00:00Let's get more insight into the Browns Steelers, and we bring you Daryl Ryder and my friend Jeff.
00:05He is brought to you by...
00:07Shive and Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store. Hello, Daryl.
00:10Hi, Daryl.
00:11Hello, boys.
00:12How are you?
00:14Doing good. It's sunny, 70 degrees, and it's late October. Life could not be any better.
00:21Oh, and the Browns play the Steelers for first place in the division on Sunday.
00:25That works.
00:25Why is it so hard to win in Pittsburgh?
00:30During the regular season.
00:32Yeah, if I had that answer, I probably would not be having this conversation with you guys.
00:38I don't know.
00:39I think part of it's psychological, but look, I mean, I kind of feel like the attitude,
00:44the messaging coming out of that locker room this week, coming from head coach Todd Munkin,
00:50they're not worried about losing 22 straight in Pittsburgh during the regular season.
00:54They're focused on this week and the fact that they did beat the Steelers earlier this year
00:59in week four on Thursday night football, and, you know, that's where the attention and focus is.
01:06Because if they spend all this time invested in, hey, having won in Pittsburgh in regular season since 2003,
01:13then, you know, your eye's not on the ball.
01:16So, I don't know why it's been so tough.
01:20I think part of it's psychological, environmental, I think talent over the years has certainly played into that.
01:26The quarterback carousel has played into that.
01:28The coaching carousel in past times has played into that.
01:33And, you know, the good news is they've got a head coach in Todd Munkin who has won in Baltimore,
01:38or in Pittsburgh rather, while with Baltimore.
01:41So, he knows what it takes to win in that stadium.
01:45And I think that's obviously some good news for the Browns at the end of this weekend.
01:49Darrell, how do you balance a bunch of things with Deshaun Watson?
01:53Number one, he's been great in the fourth quarter.
01:56Number two, he's playing better football.
01:59Number three, he's thrown for 300 yards in a game now as a member of the Browns.
02:03And number four, incompetent, maybe at best overall.
02:09I mean, you know, to me, it's a weird bunch of things here for Deshaun.
02:14What do you think?
02:16Yeah, no, I mean, it is.
02:18You know, they start off, it seems like they play their worst football offensively in the first quarter.
02:23And then by the time they get to, you know, they spend the second quarter trying to catch up.
02:30And then in the fourth quarter, they seem to be, you know, at their best.
02:34And obviously, statistically, it tends to, you know, bear that out with five game winning drives.
02:40They've outscored their opponents 57-46 in that final quarter.
02:44They're outscored by 45 points in the first quarter.
02:48But they turn around and they come back in the second quarter and, you know, they have a plus 28
02:56point differential there.
02:58And I think that's kind of the mystery here, Jeff, why the slow starts.
03:03But I'll say this, you know, while we can criticize that, you know, remember all those hot starts the Browns
03:10had under Kevin Stefanski
03:11and then the team flamed out by the fourth quarter, right, and the last game?
03:14And so, like, I'd rather them start slow and finish strong, right, and win the football game than them come
03:22out gangbusters
03:23like we saw with the Tennessee Titans last week, right?
03:26I mean, Tennessee went up 14-0 before you had a chance to settle into your chair and put the
03:31remote in your hand.
03:34And, you know, then the Browns kind of got their act together and outscored in 27-10 the rest of
03:39the way to win that football game.
03:40So, the slow starts certainly are maddening and also on both sides of the ball.
03:45I mean, defensively, they've given up opening drive touchdowns five times this year.
03:50I mean, they kind of got to knock that stuff off, too.
03:52They've also given up some late scores this year that has, you know, put the offense and Deshaun Watson in
03:58a position
03:58where you got to drive down the field and go win the game.
04:01Thankfully, Deshaun and the offense has gone out there and done that five times, right?
04:05But it would be nice if they got used to playing from ahead on a regular basis
04:11and kind of, you know, really get your opponents down early and make them play catch-up.
04:19But, I don't know.
04:21It's kind of hard for me to complain about, guys, because the formula's working right now.
04:24It really is.
04:26Paul, so part of the formula is going to be pressuring Aaron Rodgers again this game.
04:30Can they do this two games in a row?
04:31Yeah, I think so.
04:32Oh, I mean, look, Aaron likes to get rid of the ball quickly, but they got five sacks in that
04:37week four win
04:38and multiple pressures and multiple quarterback hits.
04:42Basically, you've got to get Aaron Rodgers to play off schedule a little bit.
04:49But he's, you know, since week two, he's been really, really good.
04:53And as hot as any quarterback in the National Football League right now, you know,
04:59with 12, 13 touchdowns there over that span.
05:03So, to me, it's just all about making Aaron Rodgers work off schedule.
05:09And, you know, and if the Browns' secondary can stick to these Steelers' receivers
05:15and not give Rodgers a reason to get rid of the ball so quick,
05:20I think that that, you know, could be good news for the Browns on Sunday.
05:27The edgy, and I say that in a good way, the edgy Jared Hurst spoke with the media today.
05:33How much fun is he, Daryl?
05:36Oh, well, hopefully we see a little bit of that on Sunday, right?
05:41The sound bites are great.
05:43Let's see it on Sunday, right?
05:45But, yeah, I mean, he didn't want to get into what he said after the game about the Steelers playing
05:51dirty in that.
05:53Look, it's always been that way.
05:54I'm not saying dirty, but there's always extracurriculars usually between Browns and Steelers
06:00and extra physicality.
06:03It's one of those few rivalries in the NFL where that really does exist.
06:08Unfortunately, the Steelers have bested the Browns for the most part, you know,
06:14since Cleveland got their football team back in 1999.
06:16But at least in this rivalry now, it's become a home-and-home rivalry, right?
06:21The Browns are dominating when they host the Steelers and win in those games.
06:25But then when they go to Pittsburgh, they're not, you know, able to keep that going and complete the season
06:32sweep.
06:33I think 1988, if my memory serves me correctly, is the last time the Browns swept the Steelers in the
06:39regular season.
06:40Coincidentally, a year before, the last time they actually won this division.
06:44So, yeah, I did like what Jared said today about the stakes in the game.
06:49If they spend all their time worrying about, hey, we win this game, we're going to be in first place.
06:54If we lose this game, we fall back into second place, whatever, right?
06:57You're taking the eye off the ball.
06:59You're focused on the wrong things.
07:02And I think that that's the proper message.
07:04We all know what this game means on Sunday.
07:07Obviously, we know what it means to Browns fans.
07:09We know what it means to Steelers fans, right?
07:11But, you know, the players, they can't focus on that.
07:14And I'll tell you this, Todd Munkin got the memo because the first two days walking out to practice this
07:18week,
07:19I had to suffer through a renegade.
07:22Wow.
07:23Blaring?
07:24Yeah.
07:25Oh, yeah.
07:27Oh, yeah.
07:28That's the first thing they played at practice yesterday.
07:31And first thing they played today is they began practice.
07:35That's pretty funny.
07:36Do you think?
07:38Yeah.
07:38I mean, look, for all the folks that were concerned over Todd Munkin's comments yesterday,
07:45in which he didn't really give much in the way of memorable soundbites when it came to the rivalry and
07:53mistakes,
07:53and Mason and Pittsburgh all the time and whatever, this game means something to Todd.
07:58He understands.
07:58He doesn't need to be told.
08:00And I don't know that he needs to get up there and give some grand speech, just like Jared Burr
08:04said.
08:04You know, hey, if you're looking for bulletin board material, if you need some speech or whatever,
08:08to get you ready to play this game on Sunday, you're kind of doing the whole football thing wrong.
08:13Do you think the running game got into the right direction?
08:18I don't want to say his back.
08:19But do you think the running game is heading in the right direction right now?
08:23And what did we notice last week when you had healthy running backs,
08:26especially Quinchon who just missed 100 yards and had two touchdowns?
08:30Well, I think you said it right there, Andy.
08:32They had healthy running backs, right?
08:34And you also had the one-two combination that Andrew Barry drafted last year, right,
08:40and tried to put together with Quinchon, Judkins, and, of course, Dylan Sampson.
08:44Both of those players are healthy now, and so maybe this can be what it is, you know,
08:50supposed to be and look like it's supposed to look like.
08:53I mean, Todd Munkin said that, I think, on Monday, that, yeah,
08:56that's kind of how it's supposed to look like out there.
08:58You know, and hopefully they can keep it going forward now here with the success that they had on the
09:04ground,
09:04but not just on the ground, but also in the short passing game as well,
09:07throwing the ball to Dylan Sampson and Quinchon coming out of the backfield a little bit.
09:11So, loved what I saw against Tennessee and the Titans on the ground,
09:15and hopefully they're able to, you know, replicate that this week
09:19and then obviously going forward because if they do that, I just,
09:22I think that makes Deshaun Watson's life a lot easier.
09:25And, look, they ran from under center a lot more than they have done in previous weeks,
09:30and I'm not saying that that was, you know, behind in success.
09:32I think it's about having the guys healthy, but I think that helped as well,
09:38running from under center and playing from under center a little more
09:41instead of just everything from the gun.
09:45So, again, you know, hopefully that is a pattern that continues
09:48as we get deeper into the season.
09:50Darrell, we saw Denzel Boston earlier in the season have some big moments.
09:55We saw the big moments out of KC Concepcion last game.
09:59How great was it for him to break out?
10:01And I can't wait now until they have a big game in the same game.
10:05Yeah, I mean, right, that's the next step.
10:08Can they do it?
10:09Are they able to do it in the same game together?
10:11Do those opportunities, you know, present themselves.
10:14And for as great as KC Concepcion was against the Titans, he talked about it today.
10:20You know, he needs to haul in that touchdown pass, right,
10:25to have an even better game, have an even bigger impact on the game.
10:29Denzel Boston, talking to him today, you know,
10:32self-learning lesson on that interception.
10:34The way he ran that route, the way he attacked the defender there,
10:37which he didn't do a good job of, and it led to an interception.
10:40And understanding that when you do those things, really bad things can happen to you.
10:45And so I think what you really, really like, not just about those two guys,
10:50is, you know, this theme in general, is that when they are making mistakes,
10:55and sometimes critical mistakes, it's not sinking games.
10:58It might sink a drive, but it's not sinking the game in totality like we've, you know,
11:05been accustomed to seeing so much with this franchise.
11:08And you like it when your team and especially your young players are able to learn from those mistakes.
11:15And I think those are the things that you want to be looking out for as you're going forward.
11:19That, you know, next time Denzel Boston gets in that type of a situation, you know,
11:23working against a corner and safety, he runs that route the right way and does not put the quarterback in
11:30a bad spot.
11:31Casey, when he gets an opportunity to catch a long touchdown, he's able to haul that in.
11:36And I think, by the way, a matter of time before Casey gets himself into the end zone.
11:40But I love how there's so many positives in the negatives that we had early in this season.
11:50Darryl, quick, yes or no, Browns win?
11:53Yes.
11:54That's all I need to know.
11:55Thank you, Darryl Ryder.
11:56Thanks, D.
11:56You bet, guys.
11:57All right, we'll talk to you soon.
11:58Darryl Ryder, our Brownsby reporter.
