Risk, Reward, and Analysis with Zastudil and The HOF - Cleveland Browns Daily - 11.11.25 - Cleveland Browns Daily

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Coming to you live from the Cross Country Mortgage Campus
in Barrie, Ohio. This is Cleveland Browns Daily on eight
fifty ESPN Cleveland, presented by bally Bet Sports Book, an
official sports betting partner of your Cleveland Browns. Please bet responsibly.
Here are your hosts, Bau Bishop and Nathan Zegura.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Let's live on a Tuesday edition of Cleveland Bron's Daily.
I am merely bo. He is the great z.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I like how that red pops on those strings, Buddy,
I like that. Let's look at all.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, baby hello, all red, white, poo, baby blue.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Look at us for Veterans Day. There you go, there
you go for the people. Yeah, very very cool. Still limber,
still got it, got it. The NFL and the USAA
official NFL Salute to Service Partner announced this year's nominees
for the Salute to Service Award, presented by USAA. Each year,
the Salute to Service Award recognizes NFL players, coaches, staff

(01:14):
alumni who make exceptional efforts honor and support military and
veteran communities. Cleveland Browns are Prows renounced Guard Wyatt Teller
as their twenty twenty five Salute to Service Award nominee.
He saw the video Krly and the kids down there
in the facility with him.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Very cool, very very cool.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
A lot of my family served Navy and Army and
all sorts of it, and obviously we've have connection with
the Navy through the show.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Some great modes, the great modebits.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
The great prevs, and just incredibly humbled by those who
have served, who have sacrificed it.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
All for all of us. So thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
Yes, absolutely great honor for ye teller. I know he's
very excited about that. I got military in my family
as well. Yeah, very special's extend. This is our Salute
to Service game coming up this weekend.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
They we got.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
This is our Salute to Service hoodie right here there
you go, available right now, there you go, Cleveland Brownshop
dot com.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, it's a good one.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
This is when you know the kind of the two
big awards that you can get from your team. Obviously,
the Walter Payton Man of the Year would be kind
of the most presigious, and then this, I think is
right there.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
As well, the Salute to Service Award. Yeah, very very
cool and very deserving on that front.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah, So there will be three finalists and then obviously
somebody will be announced as the Salute to Service Award
winner for the National Football League. So fans, you all
will have an opportunity to determine the awards three finalists
by voting for their favorite nominee. One vote per day
for each nominee is permitted per person. The three finalists
will be announced in January, and the recipient will be

(02:47):
recognized at NFL Honors, a primetime award special. To learn
more about each nominee and cast your vote for Wyatt,
visit NFL dot com slash Salute Fan Vote. Voting is
open now until November thirtieth. Listen, if we could get
as rounds fans, if we could get Peyton hillis on
the cover of Madden yep. I don't see how we
can't get white through one of the three finalists.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
I feel like we can.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
I think that is a task worth taking up, for sure.
I have to tell you I have We are a
little more than a week into the return to standard time.
I can't get right to me. It feels like everything
after five point thirty is nine o'clock at night. I
am exhausted by ten, yep, and I'm up at five

(03:30):
like I'm just wide awake at five AM. My old
sleep schedule was eleven to six, and I can't get right.
It's crazy that they do that, that we do this.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
It's because of the darkness at night by the pie
and it's ten. You're like, it's been pitch black for
five hours.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
What do we do it? It's just I've never had
it affect me like this. Well, and last night's game
was a real snooze.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
So I had basketball practice till nine. I got home
around nine to fifteen. It was zero zero at that
point they were so you missed. So at the end
of the first half, I saw the end of I
saw zero zero, and I think that went right into
half time. Yeah, because at halftime then I flipped over
and watched about twenty minutes of Godfather Too.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
God Bless Joe buck but he at one point is like,
it maybe zero zero, but this is a real compelling
zero zero game, And then Van Pelt opened the halftime with.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
The yeah, I got agree with Joe Bucket. I know,
zero zero that was really compelling.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Are you sure?

Speaker 1 (04:26):
No?

Speaker 4 (04:26):
It's not the fact it was not compelling. It was
so not compelling that I went back to the Manning
cast for the first time in a long time, and
that was.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
So bad that I was out. Now.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
I didn't even stick around for Shane Gillis, which I
probably would have enjoyed that.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
I'm guessing probably they probably put him at the end
in like I'm a fourth quarter. I'm a fan of
Shane Gillis. Let me tell you.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
So they opened with Bob Iger Disney, that's right. Why
probably because of the Disney carriage dispute going on right now.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Well that's a choice.

Speaker 4 (05:09):
It was a choice, and I thought it. It was horrific,
even by like their bad guest standards in terms of
entertainment value.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Just it was dreadful.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
And then they brought on an actress from Abbott Elementary,
who Eli introduced as being from a bot elementary.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
And I'm like, oh, so they're doing like pr for
Disney is what they did?

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Yeah, that's what they did. They brought an Eiger and
somebody from a television show that's on ABC.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Oh baby, And I'm just like, this is way. Those
are choices. Goodbye.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
And you you could tell Peyton wasn't thrilled with it.
It was Eli was trying. It was dreadful and I
know you put on here Manning cast. Is that what
why you said that?

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Tuned in here Here's the game was so bad? I
thought maybe they maybe they entertaining.

Speaker 6 (05:59):
Yeah, I love a comic as much as anybody, but
when you put them on TV where they can't do
their act probably the way that they would do it
in an audience, Yeah, it takes a little bit away.
He was fine. I watched the game. I actually enjoyed

(06:19):
the game. Yeah, I don't know why I did. Maybe
I'm a glutton for punishment. There were and I'm like,
at some point, someone's gonna get going here. Yeah, and
it just never happened. And then it was eleven thirty
and I was still awake and it was great. I
switched over to the Many cast and I'm like, what now,

(06:39):
You're just it was a perfectly good thought and an
idea and it and now where is it gone? I
don't know what you do to even.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
I think the problem with I mean there's a billion,
but I mean I think they had their moments. They
had and it was all about creating these moments, and
they had a lot of them that were really funny
and really cool. But then once the novelty wore off,
they don't have another gear. There's another gear for it.
And I think that one thing about the guests. It
is one thing to have two brothers in two different rooms.

(07:11):
Something else entirely to have two brothers in two different
rooms and have a guest in a third room while
trying to also monitor a football game. It's too much
going on. Even with the best traffic cop in our business,
you couldn't keep that thing on the rails. And so
they lose the game despite themselves, and then and then
they lose natural conversation for scripted nonsense. And so it's Yeah,

(07:34):
And I think they're all awesome, Like I think Gillis is.
If Gills is on last night, he's great. And I
think Eli and Peyton are great. But like that combination
to stay in.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
The first staff was dreadful.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
If you're gonna you only do it like ten weeks
out of the year, on those ten mondays, Peyton and
Eli just be in the same place, or.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Say, like do one week at Peyton's week different places there.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, some breaking news by the way, Okay, Travis Hunter
underwent season ending knee surgery with eyes set on a
twenty twenty six return. It was an LCL repair expect
to return within six months to full football activities.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
That's brutal.

Speaker 5 (08:14):
Man.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
I feel for that kid. Yeah, yeah, I think.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
I think I could be wrong in this, but I'm
pretty sure he got through college without anything significant from
an injury standpoint. Yeah, and you just have to I
think it's fair to wonder about the wear and tear
of trying to do what he did for three years
of college football and a year in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
It's just so much. There's only so much the human
ligament can take.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Yep, you know so in the IRAQ. Thing is he's
not playing nearly as much in the NFL as he
was in college. No, he got hurt in practice.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah, practice, it's a lot of wear and tear. It is,
no doubt on the game last night. So I was
thinking about this as it was going on, and then
I didn't. There wasn't any reason that compelled me to
stay up. Like, I saw enough and I went to bed.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
But I was thinking big picture.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
We have what seven weeks left, seven games left, eight
games left, depending on where your buys are and all
of those things. So seven or eight games left. Everybody's
either played nine or ten. Most teams have played nine
or ten. Do you guys recall with this much to
go this wide open, I think you could go into
about half the league. I think there's like fourteen teams

(09:25):
in this league who you could walk who if you
walked into their facility and you said, do you think
that you can win the Super Bowl? I think like
twelve to fourteen would say yes. Well I think a
sorry right now, Okay, who do you think really can
win the Super Bowl?

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Well, I think it's about six or seven. I don't
think it's many.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
I think it's about six or seven, but I think
that there's probably thirteen or fourteen who believe they can.
I think all eight in the AFC probably believe that
they can, and in the NFC it's probably a little
bit less. But just to the if they think they can,
I'll give you a team and you tell me if
you so. All of the eight I think the eight
that are in it in the in the a f

(10:04):
C that would currently be in the postseason, and honestly, Baltimore,
I mean Baltimore is four and five for sure they
think they can win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
New England. New England's won seven in a row the
steel in their facility.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
The Steelers do not think they can win the Super Bowl.
I bet if you're in their facility they think they can, well,
then they should be there. They are not good, but
they can't win the Super And I know there's a difference,
though we'll get to that we have to.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
I really don't think they believe that. I really don't
think they believe that.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Like in there, if they're being honest, I don't think
that there's any chance that they can win the suit.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
There's just the point though, is there isn't some behemoth
in the a f C. The two teams that you
would describe as the behemoths in the a f C
currently are not in. Yes, Baltimore and Kansas City. They
are the two scariest teams. Like, if you're Pittsburgh, you
don't think you can go beat Denver if it came
to that. They don't beat enough teams in a row
to get to this.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
That's what you think. I'm saying what they think. No,
I agree with you.

Speaker 6 (11:00):
I'm saying where they think if they can get into
that they can get in.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
I can't.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
You can't you tell me they can't beat Buffalo. Buffalo
just lost by seventeen to Miami. They've lost three of four.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
I know, I really don't. I don't know. Maybe they
are delusional. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
I don't in the NFC, and I think NF it's less.
I think it's Philly, Detroit, Green Bay probably still believes it.
I think Tampa believes it, and then the three in
the NFC West. So it's like six in the NFC,
and I think it's eight or nine in the AFC.
And if you want to quibble with Pittsburgh, go ahead.
I don't think that many teams can win it, but
I think they believe it all.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Who do you think can win it? Right now? Rams yep,
Lions yep, Eagles yep. They just won it.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
I don't but they do not. Look who's great? Okay,
let me turn the Sattle. I think it's great.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
I think Seattle is.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
You would put the vast Zagura estate on Seattle winning
the Super Bowl. I think they're capable of it. You're there,
you're not saying they're number one.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
I think.

Speaker 6 (11:56):
I know.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
I think the I like the Rams same. I think
that difference isn't that big.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
I think the NFC is going to be represented by Seattle,
the Rams, Detroiter, Philly, and I feel pretty good about
that one of the first time.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
That's four though in the NFC. Yeah, Philly makes me
a little more.

Speaker 5 (12:11):
That's four that.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
You think in just the NFC. So now do the
a f C.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
I'm just saying they will be you're going to say
the Representative, You're going to say Baltimore, You're going to
say Indy, you're gonna say the Chargers, You're going to
say the Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
That's nine that you think I wrote down? Yeah, I have.
I think I get the right nine. I bet I did.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
Kansas City at Kansas City Chargers, but I don't really
I think their line is going to be ultimately too
big of a problem New England.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
I like Indy.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yeah, but also no Buffalo, Baltimore, Yeah, buff in the city.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's seven.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah that you think that, I think, Let alone what
they think in their buildings. Like, I don't think seven
AFC teams that you just said could win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
No, it's AFC. That's seven total. I just have Kansas
City Charger.

Speaker 3 (12:59):
It's Raven Colts, Chargers, Chiefs six six.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
AFC teams that you think could win it?

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Yeah, I don't think Denver can, but they probably, they
probably think they can.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
And you just said four in the NFC, I really totally.
I didn't really.

Speaker 4 (13:13):
I have Philly on another and they won it, So
I get that why you would say that. But I
think right now, Seattle, the Rams and Detroit are the
best teams in the end.

Speaker 6 (13:19):
That goes back right now in their building. Denver thinks
they can't.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
They do.

Speaker 6 (13:24):
They're like, if we can get out of the AFC West,
they do, we.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Can make it.

Speaker 6 (13:27):
I don't think there's a I think division in football.
If we get out of it, we can beat anybody.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers say, if we get healthy,
we can win it. If we can get healthy, we
can win it. The point is, there isn't There isn't
Tom Brady that you got to deal with. There's not
the Mahomes Chiefs that you got to deal with. These
are flawed teams. The top of this league has flaws.
Buffalo is a team that most people would say can

(13:52):
win the Super Bowl. They lost by seventeen at Miami.
They were not competitive.

Speaker 4 (13:58):
Do you think the Rams have a flaw like I
think they It's possible that they're the best team in
the league.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
Well, I mean, I've been on them for a long
time as and I felt that about that. They're in
an incredible state right right, They're an incredible stretch of
play right now. Their last four they've played are incredible.
How they've dominated the Ravens of Jaguars, the Saints, and
the Niners. Their only two losses are to San Francisco
at home and then they lost at Philly in Week three.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
That's it. That's it.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
So I like them a lot. Seahawks look greats. I
like the Rams better than the Seahawks because I just
don't know if you can go from year one with
with Darnold to the super.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Bowl, then they're smoking people. Tell her the jump.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
They lost Week one of the Niners and they lost
in a shootout and kind of a fluky way to Tampa.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
I stand by. I think there's fourteen teams in this league.
I think they can win it in their building. Yeah,
I can't get into that. And this I'll say that
you're not I'm not saying you, I'm saying them right right. Yeah,
And even in.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yours though, if we did this exercise a year ago,
I don't think you would have said, what do you
have ten?

Speaker 2 (14:59):
I think it's ten.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
The AFC is so wide open, Like if the Chiefs
had beat Buffalo, I would have put the list.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
On the AFC to maybe just the Chiefs. Again, I
wrote that first. I mean Mahomes was terrible.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
He was terrible in the game, terrible, and then they
go get there and no recy in the run game Miami.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
I mean the AFC team that's looked the best the
last month has been New England and ind but like,
are you going to make that leap? The team that
scares me the most is Baltimore and they're currently four
and five, so they've got to come out of it.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
I just in all the years we've been doing this,
what is it season eight nine or whatever we've done this,
I don't recall two months to go ten teams who
you could envision winning it most. It's more just most
of the years we've been doing team in the AFC
was there isn't in the NFC either.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
The Rams have been really good, the Seahawks have been
really good.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
But if if San Francisco's healthy and by the way
San Francis and by the way Philly has done it,
so they and there they could end up the one
seed because of how bad their division is. So can
you see the Rams or the Seahawks going to Philly?
Rams are more likely they played them well ms last year,
it did and they played them competitively there, but everybody
else game bombed by them. Yeah, so like Detroit looks

(16:18):
great one week, Detroit needs to be at home Detroit.
I don't see a scenario because I think they're going
to take too many lumps in the division. Yeah, you know,
I mean, God, Detroit, I mean Detroit lost to the
Vikings with McCarthy completing half his passes two weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Whoever, the five, whoever.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
The foe seed is, is going to get the Rams
or the Seahawks most likely in the first round. And
that and I would venture that whoever, and if that's Tampa,
they will be I think they will be an underdog.

Speaker 6 (16:49):
See I look, I look at the Seahawks.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
I love this.

Speaker 6 (16:52):
I like what they've done and it's been fun watching
the Colts. But is Sam Donald going toa river back
to Sam Donald to come playoff time?

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Like you didn't know that's your question? Yeah, that's it,
of course, of course, of course.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah, that's why justin Herbert Stever won a playoff game.
As great as he's been, he doesn't won a playoff game.
So he's gonna have to elevate.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
That's why it's Stafford. I mean, it's ironic that Stafford
and Golfer, they're in very good positions. And then Philly, Yes,
Philly has done it. This team does not seem to
be like the Philly teams of although they were down
and out last year.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Last year, you guys were over there, remember that was
right after thereby Philly.

Speaker 6 (17:29):
This year reminds me of Kansas City last year. Remember
every week we were like, how are the Chiefs winning?
This game's great point? How are they winning this week?

Speaker 2 (17:37):
And you woke up and they were fourteen and three
in the one seed in your.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
Oh yeah, you know what, you know what, This Sunday
Night will be a good game. That's Eagles Lions.

Speaker 6 (17:45):
Maybe last night was supposed to be.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
Good Eagles Lions in Philly, that Sunday night football. Who
are Philly's losses? They lost back to back to the
Broncos and the g Men.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
In the Broncos game they had, Yeah, the g Man
is kind of inexpliced. Beat the Cowboys, beat the Chiefs,
beat the Rams, beat the Bucks. There's again very solid.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Are they the only team that doesn't have a stupid loss? Yes,
well they.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
Lost by three to the Bucks and by four in
a shootout. Yeah, four to the Niners opening weekend. There's
nothing really there to be too concerned about. No, Detroit's
Los Detroit lost two weeks ago to That was a
weird loss to Minnesota, Yes, very weird.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
I'm watching that and I think both of certainly both
of those teams like, how the heck is the Packers
lost three in a row. They got to five to
one and one, and you go, okay, go win it.

Speaker 6 (18:38):
Well, Floor is explaining his job today.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
I know what.

Speaker 6 (18:42):
Well, come on now.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
So here's the thing with the Bucks, and and I'm
with you that they may in their building believe, but
if you look at the teams that we talked about
being legit teams that they've played this year. They lost
to the Eagles, they did beat the Seahawks in Seattle, win.
They lost to the Lions twenty four to nine, big Ley.

(19:07):
They just lost to the Patriots at home. This next
game a week eleven, they're at Buffalo. Week twelve, they
are at the Rams. If they go zero and to
them both of those games, it would be I feel
like then you're really it's a stretch to say that, yes,
we're going.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
To win the Super Bowl. Yeah, yeah, no, it's fair.

Speaker 4 (19:21):
I mean, they could end up being they if they
lose those to they're six and five. By the way,
their wins twenty three to twenty over the Falcons, twenty
to nineteen, over the Texans, twenty nine to twenty seven
over the Jets, good win over Seattle, beat the Niners
pretty good thirty nineteen, although that one was closer than
it looked, and then they beat the Saints twenty three
to three.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
Now they get Bucky Irving back. Do they start to get.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
Healthy after the Bills and the Rams? Though, Even if
they're six and five at that point, they have a
pretty good chance to finish twelve and five. Yeah, home Cardinals,
home Saints, home Falcons at Panthers at Dolphins home Panthers. Yeah,
but again they could be that's just because of the
by virtue of the schedule played.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
It's a pretty.

Speaker 4 (20:06):
They might be twelve and five and be like two
wins five against teams with winning red teams.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yeah, it's a it's crazy two months to go and
there's it's it's pretty wide open.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Lots of teams in the mix.

Speaker 4 (20:20):
Those are Howey you said that, I was like literally
going to ask you, why don't we just rank who
we thought could maybe win the Super Bowl right now?

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yeah, my list would be like I would have you
had nine Usually in these things, I'm less than you.
I would go Baltimore, Kansas City, h Philly, Detroit, Rams.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Niners, nine ers. If they got healthy, I don't know
if they can. They can't.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
They're just their defense. Their defense is not they're without
just do it.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
And so it's in my head that if they can
get somewhat healthy offensively, they can, But really Mac Jones's
played great, but it's still that's a lot. There's a
lot of teams that got a shanka this thing.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
So it speaks to as you said that there isn't
a no dominant power.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
Most of our life, there has been the death star
that is the New England Patriots, or the death star
that has become the Kansas City Chiefs that is looming
over everything. We don't have that that's not here this
year Yeah, it just isn't. It's wild and last night
was probably a good example of it. Those are your
hot topics today, presented by University Hospitals, official healthcare partner

(21:36):
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explore your winning options Today time for Risks versus Reward
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it is a privilege to be joined by former Browns punter,
the current managing director at Oswald Companies. He's the great

(22:48):
Dave Dassil. He joins us on the Twisted T Hard
Iced Tea Hotline. Twisted Tea, Hard Iced T official sponsor
of your Cleveland Browns. Keep it Twisted, Cleveland, Buddy, we
had a punt and a kick return touchdown go against
us in this one. As someone who made a living
in the special teams world for a great many years,

(23:08):
how does something like that happened on back to back plays.

Speaker 7 (23:14):
Yeah, that's a tough.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
Easy one, easy one out of the gate day.

Speaker 7 (23:18):
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, you're welcome. The thing, yeah, the thing
about a punt return and a kickoff return is there's
always a lot that goes into that.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
When you watch the film.

Speaker 7 (23:29):
I can tell you I've been many, many years in
special teams meetings obviously, and you know it's not for
a lack of you know, seeing the film, understand your
lane assignments, understand what you have to do, but there's
a lot of things that go into it, everything from
you know, directional hash punting to getting good hangtime, to
making sure you have your lane assignments, making sure you

(23:52):
know you're not getting a blocked and kind of stacking
a guy in front of you to open up that lane,
and those are all things that I'm sure in the
film room they were going over and trying to correct.
But the problem with special teams, especially when you're having
a down year, is special teams or you look to
that for a spark. You look to gain an advantage
of special teams when you're not having near you had,

(24:12):
And unfortunately the New York Jets found that spark, and
unfortunate we didn't Dave.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
When you look at it, you know, Corey hadn't had
a punt block since twenty nineteen. Obviously, we've given a
punt return a week one against Dallas last year we
had one here. His yards per punt this year is
down from basically over forty nine to forty six. His
net yards is down from forty two to thirty five
point nine. Is there anything that you're seeing just kind

(24:41):
of in the punting game, regardless of like an individual play,
but just in general, why it feels like our efficiency
is down a little bit.

Speaker 7 (24:50):
Yeah, it's hard to tell, Nathan when you're watching it
from the TV. But when I was watching my own
punts in film room, and I you know, you have
good days, you have bad days, right, you always looked
at the first thing is you want to make sure
you always had at least a four point five second hangtime,
and that's back in the day with the guy's legs.
Today it's probably even four point six four point seven.

Speaker 5 (25:12):
So you always want to make.

Speaker 7 (25:12):
Sure you gave your your coverage team's time to get
down on the field so you weren't quote unquote out
kicking your coverage. I'm sure Corey is looking at all
those things, you know. I believe Corey is a directional punter.
He's been doing it for a long time, has always
been in the top you know, ten twelve of punters
in the league. But it's just like anything. You go

(25:33):
back and there's a lot of situations. Sometimes net punting,
you could have a thirty five thirty seven yard net punting,
but you also could be in short yardage field situations
you could be at the fifty minus forty five plus
forty five that you know, number zon't always tell the
true story, but you know, really it's hard to tell
hangtimes on TV, but I could. It just didn't seem

(25:55):
like maybe that punt he got all of it and
got underneath it as he probably would have.

Speaker 5 (26:00):
I'd have to go back and watch it again.

Speaker 7 (26:02):
But at the same time, I mean, it looked like
we had some open lanes, and obviously those are things
the National Football League you just can't do.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Dave.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
This was one where I mean, look, you gave up
fourteen points on special teams. It's hard for hard to
win in any league, any level when you give up
fourteen points on special teams.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
But you looked at what the Jets had.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Done the previous week with the trades at the deadline
and kind of the team that they brought out there
on Sunday. It was one where we looked at it
and said, Okay, that should be a win. You should
go to New York and handle your business. And it
didn't happen for myriad reasons. And so now you come
back home and you've got Baltimore. As a guy who's
been in those rooms, how do you stop a kind

(26:43):
of a slide that we're kind of in the middle
of right now. How do you get that fixed in midstream?

Speaker 7 (26:50):
Well, when I kind of took a look at the stats,
I'll answer that. In two parts. We talk about a
lot on risk versus reward, not not beating yourselves right,
and you know we had ten penalties for seventy eight yards.
We had a key penalty and an opportunity of the
game where you technically could get the ball back and

(27:10):
have a chance to win. So, first of all, we
have to clean up these mistakes.

Speaker 5 (27:15):
We have to get.

Speaker 7 (27:15):
Better in that area, especially on the road allowed hostile
environment typically in New York.

Speaker 5 (27:21):
You just got to you gotta be.

Speaker 7 (27:23):
Disciplined, especially when you look at the penalties. Also, you
know we were, yeah, we were favored to win that game.
You look at the stats, you take the two special
teams special teams returns out of that. You know, offensively,
I think New York Jets at fifty four yards passing right,
they we had an interception, We won the turnover battle.
But when you put yourselves in a hole with two

(27:45):
touchdowns and special teams went on average or your average
what seventeen eighteen points, that that puts you That puts
you in a very very tough.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
Position to win the football game.

Speaker 7 (27:55):
But I do think it all comes back to you know,
you know, we got to.

Speaker 5 (27:59):
Be disciplined on penalties.

Speaker 7 (28:00):
You got to make sure that we're not putting ourselves
behind the eight ball and killing yourselves really with penalties.
I do think offensively, there was some good things. I mean,
you know, we talked about risk versus a reward, right,
it was a risk to give up plays and hand
it to Tommy Reeves, and he came out and I
thought he focused on the running.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
Game, and we had a very balanced attack.

Speaker 7 (28:20):
I think we had what thirty two passes thirty two runs.
We really showed that we wanted to be dedicated to
the run, which I believe is a very good thing
for this team.

Speaker 5 (28:30):
But you know, it all.

Speaker 7 (28:32):
Comes down to special teams, and like I said earlier,
that is the spark. Special teams is a spark. You know,
we don't want special teams to lose the game. Specially
teams are supposed to pin people deep. You're supposed to
get a spark by a big return. That's how you
influence the game. And when you don't win that battle
by any means it especially fourteen points, it makes it

(28:53):
very very difficult to win.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
In the National Football I mean, the Miami Dolphins beat
the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 7 (28:59):
Anyone can win and any given Sunday, and you can't
take your opponent lightly.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
So you mentioned you saw the commitment to run game,
Did you see anything different in the pass game or
just anything you said, Oh this this from a scheme
standpoint or a sequencing standpoint, anything said oh this this
does look different to me than what we had seen previously.

Speaker 7 (29:17):
Uh yeah, maybe maybe maybe it's you know a little
bit on some shots down the field. There was still
a lot of you know, checkdown passes. But sometimes that's
what the defense gives you if they you know, those
guys study film too. Special teams. Coach has always told
us in the meeting room, Hey, you got to give credit.
Those guys get paid to so you know, they may
have had a really good game plan understanding what we're

(29:38):
trying to do offensively. But you know, I still think overall,
you know, we offensive line said it all year, right,
we were running. We like to run the ball, and
I saw Tommy Reeves really try to give Johnkins an
opportunity to do that. Could we have been more successful? Always,
you always are going to try to go in the
film room and see what you can do better. But

(29:59):
the passing game, you know, it's still I think it's
still a work in progress. Dylan Gabriel is still a rookie.
I know he gets you know, he gets a lot
of critique out there, but he's a third round draft
pick that got thrown in there early. You know there's
going to be times and in games that it's gonna
it's gonna take a learning curve as a rookie. It's

(30:19):
not easy to go in the National Football League, especially
in the AFC North and in the cold weather games
and the wind to do that. So I part of
me thinks it's part of the learning process of a rookie.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
Yeah, that's that. That's something we talked about a couple
of weeks ago. And I'm glad to hear you say
it as well too, because he has taken a ton
of slings and arrows that are I think unjust. I mean,
he's not this isn't Baker Mayfield draft at number one overall, Like,
it's not that at all.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
It's a third round pick. And he's had some moments.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
He's up a Rookie of the Week this week, and
so he's had a few moments and and we've got
a lot of problems offensively, and it it speaks to
you and I think this and you look, Bubble was
your gunn or was he not.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
I thought you've mentioned that a couple of years.

Speaker 7 (31:03):
Yeah, oh yeah, I played with bubbaunce the special teams
players I'm played with.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yet, and you know this is killing him, like he's
not teaching this what what happened on Sunday?

Speaker 2 (31:14):
He's not out of here teaching this like this is
not it. So this is we had a.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
Very narrow margin for air the way this season was
set up. And so when you have and you mentioned
the penalties and now we're talking special teams, when you
have those things that we just don't have the margin
for mistakes like that. And to your point earlier on
the Bills and the Dolphins in this league, nobody really does,
but we absolutely don't.

Speaker 7 (31:37):
Yeah, there's a it's a good point, you know. And
the thing about special teams which cracks me up all
the time is, you know, I heard somebody on the
radio and I won't mention names, you know, talk about
bubbavn Tron And yes, listen, if there's two kicks, a
punt return to kickoff for turning a touchdown, the buck
always stops with the coach. That's never going to change,
that's always going to happen. But to hear the comment
that in the Cincinnati game, a rookie kicker missed a

(32:01):
field goal and an extra point to win the game,
and that's on Bubba Vantrone. Bubba vent Tron's not out
there kicking field goals. And so I never understood why
if a field goal kicker missed a field goal, really,
how that.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
Is the special teams guys a coach's fault. But Bubba,
you know.

Speaker 7 (32:16):
Bubba knows the game. He was an excellent player, he
was a leader on the field. He knows special teams.
So listen, Bubba will always be a type of guy,
just knowing his character that he'll say, Hey, I'm the
special teams coach.

Speaker 5 (32:28):
I got to get it fixed. I'll own it.

Speaker 7 (32:29):
However, there's a lot of things that you have to
look at in the film room. It might just be
guys that aren't doing their right assignments. And then you
got to get a different.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
Guy in there.

Speaker 7 (32:39):
You know, do we have the special team's talent? Do
guys take ownership and take pride in special teams?

Speaker 5 (32:45):
All the best.

Speaker 7 (32:46):
Special teams units I've ever played for took pride in it.
We had leadership on there because we understood how important
that was to the game. I'm not saying we don't
have that. I just don't know. I'm not on the team,
I'm not in those meetings, But those are all things
that I guarantee Bubba's looking at is, Hey, do I
have the right guys in the right positions. That's something
that those I guarantee, like coach Tafanski said, they're going

(33:08):
to go back and try to get it fixed. But Bubba,
you know, he's a high character guy. He will own
this and he will do nothing but try to get
better and work to make sure this never happens again.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
Yeah, because unfortunately it's you can't let that happen again
if this team wants to be who they want to be.
When we talked a little bit about the offense, and
yes there were things that were better, but it's still ultimately,
at the end of the day, he gets seven points
off of a short field, from off of a turnover,
and other than that, in a game in which you know,
the Jets only had a first down on one possession

(33:40):
in the entirety of the first three quarters and then
the Browns basically possessed the ball for three quarters of
the first three quarters, you didn't do enough offensively. That
game should have been over before it went to the
fourth quarter. How can this offense break through? I thought
it was good, we saw we got Jerry Judy involved,
But how can this offense break through, Dave, because I
think that is the one thing that is clearly, more
than anything else, holding this team back week after week.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
Yeah, I think he made a great point.

Speaker 7 (34:05):
It was great to see Jerry jud To get involved.
I mean six receptions, seventy eight yards in a touchdown.
I mean that he's your best receiver and you have
to get him involved. So that was that was obviously
a bright spot. But if you guys, I mean we
talk about this all the time, and you know, stats
are stats.

Speaker 5 (34:20):
The offense is what it is. But you know, people always,
you know.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
Look back and talk about Joe Flacco and say, look,
he's thrown for five hundred yards and he's you know,
four hundred yards or three hundred whatever he's throwing for.
He wasn't doing that here. So then we put in
a third round draft pick, probably maybe at least a
year in probably on what the plan was for developmental
process of a rookie quarterback, especially a third rounder into

(34:47):
the mix really early, right. I mean, there's going to
be growing pains with that, But Joe Flacco wasn't necessarily
lighting up the field when he was here. So how
I look at that is there's something within this offense
that they're probably trying to constantly look to find ways
to get big plays chunk plays, and it seems up

(35:07):
to this point there's some flashes here and there. But
I think the offense in general, I don't think like
and I hate to just repeat what coach keeps saying,
but I don't think it's one player. I think it's
accumulation of you know, you gave up six sacks in
this game for forty seven yards. Six sacks in a game,
So when you look at that, you could have.

Speaker 5 (35:26):
A first rounder in there.

Speaker 7 (35:27):
If you're giving up six sacks and your offensive line has,
you know, injuries on the offensive line you're bringing, you're
trading for a left tack who's only been there for
a couple of weeks. There's not a lot of chemistry
and consistency in that offense right now. So I think
it's just accumulation of things that they just have to
continue from.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Literally this game going forward is.

Speaker 7 (35:47):
Just finding some kind of consistency in some chemistry in
that offense and hopefully things will start turning around.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
Dave, I'll get you out of here on this one
big picture NFL. Ze and I were just having a
conversation round about how many teams believe they are Super
Bowl contenders with seven or eight games left, and it
could be upwards of nine, ten teams might even be
upwards of a dozen. Do you recall we've had so
many It feels like we've been in a two decade
kind of set here where we've always had Brady and

(36:16):
the Patriots looming over, We've had Mahomes and the Chiefs
looming over. It feels like this is as wide open
as the NFL has been with two months to go.
What is kind of your view of what appears to
be a wide open kind of sprint to the stretch
here in the league.

Speaker 5 (36:31):
Yeah, it's a good point.

Speaker 7 (36:32):
I do really like what Drake May and the New
England Patriots are doing. You know, we talked about this,
I think on a previous show. Here you have a
first round quarterback that went through bumps and bruiseses first year,
no doubt got comfortable understood the league, the league slowed
down for him, and now you see what that guy's
doing in year two. And what I love about that,

(36:53):
he's on a rookie contract, so you have payroll, You're
going to have time to build up around him. You
can start building consistency over the next few years with
a team like that, I always you know, I think
Detroit Lions, if they keep doing what they're doing, they're
going to be a very tough, tough team to beat.
Jamior Gibbs is as good as they're running back in
the league. And then a team that I think overall

(37:15):
is really surprising the league is Indianapolis Colts. No one
thought Daniel Jones would go to Indianapolis and do this,
and it just sometimes show you. It shows you with
kind of a new team, a new offensive quarter, you
thought process.

Speaker 5 (37:27):
If you have a guy that has.

Speaker 7 (37:28):
Ability and you play to his strengths, and you have
a guy like Jonathan Taylor, you've got a strong defense.
It is a wide open league. And the team that
I'm a little nervous about as a Baltimore Ravens. You know,
they're starting to play good football and they're coming into
town next week. That's a team that's starting to get momentum.
But to answer your question, I think in the end,
what I always thought was the most important part about

(37:49):
the NFL is in December, which teams are rolling, Which
teams are.

Speaker 5 (37:53):
Starting to gain momentum, getting that confidence playing.

Speaker 7 (37:55):
Their best football in December that put themselves in a
position to have a shot at the playoff. Those those
are the teams that that you really have to worry about.

Speaker 5 (38:04):
But I know, I know we're we got to.

Speaker 7 (38:07):
Get going, guys, But I want to make one comment.

Speaker 5 (38:09):
I think it's important. I thought the New York Jets did.

Speaker 7 (38:12):
An amazing job and their tribute to Nick Mangold, wearing
the T shirts out of the field doing the tribute.

Speaker 5 (38:18):
We you know, we talked football.

Speaker 7 (38:19):
It's in our blood, we talked about all the time.
But it just brings the human elements to football is
just a game. And I thought what Nick Mangold meant
to Ohiohio State and into the NFL. I thought they
did a great tribute, And you know, I think sometimes
that brings us down to earth a little bit when
things like that happen. So I just want to commend
the organization. I thought it was a great job.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Yeah, yeah, they really did. It was. It was. It
was very cool in the building.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
They had like a nice video Withaly he loved Dave
Matthews band, and so we had some Dave Matthews songs
playing over his video. And then his wife and their
children were the captains for the coin toss. They like
were on the field for the coin toss. They had
a big banner there stuff all around the stadium, like
built into the stadium of him. And then they had
a huge banner that unfurled over one of the end zones,

(39:07):
like in the crowd. They covered a whole section in
the crowd of a couple sections even of Nick And
it was it was.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
It was very well done. It was very classy and
it was very well done. Yeah, thanks for bringing that up, buddy.
Appreciate you.

Speaker 7 (39:18):
Yeah, trying to end on a positive note, you know.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
So there we go. Go appreciate you, guys.

Speaker 7 (39:23):
I always appreciate you had me on.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
There, he goes. Dave's astideal joining us.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
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Speaker 2 (39:33):
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Speaker 2 (41:03):
We've got a new uniform for the Patriots. What are
they wearing? It's like the gray the gray one.

Speaker 6 (41:09):
You definitely want to take a peek if you can.
The whole thing.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
I've seen. So there are people, that's nice.

Speaker 4 (41:21):
There were quite a few of them in the crowd,
and a lot of that gear with the n E logo,
which actually is a pretty it's not I actually kind
of like that this is a really logo. Look right here, dude, Yeah,
the white lids, it's very good.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
And then they have like an ANY logo on it. Yeah,
the logo.

Speaker 4 (41:42):
Look, I think that Any is pretty solid. Yeah, it's
it's honestly.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
That's really nice.

Speaker 4 (41:50):
And I know we talked about it and why I
understand why they wear the things that remind them of
Tom Brady and the greatness of the Patriots, and it
makes sense. But like I could see a world where
they have like this, the Brady and then the pat
the Patriots. Pat Patriots is so good.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
Yeah, it is. It's just as it's them that one,
the Bucks one.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
They're just playing a super Bowl in those though, didn't
they well Bears, Yeah, forty six to ten, Steve Grogan,
Andre Tippett maybe that's yeah, Tony Easton, ton Craig James, Yeah, yeah,
I mean that was that was that group.

Speaker 5 (42:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:27):
It's just a shame because they the greatness is with
the other look and so that's the thing that's tough.
Denver's at that same spot. I mean, as perfect as
theirs are, they never won it in the orange with
the with the bright blue.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
They won it in.

Speaker 3 (42:40):
I know, it still evokes John Alway.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
It does.

Speaker 3 (42:44):
I mean I still think of that one more than
I do the their modern one that they wore.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, like to me, that still evokes their greatest player.
I would agree, I would agree.

Speaker 5 (42:55):
Will not address.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Him and Brady. By the way, Brady had a bunch
of games and half the Patriot Yeah, I don't know
how many, but they definitely had like a five hundred
yarder against Tennessee and the snow in the path the
Patrio in that one I remember. I actually think the
ones that they have now are better than the ones
that they wore under Braidy. When they wear the blue
over silver. I don't like the monochrome all navy rook

(43:17):
or whatever, but I think when they wear the blue
over silver, it's really clean. They had one earlier this
year where they wore I think blue over white, which
I thought looked pretty good because they have the UCLA
stripes on them, like they look strong. I think they
look pretty good. They their brand is pretty good. And
you think about this idea to have Brady for all
of that time, have a couple of years without figuring
it out, and then draft they drafted mac Jones. Circumstances

(43:41):
weren't right for him, weren't right for them, bailed on him,
got out of it quick, and then they pivot and
they land Drake May. And this kid is good enough
that he can like overcome coaching changes as a rookie,
and then they hire the right guy who changes the
culture in the second.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
He's a culture tornado.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Vrabel is, Oh yeah, the accountability, Oh my god, Like
he's just a culture.

Speaker 6 (44:04):
Tournaments and yeah, laughing and joking with the media. They
love him.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Yeah, yeah, it's that's outright.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
The I mean Tennessee. He could have been the coach
of the Tennessee Titans for twenty five years. It would
have been a legend in Nashville.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
It's just insane. He is a legended nation.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
Yes, and they ran him because he spoke lowingly about
the Patriots when they put him in the ring of
all days. I'm Jeff Jarrett. She's not happy about it.
A great many others. Yeah, to take that guitar to
whoever made that decision, Yes, yeah, it's brutal. Give him
the all el Kabang.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Got to do it. It's crazy.

Speaker 3 (44:39):
I like those those those look good and I saw
the rams are wearing them too. The Rams are wearing
their midnight ones. Oh yeah, it's just the NFC West
and the AFC we're doing, right, Is that right?

Speaker 5 (44:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (44:50):
I think that's right.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
The Cardinals wore those ones that look like sand Oh yeah,
that's that's really nice.

Speaker 2 (44:56):
And it's actually blue blue. It's the darkest, darkest. Call
that a midnight Navy. Yeah, I think that's that pop
by the way, that should be. That's fine.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
That can They have a lot of uniforms they do
to choose from. That's an easy operation to root for
win all the time. Tons of studs on offensive defense.
No draft picks, don't need him.

Speaker 6 (45:18):
When we have them will hit Anybody in LA care.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
About the Chargers more than they do.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
But it it looks like the Chargers on Sunday Night
we're going to great lengths to like get the star
power in there. They have a lot of celebrities that
they're trying to get into those games. And I think
justin Herbert l A is a star town. So Herbert
dating that Madison Breer, what's it, what's what's her name?

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Great tar?

Speaker 3 (45:43):
He loved Carson Schwashter from day one, Yeah he did,
he did. But I think that helps is it is
he dating a pop star or something. Herbert what's her name,
Madison Brier?

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Did I have that right? Yeah? Okay, So I think
that helps.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
And he's a stud and then he's the Lakers games
Hailey Steinfeld?

Speaker 5 (46:05):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (46:06):
Who isn't Josh Allen married Hailey Steinfeld? Yes, yes, yeah, yeah,
but I was talking about l a star power fact
quarterbacks with stuff.

Speaker 2 (46:15):
Oh yeah, good, But I think that gives you a chance.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
So then he goes down on the on the court
side for Lakers, and then it kind of all that.
That's kind of what he's in. Every Herbert's in a
lot of ads. You watch a football game, he is
in a great many ads.

Speaker 5 (46:29):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Some lady comes try again to.

Speaker 4 (46:31):
Sign their mortgage for and he's like, you don't need me,
so I'll get you a mortgage.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
He's I do wonder if the NFL could have it back,
if they would have found other ownership in San Diego,
because they are so wayward in Los Angeles, and like,
I know, San Diego doesn't have corporate money, but it's
there's a lot of wealth down there, and the idea
that like I.

Speaker 4 (46:55):
Think if the NFL had it back, he would be
the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins in that draft, had
him go there too, it could have gone to l
a West coast and he's got you know.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Do you think that would have helped I mean, I
don't know.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
Would have he played at Oregon, I don't know they
would have necessarily helped the Chargers, But I think that
is less important to them than like if the Dolphins
were thriving and he's the next coming of Marino.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Miami's got a lot of money.

Speaker 4 (47:27):
I think that would be a pretty good town to
have him be the face of, Like LA.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
I mean, you already have the Rams, you got, the
Lakers you got.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
I mean that goes by the original play stayed in
San Diego.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
You didn't need two teams in Los Angeles.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
Now, I do think two as a Polynesian in LA, though,
is maybe somewhat of a draw.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Maybe all right, there you go.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
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Speaker 1 (48:15):
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Elkin Elk's proud partner of your Cleveland Browns. Time for
the Joe Thomas half hour of the program. Gudintacof how
was Berlin, Buddy.

Speaker 5 (48:49):
Guten dogs there?

Speaker 8 (48:50):
Goot, I am doing okay after just a couple hours
of sleep over the last three days.

Speaker 5 (48:58):
I'm too all right? There?

Speaker 4 (49:02):
Was it just pure joy hoff in Berlin, being back
in Germany, not Munich obviously where you are a legend.
But was it was it fun to be back and
what kind of frivolity was enjoyed?

Speaker 5 (49:15):
It was fun.

Speaker 8 (49:17):
It was really cool, like the Germans really loved the
NFL and it was pretty clear. Obviously we played in
London this year and I got a chance to go
to that game, and well, I think people in London
are still very excited about having NFL games. I think
it's become pretty normal and regular, and so the scarcity
of it isn't quite what it used to be. But

(49:37):
with one game in Germany every year and a fan
base that continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year,
and this being the first regular season game in Berlin,
I mean people were just going bananas, and I mean
the party was going on for three four days and
all the big German celebrity NFL players were in town,
and I got to hang out with them a little bit,

(49:58):
and they showed me around Berlin, and there was not
a lot.

Speaker 5 (50:01):
Of sleep that was had.

Speaker 8 (50:02):
So I did have a lot of fun and a
lot of frivolity. Got a chance to go out and
see how late that Berlin stays open and how late
they're willing to serve beers in large quantities, and so
it was a great experience all around. I can't complain too.

Speaker 5 (50:20):
Much, Huff.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
I have not been to Berlin or Munich, but I
do feel like I have a pretty decent handle on
and I understand that probably sounds absurd about Munich, just
because I've seen it in pop culture more Berlin, you know,
because of pop culture. What you're reminded of is, you
know that World War two and all of that, had
you had you been to Berlin, when you spent the

(50:42):
year in Germany, and what can you tell me about
the city, What can you tell us about their sporting style,
just the liveability of it, all of that.

Speaker 8 (50:51):
Yeah, so's it's a huge sports city. I would call it,
you know, maybe a little bit like a German version
of a New York City, whereas Munich's got a very
unique culture.

Speaker 5 (51:01):
Being in Bavaria.

Speaker 8 (51:02):
They've built the downtown, They've rebuilt the downtown, I should say,
in the classic village style. So the famous saying over
there is that it's the world's biggest village. I don't know,
there's like two million people, but it feels small. You
can get around really easily on the subway. There's not
a lot of high rises downtown. They actually have restrictions.
All the buildings still kind of look like the old
village from three four hundred years ago. So it's definitely

(51:24):
a different feel, whereas Berlin feels much more cosmopolitan.

Speaker 5 (51:28):
There's big high rises everywhere.

Speaker 8 (51:30):
There's traffic problems, of course, but they still have really
good efficient subways and trains.

Speaker 5 (51:35):
But it's definitely like the trendy place. You know.

Speaker 8 (51:38):
You go around, you see a lot of blue hair
and a lot of leather and whips and chains and
those type of things. So it is definitely a really unique, cool,
interesting culture. They love football though, they love sports and
that they were definitely fired up about the game and
they got a great game. I mean going into overtime
and seeing my boy Jonathan Taylor, my badger buddy, giving

(51:58):
me a badger.

Speaker 5 (52:00):
Mental boost by.

Speaker 8 (52:01):
Having the game he had and finishing and overtime with
a big run.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
It was. It was an amazing experience to be a
part of.

Speaker 4 (52:10):
Yeah, I mean you talk, Jonathan Taylor is just playing
out of his mind. He got Danny Dimes bledded up
and having that crazy visual and nice comeback. You guys
did get actually a highly entertaining game.

Speaker 8 (52:22):
We did, and some of those international games. They sometimes
give him the less than awesome matchups in the offseason
because they know are like, hey, you know what, people
are going to go no matter what, so it doesn't
matter we'll give them, you know, whoever versus whoever. I'm
not going to insult any fan bases, including our own,
but you know, they don't always give him the best matchups,

(52:45):
and it's always tough to tell at the beginning of
the season what it's going to be like. But that
was that was a fun, interesting matchup. The Falcons have
been really up and down a lot of the season,
but there's still a fun, exciting team to watch. I mean,
Michael Pennock junior, you can see he's got a lot
of talent.

Speaker 5 (52:59):
He's got a lot of room to grow. Bjon Robinson.

Speaker 8 (53:02):
I mean, they've got some really fun players to watch,
and they put on a great show because it was
neck and neck. It seemed like the Colts just outplayed
him the whole game, but they just weren't able to
finish in the end zone. And I think one of
the problems was I think we only converted in that
game one third or.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
Fourth down and it was like in the end of
the fourth quarter.

Speaker 8 (53:25):
So teams were having a hard time doing anything except
for hitting explosive plays to score points and.

Speaker 5 (53:30):
Continue their drives.

Speaker 8 (53:31):
But the fans were into it from the beginning, and
you could just tell that it just felt like a
big game that had a lot of historic value.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
Yeah, historic performers from Jonathan Taylor. Nice little weekend for
Bucky Badger. By the way, Fit gets the I know
he's a buddy yours, he gets the vote of confidence
from the ad. Then you get the win against Washington,
a little courts little field, storming on Saturday and mad
Town and then Jonathan Taylor goes nuts and you're in
attendance on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
That's kin the heck of a Badger week, Buddy.

Speaker 5 (54:03):
It was. You know, we flipped the script a little bit.

Speaker 8 (54:05):
Although I'm not exactly putting a feather in my cap
about storming the field beating Washington, you.

Speaker 5 (54:11):
Know what I was happy about it. I was just
happy that the.

Speaker 8 (54:13):
Good and fine folks and the students at Madison had
something to be excited about it, and they were so
excited that they wanted to get on the field and
tell their team about it. And so you just hope
in a season, in a couple of seasons that have
been filled with turmoil and stress and anxiety, and there's
a lot of calls for Fickle to be fired, that
maybe this is some type of rallying cry where now

(54:34):
they feel like it's the world against them, and they
give that message of you know, this was the moment
that we flipped the scripts. We burned the boats, and
we turned it around and we kind of found ourselves.

Speaker 5 (54:45):
A little bit.

Speaker 8 (54:45):
So there was definitely a good weekend to be a
Badger for the first time.

Speaker 5 (54:49):
In a while.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
I think it's fair to storm the field against Washington
when you're leading passer as your punter and you win.

Speaker 8 (54:58):
So maybe that's what they were celebrat the Greats. I
think sticking performance, not necessarily with his feet, but the
fact that he was your leading passer and.

Speaker 5 (55:07):
You win a game like that's historic enough.

Speaker 8 (55:09):
I feel like it's acceptable to storm the field in
that situation.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
They had four different what Wisconsin had four different players
attempt to pass in the In the win against Washington
on Saturday, Sean West, who's their punter, was one of
one for twenty four yards and he was their leading
passer and they won pretty great, pretty good.

Speaker 4 (55:29):
Unfortunately, it transitions into a game that we lost in
which Justin Fields completed two passes in the entire game
beyond the line of scrimmage for seven yards and an interception,
and the Browns lost Hof, I hate to get from
the high highs of Wisconsin wonderments to unfortunately some low

(55:50):
lows for the Cleveland Browns. But what did you make
of this game? Two return touchdowns allowed a loss, another
kind of inexplicable loss in a season of many of them.
And the Browns are two and seven after losing another game.
Quite frankly, they should have won.

Speaker 5 (56:06):
Well.

Speaker 8 (56:06):
I blame Kevin Sefanski because he should have given Corey
Bojorquez more opportunities to throw the.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
Ball to be our leading passer.

Speaker 8 (56:13):
If you would have watched the Badgers on Saturday, he
knows that that's the path to victory.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Yeah, it's tough, I mean it, I this was one
he had to have, Hoff.

Speaker 2 (56:27):
I mean, you go to New York, yep.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
They they waved the white flag on their season. They
traded their two best defensive players. They really weren't even
interested in attempting the forward pass. You get two special
teams touchdowns to go against you, and and here we
are again, and and it's it's I don't know, you
got Baltimore coming in here on Sunday, and you know
you hear Kevin, We're gonna work out. We got to

(56:49):
get better, coach better, play better, all these things, but
you keep waiting to see it, and it you know,
it just hasn't happened. It's it's been a This was
a stupefying one, though, Hoff I think, I'm I'm sure
you were either in fans and how much of it
were you even able to watch?

Speaker 8 (57:03):
I just was able to watch just a brief amount
by the time we got out of the stadium and
got back. You know, the the NFL day seemed like
I didn't even know if it had just started or
just finished, So I had to watch it on replay
this morning.

Speaker 5 (57:17):
But yeah, I mean, it was one of those ones
where you felt like.

Speaker 8 (57:19):
You had to win this one because when you're a
team that's struggling, but you still feel like you've got
some pieces, like you still feel like your defense is
good enough to win your games, you still feel like
you've got a good running game, and you feel like
Quinchohn Jenkins has an opportunity to get you enough yards
and points that you got to beat one of the
worst teams in the league, especially when they don't really

(57:41):
they've already.

Speaker 5 (57:42):
Given up on the season, like you mentioned.

Speaker 8 (57:43):
Already uploading their best players in the ship and sailing
towards next season and the season beyond.

Speaker 5 (57:51):
You got to be able to win that game.

Speaker 8 (57:53):
And so I think that's why it was not just frustrating,
it was maddening, you know, to see the performance offensively
couldn't really do anything. And it's one of those things again,
like we've talked about earlier in the season, is beating
yourself when you're a team that doesn't have a lot
of weapons on offense to be able to score a
lot of points. You can't beat yourself. If you're going
to win with defense, you can't beat yourself. And that

(58:15):
means you can't have penalties, you can't have a bunch
of miss assignments, and you can't give up big plays
on special teams. You got to at least be a
net zero on special teams. And so I think the
frustration is if you go into the season knowing the
type of team that you have to be, because you see, Okay,
we've got a great defense, but that's kind of where
it stops.

Speaker 5 (58:32):
We want to lean on the run game.

Speaker 8 (58:34):
I feel like our offensive line is pretty decent, but
we're probably not going to light up the scoreboard. And
then you aren't able to take care of the things
that you can control, which has got to be good
on special teams, no big mistakes, not a lot of penalties,
and you can't make a lot of miss assignments like
those are the things you have to focus on and
be good at otherwise these embarrassing losses like this happen

(58:54):
when you lose to a team like the Jets who've
already given up on the season.

Speaker 2 (59:00):
About to change in play colors.

Speaker 4 (59:01):
What did you see from Tommy Reese and anything jump
out to you that was maybe different or that you
saw that was positive.

Speaker 8 (59:09):
You know, I was hoping that he would maybe unlock
Dylan Gabriel a little bit and allow him maybe more
comfort to take some more risks and chances.

Speaker 5 (59:18):
Just hear in a different voice.

Speaker 8 (59:19):
I think in meeting sometimes can give you a different
sense of the risks you should be willing to take
and maybe allows you to feel a little bit more free,
maybe seeing a little bit.

Speaker 5 (59:31):
More of the play action or the RPO stuff.

Speaker 8 (59:34):
And lean into maybe what he feels like Dylan is
more comfortable with because you just have a different set
of eyes.

Speaker 5 (59:39):
On the game plan.

Speaker 8 (59:41):
And I think everybody's kind of got a little different fingerprint,
even though you're running the same offense.

Speaker 5 (59:46):
Calling plays. It's more of an art than it is
a science. But I didn't see that.

Speaker 8 (59:52):
I mean, you still didn't really see Dylan Gabriel taking
chances to push the ball down the field. You saw
several times where it looked like Dylan was almost kind
of confused with what he was seeing and where he
wanted to go with the football.

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
And so I don't know if some of that was.

Speaker 8 (01:00:06):
Because maybe he was starting to get some different coaching
points on the passing concepts where the ball, Like a
couple of times it looked like he was looking like
he wanted to throw one way, and all of a sudden,
he just shoot the other way and went right in
the dirt. And I'm thinking to myself, like that wasn't
just a missthrow. That was like him changing his mind
at the last second. You know, like everybody's done that

(01:00:27):
when they're throwing the ball in the backyard, like with
some buddies, and like all of a sudden they're trying
to throw it in a different spot. It just looks
like a terrible pass with horrible accuracy. But to me,
that's like indecision in his mind, and so it seemed
like the changeing coordinator. Actually it hurt Dylan in this situation.

Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
And you know, maybe some of that's to be expected.

Speaker 8 (01:00:47):
You're a rookie, you got a new voice, you got
that new person call and plays, a new person that's
your right hand man as you're going through practice.

Speaker 5 (01:00:54):
But to take six sacks, that means he didn't know where.

Speaker 8 (01:00:57):
To go with the football a lot of times, whether
it's be the progression that you need to go through
and then throw it away or just making sure that
like hey, it's either going to be this guy or
check down or you know, those are kind of the
two things that you need to be able to know
clearly when you walk to the line of scrimmage, when
you see the defense, so you can make a quick
decision and you don't take a big negative play. And then,

(01:01:19):
like like I mentioned before, like those times where he
wanted to throw it, but it was like he didn't
really know exactly what he wanted to do with the football.
And so, unfortunately to the viewer who was not in
meetings and who didn't do anything but watch the game
this week, which is me, it looked like Dylan took
a step back in this game.

Speaker 4 (01:01:38):
When a guy has When we saw Miles last time
we played in New England, Miles had five sacks. Will
McDonald came into this game with three sacks. He had
four in this game. When you see one player in
a game, get it in the case of Miles four,
in the case of Will McDonald, what does that tell you?
And then from a protection standpoint, like, is it after
two that maybe you have to change things? You know,

(01:02:01):
how do we kind of get to a situation like
that where one guy was able to get around in
this case our left tackle Cam Robinson four times.

Speaker 5 (01:02:09):
Well, I think you.

Speaker 8 (01:02:11):
Need to be realistic if your guys getting beat more
than two or three times, especially early on in the game,
you need to say, Okay, I need to give with
my offensive line coach, and we need to talk about it,
and he needs to give me a straight answer right
like this is the battlefield and I don't need you
to sugarcoat it because I need to know exactly right now,

(01:02:32):
is he going to be able to block this guy
the rest of the game or do I need to
go down my call sheet and start crossing off plays
that I can't trust him to block the guy that's
got his number right now, and so I don't know
if there was clear communication in that situation or if
maybe there was a a trust in expectations that things

(01:02:54):
were going to change that shouldn't have been there.

Speaker 5 (01:02:56):
But to a lot of player like Will McDonald, who's not,
in my opinion.

Speaker 8 (01:03:01):
Miles Garrett, be able to get four sacks in a game,
I don't think that's acceptable because you have to start
changing either what the quarterback's doing or what the protection
is in those situations to get better protection to be
able to handle a guy like that, because you can't let.

Speaker 5 (01:03:18):
Him get four sacks.

Speaker 8 (01:03:18):
I mean, it's just one of those things where you
have to realize before it's too late that your guy
can't block their guy, and you either have to start
chipping and helping a little bit, and you know, your
passing game does suffer a little bit because you've got
one less guy getting out on the route quickly. But
you have to make those adjustments because sacks in this game,

(01:03:39):
especially when we talk about how we need to win,
can't make mistakes, penalties, dad players and special teams. You
can't take big plays because they don't make enough explosive
plays to be able to overcome either a penalty on
a drive or a sack on a drive because they
just can't go that far down the field. And it's
just the limitations right now with this version of the offense,
and so sacks are just on a acceptable that you

(01:04:00):
can't let him happen because you'd rather have you know,
second and ten or third and ten or whatever the
situation here is in than to sit there and go, okay,
now we got to go twelve or fifteen yards, like
we just don't have any big play explosive ability in
the passing game whatsoever to be able to overcome something
like that in.

Speaker 4 (01:04:18):
The drive now it's been it's been tough, and then
the other part it's been tough to run of late.
I think in large part because of that, teams are saying,
we're gonna stop quinch On Judkins. What do you see
him from our line in terms of the push that
they're generating, because you know, he's one of the league
leaders in percentage of his yards that come after contact,
which is not a stat that necessarily you want to

(01:04:39):
be leading the league.

Speaker 8 (01:04:40):
In, right, So we always thought that as an offensive line,
we have to at least be able to get our
running back with his feet through the line of scrimmage
without him being touched.

Speaker 5 (01:04:51):
That's our job.

Speaker 8 (01:04:52):
And then you got to get those second level blocks
so you can get to four yards and then beyond that,
it's kind of like, what can he do that's special?
What can the receivers do to help out? But they're
just not being able to get enough movement on the
line of scrimmage. They're not creating those scenes, and Quinchan
is just not given enough of an opportunity to be

(01:05:13):
able to get to the line of scrimmage clean, to
be able to see his vision, to use his jump cuts,
to be able to make those plays. And I think
they know you already hit your bye week, but you
really need to make some serious decisions about what are
the running concepts that we're really good at that Quinchean
can execute, Because I mean, they gave him twenty two carries,

(01:05:34):
but to average three almost three point four to three
point five yards a game, that's not good enough for
a team that is relying on running the ball. So
you either got to figure out we need to throw
the ball deeper down the field because we understand that
if we're not pushing the ball down the field. Defenses
are crowding the line of scrimmage.

Speaker 5 (01:05:50):
They're adding safeties to the box. Yep, they're creeping.

Speaker 8 (01:05:54):
Towards the line to be able to account for all
the gaps and then some. And if you're not creating
those teams, you're not getting that push at the line
of scrimmage in those double teams, and he's not able
to get the line of scrimmage. He can't even be
the special player that we think he is because there's
too many bodies at the line of scrimmage that are
not being blocked.

Speaker 5 (01:06:11):
Like let's say the.

Speaker 8 (01:06:12):
Box is soft because you've got Patrick Mahomes or Josh
Allen or one of these guys that pushes the ball
down the field. Like, even if you don't do a
great job blocking, a good running back is usually going
to make one man miss before he gets the line
of scrimmage as.

Speaker 5 (01:06:26):
Long as he has some space.

Speaker 8 (01:06:27):
But if he doesn't even have that space, because when
he makes one man miss, boom, now there's that safety
and he's filling hard into the other gap. It's basically
impossible to run the football. And so you'd have to
be perfect on the line, which they're not to be
able to get to four yards to give him a
chance to go be the unblocked player.

Speaker 5 (01:06:47):
And so it's just like.

Speaker 8 (01:06:52):
Cascade of mistakes and errors, and the offense is putting
himself in a box that's too difficult to get.

Speaker 5 (01:06:59):
Out of because you can't throw the ball on the field.
You can't threaten defenses.

Speaker 8 (01:07:03):
They're not afraid of you pushing the ball, they're not
afraid of explosive plays. You're not effective with your play action,
your RPOs. You're not tricking anybody, and you're not getting
pushed at the line of scrimmage. And then when you
do try to drop back and pass, you can't block
one of their guys. So I mean frustrating. It's just
maddening because the offense is not fun and they're not

(01:07:24):
doing any of the things that they need to do
to be able to give themselves a chance to win,
understanding the personnel that we have.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Other than that, though, everything's great, Yeah, it's great, give
me more throat.

Speaker 3 (01:07:39):
Come on, so let's look, you're two and seven, we
got eight games to go, including Baltimore coming in here
on Sunday. How are you going to view success for
this team in the last eight games. What do you
want to see this team do what is basically the
back half of the season. My god, we still have

(01:08:01):
eight games left to this off.

Speaker 8 (01:08:04):
Yeah, I mean it's a struggle to say, Okay, what
does success look like on offense that's possible and realistic,
Like what are our goals? We talked about this a
couple of weeks ago. You know, when you're in a
season like this, which unfortunately I dealt with a lot
of them, you have to build like little goals into
what you're doing every day, and you focus on those
things and you're like, Okay, let's just get better at

(01:08:25):
this thing, and then we can consider like today a
victory or this weekend of victory because we got better
at these three things.

Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
So we're going to just focus.

Speaker 8 (01:08:32):
Really hard on those and you know what, if it
leads us to victory, amazing. But if it doesn't, at
least we feel like we're building. And unfortunately, it feels
like we're going backwards right now. And so to say, okay,
what are the things that we can focus on to
feel like we're building. From my team standpoint, Okay, defense,
they're still playing pretty good, right, can they get better.

(01:08:52):
Of course, you can always be better, but let's focus.
First of all, special teams cannot give up any big plays. Nope,
that's just one thing that can't happen anymore.

Speaker 5 (01:09:01):
And I played with Bubba, who's a great coach.

Speaker 8 (01:09:04):
He was a great player, he was a great special teamer,
a good friend of mine. But when your unit is
not executing the way it needs to, you have to
hold them accountable or you're going to be held accountable. Unfortunately,
that's the situation that it's in. And as a special
teams coach, you don't get to keep your job because
of a bunch of great punt re turn touchdowns or
kickoff or turn touchdowns. You keep your job because your

(01:09:27):
unit doesn't make any big mistakes. I mean, how many
times throughout the league have we seen a field goal
block goes for a touchdown or punk blockers or a touchdown.
Team loves the game, special teams coach gets fired, right
because your number one job is a special teams coaches.

Speaker 5 (01:09:40):
Don't lose the game.

Speaker 8 (01:09:42):
And so you need to focus specifically on that, whatever
that looks like from an accountability standpoint, finding guys, even
if they're the starters. I mean, I've been in that
situation when Mangini was here and he was like, you
know what, our backups aren't getting it done.

Speaker 5 (01:09:55):
I don't care how.

Speaker 8 (01:09:56):
Many plays you got on offense or defense. Special teams
is a priorit. We're going out there and we're putting
dudes that are reliable that we know are not going
to screw it up. They may not be our best option,
but I know that I can trust them and they're
not going to screw it up and they're not going
to put us in a giant hole against the team
that we should beat by making huge mistakes. And then
you say okay on offense, I mean we want to

(01:10:18):
be able to push the ball. We have to be
able to push the ball. Like it's starting to hamstring
our protection. It's hamstringing our run game, which are our
run blocking hasn't been great obviously, but it compounds it
when you can't push the ball on the field. So
Tommy Reese needs to make sure that Dylan Gabriel understands
interceptions are not okay, but we need to be able

(01:10:39):
to take some risks and push the ball on the field.
You need to start calling more of those plays where
it's almost like a two man route, or you either
give him a coaching point where it's like, look, Jerry
Judy is the primary on this play.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
Throw it to him. I don't really care.

Speaker 8 (01:10:55):
If he doesn't catch it or it gets intercepted. We
have to start threatening these defense is down the field
and in the middle, especially because otherwise teams see that
and they're just gonna stop wasting time really defending any
of that stuff, and they're gonna just make it even
harder for the short think and dunk throws. They're gonna
make it even harder to run the football. So I

(01:11:16):
think what progress is going to look like is, all right,
can we complete some deep throws. I don't even care
if we have one hundred and fifty yards, but two
or three of them are big throws. Like, you need
to be able to do things to keep your receivers engaged. Also,
like they tend to be a little bit more adhd
than the rest of the guys on the field. They
tend to be a little bit more over the divas,

(01:11:37):
and you've got to make them feel like at any
moment they could catch a big play and become the
hero of the game. Otherwise, you're losing their attention, You're
going to lose their effort, You're gonna lose their focus,
and you can't afford that when you have a fewer
amount of playmakers at receiver than other teams. And so
I think that is on offense. Like to me, if

(01:11:59):
I see that when we watch the game next week,
to me, that's a victory. And then from there you say, okay,
let's make sure quin Shawn Jenkins gets one hundred yards rushing,
Like we want his bites at the apple. We want
to see who on this offensive line can block and
can get Quinn sewn going. I'd like to see maybe

(01:12:20):
a few different concepts that we haven't shown yet, especially
with Tommy reeson there. You know, I'm sure he's got
a few things in.

Speaker 5 (01:12:25):
His back pocket that they may have looked at and
practiced before.

Speaker 8 (01:12:28):
But giving defenses a few different looks maybe from some
different personnel group, brings different formations, different shifts in motions
so that the defense doesn't exactly know what it is,
and then.

Speaker 5 (01:12:39):
Build a few play action shots off of that.

Speaker 8 (01:12:41):
So I think, for me, as I'm watching this game,
I'm going all right, next week, can we limit mistakes
and not beat ourselves.

Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
On special teams. That will be a big win.

Speaker 8 (01:12:51):
Can we minimize penalties, Yeah, that's always important. Can we
take some shots on the field in the passing game,
even if we don't complete it. We just got to
put the threat out there. We're working on it and
we're going to start threatening defenses there. And then can
we find some run concepts that could be our identity
on the offense that our offensive line can hang their.

Speaker 5 (01:13:09):
Hat on and get excited about. And they can get excited.

Speaker 8 (01:13:11):
When Quinn John makes a big run and he finishes
with his shoulders down and his shoulders pads going towards
the end zone.

Speaker 5 (01:13:16):
Like those are little victories that I think the.

Speaker 8 (01:13:19):
Offense can get excited about and you can feel like, Okay,
we've made some progress and we've got a stepping stone
to make another step in the right direction.

Speaker 4 (01:13:28):
Before we get into the big fig and get into
the trenches. And the trench report just kind of to
piggyback on everything you just said there, which you laid
it out beautifully. On the offensive side, let's sell quarterback
specifically kind of we've got eight games left. What do
you kind of want to see the plan at quarterback
B and we've said all along it's on Dylan Gabriel.
You know, his job once he was inserted and there

(01:13:48):
was to make sure you didn't want to see anybody
else through. You know, his starts now a little bit
of a mixed bag. I think, to be fair, what
kind of do you want to see over these final
eight games at that position?

Speaker 8 (01:14:01):
Well, I think we've seen a lot from Dylan Gabriel
and we haven't seen enough at this point to say like, ooh,
I want to see more to see if he could
be our franchise quarterback next year. I mean, when you
draft a guy in the third round, he's you're kind
of thinking he's going to be maybe a backup and
possibly a developmental quarterback that maybe somewhere down the line
he could be a starter. I think it's pretty clear

(01:14:24):
right now that he's not going to be the franchise
quarterback next year.

Speaker 5 (01:14:29):
You know, I think it makes sense to see what
else you have.

Speaker 8 (01:14:33):
And I think at some point, I don't know if
it's this week or next week, and I'd love to
hear from the Browns and Coach Savanski about like when
is shoud we're going.

Speaker 5 (01:14:42):
To get an opportunity is it this week?

Speaker 8 (01:14:44):
But I think it makes sense. You got to see
him like he was. The reason you drafted him this
last year was because he's a great value. You knew
he had some upside. You know, he had a lot
of growing to do, he had a lot to learn.
But you wanted to have an opportunity to see both
him and Dylan, most likely this season because you have
to make that decision next year and you have to

(01:15:04):
understand two first round picks that's probably going to be
a quarterback, and so we need to know who these
quarterbacks are on this roster. So yeah, I mean, I
don't know if it's this year, this week, but you
have to see Shootoor And honestly, I think we've seen
Dylan right now and there's been ups and downs, but
I'm not seeing enough progress in the right direction to say, yeah,

(01:15:27):
I want to see more of that right now, because
I still think that he can be he can convince
us enough that we don't need to draft a quarterback
in the first round next year.

Speaker 5 (01:15:35):
He hasn't done that.

Speaker 8 (01:15:36):
I mean, I think that's an unbiased position if you've
watched these games, and so I think it makes sense
you got to see Shooder.

Speaker 2 (01:15:44):
All right, let's hit the trench port.

Speaker 3 (01:15:46):
It's brought to you by Big Fig the mattress made
for More, crafted in Cleveland, just like our Browns. Next
to Miles Garrett, Carson Swestinger, Denzel Ward. Is anyone on
defense playing better than Alex Right, anyone on this team?
He's been lights out this year. Tod a big one
this last weekend.

Speaker 5 (01:16:00):
Hoff. Are we allowed to include Miles Garrett?

Speaker 2 (01:16:06):
I think I mentioned him first? Yes, yeah, he was
all mentioned first off.

Speaker 5 (01:16:10):
Or Olympics skills on my part.

Speaker 3 (01:16:12):
All right, you've slept for two hours in three days,
you're in Germany, You've had six six beers.

Speaker 2 (01:16:17):
It's fine.

Speaker 5 (01:16:18):
Yeah, let me tell you, thirty six hours no food,
thirty six beers is not a great diet. I wouldn't
recommend it for anybody, even though they are very delicious.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
Hallax Spears was that that's like Andre the Giant for
a little Yeah, that's an incredible performance by you.

Speaker 8 (01:16:36):
I felt like him this morning six feet Under when
I was trying to so no, I think I think
Alex Right, you know that to me? If you're looking
for bright spots on this team right now, clearly Alex
Right is a huge bright spot the defensive line. I
think obviously we knew that they were going to be
one of our strengths, but playing great football.

Speaker 5 (01:16:58):
Carson Swessinger obviously continuing to.

Speaker 8 (01:17:01):
Play really good, So I would throw him in there,
maybe also as another guy that's uh maybe you said
him already too as well, but as another guy that's been.

Speaker 5 (01:17:09):
Really impressive and fun to watch.

Speaker 8 (01:17:11):
I mean, he'd add another ten tackles in the game,
half a sack, two TFLs. I mean, he's all over
the field, beast, I mean, and so you the great
thing is that this defense is really as advertised.

Speaker 5 (01:17:22):
They're the team that you thought they were.

Speaker 8 (01:17:23):
And unless you've played in the NFL, and I've never
played defense in the NFL, but I still respect how
hard it is to play defense consistently when your offense
is not doing anything, and it's so difficult because of
how hard and how tiring it is to run to
the football with maximum effort every single play, only to
have to come back out on the field ten minutes

(01:17:44):
later after a three and out by your offense or
after four or five plays by your offense, Like it
is really really hard to keep that level up, and
we always thought that when we played the Steelers, who
were one of, you know, the number one defense in
the league, like seemed like the first half of my career,
we said, all we got to do is extend a
drive with one first down, and they'll get tired because

(01:18:06):
they're disguising.

Speaker 5 (01:18:07):
They're moving all over the field.

Speaker 8 (01:18:09):
They have to run and cover different zones with their
zone blitzes, and so we knew that the longer the
drive went on, the more exhausted they were going to be,
the more vulnerable they were going to be. But if
their offense kept the football and we would go three
and out, they're fresh and the balls in their court
and they're going to be really tough to beat. And
so for the defense to continue to play the way

(01:18:29):
they have been with the offense struggling the way they.

Speaker 5 (01:18:33):
Have been, I think is a huge, huge bright spot.

Speaker 8 (01:18:36):
And I think you've got to feel really good about
the defensive line the way they're playing and the way
the defense as a whole is holding things together and
still giving you an opportunity to win even in spite
of offensive ineptitude.

Speaker 3 (01:18:50):
Off get some rest, Yes, Sarah, thanks for your time, buddy,
and your tales of greatness in Germany.

Speaker 8 (01:18:56):
I appreciate you guys, thanks for having me on. I
will mention briefly that Katerina Vit was the coin cost
captain in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:19:05):
Oh my, oh I'm aware.

Speaker 6 (01:19:07):
Wait that's who?

Speaker 5 (01:19:08):
That who?

Speaker 2 (01:19:09):
Yeah, like, how do I know?

Speaker 8 (01:19:12):
This?

Speaker 2 (01:19:12):
Put me half tagged me in the post top, which
I appreciated.

Speaker 5 (01:19:16):
I did not see.

Speaker 2 (01:19:16):
Yes, oh yes, she was a number. Oh yes, did
you get a picture?

Speaker 5 (01:19:26):
I grabbed a video. So it was interesting.

Speaker 8 (01:19:27):
So like the job that I do in some of
these international games, I'm like the sideline host, and so
we're pretty heavy pregame.

Speaker 5 (01:19:35):
So we're doing hits every three four minutes, and like
we had just finished.

Speaker 8 (01:19:39):
Right before the national anthem, because obviously everybody did commercial
break and they come right back. So we just finished
and they announced Katerina vent you know, gold medalists from Germany.

Speaker 5 (01:19:49):
They were saying him in German, of course, but I
saw it. I was like, oh my gosh.

Speaker 8 (01:19:53):
I got so excited, and unfortunately nobody the other people
that I was working with were as excited as me
or realized like greatness that was in front of them.
And unfortunately, right after she did the coin flip. As
she was walking off, I was going to like run
over and try to get a picture like a little
super boyfriend. But we had another hit, so I wasn't

(01:20:13):
willing to get fired quite yet in that moment. Maybe
covering event in nineteen ninety I would have, but the
twenty twenty five version, I was willing to keep my
job and just you know, take a video from a
far and be a fan.

Speaker 3 (01:20:26):
It was one hundred and ten miles an hour painting
the black of the home plate her and Tamba.

Speaker 2 (01:20:33):
Come on, come on, I mean that was what a
time alive? What a time to be alive in Calgary.

Speaker 8 (01:20:38):
Yes, to save any of the seed stock, you know,
as a cattleman, you know Hall of fame, d transfer
and artificial insemination and you know, trying to make that
super cattle.

Speaker 5 (01:20:50):
So hopefully they saved some of the seed stock and
we can you know, recreate the greatness they could have
been had to have some children.

Speaker 3 (01:20:58):
Unbelievable, Yes, indeed, incredible effort at off. Thanks for your time.

Speaker 2 (01:21:02):
What a treat, all right, guys.

Speaker 5 (01:21:04):
Thanks, thanks for bringing the smile on my face.

Speaker 8 (01:21:05):
Guys, Well, we'll talk to you tomorrow after SEP for
like eighteen hours.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Yes, lumber, the great Hoff and the Joe Thomas half
hour of the program. Is that was great? I did
not see the category events stuff. Oh yeah yeah, oh
yeah yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:21:19):
All right.

Speaker 3 (01:21:19):
You listen to Cleveland Browns Day that were presented by
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Speaker 2 (01:21:24):
Please bet responsibly on a fifty ESPN Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:21:31):
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Speaker 3 (01:21:54):
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Podium presented by Vivid Seats. Vivid Seats persu your official
fan experience package today for the Ultimate Game Day. Here

(01:22:14):
is safety Ronnie Hickman.

Speaker 9 (01:22:16):
Yeah, Ronnie, just wondering. I mean, you went out there,
you made a big play for the team, yesterday, Justin's
first interception of the season and then you guys capitalize
on it. How frustrating for you that you guys weren't
able to close out that game and finish it out
and get the win.

Speaker 10 (01:22:35):
Yess tough, you know, especially when you when you cut
the tape on and you kind of see those mistakes
are you know, very self inflicting and things that you
know we can you know, we could have done better
at so I was very frustrated, but you know, you
got to move on.

Speaker 11 (01:22:49):
Hey, Ronnie, amid all of these struggles that the team
has had on in whatever phase it may be, like,
how how are you guys as an entire unit, not
just defense and offense special teams, How are you guys
as a full team getting yourselves through these struggles trying
to make sure that locker room doesn't spiral, but in
the case of so many teams that it can.

Speaker 10 (01:23:12):
I think it's just a test to the bond we have,
as you know, as teammates in this locker room, and
you know everyone in this building. You know, Coachlefanski preaches
about family and and you know, you know, we take
that to heart, whether that's good and bad.

Speaker 5 (01:23:23):
Wins and losses.

Speaker 10 (01:23:23):
So you know the conversations, Uh, they're going to be tough,
but it you know, as a family, you know you're
going to have those moments and we just got to
learn from it and get better.

Speaker 11 (01:23:32):
Does it feel like for you like there's enough going
on in the week, enough maybe adjustments and changes before
the game that can create change and it's just not
going your way, or like does there need to be
more change in a week before a game to get
that action on the field.

Speaker 5 (01:23:48):
I think we had a great week of practice.

Speaker 10 (01:23:50):
I think guys were locked in and on both sides
of the wall, offense and defense, I felt like there
was energy. I thought we came out of the bye week,
you know, you know, on the same page as a team, team,
as a whole unit. It just comes down to executing
on Sunday and then you know those self inflicting you know,
plays that will cast you in the end.

Speaker 5 (01:24:09):
Thanks Ronnie, Hey Ronnie.

Speaker 12 (01:24:11):
I know the defense came off the field after those
first three plays. You force the three and out and
you guys score, and then the next time you go
on the field it's a fourteen to seven deficit because
of the two special teams. Touchdowns. I guess what was
happening with you guys as you go back out there
and suddenly you're trailing and it's a totally different situation.

Speaker 10 (01:24:33):
I think, you know, the sudden change thing. As a defense,
you know, we've been able to grow throughout the years.
But I know for us as a defense, our number
one goal is to get the ball back to our offense.
And I think we've improved as far as you know,
those sudden changes where you're back on the field or
the scoreboard changes drastically. As a defense, no matter what
it is when they put that ball down, our main

(01:24:55):
job is to get the ball backs to the offense.

Speaker 12 (01:24:57):
And I know, like special teams, Bubba has been like
such a focus. It seems like from the outside, Kevin
talked about still believing in him and what everyone can
do on special teams. I guess for players, like what
has that been like and that relationship with him?

Speaker 10 (01:25:14):
Yeah, you know, Bubba, you know, he's a great special
team coach and he's very passionate. I think if you
ask anyone in the building and always been around him,
you know he cares, you know, not just about you know,
the special teams, but you know just about the guys
in this locker room and the guys that you know
that play for him in this organization. So you know,
it's all us as players to go out there and.

Speaker 5 (01:25:32):
You know and do our job. Hey, Ronnie, I wanted
to follow up with that about Bubba.

Speaker 13 (01:25:36):
So after a game like yesterday when he give up
to two kick returns for a touch on, what is
Bubba like, you know, on the sideline after the game
or even today in the meetings?

Speaker 10 (01:25:45):
I mean, he's coaching, He's going over corrections and he's coaching.

Speaker 5 (01:25:51):
Does he?

Speaker 13 (01:25:52):
I mean Kevin earlier said that he has a ton
of faith in Bubba, Like, does yours ever get shaken
when there's a game like that? We're special teams is
a big part of a loss.

Speaker 10 (01:26:04):
Now, it's not really my job to be, you know,
being shaky about about a coaching position or whatever you yeah,
trying to get at. But you know, you know, Bubba's
our coach, and you know he coaches us throughout the
week hard. He puts us in good positions.

Speaker 5 (01:26:20):
And that's that.

Speaker 8 (01:26:21):
Sorry.

Speaker 12 (01:26:21):
I couldn't get my hand raised fast enough, Jordan, Ronnie,
I just wanted to ask about Carson because it just
seems like he's been playing so well for a rookie,
and Kevin today said he had Wolverine blood for going
out there and fighting through the high ankles, brain and
just from from your perspective in that defense, in the
back of that defense, watching what he does. How much
has he made an impact in his first year with

(01:26:43):
you guys?

Speaker 5 (01:26:44):
Yeah, I think you guys see it.

Speaker 10 (01:26:45):
I think you know, everyone's watching the game can see
the type of impact to play it like that has.

Speaker 5 (01:26:50):
So it's just been great.

Speaker 10 (01:26:52):
You know, he's a he's a young guy, but able
to impact the game and you know, such a tremendous way.
And you know, for him to come back after you know,
the little injury had and still extremely productive and making
plays for us, it's huge and just a testament to
you know, the type of player is and you know
how much he wanted to be back out there with
his guys.

Speaker 12 (01:27:07):
All right, thanks Ronnie, appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:27:09):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:27:11):
All right, time for that Microsoft been presented by Microsoft
Microsoft Surface Copilot plus PC for our final thoughts on
the game against the Jets.

Speaker 2 (01:27:22):
Doc Disease.

Speaker 4 (01:27:23):
Yeah, it's just to look, at the end of the day,
the Browns just have to be better, right, You've got
to be better in terms of your discipline, not jumping
off sides in a situation that single hand. You know
that ends the game when you do.

Speaker 9 (01:27:34):
So.

Speaker 4 (01:27:34):
You've got to be better on special teams. Not allowing
catastrophic plays. I don't think that we're asking too much, right,
Just don't allow catastrophic plays on special teams.

Speaker 3 (01:27:42):
That's really forgetting me new. Not have catastrophic plays there. Offensive,
we just have to be better.

Speaker 2 (01:27:47):
We got to do more.

Speaker 4 (01:27:47):
We've got to get the ball down the field. We've
got to create running links for Quinchwn Jenkins, all of it.
You know you're two and seven because we have not
consistently been good on offense. The defense has been better
at home than it's been on the road, and on
the road it's really been good for a half three
quarters and then eventually it's just like, okay, this is enough.
But the defense has been good enough for this to
be a team that is contending for the AFC North

(01:28:09):
Division title. It's the offense and special teams have not
and that's why we are where we are, and we've
got to get this offense going. We've got to get
the quarterback position going. And you know, if not, we
have to explore a great many things.

Speaker 2 (01:28:23):
Right, That's it.

Speaker 4 (01:28:25):
I mean, that's the bottom line po this offense. It
was great to see Jerry Judy get involved more of that.
We've got to find ways to make explosives. And it's
easier said than done, obviously, because if it was easy,
it would be done already. I mean, everybody knows that. Unfortunately,
these games have an all too familiar feel, and I'm
just hoping over the final eight games, which is still

(01:28:47):
a lot of football to be played, that we can
find some kind of a spark offensively.

Speaker 3 (01:28:52):
Yeah, and the way that this team was built offensively
was never going to be a team that could overcome
this type of calamity on special teams, in this type
of lack of discipline, right, I mean, you just you
weren't going to be able to overcome that. You don't
have you have the Bengals offense, you don't have the
Seahawks offense. So you have to play perfect in those

(01:29:12):
other areas to have success, and right now we're just not.
You listened to Cleveland Browns Daily were presented by Ballely Bet,
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on eight fifty ESPN Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:29:26):
presented by bally Bet Sports Book, an official sports betting partner.
If you are Cleveland Browns, please bet responsibly.

Speaker 3 (01:29:57):
Heed to Meyers Scan the Hillshire Farms QR. Come the
meat departments November eleventh for a chance to win a
suite for ten to the Steelers game on December twenty eighth.
Speaking of the Steelers, a Sante Samuel Junior signing with
the Steelers today. He had the injury and went on
a little tour. They needed some help. Jan Thornhill was
cut earlier today. Obviously don't play the same position. But
now free agent corner Sante Samuel Junior joins Pittsburgh's back end.

Speaker 2 (01:30:20):
So that happened here.

Speaker 3 (01:30:21):
Other big news in the NFL, Tunn done for the
year with surgery. So those are kind of the big
deals of the day in the National Football League. Join
Zi and Gerad Thursday night seven eight for the Kevin
Stefanski Show live from MGM Northfield Park. Meet Brown's wide
receiver Gage Larvinen, who will be signing Autogress during the show.

(01:30:42):
It's brought to you by MGM Northfield Park. Must be
twenty one to attend and that'll do it for us.
We're back tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (01:30:49):
Thanks for listening Cleveland Brod's Daily, eight fifty ESPN Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:30:53):
You've been listening to Cleveland Brown's Daily, a production of
the Cleveland Browns, and eight to fifty ESPN Cleveland A
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Speaker 5 (01:31:19):
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Risk, Reward, and Analysis with Zastudil and The HOF - Cleveland Browns Daily - 11.11.25

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