Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans.
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[00:00:55] Speaker B: Media.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: It's time.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Time for the Burning River sportscast. It's Jekyll and Hyde for our Brownies as they put together an effort much more in line with their week one win against the Bengals than whatever the hell happened last week. With the offense looking oh so mid, but effective enough but the defense carried the day. This unit is playing balls out and is ready to raw dog the NFL opposing quarterbacks. Beware. A healthy handful of water based lubricant is advised. Is it possible this is the best defensive unit in the NFL? Will Nick Chubb be able to make a full recovery? Are you satisfied with the progress of Captain Rub and Tug after a much more steady week three performance? Or were the Titans just so hollow shells of themselves bound to make just about anyone look decent this year? Only Warren Moon and us know, and we'll break it all down for you, next on the Burning River Sportscast.
It's just rules made by men. If men can make the rules, why can't they change the rules?
[00:02:14] Speaker A: He's good at banging moms, not good at playing quarterback. Here's the bottom line with this whole thing. The refs hate the Browns.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: I just like, how do you fix that? Do you not let the guy eat for a quit, you can't miss a call like that. You can't come back.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: If he dies, he dies. Did you have to go to the doctor afterwards for an erection lasting longer than 4 hours?
[00:02:35] Speaker C: That was not a problem. I always do the waistband trick.
[00:02:38] Speaker D: I remember coming out of the state and I worked with family and friends, and some guy recognized me. He looked and said, that's Eric Metcalf. And he looked at my family and friends and he said, that's Eric Metcalf. Why is he walking? You guys should be carrying him.
And I looked at them and I was like, he's so right.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: They should be carrying.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Does anyone stop and say like, that harvey Weinstein made some great good movies, we still let that guy back into society?
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Nope.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: Does anybody say like, that Jeffrey Epstein, do you know how much money he donated to charity? But because a guy can throw up. All good. We're like, whatever. We don't have any world.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: I do want to say this about Weinstein. He owns all the rights to Dogma, and it can't be on any streaming services. And it pisses me off because that's a great movie.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: Ridiculous.
Welcome in to the Burning River Sportscast, the fastest growing commercial sports guest in all the sports casts, presented by Tapping Media and brought to you by the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. I'm your host, Kenny Thunder, joined by my co host and loyal Satanist, the uncomparable and incoherent, the one and only Red Hot Ronnie Jams. And a big hello to our trusty board up that sends out three audition tapes a week to Emily Deschanel and just can't figure out why he can't land a starring role in the weekly Fox crime drama Bones Bone. Despite the uncommonly high frequency of rejection, how does it feel to be the biggest, densest bone man in the game?
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Well, it feels great, and I'm feeling great after that big win.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: Excellent.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: There you have it.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Back to red hot. Two questions.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Yo.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Who is the most electric football player in the original Techno Bowl going on the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise?
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Eric Metcalf. Easy.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: And where can all of your sickness friends find their podcast?
[00:04:28] Speaker A: They can find our podcast wherever we get your podcasts. I'm talking Apple Podcasts, spotify Stitcher, google Podcasts, amazon Music, pandora Heart Radio Podcast, castro Good, Pods and so many more. And you know what else you should do?
[00:04:38] Speaker B: What?
[00:04:38] Speaker A: You should subscribe to us on YouTube, the only place where you can find our video podcasts. And check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Our handle for all those social medias, including our YouTube, is at Burning River Sportscast. And we are on X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, with the handle Burning River Pod. And while you're at it, check out our merch WW Thetainmedia.com backslash mert or backslash shop. I apologize. We've got shoes, hats, mugs, mousepads shirts, shorts, flags, phone cases, and so much more. We've got the cruise line, get your swim trunks, get your T shirt. Still haven't added the tank top yet.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Come on, man.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: That's coming. You'll get one. I don't think they come in your size, though.
Make sure you check that out. Check all that out. Along with everything else in the store. We're constantly adding new things. So we have a jam packed show for everybody today. Today we've got an interview with the Pumpkin Patch Brownsbackers. This is the Brownsbackers chapter that is run by Superfan Pumpkin head. That's right.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Hell, yeah.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: The man behind Pumpkin will be on with us shortly, and we have a week three recap of a dominant win over the Tennessee Titans. Follow that up with an interview with another Browns alumni that will be joining us on the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. You mentioned him at the top of the show. Well, I did, actually, Eric. Metcalf.
And finally we will preview the week four matchup with the Baltimore Ratbirds.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Yes, we will.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: So it's a big day. It's a big day. Know that takes us to is it.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: The new story of the week?
[00:06:03] Speaker A: It's the Burning River news story of the weekend.
Workers union is calling for a 32 hours work week. Did you hear about this? What do you think, Kenny?
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah, obviously there's a big strike, the Big Three up in Detroit. So this is Ford GM. I guess Dodge isn't a thing anymore. It's Stellantis.
But yes, they've gone on strike and they're not happy about anything. I guess pay, working conditions, hours. But I do think the one good thing that has come out of this as we were discussing before the show, bone man pointed out that the auto workers union is calling for the 32 hours work week.
First off, that leaves me more hours a week to Pod.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Hell yes, we need more hours for Pod.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: But who the hell wouldn't want to work four days and have three days off?
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it just seems like the balance is so much better than five and two. I mean, that doesn't make any sense.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: And what's interesting is this kind of comes full circle because the 40 hours work week comes to us from the auto workers unions to begin with. Right. Henry Ford invented the eight hour workday and five days a week.
It's just rules made by men. If men can make the rules, why can't they change the rules?
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I've never understood that where we get so far into something where it's like, well, can't change now, can't change it now. I mean, taxes are another thing, but let's talk about those. We go with the fair tax. Just everybody pays the same at the point of sale. And it's real easy. Your tax document is one page long, like 5000. And when nobody knows how to read it. But I digress.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Do we need a burning wristboard fair tax?
No. But here's the thing. I don't think people realize how dangerously close we are to an AI revolution in this country.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: We're close.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: It is very close. I mean, the things that I work in accounting, but I work with AI every day because.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: Groups that are nobodies are coming out with their own AI. And it's like if anybody could do AI, then we have to be close to that revolution that you speak of.
[00:08:12] Speaker B: I mean, I spend my days literally trying to figure out how to solve problems with technology so that people don't have to do them. And I'm an accountant.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: I mean, it's part of the reason why you became such a rock star in the area that you're in is because you were able to figure out automated ways.
I need that two PS report. And Kenny was like, I'll put it on a spreadsheet and I'll make it all do it by itself. And then nobody has to do anything.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: That's right. So the more you automate things, the less work there's people to do, but the more efficient an organization becomes.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: And I work in electrical sales for my day job. I literally sell automation equipment. That's what I do.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: All right. And then when you think about most jobs in this country, people don't realize even they think most laborers are safe. And to some effect that's true. But think about driving and guys that drive truck for a living with automated cars, why would a human ever sit in a big rig ever again?
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Less accident. Yeah.
There's no lives, obviously, from the trucker's perspective, there's no lives. If there is an accident that are affected, I don't have to pay somebody.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: To drive the truck. Yeah.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Cost of shipping should, in theory, go down. Cost of everything goes down so that.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: They don't have to stop every eight or 12 hours to sleep. They can make the trip straight across from California to New York in a day.
Again, these are happening in all aspects of our life, and I don't think we realize how close we are to it. And so my question is this. As AI starts to take over the workforce, what are we all going to do? And what are we all going to do for money? Because I don't know. So I think a 32 hours workway week is actually a really good step in the right direction.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Good start.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Because it starts here.
Automation is going to take up a ton of our jobs.
We see this even in fast food. Right? They have robots that can make hamburgers.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Hey, but now you can't get a refill at McDonald's unless you talk to the cash register. Talk to a person. You shouldn't talk to the cash register. That'll do nothing for you. Talk to the person behind the cash.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: It may end up just being a robot that gives it to you.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Man, if McDonald's gets actual robots to serve me food, I'm going to be pretty turned.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: You might actually go to a McDonald's.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll go again just to see it.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: No, it'll be interesting to see how this whole thing shakes out. I don't see the 40 hours work week going anywhere because it's just so ingrained as a part of our culture. But I don't think it's a bad start given we are so know. We grew up, and we had this term. You Google something, you don't know it, and you're like, who was the leading pass catcher for the Patriots Super Bowl year?
I don't google it anymore. I chat GP it or one of those. I just ask us a bot.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: You're way ahead of my time, because I no longer have I still Google it.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: I no longer have to.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: I'm old school. I guess I'm now old school for Googling it.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: I no longer have to go through the permutations of who was the leading pass catcher for the Patriots during the Super Bowl year. The first one, I just asked Chap GPT or whoever who it was, and they answered me like a normal person would.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: That's true. I mean, I guess I do a version of that because I ask Alexa a lot of those questions.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: And, I mean, it's just a glorified AI that's going through and surfing the Internet. It's a search bar on steroids, basically.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: Like instead of googling. Like, I'll be at work writing an email to someone, and I can't think of the word. I used to end up going through a Google permutation of synonyms for something. It's like, now I don't have to make Google understand what I'm trying to find a synonym to because they already couldn't explain it. I just asked Chat GPT, how would you say this? And it's like, here's some great examples. Okay, thanks. Chat GPT.
It's amazing where we're going. It's scary as hell.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Makes us all dumber, for sure, but it makes our lives easier and it'll.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Eventually kill us all. So I think that takes us to the week three recap.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Yeah, that'll take us to the week three recap.
The Cleveland Browns, as you alluded to at the top of this show, absolutely humped the Tennessee Titans over the weekend. Final score to that game, 27 to three. So let's just go ahead and run through the stats here.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: The way you say that you made it sound like they had a sleepover.
They humped the Tennessee Titans over the weekend.
You guys want to come over and get some humping?
[00:12:33] Speaker A: That's not how I intended it to come across. I meant it to be more sexual than that. But the Tennessee Titans, let's start with them on this one. The offense was led by one Ryan Tannehill, who went 13 of 25 for 104 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions.
And also led by running back Derek Henry, who had eleven carries for 20 yards, averaged 1.8 yards per carry.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: He looks washed.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Oh, he looked bad. This was his second worst game of his career, though. So, I mean, there's that.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: Yeah, but he looks washed. I have this reoccurring dream where I get to play high school football again. I'm so excited. And I'm like, yes. And I show up for the first day of training camp, but instead of being in high school and in great shape, I'm me.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: And I'm like that's rough.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: I'm like, what even position am I going to like, I don't know how to play nose tackle.
Derek Henry's at the point where he's got to play nose tackle.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: What position do you end up playing?
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Nose tackle.
Where else would you put me?
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Yeah, so he's totally washed. Derek Henry with 1.8 yards per carry. That's trash. But next up, we have DeAndre Hopkins. Three catches for 48 yards. And I know a lot of people wanted him on the Browns in the offseason. I was one of those people, but, I mean, didn't really do much against us.
And then next up for Tennessee, their defense. They had three sacks, forced one turnover, and on special teams for them, Nick Fulk, one for one field goal for their only points of the game. Pretty pathetic effort by the Tennessee Titans.
[00:14:03] Speaker B: They were just bad.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Yep. So, moving on to the Browns, the far more exciting team here, let's start with the offense. Deshaun Watson, 27 of 33 for 289 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, four carries for 16 yards. And he was my player to watch in this game. And I will say he finally had an impressive game. I still want to see that 300 or 400 yard passing game from him, but he was uber efficient and uber accurate in this 1 second best completion percentage of his career with 81.8%. And I would say he took a big even though he's not quite there with the yardage, he took a big step forward in this one, including the best passer rating that he's had since week 16 of 2020 with 123.4.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Look, I don't want to throw a big wet blanket on this one because the Browns won, and that's good, but to me, it was a small step in the right direction. This is good, but we have to have Deshaun sustain this kind of activity. I mean, it's very clear that they worked on this throughout the week. Him and Kevin Stefancy worked really hard together to put together a game plan that allowed him to let the game come to him, not try to force anything, not try to play outside of himself. I thought even the fact that his four carries were carries more where the play broke down or it was a designed run, it wasn't where he was feeling antsy and had to get out of there.
But again and I don't want to go back to Baker every week, but to me, this looks like a game that Baker could have played well in two. Right? When Baker was playing well, it was when he was efficient and he was throwing for 200 and 5270 yards. A couple of tuddies. To me, this still isn't a $230,000,000 guaranteed contract game, but I would agree with that.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: But I would say it's a step.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Definitely step in the right direction, for sure.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Bone, thoughts on that?
[00:15:50] Speaker C: I thought Deshaun looked good. He was accurate putting balls just where his receivers could get it, and it was nice to see it. Definitely gives you a good taste in your mouth and just looking forward for more.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Bone man loves the taste of Deshaun.
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Watson in his no. Oh, no. Don't go there, boys.
I went there in the open. That was far enough.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: No, but seriously, I think the biggest thing for me with Deshaun this week was that he was composed. I mean, if you remember last week in the Steelers game, every time the camera panned over to like he was like a deer in headlights. He looked like he had no idea where he was.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: He looked like Tim Couch in his first game.
[00:16:31] Speaker C: Yeah, he got out of some situations too, and just scrambling with some defenders hanging on him. And he was able to get out and look downfield, and he was looking like Jacobi Find, the open man.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Jacobi Brissette, the most athletic quarterback.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: Kenny liked to tell me last season that Jacoby Brissette was not mobile or couldn't get out of trouble.
And I told him, Jacobi Brissette can get out of a lot of trouble, and he's more mobile than you think.
[00:16:57] Speaker C: Jacoby was tough.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: See? Yeah, bone knows.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Tough. He was tough. He wasn't bone. Nose. He wasn't fast.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Bone nose. All right, let's move on to the running backs. The running backs in the rushing game in general for the Browns was God awful in this. And I know we had a win, and like you said, I hate to throw a wet blanket on it, but I do have to point out that our team rushing in this 131 carries, 78 yards, 2.5 yards per carry. And so you're saying, well, there's quarterback rushing in that there might be some receivers. Elijah Moore touched the ball a little bit. Whatever. There may be some numbers that are skewing that. So let's just talk about the running backs. The running backs in this, 121 carries, 56 yards, 2.7 yards per carries per carry. So this is very concerning. The running backs couldn't get anything going in a game that we dominated overall. So you would think that it would be a little bit easier to get things going for them and they just did not. Kenny, you got any thoughts on running game here?
[00:17:54] Speaker B: This wasn't a defense that was overly good. They're not going to win a ton of games this year. And unlike the past defense that was ranked 20 eigth that Deshaun had his way with, this rushing defense was not quite that bad or that good. This team is just that good. And the fact that they weren't able to amount much of anything on the ground was very concerning. I do think that there's a lot of energy to get Jerome Ford involved and have him be the primary back because he's a young player in a draft pick. But I think that this running game is not going to take off until Big Ream gets his feet under him a little bit. They said he came into the game ten pounds lighter than he played with the team last season.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Needed to he needed to lose a couple of pounds. He was looking a little doughy last year.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: He's a little doughy. He needed to come back a little thinner. They said he was working with his high school track coach, but I think that it takes a while to kind of acclimate him all played at some level. So it takes a while to get into game shape, and he missed all the training camp. So I think a couple of weeks from now, this run game may look very different as he takes on more of the workload. And it's going to become very clear very early on that he's the better running back out of the two. I still don't know what Pierre Strong is doing there, really, but he was the leading rusher this year. He was the leading rusher. So I don't know what to make of that. But I just think Big Ream is ultimately going to be the guy that if this team is going be a serious contender, win the division contender, maybe make the playoffs contender, it's going to be with Big Green carrying the ball.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Bone, this was your position group to watch, if I'm not mistaken. So what are your thoughts on the running backs?
[00:19:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I was pretty wrong last week.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Tell us more.
[00:19:27] Speaker C: I knew we would miss a step without Chubb, obviously, but I had a little more faith in our line. I just thought that we could kind of plug and play some guys. And then hearing that Kareem was coming back, I was super excited because I love Kareem, and I was fortunate enough to be at the game, and the crowd just went nuts when he got his first.
So, like, being at the game, I honestly didn't even realize that the backs didn't do that well. Just based off of just how the game was and then how we kind of just dominated. But obviously, looking at the stats, it's not great.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: You think they turn it around?
[00:20:00] Speaker C: I think they'll turn around. I think Kareem's going to get his feet under, know, get more involved with the playbook, obviously, hopefully be studying, watching film. And he missed the whole training camp in the first two games of the season.
Yeah, he's a fan favorite, and I think he's going to ball out.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: I hope so. They need some help and they need to pick it up if we're going to keep pace all season long. So next up here are wide receivers Amari Cooper. Seven receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown and just continues to prove that he is a number one wide receiver.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah, look, Amari is really good. I think we've had conversations in the past, I think because he's not flashy, he's not known to be the fastest guy in the league.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: I know in the athletic, we even advocated for bringing somebody in that could be potentially the number one, and Amari is the number two. But to your point, he's not flashy and he just goes to work. He's kind of the Nick Chubb type.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah. He runs great routes and he catches every ball.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Yeah. But I think he does hear I think he does hear what people are saying, and I think he likes to prove everybody wrong and show that actions speak louder than words. And he goes out there and proves every week that he is that number one receiver.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think he's an easy guy to play with. I think that he and Jacoby had a ton of chemistry last year before Deshaun came in, carried over to Deshaun. Fact that you can just carry that over to another quarterback is not only impressive, but I just think it speaks to your character and the way you go about your game.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. And then next up here, DPJ, three receptions for 49 yards. And Elijah Moore, nine receptions, 49 yards, three carries, negative 1 fumble lost. So, bottom line for Elijah Moore here, they're trying to get him the ball really hard.
However, the results have been kind of mixed. We were hoping he was going to be a big playmaker for us, and I still think he has that ability. I think the problem is more with Stefanic. And on a scale of zero to ten, the difficulty level of this play was 57.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Three backwards lateral into the screen for 14 yards.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Literally 14. When they said 14 yards, I was like, the announcer said it like it was a good thing. They're like, and they pick up 14 yards on that one. I'm like, did we seriously just do like, a double reverse lateral pass to pick up 14 yards?
[00:22:21] Speaker B: And then they came back with the same look later to go on an end around, and it just went nowhere so bad. Look, I like the fact they're trying to get Elijah Moore involved. I think that was clearly the focal point of this week's game plan. You lost Nick Chubb. You needed somebody electric to take over. He's not a bad choice to be that guy, but they have to do a better job of integrating him into a game plan and not forcing it. Right. I think he can be just as effective just running routes. Let this guy hit crossers and underneath routes and get him in space because he's a tremendous athlete. I bet he's at the very least, this guy's got to be thrilled to be out of New York and to be with a coaching him.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: If nothing else, they're at least giving him a chance to prove that he could be that dynamic.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: He's at least got the ball in his hands, so he's got to be thrilled.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And so hoping that picks up a little bit. And they do find ways to get him more naturally involved with the game plan and he can make some more plays, some crossing routes, maybe downfield, I don't know, just not triple reverse pass.
So let's move on to the defensive side of the ball. Again, the defense looked amazing. They're three for three so far this season, as far as dominant games. Once again, high energy from start to finish. Only allowed three points, almost held a quarterback under 100 yards passing for the second time in three games. And they didn't just dominate against the pass. Derek Henry averaged negative 2.3 yards before contact per carry. And I will say that again and slowly this time, because that's a lot to digest. Derek Henry averaged negative 2.3 yards before contact per carry.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: He's a news tackle.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: Yeah. But they were confident. They were disruptive. They were relentless. And it seems like these will continue to be recurring themes with this defense all season long. And this week, the offense held up their end of the bargain. So the Browns dominated from start to finish.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Yeah. Look, this offense has been dominant all season long. I know we're only three games in defense. Sorry. This defense has been good this entire season so far. And I know we're only three games in, but everything that we had hoped the defense could be under jim Schwartz. They've paid the bill every single time.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Got to love your Jim shorts. Jim Schwartz.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: And I just think in the open, I asked just plainly, like, is this the best defensive unit in the NFL?
And through three games, they are.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: They absolutely are.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: 3.2 yards per play and 163 yards per opponent per game. So that's way, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the teams in the NFL right now, this team is doing it on paper. They're doing it for the eye test. They look fast. I love their pursuit routes to the ball. It's the best Browns defense I've seen in 20 years, period.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. And that defense was led by Miles Garrett. I'm not going to talk about him a ton right now because we will highlight him again later on in the episode. But I do want to say this right now.
We called him out last week for his effort, especially in big moments during the game.
Historically, he seems to disappear in big moments. Well, he must be a regular listener of the Burning River sportscast, because all of his big plays this week came in the biggest moments. I mean, he had the sack right before halftime to send them to the locker room with no points on that drive. And just literally every time we needed to play, miles Garrett was there in this one.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: Is Miles Garrett the next big play? Gear?
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: Hell yes.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: I like that. BPG, no. So, miles Garrett. We see you. We know you're listening.
[00:25:53] Speaker B: We see you.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: We know you're listening. Good job out of you, boy.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Let's send him a pair of socks or something.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: All right. Next up, Alex Wright. He also had a sack, and Ogbo had a half a sack as well. The entire secondary was solid in this one. They didn't stuff the stat sheet, but they did help in holding Ryan Tannehill to that 104 yards passing. So that was great. And then special teams, Dustin Hopkins, bone man, your boy doing work?
[00:26:18] Speaker C: Yeah, he was great. He was great. As I said, I was at the game and fortunately we ended up sitting right behind the practice kicking net.
[00:26:27] Speaker A: Oh, boy.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: So needless to say, I barely saw any of the game. I was watching DHOP the whole time.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: You're just having just having just dirty pants the whole game.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: I mean, my wife was there, so.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: I was careful, but nocturnal emissions.
[00:26:41] Speaker C: He was great. He was great as he's been all year.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Did you have to go to the doctor afterwards for an erection lasting longer than 4 hours?
[00:26:48] Speaker C: That was not a problem. I always do the waistband trick.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: Oh, nice. Good choice. Good choice. Now, Dustin Hopkins, two for two field goals, including a 52 yarder, three for three extra points and bone man with your waistband trick. Where's the confidence meter at right now?
[00:27:03] Speaker C: It's up there. It's like through the roof up there.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: Like you're up there.
So confidence meter through the roof. Needless to say, we thought we needed.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: A thermometer to illustrate this, but really?
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Sound effect here. Yeah.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: Sorry, mom.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: We'll move on to coaching here and we'll start with Stefanski, or Stefanik as we switched him back to last week. And we're going to keep him at Stefanik because look, I know we won the game convincingly. However, I still have Miss Stefanik because he didn't earn his name back to me in this one, because there were multiple times throughout the game that I was questioning the play calling. And it looked like we were playing high school football and somebody was, like, drawing up the play in the dirt, and we're just like, yeah, just go do that. That looks good. I think that'll work out.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: Annexation of Puerto Rico.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: Close your eyes into the spin button.
[00:28:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And so Kenny said it last week. Why does some of the plays that we run for minimal yards and we just talked about it, a 14 yard play has a difficulty. That's about a 50 on a scale of one to ten. I mean, I just don't understand it. I don't know why we have to take unnecessary risks like that.
But I will give him this. I will give him this, guys. He did run a QB sneak on fourth and less than a yard when I was yelling at the TV for him to do that. So it was not quarterback option left, as Zach liked to say. It was a great play, so it wasn't all bad. But like I said, there's still far too many times where this guy tries to make it clearly tries to make it known that he really thought about this play and he's the smartest guy in the room and nobody can touch him.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Stefanik, you don't have to outsmart yourself. Sometimes you play good fundamental football and that's all it takes to beat an inferior opponent. If you had done that against the Steelers, you mean that's what's separating you from two and one and three and right now, agreed.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Look, you don't get those games back.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: I just think that this week was, again, a game against a team that was not as good as you and a team that's aging in every way. Ryan tannehill looks ancient. Derek Henry looks doughy. He fell off a could. He couldn't even move.
And they haven't done a good job of putting complimentary pieces around Tannehill to do anything with. So DHOP, that's what they mean. He was a mixed bag in the free agency. Nobody really wanted him because of whatever his we don't know what they are.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: So for now, with all of that.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: In consideration, I kind of put this in the same class that I put Deshaun's performance in, which is this is a step in the right direction. We didn't do anything too stupid. I think we did some things early on that were kind of goofy, and then we kind of settled in and let's not we don't need we don't need to do that to win the game. Let's just get back to fundamentals and timing routes and things that are going to make this team convert first downs and keep them on the field.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Just as we're not ready to say that Deshaun is all the way back yet. For now, he's still Stefanic Stefanic. But next up we got Jim Schwartz. And we already talked about Jim Schwartz. We're going to keep talking about Jim Schwartz because I have no words.
I'm going to give you a lot of words, but I have no words for how good this guy is at his job. I mean, the Browns are putting up historically dominant numbers through three games. They haven't allowed a red zone touchdown or field goal in the first three games, and that hasn't happened since 1978. You already mentioned it. Total yards allowed per game, 163.7. And you also mentioned the which other one did you mention?
[00:30:44] Speaker B: I mentioned yards per play, which isn't on your list.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: So yards per play. So the 163.7 is first in the league. The yards per play is first in the league. Rushing yards allowed per game, 52. First in the league. Passing yards allowed per game, 111.7, first in the league. First downs allowed per game, seven, first in the league. Third down percentage, 19.51%. First in the league. And points allowed per game, 10.7, which is also first in the league. They literally lead just about every defensive stat category that there is. And because of that, it's like we've mentioned all along, it's beyond as advertised with Jim Schwartz. It's everything we hoped it would be and more.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: You almost wish he was the head coach.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: Yeah, at most times.
[00:31:30] Speaker C: And then you just think about how many points the offense has given up and then that percentage and how much lower.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: I think the offense legitimately given up more points on the season than the defense.
[00:31:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's insane.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: It's got to be close I think it's 17 to 15 in favor of the defense, but yeah, Jim Schwartz. Unbelievable. I hope they keep playing this way throughout the season, and I hope we could stay healthy. That's the biggest thing.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: The only thing I have to say is to go buy a pair of Jim Schwartz Gym shorts. That's it.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Jim Schwartz gym shorts. Available on the Tapin Media Shop, the Burning River Sportscast shop on Tapinmedia.com WW thetappinmedia.com Backslash shop. Go to showspecific Burning River Sportscast and you'll find them there.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: Nocturnal emissions.
[00:32:11] Speaker A: Yes. Next up, Bubba Ventrone. Special teams are fine. Tell DPJ to take a fair catch. If there's nothing there, let's just, again, minimize risk. That's all I have to say about Ventrone.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I was glad they didn't tackle anybody this week that was making a fair catch, so that was an improvement over last week, but yeah, I don't know. It's just like they don't I don't think DPJ wants to be a returner. He's always kind of looked awkward back there. I don't know why they keep forcing that. There's other good athletes on this team. Marquise Goodwin is a guy that's returned kicks in the past. I don't know why they haven't put him back there at all yet.
[00:32:40] Speaker A: They haven't really used him a lot at all.
[00:32:42] Speaker B: Right. So I don't just to me, it seems like it's a waste to have him out there, and it takes away from what he's doing on offense, because, again, he's just still kind of very mid.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. So overall in this game, total yards cleveland 341, Tennessee 94.
You heard that, right? 94. 1st downs cleveland 23, Tennessee six. Time of possession, cleveland, 38 29, tennessee, 21 31. Penalties Cleveland, five of 46. And we did it. We won the penalty battle for once. Tennessee had eight for 80 in this one, but we lost the turnover battle once again. But that's okay because it didn't matter. Turnovers, Cleveland one, Tennessee zero. So real quick, I will point out duan Jones allowed zero pressures on 37 pass blocking attempts in this one. And I will say that the dude is probably one of the biggest steals in the entire biggest. Yeah. The biggest physically and the biggest steals in the entire draft.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Big thanos doing work.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: He looks good. I think Jed Wills is banged up again this week. And I know that I guess we're not going to do injury report right now, but I need some questions about left tackle right now because James Hudson's banged up, too, so could get interesting. Could get interesting. But on his side, he's done a really nice job building up for Jack Conglin.
[00:34:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And then a final note on this game. The refs really tried to fuck us again in this game right before half, on what would have been a touchdown. They ruled that Amari Cooper had stepped out of bounds on a completed pass, and it wasn't even close.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: Not even close.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: He had a couple feet between his foot and the out of bounds line and it was just egregious. Absolutely egregious.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Zach could have done the shorts trick and pulled him all the way down and there would have been longer of grass than his shorts trick like that's. How much room was between the big.
[00:34:30] Speaker A: Bone it was more than one big bone between his foot and the out of bounds mark.
[00:34:35] Speaker B: This was egregious. I don't even know what you do look, I get that it's a human game and humans make mistakes, but that's bad, man. And because it's a non reviewable play.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: Oh, it was terrible.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: It leaves a bad I mean, if that had happened at a critical moment in the game against a good team yeah, I mean, Jesus, you were looking at Bottlegate again.
[00:34:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:34:52] Speaker B: Because that was really ugly and so clearly wrong.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And luckily it did Know end up mattering at all in the final score or anything like that, because the Titans is but I will say we mentioned before, amari Cooper, being the consummate professional bone was telling Know his quote when they were asking him about Know, what do you think about the ref missing that call? He was just like, well, refs make mistakes.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: And then he followed that with, but I already had the safety smoke, so it would have been a touchdown.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: So you can't hate him for either comment. You just have to love him even more. But here's the bottom line with this whole thing. The refs hate the Browns.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: I just like, how do you fix that? Do you not let the guy eat for a quit? You can't miss a call like that.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: You can't come back if he dies.
[00:35:39] Speaker B: He like, just exile him. Set him to like, yeah, you thought you had a good being an NFL rep here till you missed that was.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Just really it was one of the worst I've ever seen. Another Browns news here. Chubb's High School and College, cedartown and University of Georgia, respectively, paid tribute to Chubb this week and asked for thoughts and prayers for their injured alum. I believe Cedartown had a sign that you could run through it said, like, for Chubb or Chubstrong or something like that, which is kind of a funny saying. Chubbstrong and then University of Georgia had.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Individual cards placards held.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: So a lot of good tributes to Nick Chubb this week. And I will say the prayers must have paid off because initial testing this week revealed that the damage to his knee is not nearly as extensive as originally thought. It turns out he only tore his MCL, which is unbelievable when you watch that over again. His ACL was severely stretched, they said, but it is intact and no tears. Recovery time is expected to be six to eight months, and doctors say he should make a full recovery and be back to 100% for next season.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: I mean, it's the best news you could have hoped for.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: I mean, outside of them saying nothing was torn, but nothing doesn't tear when you fall like that.
[00:36:55] Speaker A: Yeah. No.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: To be just the MCL on a knee that has already been completely rebuilt from scratch one time, this is huge. I think it feels bad for all of us. You know, it feels bad for Chubb, but to at least have that kind of on the back end now that like, hey, I'm going to make it back and I'm going to be okay.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: Because that he's probably looking at it now like this is an easy recovery, man. I had my whole need basically replaced.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Think about the work that it took to get back to where he he should be ready by the early parts of the season next year and in good shape.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: So very optimistic and awesome turn of events for Nick Chubb. I will say this, though, and we talked about it last week. Is it going to matter? Will the front office pay to keep him or is this it for Nick Chubb on the Cleveland Browns?
[00:37:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's going to be an interesting conversation across the league this offseason because I know after the win, kevin Stefanski donated game ball to it's been it's been the talk of the locker room all week is that we wanted to win this game for Nick Chubb. The team loves the guy and the fans love. So it would not be a popular move to move on from him. But it also wouldn't be crazy thinking, hey, he's going to be 28 or 29. He has come out of torn MCL.
Can we draft somebody or can we find somebody in a free agency that is just as productive or semi productive in this deshaun offense?
We've said all along we didn't expect Mcshub to be here this long.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: No, we said for sure, in our opinion, just based off of the business of the game of football, he would be gone either before the end of this season or sometime in the offseason.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: I think the only thing that keeps him here is if these players if these players go on some kind of magical run here and they do it for Chubb every mean, it would be hard if you win a super bowl. And you say, we did this for Nick Chubb, and you're staying there on the podium. And then they go the next week. He's cut.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: I just don't see how you can.
[00:38:57] Speaker B: The players might be the only thing that can save him at this point. Yeah, I agree because from a business sense, it does make sense to move.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: So so as a Browns fan, I'm completely torn on this, though, because as always, I want the Browns to win. Obviously, you always want the Browns to win. However, if they win all season with minimal rushing output like you were saying like they did this week. I mean, literally, minimal rushing output this week, and they dominated the game.
I think in that spot in the offseason, you definitely move on from Chubb. I'm not advocating for that at all. I'm not. I'm just saying, like, from a front office perspective, if you continue to win this year without, like, what's the incentive to keep him at that point, especially to pay him more money?
[00:39:39] Speaker B: I think the one thing we have going for us here is that we've watched the Indians, the Guardians do this every year or so with good pitchers where they're fan favorites, and you go, yeah, we like the guy. He won 20 games last year, and he's a Sai Young winner, and then he's gone.
But the difference is the Guardians have a track record and history of winning those trades where this Browns team has.
[00:40:01] Speaker A: A track record of losing, has a.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Record of losing everything, literally everything.
God, I hope they do what they can to bring him back. And maybe because he's coming off of an injury, maybe he takes some kind of hometown discount to stay on the roster and get an extension. I don't know. But just from a straight business sense, I think it gives them the window they need if they want to move on.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: Yeah, here's the deal. While I understand the business side of things and how it would make sense to move on, what if the Browns we keep talking about how is the running back pendulum going to swing back and how do we stop going down this rabbit hole of running backs being undervalued? What if the Browns do it? What if they say, that's fine. Nick Chubb is our leader, he's the heart and soul of this team, and we just pay him anyways? I know we don't have a whole lot of cap space or things that we can do, but I sorry to say this, but I would gladly give up several players on this team in order to keep Nick Chubb.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: I mean, the problem is the proof is in the pudding, though, because I'm watching this weekend and I'm going, man, this Colts Ravens game is really close. If they had Jonathan Taylor, they definitely would win, and then the Colts won without him.
[00:41:07] Speaker A: We go back to our game last week against the Steelers, and I say if Nick Chubb would have played that whole game, I think we would have won by 1015 points, and we'll never know that.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: But then you look at a guy like in the Las Vegas Raiders game last night and thinking, okay, they kept his name, Josh Jacobs, and anything the Giants kept saquon, and Saquon's hurt already, too. So I think it's a hard thing to argue with the longevity and the production conversation about these running backs, no matter how much you like them, because at some point they will get hurt, and at some point they will become unproductive. But I don't know. I just don't know that is it any more than any other don't? I don't know.
[00:41:49] Speaker A: Yeah, no, and I agree with think unfortunately. I think the bottom line is this is that most likely Nick Chubb won't be back. As much as people don't want to think about that right now, most likely he won't be back. And that just hurts my heart that Nick Chubb won't be a part of the Browns.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: And I think a perfect example of this, too, is this Tennessee Titans team. Not this year's team, because they look like ass, but of years past. They had a very middle of the road quarterback who could make most of the throws you need to win a game, but wasn't a top tier player. But you had a running back on that team that carried the workload to.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: The team, dominate 300 and 5400 carries.
[00:42:24] Speaker B: A year, and was absolutely amazing in every game. And they could make it to the playoffs, but they just couldn't get over the hump. And it's because they didn't have league quarterback.
Again, I think it's hard to argue with on paper at this point, because.
[00:42:39] Speaker A: What we're finding out well, in the style of playing the NFL, it's a lot easier to open up the running game with the passing game than it is to open up the passing game with the running game.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Or so they say.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what they say. But it's an interesting thing from the game here, we keep talking this recurring theme of everybody's doing it for Chubb. Right? Well, just so you know, they won by 24 424 on the 24th day of September.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Mandela Effect.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: I don't think that means what you think it means.
I think you were just thinking of, like, 20 fourception, but you went with Mandela effect.
[00:43:20] Speaker B: Six degrees of Kevin B illuminati.
[00:43:22] Speaker A: Yeah, Illuminati. All right. And so I propose they're talking about getting wins for Chubb. I propose we dub this. Get the dub for Chubb. Might be a T shirt in that.
[00:43:34] Speaker B: Get the dub for Chubb.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: Chub. Dubs.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Get dub for Chub. Dub for Chub. Dub for Chub. Dub for Chub. Hell, yeah. No one wants to shit dub for Chub. Dub for Chub. Dub for Chubb. Dub for Chub. Dub or Chub. Hell yeah.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: Yes.
But yeah. So great things. If the team does keep playing for Chubb, we keep winning. I'm excited.
Last thing here, in other Browns notes, an old fan favorite retired this past week. Christian Kirksey was with the Browns from 2014 to 2019. Team captain from 2017 to 2019. Coined the phrase dog check, which kind.
[00:44:13] Speaker B: Of went nowhere, but I think it's still kind of cool.
[00:44:15] Speaker A: Hey, it was on a T shirt. A lot of people said it.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: I have that T shirt. It's a neat T shirt.
[00:44:19] Speaker A: That is a good T shirt. And I believe it's actually on sale right now. But we won't plug that anyways. Lots of charity events and community service while he was here. And that along with his infectious attitude, I don't know if you remember, he was always real positive about everything.
[00:44:32] Speaker B: He's always smiling.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: Yeah. It completely won the fans over while he was here. So congrats Christian Kirksey on your career. We hope you enjoy retirement. Maybe we'll see him on the fan cruise eventually.
[00:44:42] Speaker B: The best Christian Kirksey memory I have, period, is when the Madden glitch happened with him in 2015 or 2016, and he was a foot and a half tall.
I don't know why. It was just an absolute glitch. But when you were playing with the Browns and Christian Kirksey was on your defense, the rest of your players would be normal sized, and Christian Kirky would be a foot and a half tall. And you're like, Why is there a Mitchell on my field?
[00:45:12] Speaker A: We prefer little people.
[00:45:13] Speaker B: And he would play just like big Christian Kirksey. So you have this tiny ass body making tackles on all his stats. Were the Derrick Henry this big guy, but he was a foot and a half tall.
[00:45:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: Made no sense.
[00:45:23] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know. That is a good memory. But like I said, maybe we'll see him on the maybe we'll see him on the fan cruise with us here one of these years.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: Get it, Kirko. But that takes us to the burning of Sports Guest Dog of the Week.
[00:45:39] Speaker D: Man, you got to play tough people in the National Football League. You got to be ready, and we.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Got to be the dogs that we.
[00:45:45] Speaker D: Are every time we step on there on Sunday and be ready to attack.
[00:45:48] Speaker A: And now, this week's Burning River sportscast dog of the week is Miles Garrett. Who else? He had five total tackles in this one, four solo tackles, three tackles for loss, five QB hits, and three and a half know bone, man. Last week was begging for Miles Garrett to make more sacks, and this week he did it three and a half sacks out of him. As we mentioned before, it seemed like most of his big plays happened when we needed it the most. Dude absolutely bald out in this one. There's not much else you could say. I mean, he was.
[00:46:24] Speaker B: I mean, this is the Miles that if this Miles showed up every week, there'd be no question about who the defense player of the year is going to be.
[00:46:29] Speaker A: TJ. Why?
[00:46:30] Speaker B: Who TJ? I mean, fuck that guy.
But this is the type of game that we've been waiting for Miles to have. And here's my fear, though, is that this Tennessee team wasn't good. So I don't know that he's going to see a bunch of stationary quarterbacks the rest of the way, especially not this week against Lamar. But look, I was this game, he looked great. Motor was on. This was as good as we've seen Miles play in a long time for sure.
[00:46:56] Speaker A: So, yeah. Burning River Sportscast Dog of the week is Miles Garrett, which leads us to the division roundup.
All right, so we start off with Baltimore in this one. Baltimore loses to the Indianapolis Colts in overtime. And Kenny, kenny called it and said this was going to be the closest game out of the bunch because he liked Gardner Minchew, but he didn't like Gardner Minchew enough to pick the Colts. So I was wrong. Kenny was wrong, and Bone was wrong. Everybody was wrong on this one.
[00:47:31] Speaker B: Wrong again.
[00:47:32] Speaker A: Feels bad. Feels real bad.
Didn't think there was any way that Colts could beat the Ravens, but here we are.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: They're not that bad.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: They're pretty bad.
Next up, Pittsburgh. Went to Las Vegas for Sunday night Football and beat the Raiders. So just want to say here, I specifically said Mike Tomlin was the better coach in a matchup against bad teams. And that would be the difference in the game. And it was the difference in the game. And I was right. Kenny was wrong, and Bone was wrong.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Does Josh McDaniels keep a job in the NFL?
[00:48:03] Speaker A: I have no idea. He's literally ass everywhere he goes, and then he just returns to Bill Belichick. He's like, hey, dad, can I have my job back?
And he gives it to him every time. I don't get it, but whatever.
[00:48:17] Speaker B: Such a mess.
[00:48:18] Speaker A: Next up, cincinnati. Cincinnati plays the Rams on Monday Night Football. They're probably actually playing as we're recording right now. So we'll add that game in with next week's update. But we all picked the Rams, so the outcome is going to be the same regardless. We're either all going to lose or we're all going to win. Great. Then finally, Cleveland obviously beat the Titans in dominating fashion, and Kenny was the only one wrong in this one. He picked the Titans. He thought the Titans were good, and they asked.
[00:48:51] Speaker B: They were really bad. They were way worse than I anticipated.
[00:48:54] Speaker A: Bone man. Good job. Out of you. Me and you picked that one.
[00:48:56] Speaker B: Right.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Which leads us to the standings right now. I'm at five and three. I righted. The ship feels good. Bone Man's at five and three. And Kenny bringing up the rear. As always. He loves the rear. Three and five and under 500, and I predict it stays that way for the rest of the season. So this feels better. This feels right.
[00:49:19] Speaker B: I predict I'll take your mom home tonight.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: Dang bringing Cindy into this. She's going to be upset when she sees this.
[00:49:26] Speaker B: Cindy's a luscious lady.
[00:49:28] Speaker A: All right, let's take a quick trip around the NFL.
[00:49:40] Speaker B: Cindy loves it.
[00:49:41] Speaker A: All right, so you know that one of my favorite things to do during this segment is poke fun at Russell Wilson. Well, he continued to be washed this week, but that wasn't even the biggest storyline of this game. The Dolphins put up 70 points on the Broncos this week. That's right. 70. Only the fourth 70 point game in NFL history. And they could have kicked a field goal as time expired to set the record for points in a game. The current record is 72. They could have got 73. But Mike McDaniels elected to kneel the ball as the fans chanted, three more points. Three more points.
But he did not do that classy move on his part. In Dolphins corner, xavier Howard called it totally disrespectful to leave Russell Wilson in the game. I'm not sure how it's disrespectful. I would have been just happy that they left him in because he's ass and we would have just continued to dominate. But apparently he was upset that Russell Wilson was still in the game.
[00:50:35] Speaker B: I mean, the funny thing is, Russell didn't play even that bad. I mean, he was 23 or 38 for 300 yards, a touchdown and a pick.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: He was asked.
[00:50:43] Speaker B: The difference was Tua through for 309 yards and four touchdowns, and some guy named Devon Ashane ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
[00:50:51] Speaker A: Did you all see?
He's running back.
[00:50:54] Speaker B: He's the fantasy waiver wire winner of the week.
[00:50:58] Speaker A: Did you guys see Tua's? No. Look. Pass.
[00:51:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: The backwards one is nasty.
But bottom line, in this one, broncos and Russell Wilson are ass 70 points.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: It was at one point, it was like 50 to 20, and I was like, wow, they're just beating up on them.
[00:51:15] Speaker A: No, they added 20 more.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: And when I looked up and saw 70, I was like, what? That doesn't happen in the NFL.
[00:51:20] Speaker C: No, it was a double take. I saw that on Fantasy and I.
[00:51:23] Speaker A: Was just, that has to be a typo. Yeah.
[00:51:25] Speaker C: I was like, Am I reading this? Yeah, it was kind of print.
[00:51:28] Speaker A: It was not. And so, in case anyone was keeping score, the Broncos traded away a first two first round picks. Was it two first round picks in a second rounder for a coach that just got beat by the ex ball boy of the team? So there's that.
[00:51:42] Speaker B: The Dolphins had 726 total yards in this game, and it wasn't like, again, this was a balanced attack. Passing yards, 376. Rushing yards, 350.
[00:51:53] Speaker A: With Sean Payton's hot takes before the season about the jets and their coaches and everything else, isn't their matchup coming up, like week five or something?
[00:52:01] Speaker B: Well, he was talking about the ex Broncos coach about that's who I'm talking about.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: Yeah, he's with the jets now. I think their matchup is like week five. That's going to be fantastic.
[00:52:10] Speaker B: 70 points.
[00:52:11] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And now the jets are ass, too.
[00:52:13] Speaker B: Which we'll get to in a minute. 70 points.
[00:52:16] Speaker A: But probably the other hottest story in all of the NFL this week was that Taylor Swift showed up to cheer on Travis Kelsey and the Kansas City Chiefs. Everyone had a lot of fun with this. Cameras were all over her the entire game.
At one. Point. She said, let's fucking go. When Travis Kelsey scored a touchdown, reporters were asking Mahomes after the game about it. This whole thing has been insane the last couple of weeks. And once they publicly confirm that they are dating, it's going to be absolute pandemonium.
[00:52:46] Speaker B: I mean, can you publicly confirm it in any other way? She was next to his mom.
[00:52:51] Speaker A: Well, here's my question. Is this a they have they seen this going on the last couple of weeks? It's just like a big joke. They're playing on America.
[00:52:57] Speaker B: Taylor Swift need to be more popular than she does. She just got off a huge tour where she sold out every stadium in the country.
[00:53:02] Speaker A: I don't know. I'm just saying, could they be publicity? Could they be playing into the rumors? They're just like, what could blow our names up even more than they already are? Travis Kelsey's on this whole wild ride after the Super Bowl win last year, he's been everywhere. And Taylor, as you mentioned, has been everywhere. So just like, yeah, let's ride this out. Let's just make everybody think we're dating.
[00:53:21] Speaker C: I think he's just trying to get more viewers on his podcast.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: I mean, his podcast has blown up since this whole thing that's what is it? They just happen to know each other and they're like, let's blow this thing up?
[00:53:32] Speaker B: I don't think so, man. I think there's genuine interest here. You think they're banging? I think Travis Kelsey would like to think taylor doesn't look like Travis Kelsey's type. She's very petite and skinny and very white. And Travis is like Hollywood, you know, like kardashian. Big bombs, big booty chicks.
He could have one of those chicks. But he wants Taylor.
[00:54:02] Speaker A: He wants t swift. All the Swifties are out in force.
[00:54:05] Speaker B: I don't know. It just seems like an OD matchup to me.
[00:54:07] Speaker A: Here's the deal. All I know is Travis Kelsey better watch out, or he's literally going to have an entire album written about him.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: Oh, and one more thing. Travis Kelsey's total yards with Taylor Swift in attendance. Anybody? 69 69. Nice, man. But here's the deal. The Chiefs. They can keep Taylor Swift because Adele is a fan of the Cleveland Browns.
[00:54:29] Speaker B: That she is.
[00:54:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:31] Speaker B: Rich Paul continues to bring home the champions.
[00:54:36] Speaker A: So enough about the Kansas City Chiefs, though. The team that they played in that game was the Bears. And the Bears continued their nightmare start to the season. Lost badly. The final score of that one was 41 to ten. I think it was 34 nothing at halftime.
They had no answer whatsoever for the Chiefs. By the end of the game, it looked like the Chiefs were just playing with the Bears. And while Justin Fields, they're just playing with the bears. And while Justin Fields is struggling to live up to the hype around his name that was built up in the offseason in Chicago, patrick Mahomes became the fastest player to reach 25,000 career passing yards since at least 1970. Took only 83 games to do it. The next fastest Matt Stafford in 90 games.
But yeah, the Bears remain defeated. Owen three. And they look bad.
[00:55:22] Speaker B: They are bad.
Hot take.
[00:55:26] Speaker A: They are bad. I just can't believe that before this season people were building up like they're going to win the division playoffs.
[00:55:32] Speaker B: Don't talk about playoffs.
[00:55:34] Speaker A: You kidding me?
[00:55:34] Speaker B: I know those same people said Kenny Pickett was the answer and they're two.
[00:55:37] Speaker A: And so I guess blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.
[00:55:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know.
[00:55:42] Speaker A: Look, I just think broken watches, right? Twice a day, there's a lot of.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: Different both of these buses are coming home to roost, I can tell you that.
[00:55:49] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. So like I said, they remain defeated. But from defeated to one of the remaining undefeated teams in the league. Well, not anymore. The Cowboys lost this weekend to the lowly Arizona Cardinals. And they didn't just lose, they lost convincingly. It was 20 816 and I believe it wasn't even that close. I think there was like a garbage time field goal or touchdown or something that was scored to make it that close. So is it already time for the wheels to fall off in Dallas? I mean, it seems to happen year at some point or another.
Is it time?
[00:56:18] Speaker B: That defense is still really good.
I think this was just one of those games. Look, like Pacino said, any given Sunday.
[00:56:29] Speaker A: He did say that once.
[00:56:31] Speaker B: I just think that sometimes your broken watch, your clock squirrel isn't a nut.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: Man, we go back already. Literally been like four sentences every cliche.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: You just gave me. Yeah, I think the Cowboys are better than this. I think this was a bad game. Sometimes you just don't have it. Micah Parsons is ridiculous. He's real good. And just that Cowboys defense is good enough to carry them a long ways. I think the question here is, is Dak good enough to carry them a long way? And we've seen this experiment play out for a long time and he hasn't yet. So that's still, I think, the biggest question marker on this team. We know he can throw for a lot of yards. We know he can throw for a lot of touchdowns. We also know he can't stay healthy very often, and then at some point that all bites him in the ass.
[00:57:18] Speaker A: True. I will say this probably speaks to parity in the league. I mean, it shows, like you said, any given Sunday, what makes the league great, it's why it's the best league in the world is because literally any given Sunday, the worst team in the league could beat the best team in the league because they're that evenly matched. But next up here CJ. Stroud and the Texans went into Jacksonville and upset Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. CJ. Stroud was 20 of 30 for 280 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and became the first quarterback to throw for 900 plus yards, four plus touchdowns, and no interceptions in his first three games of his career.
[00:57:51] Speaker B: I'm impressed with CJ. Stroud. So far. We watched him play.
[00:57:54] Speaker A: We watched him play.
The biggest thing about CJ. Stroud is, like, his command, his composure. He's never rattled. He always seems to know where he needs to go with the ball, what the defense is going to be doing.
[00:58:06] Speaker B: I think the big difference between him and Justin Fields is, like, Justin Fields, we all had this respect for him as the athlete that he was, not that CJ. Is not a good athlete, but he's.
[00:58:15] Speaker A: Not if you put him to get like Justin Fields, justin Fields is a freak out.
[00:58:18] Speaker B: Justin Fields is like the flashy athlete, and you go like, that guy's gonna have success in the NFL. But the quarterback position is about so much more than that. And right now, CJ. Stroud is showing you that.
[00:58:26] Speaker A: Absolutely.
So CJ. Stroud is a pretty good quarterback. You know who isn't a good quarterback? Zach Wilson.
He's good at banging moms, not good at playing quarterback.
[00:58:38] Speaker B: The milk.
[00:58:39] Speaker A: Yeah. But so the wheels are completely falling off in New York right now as the jets lost to the Patriots and all kinds of frustration on the New York Jets sideline. There were three separate incidents with players yelling at other players or yelling at coaches. Everyone seems to still hate Zach Wilson. Everyone's yelling at him. And a season that started with so much optimism in New York may end up being one of the worst seasons that New York Jets fans have ever had to endure. And I'll just say it like we said it last year, new York Jets is trash, man. Trash.
[00:59:07] Speaker B: Keep that receipt. Keep that receipt, Robert. Yeah, keep it. Here's the thing.
They have to make a phone call, right? They have to make a phone call.
[00:59:15] Speaker A: Tom Brady out there.
[00:59:15] Speaker B: They got to call Tom Brady. They got to call Kyle Orton, call anybody. Call Jay Cutler.
[00:59:21] Speaker A: Literally anybody.
[00:59:22] Speaker C: Russell Wilson to the jets.
[00:59:24] Speaker B: Call Chad Henny.
[00:59:25] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:59:25] Speaker B: Chad Henny's looking for work. They got to do something. You can't keep marching this kid out every week and him being just ass.
[00:59:32] Speaker A: I don't know why they keep standing by. We think he's going to be a good quarter, maybe after like, six years of riding pine and watching Aaron Rodgers play. But Aaron Rodgers is on bench now because he's hurt.
You don't have that luxury anymore to let Zach Wilson learn. He's officially the quarterback and he's officially asked.
[00:59:49] Speaker B: Well, I think it's where he needs that, though. I think maybe Zach Wilson's a quarterback like Gino Smith did in four years after watching some good quarterbacks play. Maybe he'll find lightning in a bottle.
[00:59:58] Speaker A: It's possible. But right now, he asks.
[00:59:59] Speaker B: Right now he asks. He's the biggest ass in the ass league. But they have to make a phone call, right? That team is too good and too talented. You got Garrett Wilson on that team. You got that defense that they've bet all that money invested in, and man, you got to do something.
[01:00:14] Speaker A: I agree.
[01:00:16] Speaker B: If that was us, I'd be like, bring Bernie in.
[01:00:21] Speaker A: I would call for anybody but him.
[01:00:24] Speaker B: I can think of at least five ex Brown scores.
[01:00:26] Speaker A: Your mom's not safe while he's on the team.
[01:00:28] Speaker B: Nobody's mom is safe.
[01:00:30] Speaker A: I mean, you went after my mom already in this podcast, and now Zach Wilson's probably going after her, too. So whatever.
[01:00:36] Speaker B: Zach Wilson's actually dropping her off after the great.
[01:00:38] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you.
Final note here. Sam Howell is really bad.
That's it. That's what?
[01:00:47] Speaker B: He's not good.
I think he's better than I thought he was going to be.
He's not good, but he's not ass trash.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: Sam Howell's bad. That's my.
[01:01:01] Speaker B: Hey, I don't disagree with you.
[01:01:03] Speaker A: All right, so that'll do it for around the NFL. Kenny, I think it's time.
I think it's time for an interview.
[01:01:09] Speaker B: Oh, it is?
[01:01:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And so something that we started doing this year is our Browns Backers Interview Series. And what we wanted to do is highlight Browns Backers from around the country. We wanted to do this for several reasons. One, these people are all diehard Browns fans and love our Brownies, rain or shine. Obviously, that's number one.
The Browns have fans everywhere, and these people show up at their viewing locations week in and week out to see and support their team. But what we also wanted to do was highlight what most people may not know about the Browns backers, the fact that they do a lot of good work around their respective communities. So with that, let's go ahead and get into the next interview in the series.
[01:01:45] Speaker B: I would say this for some people, this might be your introduction to the Browns Backers that maybe you didn't even really realize that there was this organization out here, this global organization that is out here rooting for the Browns every Sunday, doing community service all around the world and doing good things in their communities. So hopefully you guys enjoy some of these interviews because we've got some really high caliber folks we've had conversations with so far, and they just get better and better each week.
[01:02:11] Speaker A: Yeah. So with that, let's go ahead and get into the next interview in the Series.
[01:02:24] Speaker B: FM.
[01:02:35] Speaker A: Okay, guys. So this week for our Brownsbackers Interview Series, we have the opportunity to chat with Gus Angelone, who is the president of the Pumpkin Patch Brownsbackers or better known to everyone around Cleveland as Pumpkin Nation. And if you watch Browns games, then the word pumpkin sparks some familiarity. And there's a reason why Pumpkin Head is one of the superfans that is at every Browns game. And that is why this chapter is the Pumpkin Patch or Pumpkin Nation. That's right. Gus is the man behind the pumpkin. He's pumpkinhead. So without further delay, let's welcome Gus Angelone. Gus, how you doing? Gus.
[01:03:13] Speaker E: Thanks for having me tonight.
[01:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, thanks for being here. We really appreciate it. And so first of all, I want to ask you, you guys are the pumpkin officially on the Brownsbackers website? You're the pumpkin patch brownsbackers.
Have you always been the Pumpkin patch Browns backers or is it Browns Nation? I know you just intermix the two of them.
[01:03:38] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of the same one and the same thing. I started off as the Pumpkin patch Brownsbackers and I thought maybe switching it up to Pumpkin Nation gave it more of a strong name or a feel to it, but it's essentially the same.
[01:03:56] Speaker A: You gotcha. And tell us a little bit about your chapter. I know obviously you're located in Cleveland, but when were you guys established? What's your viewing location, how many members, those types of things.
[01:04:08] Speaker E: Yeah, so I believe we were established in 2006.
We've got multiple viewing locations here. Usually it's based around the tailgates, but the tailgates have kind of morphed into block parties now.
[01:04:24] Speaker A: So we've got barley this past week, said it was pretty wild.
[01:04:30] Speaker E: Yeah. So we don't per se, really are not your traditional Brownsbacker chapter as most chapters are out of town and have meeting locations during game days and do certain events. Mine's more based on my tailgates and what I do here in the community here in Cleveland.
I feel it kind of separates me from, or I should say us from the other chapters.
Obviously, I'm kind of well known for what I wear on my head at game days.
The tailgates that have turned into block parties now raise thousands of dollars for local charities here in Cleveland. Usually we do wags for kids, which is helping getting service animals for children.
I'm a Marine corps veteran, so we like to do things with Wounded Warrior Foundation, anything with veterans.
And then we do a breast cancer one. As you know, the three big things for me is kids, animals, and military.
[01:05:42] Speaker A: I think that should be the big three things for just about everybody. I mean, all good things.
[01:05:47] Speaker B: So can you tell us a little bit about how the pumpkin originated for like for us it seems like it's just always been a thing.
It's synonymous with Browns games as you see pumpkin head down there before the games. But where'd that come from?
[01:06:01] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, it's actually wild how iconic it's turned into, but actually this is my 20th year, started in 2002, 2003 season kind of started off as just something silly to do.
There was actually four pumpkins that were made the day of the game. I believe it was a Bengals game we were going to and I made these.
As folklore goes, the pumpkins are no longer real, but they used to be. You can't get pumpkins after a certain time of the year so the novel TV people really enjoyed it, so I decided to make one out of fiberglass, keep the thing going, keep doing it to every game. But the way the story goes back in two, I believe the Browns changed the color of the helmet. They called it a pumpkin orange. Kind of a no brainer there.
Halloween and 4 July are my favorite holidays. So it's like I said, a no brainer.
Constructed the pumpkins for my brother and my cousin, and we were all supposed to wear them to the game as just something fun to do, something to get attention. They thought I was dumb, decided they didn't want to do it. And I'm like, you know what? I put all this time and effort into making these. I'm doing it. So the first game, we walked in, and instantly we're getting on TV, we're on the jumbotron, and it was just a lot of a positive attention. And obviously doing something that crazy is that you got to kind of like the attention. So I wanted to continue to do it. And every year from there on in, it's kind of grown bigger and better.
The pumpkins take a life of their own. There's been many. I started wearing full uniforms, and then we started doing the tailgates, which consisted of a pony keg and a back of a pickup truck for 1012 people. And as of yesterday, I had our block party down in Cleveland, and we probably had about 3500 people down there. So from twelve people in a pony keg to a block party and who knows how many kegs of beer, but it's really turned into something.
[01:08:25] Speaker B: I imagine it actually offers some pretty good protection down there in November and December. But is that thing hot to wear in the early goings of the season?
[01:08:33] Speaker E: Yeah, definitely. During training camp in the first couple of games, it's very hot.
But like you stated, it's actually a blessing in disguise because those winds whipping off the lake. And as the weather starts to deteriorate, I'm nice and toasty in the thing.
[01:08:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I bet that is nice.
It's honestly an insane story. What do you think about it? Just from, like you said, from twelve people in a tailgate and actual pumpkin on your head to what it is now in the big block party this past week is unbelievable. And speaking of that block party, you said there was about 3500 people at that one. Are there any upcoming events that you're hosting? Do you guys do your tailgate every week, or is there any other special events coming up that you're looking forward to?
[01:09:24] Speaker E: Yeah, so we do the block parties for every Browns home game here in Cleveland. We shut down the entire street of west 6th and Lakeside, and we pretty much take up the entire block on the warehouse district there. And that's really what we do here locally. But what's cool about being a superfan and recognized and stuff.
I take my sons with me whatever I do, bronze related. So they travel with me when we go to away games and it's cool to hook up with other chapters. And kind of get a feel for what's going on in their city during the Browns and when we travel. So reaching out on social media obviously is a great way to get in touch with those people. But we come into town and they're always very welcoming, they always take care of us. So it's fun. And I really enjoy doing, you know, shout out to all those presidents and members and organizations that I've met throughout the years. I try to hit at least two to three away games a season.
We were just coming back from Pittsburgh last weekend, so like I said, it's a lot of fun. People are beginning to even recognize me outside of the costume. So it's surreal to me. It's just something fun that started many years ago and kind of turned into what it is today. And really the benefactors of all of this are my two boys, CJ and Vince. They're 15 and 16. And all the cool things that I get to experience and share with them is really what keeps me going and keeps me motivated.
[01:11:08] Speaker A: Hell yes, it's something special that you get to share with your sons. I mean, I know recent boy born into Kenny's family here, kenny has a new dad and then he's got a I mean, are you going to be this famous so that you could share these experiences with your son?
[01:11:25] Speaker B: Are you going to be this famous so you can share them with your daughter?
[01:11:29] Speaker A: Maybe.
[01:11:32] Speaker B: You pretty much take over the west 6th area there. Did you have to call the local police and just let them know you're having 3000 friends over or how does that conversation go?
[01:11:42] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, as you guys know, social media, there's a lot of haters out there and sometimes I get called a paid fan. But anyone that's been to my block parties here, there's no complaints. It is a huge undertaking. I work in conjunctions with many sponsors, all the bars, beer vendors, food vendors, food trucks. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. These tailgates are planned all the way, starting in February. Permits, hiring, police, security.
It's much more than what you would expect, just like I said where I started from, back of a pickup truck. But it's very rewarding and it's a lot of work. Like I'm beat from yesterday, but Browns came out with that w, so that's all that matters, right?
[01:12:35] Speaker A: Makes me feel a little bit better in the end.
[01:12:38] Speaker B: So real quick here, too. Can we just go behind the pumpkin? You don't gotta tell me where you work. What do you do? That's a unique skill set to be able to kind of lead an organization like that, do all that kind of planning, working with sponsors, working with all the venues.
What is it that the Pumpkin head does? What's his Clark Kent job?
Yeah.
[01:12:58] Speaker E: So I actually refer to myself as a joke as Clark Kent changing into Superman when I do the character. But dad, he's an auto worker for General Motors. I also own and operate my own property, maintenance and landscaping. You know, I keep busy with know, I'm sure it's not hard to believe as we're getting into the story, but the entire pumpkinhead and the Browns backer and the block parties have turned into a third job for me because as you know, being successful, you got to work at it. And this is the 20th year at it and block parties don't just happen overnight.
[01:13:39] Speaker B: For sure.
[01:13:41] Speaker A: And I actually know somebody that works with you at GM. Shout out to Greg Schmidt, he works with you over there at GM. And I know he said he's had a couple with you about your mean. All of this is fantastic. Like I said, it's crazy the things that you're doing.
Not that anybody's keeping score necessarily when it comes to philanthropy, but you got to be up there as far as giving back and the things that you guys are doing as far as the Browns backers go.
[01:14:16] Speaker E: Right. I mean, I can't take all the credit for it. It's in conjunction with the bars and sponsors, but everything that we do, each tailgate raises thousands of dollars. So it's very well publicized and stuff.
[01:14:30] Speaker D: But.
[01:14:34] Speaker E: It'S very rewarding to do those things and to have fun and host these parties for all the Browns fans and then be able to give back on top of it. Like I said, it's just something special and very rewarding for us.
[01:14:49] Speaker B: Now, have you had run ins with evil superfans from other teams until they show up and want to do battle with the Pumpkin head?
[01:14:58] Speaker E: Yeah, actually, it's funny you asked that. I'm very welcoming to opposing teams and other fans as my block parties have become. It's a neutral ground, but I like to welcome in people from other teams and other superfans. It's nice to get pictures of them, meet them, hear their stories. And when I travel, I like to be welcomed. So I know how it is. I've been other places where it's not been so friendly. So I try to make football is a big community, the NFL, the Browns. So I want to encourage anybody that sees or hears this interview that I welcome everybody. And it's a lot of fun for us and just the camaraderie there with being an NFL fan. It's part of why we do what we.
[01:15:53] Speaker A: Let'S. You mentioned football in the NFL and the reason why we all do everything that we do here. So let's get into the football side of things a little bit here.
How do you think the Browns did against the Titans this past week? And how do you think they've looked so far. This.
[01:16:11] Speaker E: I mean, obviously, everybody with eyes and ears knows the defense is absolutely killing it. I think even calling it a championship Super Bowl contending defense is not even putting it lightly. I know we're only three weeks into the season, but these guys seem to improve each week. I think they've given up six points total in two home games. The Steelers game, I really feel like that was a shot to the gut there. Like I said, the boys and I were at that game, and we lost Chubb. And I'm not going to lie, we were devastated, and the win was knocked out of us, and the boys were so upset, we left at halftime. We just couldn't be there. Steelers fan is not very welcoming, but I almost felt like the season was over when we lost Chubb. That's just how it felt. And yesterday was a breath of fresh air to get us back on the right track, get the energy back.
Having kareem hunt come back and see the guys perform so well, and then, obviously to see deshaun start to get back to his old ways airing out the ball and the toughness Amari Cooper showing by playing through injury. It just seems like yesterday was the perfect storm and just what the doctor ordered.
[01:17:34] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And I know everybody on our show, both us, me and Kenny and our board op over here, bone man. Everybody was devastated. We didn't know what to like.
[01:17:47] Speaker B: I usually live tweet during the games, and I shut it down. I was devastated.
[01:17:52] Speaker A: Shut it down.
[01:17:53] Speaker E: We were it was a terrible experience. I mean, we got in there and they showed the I'll call it an incident because I don't care what anybody says. They couldn't stop Chubb. They went low, and we all know what happens when you go low, but they showed it once on that jumbotron, and it was like the entire breath was taken out of us. It was a horrible experience.
[01:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I could only imagine seeing that in front of all those fans. And I'm sure there was a collective gasp in the stadium, even with it being all Steelers fans, I'm sure everybody was kind of taken aback.
[01:18:31] Speaker B: And you got young boys there with you, too. It's one thing because you got to not only kind of compose yourself to be dad, but you're also very sad.
[01:18:40] Speaker E: Now we're in the social media age, and they didn't show it, and people are texting us and stuff. And, I mean, within, what, two minutes, I've got replays. I've got still shots of it, and it was devastating. And I'm just speaking for how us as fans feel. Can you imagine how Chubb feels? So thoughts and prayers out to him.
[01:19:00] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well said. Well said. And so let's look to this week real quick. What are your thoughts on the week four matchup against the Ravens? And in particular, I want to ask you, we kind of saw the running game was fairly ineffective. This last one against the Titans, even though we got an easy win, do you think they're going to be able to turn that around or you think that this is officially the start of a pass heavy offense the rest of the way?
[01:19:25] Speaker E: Yeah, I think they're going to get an equally sufficient defense or, I'm sorry, running and passing attack. I think that's just how you have to play the Ravens historically. I think we play Lamar Jackson very tough. We play know I know the Ravens usually play us good here at Cleveland Brown Stadium, but historically, we play them very tough. So I'm expecting a win. I'm expecting a defense showcase from both teams on Sunday.
Like I said, I do expect a win. I expect a low scoring 24 to 22 type game.
I don't see a blow up by any means, but I just think our defense is not to be played with. I think their confidence is under them. I think the Jim Schwartz approach where he wants the guys to celebrate, he wants them to attack, he puts the right position players in the right places, these guys are thriving. And I think even though the, you know, a lesser opponent, I think they really want to show the NFL what we can do. And I expect them to come know guns and blazing on.
[01:20:44] Speaker A: Yes. I hope I hope you are right because it would be phenomenal to see just know, kind of take it to the Ravens, especially in Cleveland.
[01:20:53] Speaker B: Speaking of the Ravens, just given that you are the Pumpkin head and the Browns superfan, do you have a higher level of disdain for the Steelers or the Ravens overall? Oh, good question.
[01:21:05] Speaker E: I'm definitely an old school Browns fan. I grew up watching Bernie and stuff and Bernie's become a personal friend of mine. And the stories that I get to hear in public and behind the scenes from Bernie, it's been and it always will be the Steelers. Even though the Ravens took our team and that was horrible. Graduating high school, having to deal with no football and all that. And thank God we had the Indians of the years, but it's always going to be the Steelers. I've raised my boys to I don't like to say hate, but dislike the Steelers. We don't really like any of the AFC opponents, AFC north opponents, but definitely Steelers is on top.
[01:21:52] Speaker A: You guys weren't one of those Bengals bandwagoners during the playoffs last year. Hoping they know.
[01:22:00] Speaker E: I have a lot of friends that are Bengals. So I was pulling for my friends that were fans of the team. And I'm not going to lie, I love Joe Burrow. I wish.
[01:22:10] Speaker A: He'S hard not to like. Yeah.
[01:22:11] Speaker E: Under different circumstances, I would love for him to be the quarterback of the Browns. He was started at Ohio State. I think he does.
[01:22:18] Speaker A: And.
[01:22:19] Speaker E: Says all the right things, so I'm still not going to root for him, but I don't know. I guess that's just where I'm at with it.
[01:22:30] Speaker A: No, we're with you.
That was a hot topic for us during the playoffs last year when we heard so many browns fans rooting for them to win. We said, but they're an AFC north opponent, guys. Come on.
[01:22:40] Speaker E: Yeah, like I said, I root for friends and fans of mine.
When the browns are out, I want to see my friends happy and successful. So that would be where I'm at with.
[01:22:57] Speaker A: We. Before we jump off here, anything else that you want to say to the people around Cleveland that are thinking about joining a brownsbackers chapter?
[01:23:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:23:05] Speaker E: So if you guys are looking to join something different, be a part of a group somewhere that you're always welcome, everybody can come down and join us down at the block parties, and it's just a community there.
We do this thing after I shoot the crowd with t shirts. We call it a family photo. And basically everybody gets around and we take these amazing group pictures. And it's something that I take a lot of pride in, and it's fun to go back throughout the years and see everybody that I've met and that I've grown with. So, like I said, it's a very welcoming group. So we invite everybody to come down every home game and join us.
[01:23:47] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, hey, Gus, it's been fantastic having you on the we really, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much. We hope to meet you in person here soon.
[01:23:58] Speaker E: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.
[01:24:00] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:24:13] Speaker E: I'm Pumpkinhead from pumpkin nation, and you're listening to Burning river sportscast. Go browns.
[01:24:27] Speaker A: Man, that was interesting with guy. That guy's story is great.
[01:24:33] Speaker B: He's just a pumpkinhead, man.
[01:24:35] Speaker A: He just started with a real pumpkin. It turned into a fiberglass pumpkin, and now he's just out there doing pumpkin things.
[01:24:39] Speaker B: I mean, that's pretty funny that he.
[01:24:40] Speaker A: Do you think at midnight he turns into a pumpkin?
[01:24:42] Speaker B: I bet he does. That's why he was just chilling laid back on his couch there. He was getting ready for his pumpkin ride.
[01:24:48] Speaker A: Yo. The amount of work that he puts in to put these events on and to have things done the way that he does them, the way that their group does them, I know that he has a few people with the browns backers group that he runs that probably help out. So I don't want to short them, but the work that they do around cleveland and the amount of money that they raise with those tailgates is just unbelievable.
[01:25:09] Speaker B: It's incredible what they do because and we've talked to some of these other browns backers in other parts of the country where it's harder for them to raise money because they're browns fans. But like here, man, they can do so much good in these communities and they raise thousands of thousands of dollars at each of these tailgates. I'm sure they do different events and things for cleaning up the city and different food drives and things all year long. So just tremendous organization. But Pumpkinhead, I mean, he does it right, man. He's there to party. He's there to hang out with other Browns fans. Seems like it's a very inclusive group that wants to bring in anybody and everybody. I mean, they're having these all those.
[01:25:46] Speaker A: Bars work with him. They're doing the pumpkin head T shirt cannon every week. They got Bernie throwing out autograph footballs. It's crazy.
[01:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, they basically take over a whole street in Cleveland.
[01:25:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So, again, shout out to Pumpkinhead and Pumpkin Nation. Thanks for joining us today. It was awesome. And that will lead us to the burner.
All right, I'll let that play.
So don't forget to call and leave your hot takes on the hot take. Hotline. Remember, these are hot takes. We want hot takes.
[01:26:22] Speaker B: We want hot takes.
[01:26:23] Speaker A: We want hot takes.
[01:26:24] Speaker B: We want hot takes.
[01:26:25] Speaker A: 3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278 now, operators are not standing by. Just an answer machine.
[01:26:38] Speaker B: Just NASA machine.
[01:26:40] Speaker A: All right, it's that time again.
[01:26:41] Speaker B: Kenny, what time is it?
[01:26:43] Speaker A: Let's take a quick revenue break and then get back here and talk to the legend that is Eric Metcalf. And we will also preview the week four matchup against the Ratbirds.
[01:26:55] Speaker B: An obscene profit break.
[01:26:57] Speaker A: Yes.
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[01:28:32] Speaker B: I'm a medium roast guy. Come on. Come on.
[01:28:34] Speaker A: He's a medium roast guy.
So, yeah, the medium roast is growing on me too. I'm starting to really like it. But all Cleveland coffee. Visit all Cleveland.com today to order your coffee and donate a few meals in the process. All Cleveland Coffee ethically sourced, premium roasted, and three meals donated for every bag purchased.
Before we get into the week four preview, we are going to talk to another Cleveland Browns alum that will be going on the Browns Fan Cruise with us.
Powered by Riverside Smuds. Legend was inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends program in 2008. His career statistics include 541 receptions, 5572 receiving yards, 2392 rushing yards, 9266 return yards. Yes, you heard that right. 55 total touchdowns, two time first team All Pro and a three time Pro Bowler. No one wants to hear me recite his stats. Let's go to it. Here he is, everybody. Welcome. The man, the myth, the legend, Eric Metcalf. Hey, it's on our end. They'll hear it.
[01:30:20] Speaker B: You can't hear it post production.
[01:30:22] Speaker A: Yeah, no, but Eric, thanks for joining us. How are you today?
[01:30:27] Speaker D: I'm doing well, and thanks for having me.
[01:30:30] Speaker A: Yeah, no problem. Go ahead.
[01:30:33] Speaker D: It's always a good time to get on and talk Browns football and all that.
[01:30:39] Speaker A: Now, before we get to some of the questions that we have for you, we do have something to talk about here. You are going to be on the Browns Fan Cruise in March of 2024. That is confirmed. It's big facts. Come heller high water, you're going to be there.
We have to say this being that we are brought to you by the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. We're the official podcast of the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. We're going to be on the Cleveland Browns Fan cruise. We're going to be MC most of the events on that Fan Cruise. We are really looking forward to sharing that Browns Fan Cruise with you. So is there anything you can tell our listeners about the Browns Fan Cruise?
[01:31:17] Speaker D: I would first like to say I don't know about hell or high water because that's like scary when we're talking about a.
[01:31:28] Speaker A: Know, you can't say that.
[01:31:30] Speaker D: You can't leave with hell or high. You know, the Browns Fan Cruise is a time for Browns fans to get together on a cruise with former players of the Browns and just interact and have fun and be social in a different environment. Normally when you see Browns fans, it's after football games or just when you're doing Browns backers events or things like that, but it'll be a different environment. We'll be on a cruise, relaxing, smoking cigars, hopefully having some drinks and just being able to just socialize.
[01:32:05] Speaker A: Hell yeah. So we're all looking forward to it. So with that, let's get into your story a little bit. So you went to college at the University of Texas. There's a whole slew of stats I can read off here, and I might get to them eventually. But first, can you tell us about your time at Texas?
[01:32:23] Speaker D: My time in Texas was a blast. If you've ever been to Austin, you can understand that, but my time in Texas, blast. I had fun playing football and running track. I think the only thing that I regret about my four years at the University of Texas, not winning many games. I mean, in four years I won 24 games, but other than that, I just love playing at the University of Texas. I still bleed burn orange.
It was just fun just filling up on Saturdays and being the guy and people just praising you and just loving everything you did for the university.
[01:33:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Being in Ohio State country up here, they would kill me if they heard me say this, but hook them horns, right?
[01:33:09] Speaker D: Hook them horns. For sure. You have to say you have to acknowledge that, especially after this weekend, right?
[01:33:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
Great game for them. Yeah.
And I will read off some of those stats here for you in college because you didn't talk them up. You're being a little modest here. 4051 yards from scrimmage, 125 receptions, 31 total touchdowns, 1650 yards on special teams, average of ten yards per punt return. You're the only player in Texas history to lead the team in all purpose yards for all four years that you were there. And you hold every receiving record for a running back that there possibly is. So, I mean, you were a pretty good player for.
[01:33:52] Speaker D: Know, if I was real good, we would have won more games, I guess, but for us it was a downtime. But like I said, I just liked enjoy. I enjoyed being in that uniform and going out there and playing in the Southwest Conference as it was back in the day.
Things don't always go as you plan them to go. But things worked out for me. I just like being out there on Saturdays. I still, like I said, bleed burnt orange because it was a fun time.
When you talk about all the stats, it really doesn't mean much to me because those are things that I did my entire life. From the time I started playing football, I was catching the balls, returning punks and kicks, and also running the ball. So the things I did at the University of Texas were things I had been doing my whole life, so I expected to be pretty good at those.
[01:34:46] Speaker B: Speaking of doing them your whole life, we were actually looking at your high school statistics that popped up for us earlier today, and you were no slaps there either. They were also pretty impressive numbers.
But for someone who's been productive playing football your entire life, was there a moment that you knew that the NFL was truly in your sights?
[01:35:07] Speaker D: To be honest, I knew the NFL was in my sights. Seven years sounds crazy, as it know, especially my dad played. So when you think about that my dad being a former NFL player, that's exactly what I wanted to do because that's what he did. So I was following trying to follow in my dad's footsteps. But to start playing football at seven years old and being very good at I mean, I scored ten touchdowns in a game at seven years old. They called three back because I was faster than most people to do that and then just keep getting better and continue to do things of that sort. Each level I went to, I knew from day one pretty much that I was going to be in mean that was plan A.
But plan B was reinforcing plan.
Think I think I do it differently. Or think about it differently had my dad not played in the NFL. But because he did it and he was successful at it successful at it, I think it made me want to do it even more.
[01:36:21] Speaker A: Yeah. And you talk about it being kind of a family thing. Let's put this to rest.
I've heard everybody talk about you possibly being DK Metcalf's uncle. I've heard cousin, are you related to.
[01:36:34] Speaker D: DK Metcalf at know, I don't really done I'm not like Alex Haley in doing research, like his roots or anything.
I don't know. I always tell people, we can try to find that out later, but as long as he continues to be a good player, we'll take him in our family.
[01:36:58] Speaker A: There you go. I would claim him too.
[01:37:02] Speaker B: You can kill over for Thanksgiving as long as you catch ten touchdowns a year.
[01:37:06] Speaker D: No.
[01:37:09] Speaker A: So on top of being a football star at Texas, I know you mentioned it a little bit when you were talking as well, but you also did track and field there. You hold their long jump record.
You were national long jump champion in 86, 80.
You won conference titles in 86 and 87. You were US Junior National Long Jump Champion in 86 and 87. Five time All American in 1988, you competed in the US olympic Trials, and you finished Eigth overall. So I know you said plan A was football, plan B was reinforcing plan A. Plan C must have been track and field.
[01:37:44] Speaker D: I'm guessing it never was.
And I think when you're talking about the trials of me finishing Eigth, I'm not saying I would have made the Olympic team, but when I went to the Olympic Trials, I had no desire to make that team, really, because it was going into my senior year of football. I was at the time considered to be a Heisman candidate. Barry Sanders won it, and no one else was going to win, of course, after that remarkable season. But because the Olympics that year were in Seoul, Korea, and they were in September, in order for me to compete, that means I would have had to miss football. And that was not going to happen because then I wouldn't be reinforcing plan.
[01:38:30] Speaker A: A.
[01:38:33] Speaker D: I can honestly say that's one of the first times in my life that I went into doing something and not really thinking about winning because I didn't care. I wanted to play football. That was my goal. It always been my goal since the day I stepped on the football field or the day I was able to watch my dad do it. That's just what I wanted to do. So trek. I love it. I love everything about it. But it wasn't something I wanted to do, like professionally.
[01:39:03] Speaker A: Got you. No, that's a funny story, in my opinion. Yeah, I did the trials, but I didn't really care.
I just did it because they wanted.
[01:39:16] Speaker B: Me to do it.
[01:39:16] Speaker D: I didn't want to do it because I was pretty good at it. So I figured, I want to do this right.
[01:39:22] Speaker A: Yeah. It helps your draft stock if you make the Olympic team, probably, right?
[01:39:27] Speaker D: I don't know. I got drafted number 13.
[01:39:31] Speaker A: Your draft stock was pretty hot.
[01:39:34] Speaker D: I mean, I wasn't going to be the first running back taken, which was Barry Sanders. He was number three. But I was what, number four, I think at 13, which is probably something that we won't see again, four running backs taking in the top 13 picks.
[01:39:48] Speaker A: No, but no. That's a perfect segue. My next point here was just that you were drafted by the Browns in the first round in 1989, 13th overall. You ended up playing for the Browns from 1989 to 1994.
So can you tell us a little bit about your time with the team?
[01:40:06] Speaker D: I absolutely loved my time with the team, which is strange because when I got drafted by the Browns, I was know I never really thought about being a Cleveland Browns. I actually wanted to be drafted by the Rams. I felt like I was the la type of guy I need to be was. But they picked later in the draft and I got drafted by the Browns after they made several trades to get me. And I come here in May for minicamp, and my agent is like, do not practice because you don't have a contract. If you get hurt, they're probably not going to give you what we want. And so don't so just stand out there and watch practice. And my agent had talked to Ernie, of course, and all those guys that this was what was going to happen. Right. So I'm out there and once again, it's May. I'm coming from the University of Texas in Austin on the worst day. I'm getting 70 degrees during this minicamp.
It was snowing. It's May.
[01:41:14] Speaker A: It's snowing.
[01:41:15] Speaker D: I'm thinking, yeah, oh, this isn't going to work.
Snowing in May. I can just imagine how it's going to be. November, December. And they're playing on natural grass, if that's what you want to call it.
I don't know if that was really grass. That was more so dirt. And so I wasn't really excited about mean, of course you're happy that you got drafted in the first round. You're happy you got drafted, period, and you have the opportunity to be in the NFL. But I wasn't really excited about playing in the cold and playing on dirt because I felt like it would slow me down. And so fast forward, I held out, didn't come to Cleveland until the last preseason game played.
These guys took me in like I had been here for years. The season started, we're winning games, I'm making some pretty good plays. And from that moment on, I just loved being able to call myself a Cleveland Brown. Not just because we were winning games and I was producing on the field, but because the way the fans treated me, the way they still have respect for me as a player in. So I just love being a Cleveland Brown.
[01:42:32] Speaker A: Cleveland's definitely no Hollywood, but I will say that we bleed our team's colors far more than any La team ever did, in my opinion.
[01:42:46] Speaker D: And that's what I appreciate most about the Cleveland fans, because they're with you ride or die, whether they're winning or losing.
And there have been some lame years here, but the Browns fans are Browns fans. And so I just appreciate the fact that they ride or die with you as a team, with you as a player, and just are hoping that something good happens for them.
[01:43:12] Speaker B: Can you talk about your time? I know there was some pretty interesting coaches there during your time with Belichick coming in. Do you have any good Belichick stories?
[01:43:26] Speaker D: Is this PGR or G?
[01:43:29] Speaker A: Whatever you want it to be. We don't have a rating.
[01:43:36] Speaker D: Because when Bill came in, obviously he came from the Giants under Bill Parcels. And he comes in and he's kind of coaching like he had been. He was still with the Giants as Parcels, and we all know how that went. And so we always knew that he was going to be a very good coach. It was just when Bill came in, he wanted to do it his way. And we had stubborn veterans who had been winning and wanted to continue to do it our way.
It didn't really coexist. And so I think that is the problem as to why we didn't get to the Super Bowl, because we had very good players and good teams that could have made it, but it just didn't gel together like we should have. If Bill had gotten his due time, I think the Browns could have got to the well, I say the Browns, but by that time they would have moved to the Ravens anyway. But I feel like he could have got to a championship with those teams.
[01:44:30] Speaker A: We don't like to talk about those dark.
[01:44:35] Speaker D: History. So you have.
[01:44:40] Speaker A: I mean, you mentioned some of your early times there, too. Is there any advice that you have for current Browns players, especially the young guys that are coming in and starting.
[01:44:48] Speaker D: Their careers, I would say just embrace the moment and embrace the town. I think know it's a different era, of course, and guys think differently when they play in the NFL because they move more than guys used to back in the day. I mean, I was traded five times, but that's rare. I mean, not traded, but played on five teams, but that's rare these days. A lot of people do it. And so I say embrace the moment.
Just love the city, because the city loves you. Whether you win or lose, you will still be appreciated. So I just like guys to just appreciate this because it's an honor to play here for the Cleveland Browns.
[01:45:32] Speaker A: Yeah, it's awesome to hear veterans I'm sorry, alumni like yourself say those things, because we do like we've talked about this entire time. We bleed our team's colors. We love you guys even though we get down on you guys sometimes. We love you through it all, and we keep coming back for more. So real quick, spending time with the franchise, obviously, it's more than just playing football. You become kind of a family with your team. You get involved with the community, those types of things. Do you have a favorite off the field memory from your time in Cleveland?
[01:46:04] Speaker D: Off the field moment favorite time.
[01:46:10] Speaker A: When.
[01:46:10] Speaker D: I got inducted into the Legends and they did our ceremony in the stadium. But after that, when they announced us on the field, I remember coming out of the stadium with family and friends, and some guy recognized me. He looked he's like that's Eric Metcalf. And he looked at my family and friends and he said, That's Eric Metcalf. Why is he walking? You guys should be carrying him.
And I looked at them and I was like, he's so right.
They should be carrying mind. In my mind, I was thinking, this is how fans of the Cleveland Browns feel about me.
I appreciate that most because in order for them to appreciate you like that, that means you have had to do something that left memories for them as well as yourself. So I appreciate how the fans treat me and have always treated me.
[01:47:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And Kenny, you got anything else here before?
[01:47:23] Speaker B: Yeah, just on that same line. I mean, I think just fan favorite, for sure. I don't know how familiar you are with the old techno Super Bowl game, but I remember that Eric Metcalf was my favorite running back to play with growing up on the old NES.
So, yeah, fan favorite for sure. Quick question, too, just around, obviously, you returned kicks, punts. You were really one of the first guys that was coined a return specialist, even though you played running back and caught the ball as well.
How do you feel about that in general? Do you consider yourself a return specialist, someone that kind of paved the way for guys like Josh Cribs, Dante Hall.
What are your thoughts on that?
[01:48:11] Speaker D: I actually just consider myself a football player, meaning I could do more than one thing because I think football players could do a lot of things. And so I consider myself a football player. Unfortunately, the way I play, I would be more successful today because the way they play the game, whereas back in that day when I first came in the league, it was a different brand of football. So people say that I wasn't used, right? But that's how football was played and so you just take it as it is, but it was just fun being able to do all those things.
[01:48:46] Speaker A: It's funny that you say that because literally right before we started the interview, we were just talking about how if you were on the team today, you'd be an absolute stud because you can do everything.
[01:48:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you think about just like the guys who use like Christian McCaffrey and like you would you would fit right into that kind of group, right? A guy that can do literally everything. On the.
[01:49:12] Speaker D: Me, when you look at someone like me back when I was playing, I'm considered a third down back, come in and run some draws, run some screens, catch some balls out of the backfield. But now, because the way the games play feel spread out, a guy like me, like you said, like Chris McCaffrey, like the Alvin Camaros, those kind of guys, they can play all three downs, right? Because the field is so spread out, you can still use them in the same way and everything. The holes are bigger.
I think it would be fun to be in the game today for sure.
[01:49:48] Speaker B: Real quick question, too, again, on those same lines in terms of the running back position evolving in the NFL certainly has changed a lot over the years, and I just wanted to kind of get your thoughts on where the running back position is today given we've got so many premier talent type players that are struggling to get second contracts or decent contracts later in their careers even though they still have still at the top of their game and then their prime.
[01:50:20] Speaker D: We know the running back is underappreciated today. And it's unfortunate because when you think about that, you have these guys running backs who they're asked to catch the ball, they're asked to block, they're asked to run the ball. And they're the only people on the field that are really asked to do that on a consistent basis. But yet when it's time to get a contract, no one wants to get them money. You let them carry the ball 300 times a season and hopefully carry you to the playoffs. But when it's time to get a contract, they can't get money. Or say in Jonathan Taylor's case, when it's time for a trade, you don't want to pay him, but you want four first round picks. Right. So how does that add up? How does that value add up? And so I think something just needs to be done because these guys are special. They're asked to do a lot of things and they're carrying their teams.
[01:51:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Along those know it's it's setting up. We are lucky enough as Cleveland Browns fans to be able to watch Nick Chubb week in and week out do the things that he does. And in my opinion, and I know I'm a little biased, but I think there's a lot of people out there that would agree with me. He's the best running back in football right now. And I just hope that when the time comes, which is coming quickly, that the browns do right by him and don't follow in line with all these other guys. So we'll see how that pans out.
[01:51:47] Speaker D: Yeah, we definitely hope that Nick stays here because he's been in the top three in Russian since he's been in the league and you got to appreciate that at some point I would think that he would want to win the rushing title. And so when it's time we got to hope that he's still happy being a Cleveland Brown, right.
Because he's done a lot of good things for this team.
And obviously I think that in order for this team to win, it's going to have to be on his back. Of course, we have deshaun and a lot of weapons and they can spread the ball out but Nick is the guy.
[01:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:52:29] Speaker B: Could not agree with you more.
One final question, too around that. So you had mentioned something maybe needs to be done. Now, do you think someone like the NFLPA or somebody has to step in and say we have to do something about running back contracts? Or do you think we'll ever reach a point where just the pendulum will swing back the other way and the league will start to appreciate and realize the value these guys bring? Especially a guy like Nick Chubb, as in every down back brings to an.
[01:52:58] Speaker D: Know I don't know if it's necessarily the PA that has to do something. I don't really know what they can do. I just think that it needs to swing back where they're appreciated because the game always changes, always evolving.
Now, we all know it's a passing league, but we do know those passing teams don't really win until they run the ball.
[01:53:22] Speaker A: Right.
[01:53:22] Speaker D: They run the ball in these super Bowls and even if they throw little quick balls out to the running back, it's really a run. It's just an extended run. And so I think they just need to figure a way to pay these guys and feel like they're not burning them out. I think that's the problem that happens is you give these guys 300 carries, 300, 400 carries in a season or whatever it is, and you're running them in the. Ground, but then saying that they can't do it anymore because you try to use them to win games. And so I think it's going to take not just a PA but the League of Organizations to just see it within the one running back that they have.
[01:54:09] Speaker A: Yeah, we really appreciate the insight as far as just the situation and the whole kind of status of the running back position right now and your thoughts on it. And again, you had a phenomenal career with the Browns, absolute legend. But I do know for most guys, they get kind of this whole second life after football. Can you tell us what you're up to today?
[01:54:32] Speaker D: Yeah, I come here, I do pregame post game shows at Channel 19 wo I-O-I do great shows.
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
I also do consulting with Nike Track and Field to help them find potential athletes, especially with Nils and all that kind of thing. You can find high school kids who potentially be with Nike on the track side, so I do that as well. And I also have my own brand of cigars, which we actually released a couple of years ago, but we're going through a whole reorgan. So we're going to be rereleasing at the end of September or beginning of October.
[01:55:19] Speaker A: What's the name of that line?
[01:55:22] Speaker D: Em 21.
[01:55:24] Speaker A: Em 21.
[01:55:27] Speaker D: We will have a whole variety of sticks for you.
[01:55:33] Speaker A: Nice. Looking forward to that.
[01:55:35] Speaker B: And then are you bringing those on the fan cruise?
Yeah.
[01:55:40] Speaker D: Can you smoke on a cruise? I don't know.
[01:55:42] Speaker B: It's a great question. I would think because it's outdoors, maybe.
[01:55:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know the answer to that.
[01:55:46] Speaker B: We'll just take that one away because.
[01:55:50] Speaker D: If I can't, that's like hail or high water and I won't be able.
[01:55:57] Speaker A: To make well, the good news is, even if you can't on the cruise ship, we do make two stops, two wonderful stops on the beaches of those islands. We will be able to smoke those cigars.
[01:56:10] Speaker B: True.
[01:56:12] Speaker A: But no, it's another great segue to bring things back to the time that we'll get it to share on the open ocean in March of 2024. And like I said, a couple of amazing stops along the way. Let's talk about what everybody should look forward to. So what event or activity during the entire cruise are you looking forward to the most?
[01:56:34] Speaker D: I don't know if there's an event or activity as much as just being able to hang out with fans in that atmosphere where it's relaxed. When I'm usually around fans, when we're talking about a bunch of them, it's like a hostile environment.
It could be at a gang or it could be at a backers event. And so I got to get autographs right now. I got to talk to them right now or going to miss some things like that. Whereas when we're talking about being on the water, it's just hanging out relaxing, having drinks, hopefully smoking cigars and just being able to chill. And then you get to feel how people really are. And I'd like being around people, but I like to be relaxed in doing so.
[01:57:19] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And so I'm guessing that's probably the same thing that you would say, that the fans have to look forward to themselves as well, is being able to mingle with you guys without having that red tape, that red rope there kind of dividing you guys. Yeah.
[01:57:34] Speaker D: Because I think when you don't have that red rope, it makes it easier just for everyone to relax. It doesn't make it a hostile environment because once again, you're not pressed to have to meet a person at that very moment. You know, you're going to be on this cruise with us for a few days and so everybody can just relax and have fun and enjoy the moment. I think that makes it a lot more personal. You get to enjoy people more like that when it's just chilling out.
[01:58:03] Speaker A: Hell yeah. So we're super excited for that, too. I also know there is a competition for the Brownsbackers organizations out there. The chapter with the most bookings will get an all expenses paid balcony cabin for two on the Browns fan cruise. The chapter with the highest members to bookings ratio also gets an all expenses paid ocean view cabin for two. All members of the winning chapter will receive a specialty dining pass for two guests and all members of the winning chapter will receive a Browns fan cruise commemorative Cleveland Browns autographed football. So with all that being said and the Browns backers organizations in this competition to book these cabins, do you have anything that you want to say to the Brownsbackers across the nation and across the world?
[01:58:41] Speaker D: Specifically, I will first say brownsbackers, thank you for your support. Keep supporting this team.
It's going to happen for you one day where you see your team in the Super Bowl. I know this.
If you want to win, you should probably invite me to your club.
You get some people to come out.
[01:59:09] Speaker A: That's a fair assessment there. I mean, I know if somebody said Eric Metcalf was going to be somewhere, I'm probably going to be there.
[01:59:14] Speaker B: That's true.
[01:59:18] Speaker A: No.
Eric, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been an absolute pleasure and we really are looking forward to seeing you in March on that fan cruise.
[01:59:28] Speaker B: And we can't just sorry, real quick, just want to get your thoughts just on the Brown season upcoming.
[01:59:35] Speaker A: Obviously.
[01:59:35] Speaker B: We just got started here. Just thoughts and expectations on this year.
[01:59:39] Speaker D: You put me on the spot.
No, I'm good with that because I already have my prediction. I'd already told people eleven and seven and they win a division.
[01:59:50] Speaker B: Nice.
[01:59:51] Speaker A: Eleven and six.
[01:59:54] Speaker D: I'm sorry.
[01:59:55] Speaker A: I got you.
You're predicting a division win. That's the first one since ever.
[02:00:06] Speaker B: He technically never won AFC North or as a Central back then, right?
[02:00:11] Speaker D: That's right.
I wasn't thinking about that. I like that I got them to win the division. I mean, it's a very good team and they're sneaky, and no one's ever really talking about them. I think they'll get a lot of talk now, especially on the defensive side of the ball after what happened this past weekend. But you still got to get better and keep plugging, and hopefully it turns out the right way.
[02:00:35] Speaker A: Absolutely.
So again, Eric, thank you for giving us your season prediction. I apologize for jumping the gun there, but it really has been a pleasure, and we cannot wait to see you in March of 2024 on the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. Thanks for joining us.
[02:00:51] Speaker B: Thank you.
[02:00:51] Speaker D: Thanks for having me.
[02:00:52] Speaker A: It's going to be funny.
[02:01:02] Speaker D: I'm Eric Metcalf, and you're listening to Burning River Sportscast. Joe Brown.
[02:01:13] Speaker A: Wow, that was great. Speaking with Eric.
[02:01:16] Speaker B: Eric MCAP is the goat.
[02:01:17] Speaker A: Dude. Dude's an athlete. He could literally do it all. I mean, just imagine, like, I guess I'll try out for the Olympics. I don't really want to, but I guess he still looks like he's in great shape, too. He'd definitely beat my ass, for sure. Probably take all three of us at the same time, I would think.
[02:01:35] Speaker C: Without a doubt.
[02:01:38] Speaker A: Without a doubt.
[02:01:40] Speaker B: I will say this. Look, eric Metcalf was for sure my favorite Techno Bowl player. Everybody wants to talk about Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson in that game. Fuck that. Eric Metcalf was the goat.
[02:01:52] Speaker A: It's extra special because in case you haven't noticed, most of our sounders come from technoball. And having Eric Metcalf on is just like full circle moment here.
[02:02:02] Speaker B: Don't tell the world that you two are censoring us.
[02:02:04] Speaker A: They won't censor us. Nobody has the rights.
All right, so that'll take us to the week four previews. You ready?
I don't even know this week Baltimore Ravens.
Kenny, you got any matchup previews? Any opposition research you want to point out?
[02:02:30] Speaker B: I hate the ravens.
Thank you.
[02:02:33] Speaker A: Hot take there.
[02:02:34] Speaker B: We talked about with Pumpkinhead about which one he hates worse, and he gave me kind of the classic Cleveland answers. The Steelers. I hate the ravens. I hate them more than the Steelers. I really do. They're just the worst.
[02:02:47] Speaker A: Do you have a reason or just.
[02:02:48] Speaker B: Because they stole our team and then they did steal our promptly won a Super Bowl. That was our Super Bowl with our players that they went and won, like, the next year. Yeah. F them all.
[02:02:58] Speaker A: FM f them.
[02:03:00] Speaker B: I really just hate them. I hate everything about them. They're just the worst. And, I mean, the things that made them good for so long was they had a murderer as their middle linebacker.
I just hate the ravens.
[02:03:14] Speaker A: We can't really get into a battle of morals, though.
[02:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Can we actually take a quick second and talk about this for one quick second?
[02:03:21] Speaker A: I was kind of hoping to avoid it, but I brought it up and.
[02:03:23] Speaker B: Then we're going to put it to bed once and for all. Is this whole thing about how did we get to a point as a country, that if you could throw a ball good or dribble a ball good, catch a ball good, you just basically tackle somebody good? Unlimited chances to be a degenerate.
[02:03:39] Speaker A: Unless you're OJ. Simpson.
[02:03:41] Speaker B: Nobody even he's kind of made a know that's true. The glove don't fit.
They don't.
So but think about this for a like, does anyone stop and say, like, that Harvey Weinstein made some great good movies. We should let that guy back into society?
[02:03:57] Speaker A: Nope.
[02:03:58] Speaker B: Does anybody say, like, that Jeffrey Epstein, do you know how much money he donated to charity? I mean, it was a fuck ton, guys. This guy was running the world from behind the curtain.
But because a guy can throw a ball good, we're like, Whatever. We don't have any morals.
Why doesn't that apply to anyone else?
[02:04:17] Speaker A: I don't know.
I do want to say this about Weinstein. He owns all the rights to Dogma and it can't be on any streaming services. And it pisses me off because that's a great movie.
[02:04:28] Speaker C: Ridiculous.
[02:04:29] Speaker A: Unbelievable.
[02:04:30] Speaker B: Erroneous erroneous no. How do we get to the point as a species, as a culture, that.
[02:04:37] Speaker A: We'Re like I don't know, man.
[02:04:39] Speaker B: Because winning a game that really doesn't mean anything is so important to us, we're willing to look the other way on pretty much everything. This isn't even a deshaun conversation. It's deshaun. It's Kareem. It's Tyreek. I mean, I guess Kareem was on.
[02:04:55] Speaker C: Video, but I felt like the video wasn't all that bad. But the Ray Rice video, I felt like put him out because of the video evidence.
[02:05:02] Speaker B: But we didn't have video evidence of Jeffrey Epstein. We just had an island.
[02:05:06] Speaker A: Yeah. I can't believe, as I'm replaying this conversation right now in my head, I can't believe that Weinstein was what? I got mad about. Epstein's way worse. I mean, they're both really bad. They're both really bad. I can't even just really bad.
[02:05:20] Speaker B: But we draw the line with Harvey Weinstein. That's where we drew the line.
All these other guys just get to do whatever the fuck they want, whenever they want.
[02:05:30] Speaker A: I don't know. It's not right. I mean, you shouldn't kill people. Violence against women is terrible. Children, if one of these motherfuckers touched my daughter, they'd be over for it's.
[02:05:41] Speaker B: Just such a backwards world we live in. I don't know.
[02:05:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So I don't know, but I guess we digress.
[02:05:46] Speaker B: I'll put it to bed.
[02:05:47] Speaker A: Sorry.
[02:05:48] Speaker B: I can't fix it. No one else can. Let's hopefully all these guys win football games.
[02:05:52] Speaker A: I guess. Again. We play the Baltimore. Kenny hates them. He hates their guts. He hates everything about them.
Some position matchups here. I want to highlight the Browns front seven against Lamar Jackson.
Obviously, our front seven has dominated so far this season, absolutely dominated. However, we have not faced a quarterback that is nearly as good or as athletic as Lamar Jackson. I say as good.
[02:06:19] Speaker B: We haven't faced a good quarterback since.
[02:06:21] Speaker A: No, and I say that because obviously, I know people are like, we face Joe Burrow this year. Joe Burrow was hurting that game. He was a shell of himself. He was nowhere near full go. And so I don't even count that game. I mean, if you're playing 50% of Joe Burrow, still better than some quarterbacks, but not that good. So Lamar Jackson is a whole other he's just in a different league right now than the quarterbacks we've played so far this season. So I'm going to be interested to see if they can slow him down, especially slow him down on his legs, if they can keep him kind of contained and not let him get outside and run a little bit.
[02:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah, look, I've watched a little bit of Lamar this year and he's kind of been hot and cold. He's more streaky right now than I've seen him in a long time, where he usually would have a game where he's been great with his feet or great with his arm. And this year has kind of been a mixed bundle so far, and I don't know what to make of that. He hasn't really had any of those vintage Lamar games or plays to this point in the season.
But I do have faith in this Browns defensive front against Lamar Jackson because of Jim Shorts fair.
[02:07:31] Speaker A: And I actually would agree with that wholeheartedly at this point. I am a firm believer in Jim Shorts.
And again, if you haven't bought them already, you should go buy our Jim Shorts. Jim Shorts.
[02:07:44] Speaker B: Jim Shorts.
[02:07:44] Speaker A: Www dot Dtappinmedia Shop my other position matchup that I wanted to highlight here is Jerome Ford versus Baltimore's defense. Last game, Baltimore gave up 122 yards to Zach Moss, who is filling in for an injured Jonathan Taylor. So they are susceptible against the run. I just want to see if can he repeat what Zach Moss did last week and really attack this run defense and will he even get the chance to, or are we going to continue to go with that air raid offense?
[02:08:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I think look, we've seen this a couple of times this season already where Stefanik has kind of started with, hey, let's do the air raid thing, and then kind of backed off of it and kind of did some things that made more sense in both those games they won. So that's good.
I think when it comes to coaching in this game, I think that's to me, the next big matchup preview is just harvard's been there a long time. He's done it a long time. He's won Super Bowl there, well coached team on both sides of the ball. They don't make a lot of mistakes or make a lot of penalty.
You know, as much as I hate know the hardball boys are a good coach, I hate Michigan, too, but he's also a good coach. So Jim and John, Jimmy, John hanging.
[02:09:00] Speaker A: Out half the hardball all over the.
[02:09:03] Speaker B: Hardballs, as much as I hate both of them are good coaches, and if I had to pick one in this game to be my coach, I would have picked the hardball.
But that being said, I think that this Baltimore offense right now is so streaky. They just got beat by a Colts team that isn't great.
[02:09:21] Speaker A: No, you think they're better than everyone else thinks they are.
[02:09:25] Speaker B: And I don't think they're terrible. They're just not good.
[02:09:28] Speaker A: I hope you pick them a lot.
[02:09:30] Speaker B: This year, but, yeah, I think this team matches up with Baltimore better this year than they have in a long time. Outside of the fact that they don't have Nick Chubb Fair, every other position group, I think we match up really well against.
[02:09:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And so as a team, the Ravens are they have a two and one record. They're coming off that loss against a terrible Colts team. Their loss to the Colts was similar to the Browns loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would say out of nowhere it seemed like they won every facet of the game on paper, but somehow in the end, they ended up losing. So I do think this week is going to be a big test.
We have a chance to go into the bye week at three and one, and I guess the questions here are will our passing game and Deshaun continue to take steps forward? Will our defense continue their dominance? And I guess we will just have to wait and see. I'll add a last one. Will Stefanic get out of his own way?
[02:10:20] Speaker B: No, he won't.
[02:10:21] Speaker A: So we'll have to wait and see. But before we get to our picks, Kenny, why don't you give us the injury report?
[02:10:26] Speaker B: Injury report?
Sounder. Go ahead and play.
All right, actually quite a few names from the Baltimore Ravens side of things right now.
Number of guys missed yesterday's game. Odell Beckham, marlon Humphrey, justice Hill, tyler Linderbaum. Odafi owe, ronnie Stanley, marcus Williams and then Gino Stone. Safety is questionable. Tyler Wallace has hit the injured reserve due to a hamstring on Monday. So a number of guys that were out this week, I don't know what their status is going to be coming into this week. A couple other big names to keep an eye out for that were questionable going into Sunday. Rashad Bateman, one of their best wide receivers, is questionable, but he did play Gus Edwards, questionable filling in for JK. Dobbins, who's on the injured reserve, and David Ojabo, who's one of their better linebackers, was also questionable going into the game. So they've definitely got bit with the injury bug here a little bit. So we'll see what kind of fortitude their backups have and which one of these guys can make it back. But we'll have to get closer to Sunday before we know for sure on some of these guys. On the Cleveland side of the know, Nick Chubb injured reserve feels bad, but really only James Hudson and Greg Newsome II mentioned Jed Wills, too, don't you? And Jed Wills was a little banged up coming out of the game Sunday as well. So we'll see what happens there. So if James Hudson is out and if Jed Wills is out, could be a real sketchy situation at left tackle.
I know that they've signed. Could get weird. I want to see Michael Dunn in recent weeks and Drew Forbes. I don't know if Drew Forbes was on the injury report. Yeah, he's out. Actually, too. He had non football in this. That was a while back, but yeah, anyways, you're going to have a jobber back there. Not good scenario to have with a $230,000,000 quarterback back there with a Ravens defense that is known for eviscerating quarterbacks.
But good thing. All in all, outside of the devastating Nick Chubb blow and Jack Conklin, this team is relatively healthy right now. I mean, you've had Jacob Phillips is the other big one to go down.
[02:12:52] Speaker A: With the Peck, but the injury gods, once they took Nick Chubb away from us, they said that's enough for them for now.
[02:12:58] Speaker B: They've been relatively healthy this year, so let's hope they keep it that way.
[02:13:02] Speaker A: All right. So real quick, one more thing before we get into our picks in King of the north, players to watch in this game, I will start this week, my player to watch is Jerome Ford. I mentioned the matchup earlier and that the Ravens seem to be susceptible to the run. So I just want to see if he's going to be able to take advantage or if he's going to average 1.8 yards per carry again. Because I think whether it's him, whether it's Cream Hunt, whoever the running back is that does it, somebody's going to have to step up for us to be that true Super Bowl contender that we hope we are.
So, Kenny, who you got for Player to watch?
[02:13:38] Speaker B: My player to watch is going to be Mark Anders.
This guy just for some reason always seems to have our number. And if this game is close and it comes down to a final possession, he's the guy that I would look for. I mean, the thing is, they're beat up in wide receiver. Ode beckham out. Rashad bateman questionable. Tyler Wallace, IR. You've got Devin DuVernay, Nelson Aguilar and Zay Flowers, who are healthy. Zay Flowers has kind of been the big surprise, not a big surprise and they had expectations around, but he's been their best receiver so far this year, so he's another one that can make some noise. But Mark Andrews consistently has our number, consistently comes up with big catches against us. And he's just one of those guys that I just absolutely hate.
[02:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Bone man. Player to watch.
[02:14:21] Speaker C: You're not going to believe this, but Dustin Hopkins is.
[02:14:25] Speaker A: That the second time you've picked him.
[02:14:27] Speaker C: Dude, I'm just saying that we always play a tight game with Baltimore. It's going to be a battle and there's going to be stalled drives and they got Justin Tucker. So we need to be hand in hand with them. So they're going to get theirs and we need to stick with it. And I think it's going to be a feel cool game.
[02:14:43] Speaker A: Bone man has a boner for Dustin Hopkins and he wants to be hand in hand with him.
This is getting wild, man. This bromance going on is getting serious. You guys might need to take it to the next level.
[02:14:57] Speaker B: This is serious, bromance.
[02:14:58] Speaker A: Does Christy know?
[02:14:59] Speaker C: She doesn't know.
[02:15:01] Speaker A: The Bone family is unaware of this. Budding, bromance.
[02:15:05] Speaker B: Um that's not good.
[02:15:12] Speaker A: Seriously, again?
[02:15:14] Speaker B: No. Zach's romance with the guy, it's not good.
[02:15:17] Speaker A: Not good for his don't scare me like that.
[02:15:20] Speaker B: No, I was going to say Justin Tucker missed a kick this week.
[02:15:24] Speaker A: He did a 61 yarder till it could have won the game as time expired.
[02:15:28] Speaker C: Yeah, he missed a 60 yarder.
[02:15:30] Speaker B: But he is on the up and out now with that Ravens team because they're like, what do you mean you missed a field goal, you son of a bitch? I saw plenty of people, plenty of memes where they're already calling him out for being with the team too long. He's washed.
So yeah, Justin Tucker versus DHOP. Could be the battle of the day.
[02:15:48] Speaker A: It could be. But with that, let's go ahead and jump into it. It's time for King of the north.
All right, in case anyone doesn't know by now, this is our year long AFC North pick'em competition. At the end of the season, whoever comes in last place gets punished in the offseason. This year, Kenny had a gross of eggs thrown at him by fans in the munilot before a preseason game.
[02:16:18] Speaker B: The eggs weren't gross, but there was a gross of them.
[02:16:20] Speaker A: There was a gross of them. 144 eggs. In case you don't know what that means.
Nobody accused Cleveland of being smart, but we haven't figured out the punishment for this year yet, but we will.
[02:16:30] Speaker B: We're taking suggestions.
[02:16:32] Speaker A: We will. So let's get into it. Things went much better this past week. I'm back to where I want to be atop the standings tied with Bone Man. And I want to remind everybody that I'm still the reigning defending King of the north. However this crown goes, there you go. And Kenny is back where he belongs. He's at the bottom. He loves being on bottom.
It feels bad for him, but good.
[02:16:56] Speaker B: If I was a narwhal, I'd be a bottom.
[02:16:58] Speaker A: I said it feels bad for you, but good for me.
Kenny, do you care to comment on that.
[02:17:07] Speaker B: Oh, man.
For the first time all day, got.
[02:17:11] Speaker A: To watch how I word things.
[02:17:12] Speaker B: For the first time all day, I'm at a loss for words.
[02:17:14] Speaker A: So with that, let's remind everyone of our records before we pick. I am five and three. Bone man is five and three, and Kenny, the guy that is terrible at picking AFC North games is three and five and under 500.
We'll still have to add in the Cinci game from the Monday Night Football before next week's episode. But let's get into this week's games that are coming up. Cincinnati travels to Tennessee to play the Titans. Bone, man. Who you got?
[02:17:44] Speaker C: I think Cincinnati takes it on.
[02:17:46] Speaker A: The.
[02:17:56] Speaker C: Joe Burrow is getting healthier.
[02:17:57] Speaker B: Yes.
[02:17:58] Speaker C: They need a win.
[02:18:00] Speaker A: Kenny, who you got? You're going to pick the Titans again for the second week in a row. I hope you do. Please do. Come on.
[02:18:05] Speaker B: They're so bad. Cincinnati, tennessee might be the worst team I've seen play football in three years.
[02:18:09] Speaker A: Whoa. So you think the Bengals are bad and Tennessee is bad. So who you got?
[02:18:14] Speaker B: If the Tennessee Titans were good at all, I would pick them. But they're not. They're going bengals fair.
[02:18:19] Speaker A: So we all got the Bengals in this one. I agree with you. I think Tennessee might have the number one pick next year. Yeah. Next up steelers. Visit Houston to take on the Texans. Kenny, who you got?
[02:18:30] Speaker B: I'm going to go CJ STRAB in this one. I think he's played really well to start the season. He's had some big games. Numbers wise, they just haven't really won a lot. But I think that the Steelers team again, I think they're ass. I can't believe they won again last night, but I just think that this Texans team has room to grow and they need to start getting a couple of wins just to learn how to win. And I think CJ Stroud can take them there. I mean, CJ Stroud should should trip up Kenny Pickett in terms of statistics.
[02:19:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[02:19:04] Speaker B: Three to one.
[02:19:05] Speaker A: Bowman, who you got in this one?
[02:19:06] Speaker C: I'm going to go Steelers just because of TJ Watt. The dude's a beast, and I think he's going to rookie quarterback.
Rookie quarterback.
[02:19:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Fair. I am also going Steelers. I thought this was kind of a push game. It was kind of 50 50 here with how CJ Stroud has been playing. Well, both teams aren't very good overall, but anytime there's these 50 50 games with the Steelers, unfortunately, I have to give it to the Steelers because I think Mike Tomlin is one of the best coaches in the NFL. And so I've got the Steelers.
Finally, that takes us to our game. Ravens, come to town and square off with our Brownies. I'll go first here. I like Cleveland in this one. I think this game is going to be very close. I think it may come down to a last minute field goal. Whether it's a make or a miss for either team, I think it's going to come down to that last minute field goal. And I have the browns winning this 117 to 16.
Might be DHOP winning it at the buzzer.
[02:20:06] Speaker C: It's going to be DHOP.
[02:20:08] Speaker A: Bone, who you got?
[02:20:09] Speaker C: I got Cleveland as well. Home game. I feel like it's always a tough game. Always tough.
It's going to be a dog fight and it's going to come down to a field goal at the end. I got 23 20 Browns.
[02:20:24] Speaker A: Kenny, you're going with the Ravens. Just say it.
[02:20:31] Speaker B: I'm not going with the Ravens yet.
[02:20:34] Speaker A: But you will.
Do you think anything?
[02:20:43] Speaker B: I think this game is not going to be as close as we all think it is. I think it will be.
[02:20:48] Speaker A: You're not just going with the Ravens. You're going with the Ravens in a blowout. Oh, no.
[02:20:52] Speaker B: I think this is a ten point game.
[02:20:53] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[02:20:55] Speaker B: I think Cleveland wins this game. 3017 or boy. 20 817.
[02:21:03] Speaker A: What's your final score projection?
[02:21:05] Speaker B: I'm going to go 3017. I don't like the streakiness of this team right now in Baltimore. I think that they just have it sometimes and don't and go cold. They come out of some of these games and look like they're going to be just gangbusters and then they don't do anything for the rest of the game.
And I think that if Cleveland can play a similar game that they played this week, where the offense can sustainably pick up third downs, and even if the run game doesn't really get going mean if Deshaun can stay efficient and guys are catching the ball, I don't see any reason why Cleveland shouldn't win this game going away. It's game before the bye. The emotion from Chubb is still raw. Chubb raw.
And they need to go into the bye week feeling good about this to have any hope for the rest of the season. So this positions them well at three and one going into the by. Kevin Stefanski doesn't get fired. We calm everybody's minds about Deshaun a little bit. And Cleveland looks good going into the second half of the season. Well, the second two thirds of the season. Second three quarters of the season.
[02:22:08] Speaker A: I don't know why we have buys in fourth week either, but I'm in shock.
You picked the Browns and you picked them to win.
[02:22:19] Speaker B: Like convincingly, you know, that's why they're going to lose.
[02:22:24] Speaker A: If they do, I blame you.
[02:22:28] Speaker C: Sorry I knocked on Wood.
[02:22:31] Speaker A: Scared the shit out of me, man. That was the loudest knock on wood I've ever heard.
[02:22:34] Speaker B: Somebody was breaking into her shit.
[02:22:36] Speaker A: What the hell? Once again, call the burning river sportscast hot take hotline.
You heard it here. Don't forget to call the hot take hotline and leave your hot takes on that. Hot take hotline. Remember, these are hot takes.
[02:22:51] Speaker B: Hot takes. Hot takes.
[02:22:52] Speaker A: We want hot takes. Hot takes.
3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278. Call now, bone.
[02:23:05] Speaker B: What's that number?
[02:23:06] Speaker C: 330-2278?
[02:23:09] Speaker B: Hell, yes.
[02:23:09] Speaker A: Call now and be sure to check out our gear, www.thetapinmedmedia.com shop. And that'll do it for us. Kenny, what can we expect next week?
[02:23:20] Speaker B: Next week we're going to recap the game against the Ravens. Hopefully a big win against the division rival. And I just hate the ravens.
We do have a bye week coming up, so we'll take some time to sponsor some highlights, some sponsors we're not.
[02:23:34] Speaker A: Going to sponsor highlights. We're going to do some sponsor highlights.
[02:23:38] Speaker B: Basically, our whole show next week is going to be interviews with Topath Distillery, all Cleveland Coffee, and of course, the Browns Fan Cruise interviews. So stay tuned for all that. Going to be a lighter week than we've had lately, but a good show nonetheless.
[02:23:51] Speaker A: And don't forget to check us out on social media. Tapin'media is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the Tapin'media and Burning River Sportscast. That's this podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at River Sportscast and on X at Riverpod. You can find our podcast wherever we get your podcast. I'm talking Apple Pies. Spotify. Google Podcasts. Amazon Music. Stitcher. Pandora. iHeartRadio podcast. Gastro. Goodpods. And so many more. And you know what? That takes us to Kenny for days.
What do you got? What do you got?
What do you got?
[02:24:29] Speaker B: Guys, we're going to talk about something a little bit sensitive today.
[02:24:32] Speaker A: Let's do it.
Sensitive guy.
[02:24:35] Speaker B: We're all adults in this room, okay?
[02:24:37] Speaker A: Except maybe you.
Yeah, right. You're the oldest.
[02:24:41] Speaker B: Let's manage ourselves like adults, okay? Prove that we can talk about sex.
[02:24:47] Speaker A: Sex.
[02:24:49] Speaker B: As those some of you may know, and some of you may not know, I was a reproductive health minor in college.
[02:24:57] Speaker A: That you were, Kenny. That you were.
[02:24:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So, fact number one, the left testicle usually hangs lower than the right testicle. Of course, for right handed men, oh. The opposite is true for lefties. That's weird. I'm a little ambidextrous, so my testicles are just right next to each other.
[02:25:16] Speaker A: Just dead nut.
[02:25:18] Speaker C: Center just doesn't have that problem.
[02:25:20] Speaker A: How's it hanging directly in the middle.
[02:25:23] Speaker B: Number two, you've always heard a woman say, not tonight, I have a headache. Yeah, but contrary to the popular cliche, a headache may actually make you more in the mood.
One study has found that not all headache sufferers avoid sexual activity. In fact, migraine sufferers reported higher levels of sexual desire, according to research done by Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Why? Our study suggests that sexual desire and migraine headaches may be influenced by the same exact brain chemical.
[02:25:57] Speaker A: Wow. Doing good work down there. Away corner. Way to go, guys. You did it. Way to go. Good job.
[02:26:05] Speaker B: Next time she tries to pull that headache crap, you just pop her. One a penis, not a fist.
Number three, unfortunately, as luck would have it or not have it, you can, despite there being no bone, break your.
[02:26:27] Speaker A: Penis oh yeah, I know people who have done that. That's no joke.
[02:26:30] Speaker B: Getting a penile fracture is a real thing that can does happen. It's relatively rare but we're talking about because there are things you can do to protect against this injury.
The highest risk of fracture occurs to the penis when a couple changes position while the penis is still erecting inside.
[02:26:46] Speaker A: Of an orifice advanced maneuver.
[02:26:48] Speaker B: So if you're changing positions it's advised that you fully withdraw the penis before reengaging reengaging also extremely aggressive pumpkin pumping pumpkin pumpkin head extremely aggressive pumpkin head can also lead to a penis fracture so take it easy there cowboy.
[02:27:06] Speaker C: Is that what it means? Practice safe sex.
[02:27:09] Speaker A: You don't always have to fuck through hard. In fact sometimes it's not right to do.
[02:27:17] Speaker B: Sometimes you got to make some love hang fucking give us some smooches too.
Wow. Who knew that was in there?
[02:27:25] Speaker A: That was good.
[02:27:27] Speaker B: So there's that. It's also incredibly painful. If you ever talked to anybody that ever had a penile fracture it is the worst pain you've ever felt in your life. Your penis literally gets like bent. It's kind of like Nick Chubb's leg 90 degrees the wrong way. So it feels real bad.
[02:27:42] Speaker A: Requires put a splint on it, requires surgery to fix.
[02:27:44] Speaker B: Yeah, you'll be splinted up for a while and using a catheter too probably so not fun at all. Have a couple of bonus facts here for facts for days since we're having so much fun.
We'll be good. I got plenty of time. Number four vibrators. First developed as a medical device, the vibrator itself was innovated in 1869 as a treatment for hysteria, mysterious female disorders. When a woman reported being mentally or emotionally upset, which was quite common, I mean, there wasn't a lot to feel good about. In 1869, it was considered an illness. And the only cure was more cowbell. No, it was using a large steam powered massager. Steam powered dangerous to massage the genitals with the goal of inducing hysterical paraxism, the Victorian term for orgasm.
But ladies left feeling better so it seemed to work. And then finally that sounds hot.
[02:28:43] Speaker A: And soggy.
[02:28:46] Speaker B: Finally one to be careful about. Sex toys are totally unregulated which you'll be happy to hear. You think that's something that would be designed to be put in such an intimate area would have some sort of federal or business oversight to ensure safety and quality standards. But none because sex toys aren't considered medical devices they are completely, completely unregulated. Wow. These items careful out there. These items that are on the market today are made from some materials that are totally prohibited from use in children's toys. So be very wary of secondary market third party sellers on platforms like Amazon, Ebay, TMU, all those weird ones buy only from trusted stores that are committed to selling body safe nontoxic sex toys and lubricants. Wow.
[02:29:33] Speaker A: Feels bad.
[02:29:35] Speaker B: Feels real bad. Public safety announcement and with that public safety announcement. Don't just be a part of the problem, be the whole damn problem.
[02:29:44] Speaker A: And only you can prevent river fires. Burning river sportscast.
[02:29:51] Speaker B: Burning river burning river burning river you.
[02:29:56] Speaker A: Don'T always have fucker heart.
[02:29:59] Speaker B: In fact, sometimes it's not right to do.
Sometimes you got to make some love.
Can give us some smooches too. Sometimes you got to squeeze.
[02:30:12] Speaker A: Sometimes you got to say please.
[02:30:15] Speaker B: Sometimes you got to say hey, I want to sweetly.
[02:30:25] Speaker A: Sportscast burning river.
[02:30:27] Speaker B: We're going to believe so much of that to put on YouTube.
[02:30:31] Speaker A: Burning river burning burning river cut us out.
[02:30:35] Speaker B: Browns fan cruise and the burning river sports cast. What better combination could you possibly think of that?
[02:30:41] Speaker A: Sounds hot and soggy motorboat. You play the motorboat, you motorboat son of a bitch. You old sailor, you. If they do, I blame you.
[02:30:55] Speaker C: Sorry I knocked on Wood.
[02:30:58] Speaker A: Scared the shit out of me. Man. That was the loudest knock on wood I've ever heard.
[02:31:01] Speaker B: Somebody's breaking into her.
[02:31:02] Speaker A: What the hell? It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
By the way, I want my foreskin back. It doesn't matter what you say, bone man player to watch.
[02:31:15] Speaker C: You're not going to believe this, but.
[02:31:16] Speaker B: Dustin Hopkins, the weather outside is weather.
[02:31:21] Speaker A: Kenny is back where he belongs. He's at the bottom. He loves being on bottom.
It feels bad for him, but good.
[02:31:28] Speaker E: I have seen the top of the.
[02:31:29] Speaker C: Mountain and it is good.
[02:31:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I love people touching me. Just touch me.
[02:31:36] Speaker D: Listen, you can touch me all the time.
Horror picture show that.
[02:31:42] Speaker A: She said touch me.
[02:31:43] Speaker B: Touch me.
[02:31:44] Speaker A: What do you mean funny?
[02:31:45] Speaker B: Funny how?
[02:31:45] Speaker A: How am I funny? Erroneous. Erroneous on both counts. Oh, lord.
[02:31:49] Speaker B: Wow.
[02:31:50] Speaker A: But damn.
[02:31:51] Speaker B: You know why, mr? Because you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight. I drove an $80,000 BMW.
[02:31:57] Speaker A: That's my name.
[02:32:00] Speaker B: Where's logo girl when you need her?
[02:32:02] Speaker A: I desperately want to make love to a schoolboy.
[02:32:04] Speaker B: Down goes Anderson.
[02:32:06] Speaker A: Down goes Anderson.
Finger banged her salad.
[02:32:14] Speaker C: You first get shocked and then you get the shocker.
[02:32:22] Speaker A: Today's episode was brought to you by topath bourbon. Topath bourbon made from corn, barley, and just the right amount of rye, this blended straight bourbon whiskey is designed for the real bourbon lover. Intense notes of maple, cinnamon, vanilla, and oats hit you up front. Rich and intense, yet balanced all the way through with a strong and lingering finish. Great by itself on the rocks or in a Manhattan available locally in northeast ohio and online in 46 states. Topath bourbon.
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