December 22, 2023 • 19 mins
Marc V. previews the Cleveland game with FOX TV's Kevin Kugler.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, Texans, Welcome to the podcast Texans and Browns this
week and it's huge about a year ago. It wasn't
quite this week a year ago. It was a few
weeks ago. A year ago. Stay with me. Deshaun Watson
returns to NRG Stadium with the Browns who were then
four and seven coming into the game. Kyle Allen was
getting to start for the Houston Texans, who were nine
(00:27):
to one heading into that game. Texans hung in there
a bit, picked off Watson, but lost the game. We
all know, but neither team alive for the postseason. Now
we have a very different situation. This is basically a
playoff game. And by the way, right after that game,
if I told you, okay, about a year from now,
these two teams would be playing again at NRG Stadium,
you knew the Browns were going to be on the
schedule because you know the schedule in advance most of
(00:50):
the opponents anyway, So you knew the Browns were going
to be on the schedule, but you didn't know when.
But if I told you it was going to be
case Keenum versus Joe Flacco, then you would have thought
what and obviously we'd all love to see CJ. Stroud,
We expect to see ks We'll see when we get
out there, of course, but it is a very different
(01:10):
situation for both of these teams, and both of these
coaches are Coach of the Year candidates. Now. Kevin Stefanski
has gone through four quarterbacks, numerous injuries. Nick Chubb the
biggest one for them, I think, because he's really the
straw that stirs the drink for their ground game. Say
what you will about Watson, but he's had two good
games for the Browns since he's been acquired by Cleveland,
(01:33):
and now he's out for the season. But I think
that this is a personal opinion with no Watson distraction,
and by distraction, I mean constant questions about how's he doing,
what's his health situation, what's his impact on the team,
all of that going on. Without all that, they could
just focus on football, and Joe Flacco's given them a
(01:55):
big lift.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
He did throw three interceptions their last time out against
the Chicago Bears. And again, you might have opinions about
the Bears, and many of them might be accurate, but
the Bears do play some D, so they played some
pretty good D against the Browns. But not good enough
because they lost a game, had a hell Mary bounce
off Mooney at the end of the game. You all
saw that. Probably on the road. It's been a different
(02:17):
story for Cleveland, a little bit tougher to get things
going scoring wise. So we'll see if the Texans d
can make some noise here, and we'll see if the
offense can get something really consistent generated early on and
not have to do what they did last week, which
was come from a two score deficit to win the
football game at Tennessee. Different week, different situation. You never
(02:39):
know what the story will be afterwards, all right, So
usually on the podcast, I catch up with the voice
of the opposing team. This week it will be Jim Donovan,
who's the voice of the Cleveland Browns for many years,
and a fellow Boston University alumnus. That's right, two guys
in the league who do NFL play by play were
(03:00):
Boston University students at one point in their lives. And
I think only Syracuse has duplication like this, So that's
pretty strong. Be you not known for its great broadcasting
on air stuff. It's a great theoretical broadcasting and communications school.
I'll just give a little plug for my alma mater there.
But Jim has been missing a lot of games due
to a health situation, and I believe it's Andras Sciliano
(03:23):
doing the game. But I thought, let's catch up with
our buddy, Kevin Coogler. Kevin does the Texans preseason TV.
As you may know, he does Fox, NFL TV, does
Westwood One, NFL radio Austin announcer, does a lot of
college basketball. He just just did and we talked about
it during this broadcast. He was getting ready for it.
Creighton and Villanova this week. So Kevin, great guy, great broadcaster.
(03:44):
Let's catch up with him and talk about this game
because he's done a bunch of Cleveland Browns games and
whatever else he's up to. Here it is Chavin. How's
it going with my friend?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It is going great. Always a pleasure to chat with you,
and the chat with the good folks in Houston.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Always great to hear from you. And we see on
the Big Ten network, we see you doing Fox games.
So let's talk Cleveland Browns because you have become sort
of an unofficial TV voice of the Cleveland Browns in
recent weeks. Kevin, and you've seen the transition into the
mini Joe Flacco era. Let's start there. What are your
thoughts on Flacco Q Being for the Browns and the results.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It is remarkable to see. You just don't see this
very often. A thirty eight year old quarterback who had
been ignored by every team that needs quarterbacks across this league.
He had been sitting at home, he'd been throwing passes
with his kids. He'd been trying to stay in shape,
but nobody was calling. He thought he still had some
in the tank. He wasn't sure. Finally, the Browns got
(04:43):
to the point where they needed a quarterback. They decided
to call him. And it's been remarkable. It's like he
dipped himself in magic waters. All of a sudden, Joe Flacco,
thirty eight year old looks more like Joe Flacco twenty
eight year old. He's got zip on the arm. He's
throwing the football all over the lot for over three
hundred yards the last two games. And he's led the
Cleveland brown who are a team that's been decimated by
(05:07):
injuries more so than anybody else in the league. Twenty
six percent of their entire salary cap is on ir
right now, which is the most in the National Football
League by far. Nobody's even over twenty percent outside of Cleveland.
And yet there they are nine and five in the
AFC and sitting in that top wild card spot. And
a lot of it has to do with their defense,
but a good chunk of it the last couple of
(05:28):
weeks has to do with the play of Joe Flacco
leading him past the Jags and then the comeback winn
against the Bears.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, they still run the ball well, right, I mean,
they don't have Nick Chubb, but they still have guys
who can carry the leather and do things with it.
And that's a big part of it as well.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Right, there's no doubt when you've got your own Ford
who can do a little bit of everything. That brought
back Kareem Hunt when Chubb went down with the injury
in week two to try to shore it up, and
a guy who would have no learning curve coming in,
he would know the system. Obviously, he's been a Cleveland
Brown for the bulk of his career, so you bring
him back in he's got a little bit left, and
then Joe Flacco comes in and starts to distribute the ball.
(06:04):
David n Djoku, the tight end has really started to
blossom With Joe Flacco as his quarterback. They've started to
rely on him a little bit more and he's very athletic.
Has had some drop issues in his career, but seemingly
over the last couple of games, has started to fix
that problem. At least, he's hung on to the football
with a better accuracy number than the last couple in
the last couple of games. And you know what, you
(06:25):
give Joe Flacco some credit for that. Adamari Cooper still
has plenty of gas in the tank. They're an interesting team,
but that defense is really the story with the Cleveland Browns.
Miles Garrett and that Cleveland defense keeps them in games
long enough for an offense that sometimes has fits and
starts to be able to get it going.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, we all see what Miles Garrett can do. He's outstanding,
but it's not just him, right, They just attack the
ball from wherever they're coming from.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Well, when we've all seen Jim Schwartz coach, whether as
a head coach or defensive quarter in this league for
however many years, I mean it's been decades, and Jim
Schwartz is never afraid to bring pressure from any side,
from all sides, mix up his pressure, run a bunch
of different games up front. They really do a lot
of different things with that defense. It's also been hit
hard by injuries, but they've got a good secondary. That
(07:14):
back end is strong. You get pressure from upfront, and
Jim Schwartz brings that pressure from all over the place.
It's really it's an interesting setup. Kevin Stefanci's obviously an
offensive head coach and has been a very good offensive
head coach in his career, and now Jim Schwartz in
charge of that defense, has really turned that defense into
a formidable unit. And despite all the injuries, there's Cleveland somehow.
(07:36):
I mean, really nobody knows quite exactly how this is
being strung together, and I can tell you, including the
coaching staff, because every week they've got somebody else that
goes down. They had two starters left from week one
on their offensive line. They lost one of them last
week in Joe Batonio. So they're under one right now
in their offensive line alone that were Week one starters.
And yet there there are nine to five doing it
(07:57):
with a variety of different things and a variety of
different players.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Kevin Kugler joining us on Texans Radio. Quick aside here
as the Bears just lost to the Browns. It was
a very close game, could have what should have hail
Mary attempt by the Bears. What do you make of that?
Because they do play d there's no question about that.
They do have some playmaking ability as well. But the
record doesn't reflect any kind of success right now at
five and nine.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
They've they've struggled to close games mark and you see
that a lot with teams that are that are trying
to figure things out. They're young, no excuses. This league
is this league, and you are what you are. You know,
as the famous quote was, we are what our record
says we are, and what the Bears are right now
as a team that's barely hanging into a slim chance
at a possible postseason birth and they're probably not going
(08:43):
to get there, and then they're gonna have some decisions
to make. But I will say too, Chi Murflus has
done a nice job with this defense. Remember he had
to take over defensive play calling early in the season
when their defensive coordinator abruptly stepped away, and he's done
a nice job getting these guys to play they added
Montese Sweat from the Commanders and then signed him to
a big four year extension, and Montez Sweat now leads
(09:04):
the Commanders in sacks and the Chicago Bears in sacks,
so that's never happened before. Nobody's ever led two teams
in the same season in sacks. We'll see if he
ends up in a few weeks as the sack leader
for both the Commanders and the Bears. But his addition
has really turned that defense around. Their numbers in the
last six games are a far different cry from what
(09:24):
they were at the beginning of this season, and a
lot of it has to do with the addition of
Montez Sweat, but that offense has really struggled, justin fields
out of the lineup for four games they had to
go with Tyson Bage it they went two and two
when he was out. It's just a team that doesn't
really have enough offense to support that defense, and we
saw that again on Sunday. They had a seventeen to
seven leads, a rare breakdown defensively, but there's just no
(09:46):
margin for error with a team like the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Kevin Kogler joining us on Texans Radio Kevin. We mentioned Flaco.
The Texans just had to play a game without c. J. Stroud.
Do you remember a time where you've seen so many
reserve quarterbacks playing key roles for teams in the playoff mix,
some firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt, like the Cleveland
Browns and the Texans have a pretty good shot as well.
(10:09):
I don't remember seeing so many backup quarterbacks factor in
this way.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I don't either Mark. In fact, every time we go
into a city, it's like I feel like I've got
to make sure I have great stories on these backup
quarterbacks because half of them are in the games. Tight
inveagent for the Bears, I just mentioned him, a guy
nobody thought was going to be a starting quarterback in league.
They four starts this year. We've seen it in the
key in the Texans Division, obviously with the Texans. How
about with the colt not exactly what they had planned
(10:33):
on for their quarterback situation. There they are right in
the mix for the playoffs. Cleveland Browns are using a quarterback,
one of their four starting quarterbacks, to win a game
this year that, as of a month and a half ago,
wasn't on any team, and It's been this way all
across the league. We saw Monday night with Seattle winning
a game with Drew Locke as the starting quarterback. It
just continues on and on. I've not seen anything quite
(10:57):
like this across the league. And I mean, this shows
the value of the position, but it also shows the
value of having a capable backup like the Texans do
with Case Keenum and with David Mills. You've got guys
there who can pick up the slack when TJ's not
able to go in a rare game. Obviously, everybody wants
to see DJ back, whether you're a Texans fran or not.
He's one of the most dynamic and exciting young players
(11:19):
in the National Football League. But you've got to have
that guy who can step in, a veteran who can
win a game or two for you when you need
him to. Texan saw that this week. Colts have seen it,
Seattle has seen it. You don't have that good backup
quarterback or a capable backup quarterback, you're in a lot
of trouble.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Kevin, we caught up several weeks ago, it might have
been a couple of months ago, and I asked you
about this the Texans were started to make some noise
with CJ. Strouding Company and Demiko Ryans as head coach,
and having done the preseason games for years now and
especially this year, how surprised are you that here they
are at eight and six and right in the thick
of it in the AFC playoff chase.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I think when we left camp and when we left
the preseason, everybody thought this team was going to be better.
I mean, the talent was clear that it was better,
and it was an improved roster from what we saw
last year with the Texans. But I would be I'd
be blowing smoke if I said I thought they'd be
eight to six at this point and knocking on the
door of the postseason. That was not something that I
(12:18):
thought was possible this year. I expected to see it
in a year or two. I think Tomko's the right guy,
and I think we all thought that, we all felt
it right when we first got the chance to talk
with him in the summer. But I mean, my gosh,
the development that we've seen in Dj Straud, Will Anderson,
this whole team has really come together. They're fun to
watch and it's fun to see because I'll run into
(12:39):
people across the league, or I'll talk to friends of
mine who will say, yeah, if you watched the Texans,
they're a lot of fun. Oh, that's a fun team
to watch. That's a cool team to watch. This is
a team that I mean, we're going to be talking
like this for years now with this young core that's
in place for Houston. But it's fun to see. Man.
I didn't expect it to be this quick coming out
of camp, but I'm excited to see it. I'm excited
(13:01):
for the city of Houston. It's been a franchise that
we've all known had the ability to get to this point,
and I really just think we're at the starting line
for the Texans right now. So it's going to be
so fun to watch this race run over the next
several years.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Kevin Coogler with us. Kevin, give me a couple of
the best games you've called this year for Fox. Memorable games,
really great games that you're going to remember for a
long time.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, you know, in last week's Browns Bears game was
fun just from the standpoint of a near hail. Mary
you mentioned it that landed right in the lap of
Darnell Mooney. If he secures it, the Bears have a win.
I don't know that it's a game that will go
down as one of the great games I've ever seen.
But two weeks ago we had Vikings Raiders and that
we were three minutes away from the first scoreless overtime
game in the history of the National Football League. We
(13:49):
ended up with a three nothing Vikings win. I'm not
going to put that in the loop as far as
great games in the history of the sport, but it
was one of those historic games that you look back
on you think, wow, that's crazy. And then four days
later I had Thursday Night football for Westwood One and
the Raiders put up sixty points. So I go from
a zero point Raider output to a sixty point output
(14:10):
in the span of four days. That's a stretch I'll
certainly remember. And then we had the chance early in
the year to call the Eagles and the Jets, and
it was the Eagles first loss at the time against
the Jets team that you'd have to say that was
the high water mark of their season. It's been a
rough year for the folks in Green in New York,
and that was really the high water mark. It was
a high broadcast number for US. So we were excited
(14:31):
about that, and it was a memorable game. It was
a lot of fun to be there for that one.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Kevin Coogler with us. All Right, So, Kevin, let's shift
gears here to college because I know you do so
much college basketball, you do everything. We all know this.
So college basketball layoff format versus college football playoff format.
Where we are going next year with the twelve teams?
You like it at twelve? You want more. I know
(14:55):
we've talked about this in broad strokes in the past,
but we're getting oh so closer to this actually becoming reality.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, I don't want any more than that. College is
there's such a there's a line to where you know what.
I know there's more teams playing Division one college football
than the NFL. I don't want any more than that.
I don't want the basketball tournament to expand. I like
where we are with the way things are in basketball,
the way they're going to go in football. You could
(15:22):
have sold me on a smaller number for a college
football playoff, and I would not have argued with that.
I don't I think four is too small. You could
probably sold me on an eight team Playoff. I you know,
I know where we're going with this. I just hope
it doesn't get to the point where it's so watered
down that you've reduced the regular season to rubble. There's
(15:43):
still value in the regular season. I hope there continues
to be value in the regular season. I'm not one
of those people that thinks an expanded playoff is going
to do them the regular season, because I work every
week in the National Football Again, I know the regular
season matters a ton, even with more teams in the
playoffs now than we had ten years ago in the NFL.
So I don't buy the notion of, oh, if you
expanded to twelve to sixteen, it's going to become some
(16:05):
sort of water down thing to where it won't matter
at all. I just don't want to see it go
beyond that. We don't need a sixty four team NCAA
football bracket. We don't even need a forty eight team
like you see at the Division one double air of
the Division two levels. That's too many. Let's keep it
at a manageable number so that everything matters the regular
season and then the postseason.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
All Right, you've been in the Big ten for a
long time broadcasting games, and I know you're in a
lot of these gyms week to week that kind of thing.
What is the scuttle butt about the expansion of the
Big ten with the purists? Because you talk to a
lot of the school administrators. You can't fight change. It
is what it is. It has to happen. But is
there some resistance among some of the people who have
(16:45):
been there for a long time, or some reluctance? How
do you see it? What are you hearing.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
From a purest standpoint? I think there's more resignation than
anything else, not a oh I'm going to resist this
change or anything else, just sort of a yeah, this
is how to be and we're stuck with this and
this is what it's going to be. I'm excited to
see what's gonna happen. I mean, I'm one of those
people that, you know, what, if this is the reality
you're presenting me with, we're gonna make the best of
what that reality is. And so I'm going to make
(17:13):
the best of that and see what The one thing
I worry about is not football, and not even really basketball,
but all the other sports. It really creates a significant
burden on the other sports, and it makes it difficult.
And I know nobody cares about the other sports. From
the grand seam of things. This is all about football.
Maybe somebody thinks about basketball along the way, but it's
(17:33):
mainly about football. And I do think that if you
get into the position where you're ignoring completely all the
other sports, I really do think it hurts those student athletes,
and it hurts their opportunities when they're traveling from to Scataway,
New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California for a midweek volleyball match.
That's a tough ask.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
M Absolutely in those sports, that is a real tough life. Kevin,
give you the next Cup games on your schedule, NFL wise,
and I have some college hoops. You have Creighton going
on tonight. You have a lot of things happening.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Creighton Villanova on FS one on Wednesday Night. We've got
Bears Cardinals on Sunday on Fox, and then Christmas Holiday
gives me a few days off before we wrap up
the calendar year with the Giants and the Rams on
New Year's Eve Day from New York City, which could
be a real critical game for the Rams who are
trying to right now in the playoff hunt. They've got
(18:27):
the Saints and then they've got ten days off before
they go out East to take on the Giants. The
Giants team that's clinging to the very slim chances they're
probably in the same spot as the Bears and that
they won't be in the postseason. But the Rams have
designs on being in the postseasons. One of the real
surprise teams this year in the NFC. I don't think
anybody expected to be talking Rams in the playoffs with
(18:48):
that young roster coming off a season like they had
last year. So that'll be a real interesting game in
a week or so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Absolutely looking forward to all of it. Kevin, thanks so
much for joining us. Look forward to catch it up soon.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Thanks Mark, always good to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
All Right, there's Kevin Koogler. Always fun to catch up with. Kevin.
Can't wait for Texans preseason TV broadcast next preseason already,
but we've got a lot of stuff through before that.
Three regular season games, postseason, let's get there, and a
whole bunch of other stuff in the offseason. Can't wait
for it all. I love covering this football team and
(19:22):
what a journey this is in the twenty twenty three
campaign with the Browns Up Sunday live at noon, Sports
Radio six ten, The Bull one hundred point three FM,
the Texans app Odyssey app, all the apps. Check it out,
have yourself a very merry Christmas, great holiday weekend, great
holiday season, and check out all the other podcasts wherever
(19:43):
you got this one, and don't forget to hit subscribe.
Have a great day, Go Texan.
Hello, Texans, Welcome to the podcast Texans and Browns this
week and it's huge about a year ago. It wasn't
quite this week a year ago. It was a few
weeks ago. A year ago. Stay with me. Deshaun Watson
returns to NRG Stadium with the Browns who were then
four and seven coming into the game. Kyle Allen was
getting to start for the Houston Texans, who were nine
(00:27):
to one heading into that game. Texans hung in there
a bit, picked off Watson, but lost the game. We
all know, but neither team alive for the postseason. Now
we have a very different situation. This is basically a
playoff game. And by the way, right after that game,
if I told you, okay, about a year from now,
these two teams would be playing again at NRG Stadium,
you knew the Browns were going to be on the
schedule because you know the schedule in advance most of
(00:50):
the opponents anyway, So you knew the Browns were going
to be on the schedule, but you didn't know when.
But if I told you it was going to be
case Keenum versus Joe Flacco, then you would have thought
what and obviously we'd all love to see CJ. Stroud,
We expect to see ks We'll see when we get
out there, of course, but it is a very different
(01:10):
situation for both of these teams, and both of these
coaches are Coach of the Year candidates. Now. Kevin Stefanski
has gone through four quarterbacks, numerous injuries. Nick Chubb the
biggest one for them, I think, because he's really the
straw that stirs the drink for their ground game. Say
what you will about Watson, but he's had two good
games for the Browns since he's been acquired by Cleveland,
(01:33):
and now he's out for the season. But I think
that this is a personal opinion with no Watson distraction,
and by distraction, I mean constant questions about how's he doing,
what's his health situation, what's his impact on the team,
all of that going on. Without all that, they could
just focus on football, and Joe Flacco's given them a
(01:55):
big lift.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
He did throw three interceptions their last time out against
the Chicago Bears. And again, you might have opinions about
the Bears, and many of them might be accurate, but
the Bears do play some D, so they played some
pretty good D against the Browns. But not good enough
because they lost a game, had a hell Mary bounce
off Mooney at the end of the game. You all
saw that. Probably on the road. It's been a different
(02:17):
story for Cleveland, a little bit tougher to get things
going scoring wise. So we'll see if the Texans d
can make some noise here, and we'll see if the
offense can get something really consistent generated early on and
not have to do what they did last week, which
was come from a two score deficit to win the
football game at Tennessee. Different week, different situation. You never
(02:39):
know what the story will be afterwards, all right, So
usually on the podcast, I catch up with the voice
of the opposing team. This week it will be Jim Donovan,
who's the voice of the Cleveland Browns for many years,
and a fellow Boston University alumnus. That's right, two guys
in the league who do NFL play by play were
(03:00):
Boston University students at one point in their lives. And
I think only Syracuse has duplication like this, So that's
pretty strong. Be you not known for its great broadcasting
on air stuff. It's a great theoretical broadcasting and communications school.
I'll just give a little plug for my alma mater there.
But Jim has been missing a lot of games due
to a health situation, and I believe it's Andras Sciliano
(03:23):
doing the game. But I thought, let's catch up with
our buddy, Kevin Coogler. Kevin does the Texans preseason TV.
As you may know, he does Fox, NFL TV, does
Westwood One, NFL radio Austin announcer, does a lot of
college basketball. He just just did and we talked about
it during this broadcast. He was getting ready for it.
Creighton and Villanova this week. So Kevin, great guy, great broadcaster.
(03:44):
Let's catch up with him and talk about this game
because he's done a bunch of Cleveland Browns games and
whatever else he's up to. Here it is Chavin. How's
it going with my friend?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It is going great. Always a pleasure to chat with you,
and the chat with the good folks in Houston.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Always great to hear from you. And we see on
the Big Ten network, we see you doing Fox games.
So let's talk Cleveland Browns because you have become sort
of an unofficial TV voice of the Cleveland Browns in
recent weeks. Kevin, and you've seen the transition into the
mini Joe Flacco era. Let's start there. What are your
thoughts on Flacco Q Being for the Browns and the results.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It is remarkable to see. You just don't see this
very often. A thirty eight year old quarterback who had
been ignored by every team that needs quarterbacks across this league.
He had been sitting at home, he'd been throwing passes
with his kids. He'd been trying to stay in shape,
but nobody was calling. He thought he still had some
in the tank. He wasn't sure. Finally, the Browns got
(04:43):
to the point where they needed a quarterback. They decided
to call him. And it's been remarkable. It's like he
dipped himself in magic waters. All of a sudden, Joe Flacco,
thirty eight year old looks more like Joe Flacco twenty
eight year old. He's got zip on the arm. He's
throwing the football all over the lot for over three
hundred yards the last two games. And he's led the
Cleveland brown who are a team that's been decimated by
(05:07):
injuries more so than anybody else in the league. Twenty
six percent of their entire salary cap is on ir
right now, which is the most in the National Football
League by far. Nobody's even over twenty percent outside of Cleveland.
And yet there they are nine and five in the
AFC and sitting in that top wild card spot. And
a lot of it has to do with their defense,
but a good chunk of it the last couple of
(05:28):
weeks has to do with the play of Joe Flacco
leading him past the Jags and then the comeback winn
against the Bears.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, they still run the ball well, right, I mean,
they don't have Nick Chubb, but they still have guys
who can carry the leather and do things with it.
And that's a big part of it as well.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Right, there's no doubt when you've got your own Ford
who can do a little bit of everything. That brought
back Kareem Hunt when Chubb went down with the injury
in week two to try to shore it up, and
a guy who would have no learning curve coming in,
he would know the system. Obviously, he's been a Cleveland
Brown for the bulk of his career, so you bring
him back in he's got a little bit left, and
then Joe Flacco comes in and starts to distribute the ball.
(06:04):
David n Djoku, the tight end has really started to
blossom With Joe Flacco as his quarterback. They've started to
rely on him a little bit more and he's very athletic.
Has had some drop issues in his career, but seemingly
over the last couple of games, has started to fix
that problem. At least, he's hung on to the football
with a better accuracy number than the last couple in
the last couple of games. And you know what, you
(06:25):
give Joe Flacco some credit for that. Adamari Cooper still
has plenty of gas in the tank. They're an interesting team,
but that defense is really the story with the Cleveland Browns.
Miles Garrett and that Cleveland defense keeps them in games
long enough for an offense that sometimes has fits and
starts to be able to get it going.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, we all see what Miles Garrett can do. He's outstanding,
but it's not just him, right, They just attack the
ball from wherever they're coming from.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Well, when we've all seen Jim Schwartz coach, whether as
a head coach or defensive quarter in this league for
however many years, I mean it's been decades, and Jim
Schwartz is never afraid to bring pressure from any side,
from all sides, mix up his pressure, run a bunch
of different games up front. They really do a lot
of different things with that defense. It's also been hit
hard by injuries, but they've got a good secondary. That
(07:14):
back end is strong. You get pressure from upfront, and
Jim Schwartz brings that pressure from all over the place.
It's really it's an interesting setup. Kevin Stefanci's obviously an
offensive head coach and has been a very good offensive
head coach in his career, and now Jim Schwartz in
charge of that defense, has really turned that defense into
a formidable unit. And despite all the injuries, there's Cleveland somehow.
(07:36):
I mean, really nobody knows quite exactly how this is
being strung together, and I can tell you, including the
coaching staff, because every week they've got somebody else that
goes down. They had two starters left from week one
on their offensive line. They lost one of them last
week in Joe Batonio. So they're under one right now
in their offensive line alone that were Week one starters.
And yet there there are nine to five doing it
(07:57):
with a variety of different things and a variety of
different players.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Kevin Kugler joining us on Texans Radio. Quick aside here
as the Bears just lost to the Browns. It was
a very close game, could have what should have hail
Mary attempt by the Bears. What do you make of that?
Because they do play d there's no question about that.
They do have some playmaking ability as well. But the
record doesn't reflect any kind of success right now at
five and nine.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
They've they've struggled to close games mark and you see
that a lot with teams that are that are trying
to figure things out. They're young, no excuses. This league
is this league, and you are what you are. You know,
as the famous quote was, we are what our record
says we are, and what the Bears are right now
as a team that's barely hanging into a slim chance
at a possible postseason birth and they're probably not going
(08:43):
to get there, and then they're gonna have some decisions
to make. But I will say too, Chi Murflus has
done a nice job with this defense. Remember he had
to take over defensive play calling early in the season
when their defensive coordinator abruptly stepped away, and he's done
a nice job getting these guys to play they added
Montese Sweat from the Commanders and then signed him to
a big four year extension, and Montez Sweat now leads
(09:04):
the Commanders in sacks and the Chicago Bears in sacks,
so that's never happened before. Nobody's ever led two teams
in the same season in sacks. We'll see if he
ends up in a few weeks as the sack leader
for both the Commanders and the Bears. But his addition
has really turned that defense around. Their numbers in the
last six games are a far different cry from what
(09:24):
they were at the beginning of this season, and a
lot of it has to do with the addition of
Montez Sweat, but that offense has really struggled, justin fields
out of the lineup for four games they had to
go with Tyson Bage it they went two and two
when he was out. It's just a team that doesn't
really have enough offense to support that defense, and we
saw that again on Sunday. They had a seventeen to
seven leads, a rare breakdown defensively, but there's just no
(09:46):
margin for error with a team like the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Kevin Kogler joining us on Texans Radio Kevin. We mentioned Flaco.
The Texans just had to play a game without c. J. Stroud.
Do you remember a time where you've seen so many
reserve quarterbacks playing key roles for teams in the playoff mix,
some firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt, like the Cleveland
Browns and the Texans have a pretty good shot as well.
(10:09):
I don't remember seeing so many backup quarterbacks factor in
this way.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I don't either Mark. In fact, every time we go
into a city, it's like I feel like I've got
to make sure I have great stories on these backup
quarterbacks because half of them are in the games. Tight
inveagent for the Bears, I just mentioned him, a guy
nobody thought was going to be a starting quarterback in league.
They four starts this year. We've seen it in the
key in the Texans Division, obviously with the Texans. How
about with the colt not exactly what they had planned
(10:33):
on for their quarterback situation. There they are right in
the mix for the playoffs. Cleveland Browns are using a quarterback,
one of their four starting quarterbacks, to win a game
this year that, as of a month and a half ago,
wasn't on any team, and It's been this way all
across the league. We saw Monday night with Seattle winning
a game with Drew Locke as the starting quarterback. It
just continues on and on. I've not seen anything quite
(10:57):
like this across the league. And I mean, this shows
the value of the position, but it also shows the
value of having a capable backup like the Texans do
with Case Keenum and with David Mills. You've got guys
there who can pick up the slack when TJ's not
able to go in a rare game. Obviously, everybody wants
to see DJ back, whether you're a Texans fran or not.
He's one of the most dynamic and exciting young players
(11:19):
in the National Football League. But you've got to have
that guy who can step in, a veteran who can
win a game or two for you when you need
him to. Texan saw that this week. Colts have seen it,
Seattle has seen it. You don't have that good backup
quarterback or a capable backup quarterback, you're in a lot
of trouble.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Kevin, we caught up several weeks ago, it might have
been a couple of months ago, and I asked you
about this the Texans were started to make some noise
with CJ. Strouding Company and Demiko Ryans as head coach,
and having done the preseason games for years now and
especially this year, how surprised are you that here they
are at eight and six and right in the thick
of it in the AFC playoff chase.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I think when we left camp and when we left
the preseason, everybody thought this team was going to be better.
I mean, the talent was clear that it was better,
and it was an improved roster from what we saw
last year with the Texans. But I would be I'd
be blowing smoke if I said I thought they'd be
eight to six at this point and knocking on the
door of the postseason. That was not something that I
(12:18):
thought was possible this year. I expected to see it
in a year or two. I think Tomko's the right guy,
and I think we all thought that, we all felt
it right when we first got the chance to talk
with him in the summer. But I mean, my gosh,
the development that we've seen in Dj Straud, Will Anderson,
this whole team has really come together. They're fun to
watch and it's fun to see because I'll run into
(12:39):
people across the league, or I'll talk to friends of
mine who will say, yeah, if you watched the Texans,
they're a lot of fun. Oh, that's a fun team
to watch. That's a cool team to watch. This is
a team that I mean, we're going to be talking
like this for years now with this young core that's
in place for Houston. But it's fun to see. Man.
I didn't expect it to be this quick coming out
of camp, but I'm excited to see it. I'm excited
(13:01):
for the city of Houston. It's been a franchise that
we've all known had the ability to get to this point,
and I really just think we're at the starting line
for the Texans right now. So it's going to be
so fun to watch this race run over the next
several years.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Kevin Coogler with us. Kevin, give me a couple of
the best games you've called this year for Fox. Memorable games,
really great games that you're going to remember for a
long time.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Well, you know, in last week's Browns Bears game was
fun just from the standpoint of a near hail. Mary
you mentioned it that landed right in the lap of
Darnell Mooney. If he secures it, the Bears have a win.
I don't know that it's a game that will go
down as one of the great games I've ever seen.
But two weeks ago we had Vikings Raiders and that
we were three minutes away from the first scoreless overtime
game in the history of the National Football League. We
(13:49):
ended up with a three nothing Vikings win. I'm not
going to put that in the loop as far as
great games in the history of the sport, but it
was one of those historic games that you look back
on you think, wow, that's crazy. And then four days
later I had Thursday Night football for Westwood One and
the Raiders put up sixty points. So I go from
a zero point Raider output to a sixty point output
(14:10):
in the span of four days. That's a stretch I'll
certainly remember. And then we had the chance early in
the year to call the Eagles and the Jets, and
it was the Eagles first loss at the time against
the Jets team that you'd have to say that was
the high water mark of their season. It's been a
rough year for the folks in Green in New York,
and that was really the high water mark. It was
a high broadcast number for US. So we were excited
(14:31):
about that, and it was a memorable game. It was
a lot of fun to be there for that one.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Kevin Coogler with us. All Right, So, Kevin, let's shift
gears here to college because I know you do so
much college basketball, you do everything. We all know this.
So college basketball layoff format versus college football playoff format.
Where we are going next year with the twelve teams?
You like it at twelve? You want more. I know
(14:55):
we've talked about this in broad strokes in the past,
but we're getting oh so closer to this actually becoming reality.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, I don't want any more than that. College is
there's such a there's a line to where you know what.
I know there's more teams playing Division one college football
than the NFL. I don't want any more than that.
I don't want the basketball tournament to expand. I like
where we are with the way things are in basketball,
the way they're going to go in football. You could
(15:22):
have sold me on a smaller number for a college
football playoff, and I would not have argued with that.
I don't I think four is too small. You could
probably sold me on an eight team Playoff. I you know,
I know where we're going with this. I just hope
it doesn't get to the point where it's so watered
down that you've reduced the regular season to rubble. There's
(15:43):
still value in the regular season. I hope there continues
to be value in the regular season. I'm not one
of those people that thinks an expanded playoff is going
to do them the regular season, because I work every
week in the National Football Again, I know the regular
season matters a ton, even with more teams in the
playoffs now than we had ten years ago in the NFL.
So I don't buy the notion of, oh, if you
expanded to twelve to sixteen, it's going to become some
(16:05):
sort of water down thing to where it won't matter
at all. I just don't want to see it go
beyond that. We don't need a sixty four team NCAA
football bracket. We don't even need a forty eight team
like you see at the Division one double air of
the Division two levels. That's too many. Let's keep it
at a manageable number so that everything matters the regular
season and then the postseason.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
All Right, you've been in the Big ten for a
long time broadcasting games, and I know you're in a
lot of these gyms week to week that kind of thing.
What is the scuttle butt about the expansion of the
Big ten with the purists? Because you talk to a
lot of the school administrators. You can't fight change. It
is what it is. It has to happen. But is
there some resistance among some of the people who have
(16:45):
been there for a long time, or some reluctance? How
do you see it? What are you hearing.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
From a purest standpoint? I think there's more resignation than
anything else, not a oh I'm going to resist this
change or anything else, just sort of a yeah, this
is how to be and we're stuck with this and
this is what it's going to be. I'm excited to
see what's gonna happen. I mean, I'm one of those
people that, you know, what, if this is the reality
you're presenting me with, we're gonna make the best of
what that reality is. And so I'm going to make
(17:13):
the best of that and see what The one thing
I worry about is not football, and not even really basketball,
but all the other sports. It really creates a significant
burden on the other sports, and it makes it difficult.
And I know nobody cares about the other sports. From
the grand seam of things. This is all about football.
Maybe somebody thinks about basketball along the way, but it's
(17:33):
mainly about football. And I do think that if you
get into the position where you're ignoring completely all the
other sports, I really do think it hurts those student athletes,
and it hurts their opportunities when they're traveling from to Scataway,
New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California for a midweek volleyball match.
That's a tough ask.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
M Absolutely in those sports, that is a real tough life. Kevin,
give you the next Cup games on your schedule, NFL wise,
and I have some college hoops. You have Creighton going
on tonight. You have a lot of things happening.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Creighton Villanova on FS one on Wednesday Night. We've got
Bears Cardinals on Sunday on Fox, and then Christmas Holiday
gives me a few days off before we wrap up
the calendar year with the Giants and the Rams on
New Year's Eve Day from New York City, which could
be a real critical game for the Rams who are
trying to right now in the playoff hunt. They've got
(18:27):
the Saints and then they've got ten days off before
they go out East to take on the Giants. The
Giants team that's clinging to the very slim chances they're
probably in the same spot as the Bears and that
they won't be in the postseason. But the Rams have
designs on being in the postseasons. One of the real
surprise teams this year in the NFC. I don't think
anybody expected to be talking Rams in the playoffs with
(18:48):
that young roster coming off a season like they had
last year. So that'll be a real interesting game in
a week or so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Absolutely looking forward to all of it. Kevin, thanks so
much for joining us. Look forward to catch it up soon.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Thanks Mark, always good to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
All Right, there's Kevin Koogler. Always fun to catch up with. Kevin.
Can't wait for Texans preseason TV broadcast next preseason already,
but we've got a lot of stuff through before that.
Three regular season games, postseason, let's get there, and a
whole bunch of other stuff in the offseason. Can't wait
for it all. I love covering this football team and
(19:22):
what a journey this is in the twenty twenty three
campaign with the Browns Up Sunday live at noon, Sports
Radio six ten, The Bull one hundred point three FM,
the Texans app Odyssey app, all the apps. Check it out,
have yourself a very merry Christmas, great holiday weekend, great
holiday season, and check out all the other podcasts wherever
(19:43):
you got this one, and don't forget to hit subscribe.
Have a great day, Go Texan.
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