I got an email here from somebody who asked, I guess I mentioned this in passing a couple weeks ago. Am I ever going to tell my Chris Hammond story? Chris Hammond, the early 90s Reds pitcher. I don't think I can. I don't think I can do that. I don't know why I mentioned that, but there's a Chris Hammond story from my teenage years that I know. I like mentioning that I have a Chris Hammond story, but I don't think I could tell it. So I'll respond to that email on the air. I'm sorry I ever even mentioned that I had a Chris Hammond story, but no, I don't know that I can do that. 34 years have passed since the time of the Chris Hammond story, but the statute of limitations hasn't... Hasn't expired yet. Uh, we got to talk to Kelsey because there's more important things than my Chris Hammond story. Kelsey joins us next quarter after five, uh, Braves have a guy on one out bottom 10 Phillies up for three. And the guy on actually got on because he earned getting on base. I am in favor of nearly all the baseball rule changes we've dealt with this decade. And I know, like, we just got done with year seven of the Magic Runner on second base and extra innings in the regular season. You know that rule stinks because they don't play baseball that way when the games matter the most. 4-3 Phillies, bottom of the 10th inning. Phillies tried to even the series at a game apiece. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:25:45
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
01:25:50
Speaker 9: From the UC Health.
01:25:51
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.
01:26:00
Speaker 7: This is Football in the Natty, brought to you in part by Skyline Chili on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:26:12
Speaker 3: Very quickly, before we get to our friend Kelsey Conway, that game at Atlanta goes final. We had an ABS challenge, a successful ABS challenge that ended the game. with former Red Dominic Smith striking out, looking with two on and two outs. Bottom of the 10th inning, so the Phillies win that ball game 4-1. Decisive game three tomorrow. Also, the White Sox up early four in the first and still batting, leading the Astros four-zip game two there. Kelsey Conway is with us every Wednesday, 5-20, from the Enquirer and Cincinnati.com, host of the Beyond Sunday podcast. Who's going to play in the secondary on Sunday?
01:26:49
Speaker 20: You know, I actually just got done writing a story that will be up on the Inquirer momentarily. And boy, is it... You totally go through the depth chart because there's almost like a trickle-down effect for almost every single injury that the Bengals have in the secondary. And that's why it is a tricky situation that Al Golden and Zach Taylor are going to have to work through. Because when Jalen Davis went out, we haven't talked about Desir Taylor being on IR and how much... of an issue that is for them. So they're down their top two slot corners. So then, of course, that means Dax Hill, who wants to play outside, is better outside, has to move inside because he's their best option there. So then that leaves an opening opposite of DJ Turner outside at cornerback that will either be given to DJ Ivy or Takario Davis. Hasn't been a great showing for Takario Davis through three games, three costly penalties, little bit, So they're probably going to go with DJ Ivy for the start. But you've seen DJ Ivy here now. He's in his fourth season. You kind of know what you're going to get. He's a guy who plays hard. But can you trust him that he's going to be able to lock down the Jacksonville receivers? And then we're not even talking about safety.
01:28:07
Speaker 3: Safety is almost.
01:28:08
Speaker 20: even more of a concern because Jordan battle was limited today with a hamstring injury. Brian cook didn't practice neither did Kyle Duggar. So then you're focusing on a player like Russ yeast, who's currently on the practice squad. So they're going to give him some reps in practice this week. And they think if they have to go with him, they feel confident that, about that. They also can go towards PJ Jules. But again, that's a player who is mostly on the team for what he gives them from special teams standpoint. So it's kind of of a mess and they're going to wait and see how the rest of the week goes as far as Brian Cook. And Kyle Duggar, if they can get them to a position where maybe Saturday they gave them enough rest. Brian Cook's the type of player who I think could play at a high level if he doesn't practice. But it's a lot of moving pieces, and it's not going to be pretty. And of all games, for them to not have their top players in the secondary, this one's a tough one because... They're not talked about that much because it's a small market team, but Jacksonville's got a really, really strong trio.
01:29:12
Speaker 14: Of wide receivers.
01:29:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question. Then I look on the report and there's Dalton Reisner. What's up with that?
01:29:17
Speaker 8: Yeah.
01:29:18
Speaker 20: So I noticed that out of practice today because I try to take role of the attendance of the offensive lineman, and he wasn't out there. And he's had a bandage on his leg the last couple of weeks, I've noticed. So I don't know if something happened on that final play, obviously the game-sealing play that he got beat on. But it is a little bit of a concern that he wasn't even out there at practice. But I did see him in the locker room come out of the training room. He looked like he was walking okay. So we will see if he's able to come back in practice. Usually with a player like Dalton Reisner, who's a veteran, it's hard to gauge what what they could be because they are the type of players that can take a Wednesday off. So Thursday is going to be the really telling day for Dalton Reisner because Thursday is when they really put the entire game plan in and that's their heavy day of practice. So definitely keep an eye on the injury report tomorrow with Dalton Reisner. But yeah, not an ideal situation for the Bengals to be in with him being bagged up too.
01:30:20
Speaker 3: No, no, not at all. This team enjoyed such great health. Yeah, no, there's a lot there. This team enjoyed such great health that it's seemingly all come crashing down. What was, like, the most damning thing that you saw on Sunday in Pittsburgh?
01:30:36
Speaker 20: The most damning thing I saw is, and it all goes back to this conversation about injuries, because no team, unless, you know, you're a like it's going to go through a season where they don't have a few games where they just don't play their best. Like nobody and Dexter Lawrence said it, like we're not going to go undefeated without what that wasn't the goal. But what is concerning to me is that the way they played in Pittsburgh on defense wasn't great. And I, They still had a chance to win, and boy, it's going to be hard to say if the Bengals are going to win. They're going to have to play really, really well to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars with what they're dealing with in the secondary. But how much different would you feel if they had won that game in Pittsburgh and And they're 3-1 heading into a game against Miami that they should win. And then they have a chance to be 4-1 at the bye. I think what was concerning to me is that that was a game that the Bengals needed to win in Pittsburgh. They were definitely the better team. They just didn't show up on defense on all three levels. And that's what's concerning to me is because... If they do lose to the Jaguars, two and two is a very different look than three and one. And obviously it's still early in the season. I'm not trying to say like there's panic should be involved. But I think that's what's concerning is to me is because, you know, there's going to be games where you're not going to have your best players. And those are the ones where you can kind of live.
01:31:58
Speaker 14: With a loss.
01:31:59
Speaker 20: The one in Pittsburgh, it's hard to live with because it should have been a win.
01:32:04
Speaker 3: What do we do with this whole they're 1-34 when they're trailing with less than eight minutes to go stat that everybody's obsessing over?
01:32:12
Speaker 20: You know, I think that's being taken out of context, and I was glad that Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Fitzpatrick talked about it on their podcast. I do think that it's misleading to some extent, but I get why it's being talked about right now. Listen, until Joe Burrow can stay healthy and until he can string together four or five games where he has game-winning drive, that narrative probably won't change. But I think as someone who watched that game in Pittsburgh, I remember going into the fourth quarter like, Burrow has looked the best that he has looked all season today. Like I think to, to even point out a negative, he played really well in Pittsburgh and again, was far from the reason that they lost that game. I think the point to those things with how well Joe Burrow has played over the last couple of years, to me, it seems like a bit much, but I can see why it's, you know, something that's swirling. But I think the bigger conversation is, is how many times did they put him in a position to have to win the game where there's times where if they would just run the ball and play for the time, but they put the ball in his hand so much that it's going to lead to conversations about, is it too much? Are they putting too much on him? So I always look at those types of stats with, with, some perspective in mind because I think that's important because Joe Burrow played fantastic in Pittsburgh and it was not his fault that they lost that game.
01:33:38
Speaker 3: We're on the same page there. Thank you as always. We'll talk next week.
01:33:43
Speaker 20: Thanks for having me on, Mo.
01:33:44
Speaker 3: That's the great Kelsey Conway from The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com and host of the Beyond Sunday podcast which focuses on the significant others of Bengals players. It's 5.30. We have.
01:33:58
Speaker 3: The rest of the show is an open canvas, a blank canvas.
01:34:01
Speaker 6: Read the chat.
01:34:02
Speaker 3: I'll read the chat after sports headlines when we come back. 5.30, ESPN 1530, Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:34:11
Speaker 7: You've been listening to Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:34:21
Speaker 8: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:34:22
Speaker 9: Traffic. From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC. Police and emergency.
01:34:40
Speaker 16: It's a big cat clash and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning 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.
01:35:11
Speaker 3: Sports headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of... Lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. What happened to me there? Puberty. I'm just going through it. The Bengals injury report. Are you ready? Dalton Reisner is on and out today. Did not practice.
01:35:35
Speaker 1: Knee issue.
01:35:35
Speaker 3: Jordan Battle. Hammy Limited. Brian Cook. Ankle Limited. Kyle Duggar.
01:35:39
Speaker 5: Quad.
01:35:40
Speaker 3: DNP. More tonight. Bengals game plan starting at 6 on ESPN 1530. And the game is on Sunday at 1 o'clock on ESPN 1530. Make sure you join us on Sunday morning starting at 9 a.m. Tony and I fresh off a plane from Arizona. It's going to be fun. starting at nine o'clock at the Holy Grail. Tay Baker, Tay Baker is a significant figure in local college basketball history. He coached both UC and Xavier. He was an assistant coach on Cincinnati's two national title teams in 61 and 62. He would then go on to become the program's head coach, had a record of 125 and 60. Later on, he would go coach at Xavier for a number of years with a record of 70 and 89 and I think I've told this story before. His 96th birthday. He just turned 99 a few days ago. His 96th birthday, and I'm almost certain it was 96. There was an event at a church in Norwood and Jim Scott, legendary radio host, was supposed to emcee it. He had just been diagnosed with ALS and didn't feel comfortable. So he asked me to do it in his stead and it was awesome. I got to meet Tay Baker, and it was this room full of players, men from the 61 and 62 team, and then a lot of players that he had coached at UC when he was the head coach, and a lot of guys that he had coached at Xavier when he was Xavier's head coach. Don Donaher was there, the legendary Dayton coach. That was an awesome event. At 96 years old at the time, he was very, very with it and very, very kind. That was really cool. Baseball playoffs. Phillies and Braves will go to a decisive game three. Alec Boehm with a home run in the top of the 10th inning. Phillies come from behind to win 4-3 over Atlanta. Right now, the White Sox and Astros are playing in the bottom of the first inning. Chicago put up a four spot. Houston has answered back. And it's 4-1 with the Astros batting in the top of the first inning. Jeremy Pena with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the first for Houston, but still some work to do down three. Later tonight in the Bronx, it's the Yankees and Red Sox game two. Game one of that series, a blowout. Cam Schlittler was terrific last night. And the Yankees with a 1-0 series lead after winning 9-0 in the Padres, winning 8-0 in Game 1 last night over the Cubs. Game 2 is later this evening. 20 from 6 o'clock. Taren, you want me to read the comments in the chat for the folks who are watching on our video stream?
01:38:27
Speaker 6: Yes, make them feel like they're a part of the show.
01:38:28
Speaker 3: On Twitter and on YouTube.
01:38:29
Speaker 5: All right all right do you want to read them or do you want me to just sift through them in real.
01:38:33
Speaker 6: Time you can sift through some of them all right.
01:38:38
Speaker 3: Uh there's a lot of them here they've been busy so if i scroll all day there's a time okay let's go let's go.
01:38:45
Speaker 6: There's a lot here.
01:38:49
Speaker 3: Um, so far here are the comments who day I, I, I appreciate that, but are, are the comments going to be, I don't know. I mean, like there's, there's not a lot to respond to. Like when someone says who day, it's like saying, hi, you just respond with a who day.
01:39:07
Speaker 5: So who day, uh, same person predicts the Bengals win the game on Sunday, 30 to 24. Uh, we've.
01:39:14
Speaker 3: Got another who day, a lot of O's in that one. Hope the defense doesn't let up 20-plus again.
01:39:20
Speaker 4: I agree.
01:39:21
Speaker 3: The injuries plus this Jacksonville offense. I'm scared. I'm nervous. A little apprehensive. All right, Taren, I'm going to keep going here. Not that I don't appreciate the folks who have left comments.
01:39:36
Speaker 6: Here's one.
01:39:36
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you. Thank you.
01:39:38
Speaker 6: It says, Mo, do you agree or not? Less money on wide receivers and more money on the offense on the lines. I don't know.
01:39:43
Speaker 3: It's not like they haven't paid Ted Karras. It's not like they haven't paid Orlando Brown. I think they're going to have... Amarius Mims is going to be the next guy to get paid. But until you have consistently good offensive lines, it's going to be hard to refute that. Now, they have a former first-round pick. They have a former second-round pick, both on the line right now. Dalton Reisner was... you know, a bargain-free agent that, you know.
01:40:13
Speaker 5: Him allowing contact on Joe Burrow, the pivotal one with the game last week, notwithstanding, has kind of worked out.
01:40:20
Speaker 3: But like, I mean, they've gone heavy early in the draft. Jackson Carman was an early round pick. All those guys, Kappa and Lyle Collins, and I mean, they've spent money on the offensive line. The fact that they've paid the wide receivers does not preclude you from spending elsewhere. They spent a lot of money on defense this offseason. They've invested heavy draft. If they're ever going to have an elite offensive line, it's mainly going to happen via the draft. I think we would all acknowledge that. And maybe there's some good long-term solutions with Brian Parker and Connor Lou, but like, I don't know that signing Higgins and Chase should preclude them from having a good offensive line. Could it keep them from getting the best of the best of the best guy, the most expensive free agent at one of the offensive line positions? I guess so, but Like when they got Orlando Brown, I, you know, right now he's paid kind of like an average left tackle. He was not when they first got him. Um, and again, like Amarius Mims, early round pick Dylan Fairchild, early round pick. That's if they're ever going to have a consistently great offensive line, that's where it's going to come from. Um, I just... I think the money has still been there to invest in an offensive line.
01:41:39
Speaker 15: See that?
01:41:39
Speaker 3: Now, Taren, that was better than me just sifting through this long list of people participating in the.
01:41:44
Speaker 6: I don't want the folks in the chat to know they are seen. We do see them. We see you.
01:41:48
Speaker 3: Like, I'll keep going here. There's one person left a lot. Mo, my UC Bearcat brother. I like that.
01:41:56
Speaker 18: Yes.
01:41:57
Speaker 3: By the way, this is a golden opportunity on Saturday for UC.
01:42:01
Speaker 5: Um.
01:42:03
Speaker 3: That was a good win over Kansas state. They fell behind 10 early. And then I'll stop short of saying they dominated the game on the ground, but Jabron pain and cold tab, cold tab. These last two games has been just terrific. They legitimately, I think can run the ball. Well, the question is when they are really, truly forced to have to throw it, are they going to be able to, and that's the skepticism that, Like you can talk about skepticism, Satterfield and you know, the track record in November and stuff like that. What I want to know is like when, when they're in a game where JC French has to make throws downfield, the question is, can he, but also will he be willing to? Cause there's just, it feels like there's a gun shyness to him and apprehensiveness to him. I don't think you could have that this week. Dan Hoard said this in the postgame show last week, that of all the losses the Bearcats incurred late last season, I think the one that stung the most was the loss to Arizona here. Their touchdown underdogs, I've said for a while, they need a win in the kind of game that they're not supposed to. Now, you could argue, well, wait a minute, they were five and a half or six and a half point underdogs against Kansas State. Okay, but that game was here. They need a make people perk up type of win. And playing Arizona isn't like playing Texas Tech. They'll get their shot at the Red Raiders in a few weeks. And I know the game is going to be close to midnight, but a win at Arizona, I think would make people perk up. Noah Fafita is a good quarterback. He's been at Arizona forever. He's a rarity in this day and age. Good player. They need a make people perk up type of win. And then if Rick is referring to basketball, I can't wait. Next Wednesday. I know it's an exhibition. I know we all wish that UC and Xavier and Dayton and UC and Xavier play each other and UD and UC play each other. I wish I know there's there's this thought. I get it, man. Wish these were regular season. I can't wait to see. That's the fun thing about this era. We're in a college basketball as hard as it is to follow the comings and goings. Like we get real exhibition games where you get a better sense, not a complete sense, but a better sense of what everybody has. I can't wait for that next Wednesday. I can't wait for college basketball to be here. All right, Taryn, how am I doing addressing the comments in the video chat?
01:44:27
Speaker 6: That's good. I just want to show some love to the chat.
01:44:29
Speaker 3: Okay, well, we do see you. We appreciate you watching. Please subscribe to our YouTube. I've been told, got to do a better job mentioning that you have a YouTube channel. Yes, the Moe Eggers show on YouTube. One person says, fire Zach Taylor by the by. Fire Zach Taylor talk by the by. Dude, they lose this week and to Miami?
01:44:52
Speaker 4: Yes.
01:44:54
Speaker 3: That's all anybody's going to be talking about. I think the Dolphins are going winless, by the way. If you go to the game this week, or if you go downtown at the banks and you're walking around, you should ask random strangers, can you name a Miami Dolphins wide receiver? Can you name, now that Devon Achan has heard, can you name an active Miami Dolphins skill player?
01:45:19
Speaker 6: What about this one? As a young listener, he really enjoys live streams.
01:45:24
Speaker 3: Well, thank you.
01:45:25
Speaker 6: How do you grade Zach Taylor so far this season?
01:45:33
Speaker 3: Boy, it's a small sample size, and so big mistakes matter more. The needing a timeout at the start of a drive with the game hanging in the balance is really unforgivable. So coach in his eighth year as the head coach slash play caller, you have the entire Pittsburgh offensive possession to kind of go through what now, obviously what you need and what you're going to do depends on whether or not Pittsburgh scores. And Zach took, took the blame for it said on Monday, that's on me, but like that, that cannot happen. And you could, you could throw blame at burrow. If you want fine, you could throw the pitcher or whatever, dude, you're the head coach play caller. You're in charge of the offense. That's lack of preparedness. It's situational football. Like he gets docked pretty heavily there. I haven't had a major issue with Zach Taylor's coaching in the first three games, except for that. Like Simmons is being beaten up for calling the fake punt and not the fake punt, the punt block where said Johnson got dinged for roughing the kicker. I don't have an issue. Darren Simmons is a good special teams coach. Sometimes you're going to call that and it's not going to work because the guy screws it up. If he blocks the punt, it's a great call. I'm not crushing Darren Simmons for that. I'll crush the head coach slash play caller for needing to burn a timeout to start a drive with the game hanging in the balance. I'll go B minus. I mean, like up until that, I didn't blame Zach for the way things had gone. Um, we'll see how this game unfolds on Sunday. That's a good question.
01:47:19
Speaker 4: It's a good question.
01:47:20
Speaker 6: Three minutes left in the show. How will you use them?
01:47:22
Speaker 3: Do we just keep looking at these, uh, chat comments?
01:47:25
Speaker 6: Or we get to our guy who's been on hold. Let's talk to Mike.
01:47:28
Speaker 3: Mike, what's up, man?
01:47:29
Speaker 6: How are you?
01:47:31
Speaker 15: Hey, thanks, Mo.
01:47:31
Speaker 18: Appreciate you. Do you get my email about my, uh, new treatment I'm getting?
01:47:35
Speaker 3: I did. And I've been thinking of you and, uh, my apologies for not emailing you back, but as always, you're in my thoughts.
01:47:42
Speaker 18: Thank you, Mo. Hello to you, Taren. I never get to speak to you much anymore. Hey, did you hear the interview with Joey Votto yesterday with Dan Patrick?
01:47:51
Speaker 4: I did.
01:47:52
Speaker 3: It was terrific, as is his work on NBC.
01:47:55
Speaker 18: Yeah, he's special. I think this playoff format sucks. I'm sure you probably mentioned it, where you get the lesser of the better teams in the one bracket and the best teams in the other bracket. It just makes no sense. Why don't they just seed it? You know, top record gets the worst record team. and just go that way? That's the best reward.
01:48:18
Speaker 3: The traditionalist in me hates that idea, but we have watched, they have almost completely gotten rid of the line between the National League and the American League, which as you well know, back in the day, used to be entirely separate entities. We had a National League president and an American League president. They were two separate entities. Now, with year-long interleague play, with the fact that both leagues play without a DH. I actually think there's validity to that. And again, the traditionalist in me says, National League over here, American League over here, and the respective brackets are what they are. But we have gotten rid of the distinction between the two leagues in every other realm. I actually think there's an argument that in favor of just seed the teams according to best record, the Cleveland Indians get a bye with 85 wins. The Atlanta Braves have to play in the first round with 98.
01:49:14
Speaker 18: Yeah, and the Rays are doing the same thing with almost 100 wins. It's crazy. They've got to play the Yankees or the Red Sox. I know you've got to go.
01:49:24
Speaker 16: Thanks, Mo.
01:49:24
Speaker 6: Okay, Mike.
01:49:25
Speaker 3: Have a great afternoon. All right, we'll do more. But we'll encourage folks to leave comments. But the show is better when you call it. So I don't want folks who are like, I was going to call Mo, but now I'm going to leave a comment on his video feed. But we do appreciate everybody. Any way you're consuming this show, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I do appreciate it. Anything you may have missed on the iHeartRadio app, go check that out. Podcast thanks to Long Necks Sports Grill. Chad Brendel is in for me tomorrow. I'll be in Tucson getting ready for UC and Arizona.
01:49:59
Speaker 6: By a pool.
01:50:00
Speaker 3: By a pool.
01:50:01
Speaker 1: Yes, by a pool.
01:50:03
Speaker 5: Lots of time by the pool over the next two days. I got to get used to the time zone by the pool.
01:50:08
Speaker 3: Stick around. Bengals game plan is coming up next. Louis Breeden. Going to be the guest of Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. That will be awesome. And Taron Bland's awesome. We thank him for producing and thanks to you for listening. Have a great night. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
