Mo Egger

Mo Egger

Mo Egger delivers his unique take on sports on Cincinnati's ESPN 1530!Full Bio

 

The Mo Egger Blog: New Dey. Same Players. You Know The Rest.

Marvin Lewis used to say it all the time: I see better than I hear. For months I've heard all about the "New Dey" the Bengals have been begging us to embrace, with the reassurances that with a new coaching staff and the energy it's brought, the results we see are going to be different.

Well, yesterday looked like more of the same, mainly from a defense that was manhandled up front, and appeared to be sorely confused on the back end. As prepared as Lou Anarumo's unit looked in week one, they looked equally unprepared against San Francisco.

This is not the look of a prepared D.

The way their lineman failed to get off blocks was as astounding as it was sobering, and what made watching the defense more painful was seeing 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander look like the best player on the field months after the Bengals, um, couldn't get past the first phone call with the free agent last spring.

Maddening.

It was equally maddening watching the Bengals fail to get the ground game going, although I'm not sure we should be surprised given the current makeup of the offensive line.

The Bengals were manhandled in every phase by a decidedly okay 'Frisco team that's not exactly supposed to have one of the NFL's most explosive offenses, and isn't supposed to have a stout offensive line.

The main thing though, was the vibe at PBS, which was frustratingly familiar as 15,000-seats went unoccupied with undoubtedly scores more filled by fans that bought tickets in the hope that a new coach would produce different results, only to exit early unlikely to return any time soon.

I hear a lot about the Bengals, their new coaching staff, and how everything is different.

The players remain the same. Unsurprisingly, so do the results.

Also...

UC's win over Miami didn't do much to ease concerns about the lack of offensive identity, nor did it too much to bolster the argument that the Battle for the Victory Bell game should be played every season.

I'm torn on this issue because I respect history and tradition, and I believe that long-standing rivalries are the essence of college football.

But this rivalry has gotten beyond stale, to the point where I don't know that aside from UC fans simply looking forward to the Bearcats posting a W, it seems like a game that few look forward to.

And as much as I don't want the Miami game replaced with an FCS foe, there does seem to be something to the notion that UC's schedule would be better off with a different opponent than the one that's locked in to have a place on it every season for the next decade.

Radio today....Tony Pike and I have the Tony and Mo Football Show from the Sam Adams Tap Room in OTR at 3:05. Hope you join us.

Follow me on Twitter:@MoEgger1530.

Email me:mo@espn1530.com


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