Show Notes
It's time! Time for Burning River Sportscast presented by Tap In Media to go live again!
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Join as we discuss the Week 18 Cleveland Browns loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Well, welcome into the Burning River Sportscast. It's time.
Time for the Burning River Sportscast.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: We're battling technical difficulties, technical difficulties at the moment. Our boardman decided to log in as a producer instead of being on on the actual show. He didn't want to.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Oh, something happened.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Anyways, Kenny, do the intros.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: I was trying to fix bone.
Ravens 35, Browns 10. We'll break it all down right now.
Welcome into the final post game live edition. Thank God.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: It's like a well oiled machine at this point. You guys never have to worry about any glitches, anything bad happening. Like it's just everything flows like it's supposed to. It's fantastic.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Look, we got bone back, I think.
[00:01:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm back.
[00:01:45] Speaker D: He's back.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: Ah, he's on the live show. So there we go.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: There we go.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Thanks for joining us.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Once again, welcome into the final Post game live edition of this season on the Burning River Sportscast presented by the fine folks at Tapping Media. I'm Kenny Thunder joining me tonight. If he was bubblegum you wouldn't chew him, you'd spit him out. These red hot Ronnie jams and everyone's favorite carbon based creature, the big Bone man. Gentlemen, good evening. Happy to have you both to share in another ugly yet predictable ground Sloss.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: I'm never happy to join you.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Feels bad. Feels real bad.
[00:02:25] Speaker D: Yeah, it feels real bad. Back to red out.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Where can our listeners find the dopest dope they ever heard On a podcast and number one rate podcast and all of good pods as well as the unofficial podcast of Cleveland Browns backers everywhere.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: And the official podcast of some Cleveland Browns backers somewhere.
[00:02:40] Speaker D: Several.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Several. Now we're up to five.
Listen, you can find our. This is one good thing about being a Browns fan is even though you gotta, you gotta deal with that trash that was out on the field today you got us to listen to afterwards if we could get things working right. So yeah, you can find our podcast wherever. Get your podcast talking to Apple podcast, Spotify, stitcher, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Pocket, Cast Castro. Good pods are. We are number one ranked football podcast and so many more. Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube. The only place that you can find our video podcast and check us out on Facebook, Instagram and tick tock handles for all those is that burning over Sportscast. And we are on X with the handle at Burning River Pod Pod. And while you're at it, check out our merch www.thetappinmedia.com backslash shop. All kinds of stuff in there. But before we get started, I do want to give a quick shout out to some of our sponsors. First of all, Topat Distillery, Topaz Distillery, been with us since the beginning. An award winning craft distillery located in Akan, Ohio. Topath focuses on high quality spirits carefully made in small batches. Topath Distillery, handcrafted, award winning small batch, local and family owned. And then true fan travel. They make away games, home games with all inclusive travel packages. They had trips this year to Las Vegas, Washington and New Orleans. We were a part of the New Orleans trip. It was awesome.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: That was a highlight of the Brown season for. For me.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
Except for the Browns losing in New Orleans.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Well, yeah.
[00:04:08] Speaker D: Everything up until then was cool though.
[00:04:11] Speaker C: The experience at the game though was still was that ass. It was top notch. Yeah.
[00:04:16] Speaker D: Still.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And they don't just do football games either. Or even just sports for that matter. Some of the other things they're involved with and have coming up this year include the Kentucky Derby and October fe Best. So be sure to sure to check them out. Highly recommend one of those travel packages. You will not be disappointed.
But on today's show, I think the.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Kentucky Derby package includes like some trip to like part. It's part of the trip is in like Nashville.
[00:04:40] Speaker D: It's like a dual.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Like, I think they hit Nashville last year.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: They did the Nashville Derby. Oh, in 2024, they did the Nashville Derby.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Got it.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah. But anyways, on today's show, this is what you look forward to. We got a recap of today's Week 18 loss against the Ravens. I say recap. We'll see where it goes.
And that's probably it. We're gonna try and keep this thing short. We know, we know everybody's worn out on the Browns this year. We're happy it's coming to an end. That's not because we're bad fans. It's more so because we're finally put out of our misery and we get to go do other things and watch real teams play football.
But let's get things started by reminding everyone to call the burning sportscast hot take hotline.
[00:05:22] Speaker D: Yeah, do that.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Yeah, call our hot take hotline. Remember, this is a voicemail that's set up for all you guys to call in. And if you're. You're pissed off about the Browns, you got ideas about the Browns, where they should go next, who they should get rid of, who they should keep. Any of that good stuff. We want to hear it, Kenny.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Yeah, we we want to hear. There's. There's bound to be some news coming out, whether it's front office personnel, player personnel.
You know, all kinds of things are going to happen probably in very short order here.
[00:05:54] Speaker D: So we'd love to hear your ideas.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: On how we fix this mess, how we go from 3 and 14 to 14 and 3.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: You don't fix this.
Not right away, anyways, but. Yeah. So the number to call for the Hot Take Hotline, 330-227-8080. Call now. Operators are not standing by, but we will take that hot take and put it on air.
All right, let's get into it, guys. Let's just go with Baltimore offense and Browns defense. Derek Henry killed us. Start there.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: I mean, he didn't do anything in the first half. He only had, like, 15 yards rushing, and then he had, like 130 in the second half.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Well, so as I was saying, in the grand scheme of things, Derek Henry killed us. 20 carries for 138 yards. He averaged basically seven yards of carry, had two touchdowns, just especially in the second half after our team was worn down a little bit. Made it look easy.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: Yeah, look, this whole game was just ugly. This was exactly what we expected. We knew the spread coming in was 20.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: They covered that.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Covered that 25.
And.
And look, I mean, everything about this was.
[00:07:10] Speaker D: Was collegiate, right? The spread was a collegiate spread.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: The Browns were running a collegiate offense with dual quarterbacks because we couldn't figure out which wanted to be in the game.
Neither of them could move the ball effectively. And the Ravens are probably a team that's going to be no worse than an AFC championship contender.
[00:07:28] Speaker D: So it is what it is.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: I mean, this was kind of the perfect microcosm of, A, the whole season, and B, just two franchises that are on very separate paths.
When you think about The Browns Since 99, it's just been depression and futility and turnover. And you think about the Ravens and the fact they've been to multiple Super Bowls in one and have had, you know, two GMs, and I think only two had. I mean, I can't remember who was before Brian Billick, but I think it was Billick and then Harbaugh.
[00:08:08] Speaker D: So two head coaches, at least for.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: The last 20, 25 years.
And, I mean, just. Just night and day.
[00:08:16] Speaker D: Right.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: I mean, it's just they're the.
[00:08:17] Speaker D: They're the total opposite of what we are and what we strive to be.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: Yeah, we. We will. Well, we'll. They keep saying we're going to get there. One Day. I don't know that we're ever going to get there. We won't. We won't be that.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: No, no, no. Look, I mean, this team is going nowhere fast. I think the other thing, this, the today's game showed you.
We talk all the time about quarterbacks, Right. Baker wasn't good enough, Shipped him off, went with the desean thing. Desean crashed and burned. And then even this season we had Jamis and we were kind of excited. He was moving the ball, moving the offense, but through a bunch of picks. I think watching DTR and Bailey Zappy, two guys who just aren't NFL quarterbacks but are collecting NFL paychecks, just goes.
[00:09:09] Speaker D: To show you, like, how hard it.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Is to find a guy. To find a guy that fits in your system and will do well.
I mean, between the last two years, we've been through nine quarterbacks.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: And none of those guys are going to be a starter for you next year. Next year.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Yeah. I think you actually said something in the middle of that.
That is very important. As you said, find a quarterback that fits our system. I think one of the biggest problems is we don't have a system. Nobody knows what our system is.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: Well, no, even today I'm watching. I'm watching receivers on.
On one of the last drives of the game. It was like the fourth down play. And I'm watching two receivers crossing from the same side of the field that are within three yards of each other and another that's within five yards. And I'm like, I can guard these three receivers with one defensive player.
[00:10:03] Speaker D: What. What scheme is this?
[00:10:05] Speaker A: What, that's your best fourth down play?
[00:10:07] Speaker B: The perfect play.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: I just, I don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense to me at all what kind of offense this is. I mean, I think, look, fans obviously want red meat.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: There's an easy one.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: I would think that that probably will be Ken Dorsey at some point here in the next week or so.
I think as questionable as Kevin Stefanski's play calling has been, if this team is intent on keeping him, Andrew Barry, for the next year, I think you at least roll it back and go back to the Stefanski offense, that was.
[00:10:41] Speaker D: At least watchable because this year has.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: Been totally and utterly unwatchable.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: Do you think part of him turning the plays over to Dorsey at the end of the year been an FU.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Move like you want Dorsey?
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Sure. He saw it on the writing on the wall already. He's like, we're heading for a really, really bad. Like it was already Pretty bad at that point. But he's like, we might not win another game. So he's like, I'm gonna turn this thing over. He's like, you guys wanna. You guys want me to stop calling plays? Here you go. This is what you get.
[00:11:11] Speaker D: A little bit.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: A little bit of 40 chest there on Kevin's part, which I appreciate. Look, I just go back to like, if it sounds at this point, all indications are they have no, no motivation to move on from Kevin Stefanski or Andrew Barry. You're gonna have a top five three pick in this draft.
And all I can say is, like, if this team is not willing to go out and find the right people to run this organization, this is your future.
[00:11:44] Speaker D: Today is your future.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: You're going to watch this whole thing play out again next year and maybe.
[00:11:50] Speaker D: The year after that.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: I mean, hell to Sean still here. We'll probably end up giving him another shot at some point, so.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: And I actually. I actually understand Stefanik a little bit more than Barry. Like, how Andrew Barry's going to maintain his job after this is just mind boggling, especially when you start looking at the. At the facts and we've talked about them a lot over the last couple weeks of just how many of his draft picks, how many of his free agents, how many of the moves that he's made that look great in the moment have actually panned out a couple years later and it's virtually none.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: No. And all the great cat movies he mays makes are. Are in response to the poor one that he made for DeShawn.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:31] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: I mean, he's just digging out of his own hole. So it's like, oh, great cat move. Oh, wait, I wouldn't have been in this situation if it wasn't for me.
So it's hard to give him credit for even those.
[00:12:43] Speaker D: I just.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Today I feel very depressed as a Browns fan. Depressed because. Not because of this season and how.
[00:12:51] Speaker D: Bad it was, but because I just.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Feel that we are doomed to repeat the same thing over again next year. I would hope that after one more year of this that the Hasm's eyes finally would open and go, all right, we can't run this back again.
And so maybe the reckoning for Stefanski and Barry will come next year, but we're going to be looking at the same thing next year, guys. I mean, we've already talked at length about, you know, this team has a lot of problems in offense. One, the offensive line is for, you know, Nick Chubb, hopefully comes back totally.
[00:13:26] Speaker D: Healthy, but we'll see.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: We didn't see a lot of great play out of Nick Chubb yet. Obviously, he was still kind of recovering. So I just think he's a. He's a wild card in this whole thing.
And you have a bright spot in Jerry Judy, but I don't know about the rest of this receiving crew.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Receivers are. If you're. If you don't have a quarterback, they can throw.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: And ultimately you need a quarterback.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: And it doesn't matter how good your quarterback or running back is if you don't have a line that could protect them.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: So, yeah, I mean, this whole thing just eats itself every way you look at it. And we've talked about how the quarterbacks in the draft, you know, don't look great. So maybe there's not a good answer there, even though you have an early pick. And your answers for quarterback outside of the draft and free agency and via trade are looking like guys like Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, the Kirk Cousins thing has, like, caught fire over the last.
[00:14:15] Speaker D: Week, which I think it was simply.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Because we're cap strapped and, and he's gonna go for the veterans minimum.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: It's one of the only moves you can make.
And, like, there was a time when I would have been happy with Kirk Cousins as our quarterback. I just think Kirk Cousins is probably.
[00:14:32] Speaker D: Played his best football already.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: So I don't know what bringing Kirk Cousins here does for you at this point. I mean, I think he went the last four games in Atlanta without throwing.
[00:14:43] Speaker D: A touchdown before he got benched for the rookie, so.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: Well, you. You touched on a little bit. But what about Sam Darnold or even the new one that's popped up is that they might keep Sam Darnold and field Trade offers for J.J. mcCarthy.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Well, yeah, and I look at Sam Darnold and I look at that, and I'm like, Sam Darnold is almost in that same group of. Like, he is in the same group of a Gen Smith and a Baker Mayfield. Like, they experienced success when they found an offense and a coaching staff that believed in them and built their offense around what they could do. So if we bring Sam Darnold out of Minnesota, is there any guarantee that he's Minnesota to Sam Darnold, or does he become Carolina Sam Darnold?
You know, I think that's, that's the question. It's like, he's in a good spot right now, as is Baker, as is Gino. They're running schemes that fit their skill.
[00:15:30] Speaker D: Set, which is good for those guys.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: But I don't think I, We've always had these discussions, right? It's like, could you take Peyton Manning and just put them on the Browns or would the Browns be good? Could you take Tom Brady and put him on the Browns? Would he, would they be good? Maybe.
[00:15:43] Speaker D: Like, yeah, these guys were high level.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Players, but like if everything around them.
[00:15:48] Speaker D: Is shit.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: To even the best football players, ability to put the team on his back and carry them through everything.
[00:15:57] Speaker D: Right.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: And I just, I mean, I was shaking my head the whole time you were saying that. Just because I imagine especially at the, at those times like when Tom, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were good and how just dysfunctional and terrible our team was top to bottom, it's like it wouldn't have mattered. You could have thrown them on our team and they would have. By the time they were done with the Browns, they would have been run out of the NFL.
[00:16:19] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, maybe they, maybe, maybe.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Their greatness equates to three more wins on a team like the Browns.
[00:16:26] Speaker D: So you go from, you know, for.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Your 4 and 12 seasons or whatever back then to 7 and 9, but.
[00:16:32] Speaker D: You'Re still not going anywhere fast and you're watching mediocre football because this, this thing is, bro, in way more ways than one. So I mean even the offensive line, like I don't know how you fix the offensive line. I mean, I think you look at the offensive line and over the last few weeks there was a few games where the team had over 100 yards and you start to go, you know, it wasn't that terrible. It didn't feel like you had the same sack propensity that you had early on with DeSean holding the football as much as he did.
So like you get kind of in this, like maybe they're not as bad as I thought, but they still weren't blowing up holes for running backs. They still weren't doing a good enough job protecting. Still had a lot of pre snap penalties and things.
And I mean, look, that, that line is full of guys that in Cleveland we've respected and thought were high level players for a long time. Right? Like, are you getting rid of Wyatt Teller? Like, do we think Wyatt Teller is washed?
[00:17:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:26] Speaker C: I mean, didn't like it.
[00:17:28] Speaker D: I mean, Joel Batonio is a Hall of Famer. I mean, as long as he wants to come back and play, are we telling him no?
[00:17:34] Speaker C: I hope not.
[00:17:35] Speaker D: Ethan Pochic, I think has probably been the most consistent player along that offensive.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Line all year long.
[00:17:41] Speaker D: So I don't think he's going anywhere.
And Then you have question at right tackle with Jack Conklin. But Jack Conklin's issues were the fact that he was injured all the time and he played I think the last like 13 games. So like, are you going to move on from Jack Conklin? Like he clearly left tackle the problem.
But are you telling me like we can draft an all pro left tackle in the first, second, third round and that's going to fix this offensive line? Like you almost have to reshuffle the deck entirely and it's just again, not things that are going to happen in, in one year under Stefanski and Barry.
[00:18:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I would add, was Daewon Jones a one hit wonder for his rookie year? What, like, what the hell happened? I know he was hurt a lot this year, but seemed like when he did play he wasn't the same shell of himself from the year before.
[00:18:32] Speaker D: So yeah, I mean he, he had a really hard time and, and then he went and got hurt. So I just, I mean you have some major problems on that line, but it's like how do you, how do you determine who's going to stay and who's going to go? Because again, I look through those names and I go, well, individually would I like to have this guy on my roster? And as you break it down, you probably go, well, yeah, sure, like he's a good lineman and so you have a whole host of problems there.
And again, the quarterback thing is not getting, getting any easier. I mean, maybe you draft a guy like Ashton Genty and he's a building block for the future, but that certainly isn't going to fix your team overnight. You know, maybe he's a, he ends up being the next type of Nick Chubb type running back that, you know, can rush for 12, 1400 yards in a season and give this team back a solid running game. But, but that's just one piece and, and I still think that you're light in receivers, you know, and Joku, you know, I think we all believe in, is a tremendous athlete's, been here a long time, still relatively young.
He's good, but he was banged up a lot this year.
You know, he's still one of those guys that has yet to take the mantle of becoming a top three, top five guy at his position in the league, even though he should. He has the talent and the skill set to do so.
So I just think there's, I think there's a lot of really hard decisions upcoming for this football team and I don't know that they have the gall or the fortitude to do that? I mean, can. Do you have the willpower to shop a guy like in Joku and just say, look like, can we turn him into two productive players of what we can get back for him? And then we have to trust these guys that they're going to get the right two productive players so they're not just going to waste picks on, you know, the next Jed Wills.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: Exactly. I mean, you guys already touched on it, but allowing Andrew Barry anywhere near this draft, I just think is insane. Just absolute insanity. But like you said, I got a strong feeling that's what's going to end up happening and we're going to be stuck with some other washout in the next couple years.
Hopefully that's not the case. You know, I'm generally an optimistic Browns fan, but this year has really, really brought me down a level. I'm.
I don't think I consider myself that anymore with this, this administration and coaching staff, because it's just from what we had last year to this year is just.
Yeah, I would, I would have never guessed, you know, this well.
[00:21:20] Speaker D: And I think you go back to last year and, and you start to think, you know, maybe this team wasn't that good last year. I still think there's. I think the defense is good. I think the defense for the last several weeks and even today, even though they gave up 35 points, they were on the field all game long. The offense couldn't move the ball at all. I still have faith in this defense as a unit that they can be good and maybe you, you know, mix out some guys like Juan Thornhill that, that didn't have great years and seems like you have some, some young up and coming guys in, in that linebacker core like Watson and Reed that, you know, like to hit people and like to get their nose dirty.
[00:21:59] Speaker C: Man. Man, I hope he comes back.
[00:22:00] Speaker D: Well, yeah, comes back. So, like, I don't think the defense is far away from being a contending unit again, but the biggest problem with the defense this year was the offense and the offense is entirely broken. And I think last year what we ended up with was a team that was, you know, competitive enough on offense during the early part of the year that by the time Joe Flacco showed up, I think he could cover up a lot of those mistakes because.
And again, is it, is it the, is it the fact that Joe Flacco is the best quarterback of all time? Is he a Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? No, but I think that the system we were running last year was a great fit for Joe Flacco.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:22:41] Speaker D: And I think because of that, it hid a lot of the.
A lot of the messy underbelly of this team that we ended up seeing in full this year. When you lose a guy like Joe Flacco because there's no one to get rid of the ball in less than 3 seconds and zip it into receivers and hit them, you know, on the dot.
And, you know, frankly, a lot of that offense last year was, you know, a Joe just kind of ripping it and having fun, and he was ripping it to Amari Cooper, who was just flying down the sideline, which, like, just isn't really a sustainable NFL offense. Like, it wasn't. It was a ton of fun to watch. But like, to be honest, I mean, that game against the Texans or whatever, I think Amari Cooper had like 280 yards receiving. Like, I mean, that was the large part of the offense, was a deep ball. And. And to Joe's credit, like, he throws an accurate deep ball.
You can't just live and die by that in the NFL. You got to be able to sustain a running game. You got to be able to mix and match and move the sticks when you need to. So, yeah, all that to say. Like, I just think this team is really far away on offense and I don't trust the guys in the front office to fix it at this point, which is. It's just a harrowing feeling to have as a Browns fan because we've been through this so many times and it's so depressing and so vile and so putrid to watch.
But I can't tell you the last time that I had this little fun watching, watching this football team, even in years where we were really bad. I mean, this whole team, this whole year has just felt like an absolute slog to get through. Felt like they had no plan, no clue, no recipe for getting better, and that they were just going from week to week just hoping they could all get out with their jobs.
And I think that's where we are right now. And I don't think that's a comfortable place to be going into 2025. And here's the thing. I mean, we're watching Pittsburgh and Baltimore or Cincinnati right now. We just watched the Ravens whoop on us like, this division's not going anywhere. I mean, Joe Burrow seems healthy, is playing MVP caliber football.
You know, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally have an offense, be it with Justin Fields or Russell Wilson, you know, if they continue to add, they're. They're prolific in the draft for add, you know, great wide receivers and great defensive personnel. So, like, I expect they will get better in the off season.
And like we said, I think the Ravens team that we just played is likely a contender for at least the AFC championship. So this division is not.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: It's.
[00:25:24] Speaker D: It's not like we play in the AFC east or the AFC south, where, you know, 9 and 8 is going to get the job done. Like, you got to be better than. Than mediocre to above average if you're going to do anything in this league. And I say that in a year where we beat the Steelers and the Ravens, you know, it's weird, but I just think that that was such an anomaly and it was the, The Jamis effect early on. But. Yeah, but yeah, I just. I just.
I don't know where we go from here if they're going to keep everything and run it back with these guys again. I just. I don't know how. I don't know where you find success without some major shifts across the board here.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: I don't know. I just. I'm. I'm leaning on kind of the Denver idea, the. The Washington turnaround. I'm just like, maybe we can be one of those teams. Maybe, you know, I mean, Denver got rid of a big whatever, cap it with Russell Wilson, and somehow they managed to win some games this year. And are they still in. They're still in playoff contention, aren't they, with the, with the Bengals and.
[00:26:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I think it all depends on what happens to these games this weekend. The Chargers, Broncos, Bengals are kind of all in that jumbled mix.
[00:26:39] Speaker C: Yeah. Cause I mean, like you said, our defense. I feel like our defense. Defense can still be there. And if we can get some type of competent quarterback play next year, who knows? I mean, the offense is so far off, but it's just if there's any glimmer of hope, I feel like our defense can still be good and maybe, Maybe our. Our team can rally around that at least. I just think this year, I just. The offense was so terrible. Everybody lost hope. I feel like on that team when DeSean was playing and the season was lost within four games because everybody saw it. Game one, everybody saw it. This guy can't play. He shouldn't be there. And man, your professionals playing football and you're just like, why are they playing this guy? We're stuck with him. We have no chance of winning with him. So it's just like, man, you're putting your body on the line and it's like I know they make millions, but it's like there's still that human aspect of it, and it's just they, they, they set everybody up on that team to fail this year by putting all their cards into the desean Watson basket.
[00:27:39] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, I think you're spot on, right? Like they were watching this guy go out and fail every week and knowing that they're putting their body and their life on the line doing the best they can, but that when this offense is scoring 16, 14 points a week, you know, there's not a lot of room for error. And I think there's an emotional aspect of this as well that we probably overlook. You know, we've probably all been on a team, whether it was a sports team growing up or a team at work where maybe, maybe you genuinely like somebody that you're partnered with or that's on the team, but they're just not good at what they do, you know, and it's like you, you want the guy to be successful and your friends outside of work and outside of the sport, but it's like, man, like, I got a point guard that I just can't make free throws, you know, like, as much as we like the guy and want the guy to be successful, so I think you couple that with the fact that you have just this outright failure on the field, so you're almost at war with yourself internally. And then it goes for every man on that 53 man roster that probably, you know, likes Desean as a person, likes to go on vacation to the Caribbean with desean in the summertime and run on the beach and all those things, you know, So I think that it's a tough thing for a locker room to look at a guy, have expectations for a guy, maybe even respect and like a guy. And maybe, you know, maybe some guys are not all that high on him, but I think in large part, like when you spend that much time with people and you're a football team, it's just, it's just a different type of camaraderie that builds and you want everybody to be successful, but then when you watch just the utter futility that comes out of it every week, it's just like, we just can't, just can't do this. And I think it kills your morale, your motivation for playing, and just your anticipation of, can we, can we ever be successful? Can we win?
And we talk all the time about culture, right? Like, culture being the hardest thing to change. And, you know, if that's your mindset going into games, like, do we even have a shot? Because we know the offense can't move the ball.
I mean, it's just, it's just this, you know, consistent cycle of just low morale, losing. So. Yeah, it just feels really bad. But all that to say, like, I guess I just, I don't know where we go from here. That is positive.
[00:30:19] Speaker C: You know, we, you know, what we got that we haven't had for the last three years. Mr. Thunder is looking forward to the draft. We got a first round pick.
[00:30:29] Speaker D: That's. That's true. No thanks to Andrew Berry.
[00:30:32] Speaker C: I mean, this is classic Browns fan fandemonium right here. I mean, this is, this is our Super Bowl. We look forward to it, you know, aside from the last three years. But, you know, we're all eyes on the draft because we got a top three pick and, and, and something will hit, maybe something more hit.
[00:30:50] Speaker D: I don't, I would just, I would just say don't get too comfortable because if Andrew Barry has anything to say about it, he'll trade that pick away.
[00:30:58] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. You know, next thing we know, we're picking 27th.
[00:31:05] Speaker D: Yeah. And I fully expect, like, honestly, like, I mean, again, if you're, unless you're enamored with one of those quarterbacks or playmaker, like, like Ashton or what's the other kid out of Colorado, Travis Hunter, unless you're enamored with one of those guys, you know, and you're thinking, hey, I need to, you know, get two linemen in this first round, you know, type deal, you know, I think it very well could be one of those drafts where we're going, hey, we need to just restock capital and turn, turn this one pick into two or three players.
So. Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't bank your hats on being number two or three or even one, whatever, the final, you know, season ends here and we get the final rankings, but plus, I just don't trust Andrew Barry. He might just trade that first round pick for like a new sink in the men's room.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:31:57] Speaker D: So there's that. It looks like we may have lost around a jams here for the rest of the night. I, he was having an issue with his daughter, was sick, so I don't know that he'll. He'll be rejoining us. So I guess we'll just kind of wrap this thing up. I don't know, Bone, if you have a, you have a dog of the week nominee, anybody that caught your eye and the disgraceful game we just watched.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: I don't know, we were kind of talking about him earlier, but it was Winston Reed, right? That was his name, that linebacker. Young linebacker.
[00:32:27] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:32:28] Speaker C: I don't know. He was making some hits.
[00:32:30] Speaker D: Was that Rashad Bateman that he laid out out early in the game?
[00:32:34] Speaker C: Yeah, it might have been. It might have been Bateman.
[00:32:37] Speaker D: It was a huge hit on a receiver, and it was one of those where in real time it happened and you're just looking for a flag because it was high contact.
[00:32:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:44] Speaker D: And, like, fortunately, like, it was super clean.
[00:32:48] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, that is fast. So he's my nominee. I know he. He made a nice hit on Derek Henry. I know, like, over the middle. I mean, Derek Henry still had probably 7 yards on the carry, but, man, he lit him up good. Derrick Henry's a big boy.
[00:33:01] Speaker D: God, how impressive is Derek Henry at 30 or 31 years old? I mean, we were. We were. You and I and Ronnie James. We were on the Browns cruise last year, I think, when the news broke that Baltimore had traded for Derek Henry. And we were all like, that ain't good.
And then, you know, to watch it in real time this year, 1900 yards, 16 touchdowns, and you can, you know, combine that with lamar throwing for 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns, and rushing for 800 himself. I mean, man, what an embarrassment of riches in Baltimore.
[00:33:41] Speaker C: Yeah. Derek Henry takes care of himself. I think he's going to be. He's going to be a force the next couple of years.
[00:33:46] Speaker D: Well. And I just think he just gets nastier and tougher as the season goes on, man. Like, I remember watching week one, two of his games and thinking, and, you know, maybe this whole thing won't work out the way we expected to, but, like, watching him today, man, like, he looks as fast and as healthy and as strong as. As I've ever seen him. So, yeah, I mean, kudos to him because he does obviously take care of his body in a. In a really, you know, detailed way, for sure.
So you got Winston Reed.
[00:34:19] Speaker C: You got.
Do you have one?
[00:34:23] Speaker D: I don't.
I don't know if Ronnie sent me one.
Ronnie also wants to nominate Winston Reed, but I'm not gonna let him because you did. So he can nominate.
He can nominate.
[00:34:43] Speaker C: Dustin or our kicker, Hopkins.
[00:34:45] Speaker D: Yeah, Hopkins didn't miss a field goal today.
Yeah, there you go. Yeah.
[00:34:50] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:34:51] Speaker D: Well, I got the extra point in the field.
[00:34:52] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:34:54] Speaker D: I'll give him that. We'll give him Dustin Hopkins. I like that.
I'm gonna go.
I'm gonna nominate Browns fans today. I'm gonna say if you sat through 17 weeks and watched every one of these games or were there in person, whether you were in the stadium, on the road or at home, and you put up with this thing and watched just the disgraceful effort put forth by this organization all year long and you still call yourself a Browns fan after all that?
I will nominate them for daughter of the Week. Oh yeah.
[00:35:33] Speaker C: Well said. Well said.
[00:35:34] Speaker D: I can't nominate a player not after that game today.
So we got Winston Reed, Dustin Hopkins and all of Brown's fandom is our dog of the week nominees. So we'll get those posted so that we can vote on those for our show coming up this week.
Let's see, what else do we got here?
I guess just. We'll move into final thoughts. You got anything burning on your mind there, Bone?
[00:36:04] Speaker C: Ah man. Not really watching Squid Games. It's pretty good so far.
Season 2.
[00:36:11] Speaker D: Is the second one good?
[00:36:13] Speaker C: It's pretty good. It's drawing me in.
I'll probably end up watching an episode tonight after, after we get done here.
[00:36:20] Speaker D: I was my we really want to watch that. And obviously my wife has a hard time remembering seasons.
At the time Squid Games came out, we didn't know Squid Games was going to have a sequel. So we got caught up in watching it.
And so now obviously there's a second season. We really want to watch it. But I think we're going to have to go back through and sure. Rewatch season one before we can get to season two.
[00:36:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:42] Speaker D: And even myself like I kind of like, like there's Squid Games and the whole like plot of like you play children's games for money if you don't when you die. But I do remember like there was some subtle plot twists with like I don't know if it was player one or what they call the guy or the game maker was like that old guy. There was some weird stuff involved that like there.
[00:37:02] Speaker C: There are some characters I'm a little iffy on. Like I'm trying to remember like is this the same person I'm thinking of and what happened. They do a little bit of a recap, but it's not extensive. So re watching might not be a bad idea.
[00:37:14] Speaker D: Yeah. Because I was trying to remember some of the little twists there at the end that you're like once everything is revealed and even for myself. So I think we'll have to re watch season one before we get to season two, but I'm looking forward to season two for sure.
[00:37:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:32] Speaker D: As for myself and my Final thoughts.
You know, we do these Browns backers interviews every week and a lot of the Browns backers groups are run by, I'll say, some older individuals, just generally speaking.
Some, some, a lot of them ran by like old timers, guys that told us stories about, you know, they were either at or remember watching, you know, the 64 championship and obvious remember fondly the the 80s Browns and the move to Baltimore and those things. So I would just say that if you're one of those guys, one of those old timers and you're, you know, working every week for this franchise and for your group to put on those shows and you know, we say every year, you know, maybe next year I, I would say eat your vegetables, get your exercise in, do everything you can to buy yourself another year or two because this team is just not going anywhere fast. Since 1999, the Browns are 144, 291 and 1 and I just fear that that's going to be more of the same next year before the front the four ownership finally does something about this pitiful organization. So again, just if you're one of those older folks out there, you're waiting for that championship run, I think you're just going to have to, you know, do what you can to make it another year or two because it's not going to happen next year.
I'll be shocked if we win, you know, five, six games next year unless we see some absolutely marvelous changes in the off season, which I just am not counting on. I just don't. I think there's, there's too much to be done and too few resources and, and time to get it done in one year. So, you know, we hope we don't lose any of our before they have a chance to see this team make a deep run into the playoffs. So that'll be my final thoughts.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: That'Ll.
[00:39:50] Speaker D: Do it for us. Let's see here.
Final reminder to call Burning River Sportscast hot take hotline. Don't forget to call and leave your hot takes. We want your hot takes. We want to hear all your thoughts, all the things that are going on in in your head and what you think about the off season. That number to call in is 330-227-88080 and be sure to check out our gear www.the tapinmedia.com backslash shop. And this week you can expect our normal show that will be released on Thursday. This again is our final live broadcast of this season. We'll be back with Bryant live broadcast following games again next season. So we look forward to having you on our live channel then, but we'll be on sabbatical until then and we'll kind of be doing our our season recap. Our, you know, post mortem on the Browns this week, kind of reviewing all the things that happened, what went wrong, and where we'll probably do a quick kind of playoff preview just given what we know going into this week and maybe our expectations for, you know, how the playoffs are going to play out and just kind of leave you with that as a show note. Ronnie Red out. Ronnie James and I both have some scheduled time off here right at the end of the Browns season, so this will be our last show for probably a couple of weeks. But I would just say stay tuned on our socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or X and just stay posted for updates. We'll release show updates when we get back to recording either regular episodes. We'll figure out kind of how we want to handle the off season, whether we want to do bi weeklies or monthlies or things. We also generally get into some like community events and things that we do, like remote broadcasts from during the off season. So just stay tuned to our socials. We'll post those soon things before they happen. That way you can stay plugged into the Burning River Sportscast all off season long. Again, you can check out Tapping Media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the Tapping Media and Burning River Sportscast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube and X or sorry, not X at Burning River Sportscast and then X on edpod. And you can find the podcast wherever you get your podcast. That's Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Pandora, iHeartRadio Podcast, Gastro, Good pods and so many more.
[00:42:31] Speaker C: Bone well, I think that's it. I'm gonna go watch Squid games. I'm not going to sleep this time. I'm awake. I'm wide awake.
[00:42:41] Speaker D: He's ready to go.
[00:42:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Bon appetit. We'll see y'all later. Have a have a playoff season.
[00:42:47] Speaker D: Absolutely. Bone hey, just you're, as always, a gentleman and a scholar. We appreciate you jumping onto the lives with us all season long. And don't just be a part of the problem, be the whole damn problem.
And as Ronnie would say, only you can prevent river fires.
Burning River Sports.
