00:00There's a mixed bag of emotions today.
00:02I feel like in one segment of society and one segment of the corner of Browns fandom,
00:07we're just excited that we got the win and we're happy that we're 2-1
00:10and we're happy that this team looks like it has its stuff together
00:13and happy that the defense is back and happy that we can believe in Munkin a little bit
00:17and happy that all the young players seem to be playing well.
00:20And so there's so many cool things to take away from the first three games of the season
00:23that are just unequivocally awesome.
00:25And then the Deshaun conversation comes in and you can acknowledge
00:28in the fourth quarter he turns into Mahomes.
00:30He's been great in the fourth quarter while also acknowledging
00:33I don't know what else to do with it.
00:35I don't think he's going to be an all-world quarterback.
00:38I don't think this all of a sudden means that he's turned a corner.
00:40I don't think this means that the Browns have solved their quarterback problem.
00:43But I mean for the first three weeks of the season, you're 2-1.
00:47You're technically tied for first in the AFC North.
00:49How about that, Spencer?
00:50All four teams are tied, I think. Crazy enough.
00:53And this is fun. We're having a good time.
00:55Yeah, I mean I do think you sort of segmented the fan base
00:58to the two different feelings.
00:59I do think that there are certainly still a lot of people
01:02who are conflicted and don't really...
01:04And it's a weird situation.
01:06And that honestly is less about Deshaun himself
01:11and more about the organization.
01:13Because the reason we're here with fans feeling conflicted about...
01:18Some fans feeling conflicted about Victory Mondays
01:21is because the organization made this decision in the first place
01:25and the organization brought them back for the season
01:27because they felt like they couldn't...
01:29The number was too high for them to eat this year.
01:32Okay, that's what they chose.
01:33And so you've done this to the fan base in a lot of ways.
01:37But at the same time, I think the majority of fans
01:40are just excited that we're here.
01:42That the Browns are 2-1.
01:43Well, the season isn't a waste like a lot of people thought
01:45that it would be.
01:46For sure, for sure.
01:47That I think is awesome.
01:48Well, and that's part of the conflicting part of this too
01:49is I think a lot of people went into the season
01:51just being like,
01:52I just have to get through one more year of Deshaun Watson
01:54and then hopefully our quarterback is waiting for us in 2027
01:56or whatever they thought.
01:57Or maybe they thought it was Shidor Sanders
01:59and we could move forward and kind of go on our way.
02:03And instead, we're sitting here like,
02:06oh, this team might actually be good
02:07and now I kind of have to maybe root for Deshaun Watson
02:09while seeing my team win.
02:11And like, how do I sort of level all this?
02:13I get why it's a confusing thing for some people,
02:15but I do think if you ask the majority of Browns fans,
02:18I don't know if I can put a percentage on it,
02:20but like 70% of the fan base, maybe 75,
02:24probably is just excited today
02:25that this season doesn't feel like a total waste
02:28and that the quarterback that the Browns gave all this up for,
02:31even if this is his theoretical swan song,
02:34because I don't think he's back next year,
02:35despite me trying to get people started
02:37on a five more years chant,
02:39I don't think he's back next year.
02:41And so I think for most people,
02:43it's just like, I'm just going to enjoy this for what it is.
02:45And if it means we make the playoffs, great.
02:47If it means we're an eight-win team,
02:48I'm going to enjoy those eight wins.
02:49If it means we're only going to win five games,
02:51I guess I'm going to enjoy those five wins.
02:52I mean, if Deshaun is the reason why
02:53we don't have to have just a soul-sucking
02:56back half of the season, then sign me up.
02:58And I know people know, you guys know I don't like Deshaun.
03:01You guys know I don't think Deshaun's very good at football.
03:03But if he's the reason why,
03:04and if he can in the fourth quarter
03:05turn into what he's been over the past couple of weeks,
03:07I don't know why it seems like so many people
03:09think that I'd be mad about that.
03:11No part of me would be mad about that.
03:13Like, the whole goal of this is,
03:14did the younger players get better?
03:16And are they given a chance week in, week out?
03:18And are they competitive?
03:19And are they fun to watch?
03:20Like, Thursday's going to be awesome.
03:22It's Brown Steelers.
03:23Aaron Rodgers looked better on Sunday.
03:25With something to play for.
03:25But the first two weeks,
03:26he looked hooked like a rotisserie chicken.
03:29It looked awful.
03:29This isn't just Brown Steelers,
03:31hey, it's the Browns' biggest rival
03:33and they're coming to your building,
03:34which is always going to get people to show up.
03:36This is like Brown Steelers early in the season.
03:39Winner, for at least a couple days,
03:41gets to stake claim to being the leader in the division.
03:44You know what?
03:44Like, there's something.
03:45There's juice attached to this.
03:46There's something to play for on Thursday.
03:47Yeah, and that's all we're really searching for.
03:49I didn't want to be doing mock drafts
03:52starting in October.
03:53Okay?
03:53Like, I didn't want to do that.
03:54And so, like, the idea that we don't,
03:56and you get to have winning football on top of it,
03:58and Munkin showcasing why,
03:59and we'll get to Munkin coming up next segment,
04:01and some of the things national people are saying about him,
04:03but he's showcasing why he was a good hire if it stays this way
04:07and why there's a lot of positives to kind of go off of this.
04:10And I don't need to be a cheerleader for you guys.
04:11You guys know I don't have to sit here and wave the pom-poms,
04:14but it is a victory Monday,
04:15and there's a lot to be excited about,
04:17even if it does come with the idea that you might not think
04:20Deshaun Watson's the greatest quarterback ever invented.
04:23Okay?
04:23Like, it just, like, it's okay.
04:25That's fine.
04:26What the Browns are showing you is they don't really need him
04:28to be the greatest quarterback ever.
04:30They just, in certain spots, need him to be able to step up.
04:33And in two weeks in a row, in those certain spots,
04:36he has stepped up.
04:37And that's where, again, I just, I give him a lot of credit.
04:392-1-6-4-7-4-2-0-92, I thought he would just melt
04:43like the Wicked Witch of the West.
04:44I just thought he would just melt
04:46and not be able to get the job done,
04:47and he's proven me wrong through two weeks.
04:49Now we've got to see if he can continue to do that.
04:52I don't know that he can,
04:53but that's the fun part about this.
04:562-1-6-4-7-4-2-0-92.
04:58Eric in Akron.
04:58Hello, Eric.
05:00Hey, how's it going, fellas?
05:01What's up, Eric?
05:02So, I need Deshaun Watson to hold this together
05:07for one more week, or at least until it's through Thursday.
05:11My future in-laws are from Pittsburgh
05:14and huge Steelers fans,
05:16and I don't want to hear it from my future father-in-law.
05:20I'm so good.
05:22Fair.
05:22I am by no means a Watson fan,
05:25but the truth's the truth.
05:26We're 2-1.
05:27He's played okay.
05:30He's played well.
05:31Like, I feel like the first game,
05:33the stats were worse than the game actually was.
05:36In the last game,
05:38the game was actually better
05:40than what the stats played out.
05:41And the second game was really good
05:43by a lot of people's metrics.
05:45So, you know, do I love the guy?
05:47Absolutely not.
05:48Do I think he's the future?
05:49Probably not.
05:51I also think maybe, just maybe,
05:53we could have a Joe Flacco-type run with him
05:55and at least leave on good terms
05:58where we don't hate each other.
06:00Eric, I think that was perfectly said,
06:01and I appreciate you.
06:03Good luck with your in-laws.
06:04I mean, that's exactly,
06:06I mean, that's what I've been preaching for an hour now,
06:08and that's exactly how I feel, too.
06:09Like, we don't have to get to the spot
06:10where at the end of the season,
06:11I'm buying Deshaun Watson jerseys, okay?
06:14That never has to be the case.
06:15Somebody tweeted me a picture
06:16that they were like,
06:17they put one in their card at fanatics.com
06:21and they were ready to buy a Deshaun Watson jersey.
06:23I was like, all right, do you?
06:24And at least it feels like
06:25by the time it will arrive
06:27with shipping and everything
06:28that you'll still actually be able to wear it
06:30and still be comfortable with him being the starter,
06:32but we can get into that a little bit later, too.
06:34Like, what he's done for himself
06:36over the first three games
06:37is show you this Browns team
06:39is good enough to win
06:40with a quarterback that stinks
06:42for part of the game
06:43and is awesome for the other parts of the game.
06:45But this hasn't changed much, JP.
06:46Like, we know where this still ends.
06:48Like, it would be improbable
06:50that he's back here next year, right?
06:53Agreed. Agreed, yes.
06:54Like, the only...
06:54Like, what is the outcome
06:56that actually brings him back next year?
06:57If they go to the Super Bowl,
07:00if they go to the AFC Championship game,
07:01like, if they made that type of run,
07:03would that be enough for them to be like,
07:04well, hey, we're way out of range
07:05to draft one of these quarterbacks,
07:06so he might as well...
07:07Like, is that the thing?
07:08Because I think we're all assuming
07:10this is the end, regardless.
07:12Like, then it just kind of feels
07:13like a nice feel-good way for this to all end,
07:15given how bad it's been the first four years.
07:16So when we did the convo last week about this,
07:18Nick was like,
07:19I said it's impossible, basically.
07:21And he's like, well, you can't say impossible.
07:23And I'm like, you're right.
07:23I can't say impossible.
07:25With the Browns, you can't say impossible.
07:27You just can't.
07:28Like, I'm so...
07:29Like, any other team,
07:30yes, I feel like we could stamp that down
07:31and say it's not happening.
07:32With the Browns,
07:33you just can't really do that.
07:34They just think differently.
07:35They act differently.
07:36And doors open for them.
07:37And they walk through those doors
07:40often when they shouldn't.
07:41And so I just can't discount it.
07:43But I think the heart of your discussion
07:45is why it's so easy to be dismissive of Deshaun.
07:48Because you don't think there's anything
07:49happening here long-term.
07:51And so I...
07:52It's too little, too late.
07:53Like, they made the trade in 2022.
07:55It's...
07:55You were expecting this way sooner
07:57for it to come in year five.
07:59Nobody's excited about this now.
08:01I mean, I shouldn't say that.
08:02They're excited because you're winning football games
08:04and that's all anybody ever wants.
08:05And they're at least...
08:06It feels like for many fans
08:08that you're finally getting some payoff
08:09from this entire debacle
08:11that you've had to live through as a fan
08:13for the last four-plus years.
08:14But I don't...
08:15Nobody's, like, actually excited,
08:17like, to your point,
08:17thinking,
08:18well, hey, we found our quarterback now.
08:20Like, let's figure this thing out long-term
08:22and start, you know,
08:24getting ready to win Super Bowls.
08:25But I do think that is where a lot of fans are.
08:27It's like...
08:27I'm getting ahead of Christmas shopping
08:29for my daughter
08:30because last year I felt like it snuck up on me.
08:32So I'm now the guy
08:33that's, like, buying things
08:34four months in advance
08:35three months in advance.
08:36We actually just talked about doing that, too,
08:37because we were like,
08:38we always wait till the last minute.
08:39Always sneaks up on you.
08:40I'm like, no,
08:41I'm ordering things, like, crazy right now.
08:42I'm already wrapped presents over the weekend.
08:45I got, like, seven presents wrapped.
08:46It's insane.
08:47Just don't forget where you put them
08:48after you wrap them.
08:48But what you're getting at
08:50is kind of like that big Christmas present
08:51gift that you have, right?
08:52And then if your kid just didn't really like it
08:54or didn't really play with it at all,
08:55and then, like, three years later
08:57is all of a sudden starting to come around
08:59to, like, using it a time or two.
09:00You're like, all right,
09:01at least we're getting something out of this.
09:02It's not a lot of money on this toy.
09:04At least you're finally playing with it.
09:05You're finally doing something.
09:06You start doing the math.
09:06I'm like, okay, he's used it five times.
09:08I spent $100 on it.
09:10That's 20 bucks.
09:11That's not bad.
09:12It's still nowhere close to the value
09:14I thought I was going to get,
09:15but at least I'm getting something.
09:16And so kind of to your point there,
09:17I do think there's a lot of the fans
09:19that are like, all right,
09:20at least this wasn't,
09:21we didn't just throw it in the trash
09:22or gift it to somebody else
09:23and then get rid of it
09:25and it just be out of our lives,
09:26which is what we would have preferred
09:27to have happened,
09:28but that didn't happen.
09:29And so at least you're getting some value,
09:30some play out of it.
09:32And for Deshaun,
09:32I think that's all he's showing people right now
09:34is at least you're getting some value
09:35out of the worst contract
09:37and worst trade in NFL history.
09:38Well, maybe for Bronson,
09:39it's even more so just like
09:40you're getting some joy out of it, right?
09:42Some joy, a great way to put that too.
09:43There's happiness that came from yesterday.
09:46And yes, a lot of that happiness
09:47can be put at the feet of Deshaun Watson.
09:49We would not have had that
09:50if he didn't have that drive
09:51in the fourth quarter the way that he did
09:53and have not only one,
09:55but two great touchdown throws to Harold Fannin
09:57that I guess the crosser routes
09:58with Harold Fannin
09:59is all we need to run.
10:01It just needs to be a crosser.
10:02It doesn't matter which direction he goes.
10:03That's another reason.
10:04It just has to be a crosser to Harold Fannin.
10:06That's another Todd Munkin special, by the way.
10:08That fourth down,
10:08fourth and goal touchdown
10:09where he had everything go flow into the left
10:11and then Fannin was just crossing to the right
10:14and he left the corner in the dust.
10:16That was such a good play design.
10:18Todd Munkin was in his bag on that play.
10:19It was awesome.
10:20Anyway.
10:20We're back to being in our bag now.
10:22We're back to being in our bag now.
10:22We're back to being in our bag now.
10:22We're back to being in our bag now.
10:22We're back to being in our bag now.
10:23We're back to being in our bag now.
10:23We're back to being in our bag now.
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