September 10, 2026 • 36 mins
Mo doesn't believe he has ever felt this way about the Bengals. Plus, Scotty Reynolds previews the Bengals/Bucs, Lee Sterling helps make us some money and Chad Brendel from Bearcat Journal.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bengals!
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Bengals fans have waited all offseason for football, and it's
finally here. Can the Orange and Blacks start the season
fast and steal the win? Or will our beloved Bengals
be swashbuckled by the Buccaneers? 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
(00:25):
the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Can you really.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Favored by three and a half points, voice guy. Like,
you steal a win when you're not supposed to. The
Bengals are supposed to win this game, right? They're favored.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
They're at home. They're as healthy as you could ever
hope for.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
Them to be.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Like... They obviously have a track record. They're not getting
off to a great start. You'll steal a win when
you're favored at home when you're considered a bona fide
title contender. I think we consider them bona fide title contenders.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Good afternoon. I'm Mo Egger.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening. Full show
preview is available. It's available now on the iHeartRadio app. Actually,
the show preview is available. I mixed my messages. Off
to a good start. Show preview is available on Twitter.
And you can go to at Mo Egger on Twitter.
And my promise is by the end of the year,
(01:24):
I'll start calling it X.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I promise.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I promise. Never break a promise. At Mo Egger for
today's show preview video. It is a service of Sharefax
Credit Union. We are about two and a half weeks
away from the Sharefax Credit Union golf outing. Go to ShareFacts.org,
sign up. It's at the Heritage Club in Mason, September
the 28th. All proceeds benefiting Cincinnati Children's Charities. It's going
(01:47):
to be a great day. I will see you there
because I don't just live in the city. I participate
in it. uh also you could watch the show it's
on youtube it's on twitter at mo egger or on
youtube the mo egger show it's very exciting to watch
me sit here and talk very quickly a uh a
thank you to the folks with the anthony muñoz foundation
(02:08):
for letting us broadcast from their event yesterday by the
way i had interviewed when he was an active player
sam hubbard Three times.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
And good guy, good player, you know, fun story.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Local guy played for the Bengals, was a part of
the turnaround, played in the Super Bowl. The interview I
did with him yesterday, and this is a statement about him,
not so much me, was awesome. Like, it's... I don't
want to say it's rare, but, but you know, usually
most interviews we do them. They're eight minutes, 10 minutes,
12 minutes by the time it's like, you know, it ends.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It's like, yeah, we're good here.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
I could have talked to Sam for another 10 minutes.
If you miss that conversation on top of our chat
with Anthony Munoz and Joe Walter and Max Montoya and
David Fulcher and Ken Anderson, go to the I heart
radio app. Also check out my page at ESPN, 1530.com.
Sam Hubbard was amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Terrific.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Show was terrific. And the folks at the Anthony Munoz Foundation, terrific.
They do awesome work. And they did surpass their goal
of raising over a half million dollars over the course
of the nine years of that event. Already looking forward
to next year. In 10 minutes, we go to Tampa. Bengals, Bucs,
Sunday at 1, live on ESPN 1530. Looking forward to that. Obviously,
(03:24):
this is our last show before that game, before the
season begins. I don't know about you, obviously, but you
are welcome to chime in that we don't have a
lot of room for phone calls today. But that being said,
you know, there have been lots of years where I
think we felt like the Bengals were going to be
pretty good. There have been lots of years where I
(03:47):
think we expected the Bengals to be pretty good. There
have been a lot of years where we thought the
Bengals might be good. There have been some years where
we hoped the Bengals would be good, but we weren't sure.
And obviously, there have been a lot of years where
on the doorstep of the season, we either believed or hell,
(04:07):
we knew the Bengals were going to be bad. The
feeling today, with the first game three days away, I
have been rooting for this franchise, following it closely. since
I was eight years old. It's a long damn time ago.
I do not recall feeling anything like I do right
(04:29):
now about the Bengals and their chances. You know, in 2022,
we talked about them being bonafide title contenders and they were,
they brought back all the good players from a team
that had made the Superbowl and we had thought they'd
made their offensive line better.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And they did.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
And that year, you know, you heard a lot of
folks talk about how the season before, the Bengals, they
were kind of lucky. And I will admit this, and
I was kind of wrong about this, but I will
admit this, that I did wonder if maybe they were
going to take a little bit of a step back
because of... you know, just the nature of which, how
they'd won and, you know, the, the shakiness of the
(05:07):
offensive line still. And I thought they were going to
be good. Thought of Joe Burrow played 17 games.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
They'd be good. And they were good.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They came this, this close to going to a Superbowl.
And I thought they would be good, but there was
a little apprehension. I, I don't have any apprehension. Now
there's the, and we have discussed this, like You know,
it's like in a relationship when things are going almost
too well, and it's like, I'm scared.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I've been hurt before.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
And yeah, I think as a sports fan, and I
think specifically as a Bengals fan, we can all relate
to that. But I have no apprehension. I have no
apprehension in saying publicly or privately or just feeling like
this team has an extraordinarily good chance to win the
whole thing. I don't love guarantees about winning Super Bowls
(05:57):
because that doesn't That sort of ignores a lot of
factors that you can't predict. I've also made declarative statements
about the Bengals before that I've, again, I've been wrong.
Two years ago, I said, if Joe Burrow plays 17 games,
(06:18):
the Bengals will at least absolutely be a playoff team.
I'll double down on that. I was wrong two years ago.
Joe played 17 games. The team, frankly, really didn't even
come close. This year, Joe Burrow plays 17 games. They
win the division. And they might win it handily. Like
to the degree that it's already wrapped up when the
(06:40):
Ravens come here on New Year's Eve. I am lucky
that we have a job where we went down and
watched him in training camp. And so my view of
this team is maybe a little bit skewed by that.
I'm willing to admit it. I'm willing to admit that
if I didn't live in Cincinnati, And I didn't follow
(07:00):
this team closely that when folks talked about how good
the Bengals might be, I would bring up, yeah, the defense.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Come on.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Is it really going to be that better? Or I
would say, yeah, whatever franchise that can't keep Burrow healthy.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Uh-huh.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Or I would express some level of skepticism about Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
But I live here.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
And I follow it closely. Not an insider by any
stretch of the imagination. I've seen what they've done to
the team. I've listened to what has come out of
the mouths of important people down there. I've noticed the
vibe change. Feels like there's been a real premium on
the right types of people, not just the right types
of players. I've watched them look good in one area,
(07:40):
sometimes multiple areas, every day of training camp. I've watched
them demonstrate their depth during the preseason. I know the
caliber of quarterback they have. I see a side of
the ball that has unprecedented continuity, as it relates to
this franchise at least. I see upgrades made across the defense,
though admittedly, obviously not at linebacker. I feel the sense
(08:03):
of urgency. I feel the sense of, you know, now
or never. I don't see a team that has a
lot of flaws. I don't see a team that has
a ton of glaring holes. There are questions. How will
the defensive pieces fit early in the season? Can a
team with a track record of getting off to slow
offensive starts avoid that beginning on Sunday? Zach Taylor going
(08:27):
to press all the right buttons? Do they really have
as much depth as I believe? What happens when an
offensive lineman gets hurt? How much are we going to
hold our breath when a swing tackle has to play?
I'm curious as to how they're going to overcome adversity.
Adversity will present itself maybe in a game, maybe for
a whole bunch of games, maybe for a large chunk
(08:49):
of the season. How are they going to handle the
pressure week to week that will come with massive expectations
and maybe a loss that they shouldn't have or an
opponent that seems to be a little bit more difficult
than we originally believed? The beauty of a sports season
is you don't know about the stuff that's going to
(09:09):
get in the way.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
But today?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
(09:33):
I believe they will finish with 12 wins. That
may sound light. worth mentioning only three Bengals teams in
franchise history of 112 games. Don't know if that's going
to be good enough to be the one seed. I
did my gambling show back at the Envelope Bets, and
I talked about the reasons to bet on the Bengals
to be the one seed. And part of it has
to do with some of the other contenders and where
(09:53):
they play them and getting tiebreakers. Not here to tell
you that this team is flawless. Not here to tell
you that this team doesn't have questions that are very
fair to ask about it not here to tell you
necessarily that they're guaranteed to win the first game of
the season because we all know week one can be
weird and week one has certainly been weird in recent
years for the Cincinnati Bengals but I don't know that
(10:16):
I've ever felt this way At this stage, right before
the season begins, that if health, if the health of
the team isn't decimated, it's impossible for me to imagine
them not being a playoff team. I believe they have
the best team and yes, the best roster in the division.
(10:36):
I think they have a chance to get the one seed.
They go into the season, and this is remarkable if
you think about it. Coming off a six-win season, coming
off three consecutive years where they didn't even make the playoffs,
they are absolutely a bona fide championship contender. What a
turnaround from nine months ago when we were careening toward
(11:00):
the conclusion of a truly miserable season. And now here
we are talking about the Bengals and the likelihood of
having a special one. This is an awesome place to be.
By the way, I'm not scared of it either. So
your thoughts are welcome. 513-749-1530. We'll throw out a poll
(11:24):
question here in just a few minutes. Meanwhile, they're taking
on a Tampa Bay team. You know, one of the
storylines this offseason around the NFL has been Baker Mayfield
and his contract. But What sort of challenges do the
Bucs present the Bengals? What are the expectations in Tampa
for this team, which missed the postseason last year? We
will head there next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
From the UCHealth Traffic Center, UCHealth has been helping Cincinnati
thrive for 200 years and not stopping now.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Find the groundbreaking care you need at uchealth.com.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
That means we have the game on Sunday and pregame
coverage from the Holy Grail with Ken Brew, myself, and
Tony Pike. 9 a.m., four hours before kickoff. Cannot wait.
Bengals and Buccaneers, if you want to know about the Buccaneers,
for my money, there's One place to go to go
to pewterreport.com. Comprehensive Tampa Bay Buccaneers coverage. And Scott Reynolds
(12:23):
from that website, kind enough to give us a few
minutes this afternoon to talk about the season opener.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Scott, good afternoon.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
How are you?
Speaker 7 (12:30):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I appreciate you doing this.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
When you saw the Baker Mayfield news, because we were
watching this from afar thinking, okay, Baker, who already plays
and walks around with a chip on his shoulder, is
going to have a bigger one if he doesn't have
his contract done. It kind of felt to me like
a little bit, and I'm watching it from a distance,
like the deal came from out of left field. What
was the reaction to what Baker and the Bucs did?
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Yeah, it wasn't terribly surprising that it got done just
because of the fact they seemed pretty close, closer than
Baker indicated during that kind of fiery press conference at
the start of training camp. But at the same time,
you didn't know, right? You didn't know if they were
going to cross that finish line before the start of
the season. They ultimately did. I don't know that it
really affects Baker. I've kind of talked to resources in
(13:16):
the building players have been out of practice and they're
just like, he's the same guy, whether he would have
got the deal or not. He, he finds a chip
sometimes when there isn't a chip, sometimes there's somebody where
he's been wronged by that. He'll have that chip on
his shoulder and play for, but, but yeah, I think
that he's just raring to go. It probably is a
little bit of an ease heading into this, this regular
(13:40):
season because it's, He doesn't have to worry about his future.
Am I going to get franchise tax next year? Like,
you know, all of those kinds of things. So I
think having a more focused locked in Baker, if that's
even possible, because the dude's locked in all the time,
but it's probably, you know, for the best for him
and the team.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
I think the player that I'm going to be watching
most closely, if that's the right way to put it
on Sunday is Ruben Bain, because, you know, before the
Bengals traded for Dexter Lawrence, we spent weeks talking about guys,
the Bengals might take it number 10. And he is
somebody we discussed the possibility of taking a lot. How
is his training camp and preseason gone?
Speaker 7 (14:16):
You know, it's incredible. He is not a rookie. He
is a professional and it just, he just doesn't have
any NFL experience yet, but he, approaches the game like
a professional. I think he has designs on being a
Hall of Fame player. I know that's getting ahead of himself,
but that's the type of mentality he has. It's not
(14:38):
about winning a Super Bowl. It's how many Super Bowls
can I win, right? And it's not cocky. It's just
this self-belief that he can do whatever he puts his
mind to. And let's not forget that it wasn't the
only Miami Hurricane edge rusher that was drafted in the
first round. his running mate, Akeem Mesidor, was as well.
And that's a testament to Jason Taylor, right? When you've
(14:59):
got a position coach at the Hurricanes who is an
NFL Hall of Famer, one of the best sack artists
of all time, teaching you how to rush the passer
at the NFL level and applying that to college, you're
getting great tutelage. And just having that professional mindset, I
think it was something that he was always kind of
intrinsically about him was that kind of professional mindset. But
(15:23):
then the way that he was taught at Miami, it
just kind of like was the best of both worlds.
You're having this this guy that has these intrinsic talents
and then just getting refined by somebody who's been there
and done that at the highest level at Jason Taylor.
So I think he walks into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization.
(15:43):
He's a ready to play out of the box rookie.
who is going to, I think, be in contention for
defensive rookie of the year honors, probably with David Bailey.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Buccaneers make the playoffs five consecutive years. Midway through last season,
they're 6-2. It feels like they're going to be back
to win the NFC South, and then it goes sideways.
What that went wrong in the second half of the
season has to go right this year.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
Well, I think the injuries caught up with them more
so than anything. I've covered this team. This is my
31st year. The common denominator is between the two Super
Bowl victories in 2002 under John Gruden and the 2020
team under Bruce Arians, of course, quarterback by Tom Brady,
wasn't just the talent. It was health. Those are the
(16:25):
two healthiest teams in Bucs history in terms of not
having any starters really outside of maybe one guy on
injured reserve, just being remarkably healthy. And if you have
great talent and it's available to you on a weekly basis,
you're going to win more games than you're going to lose.
And I think last year was a very talented Buccaneer team.
It was coming off of a 10-win season in 2024. Granted,
(16:47):
Liam Cohen left and went across the state to Jacksonville
to create things there, right? But it was an offensive
line that never had all five starters available for any game, right?
It was just that. It was Mike and Chris, you know,
Mike Evans, Chris Gatlin, the two top receivers being out
for weeks at a stretch here and there. It was...
(17:08):
wide receiver Emeka Buka, the first-round pick out of Ohio State,
and they figured he was going to be a damn
good player, but he was the fourth guy on the
depth chart. The third guy, Jalen McMillan, broke his neck
in the preseason and was out for all but three games.
Then Mike and Chris are gone. All of a sudden,
your fourth wide receiver, your rookie that you love, and
(17:30):
he's going to be the future, but the future is now.
He had to be coming off a season where He
went deep into the playoffs, won a national championship, right?
Didn't have that month of January to rest like other
college players did. He was busy still playing football games.
He had a rookie wall, right? He had a hot
start to the year, six touchdowns in the first, I think,
(17:51):
five or six games. But then he had a rookie wall, right?
And all of a sudden, your fourth receiver on the
depth chart has to lead the team in catches, touchdowns,
and yards. And it just was kind of a snowball effect.
And those injuries caught up to him. And they literally
just ran out of gas towards the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Scott Reynolds, pewterreport.com.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
If I look at any list of NFL head coaches
on the hot seat, I will see Zach Taylor's name.
And in most of them, I'll see Todd Bowles name.
I think with Zach, I understand why, but I think
a lot of his contributions to this team sort of
get glossed over unfairly. What's your assessment of the job
that Todd Bowles has done?
Speaker 7 (18:26):
You know, I think it's time for Todd to kind
of take the step forward a little bit. You know,
I kind of call, the Buccaneers, the Kings of crap Hill,
because the NFC South has been the crappiest division of football.
I mean, look no further than last year and eight
and nine team won the division. That was the Carolina Panthers.
And guess what? There are two other teams that were eight, nine,
(18:48):
also Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Right.
Speaker 7 (18:51):
You know, and, and then his first season as head
coach in 2022, even with, with kind of a fading
Tom Brady, they won the division. What was the record?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Eight, nine.
Speaker 7 (19:01):
So it's, if you want to, to truly be an
elite NFC team, like you got to win double digit games.
And if, if you want to, to, to be a
dominant team within your division, you got to kind of
be like the Patriots. How many years have we seen
a Patriots under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick just run
rough shot over a downtrodden AFC East. Sometimes maybe the
(19:25):
jets were okay. Sometimes the bills were okay.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Right.
Speaker 7 (19:27):
But, but you know, the dolphins never really were. So
it's just, it's the thing where, where when you're in
a crappy division, like win it, man, get 12, 13 wins,
you know, and, and be the dominant team. And it
seems like even when the Buccaneers have one division titles,
it's always coming down to week 18, you know, and
you got to win this game and then you got
the ninth win and you snuck in the And, and
(19:51):
so I think that's the next step for Todd Bowles
is you have talent on this team. This is a
very talented team, but I think when Vegas looks at
the Bucs and says eight and a half wins, you
look around the national consensus, ESPN, NFL.com, these, these national
media outlets, um, Maybe they've got the Bucs winning the division,
but maybe with nine wins. So I think for Todd,
(20:13):
it's time now to step up and really make some
noise because you've got one playoff win in three years
that you've been to the playoffs. Oh, and by the way,
all three of those years, you had a home playoff
game and you only won.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
One of them.
Speaker 7 (20:29):
So that's where he needs to take the next step
is have the bounce back year, get to 10 wins
or more, but now go further in the postseason.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
It reminds me of how people used to make fun
of Jeff Fisher, like Mr. Seven and nine, and they
play more games now. So maybe Todd Bowles is, is Mr. Eight, nine,
hopefully from his, in your perspective, a little bit better
this year, Scott, I can't thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Enough, man. Thanks so much.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 7 (20:53):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Scott Reynolds. The website is terrific. Pewter report.com sports headlines.
And our guy Lee Sterling tries to make us some
money this weekend. Next ESPN, 1530 Cincinnati's ESPN, 1530. traffic
from midnight football game tonight from australia rams and niners
find it on fox sports 1360 every week you can
(21:17):
find lee sterling on our show thursdays at this time
paramount sports.com for years he has helped make us money
on college and pro football we have a few games
to discuss lee is here now how we doing sir.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Great i mean i haven't felt this good I think
it was a couple years ago when Aaron Rodgers got
hurt in the first play of the game. And I
had written that game off, and they somehow came back.
The kid's named Gibson. I can't remember his first name.
He returned that punt for a touchdown. I think I
ran 75 of the 80 yards along with him for
(21:55):
that score. And last night, I literally am like, I
am done. Third quarter, lost Sam Darnold. Came back and
won that one. I mean... I'm playing with house money now.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Not a bad place to be with week one of
the NFL season approaching. Let's start in college, though. So
Texas and Ohio State both cover against Cupcakes.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Big numbers.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Rematch of a game last year in Columbus, 14-7 in
favor of OSU. This year, Longhorns a slight favorite. Who
do we like on Saturday night?
Speaker 5 (22:30):
That was my alma mater, Mo. So no more jokes
about Texas State the rest of the way. Just kidding. Actually,
believe it or not, they actually have really good offense.
They just turned it over, and they might be a play.
I'm going to give you a free play over Texas
State UTSA over on that total. That's going to go
(22:51):
well above 66. That's a freebie. Now, for this game...
I went back and watched a film again of the
game last year between Texas and Ohio State, and Texas
was living not only in the red zone, inside the
10-yard line. They just couldn't score. So they outstatted Ohio
State 336-203. Problem was, Steve Sarkeesian's play calling was horrendous.
(23:18):
The execution was horrible. So what did they do? They
were smart. They added Auburn's stud-wide receiver, 6'3 Cam Coleman
in the portal. They added running back Hollywood Smothers from
NC State. And these two guys in the red zone
are incredible. Hollywood Smothers will make that one cut and
(23:38):
make the first– defender, miss camp Coleman, big, strong, fast,
might be the third best receiver in college football, just
behind Jeremiah Smith and Tony of Miami. And now Ryan Wingo,
who is her best receiver who looks even better this year.
He can operate against the guy in the slot or
the number three cornerback. So I like Texas here. I
(24:00):
think they are better up front in the trenches. And
I think Ohio state was exposed last year against Miami and,
Texas finally wins a big game, 27-21.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
All right, you're not making a lot of friends in
my audience right now, but maybe you'll make them some money.
All right, let's go to Monday night. Patrick Mahomes will play.
Kansas City's starting left tackle will not. The Chiefs, two-and-a-half
point favorites against Denver.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
So Denver last year, everything went right. Every close game
they won. They're going to be a team that I
think people are going to game plan for. Uh, Jim Waddle,
I think might have a big year, but I just don't,
I think eventually they're running back is going to be
Jonah Coleman. So if you're still, if you still haven't
(24:45):
drafted yet, or you can pick up someone or make
a trade. This kid Coleman from Washington, I think eventually
is going to be the guy. So I think Kansas
City kind of ekes out and is lucky they played
Denver early. People are saying, well, you know, Mahomes coming
off an ACL. Hey, it's not like an Achilles injury.
He knows what he can and can't do here. And
(25:05):
I also think that this Kansas City team, getting Kenneth–
I just think that Kenneth Walker is incredible. I mean,
look what he missed last, Seattle last night. If he's
in that lineup, I think they're much, much better. So
they're going to be better in the red zone. I'm
going to go with Kansas City. I think they win
(25:27):
in cover here, 27-20.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Paramount sports.com is the website. Lee Sterling is the guy,
the Bengals. I'm bullish on them, but it's week one. We,
we all were all aware of their issues. They've had
in recent years, week one, including on the road last
year against the Browns when they did win, but needed
a gift miss field goal by Cleveland to escape. They're
at home against the bucks three and a half point favorites.
(25:51):
Who do we like on Sunday?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
They're going to have to play better defense and protect
the quarterback, Dexter Lawrence. His arrival from the Giants, I think,
is going to be a big plus here. You know
Todd Bowles is going to bring it. He blitzes left
and right here. But I think, except for Ibuka, there's
not many guys on their offense to scare you here.
So I think this is a game that goes down
(26:14):
to the wire. It's not going to be easy. I
think Cincinnati wins the game 27-26, but Tampa Bay plus
a three-and-a-half cover. I believe all... Five or four of
the last five last year, games down the stretch, which
they lost all of them, all of them four points.
So why not? Cincinnati wins, Tampa Bay covers.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
All right, hopefully less controversy involving a Michigan game. The
Wolverines will have fallen out of the top 25 after
what happened in Ann Arbor on Saturday. A level up
in competition against Oklahoma, the Sooners, five and a half
point favorites.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
They want to get the game for free. Just call 800-400-9741.
That's right. I'm going to give them the big Michigan-Oklahoma game, 800-400-9741.
And how about this, Mo? I've never done this before.
Tonight's game. That's right. Tonight's game in Australia, Rams and
49ers 1-0. Wow. Never this cheap.
Speaker 7 (27:12):
$ 1.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
We're 7-2 to start the season. Won 32 of the
last 33 years. And also tomorrow night's game, the border war,
Missouri and Kansas, $ 1. And the UFC card on Saturday,
five selections. It starts at 2 o'clock. UFC Noche from Phoenix,
five selections, $ 1. $ 3 is all you need to invest
(27:35):
for an entire weekend of action. Just one place, ParamountSports.com.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
800-400-9741, ParamountSports.com. Lee, you're the man. I will talk to
you tomorrow. Thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
You too, buddy.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
All right, Lee Sterling. Made us a lot of money
over the years. Chad Brendel on the Bearcats next.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
ESPN 1530.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Traffic.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
From Ford, this is ESPN 1530.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Mo Egger.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Thank you for listening today.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Every Thursday we talk UC football until it's basketball season.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Then we'll talk about that sport.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Or if football's not any good, we'll just start talking
about basketball a lot earlier. But I do have a
basketball question. Chad Brendel, BearcatJournal.com, is with us. UC hosting
Western Carolina, the Catamounts, on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Hi, Chad.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I know that there is one good thing about this
new exhibition game world of college basketball.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
That we get games in October to actually talk about.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
If football goes south, basketball starts October 7th, not like
November 20th.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
By the way, there have been years where in September,
I'm badgering you about when the schedule is going to
come out.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
We got basketball in less than a month.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yes, we do. What can you tell me about the
dude they got from Bowling Green?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Elite defender led the nation in steals last year, 90
plus steals in a season. Like that is hard for
me to get my brain around that. This guy had
over 90 steals last season, uh, gets downhill.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Gets to the rim, gets to the free throw line.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Jared Calhoun certainly has a type for his on ball guard,
be a good defender out top, get downhill, uh, get
to the free throw line, have good assist numbers.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
Like he fits those boxes for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Uh, the football game on Saturday, I thought a pretty
impressive debut for Nate Woody's defense. I thought a very,
good day for the special teams thought a good day
for running the football.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Not sure.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
And answer my question about whether they're going to be
able to challenge teams deep.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
No.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
And I look, no, I think we know the answer
to that question. We've talked about it all season. This
is not a roster built for, to go over the
top and push the ball down the field 25, 30,
40 yards at a time. Do I wish they would
have gotten a chance to throw it a little bit
more on Saturday?
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
But I don't think there's going to ever be a
point from now until the end of November that we're
going to look back and go, man, if they just
would have thrown it six more times against Boston college,
we probably would have won that game. Like I, The
game was what it was. The game played out how
it played out. It called for Cincinnati to run the
(30:31):
ball a lot. I like that they didn't try to
get cute. You're running it right down their throat, and
you're controlling the game. Keep doing what you're doing. I
wish they would have done that last year against Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, yeah. It's interesting.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Scott Satterfield was asked yesterday, do you wish you could
have thrown it around a little bit more? And his
answer was no. And I like the answer. Here's what
we're good at. They weren't stopping it, so we're going
to keep doing it. They didn't get too cute.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, I asked him the question because I kind of
knew that was going to be the answer. Look, in
a perfect world, they had 23, 22, 23 passes.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
And you found out a little bit more about J.C.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
French.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
But it's not a perfect world.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
And that was, look, man, you had the same feeling
I did at 24-8 and Boston College.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
With the ball.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Here we go. And they didn't allow that to happen.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Defensive coordinators talk all the time about attacking and being aggressive.
It was nice to actually see a defensive coordinator, put
a defense on the field, especially early that was attacking
and was aggressive.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
This is a man that carries a broad ax apparently
just around the building.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
That's new to me.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Nobody didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I had not seen Nate Woody carrying a broad ax
around the building at any point in time. Uh, but,
This is his defense. It is his baby. The East
Coast 3-4, as they call it. You know what it
reminds me a little bit of? Doesn't he kind of
remind you of John Tanuta?
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Maybe not as much foul language as John Tanuta, but
he's kind of got that Tanuta vibe to him. And
Tanuta was another guy like, I'm just going to blitz
the crap out of you until I can't.
Speaker 6 (32:20):
And I like it. Let's be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
So when Nate Woody was introduced, I went to his
press conference and you could tell like this is a
guy that just ball coach and just loves to talk ball.
So just to take the audience inside every Tuesday, I
go down there and I interview a player or two
for the pregame show and an assistant coach. because Nate
Woody is the new guy. What a Nate for week one.
(32:43):
So I, you know, it's go there at 1130. We
always do it in the coach's office. So I go
in there to interview Nate Woody and it's a five
minute recorded interview to air in the pregame show. I
got 22 minutes of him just, like, unfurling all of
these defensive concepts that if I aired it would have
gone over the head of probably 85% of the people listening.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
It was.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I even told him afterwards. I'm like, look, I just
kept rolling because I just... I've never heard a coach
do that before.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
I've never.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
They're very secretive. He's, like, just outlining for me what
Boston College is going to do. Here's how we're going
to play this offense when we get later in the season.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
And I'm like... I just asked like, Oh, you know,
what is it about Cincinnati?
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Like I, I could listen to him talk for hours.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
He's one of those guys that, that you like, he
lives football.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Like he, he, he probably I'm guessing Mo he's one
of those guys that wakes up at three in the
morning with a notebook next to his bed because he
dreamed about like a blitz concept and he's, he's got
to write it down. So he doesn't forget it. That's
how Nate Woody strikes me. Like, just thinking football all
the time. And, I mean, the guy's been a really
(33:57):
good defensive coordinator for a long, long time.
Speaker 6 (34:00):
I think we saw that on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah. Did anything on Saturday surprise you?
Speaker 6 (34:09):
Patrick Bauer a little bit. And here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
We got some pushback this week when we talked about
Bauer didn't flash during camp. You know why Patrick Bauer
didn't flash during camp? Because you're not allowed to do
the things in practice that Patrick Bauer did during the game.
Hitting a quarterback, chasing a running back down from behind,
down the line of scrimmage to make a play. Like
(34:37):
the defense is restricted in what they can do during camp.
So the plays that he made would have been blown
dead if they happened during camp before he got to
really like make the play. So I think that's what
we meant by he didn't flash a lot during the
camp process because other than, like, interceptions and, you know,
(35:01):
tagging the quarterback with two hands, defenders don't really flash
like that during camp. But he was the guy that
felt like he was always around to play. The other guy, Mo,
that surprised isn't the right word, but I think very
big things are ahead. Remember the name Jonathan Rulo.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
True freshman, he played 16 snaps and got three tackles
from the defensive tackle position. That is impressive for a
kid playing in his first ever collegiate football game.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Awesome. We'll see you at Nip at Night Saturday night, man.
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Can't wait, as Bart Scott once said.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
Yes, he did.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Much more emphatically, but we'll take your version. Yeah, thank
you very much. Chad Rendell, follow him at ChadRendellBearCatJournal.com, host
of the BCJ podcast as well. UC and Western Carolina
Saturday night on 102.7 WEBN with pregame coverage starting at
6 o'clock.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
Are we?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
We're guest free for like 30 minutes. We have wise
money sports.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
We have Dan Klaskin's fantasy football, some good Bengal stuff
in the five o'clock hour coming up as well. I've
just thrown out a poll question. We'll get to that too.
Coming up on four o'clock ESPN, 1530.
Bengals!
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Bengals fans have waited all offseason for football, and it's
finally here. Can the Orange and Blacks start the season
fast and steal the win? Or will our beloved Bengals
be swashbuckled by the Buccaneers? 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
(00:25):
the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Can you really.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Favored by three and a half points, voice guy. Like,
you steal a win when you're not supposed to. The
Bengals are supposed to win this game, right? They're favored.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
They're at home. They're as healthy as you could ever
hope for.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
Them to be.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Like... They obviously have a track record. They're not getting
off to a great start. You'll steal a win when
you're favored at home when you're considered a bona fide
title contender. I think we consider them bona fide title contenders.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Good afternoon. I'm Mo Egger.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening. Full show
preview is available. It's available now on the iHeartRadio app. Actually,
the show preview is available. I mixed my messages. Off
to a good start. Show preview is available on Twitter.
And you can go to at Mo Egger on Twitter.
And my promise is by the end of the year,
(01:24):
I'll start calling it X.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I promise.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I promise. Never break a promise. At Mo Egger for
today's show preview video. It is a service of Sharefax
Credit Union. We are about two and a half weeks
away from the Sharefax Credit Union golf outing. Go to ShareFacts.org,
sign up. It's at the Heritage Club in Mason, September
the 28th. All proceeds benefiting Cincinnati Children's Charities. It's going
(01:47):
to be a great day. I will see you there
because I don't just live in the city. I participate
in it. uh also you could watch the show it's
on youtube it's on twitter at mo egger or on
youtube the mo egger show it's very exciting to watch
me sit here and talk very quickly a uh a
thank you to the folks with the anthony muñoz foundation
(02:08):
for letting us broadcast from their event yesterday by the
way i had interviewed when he was an active player
sam hubbard Three times.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
And good guy, good player, you know, fun story.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Local guy played for the Bengals, was a part of
the turnaround, played in the Super Bowl. The interview I
did with him yesterday, and this is a statement about him,
not so much me, was awesome. Like, it's... I don't
want to say it's rare, but, but you know, usually
most interviews we do them. They're eight minutes, 10 minutes,
12 minutes by the time it's like, you know, it ends.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It's like, yeah, we're good here.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
I could have talked to Sam for another 10 minutes.
If you miss that conversation on top of our chat
with Anthony Munoz and Joe Walter and Max Montoya and
David Fulcher and Ken Anderson, go to the I heart
radio app. Also check out my page at ESPN, 1530.com.
Sam Hubbard was amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Terrific.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Show was terrific. And the folks at the Anthony Munoz Foundation, terrific.
They do awesome work. And they did surpass their goal
of raising over a half million dollars over the course
of the nine years of that event. Already looking forward
to next year. In 10 minutes, we go to Tampa. Bengals, Bucs,
Sunday at 1, live on ESPN 1530. Looking forward to that. Obviously,
(03:24):
this is our last show before that game, before the
season begins. I don't know about you, obviously, but you
are welcome to chime in that we don't have a
lot of room for phone calls today. But that being said,
you know, there have been lots of years where I
think we felt like the Bengals were going to be
pretty good. There have been lots of years where I
(03:47):
think we expected the Bengals to be pretty good. There
have been a lot of years where we thought the
Bengals might be good. There have been some years where
we hoped the Bengals would be good, but we weren't sure.
And obviously, there have been a lot of years where
on the doorstep of the season, we either believed or hell,
(04:07):
we knew the Bengals were going to be bad. The
feeling today, with the first game three days away, I
have been rooting for this franchise, following it closely. since
I was eight years old. It's a long damn time ago.
I do not recall feeling anything like I do right
(04:29):
now about the Bengals and their chances. You know, in 2022,
we talked about them being bonafide title contenders and they were,
they brought back all the good players from a team
that had made the Superbowl and we had thought they'd
made their offensive line better.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And they did.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
And that year, you know, you heard a lot of
folks talk about how the season before, the Bengals, they
were kind of lucky. And I will admit this, and
I was kind of wrong about this, but I will
admit this, that I did wonder if maybe they were
going to take a little bit of a step back
because of... you know, just the nature of which, how
they'd won and, you know, the, the shakiness of the
(05:07):
offensive line still. And I thought they were going to
be good. Thought of Joe Burrow played 17 games.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
They'd be good. And they were good.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They came this, this close to going to a Superbowl.
And I thought they would be good, but there was
a little apprehension. I, I don't have any apprehension. Now
there's the, and we have discussed this, like You know,
it's like in a relationship when things are going almost
too well, and it's like, I'm scared.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I've been hurt before.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
And yeah, I think as a sports fan, and I
think specifically as a Bengals fan, we can all relate
to that. But I have no apprehension. I have no
apprehension in saying publicly or privately or just feeling like
this team has an extraordinarily good chance to win the
whole thing. I don't love guarantees about winning Super Bowls
(05:57):
because that doesn't That sort of ignores a lot of
factors that you can't predict. I've also made declarative statements
about the Bengals before that I've, again, I've been wrong.
Two years ago, I said, if Joe Burrow plays 17 games,
(06:18):
the Bengals will at least absolutely be a playoff team.
I'll double down on that. I was wrong two years ago.
Joe played 17 games. The team, frankly, really didn't even
come close. This year, Joe Burrow plays 17 games. They
win the division. And they might win it handily. Like
to the degree that it's already wrapped up when the
(06:40):
Ravens come here on New Year's Eve. I am lucky
that we have a job where we went down and
watched him in training camp. And so my view of
this team is maybe a little bit skewed by that.
I'm willing to admit it. I'm willing to admit that
if I didn't live in Cincinnati, And I didn't follow
(07:00):
this team closely that when folks talked about how good
the Bengals might be, I would bring up, yeah, the defense.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Come on.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Is it really going to be that better? Or I
would say, yeah, whatever franchise that can't keep Burrow healthy.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Uh-huh.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Or I would express some level of skepticism about Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
But I live here.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
And I follow it closely. Not an insider by any
stretch of the imagination. I've seen what they've done to
the team. I've listened to what has come out of
the mouths of important people down there. I've noticed the
vibe change. Feels like there's been a real premium on
the right types of people, not just the right types
of players. I've watched them look good in one area,
(07:40):
sometimes multiple areas, every day of training camp. I've watched
them demonstrate their depth during the preseason. I know the
caliber of quarterback they have. I see a side of
the ball that has unprecedented continuity, as it relates to
this franchise at least. I see upgrades made across the defense,
though admittedly, obviously not at linebacker. I feel the sense
(08:03):
of urgency. I feel the sense of, you know, now
or never. I don't see a team that has a
lot of flaws. I don't see a team that has
a ton of glaring holes. There are questions. How will
the defensive pieces fit early in the season? Can a
team with a track record of getting off to slow
offensive starts avoid that beginning on Sunday? Zach Taylor going
(08:27):
to press all the right buttons? Do they really have
as much depth as I believe? What happens when an
offensive lineman gets hurt? How much are we going to
hold our breath when a swing tackle has to play?
I'm curious as to how they're going to overcome adversity.
Adversity will present itself maybe in a game, maybe for
a whole bunch of games, maybe for a large chunk
(08:49):
of the season. How are they going to handle the
pressure week to week that will come with massive expectations
and maybe a loss that they shouldn't have or an
opponent that seems to be a little bit more difficult
than we originally believed? The beauty of a sports season
is you don't know about the stuff that's going to
(09:09):
get in the way.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
But today?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
(09:33):
may sound light. worth mentioning only three Bengals teams in
franchise history of 112 games. Don't know if that's going
to be good enough to be the one seed. I
did my gambling show back at the Envelope Bets, and
I talked about the reasons to bet on the Bengals
to be the one seed. And part of it has
to do with some of the other contenders and where
(09:53):
they play them and getting tiebreakers. Not here to tell
you that this team is flawless. Not here to tell
you that this team doesn't have questions that are very
fair to ask about it not here to tell you
necessarily that they're guaranteed to win the first game of
the season because we all know week one can be
weird and week one has certainly been weird in recent
years for the Cincinnati Bengals but I don't know that
(10:16):
I've ever felt this way At this stage, right before
the season begins, that if health, if the health of
the team isn't decimated, it's impossible for me to imagine
them not being a playoff team. I believe they have
the best team and yes, the best roster in the division.
(10:36):
I think they have a chance to get the one seed.
They go into the season, and this is remarkable if
you think about it. Coming off a six-win season, coming
off three consecutive years where they didn't even make the playoffs,
they are absolutely a bona fide championship contender. What a
turnaround from nine months ago when we were careening toward
(11:00):
the conclusion of a truly miserable season. And now here
we are talking about the Bengals and the likelihood of
having a special one. This is an awesome place to be.
By the way, I'm not scared of it either. So
your thoughts are welcome. 513-749-1530. We'll throw out a poll
(11:24):
question here in just a few minutes. Meanwhile, they're taking
on a Tampa Bay team. You know, one of the
storylines this offseason around the NFL has been Baker Mayfield
and his contract. But What sort of challenges do the
Bucs present the Bengals? What are the expectations in Tampa
for this team, which missed the postseason last year? We
will head there next on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
From the UCHealth Traffic Center, UCHealth has been helping Cincinnati
thrive for 200 years and not stopping now.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Find the groundbreaking care you need at uchealth.com.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
That means we have the game on Sunday and pregame
coverage from the Holy Grail with Ken Brew, myself, and
Tony Pike. 9 a.m., four hours before kickoff. Cannot wait.
Bengals and Buccaneers, if you want to know about the Buccaneers,
for my money, there's One place to go to go
to pewterreport.com. Comprehensive Tampa Bay Buccaneers coverage. And Scott Reynolds
(12:23):
from that website, kind enough to give us a few
minutes this afternoon to talk about the season opener.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Scott, good afternoon.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
How are you?
Speaker 7 (12:30):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I appreciate you doing this.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
When you saw the Baker Mayfield news, because we were
watching this from afar thinking, okay, Baker, who already plays
and walks around with a chip on his shoulder, is
going to have a bigger one if he doesn't have
his contract done. It kind of felt to me like
a little bit, and I'm watching it from a distance,
like the deal came from out of left field. What
was the reaction to what Baker and the Bucs did?
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Yeah, it wasn't terribly surprising that it got done just
because of the fact they seemed pretty close, closer than
Baker indicated during that kind of fiery press conference at
the start of training camp. But at the same time,
you didn't know, right? You didn't know if they were
going to cross that finish line before the start of
the season. They ultimately did. I don't know that it
really affects Baker. I've kind of talked to resources in
(13:16):
the building players have been out of practice and they're
just like, he's the same guy, whether he would have
got the deal or not. He, he finds a chip
sometimes when there isn't a chip, sometimes there's somebody where
he's been wronged by that. He'll have that chip on
his shoulder and play for, but, but yeah, I think
that he's just raring to go. It probably is a
little bit of an ease heading into this, this regular
(13:40):
season because it's, He doesn't have to worry about his future.
Am I going to get franchise tax next year? Like,
you know, all of those kinds of things. So I
think having a more focused locked in Baker, if that's
even possible, because the dude's locked in all the time,
but it's probably, you know, for the best for him
and the team.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
I think the player that I'm going to be watching
most closely, if that's the right way to put it
on Sunday is Ruben Bain, because, you know, before the
Bengals traded for Dexter Lawrence, we spent weeks talking about guys,
the Bengals might take it number 10. And he is
somebody we discussed the possibility of taking a lot. How
is his training camp and preseason gone?
Speaker 7 (14:16):
You know, it's incredible. He is not a rookie. He
is a professional and it just, he just doesn't have
any NFL experience yet, but he, approaches the game like
a professional. I think he has designs on being a
Hall of Fame player. I know that's getting ahead of himself,
but that's the type of mentality he has. It's not
(14:38):
about winning a Super Bowl. It's how many Super Bowls
can I win, right? And it's not cocky. It's just
this self-belief that he can do whatever he puts his
mind to. And let's not forget that it wasn't the
only Miami Hurricane edge rusher that was drafted in the
first round. his running mate, Akeem Mesidor, was as well.
And that's a testament to Jason Taylor, right? When you've
(14:59):
got a position coach at the Hurricanes who is an
NFL Hall of Famer, one of the best sack artists
of all time, teaching you how to rush the passer
at the NFL level and applying that to college, you're
getting great tutelage. And just having that professional mindset, I
think it was something that he was always kind of
intrinsically about him was that kind of professional mindset. But
(15:23):
then the way that he was taught at Miami, it
just kind of like was the best of both worlds.
You're having this this guy that has these intrinsic talents
and then just getting refined by somebody who's been there
and done that at the highest level at Jason Taylor.
So I think he walks into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization.
(15:43):
He's a ready to play out of the box rookie.
who is going to, I think, be in contention for
defensive rookie of the year honors, probably with David Bailey.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Buccaneers make the playoffs five consecutive years. Midway through last season,
they're 6-2. It feels like they're going to be back
to win the NFC South, and then it goes sideways.
What that went wrong in the second half of the
season has to go right this year.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
Well, I think the injuries caught up with them more
so than anything. I've covered this team. This is my
31st year. The common denominator is between the two Super
Bowl victories in 2002 under John Gruden and the 2020
team under Bruce Arians, of course, quarterback by Tom Brady,
wasn't just the talent. It was health. Those are the
(16:25):
two healthiest teams in Bucs history in terms of not
having any starters really outside of maybe one guy on
injured reserve, just being remarkably healthy. And if you have
great talent and it's available to you on a weekly basis,
you're going to win more games than you're going to lose.
And I think last year was a very talented Buccaneer team.
It was coming off of a 10-win season in 2024. Granted,
(16:47):
Liam Cohen left and went across the state to Jacksonville
to create things there, right? But it was an offensive
line that never had all five starters available for any game, right?
It was just that. It was Mike and Chris, you know,
Mike Evans, Chris Gatlin, the two top receivers being out
for weeks at a stretch here and there. It was...
(17:08):
wide receiver Emeka Buka, the first-round pick out of Ohio State,
and they figured he was going to be a damn
good player, but he was the fourth guy on the
depth chart. The third guy, Jalen McMillan, broke his neck
in the preseason and was out for all but three games.
Then Mike and Chris are gone. All of a sudden,
your fourth wide receiver, your rookie that you love, and
(17:30):
he's going to be the future, but the future is now.
He had to be coming off a season where He
went deep into the playoffs, won a national championship, right?
Didn't have that month of January to rest like other
college players did. He was busy still playing football games.
He had a rookie wall, right? He had a hot
start to the year, six touchdowns in the first, I think,
(17:51):
five or six games. But then he had a rookie wall, right?
And all of a sudden, your fourth receiver on the
depth chart has to lead the team in catches, touchdowns,
and yards. And it just was kind of a snowball effect.
And those injuries caught up to him. And they literally
just ran out of gas towards the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Scott Reynolds, pewterreport.com.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
If I look at any list of NFL head coaches
on the hot seat, I will see Zach Taylor's name.
And in most of them, I'll see Todd Bowles name.
I think with Zach, I understand why, but I think
a lot of his contributions to this team sort of
get glossed over unfairly. What's your assessment of the job
that Todd Bowles has done?
Speaker 7 (18:26):
You know, I think it's time for Todd to kind
of take the step forward a little bit. You know,
I kind of call, the Buccaneers, the Kings of crap Hill,
because the NFC South has been the crappiest division of football.
I mean, look no further than last year and eight
and nine team won the division. That was the Carolina Panthers.
And guess what? There are two other teams that were eight, nine,
(18:48):
also Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Right.
Speaker 7 (18:51):
You know, and, and then his first season as head
coach in 2022, even with, with kind of a fading
Tom Brady, they won the division. What was the record?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Eight, nine.
Speaker 7 (19:01):
So it's, if you want to, to truly be an
elite NFC team, like you got to win double digit games.
And if, if you want to, to, to be a
dominant team within your division, you got to kind of
be like the Patriots. How many years have we seen
a Patriots under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick just run
rough shot over a downtrodden AFC East. Sometimes maybe the
(19:25):
jets were okay. Sometimes the bills were okay.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Right.
Speaker 7 (19:27):
But, but you know, the dolphins never really were. So
it's just, it's the thing where, where when you're in
a crappy division, like win it, man, get 12, 13 wins,
you know, and, and be the dominant team. And it
seems like even when the Buccaneers have one division titles,
it's always coming down to week 18, you know, and
you got to win this game and then you got
the ninth win and you snuck in the And, and
(19:51):
so I think that's the next step for Todd Bowles
is you have talent on this team. This is a
very talented team, but I think when Vegas looks at
the Bucs and says eight and a half wins, you
look around the national consensus, ESPN, NFL.com, these, these national
media outlets, um, Maybe they've got the Bucs winning the division,
but maybe with nine wins. So I think for Todd,
(20:13):
it's time now to step up and really make some
noise because you've got one playoff win in three years
that you've been to the playoffs. Oh, and by the way,
all three of those years, you had a home playoff
game and you only won.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
One of them.
Speaker 7 (20:29):
So that's where he needs to take the next step
is have the bounce back year, get to 10 wins
or more, but now go further in the postseason.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
It reminds me of how people used to make fun
of Jeff Fisher, like Mr. Seven and nine, and they
play more games now. So maybe Todd Bowles is, is Mr. Eight, nine,
hopefully from his, in your perspective, a little bit better
this year, Scott, I can't thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Enough, man. Thanks so much.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 7 (20:53):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Scott Reynolds. The website is terrific. Pewter report.com sports headlines.
And our guy Lee Sterling tries to make us some
money this weekend. Next ESPN, 1530 Cincinnati's ESPN, 1530. traffic
from midnight football game tonight from australia rams and niners
find it on fox sports 1360 every week you can
(21:17):
find lee sterling on our show thursdays at this time
paramount sports.com for years he has helped make us money
on college and pro football we have a few games
to discuss lee is here now how we doing sir.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Great i mean i haven't felt this good I think
it was a couple years ago when Aaron Rodgers got
hurt in the first play of the game. And I
had written that game off, and they somehow came back.
The kid's named Gibson. I can't remember his first name.
He returned that punt for a touchdown. I think I
ran 75 of the 80 yards along with him for
(21:55):
that score. And last night, I literally am like, I
am done. Third quarter, lost Sam Darnold. Came back and
won that one. I mean... I'm playing with house money now.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Not a bad place to be with week one of
the NFL season approaching. Let's start in college, though. So
Texas and Ohio State both cover against Cupcakes.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Big numbers.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Rematch of a game last year in Columbus, 14-7 in
favor of OSU. This year, Longhorns a slight favorite. Who
do we like on Saturday night?
Speaker 5 (22:30):
That was my alma mater, Mo. So no more jokes
about Texas State the rest of the way. Just kidding. Actually,
believe it or not, they actually have really good offense.
They just turned it over, and they might be a play.
I'm going to give you a free play over Texas
State UTSA over on that total. That's going to go
(22:51):
well above 66. That's a freebie. Now, for this game...
I went back and watched a film again of the
game last year between Texas and Ohio State, and Texas
was living not only in the red zone, inside the
10-yard line. They just couldn't score. So they outstatted Ohio
State 336-203. Problem was, Steve Sarkeesian's play calling was horrendous.
(23:18):
The execution was horrible. So what did they do? They
were smart. They added Auburn's stud-wide receiver, 6'3 Cam Coleman
in the portal. They added running back Hollywood Smothers from
NC State. And these two guys in the red zone
are incredible. Hollywood Smothers will make that one cut and
(23:38):
make the first– defender, miss camp Coleman, big, strong, fast,
might be the third best receiver in college football, just
behind Jeremiah Smith and Tony of Miami. And now Ryan Wingo,
who is her best receiver who looks even better this year.
He can operate against the guy in the slot or
the number three cornerback. So I like Texas here. I
(24:00):
think they are better up front in the trenches. And
I think Ohio state was exposed last year against Miami and,
Texas finally wins a big game, 27-21.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
All right, you're not making a lot of friends in
my audience right now, but maybe you'll make them some money.
All right, let's go to Monday night. Patrick Mahomes will play.
Kansas City's starting left tackle will not. The Chiefs, two-and-a-half
point favorites against Denver.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
So Denver last year, everything went right. Every close game
they won. They're going to be a team that I
think people are going to game plan for. Uh, Jim Waddle,
I think might have a big year, but I just don't,
I think eventually they're running back is going to be
Jonah Coleman. So if you're still, if you still haven't
(24:45):
drafted yet, or you can pick up someone or make
a trade. This kid Coleman from Washington, I think eventually
is going to be the guy. So I think Kansas
City kind of ekes out and is lucky they played
Denver early. People are saying, well, you know, Mahomes coming
off an ACL. Hey, it's not like an Achilles injury.
He knows what he can and can't do here. And
(25:05):
I also think that this Kansas City team, getting Kenneth–
I just think that Kenneth Walker is incredible. I mean,
look what he missed last, Seattle last night. If he's
in that lineup, I think they're much, much better. So
they're going to be better in the red zone. I'm
going to go with Kansas City. I think they win
(25:27):
in cover here, 27-20.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Paramount sports.com is the website. Lee Sterling is the guy,
the Bengals. I'm bullish on them, but it's week one. We,
we all were all aware of their issues. They've had
in recent years, week one, including on the road last
year against the Browns when they did win, but needed
a gift miss field goal by Cleveland to escape. They're
at home against the bucks three and a half point favorites.
(25:51):
Who do we like on Sunday?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
They're going to have to play better defense and protect
the quarterback, Dexter Lawrence. His arrival from the Giants, I think,
is going to be a big plus here. You know
Todd Bowles is going to bring it. He blitzes left
and right here. But I think, except for Ibuka, there's
not many guys on their offense to scare you here.
So I think this is a game that goes down
(26:14):
to the wire. It's not going to be easy. I
think Cincinnati wins the game 27-26, but Tampa Bay plus
a three-and-a-half cover. I believe all... Five or four of
the last five last year, games down the stretch, which
they lost all of them, all of them four points.
So why not? Cincinnati wins, Tampa Bay covers.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
All right, hopefully less controversy involving a Michigan game. The
Wolverines will have fallen out of the top 25 after
what happened in Ann Arbor on Saturday. A level up
in competition against Oklahoma, the Sooners, five and a half
point favorites.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
They want to get the game for free. Just call 800-400-9741.
That's right. I'm going to give them the big Michigan-Oklahoma game, 800-400-9741.
And how about this, Mo? I've never done this before.
Tonight's game. That's right. Tonight's game in Australia, Rams and
49ers 1-0. Wow. Never this cheap.
Speaker 7 (27:12):
$ 1.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
We're 7-2 to start the season. Won 32 of the
last 33 years. And also tomorrow night's game, the border war,
Missouri and Kansas, $ 1. And the UFC card on Saturday,
five selections. It starts at 2 o'clock. UFC Noche from Phoenix,
five selections, $ 1. $ 3 is all you need to invest
(27:35):
for an entire weekend of action. Just one place, ParamountSports.com.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
800-400-9741, ParamountSports.com. Lee, you're the man. I will talk to
you tomorrow. Thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
You too, buddy.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
All right, Lee Sterling. Made us a lot of money
over the years. Chad Brendel on the Bearcats next.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
ESPN 1530.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Traffic.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
From Ford, this is ESPN 1530.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Mo Egger.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Thank you for listening today.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Every Thursday we talk UC football until it's basketball season.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Then we'll talk about that sport.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Or if football's not any good, we'll just start talking
about basketball a lot earlier. But I do have a
basketball question. Chad Brendel, BearcatJournal.com, is with us. UC hosting
Western Carolina, the Catamounts, on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Hi, Chad.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I know that there is one good thing about this
new exhibition game world of college basketball.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
That we get games in October to actually talk about.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
If football goes south, basketball starts October 7th, not like
November 20th.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
By the way, there have been years where in September,
I'm badgering you about when the schedule is going to
come out.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
We got basketball in less than a month.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yes, we do. What can you tell me about the
dude they got from Bowling Green?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Elite defender led the nation in steals last year, 90
plus steals in a season. Like that is hard for
me to get my brain around that. This guy had
over 90 steals last season, uh, gets downhill.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Gets to the rim, gets to the free throw line.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Jared Calhoun certainly has a type for his on ball guard,
be a good defender out top, get downhill, uh, get
to the free throw line, have good assist numbers.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
Like he fits those boxes for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Uh, the football game on Saturday, I thought a pretty
impressive debut for Nate Woody's defense. I thought a very,
good day for the special teams thought a good day
for running the football.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Not sure.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
And answer my question about whether they're going to be
able to challenge teams deep.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
No.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
And I look, no, I think we know the answer
to that question. We've talked about it all season. This
is not a roster built for, to go over the
top and push the ball down the field 25, 30,
40 yards at a time. Do I wish they would
have gotten a chance to throw it a little bit
more on Saturday?
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
But I don't think there's going to ever be a
point from now until the end of November that we're
going to look back and go, man, if they just
would have thrown it six more times against Boston college,
we probably would have won that game. Like I, The
game was what it was. The game played out how
it played out. It called for Cincinnati to run the
(30:31):
ball a lot. I like that they didn't try to
get cute. You're running it right down their throat, and
you're controlling the game. Keep doing what you're doing. I
wish they would have done that last year against Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Yeah, yeah. It's interesting.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Scott Satterfield was asked yesterday, do you wish you could
have thrown it around a little bit more? And his
answer was no. And I like the answer. Here's what
we're good at. They weren't stopping it, so we're going
to keep doing it. They didn't get too cute.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, I asked him the question because I kind of
knew that was going to be the answer. Look, in
a perfect world, they had 23, 22, 23 passes.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
And you found out a little bit more about J.C.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
French.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
But it's not a perfect world.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
And that was, look, man, you had the same feeling
I did at 24-8 and Boston College.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
With the ball.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Here we go. And they didn't allow that to happen.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Defensive coordinators talk all the time about attacking and being aggressive.
It was nice to actually see a defensive coordinator, put
a defense on the field, especially early that was attacking
and was aggressive.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
This is a man that carries a broad ax apparently
just around the building.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
That's new to me.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Nobody didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
I had not seen Nate Woody carrying a broad ax
around the building at any point in time. Uh, but,
This is his defense. It is his baby. The East
Coast 3-4, as they call it. You know what it
reminds me a little bit of? Doesn't he kind of
remind you of John Tanuta?
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Maybe not as much foul language as John Tanuta, but
he's kind of got that Tanuta vibe to him. And
Tanuta was another guy like, I'm just going to blitz
the crap out of you until I can't.
Speaker 6 (32:20):
And I like it. Let's be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
So when Nate Woody was introduced, I went to his
press conference and you could tell like this is a
guy that just ball coach and just loves to talk ball.
So just to take the audience inside every Tuesday, I
go down there and I interview a player or two
for the pregame show and an assistant coach. because Nate
Woody is the new guy. What a Nate for week one.
(32:43):
So I, you know, it's go there at 1130. We
always do it in the coach's office. So I go
in there to interview Nate Woody and it's a five
minute recorded interview to air in the pregame show. I
got 22 minutes of him just, like, unfurling all of
these defensive concepts that if I aired it would have
gone over the head of probably 85% of the people listening.
Speaker 5 (33:06):
It was.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I even told him afterwards. I'm like, look, I just
kept rolling because I just... I've never heard a coach
do that before.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
I've never.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
They're very secretive. He's, like, just outlining for me what
Boston College is going to do. Here's how we're going
to play this offense when we get later in the season.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
And I'm like... I just asked like, Oh, you know,
what is it about Cincinnati?
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Like I, I could listen to him talk for hours.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
He's one of those guys that, that you like, he
lives football.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Like he, he, he probably I'm guessing Mo he's one
of those guys that wakes up at three in the
morning with a notebook next to his bed because he
dreamed about like a blitz concept and he's, he's got
to write it down. So he doesn't forget it. That's
how Nate Woody strikes me. Like, just thinking football all
the time. And, I mean, the guy's been a really
(33:57):
good defensive coordinator for a long, long time.
Speaker 6 (34:00):
I think we saw that on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah. Did anything on Saturday surprise you?
Speaker 6 (34:09):
Patrick Bauer a little bit. And here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
We got some pushback this week when we talked about
Bauer didn't flash during camp. You know why Patrick Bauer
didn't flash during camp? Because you're not allowed to do
the things in practice that Patrick Bauer did during the game.
Hitting a quarterback, chasing a running back down from behind,
down the line of scrimmage to make a play. Like
(34:37):
the defense is restricted in what they can do during camp.
So the plays that he made would have been blown
dead if they happened during camp before he got to
really like make the play. So I think that's what
we meant by he didn't flash a lot during the
camp process because other than, like, interceptions and, you know,
(35:01):
tagging the quarterback with two hands, defenders don't really flash
like that during camp. But he was the guy that
felt like he was always around to play. The other guy, Mo,
that surprised isn't the right word, but I think very
big things are ahead. Remember the name Jonathan Rulo.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
True freshman, he played 16 snaps and got three tackles
from the defensive tackle position. That is impressive for a
kid playing in his first ever collegiate football game.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Awesome. We'll see you at Nip at Night Saturday night, man.
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Can't wait, as Bart Scott once said.
Speaker 7 (35:41):
Yes, he did.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Much more emphatically, but we'll take your version. Yeah, thank
you very much. Chad Rendell, follow him at ChadRendellBearCatJournal.com, host
of the BCJ podcast as well. UC and Western Carolina
Saturday night on 102.7 WEBN with pregame coverage starting at
6 o'clock.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
Are we?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
We're guest free for like 30 minutes. We have wise
money sports.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
We have Dan Klaskin's fantasy football, some good Bengal stuff
in the five o'clock hour coming up as well. I've
just thrown out a poll question. We'll get to that too.
Coming up on four o'clock ESPN, 1530.
Mo Egger News
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