October 1, 2024 • 9 mins
Shawn Syed of Sumer Sports joined us to discuss the Cincinnati Bengals, their offensive proficiency, their defensive deficiencies, and their chances against the Baltimore Ravens.
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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):
Our buddy, Sean Sayad, his Monday morning mashup column for
Sumer Sports is terrific. He also has a podcast, The
latest episode dropped just a short while ago, Stats and Scheme.
One of the things he and his co host asked
is who's going to win the AFC?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Sean, is it the Bengals?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Mo?
Speaker 4 (00:20):
You know, I'm not really sure if it's gonna be
the Bengals. I think I have to see it.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
What's going on, you know, particularly on that Sunday night
game where the Ravens come in and just play an
awesome game against the building.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
It's really fun.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I guess for us that we get to see the
Bengals play the Ravens, and you know, if they win
that game, then then we started our conversations about, Hey,
you know, the AFC at the top end is a
little bit muddied, where the Chiefs are kind of banged
up in a few different ways, the Bills come off
a lot, the Ravens are only one game better than
the Bengals, so you know you're seeking the wildcard, Mo.
And then you know Bengals fan to know that anything
(00:53):
can happen.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, all right, all right, did this game on Sunday
is mass and it kind of feels like they win
this one game on and if they don't, and then
we start trying to convince ourselves that they can make
the math work. I think the big takeaway for a
lot of folks on Sunday was less about how the
Bengals played against Carolina and really more about how Baltimore
played in that Sunday night game against against Buffalo. Look,
(01:17):
we know Derrick Henry and we saw what he did
against the Bills. We have obviously seen firsthand for years now,
what Lamar Jackson can do. But when you kind of
look at this schematically offensively, understanding the Bengals defensive weaknesses,
which there are many, what should concern Cincinnati fans the
most about Sunday.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Absolutely the run game that it's going to be I
think a really really big concern where you're going to
continue to get pushed around at that defensive tackle spot
right inside. The Ravens are more than happy to just
run this ball over and over, and the Ravens are
creative and how they do it. Of course they're going
to have Lamar Jackson included in the run game, but
you're gonna see kind of tight ends and fullbacks running
(01:57):
in all sorts of different directions. I think Bengals fans
are used to seeing with the Ravens, but they really,
I mean, took it to the Bills because the Bills
want to play kind of light on defense and the
Bengals like to do that a little bit too, because
some of those heavier bodies I think are not always
the best in the past game. But the Ravens are
gonna get heavy, They're gonna run the ball, and it's
gonna be up to the Bangle to have a much
(02:18):
better performance than they had all season, and even a
better performance than they had against the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, the performance against the Panthers left a lot to
be desired really in every phase. Look, they're gonna get healthier.
Hopefully bj Hill comes back here soon. Hopefully they get
Miles Murphy here this week. Hopefully Trey Hendrickson's next stinger
is not something that's gonna be an issue moving forward.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
But man, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I saw some things in the back end of that
defense on Sunday. This is more of a statement than
a question, Sean. I saw some things in the back
end of that defense on Sunday, against Andy Dalton the
Panthers that were deeply troubling.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, when you have Deontay Johnson, who we mentioned him,
you know last week, just talking about a player that
is able to create separation and win in different ways.
If he's if the Panthers are doing it on you,
you know, it feels like anyone can do it on you.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Or even though the Panthers looked better over.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
The last two weeks than they have early in the season,
you know, you think about Lamar Jackson, he is a
really really high level passer, and how the Bengals are
maybe able to deal with some of the pass catchers.
You know, you could maybe look at it and say,
you know, hopefully you can get a little bit more
of a favorite, favorable matchup if you're the Bengals. But
I mean, Lou Romer, he's trying things. He's sending some blitzes,
he's playing a little bit of man coverage, he's moving
(03:32):
his own coverage around.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
In a few different ways.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And I think at this point, you're really hoping that
you're a team that can continue to score on offense
and then just get one turnover. All you need is
one sometime to create a win. Where obviously against the Panthers,
you know, you score fourteen points kind of towards the
end of the first half the start of the second half,
and that's able to flip a game.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean that's easier than it sounds, right, It's
it's such a small margin for error. At the same time, look,
you have to love how they played on offense against Carolina.
You have to love what they did offensively against the
Washington Commanders. This Baltimore defense is a little bit of
a different animal, right, and so understanding that Cincinnati is
(04:16):
healthy offensively their whole there's a lot of weaponry, the
offensive line is playing well, where's the biggest area of
concern on Sundays?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, I mean the Ravens defense is really playing at
a high level.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
After that Bills game. Now, I will say they don't
have Mike McDonald, who.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I think has put together some really good game plans
against this Bengals unit.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
So I think, you.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Know, some of the disguises that Burrow is gonna see,
I think hopefully he's gonna be able to handle it.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
But you know, you wonder, is.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That right tackle you know where Men's I think had
a good showing for different parts of Carol of the
game against Carolina, he did get kind of beat inside
on that interception. I think that may be a spot
in that Baltimore really targets, or even just the pass
production as a whole where I love what I saw
from Case Brown. Again, for the Bengals team, he's not
going to be used as a pass protector as often,
so the Ravens do a really good job of getting
(05:06):
a linebacker one on one with it you're running back
in pass protection and really kind of shrinking the game
in that way.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
But still the.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Bengals have Jamar Chase, and Jamar Chase literally made the
whole entire Panthers defense look like they didn't existed for
a play. So you can have that explosiveness where I
agree with you in that it is a small margin
peer and that's just how this is going to be
for the whole season, where they're playing a high wire
act the game after game and you're just hoping that
you come up on the right side of that enough times.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, and maybe they do, and maybe they do to
the extent that they sneak in and you know you're right.
There's something about, hey, win get in and if you
have burrow, you have a chance. But like we went
into this season thinking about Super Bowl and wondering if
it's Super Bowl or bust, and talking about how they
would stack up against Kansas City and Buffalo and you know,
(05:55):
jumping back into that elite that they were in in
twenty twenty one in twenty twenty two. And if you
if you start talking about win in spite of your defense,
that tells me that they can't compete for the things
we talked about then competing for before the season started.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Absolutely, And we look at how some of these teams
have built kind of around their quarterbacks, where I know
how much Bengals fans love thinking about the Chiefs, but
they really have an awesome, awesome defense that is carrying
them through some struggles from their quarterback.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
So I do think it changes what your ceiling is.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But like the variant, it's still there, Like they still
have the high end outcomes. It just has to kind
of fall in your favor multiple times. The Raves again,
it's a really really good test where of course you
do not want to be going into this game at
one in three, like it thinks that September kind of
ended up in this way, But if you win this game,
like all of the hey, the I mean I even
(06:50):
wrote it that the Ravens are back, like they're a
team that can compete in the AFC.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
If you knock them off, you really are just right
back in it where.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Maybe some things like you mentioned, you know, you get
a littleier on defense, things just messed together a little
bit more upfront, and then you're in a conversation for
maybe some of those similar conversations that you'd have before
the season.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So let's let's say they do that, they win this
game on Sunday, and you know again now it's it's
game on. You'll have a head to head win against Baltimore.
You're a game behind them. I'm sorry, you're you're even
up with them. You're gonna go to New Jersey and
play the Giants and be favored like it's it's gonna
feel here like this season can get going if Cincinnati
wins this game. Look, Pittsburgh did get off to a
(07:32):
three and zero start, but would you would you would
you call it a two team race in the AFC
North between Cincinnati and Baltimore. Am I being too dismissive
of Pittsburgh and way too dismissive of Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know, I do think Pittsburgh has impressed me really
with how Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinated there, has gotten
justin fields to play a little bit faster and play
a little bit smoother. So you know, it's to be
seen if he can manage that over an entire season,
because that is not an easy thing.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
It still feels like, you know, this is kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
The Ravens division to lose, even though they're not at
the top of the standings and the Feelers have a
fantastic defense.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But yeah, the Bengals win this.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think you can starts to meeting look at it
as like a two and a half team race. I
don't think that the Browns offense is going to be
able to get enough things figured out.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Even though Nick Chubbs is going to be coming back
this weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
It's still a division where every time these guys play
each other like it is just brutal game after brutal
games for every single player. But you know, the the
Marnin Perris thing, I feel like he keeps saying that,
but you know, you can you can kind of earn
yourself in there with a good win on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, well you mentioned Arthur Smith.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
I don't like him because I love Des Ridard and
I think Arthur Smith ruined him.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Well, you know, it's just there's so much for these quarterbacks,
like we think about across the league, where in the
NMCS you get Jenn Dangels playing so so well, and
I don't know, I just like I hate watching some
players that because I.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Root for every player.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I really want to all these sure to succeed and
do so well. And it stinks sometimes when it's just
you like a little bit of situation. It's a little
bit of coaches, it's a little bit of helping fall
and it's kind of cool. I think, what do you
think about Justin Field getting a second chance in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
M h.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And it's good for Jade Daniels, who seems like an
easy kid to root for in a situation in Washington
where he's got the right play caller and and a
team that really seems like they're buying into him individually.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We'll do it again next week. Man. Always good to
have you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Appreciate it, mom. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping
after a big win and then we can start to
get excited.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
That would be awesome. Follow Sean on x at Sayed.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Schemes, read his Monday Morning mashup column at suomer sports
dot com, and podcast is good as well. These Stats
and Scheme podcast. Sean Sayed joins us every single Tuesday,
and he is awesome
Our buddy, Sean Sayad, his Monday morning mashup column for
Sumer Sports is terrific. He also has a podcast, The
latest episode dropped just a short while ago, Stats and Scheme.
One of the things he and his co host asked
is who's going to win the AFC?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Sean, is it the Bengals?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Mo?
Speaker 4 (00:20):
You know, I'm not really sure if it's gonna be
the Bengals. I think I have to see it.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
What's going on, you know, particularly on that Sunday night
game where the Ravens come in and just play an
awesome game against the building.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
It's really fun.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I guess for us that we get to see the
Bengals play the Ravens, and you know, if they win
that game, then then we started our conversations about, Hey,
you know, the AFC at the top end is a
little bit muddied, where the Chiefs are kind of banged
up in a few different ways, the Bills come off
a lot, the Ravens are only one game better than
the Bengals, so you know you're seeking the wildcard, Mo.
And then you know Bengals fan to know that anything
(00:53):
can happen.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Well, all right, all right, did this game on Sunday
is mass and it kind of feels like they win
this one game on and if they don't, and then
we start trying to convince ourselves that they can make
the math work. I think the big takeaway for a
lot of folks on Sunday was less about how the
Bengals played against Carolina and really more about how Baltimore
played in that Sunday night game against against Buffalo. Look,
(01:17):
we know Derrick Henry and we saw what he did
against the Bills. We have obviously seen firsthand for years now,
what Lamar Jackson can do. But when you kind of
look at this schematically offensively, understanding the Bengals defensive weaknesses,
which there are many, what should concern Cincinnati fans the
most about Sunday.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Absolutely the run game that it's going to be I
think a really really big concern where you're going to
continue to get pushed around at that defensive tackle spot
right inside. The Ravens are more than happy to just
run this ball over and over, and the Ravens are
creative and how they do it. Of course they're going
to have Lamar Jackson included in the run game, but
you're gonna see kind of tight ends and fullbacks running
(01:57):
in all sorts of different directions. I think Bengals fans
are used to seeing with the Ravens, but they really,
I mean, took it to the Bills because the Bills
want to play kind of light on defense and the
Bengals like to do that a little bit too, because
some of those heavier bodies I think are not always
the best in the past game. But the Ravens are
gonna get heavy, They're gonna run the ball, and it's
gonna be up to the Bangle to have a much
(02:18):
better performance than they had all season, and even a
better performance than they had against the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, the performance against the Panthers left a lot to
be desired really in every phase. Look, they're gonna get healthier.
Hopefully bj Hill comes back here soon. Hopefully they get
Miles Murphy here this week. Hopefully Trey Hendrickson's next stinger
is not something that's gonna be an issue moving forward.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
But man, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I saw some things in the back end of that
defense on Sunday. This is more of a statement than
a question, Sean. I saw some things in the back
end of that defense on Sunday, against Andy Dalton the
Panthers that were deeply troubling.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, when you have Deontay Johnson, who we mentioned him,
you know last week, just talking about a player that
is able to create separation and win in different ways.
If he's if the Panthers are doing it on you,
you know, it feels like anyone can do it on you.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Or even though the Panthers looked better over.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
The last two weeks than they have early in the season,
you know, you think about Lamar Jackson, he is a
really really high level passer, and how the Bengals are
maybe able to deal with some of the pass catchers.
You know, you could maybe look at it and say,
you know, hopefully you can get a little bit more
of a favorite, favorable matchup if you're the Bengals. But
I mean, Lou Romer, he's trying things. He's sending some blitzes,
he's playing a little bit of man coverage, he's moving
(03:32):
his own coverage around.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
In a few different ways.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And I think at this point, you're really hoping that
you're a team that can continue to score on offense
and then just get one turnover. All you need is
one sometime to create a win. Where obviously against the Panthers,
you know, you score fourteen points kind of towards the
end of the first half the start of the second half,
and that's able to flip a game.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean that's easier than it sounds, right, It's
it's such a small margin for error. At the same time, look,
you have to love how they played on offense against Carolina.
You have to love what they did offensively against the
Washington Commanders. This Baltimore defense is a little bit of
a different animal, right, and so understanding that Cincinnati is
(04:16):
healthy offensively their whole there's a lot of weaponry, the
offensive line is playing well, where's the biggest area of
concern on Sundays?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, I mean the Ravens defense is really playing at
a high level.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
After that Bills game. Now, I will say they don't
have Mike McDonald, who.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I think has put together some really good game plans
against this Bengals unit.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
So I think, you.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Know, some of the disguises that Burrow is gonna see,
I think hopefully he's gonna be able to handle it.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
But you know, you wonder, is.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That right tackle you know where Men's I think had
a good showing for different parts of Carol of the
game against Carolina, he did get kind of beat inside
on that interception. I think that may be a spot
in that Baltimore really targets, or even just the pass
production as a whole where I love what I saw
from Case Brown. Again, for the Bengals team, he's not
going to be used as a pass protector as often,
so the Ravens do a really good job of getting
(05:06):
a linebacker one on one with it you're running back
in pass protection and really kind of shrinking the game
in that way.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
But still the.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Bengals have Jamar Chase, and Jamar Chase literally made the
whole entire Panthers defense look like they didn't existed for
a play. So you can have that explosiveness where I
agree with you in that it is a small margin
peer and that's just how this is going to be
for the whole season, where they're playing a high wire
act the game after game and you're just hoping that
you come up on the right side of that enough times.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, and maybe they do, and maybe they do to
the extent that they sneak in and you know you're right.
There's something about, hey, win get in and if you
have burrow, you have a chance. But like we went
into this season thinking about Super Bowl and wondering if
it's Super Bowl or bust, and talking about how they
would stack up against Kansas City and Buffalo and you know,
(05:55):
jumping back into that elite that they were in in
twenty twenty one in twenty twenty two. And if you
if you start talking about win in spite of your defense,
that tells me that they can't compete for the things
we talked about then competing for before the season started.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Absolutely, And we look at how some of these teams
have built kind of around their quarterbacks, where I know
how much Bengals fans love thinking about the Chiefs, but
they really have an awesome, awesome defense that is carrying
them through some struggles from their quarterback.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
So I do think it changes what your ceiling is.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But like the variant, it's still there, Like they still
have the high end outcomes. It just has to kind
of fall in your favor multiple times. The Raves again,
it's a really really good test where of course you
do not want to be going into this game at
one in three, like it thinks that September kind of
ended up in this way, But if you win this game,
like all of the hey, the I mean I even
(06:50):
wrote it that the Ravens are back, like they're a
team that can compete in the AFC.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
If you knock them off, you really are just right
back in it where.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Maybe some things like you mentioned, you know, you get
a littleier on defense, things just messed together a little
bit more upfront, and then you're in a conversation for
maybe some of those similar conversations that you'd have before
the season.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So let's let's say they do that, they win this
game on Sunday, and you know again now it's it's
game on. You'll have a head to head win against Baltimore.
You're a game behind them. I'm sorry, you're you're even
up with them. You're gonna go to New Jersey and
play the Giants and be favored like it's it's gonna
feel here like this season can get going if Cincinnati
wins this game. Look, Pittsburgh did get off to a
(07:32):
three and zero start, but would you would you would
you call it a two team race in the AFC
North between Cincinnati and Baltimore. Am I being too dismissive
of Pittsburgh and way too dismissive of Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
You know, I do think Pittsburgh has impressed me really
with how Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinated there, has gotten
justin fields to play a little bit faster and play
a little bit smoother. So you know, it's to be
seen if he can manage that over an entire season,
because that is not an easy thing.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
It still feels like, you know, this is kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
The Ravens division to lose, even though they're not at
the top of the standings and the Feelers have a
fantastic defense.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But yeah, the Bengals win this.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think you can starts to meeting look at it
as like a two and a half team race. I
don't think that the Browns offense is going to be
able to get enough things figured out.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Even though Nick Chubbs is going to be coming back
this weekend.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
It's still a division where every time these guys play
each other like it is just brutal game after brutal
games for every single player. But you know, the the
Marnin Perris thing, I feel like he keeps saying that,
but you know, you can you can kind of earn
yourself in there with a good win on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, well you mentioned Arthur Smith.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
I don't like him because I love Des Ridard and
I think Arthur Smith ruined him.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Well, you know, it's just there's so much for these quarterbacks,
like we think about across the league, where in the
NMCS you get Jenn Dangels playing so so well, and
I don't know, I just like I hate watching some
players that because I.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Root for every player.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I really want to all these sure to succeed and
do so well. And it stinks sometimes when it's just
you like a little bit of situation. It's a little
bit of coaches, it's a little bit of helping fall
and it's kind of cool. I think, what do you
think about Justin Field getting a second chance in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
M h.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And it's good for Jade Daniels, who seems like an
easy kid to root for in a situation in Washington
where he's got the right play caller and and a
team that really seems like they're buying into him individually.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We'll do it again next week. Man. Always good to
have you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Appreciate it, mom. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping
after a big win and then we can start to
get excited.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
That would be awesome. Follow Sean on x at Sayed.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Schemes, read his Monday Morning mashup column at suomer sports
dot com, and podcast is good as well. These Stats
and Scheme podcast. Sean Sayed joins us every single Tuesday,
and he is awesome
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