00:00I have not been on air for numerous reasons in the last couple weeks.
00:04And, you know, Lance, we know how social media can be,
00:06so I made this conscious decision a while ago.
00:09I'm not going to tweet out my Browns thoughts.
00:12Here's why.
00:14One, and it took me a while to get this,
00:16we don't get paid for our opinions that we put on social media,
00:20especially not enough to deal with some of the vitriol
00:24and the disrespect that comes back.
00:25And so if I've got it, and I understand that that's part of this game
00:28and you've got to take it on the chin,
00:30so if I have to absolutely take it on the chin,
00:32I'm just going to make sure I'm on the clock.
00:34I think that's the best way for me to go about this this entire season
00:38is to kind of keep a sense of peace for myself.
00:40I just give you my thoughts when I'm on these airwaves
00:42at whatever job I'm working at that time.
00:45I watched the game, you watched the game, everybody watched the game,
00:48and the game was over within the first hour, if I'm being totally honest.
00:54Me as a fan, I was personally kind of like deflated right away.
00:57As soon as Deshaun Watson threw that interception,
01:00I felt personally how the players felt, like I was deflated,
01:04like this game is already over, and we don't have a chance.
01:08And it ended up playing out that way.
01:09Now, with that being said, I know the popular thing to do all week
01:13has been beat up on the Cleveland Browns for how pathetic that first game was.
01:18You know, some people were asking that this is the worst loss
01:21in modern era for the Cleveland Browns when, you know,
01:25and I didn't hear this point at all.
01:27Kevin Stefanski made his Cleveland Browns debut on September 13, 2020,
01:32on the road against the Baltimore Ravens.
01:33Lance, you want to know the score of that game?
01:34Let me hear it.
01:3538-6.
01:36Yep.
01:37Okay?
01:37Six years later to the date, Todd Munkin, another rookie head coach,
01:41is making his NFL debut, and he loses 34-10.
01:45With that being said, I have personally came on these airwaves
01:49on several different occasions talking about Todd Munkin being an offensive guru,
01:55explaining to fans that his resume throughout 30 years
01:59has shown that he can put together a quality offense
02:02and that he can get the best out of the talent that's available to him.
02:06And despite how horrific game one was,
02:10I still believe that Todd Munkin has that ability.
02:13When you get past the initial reaction of Sunday's blowout loss
02:17and you get the opportunity to go back and watch the film
02:22and you wait for all the major publications to come out with the advanced metrics
02:26and, you know, the final tally of everything,
02:29believe it or not, city of Cleveland,
02:32there was some positive takeaways from that Cleveland Browns-Jacksonville Jaguars game.
02:37And since I'm here with you, Coach,
02:40I'm going to give you the list of positives that I saw.
02:43You tell me if I'm outside of my mind,
02:45if I'm on the right track and we have this conversation.
02:48Fair?
02:48Fair.
02:49Absolutely.
02:49The first thing I saw that I thought was really, really good was the concepts.
02:53I thought that Todd Munkin had a really good game plan to attack the Jacksonville Jaguars.
02:58I did not think it was executed well.
03:00I thought our wide receivers created separation all game long.
03:04I thought that when you look, go back and look at the film,
03:07you've seen guys running wide open at all three levels,
03:11which let me know that the coaching that they've received throughout OTA's training camp
03:16and this week of preparation, it has been solid and they were able to execute it.
03:21Another thing that I thought was probably the biggest thing that stood out to me was
03:25how well the offensive line played.
03:27Now, granted, when you look at the final tally,
03:29it's going to see that the Cleveland Browns allowed five sacks.
03:32However, advanced matches say that none of those sacks was awarded to the offensive line.
03:37Those all fell on the shoulders of Deshaun Watson.
03:40And if you look at it, the Cleveland Browns, you know, as far as pass block win rate
03:46and run block win rate, they finished top eight in both of those.
03:50And they did this all while starting two rookies on the offensive line.
03:54So immediately, that's a direct impact of what George Warhop brings to this team.
04:00You got a no-nonsense offensive line coach that kind of reminds you of Bill Callahan.
04:04He's getting the best out of young players right away.
04:07Another thing that really stood out to me that I really did not hear talk about
04:11that was a huge issue for the Cleveland Browns last year was special teams.
04:14The average starting field position for the Cleveland Browns in week one
04:18was their own 33-yard line.
04:20That ranked top seven of NFL teams for week one.
04:24And so to me, you know, when I look at especially the offense,
04:29I felt like the concepts as well.
04:30I felt like the wide receivers created separation.
04:32I thought the offensive line did what they needed to do in pass protection.
04:36And, you know, creating space in the run game.
04:39I did think that there were some opportunities that Quinshawn Junkins left on the table.
04:43I thought there were some lanes out there that he just absolutely missed.
04:46And I'm going to give him the grace and the benefit of the doubt
04:48because we know what type of player he is.
04:49But overall, I came away with a sense of, despite how ugly that game was,
04:56I kind of still believe that Todd Munkin's offense works.
04:59But the execution, mainly by number four, was absolutely pathetic.
05:04Yeah, so I'm on board with a lot of those things.
05:08And first and foremost, let's talk about those things you mentioned.
05:10So concepts, absolutely.
05:12And for me, his concepts are all about touches.
05:14So I love guys who don't worry about as much.
05:17They're not system-based.
05:18And it doesn't make system-based guys wrong.
05:20It makes, when you have a system-based offense, Kevin Stefanski, for example,
05:23which a lot of teams run, all the spokes in your wheel have to be really good.
05:28In this type of offense, you don't need all the spokes to be good.
05:30You need multiple spokes to be good, and then Todd is going to use those.
05:34And I really like that.
05:35So I agree with the concept.
05:37Now, the spacing and separation, first time you saw a lot of that.
05:40So when you watch the film, high-low, smashes, crossing routes,
05:44those guys, not only are they being coached up,
05:47but you can see the level of talent these guys have.
05:50Casey Concepcion is a guy that just creates separation.
05:55You know, everybody talks about the garbage throw at the end of the game.
05:57It meant nothing for the quarterback.
05:59When you're a rookie receiver and you beat a number-one corner,
06:02that slows the game down this week.
06:03That's important.
06:04O-line play.
06:05Now, I disagree with that.
06:07None of the sacks were on them.
06:10The quarterback didn't help them.
06:12They did get beat.
06:13Like, the one time, he took a ridiculous drop.
06:17Very, very poor drop.
06:19However, he's getting sacked anyway because Fano got beat on a ghost under rip move.
06:25He would have been sacked anyway.
06:26He doesn't defend Watson whatsoever.
06:29And that's kind of the point for me this week because people have had their thoughts against me.
06:33Didn't think he played well, but I didn't think he was the only problem.
06:36And then a man of my own heart, special teams, cost them games last year.
06:40Not only do they have two good returners, but they cover well.
06:43And for me, special teams are all about getting lined up.
06:46Special teams are all about effort, mechanics, fundamentals, lane integrity.
06:51They, I've seen that all, and you did too in camp.
06:53They work at it hard every week.
06:55So, that's something that I was really impressed with.
06:58So, I'm agreeing with you all there.
07:00My only, you know, like I said all week, my only thing has been not defending Deshaun Watson.
07:05You know, I do my best not to come in with confirmation bias, and that's hard for me.
07:10So, when you come into a game and a quarterback, a quarterback's going to give you those highs and lows.
07:15And when a quarterback gives you those highs and lows, whatever your narrative is, you'll get plays that fit those.
07:22He's not, he wasn't super impactful.
07:24But, again, if you go in with the idea that he was the biggest problem, I don't believe he was.
07:28I believe it was the defensive line.
07:30And I also believe, and Jacques Cesar, I think he does a great job, and they're going to get better.
07:34And those guys, you know, Malik Collins, who I think is special.
07:37And those guys are going to get better, and they lost a generational talent.
07:40But, for me, that was the biggest concern.
07:42Now, quarterback always gets too much credit, always gets too much blame.
07:45The bottom line, however you feel about the quarterbacks, if you want things to change, you've got to win games.
07:50And that's what he's not doing.
07:51And the idea that he played terrible, I don't believe that.
07:54I'm not going to believe it.
07:56People can be upset with me.
07:57I understand that, and I love passion of the fans.
07:59But this is a game, they've got to help him.
08:01He's got to help himself fundamentally, taking the proper drops, getting rid of the ball, getting, you know,
08:06when you see those over-unders, you've got to deliver the ball.
08:09Evaluate the play.
08:10The play wasn't great, but everybody else wasn't great either.
08:13Some of the things you said, though, were very good.
08:15We'll see what happens moving forward.
08:16And see, this is why this conversation is going to be excellent, because I'm the fan,
08:20and you're the coach, and you have that natural coach's approach of being even keel and not having the confirmation
08:26bias.
08:27But for me, Lance, man, I've grown pissed off and frustrated.
08:30I was somebody that, quite frankly, thought it was okay for the Cleveland Browns to make this trade for Deshaun
08:36Watson.
08:36I thought it was okay to move on from Baker Mayfield.
08:39And do I sit here today saying that I still agree with that?
08:43No, I don't.
08:44Because even as a fan, I now realize that I didn't appreciate what I had at the quarterback position after
08:51that having nothing at all for so many years
08:53that I was just so quick to move on to whatever I thought was an upgrade.
08:58And that's just, quite frankly, how I looked at it.
09:00And ever since Deshaun Watson has been here, it just seems like it's been one thing after another,
09:05and one thing after another is not wins.
09:09And it's so frustrating and it's so difficult to continue to go through everything that you go through
09:16when you're not winning football games.
09:18One of the things that I said coming into this season is I believe that Deshaun Watson would be confident.
09:24I believe that he would be laser-focused on coming out and trying his best to play the best version
09:32of football
09:32that he could so that he could one day earn the opportunity to go play elsewhere.
09:37But I also said my biggest concern was going to be feel for the game and anticipation.
09:42And when you have a quarterback, a quarterback who has not played football in over 693 days on two consecutive
09:50occasions,
09:51that's a problem, especially when you consider the fact that his last year in Houston
09:58was him voluntarily choosing not to play.
10:01No suspension, no nothing was going on.
10:04He made the decision he didn't want to play for that organization.
10:06And you took yourself willingly off the football field for a year.
10:11When we all know speed of the game, timing, and anticipation is pivotal.
10:15Muscle memory is pivotal.
10:16And what I saw in Week 1 versus Jacksonville was a quarterback that at times, in my opinion,
10:22was seeing ghosts.
10:23At times, in my opinion, he either didn't see the wide receivers open
10:27or he didn't trust to let the ball go.
10:29And when you're lacking anticipation like that,
10:32and so much is on the line for so many different people this season,
10:35I always compare this, Lance, to automobile in the early 90s.
10:42Remember when our parents and some of our grandparents would go outside in the wintertime
10:46and they would start that car up and get the car nice and warm
10:49before we actually head out to get dropped off at school and head to work?
10:55And you had to have that warm-up period because the car technology
10:58just wasn't what it is today.
11:00The Browns don't have that luxury of taking Deshaun Watson,
11:04go warm up the car for four weeks,
11:05and then if it don't get warm, you bring in a backup quarterback
11:08when people are already so frustrated with this entire process,
11:12this entire situation, and we're not winning games.
11:15Well, I'm completely understanding of the frustration.
11:17And once again, the idea of saying he didn't play terribly for me
11:22doesn't mean he played well either.
11:23No, facts.
11:24So here's what I'm going to say.
11:25I'm going to give you an example and tell me what you think here.
11:27I'm interested to hear your thought process on this.
11:29So the interception, when he throws the interception,
11:31everybody talked about all I saw on social media was he did that during camp.
11:35He did.
11:36He threw it to that Mike Backer when the flat defender ran to the flat.
11:39So I'm not going to get in the weeds too much here,
11:41but that play to me, that's the part you see.
11:45Terrible football play.
11:46I had him down through a terrible ball with his eyes on a Lucan.
11:50But as a coach, there's two things that go into that that bother me even more.
11:54And it starts with, so the Jaguars line up with five defensive linemen.
11:59The two ends drop.
12:00They bring a linebacker, an A gap, but it's only four-man pressure.
12:05That should be picked up by the offensive line.
12:07It was not.
12:08So for me, the first problem is, did Deshaun Watson not set the protection up right?
12:13And if he didn't, that's a problem for him.
12:17Or did he set it right and then Zion Johnson didn't step down?
12:20Because it caused Junkins to pick up the blitzing backer,
12:23which then took his check down away and didn't allow a Lucan to come up on him,
12:27which would have opened the receiver.
12:28So did he compound an error with a terrible mistake?
12:32Or it was a team mistake in that he shouldn't have compounded it?
12:35So for me, there's more levels to it than just what we saw.
12:38Because what we saw was terrible, don't get me wrong.
12:40But there's more to it, and that's where it can be fixed if there's something wrong.
12:45You can't fix the interception.
12:48No question about it.
12:49But you can fix protection.
12:51And did he mess that up?
12:52Because for me, that's a bigger problem.
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