September 27, 2024 • 10 mins
Robert Weintraub writes a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. We discussed this week's column, and a myraid of issues the Bengals are facing at 0-3.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Twenty minutes after five. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Bengals
Panthers Sunday at one on ESPN fifteen thirty. Pregame coverage
starts at nine am. On Thursdays, we chat with our
friend Robert win Trump. His weekly Bengals column is up
at Cincinnatimagazine dot com. I tweeted at a link at mowegger.
(00:23):
You know, three weeks ago we had John and you know,
we're all feeling good and you're you're sounding the caution bell.
But today you're you're feeling optimistic. So I needed you today.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I feel like I always have to cut against the grain,
you know, That's what I'm here for this to be,
mister contrarian.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, well, you know, I guess optimistic is one word
for it.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm not happy about the record, obviously, but I don't
necessarily see it. As you know, the sky is falling
in the season is one hundred percent over just yet.
So you know, perhaps that's optimism, And I guess it
is when everybody else is about ready to jump up
the ridge, spending the Ohio there. But for the most part,
you know, it's been a tough start.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
But I still think there's reasons for apptic.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So let's start with the most glaring thing on Monday night,
which was clearly the defense. Right, They forced no turnovers,
they forced no punts. Eight days after they hold Patrick
Mahomes to one hundred and fifty one yards passing. And yeah,
they weren't very good against Isaiah pa Checko, but I
think we all came out of that game feeling like
the defense might not be a strength, but maybe it's
not going to be terrible. And then there's what we
(01:27):
saw on Monday, and we're talking about how it's not fixable,
how badly does it need to be fixed and is
it fixable?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, you know, it depends on I guess the set
your terms, right, what do we mean by fixable good
enough to win some games?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, I think that's possible for sure. I mean we've
seen it before.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
And like you said, but for a ridiculous penalty call,
they win the game against the Chiefs, and we're feeling,
you know, a little bit differently this week.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Even at one and two. Let's say give some credit
to Jaydon Daniels. The guy was unbelievable. I don't think
it was.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
That surprising that people who watched him play it at
you for sure, and you know, the Bengals have a
long sad history of when they go up against the quarterback,
especially a dual threat quarterback for the first time, they
tend to struggle against him. And you know, we saw
some of that as well, and he made some astounding plays,
any one of which he doesn't make, and the Bengals
pull out a victory there. But to get to the point,
(02:19):
you know, listen, the defense has to be better, lou
and and Roumo, you want to put it at his feet.
I mean, it's fair to say that he's in his
sixth year now and of the previous five, maybe there's
only about a twenty five game stretch where the defense
has really been good. They've been me the yocre to
atrocious otherwise, certainly in certain aspects of the defense. So
(02:40):
you know, maybe he can only be fixed so much,
but it can certainly be fixed to.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The point where you can come away with some w's.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
And I think, you know, I look at Kansas City
and they have the reputation, deservedly so of how their
defense won them last year a championship, and they've you know,
done the things that Cincinnati wants to do get young
and fast on defense and plays, and really it's all come.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Down to a couple of situations with their defense.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When it was fourth and one the other night in
Atlanta where I live, they made the huge play and
the huge stop on the Jean Robinson the kind of
things the Bengals have not been doing. You know, they
gave up three of the three fourth down conversions against
the Commanders, and they gave up all three red zone
opportunities as touchdowns for the Commanders, and you know, those
are the kind of things they can't do. I don't
(03:25):
think it's a gigantic, you know, tear down to the
studs kind of thing. It's just like we talk about
a lot situational football, and they're just not getting the
job done in the big moments. And that's why they're
own three rather than being really two and one or
even three O, which they easily could be.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
They they addressed the defensive line, and unfortunately some of
the things they've done to address the defensive line haven't
played out because of injury, both with players they have
signed via free agency and guys that they have drafted.
And yet I'll admit that as the offseason unfolded. I
kept wondering, like, are they doing enough? So it's it's
(04:01):
you know, it's one thing to look at how they played,
how they've played so far and go, well, they should
have done more up front. There are a lot of
us who've kind of said during the course of the
off season, Man, I wish I wish they would have
done a little bit more. Is the quote they should
have done more to address the defensive line kind of thing,
in hindsight a fair assertion, or are we defaulting to
it a little bit too easily because of how they've played.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, maybe a little bit too easily. I mean I
look back and think.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Were they really gonna splash out huge money to sign
Christian Wilkins.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
For example? I mean, was that ever really a possibility?
And what's Christian Wilkins even done?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He was on the milk carton against our buddy Andy
Dalton and the Panthers who we got this week this
past Sunday. I don't know if he was one of
the guys who coach Antonio.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Pierce accused of making business decisions out there. You would
hope not with that money.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
But you know that's not something Cincinnati was ever seriously
gonna do. And listen, we've known for a long time
that they need to add pass rush again from the
opposite of Trey Hendrickson. We've talked about it over and
over again. They were pretty you know, confident that they
were going to get something out of Joseph osaid that
they were going to get something out of Miles Murphy,
they were going to get something out of some of
(05:09):
their other young guys, and it just hasn't happened yet.
I mean, they've drafted what eight guys in the first
three rounds over the last three years on that side
of the ball to expand it beyond the defensive line
here a little bit. But you know, overall, I think
the point is made that because of either injury or
just not playing as well as they're.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Capable of, you know that that's a lot of draft capital,
elite draft capital that is not paying off right now.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And you know, whether they quote unquote should have done more,
it's hard to see exactly what that means. Maybe they
could have picked up you know, Janick and Guckway like
the Ravens just did, as a sort of big body
who you know, knows how to get to the quarterback,
it means to be seeing how much he has left.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
You can make little moves.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like that, but you know, overall, I think the guy
of who they have, they identified the.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Guys they wanted.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
They're just not playing up to you know, up to
par right now, and that has to change obviously, otherwise
the season is going to be over a lot sooner
than we all want it to be.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Robert wintrob Cincinnatimagazine dot com. His weekly Bengals column is
a must read. Should Carolina's offensive tackle start working on
their touchdowns for Sunday? Touchdown dances for Sunday? Blew the
line touchdown dances for Sunday?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
I know what you meant.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well, you know it's always a good time when an
offensive tackle does a touchdown dance, except when it happens
against the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I think we can all agree on that.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And I guess the other question is who even are
the Carolina time Actually, they're pretty good right today when
Moten is decent veteran and they got the big kid
Khan they drafted out of NC State a couple of
years ago in the first round. Haven't played up to
their capabilities read really either, they played well on Sunday,
as everybody did for Carolina in their you know, annual
(06:50):
one off good game. Hopefully that's the case. You know,
maybe it's the occasion where Amarus Miams gets his first
start and you celebrate that by allowing an offensive.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Tech eligible eligible play to him.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yes, get him a touchdown, Yes game, And maybe that
also alleviates some of the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Problems they've had in the red zone as well.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And you know, sometimes you need to trick the other
team and throw it to the big man and listen,
Richard Nixon called into play once and had it run.
I believe, many many moons ago, I'm doing the same.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Year tackle eligible, I command it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Sign sign me up for that. They waste a good
offensive performance, a really good offensive performance, right, no turnovers,
no punts, one miss field goal, thirty three points at
home should be enough. Give me a thought or two.
Unjust where the offense is going from where it was
week one, when it was in a phone move to
where we saw on Monday night. That is, you talk
(07:46):
about reasons for optimism, that offense will track, that offense
will play, and if they get anything resembling that moving forward,
I don't know if they're gonna win enough games to
be okay as it relates to them getting to where.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
We wanted to go.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
But I do think they'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, And well, given the way the league has really
been offensively so far this year, you like to think
that if you're in the vicinity at thirty points a game,
you'll have a good chance of winning a lot of games,
regardless of the start. And yeah, they've definitely improved after
that first game, and we thought they would and should
and they have. And you know, the underlying stats are
very good. They're fifth in offensive DVOA in the league,
(08:23):
even despite that game one. They're running game, shockingly enough,
is in the top two or three at almost all
advanced stats. They we talked last week about, you know,
sort of finding the balance between Moss and Brown, and
I think they did that excessively well on Monday night,
both in running and passing game. We'll see how that
plays out going forward. And obviously Washington's defense is nothing
(08:44):
to write home about either. But listen, you got Joe Burrow,
you got a Jamar Chase who says he's got the
poison out of his system.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Right, you look at a team like Buffalo and the
success they've had after sort of, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Going away from the dominant out a wide receiver to
a more spread it around and use everybody who's eligible
to catch a pass and run the ball. And I
think the Bengals are sort of We've talked about it
a lot heading in that direction, with the multiple tight ends,
a couple of running backs, and obviously you have Chase
and you have Higgins, but you also have andre Yoshibas's
man impact, and you certainly have Jermaine Burton, who can
(09:20):
play a big role going forward. So you know, offense
is the last thing I'm worried about with this team.
I think Joe Burrow has proven that if he's not
one hundred percent the player he was before his injury,
he's certainly not fifty percent the player he was. You know,
he's he's not thrown a couple of balls.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
He'd like to see him throw for whatever reason. But
I don't think there's any problem with his arm.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And you know, they got a lot of weapons and
the offensive line, especially with Vin's in there, and if
he can stay healthy, I think they're in good shape offensively.
They may just have to outscore their opposition all year long.
I mean that could be a case where we're looking
at having to win shootouts rather than a complete performance
on both sides of the ball for most of the year.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, I would agree. Uh, we'll do it again next week, man,
thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
All right, let's do it after a W.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That'd be nice. Yes, I can't spell one trump W.
Thank you Robert Trump. Since that magazine, go read his
piece at sinsinnamagazine dot com.
Twenty minutes after five. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Bengals
Panthers Sunday at one on ESPN fifteen thirty. Pregame coverage
starts at nine am. On Thursdays, we chat with our
friend Robert win Trump. His weekly Bengals column is up
at Cincinnatimagazine dot com. I tweeted at a link at mowegger.
(00:23):
You know, three weeks ago we had John and you know,
we're all feeling good and you're you're sounding the caution bell.
But today you're you're feeling optimistic. So I needed you today.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I feel like I always have to cut against the grain,
you know, That's what I'm here for this to be,
mister contrarian.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, well, you know, I guess optimistic is one word
for it.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm not happy about the record, obviously, but I don't
necessarily see it. As you know, the sky is falling
in the season is one hundred percent over just yet.
So you know, perhaps that's optimism, And I guess it
is when everybody else is about ready to jump up
the ridge, spending the Ohio there. But for the most part,
you know, it's been a tough start.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
But I still think there's reasons for apptic.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So let's start with the most glaring thing on Monday night,
which was clearly the defense. Right, They forced no turnovers,
they forced no punts. Eight days after they hold Patrick
Mahomes to one hundred and fifty one yards passing. And yeah,
they weren't very good against Isaiah pa Checko, but I
think we all came out of that game feeling like
the defense might not be a strength, but maybe it's
not going to be terrible. And then there's what we
(01:27):
saw on Monday, and we're talking about how it's not fixable,
how badly does it need to be fixed and is
it fixable?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, you know, it depends on I guess the set
your terms, right, what do we mean by fixable good
enough to win some games?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, I think that's possible for sure. I mean we've
seen it before.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
And like you said, but for a ridiculous penalty call,
they win the game against the Chiefs, and we're feeling,
you know, a little bit differently this week.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Even at one and two. Let's say give some credit
to Jaydon Daniels. The guy was unbelievable. I don't think
it was.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
That surprising that people who watched him play it at
you for sure, and you know, the Bengals have a
long sad history of when they go up against the quarterback,
especially a dual threat quarterback for the first time, they
tend to struggle against him. And you know, we saw
some of that as well, and he made some astounding plays,
any one of which he doesn't make, and the Bengals
pull out a victory there. But to get to the point,
(02:19):
you know, listen, the defense has to be better, lou
and and Roumo, you want to put it at his feet.
I mean, it's fair to say that he's in his
sixth year now and of the previous five, maybe there's
only about a twenty five game stretch where the defense
has really been good. They've been me the yocre to
atrocious otherwise, certainly in certain aspects of the defense. So
(02:40):
you know, maybe he can only be fixed so much,
but it can certainly be fixed to.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The point where you can come away with some w's.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
And I think, you know, I look at Kansas City
and they have the reputation, deservedly so of how their
defense won them last year a championship, and they've you know,
done the things that Cincinnati wants to do get young
and fast on defense and plays, and really it's all come.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Down to a couple of situations with their defense.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When it was fourth and one the other night in
Atlanta where I live, they made the huge play and
the huge stop on the Jean Robinson the kind of
things the Bengals have not been doing. You know, they
gave up three of the three fourth down conversions against
the Commanders, and they gave up all three red zone
opportunities as touchdowns for the Commanders, and you know, those
are the kind of things they can't do. I don't
(03:25):
think it's a gigantic, you know, tear down to the
studs kind of thing. It's just like we talk about
a lot situational football, and they're just not getting the
job done in the big moments. And that's why they're
own three rather than being really two and one or
even three O, which they easily could be.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
They they addressed the defensive line, and unfortunately some of
the things they've done to address the defensive line haven't
played out because of injury, both with players they have
signed via free agency and guys that they have drafted.
And yet I'll admit that as the offseason unfolded. I
kept wondering, like, are they doing enough? So it's it's
(04:01):
you know, it's one thing to look at how they played,
how they've played so far and go, well, they should
have done more up front. There are a lot of
us who've kind of said during the course of the
off season, Man, I wish I wish they would have
done a little bit more. Is the quote they should
have done more to address the defensive line kind of thing,
in hindsight a fair assertion, or are we defaulting to
it a little bit too easily because of how they've played.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, maybe a little bit too easily. I mean I
look back and think.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Were they really gonna splash out huge money to sign
Christian Wilkins.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
For example? I mean, was that ever really a possibility?
And what's Christian Wilkins even done?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He was on the milk carton against our buddy Andy
Dalton and the Panthers who we got this week this
past Sunday. I don't know if he was one of
the guys who coach Antonio.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Pierce accused of making business decisions out there. You would
hope not with that money.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
But you know that's not something Cincinnati was ever seriously
gonna do. And listen, we've known for a long time
that they need to add pass rush again from the
opposite of Trey Hendrickson. We've talked about it over and
over again. They were pretty you know, confident that they
were going to get something out of Joseph osaid that
they were going to get something out of Miles Murphy,
they were going to get something out of some of
(05:09):
their other young guys, and it just hasn't happened yet.
I mean, they've drafted what eight guys in the first
three rounds over the last three years on that side
of the ball to expand it beyond the defensive line
here a little bit. But you know, overall, I think
the point is made that because of either injury or
just not playing as well as they're.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Capable of, you know that that's a lot of draft capital,
elite draft capital that is not paying off right now.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And you know, whether they quote unquote should have done more,
it's hard to see exactly what that means. Maybe they
could have picked up you know, Janick and Guckway like
the Ravens just did, as a sort of big body
who you know, knows how to get to the quarterback,
it means to be seeing how much he has left.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
You can make little moves.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Like that, but you know, overall, I think the guy
of who they have, they identified the.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Guys they wanted.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
They're just not playing up to you know, up to
par right now, and that has to change obviously, otherwise
the season is going to be over a lot sooner
than we all want it to be.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Robert wintrob Cincinnatimagazine dot com. His weekly Bengals column is
a must read. Should Carolina's offensive tackle start working on
their touchdowns for Sunday? Touchdown dances for Sunday? Blew the
line touchdown dances for Sunday?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
I know what you meant.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well, you know it's always a good time when an
offensive tackle does a touchdown dance, except when it happens
against the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I think we can all agree on that.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
And I guess the other question is who even are
the Carolina time Actually, they're pretty good right today when
Moten is decent veteran and they got the big kid
Khan they drafted out of NC State a couple of
years ago in the first round. Haven't played up to
their capabilities read really either, they played well on Sunday,
as everybody did for Carolina in their you know, annual
(06:50):
one off good game. Hopefully that's the case. You know,
maybe it's the occasion where Amarus Miams gets his first
start and you celebrate that by allowing an offensive.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Tech eligible eligible play to him.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yes, get him a touchdown, Yes game, And maybe that
also alleviates some of the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Problems they've had in the red zone as well.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
And you know, sometimes you need to trick the other
team and throw it to the big man and listen,
Richard Nixon called into play once and had it run.
I believe, many many moons ago, I'm doing the same.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Year tackle eligible, I command it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Sign sign me up for that. They waste a good
offensive performance, a really good offensive performance, right, no turnovers,
no punts, one miss field goal, thirty three points at
home should be enough. Give me a thought or two.
Unjust where the offense is going from where it was
week one, when it was in a phone move to
where we saw on Monday night. That is, you talk
(07:46):
about reasons for optimism, that offense will track, that offense
will play, and if they get anything resembling that moving forward,
I don't know if they're gonna win enough games to
be okay as it relates to them getting to where.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
We wanted to go.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
But I do think they'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, And well, given the way the league has really
been offensively so far this year, you like to think
that if you're in the vicinity at thirty points a game,
you'll have a good chance of winning a lot of games,
regardless of the start. And yeah, they've definitely improved after
that first game, and we thought they would and should
and they have. And you know, the underlying stats are
very good. They're fifth in offensive DVOA in the league,
(08:23):
even despite that game one. They're running game, shockingly enough,
is in the top two or three at almost all
advanced stats. They we talked last week about, you know,
sort of finding the balance between Moss and Brown, and
I think they did that excessively well on Monday night,
both in running and passing game. We'll see how that
plays out going forward. And obviously Washington's defense is nothing
(08:44):
to write home about either. But listen, you got Joe Burrow,
you got a Jamar Chase who says he's got the
poison out of his system.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Right, you look at a team like Buffalo and the
success they've had after sort of, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Going away from the dominant out a wide receiver to
a more spread it around and use everybody who's eligible
to catch a pass and run the ball. And I
think the Bengals are sort of We've talked about it
a lot heading in that direction, with the multiple tight ends,
a couple of running backs, and obviously you have Chase
and you have Higgins, but you also have andre Yoshibas's
man impact, and you certainly have Jermaine Burton, who can
(09:20):
play a big role going forward. So you know, offense
is the last thing I'm worried about with this team.
I think Joe Burrow has proven that if he's not
one hundred percent the player he was before his injury,
he's certainly not fifty percent the player he was. You know,
he's he's not thrown a couple of balls.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
He'd like to see him throw for whatever reason. But
I don't think there's any problem with his arm.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
And you know, they got a lot of weapons and
the offensive line, especially with Vin's in there, and if
he can stay healthy, I think they're in good shape offensively.
They may just have to outscore their opposition all year long.
I mean that could be a case where we're looking
at having to win shootouts rather than a complete performance
on both sides of the ball for most of the year.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, I would agree. Uh, we'll do it again next week, man,
thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
All right, let's do it after a W.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That'd be nice. Yes, I can't spell one trump W.
Thank you Robert Trump. Since that magazine, go read his
piece at sinsinnamagazine dot com.
Mo Egger News
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