00:00Nathan Zagura, you know I'm on the call with obviously Andrew Siciliano and Gerard Sherry
00:04and the Browns Radio Network. Obviously does a lot of analyst work as well. Nathan joining us
00:08here on the fan. Hello Nathan. What's going on guys? It is certainly good to be with you and
00:13obviously it's fun coming off of a great win, a wild win. Wasn't always pretty but the Browns
00:20got it done. The number one rated quarterback in the NFL in the fourth quarter, he did it.
00:26The Browns defense did it and the crowd was awesome and the Browns are now two and one
00:30with the Steelers coming to town for first place in the AFC North. Yeah Nathan, just a lot of fun
00:35and a lot of fun talking about this game all day long. I want to start with the fourth quarter
00:39that
00:39Deshaun had because you can make an argument the first three quarters maybe didn't go in an ideal
00:44way but the fourth quarter, what is getting into Deshaun? This is back-to-back weeks now
00:48where the fourth quarter he turns into Patrick Mahomes. I don't know but it's good. Listen,
00:53it's about how you finish games not how you start them and he's been clutch as I said the
00:57highest rated quarterback in the NFL in the fourth quarter through the first three weeks of the
01:00season. Two fourth game fourth quarter comebacks, two game-winning drives in the fourth quarter
01:05so it's good and maybe you know he's done it when the pressure's been at its highest that's when he's
01:11been at his best and so yeah no it was not pretty at times and the offense isn't doing themselves
01:16any favors. You know all the penalties on the offense there were 10 in the first half,
01:2112 in the game not all in the offense but that's how many total penalties the Browns had but those
01:24you know we get down to second and one or second and two and that's where as a play caller
01:29for Todd
01:29Munkin and as an offense that's where you really can open things up you can kind of kind of access
01:33everything in your playbook and that's where a lot of explosive plays happen and the Browns get up
01:38there and they have a false starter they have a procedure penalty they do something and all of a sudden
01:41they're backed up five yards and it changes everything so the good news is the Browns are two and one
01:48the better news is they have not come close to playing their best football certainly not
01:52offensively for 60 minutes and and when they do maybe we have a chance to be a pretty darn good
01:59football team here. Nathan with the Sean we know that this was going to kind of be an ongoing week
02:06to week thing where we were constantly asking ourselves like is it time to start Shador Sanders when
02:11the season sort of began that was kind of the thinking behind all this and I think the Browns even
02:15maybe
02:15had some thoughts going into that Tampa Bay game of what it could look like going into this game
02:19yesterday but the Sean played well enough to to see yesterday and now see this week how much time
02:26do you think he bought himself with the way that he's played and and has this kind of this conversation
02:30sort of been put on the back burner for the foreseeable future? Yeah I don't even think it's a
02:35conversation right now and it's one that you know it's on Deshaun Watson to continue to play well so
02:39that doesn't become a topic again and if he keeps doing what he's been doing late in games and we
02:43can
02:43start spreading that out over 60 minutes then it won't be but yeah that's not it I don't think
02:47that's a conversation at all right now Deshaun Watson two and one as a starter he's getting it done in
02:52the fourth quarter making plays with his legs making plays with his arm um yeah he's the starting
02:58quarterback and and right now he's a winning quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Nathan it's
03:01funny uh week one it just it felt like between Deshaun and Harold Fannin that just the connection
03:06wasn't there and then last week it felt like he's like oh oh Harold Fannin's always open and then this
03:11week same thing happened and then you can see that connection growing between the two of them
03:15how much of a safety blanket does Harold Fannin offer up someone like Deshaun?
03:20Well it's a big one and then again you have to remember you know styles make the fights in the
03:25National Football League and in Jacksonville it's just that was just a bad performance by the Browns
03:29on offense everybody got swept up in it other than I guess Denzel Boston who had that late touchdown
03:34but that's just kind of how it goes sometimes in the NFL also they're a very good team the
03:39Jacksonville Jaguars with their zones at covering tight ends you knew going in at Tampa Bay Alex
03:44Anzalone as a tie as a matchup for Harold Fannin was going to be a good one that their safeties
03:49had
03:50struggled with tight ends already and then you knew Mike Kosicki had gone off against Tampa Bay in week
03:54one for example and then you knew last week with Devin Lloyd out that that was going to be a
03:59huge part
04:00of the game plan to attack the middle of the field and attack the linebackers in coverage because
04:04the Carriquet isn't as good in coverage as Devin Lloyd is and then the backup who was going to step
04:08in Terrell Bernard he hadn't even played a snap yet for the Panthers so you wanted to stress that and
04:13then they lost their safety Nick Scott so the middle of the field that communication you look at Harold
04:17Fannin's two touchdowns one of them is because there was a miscommunication between the linebacker
04:22and the safety the one on fourth down and the linebacker passed on to the safety who realized
04:26it too late Fannin's already gone Deshaun was very patient got a good block good blocking from the
04:30offensive line and found him in the back right corner of the end zone and then on the second one
04:34once Deshaun starts scrambling it's the linebacker that was kind of in the zone responsible for
04:39Harold Fannin who dropped to try to stop Deshaun from making plays with his legs because he had
04:44done so already in the game and that allows for the touchdown so sometimes it's more the styles make
04:49the fights than it is necessarily you know they weren't on the same page early now you also would
04:53say Harold Fannin didn't have as full of an off season as some other people did in terms of time
04:58with Deshaun Watson so it's good to see them rolling he was our leading receiver in every
05:02category last year receptions receiving yards and touchdowns and he's a weapon and it's what a time
05:07to get his first career two touchdown game and to help the Browns win a big one over the Carolina
05:12Panthers Nathan the run game obviously has been a bit of a mess these first couple weeks it was
05:17better yesterday and we all kind of thought this this match with the Panthers was a situation where
05:21the run game could be better given how they played the previous couple weeks what did you notice that was
05:26maybe helping the run game be more effective yesterday and where do they do you think this
05:30group still needs to improve to make sure they can be even better well you know when you get to
05:35face
05:36the team that had been the worst run defense in the NFL that certainly is helpful and you know the
05:40Browns I had some better runs you got multiple 10 plus yard runs in the game which are kind of
05:46those
05:46are called explosive runs Quinn Sean had a couple Rocket Sanders had one so that was good still too often
05:53though we're taking contact you know right at the line of scrimmage or we're kind of just running into a
05:57wall
05:58and our inability and short yardage in particular you know that game should be over you you have two
06:03plays to get one yard and end the game you've got to be able to get a yard you've got
06:07to be able to move
06:08people off the line of scrimmage and so I think that's still where there's a lot of room for improvement
06:13in the run game Nathan's girl joining us here on the wise heart right we make a right call Kyle
06:16right hotline yeah the Browns posted the highest single game pressure rate by any defense in a
06:21game this season uh just incredible pressure from everywhere tell me what you saw on the defensive
06:26line you can start with Mason Graham and make your way around but it was a lot of fun watching
06:29him
06:30defensively yeah it was all of them but we will talk about Mason Graham who's becoming you know right
06:35now he's he's the first team all pro defensive tackle in the league right when you're drafted fifth
06:40overall it's to be a pass rusher and last year the advanced analytics were good but the stats were
06:45not as good well this year it's all good uh he had six pressures in this one for the second
06:50consecutive week he gets two sacks multiple tackles for a loss he was an absolute game wrecker up there
06:55and really you're having to see a group that is rushing as a unit now Jared Burst had a great
07:01game
07:01great game was watching a cut up that the hop put together where he's just collapsing the pocket and
07:07he's actually the reason that Isaiah McGuire on his sack got the sack he was the reason that Mason got
07:12the sack on his first of the two sacks and so because he's backing the tackle up forcing the
07:17quarterback off their spot and into the arms of the other defenders so I thought he did great
07:21Isaiah McGuire had five pressures Mike Hall oh man Mike Hall was playing defensive end and had
07:27Monroe Freeling who's 6'7 you know 330 on skates he was just dominating him Mike Hall had a great
07:33game
07:34Derek Barnett had four pressures he got the hit obviously on Bryce Young that led to the game
07:38winning interception by Rocket Hickman Sam Williams had four pressures Malik Collins had four pressures
07:44you had this entire defensive line working and I give Mike Rutenberg a lot of credit because he had a
07:49lot of kind of exotic blitzes and looks they moved verse around they had him as a stand-up linebacker
07:54at
07:54times they were doing a lot of creative things in that Russian Darren Waller post game he said you know
08:01they had given us some unscouted looks in terms of their blitzes in terms of their coverages in
08:05terms of their rotations and it kept us off balance and and you saw that Mike Rutenberg big tip of
08:10the
08:10cap to him and you could tell Todd Munkin was fired up gave him a game ball and also you
08:14know wore his
08:14hat backwards at the press conference after the game saying I never do this but I'm doing it to
08:19honor Mike Rutenberg that plan that he put together. Nathan you talked about Deshaun in the fourth
08:25quarter and how great he's been you know I think similarly this this team in general in the fourth
08:30quarter the last couple weeks has had some adversity to overcome you know last week the
08:34lightning delay you're in there for two hours you come back out you got to get a stop they find
08:38a
08:38way and then Todd with the decision he made to try to go for that fourth down not converting it
08:42kind
08:42of put his defense in a bad spot where they had to go back out on the field and they
08:45get a stop
08:46again just what does it say about Todd Munkin and the team he's built the the culture he's kind of
08:54building that he's he's got this group really believing that no matter what the situation is
09:00they're going to find a way to get it done and it's a young team that's showing this already so
09:03early in his tenure. Yeah it's a close team that's what Blake Whitehart told me since the closest team
09:09he's been on in terms of the way the players are kind of interacting with each other and and liking
09:13each other and and yeah there is a belief when you have a young team and you know you're able
09:18to
09:18deliver in these clutch moments and most games in the NFL are close right week one was not a close
09:24game but most games in the NFL are close and we have a team that believes in its ability to
09:29come
09:30through when it needs to that's a powerful thing and that's something that you know winning leads
09:34to more winning and it leads to all right I believe in the guy next to me I know we're
09:38going to get it
09:39done because you've done it before and so the Browns right now are getting it done when it's been
09:43close two and oh and one score games got to keep that going but I do think it's a young
09:47team that
09:47will continue to get better and have that confidence grow and it's kind of exciting right
09:52now. No it's definitely exciting one thing I I'm interested to just kind of keep track of though
09:56is uh the idea that right now they're second most in the NFL with 34 total penalties and yesterday they
10:01had the most penalties in a game since 2023. Munkin seemed irritated today in his press conference
10:07at the amount of penalties including what's going on with Howard uh how do you is this just a trend
10:13how do you if you're a Munkin even try to attack something like this what do you what do you
10:17do
10:17to get this corrected? It's a it's a great question because this is exactly what he hates this is
10:23what he calls you know bleep football he hates it and it's shooting yourselves in the foot those are
10:28drive killers on offensive people that's only five yards yeah it's hard to get 10 yards trying to get
10:33150 percent of that is even harder so the Browns have got to stop doing that now I don't know
10:38if it
10:38has to be something where there are consequences but Ty Howard in his case he's a veteran we can't have
10:45that stuff and everybody along like Barbara they all had them they cannot have those kind of penalties
10:51the Browns have got to clean that up I think if if Todd Munkin knew and George Warhop knew and
10:57these
10:57are guys who've been around a long time what the immediate fix was it would be fixed already right
11:01so ultimately it's a player's game good and bad and I believe you know the players are going to need
11:07to get it done. Nathan Segura joining us on the hotline uh Todd said today he didn't watch
11:15yesterday's tape because he was already on to Pittsburgh um I don't know how deep you've gotten
11:19into that matchup Nathan but obviously the stage itself is is going to be a fun one with these both
11:24these teams being two and one the division being a four-way tie right now for with all the teams
11:29and
11:29whoever wins is going to be sort of in first place but what did you notice what do you notice
11:33about
11:33the Steelers already and if you have watched what kind of transpired with them yesterday at all
11:39what sort of was different about the way they were able to beat the Bengals and get that offense going
11:44well they had Jalen Warren going Jalen Warren I think ran for what 120 something yards seven and a
11:48half yards to carry and that you know when they can have a ground game it makes it a lot
11:53easier on
11:54the quarterback and Aaron Rodgers had his best game of the year really still not the receivers it
11:59wasn't D.K. Metcalf or Michael Pittman but you know Roman Wilson's starting to make some big plays
12:04second round pick from a few years ago out of Michigan the tight ends Friermuth and Washington
12:08making plays Warren had I think 50 yards himself receiving he had 176 total yards career high so you
12:14know that certainly helped them and then you know defensively I know TJ Watt did not have a great game
12:20this week but he still has three and a half sacks on the season Isis got three on the other
12:26side I think
12:26whenever you you go against the Pittsburgh Steelers it starts with being able to at least
12:31be neutral at the line of scrimmage and and save off I Smith and Watt on the edges you know
12:37Cam Hayward
12:38Keanu Benton in the interior and that gives you a chance so I think it's going to start up front
12:42certainly when the Browns are on offense now they're a little bit different in the sense that
12:45they don't blitz as much as Carolina and Tampa Bay those are two of the top three blitzing teams in
12:50the league they know they can get home with their guys and so that presents other challenges
12:54Browns are going to have to be very good in the quick game the Browns are going to have to
12:57be good
12:58in the screen game to try to slow them down and then the Browns are going to have to be
13:01able to
13:01run the football at them even though it's that five-man front you got to find a way to get
13:05it
13:05going on the ground and I think some of the good news is you know for a team that would
13:09go against
13:10itself a four or three team basically all offseason you've had back-to-back weeks where it are more of
13:16those three four or five-man fronts and so the Browns I think have at least should have some
13:20experience on what they need to do against the Steelers in this one but this is going to come
13:24down to the team that controls the line of scrimmage the team that does not make a catastrophic mistake
13:29or mistakes will be the team that wins in this game all right Nathan great insight as always we
13:34appreciate you enjoy the win and we'll catch up with you later thank you Nathan all right you got
13:39it guys thank you all right great stuff right there with Nathan's a girl otherwise all right we make it
13:43right call Kyle Wright hotline
13:45you
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