00:00Hello, Daryl.
00:01Take two. Hello, boys.
00:03Sir?
00:06Yes?
00:06How art thou?
00:08Art thou good? Thank you.
00:10Yes.
00:11How are you?
00:11I don't know. I was thinking about maybe we could do this week's post-game show.
00:15You were trying to jazz it up a little bit today, Daryl?
00:17Yeah, I'm just trying to be a little more classier, you know.
00:21Does that make sense?
00:22Are you feeling okay?
00:23Well, I just figured maybe you and I could wear like suits of armor when we do the post-game
00:28show on Sunday.
00:30Why? Are we supposed to be dueling or something?
00:33I don't know. Just trying to make the show have a little bit of class.
00:36How concerneth shall I be of Denzel Boston's toe?
00:41I don't think too concerned.
00:44We talked to him in the locker room today, and he said he's fine.
00:52And typically, too, if guys talk, even though if they're on the injury report, if guys talk,
00:56that's usually a pretty good indication that they're perfectly fine playing.
01:00Are you at home or are you in Berea right now?
01:03Well, I'm in Berea. Where do you think I'm at?
01:05Oh, it sounds like I'm not going to lie.
01:07Hey, dude, it sounds like you're doing dishes or eating lunch while we're doing this.
01:13I'm like, I'm hearing him do the dishes while we're doing this.
01:17What a multitasker.
01:19No, I was in the hallway while some folks were getting lunch.
01:24Oh, you were stancy.
01:26Can I smell?
01:27I can smell food from miles away and through the radio.
01:32Well, it's raining outside, so I can't go outside like I normally would, where you'd hear
01:36the planes, trains, and automobiles.
01:38So I'm trying to find a quiet space to talk to you about those.
01:44You could use the media men's room because no one will think you're crazy in there.
01:49People trained don't run through Berea.
01:52Did they make the right choice at quarterback this week?
01:55Yeah.
01:56Yeah, I mean, that's what normal NFL organizations do.
02:01Starter's healthy, starter goes back to play.
02:03Well, on Sunday, starter was cleared and didn't play.
02:07Well, and Sunday, I said Sunday.
02:09Sorry, it's Sunday.
02:10And while we talked to the starter yesterday, and he told us that he understood because
02:13he didn't get any reps in practice.
02:16So he certainly understands why.
02:20And honestly, I think that was the right thing to do.
02:23Oh, I do too.
02:23I just thought it was interesting that they...
02:25I think they handled that right.
02:27You know, my understanding was they were hoping that he would clear the protocol a little faster.
02:36To put him in a position where he could play.
02:39But, you know, he didn't clear it until Saturday.
02:42And he did travel with the team and whatnot.
02:45But I have no problem with them holding him out last week.
02:50I think that that absolutely was the right thing to do.
02:53So, Daryl Ryder, our Cleveland sports reporter, joining us on the Wise Heart Right.
02:57We make a right call.
02:58Kyle Wright Hotline.
02:59Daryl, is this the week, and please say yes, that we see a positive Browns run game come out?
03:07I don't know.
03:09You're in the same camp that I have.
03:10But do you buy this narrative that's out there that the Browns need to run Quinshawn Judkins to the outside
03:15a little bit more than up the middle?
03:17Because I've seen that all over the place.
03:19No.
03:19Because I don't think he's a speed perimeter guy.
03:23I think he's a power guy.
03:24So, now Dylan Sampson outside the tackles, yeah, he's the guy you get him in space and he can do
03:29some things with the ball in his hand.
03:31But Quinshawn, to me, is more of a power guy.
03:33So, I think that, and just listening to Travis Schweitzer today, look, it's a combination of things.
03:40It's a combination of the blocking up front.
03:42It's a combination of the vision for the back.
03:44Schweitzer talked about how, you know, they need Quinshawn to turn those two- and three-yard runs into four-,
03:49five-, six-yard runs.
03:52And that would be a little more helpful.
03:56So, unfortunately, it's not as simplistic as saying it's this one thing and they fix it and everything will be
04:07okay.
04:07Because if it was, it would have been fixed already.
04:12You know, we were going through some awards.
04:15I mean, they were just kind of going through it.
04:17Who would you say is the team's MVP for this season so far?
04:22Ooh, wow.
04:24A little curveball right there.
04:27Yeah, team MVP so far.
04:35That's a tough one.
04:36I will probably say...
04:41I think we've stumped him.
04:42First time in 15 years.
04:44First time in 15 years we've stumped you.
04:46Yeah, you did.
04:47Well, because here's the thing.
04:48Like, I don't think that there's one, like, player that has completely separated himself from everyone.
04:54And you don't want to pick the kicker.
04:56No.
04:57No.
04:57And I don't want to pick the punter either.
04:59Yeah.
05:02And, you know, yeah, I just, I don't think that there's one outstanding.
05:05Because I can make a case for a couple of different players.
05:07I can make a case for KC.
05:10I can make a case for Denzel Boston.
05:13I could make a case for Deshaun Watson with the, you know, the five game winning drives.
05:18I can make a case for Denzel Ward.
05:22You know, because the MVP typically goes to the quarterback.
05:26So, I'll just say Deshaun Watson because of the five game winning drives late in the fourth quarter.
05:32There you go.
05:34Fair enough.
05:36Daryl, do you expect, we saw with Shador Sanders how the ball get pushed down the field a little bit
05:43more.
05:43Do you think that's a product of the quarterback himself?
05:46Or is that a product of what we are going to see of this offense moving forward?
05:51Such as, like, is Deshaun Watson going to push the ball down the field as well because they saw the
05:54success of Shador?
05:57Did you miss the first three weeks of the season when they did push the ball down the field?
06:03Maybe.
06:04I mean, yeah, yeah.
06:05I mean, they did.
06:06They, you know, Denzel Boston was leading the NFL in, like, I think, either plus 40 or plus 50-yard
06:15receptions.
06:16So, I think that it's a byproduct of opportunity, not necessarily just the quarterback.
06:24Now, this was, I think, the first time this season that they had two plus 50-yard plays in a
06:32game this season.
06:32And I'd have to go back and look at that.
06:35But I'm pretty sure this was with, you know, Boston getting one and then KC's 64-yard touchdown.
06:41But I think that pushing the ball down the field is a byproduct or a result of good protection up
06:50front, quarterback being comfortable back there, reading the field, seeing everything.
06:57Quarterback has to see it right and then obviously then deliver the football in the right spot so that his
07:04receiver can make the catch.
07:07But I don't think that the big explosive play is a result of an unwillingness to do that.
07:17I think that's a result of just, you know, the quarterback's got to make that play.
07:21But, you know, they're home for four of the next five weeks, four home games in that span.
07:29How important is playing at home to this team in particular where they haven't lost a game in?
07:35Well, I mean, I think that they, in this stretch, I don't know if they'll do it, but I think
07:40they need to be no worse than 3-1.
07:43Because I kind of feel like if you're 2-2, you're just treading water there.
07:50And, you know, 2-2 gets you to, what, 7-6 at that point?
07:56So, if I've done the math correct.
07:59Yes, sir.
08:00And I don't know that that is, like, you need to take advantage of this to really position yourself to
08:10be in the playoff conversation.
08:12Yeah, you're 3-0 at home so far this season.
08:15You've got the next four.
08:16Go 3-1 in those four, and you're in the driver's seat.
08:20If you go 2-2 or worse, then you fall back to the periphery.
08:27And so, yeah, I think 3-1 is what they need to do over these next four home games.
08:33Daryl Reiter joining us on the hotline.
08:35He's powered by Scheiben Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
08:38It seems like the defense in the second half of these games, and especially the fourth quarter, has tapered off
08:43a little bit.
08:45What do you think is the car?
08:46Well, I'm trying to make it seem objective.
08:51Yeah, I know.
08:51Well, no, you can be objective and call it the way it is.
08:56I'm trying to church it up, Daryl.
08:58Yeah, I know.
08:59And I'm not.
09:01Because it's not been good.
09:02And that's obviously a question I'll ask Mike Rutenberg later today as well.
09:06Like, they, for as good as the offense has been good in the fourth quarter, the defense is not doing
09:11their part to close these games out.
09:13Okay?
09:14You know, Travis Weitzer was asked today if he's, you know, if he's frustrated that they've not been able to
09:20execute a four-minute offense where yet you have the lead.
09:23Maybe this is, what, three times, I believe, this season, where they've had a lead with four minutes to play
09:29and the defense can't do their job.
09:33So, yeah, it's, you know, that is something that they have to figure out.
09:38And I don't know if it's a mental fatigue thing.
09:41I don't know if it's a physical fatigue thing.
09:48Maybe teams are figuring out the Browns' defense in the fourth quarter.
09:51Like, I don't, look, if I had the answer, we wouldn't be having the conversation.
09:56I'd be on Todd Munkin's coaching staff solving these problems for him.
09:59But I do think that, you know, the offense hasn't put the defense in a good spot early in the
10:08game.
10:08And the defense isn't putting the offense in a good spot late in the game, if that makes sense.
10:15Honeymoon over for Todd Munkin?
10:18What do you mean?
10:20Like, yesterday, and Tom Withers brought this up when we were talking to him,
10:23seemed a little, not irritated, but just like everything's not hunky-dory.
10:28You know what I'm saying?
10:29And they're coming off losses, so.
10:31You mean Todd being a little annoyed?
10:33Yeah.
10:34Well, I mean, they have lost back-to-back games for the, you know, first time this year, Nat.
10:43Now it's, what, three in a row?
10:47This, you know, this, you know, Shador, whether it's his fault or not, and by his fault I mean Shador,
10:56or the, like, it's a circus.
10:58Like, I mean, it just, it is, right?
11:02Going back to Wednesday's press conference and everything that happened there,
11:07and, you know, the Saints misinterpreting Shador trying to troll the local media
11:14by not wanting to engage or answer questions to, oh, well, he's, you know, he's poking fun
11:20and, you know, talking down about our defense, and so we're going to show him on Sunday, right?
11:29To the little nugget that I guess got passed along in the production meeting about Shador's preferences
11:38for plays or whatever, and that got turned into a whole thing.
11:45So, I mean, I think that understandably so, Todd might be annoyed by some things,
11:50certainly annoyed by the penalties, certainly annoyed by his defense not being able to get off the field,
11:55certainly probably annoyed that the offense always seems to have to save the day at the end of the game.
12:01His offense can't get started in the first quarter.
12:03They're getting annihilated, I think, 68-13 in the first quarter.
12:08So there's a lot of things for Todd to be annoyed about right now.
12:12I don't think that means the honeymoon is over.
12:15I don't think anyone's calling for his job.
12:19I think he's done a very good job.
12:22It hasn't been perfect, but he's done a good job.
12:24It's funny because, like, when I ask you the question, I don't say that as if I think his job's
12:29in jeopardy this week.
12:30I just say it more like I think some of the reality of being a head coach has settled in
12:35for Todd Munkin.
12:36Oh, from that standpoint, yeah, sure.
12:39I mean, there's all kinds of nonsense he has to deal with.
12:41I just laid out a bunch of it, right?
12:44Yeah, I mean, there are things that come with – I mean, there are just as many things non-game
12:53plan, practice-related that he has to deal with, right?
12:58Administrative things that he has to deal with that, as a coordinator, you don't have to deal with.
13:04That's the head coach's problem, right?
13:06So, yeah, from that aspect, yeah, I would agree with you.
13:10Yeah, I think that the realities of the job have set in, and, you know, he's got – I think
13:17he's done a good job developing a cadence and a rhythm for his weeks in that, okay?
13:22Because that was a concern that I had with him was, you know, time management.
13:27How was he going to, you know, balance all these responsibilities that – and things, right?
13:33Stuff that's – the nonsense that's going to come across his desk that he's going to have to deal with
13:37and whatnot.
13:39So, yeah, I think from that aspect, yeah, he's adjusting and, you know, handling it.
13:47Daryl, as always, thank you very much.
13:49You're a good man.
13:50I will see you Sunday, and I'll be listening for you throughout the week on 92.3 The Fan.
