00:00If the last 24 hours are any judge, can we just say, I can't wait for the Carolina game?
00:06Well, I mean, I made this point yesterday that we are firing in every conceivable direction
00:12as Browns fans and as NFL commentators that from Deshaun Watson is back to Deshaun Watson
00:20will never be back.
00:21And you got lucky all the way to this is the worst thing to happen to the Browns or the
00:25best thing.
00:26Like the only thing it seems like people can really agree right now is that the Browns
00:32fandom is a big old hornet's nest that's been kicked by a Browns win.
00:37And that I think is the only thing I'm not saying that I am.
00:40Actually, no, I'm surprised by that.
00:42Usually winning unites us all.
00:44And it does feel like winning has just got us all into punchy moods with each other.
00:47Well, it's kind of like the Panthers that we're going to play on Sunday.
00:49Nobody knows what to make of this Browns team.
00:51We don't really know.
00:52You have an idea of what you want to make of this Browns team.
00:54And you think, yeah, the last week was just basically spelling out everything you thought
00:58you were going to see all year long.
00:59There's a lot of Browns fans that didn't feel that way, though.
01:01We argued with them for a lot of the offseason.
01:03You in particular argued with them for a lot of the offseason.
01:05And so I think for a lot of people, they don't know what this Browns team is.
01:08It's a mixed bag and a mystery bag.
01:10And so I think that's what makes it so fascinating.
01:12I am hearing a few more people wanting to come and maybe enjoy my vision of the Browns,
01:17right?
01:17Both in how the offense ran, even though I thought it was going to be a different quarterback running
01:21the offense, and even the eight wins, I'm hearing a little bit of optimism.
01:25You're hearing eight win chatter?
01:25I'm hearing some chatter.
01:26Maybe people who don't want to put eight out there yet, right?
01:29Because it's one win, and they want to play hard to get a little bit.
01:31Is that right?
01:32But do I think that they're starting to lift the kimono just a little bit?
01:35Maybe show me a little bit of inner knee?
01:37Oh, I think they do.
01:38Who are these people?
01:39I think they do.
01:40Who are these people?
01:40I mean, various people out there on the internet.
01:43The people who are actually happy that we won.
01:45You're creating another straw man again.
01:47Nope.
01:47We've been accused of that.
01:48Are you creating another straw man again?
01:50Listen, if I mention somebody from another show, it's just going to be another narrative
01:54that is being created out there.
01:56Because apparently narrative is now a word that we can't use.
01:59Because even though it's been used for Cleveland Sports Talk for 16 years, narrative is now apparently
02:05some sort of hackneyed word.
02:07Or just sports talk in general for the existence of sports talk.
02:09Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:11So no narratives.
02:11No narratives.
02:12No narratives.
02:12I'm just, I'm feeling it.
02:14I'm feeling it in my loins.
02:15Oh, that's good.
02:15And it feels good.
02:16It's funny, actually.
02:17I saw my father-in-law last night.
02:18And he goes, so was it five hours of Nick trying to tell you how right he was?
02:22And I was like, no, no, it wasn't five hours of that.
02:25Like two hours.
02:25It was a lot of it, though.
02:26Yeah, yeah.
02:26It was a decent amount of it.
02:27I said, no, it wasn't that.
02:29But it was just funny.
02:30Because I think he knew going into the game how invested you would be coming out of that game then.
02:34The idea that it played out exactly the way that you wanted it to from a your storybook.
02:39Minus the running part of it, which we touched.
02:41But, like, it played out the way that you've envisioned.
02:43Now, the question is, was week two fraudulent?
02:46Or is that who the actual Browns are?
02:48And I think that's what makes it so interesting.
02:49Yeah, and I think with the Deshaun stuff, you know, it's interesting.
02:53Because I'm going to be on the side of do it again.
02:57You know what I mean?
02:58Like, there's just been, it's been five years.
03:00And it's not just even about, it's not even just about the football anymore.
03:04I mean, this is going to be the biggest hurdle Deshaun has to overcome.
03:08Because there is an unknown element of how the crowd is going to be reacting.
03:14I think it's going to be muted a little bit because of his performance and because they're coming off a
03:18win.
03:19But it's not going to be 100% positive.
03:21And I think maybe Deshaun himself has built this up in his mind as well.
03:25I think maybe the Browns have also built, I mean, like, the Browns leadership has probably built this up in
03:29their mind.
03:30Because they understand.
03:31Like, this was a moment that they thought they might be able to avoid as late as, like, Sunday morning.
03:36Sunday morning, yeah, they thought they were never even going to get to this spot.
03:38And so, like, it's interesting.
03:40Now, I will say, in terms of how he handled pressure in his face in the second half,
03:45that is something that doesn't look like a one-trick pony kind of deal or a one-afternoon kind of
03:51thing.
03:51If you look at, I'll be honest, some of the grittiness.
03:55Like, I probably should have used that word a little bit more yesterday, but, like, some of the third-down
03:59plays that he made,
04:00specifically on the ground, were very gritty kind of runs.
04:04I think that's something that the new Deshaun, Deshaun 2.0, or I guess at this point 7.0, can
04:10do.
04:11So, I do, there are things that I think, beyond just can he do the efficient passing, no turnovers,
04:17and, you know, what is it, 240 yards, 250 yards, maybe just look at some of the other stuff,
04:22I do think some of that stuff should be repeatable.
04:25It feels like a big should, though, because, again, the unknown variable of how is he going to be received,
04:31and is he ready for that reception?
04:32Well, if everyone's case, or excuse me, a lot of people's cases were that he is mentally cooked,
04:37and he is fried, and it's just mentally is where he's going to have his struggles,
04:42well, this would be the biggest mental test you can have.
04:44You can take on a lot of people that are in Tampa Bay wearing Baker jerseys.
04:47That's not really that much of a tough putt for you.
04:49If you're Deshaun Watson, how you deal with the home crowd booing you,
04:53and I do think Deshaun, here's the problem, Deshaun in his brain,
04:57he might think there's no booze coming.
04:59The way that he's operated in the past is if everyone just is going to throw everything in the rearview
05:02mirror,
05:03he might think one win alone expects him a hero's welcome on Sunday,
05:07and so if he hears booze, is that going to do what it did for him in the Bills preseason
05:11game,
05:11or he's just shook and like, wait, where did that come from?
05:13No, this is where I think Deshaun can show a lot of growth, all right?
05:19And, you know, previously when Deshaun had hit the field,
05:23Deshaun was living off the air breathed into him by Todd Munkin and the Browns, right?
05:28It's not going to matter if you're playing good.
05:29Going to those east side restaurants.
05:31We believe in you.
05:32We're going to go ahead and have your family meet you very conveniently right off the press stage here.
05:38Somebody was mad.
05:39I think it was twerp on Twitter was mad about that.
05:41Twitter reactions on X powered by Scheiben Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
05:44And it's like, well, I guess that's just the first time I've seen anyone's family and friends
05:48very loudly greet him as he walks off the dais.
05:51Yes, that would seem a little fishy after one good game, but I digress.
05:55But no, I mean, this is a great moment for Deshaun to prove that Sunday changed everything for him.
06:01Right?
06:02And like, you can even rinse the press conference last Wednesday,
06:06which I think pissed the Browns off more than they were ready to admit.
06:09I think that had a lot to do with some of the messaging going into the weekend as well.
06:12I think the Browns felt a little burnt by Deshaun and Deshaun kind of delivered on the field
06:17in a way that kind of helped him.
06:19But like, yeah, I think Deshaun can prove this week, even if he's going in there expecting,
06:24all right, maybe I'm going to get more cheers than booze.
06:27Well, don't let whatever surprise you get, whether it's a good surprise or bad surprise on Sunday,
06:32don't let that slow your roll because you've already proven the thing that I personally
06:36had said you couldn't do.
06:37I know with the worry we've had the entire time is that emotionally he can't handle it.
06:40And so I need someone close to Deshaun.
06:43He's got a lot of yes men around him and a lot of people, a lot of bobbleheads near Deshaun.
06:46We saw him all in that postgame thing.
06:49I need them to alert Deshaun and tell him booze are coming.
06:52And so if booze don't come, then great.
06:54Then he has cheers and that's awesome and that's fine.
06:56But somebody needs to get in his ear and say, listen, if you think cheers are coming
07:00because you won a game against Tampa Bay, it's likely not coming.
07:03Like brace for the idea that if booze are there, they're just going to exist.
07:06And go back to your own words and talking about you playing 17 road games.
07:10But mentally is the biggest question of it all.
07:12And yeah, this will be the first test that he really has as far as us evaluating whether
07:16or not he can do it upstairs.
07:18I just need Deshaun to know that for one game, he's already proved what you and I said he couldn't
07:25do.
07:25So yeah, you got to do it again.
07:27And in the NFL, you got to keep doing it.
07:29You got to keep doing it.
07:29But like in terms of your focus, I think some of the sting in that Buffalo game had to come
07:35from the fact that you went out there and played like crap and you knew you played like crap
07:39and you didn't have a rebuttal.
07:41Your rebuttal is, don't you know I'm a comeback story, right?
07:45And based off of, well, you worked really hard in coming back off an injury.
07:49Well, that doesn't really mean anything to anyone if they weren't along for the ride.
07:55Now people have seen it.
07:57Now people have gotten some sort of tangibly positive result and they did it by the way
08:01against the former quarterback that the Browns jettisoned to bring you in.
08:06I need Deshaun to be able to focus on that because if he focuses on that, he realizes a
08:11couple boos will turn into more cheers than not if that's what he gets on on Sunday.
08:16The second that he throws another touchdown to Denzel Boston, like the one he had this last
08:20week.
08:21Sure.
08:21You just hope that he isn't spooked enough by the boos.
08:23Mentally, he's got to be ready for what's going to come because mentally in the
08:26past, when he's blindsided, like I thought, which is what happened in that Buffalo, the
08:30Bills preseason game, that's when he doesn't take it well.
08:33And so here's why Tampa Bay, that game works so well for Deshaun.
08:36He never faced any adversity in that game.
08:38He never faced any true, I threw an interception, how do I respond?
08:41He can do this when he just plays, you know, competent football and doesn't have anything
08:46to bounce back from.
08:47It's when he starts to make mistakes and they compound any spirals that you got to worry
08:51about him.
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