Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey Browns fans, this is your chance to join the company of some of the Browns all time greats on the first ever Browns fan cruise.
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[00:00:21] Speaker B: Favorite Browns alumni like Josh Cribs, Webster.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Slaughter, Aaron Metcalf and a dozen others. Book now and take advantage of our.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: Easy, budget friendly payment plans on this.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Once in a lifetime, all inclusive cruise adventure. The clock's ticking, Browns fans. To book your cabin and for more information, visit brownsfancruise.com or call 216-284-6472 Today Browns Fan Cruise where diehard fans and Browns alumni come together for the trip of a lifetime. Don't wait. Secure your spot today and go Brown Media it's time.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Time for the Burning River Sportscast. The Brownies continued their West coast swing, but to no avail. Despite almost zero of the opposing team's fans in the stands and really solid quarterback play by the 600th quarterback to wear the orange and Browns since 1999, our heroes took another step back this week against a very mediocre opponent. Where has the defense gone? For the first time all year, the defensive unit is looking tired, confused and at times disinterested. Maybe Jim needs a new pair of shorts to get him through the rest of the season. Courtesy of the Tavern Media Backslash shop Honestly, this team could go either way at this point. They can get their shit together and go on a marvelous run that we'll all remember for a lifetime. Or they have plenty of excuses to pack it in and be who they always have been. A distraction. A distraction for a few months to mud up the reality of our ultimate mortality and exit from this world with our lean lives bearing little consequence to anything remotely important. Wow, that got dark. And hope we'll break down the rest for you next and hopefully find some light on this week's edition of the Burning River Sportscast.
[00:02:31] Speaker C: All riGht, so my trusted source, the guy at work.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: The guy at work, call him. Yeah, he's famous.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: So he gave me the rundown.
I love seeing him on the sideline without his helmet on, and he just has like that long face. I just always remember seeing him on the raven sideline. Like, look at this goofy bastard. Now he's on our team.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: He's just over there standing on the sideline with his helmet off, looking like Kevin Stefanski's dad.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Disappointed dad.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: My dad caught a bad play again.
Well, I accept it then. I was wrong, Bone. I'll get to you in a second. You just sit there and shut up.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: He's too handsome.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: That's why I keep this guy around. We did talk about that last season. He's too handsome to fire.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: I mean, can you imagine firing Pamela Anderson under prime?
You'd be like, Pamela, hey, get to it. How's it going?
[00:03:26] Speaker D: Wow, that's impressive.
I don't think I knew all that myself, but we drafted the Browns. Charlie Fry. And what number did Charlie Fry get? Number nine. I'm like, wait a minute, man, we beat him.
I thought the red jersey mean don't hit the quarterback. But James Hurson, he did not get the memo. So I just.
Eerie feeling, no pun intended, because of Lake Erie right there.
If my friend wasn't open, I would just take off running.
[00:04:19] Speaker E: By the way, Zach, great input.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: And that's the one.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: Brandon and I are officially best friends.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Oh, man. The bone man has been put in the grave and called out.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Welcome into the 50th edition, a very special 50th edition of the Burning River Sportscast, presented by tap in media and brought to you by seaside events. As the official cruise event provider of the Cleveland Browns and organizer of the Browns fan Cruise, I'm Kenny Thunder, remote as every good podcaster needs to be from time to time in my shanty Town studio, held together by toothpicks and bubblegum, live from the Everest Summit here in beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I'm joined, as always, by Rear Admiral Ronnie Jams. That's Red hot Ronnie Jams. He is not the captain, thank God, of the Cleveland Browns on the fan cruise, being put on by seaside events this spring and pulling double duty today on the board and the desk, the most handsome gang banger in the land, the Big Bone man. Bone man. How much do you typically sweat when you're middle of a three way like this?
[00:05:27] Speaker C: I sweat a. Actually, I get, like, electrolyte tablets. I have to replenish my potassium, my sodium, all that stuff.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Which brand do you use?
[00:05:39] Speaker C: Like drip drop, noon sport hydration, zero sugars.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: Nice. I like drip drop zero sugars as well.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Okay, none of those people are sponsors.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: No, they're not.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Back to Red hot. Two questions.
The next episode of the Burning River Sportscast, a very special 50th episode of the Burning River Sportscast brought to you as a partner to Seaside events, who is putting on a glorious fan cruise with our favorite team's favorite players. Who are you looking forward to hearing from next?
[00:06:09] Speaker A: You know who we haven't heard from yet that's going on a fan cruise with us that I'm super excited about. That is probably the greatest return man of all times.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: Richard Austin.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: No. Josh Cripps.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Oh, even better.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Josh Crips.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Perfect. And number two, where can all of our listeners find all the Burning River Sports guests? Exclusive interviews with former Cleveland Browns players all season long in preparation for what is going to be a super Califragilistic xpialidocious boat party this spring.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: I don't know.
No. You can find our podcast wherever you get your podcast. I'm talking Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, podcast, Castro, and good pods, and so many more. And you can find us on YouTube. That's where you can get the video version of these interviews, as well as our video podcast. And check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Our handle for all those socials, including YouTube, is at Burning River Sportscast. And we're on X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, as well with the handle at Burning Riverpod.
And while you're at it, check out our merch WW dot thetappandmedia.com shop. We've got all kinds of stuff in the shop. Cruise line, chubb line, cold weather gear, actually. Hey, check this out.
Oh, he's got something on air.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: Unboxing.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: Unboxing.
Do you hear that? It's coming out of the bag. Bone, that's for you. May I?
[00:07:34] Speaker C: An Oprah right now?
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Yeah. You get a hat and you get a hat.
Yeah. So jump on. Check out all our gear.
He's got a dope ass beanie on right now.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: Oh, man.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Good fit. Great fit.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice.
Yeah. Buy something. Come on. Now, listen, here's the deal.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Don't be stingy. It's Christmas.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: It's Christmas. There's lots of gifts in there.
Listen, the Browns are on a two game losing streak and just started their fourth quarterback of the season.
But here's the deal. I don't give a shit. It's our 50th episode. We won't let losing kill the vibes. I mean, shit. Kenny was so excited for the 50th episode that he took a vacation.
But seriously, we've got a big show planned for everybody today. So today we've got a Week 13 recap of the loss to the Rams. It did deal a significant blow to the Browns playoff chances, but we'll get through it. We'll get through it. We also have an interview with the Jacksonville Brownsbackers, an interview with the Browns alumni that will be joining us on the Cleveland Browns fan Cruise in March of 2024. Kenny already mentioned him.
Josh Cribs.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Joshua Cribs.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yes, sir. And finally, we round out the show with the Week 14 preview for the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. So sit down, peasants, because this show is going to rule. Let's start things off the right way.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: With the Burning River News story of the weekend.
It's part of the theme, man.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I called Everybody Peasants.
Is that good?
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: All right. So last week we talked about MLS and how Cincinnati and Columbus were playing each other in the hell is real game.
Well, Columbus beat the armpit of a city, as Kenny would call them, and now they're headed to the MLS cup to face LAFC. Bone. What can you tell us about this soccer matchup?
[00:09:45] Speaker C: All right, so my trusted source, the guy at work.
[00:09:49] Speaker A: Call him.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah, he's famous.
[00:09:51] Speaker C: So he gave me the Rundown of the game. So they were down two in the first half.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: No.
[00:09:55] Speaker C: Came back, tied it up.
[00:09:56] Speaker D: What?
[00:09:57] Speaker C: Went to extra time, I think it's called in soccer.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: No.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: And then they went ahead and scored.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Holy hell.
[00:10:02] Speaker C: And won it. So they didn't have to go to a shootout because there's, like, extra time. And if you don't, nobody wins. Then you go to a shootout after that. So they ended up winning against their arch rival. Sounds like Hella's real week. So it was a big deal.
Now, the championship games in Columbus.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Hell, yeah.
[00:10:19] Speaker C: I believe next week. I think tickets go on sale for the general public tomorrow.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Should we go?
[00:10:24] Speaker C: I don't know. I don't know much about soccer, but.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: It probably would be sweet.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: Championship.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Kenny, should we go.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: See if we can get to the media room?
[00:10:36] Speaker A: It's soccer. I probably won't get a media pass. I'll be honest. I'll look into it, but it's soccer, so I probably won't go.
But no, that's super dope.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Also, the team they're playing won last year, so they're the defending champs.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Well, they're going down. Yeah, the Columbus Crew.
Jimmy Haslam.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Jimmy Haslam and the boys with the Columbus Crew are going to take them down.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: But no, that's pretty cool. Ohio team in the MLS Cup. That's pretty neat.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Championship is in Ohio, which I think is kind of cool.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: Yeah, we don't like Cincinnati. So as long as it's not a Cincinnati team.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Cincinnati, they don't even have an airport.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. No. But I do have one more news story of the week here. FedEx is delivering nearly 16,000 Christmas trees this month to families at over 90 military bases across the US with their trees for troops program.
And with this year's trees, the program has now delivered 300,000 free Christmas trees to military families. Just wanted to point that out.
Cool. Very charitable contributions here.
Burn river sportscast, in case anyone was wondering, has also got involved with some charity. We are currently doing the first annual, I guess it could be annual. I don't know where we're going to go with this. I think in the future they may be like season long food drives, but our first virtual food drive with the Burning river sportscast virtual holiday food drive. Check out our socials for all the information on that and how you can give our goal this year, we went modest. It's $1,000. I think together with all of our listeners, we can kind of scrounge together that $1,000 and give back to the community a little bit here.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's Christmas time. Don't be stingy.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: Yeah, open up those pocketbooks.
[00:12:31] Speaker C: Give and give and give and give some more.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: But yeah, that'll take us to the Week 13 recaps continue their terrible play out west and lose to the LA Rams 36 to 19. In case anyone was wondering, the Browns have not won a Pacific game in the Pacific time zone since 2012.
So just let that sink in. We should have known.
We should have known that the West coast trip was going to be bad.
[00:13:08] Speaker C: Yeah, that's rough. That's a lot of years.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
In 2012, Kenny and I were graduating from golf school.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: Now we're here.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Now we're here.
[00:13:23] Speaker C: Yeah, we're home.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: But I'll start with, as we always do with our opponents here, the LA Rams. This week on offense, Matthew Stafford was 22 of 37 for 279 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions. He played pretty well in this one.
Look, the Browns really had no answer for Matt Stafford all night, especially down a couple of DBS.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: I think we said last week, the game before, he had a really nice game, I think, through four touchdowns and no picks. So Matt Stafford might just be heating up at the right time. We just caught him at the bad time for us.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: Yeah, not good.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: Yeah, he looked good. His receivers looked good. I mean, they were lighting us up all night.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: It wasn't good. It wasn't good.
Kyron Williams, I think you guys were correct on the pronunciation last week. So Kyron Williams.
[00:14:12] Speaker C: Kylo Ren.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: It's not Kylo Ren Williams. Okay, but Kyron Williams, 21 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown and three receptions for 24 yards.
This guy looked good.
Was gouging the Browns defense all night.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: The most impressive runs to me were the ones that he had at the end of the game where he was just like, you're not going to not.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: Let me score time to ice it. No. By the way, I get like eight yards of carry on this short drive that we have.
[00:14:44] Speaker C: His next level speed where he turned the corner was insane.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: He's just gone.
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Because I was like, I think we got him. And then he was just, yeah, just done.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: We didn't get him.
[00:14:53] Speaker C: Yeah, we didn't get him.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: No.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Who are these guys that just kind of come out of nowhere?
[00:14:59] Speaker C: They're great for your fantasy team.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: They are great for your fantasy team. Speaking of one that's on my fantasy team that came out of nowhere. Puka Nakua. Four receptions for 105 yards, one in a touchdown and two carries for 34 yards. All of his receiving stats, first half came in the first half and then he got an AC joint sprain and he still played the second half, which was amazing, but he just wasn't as effective. But still, I mean, went for over 100 yards in a touchdown and the dude had a pretty impressive day. And then, Kenny, you mentioned the explosive runs by. Both of you guys mentioned the explosive runs by Kyron Williams. Puga Nakua sprung like three of those runs.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, it was pass block out. Yeah.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: And then next up, DeMarcus Robinson. Four receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown and round things out with Cooper. Cup for six receptions, 39 yards and a touchdown of his own.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like Cooper kind of stepped in. I mean, he's been the guy for so long, but after Nakua got hurt, it is weird.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: He had his window where he was like the best receiver in the NFL, or at least top three for like, I don't know, three years or so. And it's OD seeing him kind of take the backseat now and he really just seems more of a possession receiver for them, which is weird because he's a big mean. That that was how he looked to me. I don't know. Kenny, what are your thoughts on?
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Agreed. I mean, I think the thing is they have a lot of young talent on that team, right? Mean, if you're Matt Stafford, who are you throwing the ball to? The guy that's going to score a touchdown on any given play or the guy's going to get the first down. Simple as.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Agree. So, yeah, I mean, no, needless to say, their receivers pretty much did whatever they wanted because Matthew Stafford did whatever he wanted and Kyron Williams did. Well, we did.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: Stafford Matt Stafford looked as good as he has since the year they won the Super Bowl. I mean, he hasn't played this well. He's been banged up, to be fair, over the last year. So this was like vintage Matt Stafford. I mean, he played as well as he could play. And we just caught it right in the giblets.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Right in the giblets. And then their defense, two sacks, one turnover forced. That turnover was an interception by last year's free safety for the Cleveland Browns. Johnson. Which kind of pissed me off, because after the game, he was talking shit on Twitter, and I was just like, dude, you literally came to Cleveland and did nothing. Like, why are you talking shit? Because we let you walk. Because you weren't very good.
[00:17:31] Speaker C: Right. Never lived up.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: To be fair, no one lived up on that defense because Joe woods was true.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Johnson came in as a pretty highly acclaimed pickup with the year. We brought him in and we thought, hey, this is a great addition to the defense. And then the whole defense was bad. I think he was just a casualty of that. Not that he's the best safety in the game. I just think he was, unfortunately, just not ever put in a position to do well. And we know all the horror stories from last year.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: You mean starting 20 yards deep is not a position to do well?
[00:18:04] Speaker B: That not knowing the play calls either way.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:08] Speaker C: John Johnson was never even on the screen. They couldn't fit him into the.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Those were the best. When his camera would start zooming out and you still couldn't see him for.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Like, you got to watch the All 22 for that.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
And then special teams for the Rams. Lucas. What is it? Haverstick? Two for three field goals, four for four extra points.
So not a bad day out of him. That'll take us to the Cleveland Browns. We'll start with the offense. Joe Flacco. Yes, you heard that right. Joe Flacco. 23 of 44 for 254 yards, two touchdowns, one interception. And we will talk more about him here shortly. So I don't want to dive too deep into this, but he played pretty well, especially for being with the team for only a week.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: How weird was it to see Joe Flacco in Origin?
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Brown. Oh, my God. It was so weird. I didn't even know what to do.
It's like watching a train wreck. Like, you can't look away, but it was just OD.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: It's like a Madden franchise draft. It's just like. You just get random players.
[00:19:16] Speaker C: I love seeing him on the sideline without his helmet on, and he just has like that long face. I just always remember seeing him on the Raven sideline, like, look at this goofy bastard. Now he's on our team.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: He's just over there standing on the sideline with his helmet off, looking like Kevin Stefanski's dad.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: Disappointed dad.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: My dad caught a bad play again.
Yeah, it was weird. It was really weird. But we'll talk more about Joe here soon because like I said, he did play well in his Browns debut. But onto the running backs, Jerome Ford. Nine carries for 19 yards, three receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown reception was pretty dope ass, but besides that, Jerome Ford did nothing.
I'm back to thinking Jerome Ford. The coaching staff keeps wanting something to happen that's never going to happen with him.
[00:20:09] Speaker C: I feel like Stefancy is like in his corner, keeps feeding him the ball and then Hunt just slowly disappears throughout the game.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: I would say this too. I think that the Aaron Donald effect I think maybe we took too lightly.
He's still an elite defensive every. Even if he wasn't in on the dagger, on the play, he disrupted almost every play.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Well, I don't know if you saw the final. We do the in game updates, we do an end of the first quarter score, end of the half score, third quarter score, and then obviously the final score. And I don't know if our listeners saw or not, but it speaks to what you just said. The final score always comes with a picture from the game. And the picture is Aaron Donald jumping on Jerome Ford's back and just humping.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Yeah, he's still very much an elite defender and I think just the lack of other excitement on that defense kind of like lulled us to sleep a little bit thinking kind of where they were ranked defensively for the season. But, man, it's kind of like Miles Garrett. When Aaron Donald wants to play and wants to disrupt the ball game. He absolutely can at any time.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: I think the Browns just suck on the West coast, man.
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Well, that's true too.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: But to round out the running backs, cream hunt. Twelve carries for 48 yards. So not a bad day out of cream.
Just didn't get the rock enough. I mean, total between those two, we only got 21 carries. So there you go.
Next up here, we'll go to the wide receivers. Elijah Moore. Four receptions for 83 yards. Elijah Moore looked good in this game. So apparently it took Joe Flacco to unlock Elijah Moore because he's the best.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: Quarterback that's played for us all year.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Elijah Moore was like, uh, and he made a couple really big catches in.
[00:21:57] Speaker C: This game, that one they took away where he landed on the sideline. Just, they, they called that one he, his, his butt cheek just, just hit the white line, or was that his foot?
[00:22:08] Speaker A: I thought they caught him in because they said his butt cheek landed inbounds and then they gave him the catch. I thought that's what it was.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: Did they give him the catch?
[00:22:14] Speaker A: I think they gave him the catch.
[00:22:15] Speaker D: Maybe.
[00:22:15] Speaker C: I was walking into the kitchen. I don't know.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: That was one of the ones I was talking about as far as big catches because it was a sound bite on, like, NFL.com. They're like, this guy actually said his butt cheek hit.
He was probably the most impressive game I've seen out of. Elijah Moore is a Cleveland Brown, to be honest with.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Was, it was everything we've said all year long about the way they use Elijah Moore.
To your point, Joe Flacco was the one that was able to unlock it. It was like, let's just use him on regular routes as a wide receiver. Let him create space underneath, and he can make big things happen when he has a ball to see in the open field, but it's just night and day from the beginning of the year when they were just trying to force handoffs to him and pitches to him. And he's not that kind of player, but he can thrive in an offense where he's used properly.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And then next up here, Harrison Bryant.
Harrison Bryant. Yeah, you heard that right. Five receptions, 49 yards and a touchdown.
I was not expecting this game out of Harrison Bryant, but there it is.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: So I had one more thought. I think I got cut off on the riverside on the app also, Elijah Moore played with Joe Flacco for a year and a half, two years in New York. So I think there was some comfortability there as well.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about the New York jets link there between the two. So there probably is something there where?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Because I heard even, like, when Joe Flacco came to do his initial workout for the Browns, he, like, couch surfed with Elijah. He stayed with Elijah Moore that week.
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Nice. Well, that's good then. I mean, hopefully that bodes well if Joe Flacco gets some more starts going forward. We could utilize Elijah Moore a lot better in the offense, but Bruise asleep.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: Together, play well together.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I wanted here first. Yeah.
Harrison Bryant, though, again, like I said, five receptions, 49 yards and a touchdown.
Again, Joe Flacco to unlock Harrison Bryant. Apparently he's the key.
[00:24:16] Speaker C: Do you think they're calling Harrison Bryant's number a little more because of Najoku and the drops or giving him more there.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: I think there's some validity behind that because once again, and I'll get to it, but David and Joku struggle with drops in this one. That's now three games in a row where he's had multiple drops on seemingly simple catches. Like, they just hit him in the hands and he's lost focus. I guess.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: I don't know what's going on with Joe Ku. To be honest, though, I would put that more. Less on play calling and preference and more on Joe Flacco's ability to see the whole guy. The fact that the offensive line Played well in pass pro, I mean, he did not get beat up hardly at all, which you need to do for a guy like Flacco because he's old and he stands there. But to be honest, I mean, he had time to throw the ball, and you could just watch him going through his progressions, and he didn't care who the fuck it was. He was just throwing to the old man.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: He was like, I'm the guy. I'm him.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: It was really impressive to watch how he just methodically would find an open guy. I was like, this guy's still got something.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Next up, Amari Cooper. Three receptions for 34 yards, but he did get a concussion, and even before the concussion, he had multiple drops. So between him and Njoku, I have no idea what's happening right now because they're both usually pretty sure handed, especially of late. And I mean, of late as in, like, before the last three games. Then all of a sudden, I don't know if they hang out after practice and they're like, yeah, let's start dropping some passes, man. I don't know what's going on, but it started happening at the same time for both of them, and it's really frustrating.
[00:25:53] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not good.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: No. And so, speaking of David and Joga, two receptions for 17 yards and probably three more drops in this one.
Yeah.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: I don't know. Who's the wide receiver? Is it Chad O'Shea? Is he the wide receivers coach for the Browns?
[00:26:10] Speaker C: Sounds familiar, because I think.
[00:26:13] Speaker A: And then what's her name? Isn't she the assistant or whatever it is? Receivers coach?
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Callie is like the chief of staff now. Yeah.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: But she still retains her job as the. I think it's the assistant receivers coach, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I just think at some point, somebody has to ask, what are these guys doing in the meeting room? What are they talking about, why has there been. You can't be the two best receivers on the team all year long for ten weeks, and then all of a sudden just, you can't catch.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: We're the worst now. We have no idea what's happening. We forgot.
Forgot how to catch.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: Bizarre.
[00:26:52] Speaker C: And there's been quarterback turnover the entire year. It's not like.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: To adjust.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Until now, some of Amari's best games came from PJ Walker.
The only balls thrown to our team were to Cooper.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know what's going on with the drops. Hopefully they can clean it up. Coming home, and it was just like, we just, hopefully, it's just that they play bad out west and that's all it is.
But that'll take us to the defense for the Browns, I'll be honest, the defense looks bad in this one. Not like they were a little soft. They gave up some yards, whatever. The defense looked bad in this one. They gave up almost 400 yards. Exactly. It was 399 yards of offense. They had no sacks, they had no turnovers. Force. They basically let La do whatever they wanted all night long. They just looked tired. Yeah, it was bad.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: You always hear the coaches say, next man. Know we didn't have Denzel. I feel like Miles was nobody. Nobody else stepped up. Nobody else stepped just, it really showed, especially against their.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: And what's really frustrating is that all year long they have had that person step up. So that's what led them to being one of the top ranked defenses in the league. Not just this year, but compared to teams of all decade, teams from the past. This team was playing so hot to see them just go cold in an instant. It's almost like the receivers, like, what the hell happened?
[00:28:28] Speaker A: What are we doing? What a hell of a time for it, right? The receivers are dropping passes. We're on our fourth quarterback.
The defense decides it's not going to play anymore. On special teams, our kicker misses an extra point, like, what the fuck is going on?
I just don't understand.
And you mentioned bone, you mentioned Miles Garrett. And look, I know he's injured, but here's my take on this, and I'm going to be 100% honest right now. If you're injured that bad, get off the field.
Because he played 89% of the snaps this week and he didn't record a stat, not one.
What are you doing?
[00:29:10] Speaker B: It's the all roads lead to Baker conversation, right? If you can't play and help your team, why are you out there? And we Had a huge contingent of folks that said that about Baker saying, well, he wanted to keep playing. Look, Miles isn't immune to that conversation. I mean, we love Miles. He's the face of the franchise for sure. But to your, like, if you can't contribute in any meaningful way, why are.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: You on the legitimately.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: Nobody blames him for getting hurt. That's not his.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: No, and that's not what I'm not. Yeah, absolutely. We don't want you to be hurt. We think you're a phenomenal player, one of the best athletes the Browns have ever had on their team, period.
But if you're that hurt to the point where you can't make a contribution to the game, then you shouldn't be out there. You're probably hurting us more than you're helping us.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: And to me, this always, just like with Baker, this goes back to your coaching staff, because this should be something that Jim short should be able to see. If Jim Schwartz is watching the same game and going, my premier pass rusher isn't making an impact on the game, I got to get somebody in that can. Do you know, I don't know whether Jim's going to have the balls to make that call because it's Miles or not, but somebody has to because you can't just let him go out there unless you want to get creative and use him doing something else. Put him in coverage. I don't know. He's fast. Let him catch a ball as a tight end somewhere else.
[00:30:33] Speaker A: He can't lift his shoulder, so that's out. But it's just crazy that looking at the box score, you legitimately wouldn't even know that Miles Garrett played in this game because there wasn't a stat recorded and he played 89% of the defensive snaps. That's just wild to me.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: It's not good.
[00:30:52] Speaker C: Yeah, hopefully he was just being double and triple teamed as usual, and then nobody else stepped up on their one on one.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: That's a bad sign, too, though, if you have one guy that's being double and tripled and you can't get anybody else home.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Right. We got a lot of problems, if that's the case.
No, but speaking of bad play on the defense, I mean, it wasn't just Miles Garrett. It was a collective effort throughout. Martin Emerson is the next one I want to just throw out there. And I hate to say this because we've sung the praises of Martin Emerson.
[00:31:27] Speaker C: He's been that guy. That next guy up made plays for.
[00:31:30] Speaker A: Us time and time again on this show, like nonstop we talk about MJ Emerson and how he's a huge surprise, but we're so happy to have him and he's played phenomenally. Look, he got embarrassed all night in this game, just the entire afternoon.
It was insane. Like, they were attacking him, they were going directly at him. And again and again, he failed.
And it was honestly kind of hard to watch because there was times when he just looked with.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: It's hard with some of these young guys, especially Jamerson, because he's played so well to know. It's like, are you entitled to one bad game as a young guy? Probably.
But to your point, I mean, it did not help us on Sunday.
It was a shit show for sure. So I don't know. I don't know. These last two weeks, I don't know if the game planning has just been so far off the mark that these guys came in thinking, hey, we're going to do this for 60 or 80% of the game. And then things got turned around or what? Because this team just hasn't looked prepared on either side of the ball for the last two weeks.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: No. And I will say this, the absence of Denzel Ward has never been felt stronger than it is. Right. It's just watching the secondary while they've been able to stay afloat for the most part with him out. I mean, these last two games, it's like night and day from when they have them versus when they don't.
[00:32:57] Speaker B: While we're talking about DBS, I just wanted to go back to last week real quick because we headed out last week about Greg Newsom and the PFF numbers were released and it was the worst game of his career. So just fu.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: Last week or this week? Because he was. Last week, he didn't look great this week either.
[00:33:12] Speaker B: But no, we had a knockdown drag out on air about it. And you said he looked pretty good, and I said, no, he was ass all game long. He had pis and he couldn't cover anybOdy. And you were like, is what it is. Pff. Said it was the worst game of his career ever.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: Well, I accept it. Then I was wrong, because he was not that great in this one either. So, I mean, the whole secondary did not look good. And I haven't even got to Juan Thornhill, who a couple of times literally looked like he didn't know where he was at, and then he had the late hit out of bounds early in the game. That kind of helped set the tone for the Rams just marching down and doing whatever they wanted. So I don't really know what was going on this week, but it was just ugly. From every single level of the defense, it was ugly.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: Can we speculate? Was it maybe like, because they were in California territory, like West coast, that there was just a little too much sheesh going on?
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Is that what it was? Everybody was totally high during the game.
[00:34:10] Speaker B: They were blazed out of their mind.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: They were out there blazing the dube.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: It's legal here, guys.
[00:34:16] Speaker C: They probably just took edibles.
Doesn't smell as bad, so nobody would.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: Suspect they took edibles. And they were like, nothing's happening. And they took more. And then they kicked in right when the game.
I mean, I don't know what it was. I'm hoping that it's legitimately, just for whatever reason, the Browns have had some.
[00:34:39] Speaker C: Too many days away from your own bed. Hopefully that's all it is.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: And people talked about that. I mean, they did decide between the Denver game and the LA game. They stayed out west instead of coming home and then flying back out. They thought that would be easier on the players. But I mean, was it. I don't know. I mean, you looked like ass in both games. So would it have been better to come home and get a good night's rest in your bed a few nights in a row and then heading back?
[00:35:03] Speaker B: I mean, for my money, if I was the coach and the GM of this team, that's what I would have done was leave the team out there. Because I think it's so hard for your body to adjust those 4 hours that I would prefer to stay out there. But, hey, I'm not discounting what you guys said. I mean, that's true.
It's hard to be at your top of anything when you're disoriented just from not having your usual surroundings.
[00:35:28] Speaker A: And I will say, I think that's probably a minimal part of the performance, regardless of if they would have come home or staying out there or whatever. I think that has a small effect. It's just something else that maybe played into this stretch of two. These were by far the two worst games they've had all season, back to back.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: I think you're onto something here. I think if high schools let the act happen in normal course of a day, that high school act scores would increase.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: Let's experiment with that hot take. Put it on the hot take hotline.
What do you get on your hot take hotline? Well, we talk about the act, but anyways, we'll move on to special teams. For the Cleveland Browns. Dustin Hopkins, two of two field goals one of two extra points. Bone man, I'll get to you in a second. You just sit there and shut up.
The missed extra point, in my opinion, was the turning point in this game. I mean, that and the interception by Joe Flacco was bad, too, but we were trying to make things happen. We were still trying to make a comeback because we missed the extra point that would have tied the game.
But yeah, I mean, the extra point, if you hit that extra point, your defense all of a sudden has a bunch of energy. You're going down the other side, maybe you get some stops.
And I know we did get a stop right after that, and that's where the interception came, the other turning point. But if you're the offense, when you get the ball back, I mean, how much more hyped are you that you're tied and going to take the lead versus we're down a point and we have to score here.
I just think that it came at one of the worst possible times.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Just like the rest of this game was frustrating, right? I mean, you're playing in this multibillion dollar palace out there that mostly indoors, right? I don't know if they had any of the slides open on the roof or not, but the weather is good, the turf is brand new. IT's like going to a really nice golf course where they just press the greens and they're rolling a stimp at eleven or twelve and they're rolling true. And you just yank a putt. There's no worse feeling. But for us, there was no reason for him to miss that. And it was painful to watch. And to your point, just led to a disaster of consequences afterward because then everybody's pressing, right? I mean, you know, hey, we're running out of time. We're playing against the clock. Joe Flacco looked like a Browns quarterback for the first time all day because he was just like, I don't know, we'll just chuck it up. I guess that's how we do things.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Here, to be fair, in my opinion. I mean, that was the only bad decision that Joe Flacco made all day, was that one. I mean, also came at a terrible time. But Bone, now I will turn to you. What do you have to say for your favorite player on the.
[00:38:18] Speaker B: Look how Bone gets blamed for Dustin Hopkins.
[00:38:20] Speaker C: You know what?
[00:38:21] Speaker A: He loves him.
[00:38:22] Speaker C: I wanted him here. He's done a lot more good than bad. But as in the Ravens game, we talked about it. He finally had a kick at the worst possible. Know that extra point that he missed it. Was the Ravens correct?
[00:38:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Team picked him up in that one.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. I feel like the defense was on all time high on that game, whereas in this game they were not.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: But they did get the stop right afterwards. They were going to pick them up again. And that's where the bad decision by Joe comes in.
[00:38:45] Speaker C: But I think you alluded to it as far as just the mentality after that where you're down by a point and the clock's ticking. So I feel like game plan changes, even though probably shouldn't, you probably still should have stuck with the run and a nice, good pass option or whatever that they were using because the drive before that Flacco had, the offense was rolling right. Our team was rolling.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: And I think just the confidence meter with Joe Flacco his first know, starting for the Browns, there's a big difference. A big difference between him getting the ball right there, being down by one, and him getting the ball right there tied.
[00:39:18] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:39:20] Speaker C: You may not take that shot because.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: You'Re like, well, it's tie game right now. We don't need to make something happen at this moment.
Like I said, it was one of the worst possible times. So with that being said, where's the bone meter at right now?
[00:39:33] Speaker C: It's low. I mean, he made his field goals right. He was two for two on his field goals. Two for two on his field goals. He put up another six points on his total there. I don't know if he's trying to break the record, but I think he's going to.
[00:39:45] Speaker A: I'll give you an update on the record here in a little bit.
[00:39:48] Speaker C: I'm slunking down a little bit, if that's a word.
It's not pointing upwards.
[00:39:53] Speaker A: It's not even pointing upwards anymore.
[00:39:55] Speaker C: No, that was just.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:39:56] Speaker A: Are you only like quarter Chub? Are you like, full flaccid right now?
Quarter, quarter chub.
[00:40:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Look at here, you how far we've fallen. He hit a couple of game winners in a row.
[00:40:07] Speaker C: I'm a man of the moment.
The moment.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: I live a life.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: A quarter mile of time.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
Wow. That feels bad. You went from just a couple of weeks ago, you were full, masked, and you're like, basically breaking the chart.
[00:40:25] Speaker C: A game winner will do that for you.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: A couple of them in a row.
[00:40:30] Speaker C: A drive killer, and just a momentum killer will not do that for you.
[00:40:33] Speaker A: Feels bad. Yeah, feels real bad. So we'll move on from the players, though, and now we will talk about the coaching for the Cleveland Browns. Stefanski once again was Stefanik in this one. I will acknowledge this, this lone good thing out of Stefanik. The play call at the beginning of the game, the touchdown to Jerome Ford. That was a good play call.
It was a good design. They really hid Jerome Ford kind of slipping out of the backfield. Well. He was wide open for a touchdown. It was great. It was awesome.
But after that, everything went bad. He completely shit his pants. There were, again, multiple boneheaded. I'm not talking about you, Bone, but there were multiple boneheaded calls and decisions by him this week. One, why not challenge the spot when I think it was Ford? It might have been. Hunt clearly got the first down.
Why didn't you challenge that one?
Why go for it at the end of the game, deep in our own territory with all three timeouts, when we get the ball back, if our defense gets a stop again, especially because they were already in field goal range, and if they kick a field goal, you have to score a touchdown after that in order to get back into. Actually, I think that put it out of reach, didn't it? Yeah, they put it out of reach.
I have no idea why he would go for it there and then. Once again, new quarterback. So what does Kevin Stefanski do? We throw up 44 times?
What the hell?
[00:41:59] Speaker C: He did it with a rookie fifth rounder. So why not do it with Joe Flacco?
[00:42:02] Speaker A: Why not do it with a senior 50 year old?
[00:42:06] Speaker B: Well, that's the one thing that I'll give him a pass on. Because I think Joe Flacco.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: Joe Flacco played well.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: He's the kind of guy that you can get excess volume to because he got better as the game went on.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: I would agree with that. I just think that it's OD that a coach would, in a quarterback's first start, throw it 44 times. I just think that in general, sure is not a recipe for.
[00:42:30] Speaker B: I think what's more stressing at the moment, though, is the strategy at the end of the game, lack of awareness when there's a play to be challenged, those sorts of things. It seems like every week we go, God, there was that one play that there was a genius drawn up. It's like, that's not your job, though. Your job isn't to draw up one good play a week.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: His job's supposed to be every other thing that we list as the thing that he's bad at.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: Yes. So that's my problem with Stefanski right now. You watch this. You go, oh, my gosh. How did he come up with that. Where'd that come from? We've never seen that before, but it was one play.
They're doing that on every play. So I don't know. That's what's frustrating for me, is just the lack of general awareness around other important things that are going on. But you know what, just like, go back to my golf analogy. It's like that one chip in or that one keeps you coming back. Keeps you coming back. Stefan's like, it worked the one time. I'm back, baby. Like, let's make up something new.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: Next we have, we discovered why Stefanik never gets talked about or put on the hot seat is because Jimmy's watching the games. He's like, oh, holy shit, that was awesome.
He sees it one time and he's too handsome.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: He's too handsome.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Why I keep this guy around. We did talk about that last season. He's too handsome to fire.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: I mean, can you imagine firing Pamela Anderson in her office? You'd be like, Pamela, hey, get to it. How's it going?
I had notes to fire you, but I'm going to let somebody else do.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: It because we're going to let this thing ride.
No, but we've said it for a few weeks that it is remarkable that we're in this position with the injuries we've had to this team. And while that's true, the record is starting to catch up and it's starting to not be as remarkable anymore. We went from seven and three. Everybody's feeling great.
Then we were seven and four. Now we're seven and five. And I'm starting to wonder how we're going to manage to win those three games that are probably needed to get a wild card spot.
Because, look, our team no longer has that confidence that they exuded earlier in the season.
Stefanik, I think this is a time for him if he really wants to remain the coach, because I think if we miss the playoffs, there may be changes. As much as people don't want to say that there may be changes. But in order to really solidify his spot here as the head coach moving forward, I think that he needs to galvanize the team and find a way to do what he's paid to do and get us those three wins to make the playoffs.
[00:45:16] Speaker C: Play the schedule game. Sorry, go ahead, Kenny.
[00:45:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I was just going to say, I mean, you were seven and three, right? And you're feeling good about where you're at in the season and you realize all of a sudden you have this margin of error.
Well, you've erased that margin of error in two weeks. So it's gone.
You have to play balls to the wall. You have to figure out how to win some of these close games.
You can't let the things unravel the way they do at the end of that LA game because it's just too know. I want to speculate on next year just yet, just because I do think it's fair that they've had a ton of injuries and things that if he had all year with Sean Watson and they were seven and three and then all of a sudden they didn't win a game down the stretch, I think it's easier to make that decision, say, okay, Kevin probably needs to go, but he's held the team afloat to this point. So I think these next few games become really critical because there's some games that you should win and there are some games that are kind of on that fence. So I think the interesting thing is that this Browns team has made a name for themselves this year, winning games that you shouldn't win.
There's a lot of teams that have eaten up and beaten up on easy opponents to get into the position they are. Think about like the Dallas Cowboys who have beat very few teams with winning records up until I think this week that have made their season on that. Where the Browns took off San Francisco and Baltimore.
[00:46:49] Speaker A: By all accounts, according to everybody, San Francisco is the clear best team in the NFL now.
[00:46:55] Speaker B: Yeah. All of a sudden they're, they're like the darling of the NFL. I mean, they had another huge win this, but like, that's how they made their name. That's how the Browns were getting noticed this year is they were beating teams that they shouldn't beat.
[00:47:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And I will say, you know, I mentioned there may be some changes if the Browns missed the playoffs. I'm not necessarily saying there should be. Just, I guess what I'm trying to get across is if he can get those three wins, there's no way he's leaving. If they get a wild card, there's no way Kevin Stefanski is gone.
[00:47:25] Speaker B: Yeah, that was the preseason idea. Right.
If they make the postseason this, that everybody stays in place. If they miss it this year, after four years, an extension becomes a difficult conversation.
[00:47:37] Speaker A: Right. And that's my point is, I think even with the injuries and everything, is if the Browns missed the playoffs, especially knowing that they were seven and three at one point, like you said, it just becomes a tough conversation to have.
And so I think there will be more talk about it than what people want to kind of bring up right.
[00:47:58] Speaker B: Now, I think what's really interesting is in this game, you had really, I would call it high level quarterback play from Joe Blacko. I thought he played as well as any average starter in the NFL could be expected to play. He didn't look like a guy that had been two years on the know and this was the game they lost. Meanwhile, your winning game is against opponents that are far superior to you with a guy like PJ Walker. So it's one of those things that hurts my brain because how do you go into a game knowing, hey, I got confidence in this guy and it shows out that way on the field and you still get beat by two or three scores.
Just ugly.
[00:48:44] Speaker A: You were going to say something just a second ago. Did you lose your thought?
[00:48:47] Speaker C: I did lose my thought. Nice.
[00:48:49] Speaker A: Real nice.
I will say this.
The other question you have to ask is if we reached a point where we say basically no coach, no matter how good they are, can overcome this amount of injuries and just kind of reserve ourselves to the fact that we're probably going to lose most of the games the rest of the season and we need to start looking forward to next year. Are we at that point?
[00:49:12] Speaker C: I don't think so. I guess back to my thought, it just came to me. You play the schedule game you have, what do you have? The Bears, the Bengals and the Jets.
Exactly. You should win those games to get you to ten wins. And those are all teams that possibly could be playing for draft picks, you know what I mean? So less incentive to play. You got Jacksonville this week. Who needs, they're trying to hang on to getting into the playoffs. They need a win. So I think that's going to be more of a challenge for the Browns this week, even though I feel like it's still a winnable gaMe. But those are the games you have to win those three.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: Is there an asterisk against the New York jets that if Hiawasca Rogers comes.
[00:49:52] Speaker C: Back, but why would he come back?
[00:49:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. That, I think honestly, to your point, Zach, I think that this is all a bunch of nothing. If he does play, I think he maybe plays one game and when they're officially eliminated from the playoffs, they're going to be like, okay, Aaron Rodgers sitting down this season because why would we risk?
That's, that's my thought on it. And so I think by the time we even get to the jets, he may have played a game or two and then he may be done because they're out of the playoff consideration.
But I don't mean it's a good point. If he does play, that makes them significantly better.
[00:50:34] Speaker C: If he just wants to do it to be like, see, I told you guys.
[00:50:36] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, if that's the case, then we might.
[00:50:39] Speaker C: I don't want to face him.
[00:50:41] Speaker A: Yeah. That's no longer a given game. Like you said, Kenny.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: Well, and I think that's the problem.
[00:50:46] Speaker A: Right.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: Because now you're on a bubble.
[00:50:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:50:47] Speaker B: If you beat Chicago and you beat Cincinnati, sure, those are good wins.
[00:50:51] Speaker A: If we only manage to win two more games, I don't think we're making the playoffs.
No, I don't think we're going to do it.
[00:50:58] Speaker B: I think ten is that magic number.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: And we do hold several tiebreakers. So if we get to ten, I like our chances, but if you don't get to ten, you ain't making it.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: Here's a question. If you get to ten and you lose on some weird tiebreaker, is the fannick safe?
[00:51:15] Speaker A: I think he's safe at that point because then they're like, you did what you needed to do to basically make the playoffs with no players available to. So I think he's safe at that point.
[00:51:26] Speaker C: I feel like as unstable as it seems this divenic tenure has been, he's probably the most stable coach we've had since we've come back. I think everybody would agree with Haslam. I don't see Haslam getting rid of that after this year.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: That's fair.
[00:51:39] Speaker C: Even if.
[00:51:40] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:51:40] Speaker C: I just don't see it happening.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: Yeah, there was a great shoot. I can't find it. There was a great graphic release this week that had Browns all time winning coaches and he's like Bill Belichick. He's number four on that list. He's like three games behind Bill Belichick for wins.
[00:51:59] Speaker A: That's what it is. He's just behind him.
[00:52:05] Speaker B: It hasn't been what we're accustomed to for the first 22 years of this team's resurgence as a franchise. For sure, they've looked better in parts. They've made the playoffs once.
That was the COVID year.
But yeah, this team is starting to look like a competitive NFL franchise again, which is good. It's like. But then how do you finally take that next step?
[00:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah, so I don't really know what they're going to do with him if they don't make the playoffs. I just think that if they're close, if they get to ten wins, I think ten wins the Magic number. If the Browns get to ten wins this season. I think everybody's safe. Most likely we make the playoffs. If we don't, we won't think that's okay, but it'll be okay and we'll move forward. But onto the next coach here, Jim Schwartz. Jim Schwartz, your defense looked bad. It looked bad, I mentioned it before, but the swagger seems to be gone from the defense, at least in these last two games. These last two teams kind of had their way with us. And again, have we reached the point where the injuries are too much with our top two players, Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward, injured for a couple of games now we just don't look like the same defense.
Are the injuries too much or do you think that we can find that magic again?
[00:53:31] Speaker C: I think they'll bring it back.
I think we're lagging.
[00:53:36] Speaker B: I think so much of it has to do with Miles Garrett, and I just don't know that we have any clue where he's at right now in terms of his recovery and his health.
I mean, he didn't look good this weekend, but the defense has also been the one positive that you could look to at every game this year. So I don't know. I think this week, for this week only, I punt on Jim Schwartz because this was the first time they looked really bad.
And I'll give them the hey, you get one. What was it in the hunger Games? Because Katniss saved Rue. You get one, you get 112.
[00:54:16] Speaker A: No. And I will say this, I do want to kind of mention this here, though.
All season long we've been able to hang our hat on the defense. So if the injuries are finally catching up to them and we can't be that dominant defense that we've mean, we're screwed, guys.
Because without that defense, the Browns are done. I mean, their offense hasn't been good all season long.
So you go from being an absolutely dominant defense to where your offense, they just need to do enough to win games to where now you're down to like an average defense with a far below average offense and all of a sudden it's really hard to win games. So I hope you're both right. I hope that they do pick it up and that the defense comes back around here.
[00:55:08] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:55:10] Speaker B: I said at the opening, right, this team is poised for they can go one direction or the other really easily. I mean, you're at the very precipice of this thing and you want to win or do you want to lose? Because it's going to go one way or the other, they could lose the rest of their games this year very easily. Or they can sack up and win a couple and find their way into the playoffs.
[00:55:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like they know the playoffs are on the line. And everything they did this year, all that swagger they had early in the year with the defense just punishing people. I mean, we were aesthetic on the show, watching the defense, just Jim Schwartz. Just freaking fun of bouncing out of our seats, right. You just couldn't wait for another defensive series to see what they were going.
[00:55:51] Speaker A: To do these last two games. I, like, dreaded. I'm like, okay, we're on defense again.
[00:55:54] Speaker C: That is, it's got to be there still. They're all men who play football. They got pride.
[00:56:00] Speaker A: They're men. They're 40.
[00:56:01] Speaker C: Exactly. So it'll be back. They'll be back. I think they're a little beat up. I think they just need a good night's rest.
[00:56:08] Speaker A: I just love Bone's optimism. Every time I get down, Bone just brings me right back.
But I am going to move on to Buba Ventrone. And once Again, Dustin Hopkins missed an extra point. So I am back down again. I feel like shit.
Bubba Ventron fixed Dustin Hopkins, extra point.
[00:56:28] Speaker B: Problems, missed one extra point.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: Yeah, he's terrible.
Cut him. Cut him. I'm done with him. Cut him. We need a new kicker. Bring back Kate York. Okay? He's gone too far. You've gone too far.
[00:56:42] Speaker B: Let's bring back Kate York for the playoffs.
[00:56:44] Speaker A: No.
[00:56:45] Speaker C: Yeah, good idea.
[00:56:45] Speaker A: All right, I accept. Dustin Hopkins once again. Overall, though. Total yards Cleveland Browns 327 LA Rams 399 1st downs Cleveland 20 LA 20 Time of possession Cleveland 34 three. LA 25 57 penalties Cleveland seven for 86, LA seven for 45 and turnovers. Cleveland one, La zero.
So real quick, I know we've talked a little bit and we'll talk about him again here in a minute, but we've talked about Joe Flacco. Kenny, you mentioned his vision and how he can see the field. I'd like to talk about his leadership and kind of his veteran presence a little bit and just mention that those things were on full display in this game.
But what do you guys think? Joe Flacco or DTR the rest of the season here?
[00:57:40] Speaker B: I'll say this. Look, even at the end of Joe Flacco's tenure in Baltimore, I kind of thought he was a little washed.
And watching him play on Sunday, I feel like this is a guy that got a bad situation there when they drafted Lamar.
And so it was just the end of Joe Flacco, but I think this guy can still ball.
As much as I like DTR, as much as I find him exciting, I find his mobility exciting.
I do think he has a lot of really good attributes. I mean, you talked just a second ago about Joe Flacco and his leadership and ability to kind of rally the troops. I think DTR has done that since day one. The first playoff game that DTR played in, I think it was John Kelly fumbled the ball in the goal line, and before anybody did anything, DTR runs right over to him and Pats the guy on the head and says, hey, look, next time, next time, not a big deal. We'll get over this one. I think he's shown incredible maturity from day one in this league. But that being said, I just think Joe Flacco gives you the best chance to win, provided that you can protect him. And this offensive line still has hall of Famer on it, still has some good interior players. So they should be able to keep him on his feet, keep him clean and do what they have to do, whether it's double teams or bringing backs and tight ends in the chip and things on pass pro to make sure that he stays upright because he just sees God. I don't want to overreact to one game, but this was the best quarterback play. Like the most efficient, smart, the way they handled the ball that I've seen.
Like, this was the best Browns quarterback that's played this year for the Cleveland Browns. So I think it's Joe Flacco the rest of the way. If I was making that call, you said ever.
[00:59:21] Speaker A: That's pretty strong. Maybe this year.
[00:59:23] Speaker B: Well, since they came back in 99. Yeah, since they came back in 99. Look, I just think that he was so intentional with where he went with the ball. And obviously it's a tall task to learn enough of the playbook in a.
[00:59:36] Speaker C: Week and a half.
[00:59:36] Speaker B: So the guy is obviously intelligent. He's able to take time out to do those kind of leadership things, those intangibles that you were talking about. But he also still has plenty of arm strength, zipping the ball. He can throw those touch passes as well down the field. I love everything about this Joe Flacco for the next six to twelve weeks. I think he is in a perfect position to if the Browns are going to do anything. I almost see this kind of as like this yang, and the yang in this team right now is if the defense is going to take a step back, I think it can be replaced by an elevation of the offense led by Joe Flacco. That's how confident I am.
[01:00:09] Speaker A: That's fair. Yeah, I like that bone. What do you think about this? Joe Flacco or DTR?
[01:00:15] Speaker C: I tend to agree with Kenny Flacco was just poised. He looked tall in the pocket, man. Just reading the field like his spiral is like a spiral. I've never seen a Browns quarterback throw. Honestly, it was just ridiculous. And his placement, just the accuracy, a lot of the game, he threw the ball away when he was in tight situations, which he was probably told to do. Aside from that one interception, that really turned the tide of the game. But our defense in those situations in the past, with PJ worker throwing three Turners or fumbling the ball ten times, they stopped the other team, and our defense did not do that for Joe Flacco this week.
[01:00:54] Speaker A: That's true.
[01:00:55] Speaker C: It was just a different level, as we kind of alluded to, of our defense and the offense, the yin and the. But Joe Flacco, man, he was cool. He was cool Joe back there, and it was nice to see because I haven't seen that from a Browns quarterback before. All the other Browns quarterbacks this year have been erratic and you're just like hoping they complete the pass, whereas when he throws the ball, it's pinpoint and it's.
[01:01:17] Speaker A: Yep.
[01:01:17] Speaker C: So it just looked good. It was nice to see.
[01:01:20] Speaker B: I mean, I don't even know if going back to Deshaun's best game against Tennessee, what that stat line looked like versus Joe's this week, because I feel.
[01:01:27] Speaker A: Like he only had like 234 yards in that game or something like that.
[01:01:32] Speaker B: I feel like this has to be almost the strongest stat line of any quarterback for the Browns all year. I mean, he was like the first quarterback to throw for 250 yards.
When you haven't seen it all year, it's impressive, man. And he just looked so confident and so comfortable back there that as much as DTR is fun to watch, you could see that guy was running for his life. He was trying to make a play. He was trying to do something good for his team, which is all great, but Joe Flacco looked comfortable. He looked like he'd been there and done it before.
[01:02:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So before I get to my take on Joe Flacco versus DTR, I want to .1 thing out. Bone, don't try and deflect. That wasn't the turning point of the game. The turning point of the game was when Dustin Hopkins missed the extra point.
[01:02:16] Speaker C: I was trying to put it on there.
[01:02:18] Speaker A: No, no, we won't put that on Joe.
[01:02:20] Speaker B: Screw you, Bone.
[01:02:22] Speaker A: Yeah, get out of here. No, but what I would say is, I guess I agree with basically everything both of you guys said about Joe Flacco. I mean, it was impressive to watch this week, but I think that where you go in this argument has to ultimately depend on your view of Cleveland finding some magic and being able to win those three games.
And so right this moment, I would say I'm with you guys. I think we still have an opportunity to win those three games. I think we put Joe Flacco in because he gives us the best opportunity to win down the stretch. You get that veteran savvy leadership, the fact that he just kind of has been in the situation before. I mean, he's a freaking Super Bowl MVP, so he gives us the best opportunity to win. He's going to get everybody involved. And to Kenny's point, I think the offense takes a step forward even if the defense takes a little step back. But on the flip side of that, what I would say is the minute we feel like we've lost the playoffs, if that time comes, I think you make the switch to DTR because I also do not discount the fact that even though Deshaun is on the contract, he's on. The Browns need to find a young quarterback that they can develop. Because I'm almost positive as soon as Deshaun Watson's contract is up, he's cut and gone. So then we're back to who is our quarterback.
[01:03:47] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:03:48] Speaker A: And if DTR has the potential to be that guy, I think this is the perfect opportunity to get him some game experience and get him some time learning the offense and learning things and developing him for down the kind of. I guess I'm taking a hybrid approach. I'm saying Joe Flacco, but as soon as the playoffs are off the table, if that time comes, you got to make the switch to so, man, I.
[01:04:16] Speaker B: Feel like this is almost like an offseason topic because I could talk about this for like 3 hours.
Man, I disagree with you in terms of getting DTR game experience, but I'm also looking at it like, guys, if Joe Flacco plays like this the rest of the way and looks as good as he looked, the same stat line for the next five games, do you.
[01:04:39] Speaker A: Want to roll with Joe Flacco at 39 next year? Is that where you're getting.
[01:04:42] Speaker B: I don't know. Do you bring him into camp next year and have him compete with Deshaun? Because if Deshaun looks like he did for the first six weeks this year.
I think we've all reached a point as Browns fans now where when Deshaun was traded for, we thought we're getting a top five quarterback, we're getting a game changer and elite player. We've almost all reached that point now where it's like everybody's kind of tempered expectations to say, well, Deshaun, we're just going to do with what Deshaun can do. Kind of like Russell Wilson. It's kind of like we're settled with this contract and we know he's not what he once was, but because of the money, we're going to have to do like, screw the money.
[01:05:16] Speaker A: We all know how I feel about Russell Wilson. We all know how I feel about Russell Wilson. Don't put that. Yeah, that's not a good place to be.
[01:05:26] Speaker B: Would you jeopardize a magical year where Joe Flacco had one more run in him with his team, with all this talent on it, comes back healthy next year and you go, gosh, we're loaded at every position except for we're not sure about our quarterback, and you got a steady hand in Joe Flacco in camp next year. Look, I'm just saying, is it worth the conversation to keep him in the.
[01:05:48] Speaker A: Joe Flacco the next.
[01:05:49] Speaker C: I like, I like the conversation, but it brings me to the question of why the hell did the Browns take on PJ Walker instead of Joe Flacco earlier in the.
[01:05:59] Speaker A: Because that's probably the best question and it needs asked.
[01:06:03] Speaker C: It's what Kenny's talking about. You have that quarterback controversy that they didn't want to bring in somebody because they knew Deshaun was probably coming back and they didn't want to bring in somebody like Joe Flacco to now be talking about this right now. So you have Andrew Barry sitting there maybe looking like an idiot because he didn't bring Joe Flacco in, though, even though we won with PJ walk. We won those two games, which was great, but he did not look good.
[01:06:25] Speaker A: And this is like true controversy because you're talking about potentially just not throwing but just giving away games because you didn't want there to be a quarterback controversy.
[01:06:37] Speaker C: That's the way it looks to me. I don't know.
[01:06:39] Speaker B: I mean, that's the thing, though. At the end of the day, somebody has to ask the question, what's best for the team, right? And if the best player on that field next year in camp is Joe Flacco at 39 years old and he looks leaps and bounds better than Deshaun coming off of. Who the hell knows if Deshaun is even going to heal right after this thing?
[01:06:59] Speaker A: That's fair.
[01:06:59] Speaker B: Who knows what his arm strength is going to look like? Joe Flacco is healthy and you think, hey, you know what? With the whole season, this guy knows the playbook all the way around. This guy's got enough mustard to get us through the rest of the year.
[01:07:12] Speaker A: I don't know.
[01:07:12] Speaker B: I just think it's worth asking because we keep doing this every year. Where we go, man, this team is loaded. On paper, this team looks really great. They look like they should be a playoff contender for sure.
But who's our quarterback?
Yeah, maybe Joe Placo was the diamond in the rough we were waiting on.
[01:07:29] Speaker A: That's fair. What if he just went to the Super bowl with the Browns and then won another Super Bowl MVP with the Browns and the Ravens?
[01:07:34] Speaker C: Legendary.
[01:07:35] Speaker A: He wins with the old Browns and the new Browns.
[01:07:38] Speaker B: I'm paying his way into the fan cruise.
[01:07:40] Speaker C: AFC north legend.
[01:07:41] Speaker A: Cool. Joe, man.
No, I'm going to cut this one off. We will come back to this. I kind of hope Joe Flacco starts this week and they don't go back to DTR. So that you're just pitching me off.
[01:07:53] Speaker B: Like a big turd.
[01:07:54] Speaker A: Yep. I have to. We got a time limit. I know you're going to be so mad at me if you have to edit a three hour podcast while you're down there on vacation. So I'm doing you a favor.
[01:08:03] Speaker B: Let's run through it.
[01:08:04] Speaker A: All right, so another Brown news, real quick. With this loss, the Browns chances of making the playoffs have dropped significantly. They were at 68% last week, I believe, according to ESPN. They're down in the.
[01:08:15] Speaker B: Just say 69. Just say 69.
[01:08:18] Speaker A: It wasn't 69. 68.
[01:08:20] Speaker B: It's within the margin of error.
[01:08:22] Speaker A: I think ESPN has them in the mid 50s this week. So two weeks ago after beating Baltimore, we said it doesn't matter what the Ravens do the next two games. If the Browns win two in a row, then they will lead the division. And since then, we've lost both games in absolutely just horrific fashion.
[01:08:42] Speaker C: Wild card.
[01:08:43] Speaker A: So the division is out the window. We're hoping for that wild card. Hopefully we could pick it up. And then Dustin Hopkins, I have some nice things to say about him. Finally. Bone Dustin Hopkins is up to 106 points scored this season for the Browns. The single season franchise record for a kicker is 120 by Phil Dawson in 2007. Single season franchise record for any player is 126 by Jim Brown in 1965. So I'm going to keep on keeping track of this. Tally it up. Yeah. We'll let you know where he stands, but I think he's going to break both of them. I think he's going to be the all time leading scorer for a single season scorer for the Browns. I think so, too, after the season is over.
Best pick up the week the season is starting ever. Yeah.
[01:09:36] Speaker B: Didn't Ladini and Tomlinson have like 30 touchdowns one year? How is that not, I guess, 30 for the Browns.
[01:09:42] Speaker C: I think this is just for the Browns.
[01:09:44] Speaker A: This is just franchise records, man.
Yeah. Listen with your ears, not with your ass.
[01:09:49] Speaker B: Well, this says a single season, franchise record for any player.
[01:09:54] Speaker A: No, it doesn't. It says single season, franchise record. Franchise record for any player.
[01:10:01] Speaker B: Yeah. That means to me, any team's franchise. Any franchise.
[01:10:05] Speaker A: No, that's our franchise. You can't. No.
[01:10:07] Speaker B: You would have said if it was.
[01:10:08] Speaker A: Anybody, it would be the single season Cleveland Browns record.
[01:10:12] Speaker B: You would have said the Cleveland Browns record.
[01:10:14] Speaker A: You're an idiot. I'm going to go to the Burning River Sportscast Dog of the week.
[01:10:19] Speaker B: Doesn't matter, man.
[01:10:20] Speaker E: You got to play tough people in.
[01:10:21] Speaker A: The National Football League.
[01:10:23] Speaker E: You got to be ready, and we.
[01:10:24] Speaker A: Got to be the dogs that we.
[01:10:26] Speaker E: Are every time we step on there on Sunday and be ready to attack.
[01:10:29] Speaker D: And don't stop until we're in that locker room.
[01:10:35] Speaker A: All right, so this week's Burning River Sportscast Dog of the Week is Joe Flacco. 23 of 44, 254 yards, two touchdowns, one interception. Played very well for being with the team for only a week. And when you see him, I will say this. We just had our little DTR versus Joe Flacco moment a minute ago, but when you see him on the field versus DTR or especially a PJ Walker, you can just kind of tell he's at another level as far as composure, as far as experience, as far as leadership.
He still got some in the tank, and it was fun to watch in this game. I mean, he really did look good in this game.
[01:11:18] Speaker B: Would have been more fun if they would have won, but agreed he was the best player on the field. Know, all day for the Browns.
[01:11:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
Bowen, you got anything to add? Joe Flacco.
[01:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah, we kind of talked about him earlier. I thought he looked great.
[01:11:31] Speaker A: I know this is like the most we've ever talked about the dog of the week before we talked about the.
[01:11:36] Speaker C: Dog of the it.
[01:11:37] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:11:38] Speaker C: I don't want to keep hammering in, but I feel like he looked better than any quarterback play. We've had all was just. It was nice to watch a quarterback who could zip the ball accurately to his receivers.
[01:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And so with that, that'll take us to the division roundup.
All right, guys, so the Ravens were on by this week, so we did not see them play. But the Steelers. The Steelers lost to Arizona, the lowly Arizona Cardinals, as Kenny Pickett was knocked out of the game by halftime in this one, which we'll talk about more later, but with that, Kenny, here's your moment. You were right, and me and Bone were wrong in this game. How's it.
[01:12:32] Speaker B: Go?
[01:12:32] Speaker A: It doesn't make you a champs down here today.
[01:12:34] Speaker B: I bought a pair of socks down here today to say the GOAt. I'm going to wear them.
[01:12:39] Speaker A: And then the Browns obviously lost to the Rams. We were all wrong in that one. We all picked the Browns, so that feels bad. Wait, did I pick the Rams to win?
Shit. I think you did. Yeah, you did. You were right. Me and Bone were wrong.
[01:12:54] Speaker C: This is a big.
[01:12:54] Speaker B: I even was close on a score. I picked him to win like 31 20.
[01:12:57] Speaker A: I thoUght, damn, you were right.
I actually tallied our looking down at the records. I tallied the records. Right. But I forgot to write that. You were right. So you were right in that one. Good job. And then we don't have the Bengals score yet because we're recording on a Monday night and they are playing Jacksonville Jaguars right now as we speak. And they are currently losing 14 to seven, but driving and looks like they're about to score. So we'll see what happens there. We'll add those to next week's tallies. And then for the AFC north, the standings are as follows. Baltimore is in first place at nine and three. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are tied for second, but Pittsburgh holds a tiebreaker at seven and five, and Cincinnati is currently sitting at five and six. And we'll see how this game shakes out. And for King of the north, which we'll talk more about later, I am at 20 and 18, Kenny is at 18 and 20, and bone is at 20 and 18.
So with that, let's take a quick trip around the NFL.
All right, and to start our trip around the NFL this week, the 49 ERs are pretty good again, apparently you mean Purdy right now.
Pretty good. Yeah, I see what you did there. Speaking of Purdy, right now, Brock Purdy is the favorite to win MVP this year. Yeah, you heard that right. Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, will now be Mr. MVP if the season were to end today. And the 49 ERs are the favorites to win the Super bowl as of today in the Browns. The Browns hump the 49 ERs. So there's that.
[01:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah, unless they play the Browns.
[01:14:48] Speaker A: Champions. Champions. It's by Kenny Logic. Champions.
[01:14:53] Speaker B: I'm a GOat.
[01:14:55] Speaker A: The Browns are the GOAT. And speaking of the 49 ERs, in their game versus the Eagles, linebacker Dre Greenlaw got into an altercation with an Eagles security guy, and both were rejected from the game. Did you guys see this one?
[01:15:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I saw it. It was kind of silly.
[01:15:10] Speaker B: Look, it was similar to the fan altercation we talked about last week. It's like, you can't engage people. You just can't do it.
[01:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I have two questions here. One, why is there a security guy even on the sideline and that close to the action?
He wasn't just on the sideline. He was, like, on the sideline, you can't engage people. Well, that was my second comment, was, why would Greenlaw try to make contact with him? They're over there, and everybody's kind of in a scrum. And why would he reach out and try and smack his face or whatever?
[01:15:44] Speaker C: I don't think he liked his face.
[01:15:48] Speaker A: It's just something about your face. Can you change that? No.
[01:15:51] Speaker C: I read that security guard is one of the most trusted employees in that organization as far as, like, the owner and secrets and whatever.
[01:15:59] Speaker A: The owner and secrets. That guy Bo doing some journalism here, finding things, saying he's been with the.
[01:16:06] Speaker C: Team for, like, 25 years or something. I was kind of reading about this guy. Like, where did he come from, and why was he there on the sidelines? That's what I found.
[01:16:13] Speaker A: Why is bone not our field reporter?
[01:16:16] Speaker B: He's our source.
[01:16:17] Speaker A: Hell, yeah.
[01:16:17] Speaker C: He probably shouldn't be touching players either.
[01:16:20] Speaker A: Coming soon. Both ways to tap in media to thetapinmedia.com articles by the Bone man. Zach.
[01:16:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I go back to, like, you can't gauge on those things. It's like, imagine you're walking down the street, right? There's no one around.
[01:16:35] Speaker A: Sorry, I'm imagining it.
[01:16:37] Speaker B: You have zero chance of getting shot.
[01:16:39] Speaker A: Right. Okay.
[01:16:39] Speaker B: There's no one around. Imagine you see a police officer. Instead of walking by him, you slap him on the face a little. Your chances of getting shot increased before, they were zero. Now that you've touched the guy, your chances have increased of something bad happening.
[01:16:55] Speaker A: You could have just walked right by. Why do it? I don't understand. I don't get it.
But anyways, we talked about the 49 ers. Another hot team right now. The Colts. Yeah, the Colts. They've won four consecutive games with Gardner Minshew. Your boy Kenny.
[01:17:13] Speaker B: I love Gardner Minshew.
[01:17:15] Speaker A: I actually do too. He's one of the most fun quarterbacks to watch. And Gardner Minshew had this to say when asked about their current winning streak. It's not always going to be sexy, but dang it, it's good.
[01:17:25] Speaker B: LoOK, if Blacko is not an option to bring into camp next year for one reason or another, I would love Gardner Minshew.
[01:17:32] Speaker A: I actually really wanted them to bring him in as the backup this year, and they did.
[01:17:35] Speaker B: Yeah, me too.
[01:17:36] Speaker A: It feels bad. Speaking of shitty quarterbacks, though, not that we mentioned one, but we will now. Kenny Pickett has surgery to repair a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss two to three weeks. This operation is called a tightrope procedure. I know they've done it in several different sports. I think some other quarterbacks have had it in the past. Kenny Pickett himself had one done while he was in college at Pitt. And none of this matters because Kenny Pickett is ass.
[01:18:02] Speaker B: Agreed.
[01:18:03] Speaker C: Kenny Pickett sucks.
[01:18:05] Speaker A: So we'll move on. Tank Dell suffered a fractured fibula and is done for the season.
That feels bad.
[01:18:12] Speaker B: He was screwing up everybody's fantasy leagues.
[01:18:15] Speaker A: He was CJ.
But picking up the slack in that game for CJ Stroud was Nico Collins with nine catches for 191 yards and a touchdown. So if you had him, you probably won.
And with him filling in, I think the Texans will be all right.
Next up here, another coach has been fired. I said last week. It's that season. This time. A special teams coordinator for the Titans, Craig Auckerman. In their game on Sunday, the Colts returned a blocked punt against who? Did I just say? Against the Titans for a touchdown. And on a second punt attempt, the punter fumbled the ball, tried to get it again, tried to punt, got tackled and injured his knee.
And with that, the special teams coordinator was fired.
[01:19:02] Speaker B: So feels bad when Jesus comes.
[01:19:06] Speaker A: No happy. Happy trails. Craig Auckerman. He gone.
Next up, Jordan Love and the packers defeat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs this weekend in a game that Jordan Love said was circle that he had circled for a long time. Well, Jordan Love, maybe you should circle some other games because you ain't done shit so far. So you should probably start circling more. And I will say this, it was the first time the Chiefs have lost a game with Taylor Swift in aTtendance. As soon as Travis Kelsey heard the L word, things came unraveled. You get it, Jordan? Love the L word. Nice.
[01:19:45] Speaker B: What about maybe T swift. Just her powers were not as strong as. Who's the gymnast that was there? That's dating biles. Yeah, maybe she couldn't do battle with Simone.
[01:20:00] Speaker A: Did you see the packers social media was having a field day with it. They're like our queen.
[01:20:07] Speaker B: Yeah, she came out on top.
[01:20:10] Speaker A: She wins. She wins. Next up here, Mike Evans becomes the first player in NFL history with ten straight 1000 receiving yard seasons to start his career. Jerry Rice did have 14 total and eleven consecutively, but didn't hit that thousand yard mark his rookie year. And now only Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Mike Evans have ten plus 1000 yard seasons as receivers.
[01:20:42] Speaker B: I read pretty good company. There was a tweet that came across during a game that said something like, Baker Mayfield has 174 passing yards, 160 of those have gone to Mike Evans.
[01:20:54] Speaker A: If you've paid attention. I know, Kenny, you have because you got a soft spot for Baker. And I don't mean that as a dig. That's just the truth.
Yeah, I know you've been keeping up with their games, but I mean, that's like every week he's like 240 passing yards. 198 of them were to Mike Evans.
[01:21:15] Speaker B: I mean, look, he's not dumb.
[01:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:21:18] Speaker B: And now that he knocked up Emily, he's going to need the see.
[01:21:23] Speaker C: Ah. Good for him.
[01:21:23] Speaker B: See how that goes.
[01:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Good.
I mean, every quarterback that Mike Evans has ever, that's been, that's been the strategy. Just Mike Evans, really big, strong, tall, fast. You just throw the ball to him.
[01:21:34] Speaker B: Throw the ball to would.
[01:21:36] Speaker A: Yep.
And then finally to round out our trip around the NFL here. You've heard of the Manning bowl, you've heard of the Kelsey Bowl. But on Monday night, right now, as we speak, we are witnessing the far less exciting Taylor Bowl.
I know you're excited. Not brothers.
Yeah, me too. Brothers. Zach Taylor, the head coach for the Bengals, and press Taylor, the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars, face off in this game. And who the fuck names your kid press?
[01:22:11] Speaker B: Is it like Preston? It's got to be press.
[01:22:15] Speaker A: His name's literally press. It's two S's. How can it be Preston? It's P-R-E-S-S. Press Tail.
[01:22:21] Speaker B: Some people spell things like Chris like that. Like Chris with two S's. And they're like, what? I just want to be different.
[01:22:27] Speaker A: His name's press.
[01:22:29] Speaker B: Maybe it's president.
[01:22:30] Speaker A: It's not. But that'll conclude our trip around the NFL.
[01:22:34] Speaker B: Kenny Presley.
[01:22:36] Speaker C: Kenny Presley.
[01:22:37] Speaker A: Bone.
[01:22:38] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:22:39] Speaker A: Would you guys like to talk to some Browns fans?
[01:22:41] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[01:22:43] Speaker B: Love it.
[01:22:45] Speaker A: All right, so something that we started doing this year is our Browns Backers interview series. We started doing this for a couple of different reasons. One, obviously, we wanted to highlight the Browns fans across the nation and across the world. There's Browns fans everywhere. These guys show up Rain or shine. The team's doing well, team's doing bad. They still show up in support at their viewing locations.
But we also wanted to highlight what most people do not know about the Browns backers, and that's that almost all of them are involved in some sort of charity work or community service in their respective communities. So we wanted to give that a platform. We wanted to let you guys know about these people. So with that, let's go ahead and.
[01:23:20] Speaker B: Get into the next interview in the serieside SM.
[01:23:48] Speaker A: All right, so this week for our Brownsbackers interview series, we get to chat with Brandon from the Jacksonville Browns Backers. Brandon, thanks for joining us. How are you doing today?
[01:23:56] Speaker E: I am doing great. Thanks for having me on. Just, you know, thank you to Kenny, Ronnie, and Zach here. Zach the bone man, correct.
Onto the stage. So I really appreciate you having me on.
[01:24:10] Speaker A: Yeah, no problem. And we know everybody's time is valuable, so thanks for taking that time and spending some with us. All right, so, Brandon, tell us a little bit about your chapter. Obviously, you guys are in Jacksonville, but when were you established? What's your viewing location and how many members do you guys have?
[01:24:26] Speaker E: Well, first, I'm sure everyone that comes on here says, I think we have the best BrowNS backers in the United States, in the world.
[01:24:33] Speaker A: Yours is the best.
[01:24:36] Speaker E: All these transplants from Ohio moving to the warm weather in Jacksonville. So it's a great club. It really is. We're at Whiskey Jack, so if anytime anyone's visiting the area, come on and visit. Everybody is welcome.
Whiskey Jacks is in Atlantic Boulevard by Jack's beach, and we usually have a regular of attendance. Of course, based on how good the Browns are doing, anywhere from, I'd say on the really low side, if it's like a nationally televised game, around 25 to 30, all the way upwards of about 100 to 110 people on a really great day. So it's great.
We get a lot of visitors. And I'll tell you what the leadership has been great for. It says that we've been around since 2017, but in an iteration, I've been down here for about eleven years, since I moved from Cayo Falls, Ohio, and this chapter has been going, but it changed leadership a couple of times. So I don't know how long it's actually been around, but since I've been here for eleven years. It's been around.
It's been amazing just to see how it's developed and just the difference in attendance as the Browns go from game one all the way to now game.
[01:25:53] Speaker A: So it sounds like there may be a little bit of that. You guys were a Brownsbackers group before you guys were official.
So, I mean, I know there's a few groups out there that are like that and they actually get a pretty big following before they actually do the paperwork and everything to become whatever they call it, a chartered chapter or however they word that.
One of the reasons we do this is obviously there's Browns fans everywhere, there's Browns backers all over the place. But we also like to highlight some of the charity and community service that you guys are doing. So what are you guys involved with down there in Jacksonville?
[01:26:31] Speaker E: So we do a great thing where at halftime of every game we do some, of course, some announcements and we do some giveaways for Brownsbackers members. But what we do also is a 50 50 throughout the first half.
So 50% of that goes to our charity, which is canine for warriors.
And then what we do is at the end of the year, we get together with them, we present them with a check, one of those big fake nice. I've always wanted something and it's great because we let everyone know who is there, even if you're a guest, that, hey, this is a great cause. And you can ask any one of the people that are there running that, what we do and what it means to us, and I think everyone would give you the same answer, that it's just a great charity.
[01:27:20] Speaker A: Brandon, I got a question for you. How much do those big checks cost? Like, how much does that do your contribution?
I don't know.
[01:27:31] Speaker E: I'd like to find out, too, because I was wondering if I get paid with my pay, my regular pay, I want to pick up a big check. Like in Happy Gilmore movie with Adam Sandler. The golf movie?
[01:27:42] Speaker A: Yeah, Happy Gilmore. When he's like, he got a big check. How come I can't get one of those?
Yeah, I've always wondered and I always thought the same thing, like, I just want one of these. I want to see if they'd take it. But no, I digress. So with the Jacksonville game this week, obviously, do you guys have any events or anything that you have going on this week or even coming up here in the near future?
[01:28:11] Speaker E: So it's going to be a regular attendance. It will be kind of interesting. Just, I don't know if any other brownsbacker locations, if it's a local game for the opposition and it's televised, the bar itself, we have, of course, our own section, but we're doing this just the regular. I mean, we don't care who we're playing if it's Jacksonville, Denver, whoever. So we should get a good attendance, though, and we're ready just to cheer against the Jacksonville team. I won't even say their name there.
[01:28:43] Speaker A: You know, besides this week, do you do any events in the offseason or do you guys have, like, I know some groups have a big event throughout the season, just one time a year or something like that. They do. Do you guys have anything like that?
Yeah.
[01:28:57] Speaker E: So there's a couple things. Christmas. So next weekend, I believe we have a huge Christmas event. Usually brings out the full roster of who is a Jacksonville Browns backer and guests. We have some great giveaways that go on there. Usually we have things like silent auctions for charity as well. We have a huge 50 50 for that. So that's always a great event, and everyone just brings a dessert of their choice and whiskey Jacks helps us out with some great food for the event as well. You set up some cornhole boards and some other things where we could just have all fun together and really celebrate the fellowship of being a Browns backer. Hopefully, whether you've chosen it or you are like, I don't know, you guys, myself born into it. So it's an exclusive, painful club. So it's just great to revel in celebration with everyone that you are a kindred spirit with. So that's one of the things.
And except for this year, because there's not really a South game we have had for the last several years where we will do bus events and we'll go down to a close game. It's been Miami in the past, Atlanta, Tampa, and of course a preseason game. So we'll help set up the busing tickets, tailgating, all that kind of thing to whoever wants to come. So I would say those are probably the two big events outside of just getting together every Sunday or Monday. Thursday, too, I guess.
[01:30:34] Speaker A: Black Friday, Saturday morning, Sunday, Monday. Yeah. We're getting closer and closer to football on every day of the week, and we love it.
[01:30:43] Speaker E: Saturday start, right? That's soon, isn't it?
[01:30:46] Speaker A: Yeah. But so I did find out, I don't know if anybody knew this, but I did find out there's actually a law against the NFL having Saturday night games, and that's why they're always Saturday morning games.
The law was put into place a while back to protect college football from NFL basically stealing their day. And it's the same reason why the Black Friday game was at like ten in the morning or whenever it was is because it can't be broadcast after a certain time, so it doesn't take away from high school football.
FuN fact there, but yeah, if the NFL could, I'm sure they'd have a game on every day.
[01:31:26] Speaker E: 30 game season and a game every day.
[01:31:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Kenny, I know you were going to say something. What did you have?
[01:31:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I was just going to ask Brendan, I know you mentioned transplants earlier and then whether or not you were born into this. So were you born into being a Browns fan and a Browns backer there in Florida or are you a transplant?
[01:31:46] Speaker E: Well, I have a long journey, so I was born in Seven Hills Parma area, was there until I was about 13 years old. My dad was a civil engineer. He's retired now, got a job at the Kennedy Space Center. So I moved down here for high school years and always supporting the Browns, calves, Indians, now guardians. My dad and I would go to close games when we could in Miami.
[01:32:13] Speaker D: I'm old.
[01:32:14] Speaker E: That was before Jacksonville was around, so doing those types of things. Whenever we get back up to Cleveland and go, we'd go and I did something horrible. I got married pretty young and I have a huge family in Northeast Ohio, so I moved up my wife to be around my family because we were all starting to get married and have kids. So then we were back in Cuyahoga Falls and Northeast Hawk for 13 more years. And about eleven years ago she said, I cannot stand one more, excuse my language. Goddamn winter here. I'm here going to Florida by myself or you're coming with me. So I was born into it pictures just like everyone else is born with it, from five, six even onesies that have the Browns on it. I do have one picture though, because my parents were outdivided. My mom's side is from Pittsburgh Nature Heights.
[01:33:05] Speaker A: Oh God.
[01:33:05] Speaker E: I do have one piece where I'm wearing Steelers pajamas, but I'm surprised I'm really saying that to you guys.
[01:33:14] Speaker A: But did you burn those Steelers pajamas at your first?
[01:33:19] Speaker E: Don't think I only see him in one picture. So apparently I knew right away you don't wear those things.
[01:33:25] Speaker A: We keep putting Brandon in these Steelers pajamas and for some reason he keeps having accidents in the middle of the night.
[01:33:33] Speaker B: Also real quick. So did you Say you worked for NASA? Were you an astronaut?
[01:33:37] Speaker E: No, my dad my dad was a civil engineer, so he worked on structural components at the Kennedy Space Center. So I don't know if anyone has been around there, but the big huge building on the Kennedy Space center is a vab. He's done some interesting things where concrete fault is the biggest concrete structure in the world. He designs some ways to put nets and stop the debris from falling on the shuttle and people, things like that, roadways.
[01:34:07] Speaker B: Wow.
[01:34:07] Speaker E: So totally different aspect, I guess, that a lot of people don't think about after go into launching things into space.
[01:34:13] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Space and space exploration just absolutely fascinates me.
[01:34:18] Speaker A: If you were an astronaut, you'd be Kenny's new best friend.
[01:34:25] Speaker B: We can still be best friends, Brandon.
[01:34:26] Speaker E: Talk about some space.
[01:34:30] Speaker A: Um, no, Brandon, you mentioned Cowga Falls. That's actually where I live currently. We are getting ready to move still. We'll be local still, but we are currently living in Kyga Falls. Love Coga Falls. Great town. I don't know if you've been up here lately. They've done a lot of updates to Front street and stuff, so if you get a chance, come visit.
[01:34:49] Speaker E: I did, actually.
We were just up, what, two weeks ago for the Browns Steelers game. I had not seen a Brown Steelers game in so long since I moved to Florida and we drove by there and I'm amazed. I mean, it's always been such a nice family oriented town. It looks even better than when I left 1011 years ago.
[01:35:11] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
Onto the football side of things here, though, I do want to ask you, let's start with last week's game.
What are your thoughts about the game that they just played against the Rams here? I know it was kind of ugly, but what were your thoughts?
[01:35:27] Speaker E: Well, the time we're talking now.
[01:35:31] Speaker A: This.
[01:35:31] Speaker E: Is the first time I'm listening to talking about, or even thinking about that game from Sunday because you know how it is you live.
[01:35:40] Speaker A: You were hoping we didn't bring it up.
[01:35:41] Speaker E: Talk radio podcasts all day. If the Browns win, if they lose, I don't even want to turn on ESPN or anything at all during the day.
Just disappointing. It was just felt through that game, which is one of the first times I felt this year, I'm like, this is the old Browns.
I was looking at some of your last podcast, just things like out coaching ourselves. Why aren't we running the ball? Why are we making us someone that's been here two weeks passing it, what was it, almost 40 times? I know some of that was at the end, but I know he played well for what he was doing and being 100 years old, but just some of those things of really taking advantage of what we're good at, I just didn't think we did that and it was a little bit frustrating. I know we have a lot of injuries, but not to see the defense adjust from some of the things that really plagued them last week and it's just a little bit different. So I know that I have confidence in the coaches. It was just disappointing. And then when they're getting close the mixed field goal, then when you're getting close the interception, I'm like, I don't want to feel like it's 2019.
[01:36:52] Speaker A: And before Brandon, the guy sitting next to me, his favorite player is Hopkins.
[01:37:02] Speaker C: Yeah, a couple of missed extra points.
[01:37:04] Speaker E: He's been great.
That's why then I'm like, are we going to get Browns again? Because he's been the best kicker, I think in the NFL he has.
[01:37:14] Speaker A: I think statistically, even with the miss, he still is. He's sitting at 106 points, I think it is.
And so with 106 points, the franchise record for a kicker is 120 with Phil Dawson, so he's probably a lock to break that. And then the overall record is 126 with Jim Brown, so he's probably going to break that, too. There's plenty of games left here.
It was a huge pickup and it was unfortunate, the missed extra point. We actually just got done talking about it on the rest of our podcast, but it did. It kind of turned the tide of the game. And right when you thought we might be getting back into of all the wind goes out of your sails with that.
[01:38:01] Speaker E: It was. It was just bad luck and some of the plays and I don't know what's going on lately. These drops are killing. Don't. I saw statistics were second in the NFL in drops, but I thought we were first.
[01:38:20] Speaker A: Think. I think the teams that played were first and second. I thought the Browns were first and the Rams were second, actually. Yeah.
[01:38:25] Speaker E: That's crazy, right?
[01:38:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not good. Not good. And obviously the Nick Chubb injury, Deshaun Watson injury, Miles Garrett's dealing with an injury now. I mean, what has been your guys reaction down there to each one of these new injuries one after another? And how do you think the Browns have done so far, at least coping with these?
[01:38:48] Speaker E: I mean, I think at some point the best player, I know that Miles Garrett played and Cooper played, but the best player on each level is hurt or what has been hurt or is out. I mean, I don't know how a team survives mean, I think regardless of what a lot of people think know Sippanski's play calling, I think this has been an amazing job. I don't think I've ever seen a team with this many injuries, and especially to your starting quarterback, the running back that is even a larger portion of your offense than most other teams, and just the ward being out for several games and then losing backup safeties and linebackers for time. I think it has been amazing that we're even in the playoff hunt right now.
I'm trying to be positive because we all have to do that. This is probably one of the best positions we've been in since, what, 2020? And I think just the makeup of the team, I think we're going to be able to pull two, three more wins to at least be in consideration just based off of what they've been able to do with people being hurt, overcoming adversity at the end of the games with the injuries, everything.
I just hope that I always go back at Stefan. I hope he sticks to what we're good at. And I don't know if you guys think this, too, but some coaches, they do what they're good at till you stop them. He is a coach that says, you think I'm good at this? I'm going to show you how good I am at something else.
[01:40:24] Speaker A: We actually call him Stefanik on our show most of the time because we don't respect him enough to give him his own name.
But no, I mean, we call that trying to outsmart himself or trying to outsmart everybody in the room. And what he actually ends up doing is outsmarting.
[01:40:41] Speaker E: Though I would say he is awesome. And I know the last two games we haven't been great on defense, but what he's been able to do for even what this defense is about and the attitude, and you could tell just the fun they're having on there, it's been amazing.
[01:40:56] Speaker B: Do you attribute the lack of energy over the last two weeks more to Miles maybe being a missing link there, just not being as full strength? Or are you worried at all about this defense down the stretch?
[01:41:09] Speaker E: Like I said, I think just because what they've shown, of course we're all worried, but I think they'll be able to overcome it. I wouldn't be able to say that in the past with a defense as coordinator last year, I won't even name him one of the worst I've ever seen, but I think we will be an overcomer. Miles Garrett I was having a conversation with my dad and he goes it's really hard to stay up when you had those games with Pittsburgh and the Ravens back to back and just to have, I mean, those were division games and just the way they turned out and the emotional toll on someone, he was expecting us to lose to Denver. That's what he told me. And I was like, I don't know. I think they're going to be able to pull it out, but I really think coming home, I know Jacksonville is a good team, but they kind of remind me of the 2020 Browns, where Lawrence, sometimes he looks like the best quarterback in the league. Other games he looks below average. Kind of make Mayfield that year and they could win against anybody, but they can lose to anybody on any given day. And I think just being home after that West coast swing is really going to give us some, I don't know, energy, like you said, from the crowd and internally. So hopefully we'll be able to, whether it's Miles Garrett or anyone else that's injured, just pick it up.
[01:42:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they just fans right.
[01:42:31] Speaker B: Now, and I think you're on something there with the emotional aspect of it. I mean, I think those two wins back to back where they came in the season, what was at stake at the time, those were two of the most emotional Browns victories that I can remember. It's in my lifetime. I mean, since they've been back. 99 for sure.
[01:42:46] Speaker A: Well, yeah. Kenny, to your point, you actually said after the, which one came first? The Ravens game. Right. The Ravens game was first. The Steelers game first. Yeah.
[01:42:54] Speaker B: I mean, that game was won 100% on emotion.
[01:42:57] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you said after that game on our podcast, you said, that is the most emotional victory I can remember as a Browns fan. And then the very next week, you said the exact same thing.
[01:43:09] Speaker B: I'm telling you, they were back to back like that. I've never seen anything quite like that about just a Browns team coming together. All three phases of the game, every guy playing for each other. It was just special to see. So I think there's definitely some room for fall off on that end. I think that's fair.
[01:43:28] Speaker A: They put their bodies so much on the line that now our entire team's hurt and we can't finish the season early by week. Yeah, it was the early by week, man.
[01:43:37] Speaker E: That was a killer.
[01:43:38] Speaker A: Yeah, no, Brandon. But let's look to this week now. So what are your thoughts on the week 14 matchup with the team that you obviously have to hear about every week? The Jacksonville Jaguars.
[01:43:50] Speaker E: Yeah, I think. Well, like I said, they could win. They could lose against anybody. It's kind of interesting. I was just kind of looking back and I've been able to see one of their games this year when the Browns wasn't playing at the same time I went to games and saw them play.
They're very interesting from a standpoint. Know, I was looking before this just they're very low in almost all team statistical categories like offense, defense, yardage, scoring.
[01:44:20] Speaker A: I was looking today, they're right around like anywhere between twelve and 23 in pretty much everything.
They're really inconsistent.
[01:44:32] Speaker E: Yeah, they're just very inconsistent. I don't know how else to put it. Like I said, the 20 Browns, that playoff team and Lawrence especially, I thought he'd be farther along at this point in his career.
He doesn't look like he has touch sometimes or he doesn't look like he knows what the reads are sometimes. And it's just interesting because he was what they said what once in a generational talent coming out of college.
But hey, they found a way to win what, an eight? And you know, I don't. But I feel like that is one.
[01:45:11] Speaker A: Of the most overused phrases in draft coverage nowadays because we already have it coming up again with Caleb Williams as everybody's already talking about Caleb Williams and how he's a generational talent and I just don't see.
I mean, I would agree with Trevor Lawrence is I think he's been solid, but not necessarily special.
[01:45:33] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly.
[01:45:35] Speaker B: Brandon, I share a lot of the same concern around Trevor Lawrence. There's the critiques you made. I think those are very fair. Do you think that the surrounding area is starting to feel and have concern around that or are they still gung ho about this guy being their starter for the next ten years?
[01:45:51] Speaker E: I think they are still gung ho. I mean he's what is a quarterback? They're held accountable to win. So I think Jacksonville's kind of been like the Browns. I mean they're going to gravitate. They've been bad for a long time. They're going to gravitate for anyone that's doing well. They're kind of like our position where even though he's middle of the road right now or maybe a little bit above, from a statistical standpoint, he's much better than almost anyone that they've had since what Mark Brunell or whatever the case may be.
[01:46:23] Speaker B: David Gerard had some good games.
[01:46:25] Speaker A: Yeah, he did.
[01:46:28] Speaker E: So it's nice to see just the locale here really getting amped up for the I I'm always diehard Browns, but as long as they're not playing Jacksonville, I'll be for them as well against pretty much any other team. So it's just nice to see the city excited and I'm sure as it is, like when I came in for the Steelers game, just nice to see the city excited about the.
[01:46:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair. I think we have a little bit of that with like, Detroit and Buffalo. You're kind of that kindred spirit mentality with teams that have struggled like you have.
[01:47:01] Speaker A: My dad's a Detroit Lions fan and as much as I will never root for them against the Browns, but it's kind of nice to see them winning some games and doing their thing up there in Detroit right now. And I know my dad's super happy about.
[01:47:15] Speaker D: I mean, it's nice to see these.
[01:47:17] Speaker E: Usual winning franchises like New England. It's nice to see Detroit doing well. I mean, it makes it interesting.
[01:47:25] Speaker A: You could say to it, it's nice to see New England only won two games so far. It's fantastic.
[01:47:33] Speaker E: I dislike Belichick so much.
[01:47:35] Speaker A: Don't worry, he's going to get fired after the mean. You mentioned Trevor Lawrence and kind of how everybody's feeling about Trevor Lawrence, but how is the city kind of feeling about the team as a whole in Jacksonville right now? Are they pumped? Are they super high on this team? Or do they have kind of more that realistic mentality that you've adopted where you're like, I don't know, they're okay. I think their record is probably better than what they are. How's the city talking?
[01:48:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:48:09] Speaker E: They'Re hyped. Just the attendance.
That's such a huge stadium. They used to have for blackout purposes, like tarps over the barely top seats. So those seats were not available. So it's great to see them open up the whole stadium. And I'll tell you what, one game I went to, tailgating is great. People are excited. I think what people are hoping for is because they saw it last year, is Jacksonville rounded into form during the end of the year and they strung together those amazing wins against, what, Tennessee, to get in that crazy come from behind win. And I think they're expecting or hoping for that same type of thing to happen where Jacksonville is going to hit their stride towards the end of the year and be on a high note going into playoffs.
[01:48:59] Speaker A: You bring that up. I know last year, didn't they finish their last eight games, like six and two or something like that?
I think when you combine last year's the end of last year and this, like, I forget the number of games to end last season, but they're like the top team in the NFL as far as wins and losses.
Besides, maybe. Probably.
So are they saying anything about the Browns down there as far as local news and local sports?
[01:49:34] Speaker E: Um, like I said, I haven't turned on anything yet this week because I didn't want to hear anything, but probably, I mean, just because there's just so many Browns fans down here. So, like, you walk into a grocery store here, if you're wearing Browns gear, you can be almost guaranteed someone's going to be, you're going to hit someone that's wearing a brown shirt or Ohio State shirt just because this area is such a transplant for Ohio and the Midwest in general. So the conversations and the friendly rivalries between friends, I'm sure those are going on. I'm having some, but I'm sure that's not so much from the media's perspective.
But like I said, I haven't listened to that. But just from friendly conversation, I'd say it's a nice little rivalry just because when the games are here, it looks like sometimes it's mostly Browns, so they like to get back a little at you because now they're good too and they like to have some friendly conversations, so it's fun.
[01:50:43] Speaker B: I like that you called it a rivalry. That means both teams are doing well.
[01:50:49] Speaker E: We haven't been able to say that many times, so that's good.
[01:50:54] Speaker B: Very true.
[01:50:56] Speaker A: And so with this game, Brandon, do you have a prediction for the game this week? Do you have a score prediction for us that you can give us?
[01:51:05] Speaker E: I really think the offensive line for Jacksonville sometimes been suspect here. So I know this is depending a lot. I really think some of the other players for us on defensive line, if we can cut on the penalties that killed us during this last game and Miles Garrett can't play, I don't know what's the status on Ward.
[01:51:24] Speaker A: I think he's week to week or day to day or whatever they're calling all.
[01:51:29] Speaker E: I think it's going to be a lower scoring game and I think if we can run the ball, which I think hopefully we will this game, that we'll have an opportunity, maybe 1714 Browns winning.
[01:51:45] Speaker C: Nice.
[01:51:46] Speaker A: You got the Browns winning. That's a positive.
I will say this ahead of time. You're a lot more confident than I am.
[01:51:55] Speaker B: They needed to stop the bleeding, right?
[01:51:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:51:57] Speaker E: I think that home cooking is going to help us out a lot since under Stefanski's tennis. We've been way better at home. Right. I'm just hoping that it's just going to make a difference now. If I was going to put money on it, I probably wouldn't be saying that, but I'm going to be positive about.
[01:52:17] Speaker A: Appreciate that. Yeah.
Real quick, before we get going, Brandon, I do want to say we're brought to you by who? Kenny?
[01:52:25] Speaker B: Actually, before we do that, I had one more question for Brandon. We'll push back one.
You know, obviously we talked about just the history a bit about Jacksonville and where they've been, and now the team is starting to have some success. Are you starting to see that reciprocated economically throughout the city? A little bit. I mean, I know just personally from being here when LeBron was here, when LeBron came back, so many new sports bars opened. There was a lot more people downtown during games for those things. Are you seeing that start to actually impact just the local economy there with the team being better?
[01:53:03] Speaker E: Well, I think it is because to the owner here is really shot Khan. He is really focused on expanding Jacksonville downtown because Jacksonville, kind of like Cleveland, is a major commuter city and the downtown area is not really where people go unless you're going to the different games or to a show or something like that, or concert. A lot of people when they go out, they go to Jack's beach, as you can imagine, on the ocean, and they're going to be building, I think, in the next three years, four years, a multi billion dollar stadium. So he's sticking in the money for he's. I forget what hotel chain it is, but it's one of those five star hotels, like in major cities, putting one right by the stadium and they're trying to expand the things to do in downtown. And I think just like you said with tailgating gets.
There's a lot more people going to that now than used to. I think it's at the right time with what's going on in the city. And I think, yeah, to answer your question, it's having an impact. I think the fans coming out to the city and also the owner really investing.
[01:54:17] Speaker B: Awesome final follow up. So in the new stadium, is every seat going to have a hot tub in it?
[01:54:24] Speaker A: Personal hot tub.
Have you seen those foot soakers? It's like one of those just for people though. Like you just sit in it.
[01:54:34] Speaker B: Hygiene thing. I didn't even think about. That is funny.
[01:54:37] Speaker A: That would be disgusting.
[01:54:39] Speaker E: They would better put a lot of chlorine in that hot tub.
[01:54:42] Speaker A: It gets shocked 47 times between every game, Brandon, why'd you have to go straight there now? I just can't get the thought out of my head.
Oh, man.
No. Before we get going here, Brandon, we are brought to you by who, Kenny?
[01:55:03] Speaker B: With Seaside events as, as the official podcast of Seaside events.
Of seaside events.
[01:55:14] Speaker A: Yeah, we're the official podcast of Seaside events, the official cruise event provider of the Cleveland Browns and organizer of the Browns Fan Cruise.
And so with got a phone call. So with that in mind, they did run a competition for Brownsbackers. However, that is over and the winners will be announced soon. But I just wanted to make sure that we talked about this because we're going to be MCG several events on the fan cruise and we'll also be joined by 17 alumni that the fans will be able to mingle with and talk to and kind of get close, have dinner with, whatever the case may be. So for anyone that hasn't booked yet, please do so. It's going to be a blast.
And then anything else, Brandon, that you wanted to say about to Cleveland Browns fans maybe that have moved away as you have from Northeast Ohio or missing their Kindred Browns fans and wanting to kind of get involved with a Brownsbackers.
[01:56:10] Speaker E: Group, I would say, and I have a friend, he travels quite a Bit and if he's there Sunday, because he has meetings on Monday, he said you could always, almost anywhere in the United States, you can always find someone to watch the Browns game with. You can always find a Browns backward bar. Whether it's official or not, it's posted, it's somewhere.
And I would just say that that's how I met a lot of great people in Jacksonville because that was one of the things is, hey, I want to go out. I just don't want to cheer by myself sitting at home. I'd rather go out there and cheer with people that are truly passionate like myself. So I think if anywhere in Jacksonville, anywhere, if you haven't gone to a Browns backer chapter and you're a big Browns fan, you're not in Cleveland, go to one. I think you'll have a lot of fun.
[01:57:00] Speaker A: Kenny, are you finding one on vacation right now?
[01:57:05] Speaker B: No, I went to the YouTube Brownsbackers bar and it cost me a lot of.
[01:57:12] Speaker E: Oh, by the way, Zach, great input.
[01:57:19] Speaker A: Oh, that's the one.
[01:57:21] Speaker B: Brandon and I are officially best friends.
[01:57:25] Speaker A: Oh, man. The bone man has been put in the grave and called out.
[01:57:31] Speaker C: No, he's here for the ride.
[01:57:35] Speaker A: One final thing that we'd like to mention before we get going, Brandon is our hot take hotline, the Burning river sports guest hot Take hotline. It's a voicemail that's set up for Browns fans to literally call and invent or praise the team before the game, during the game, after the game, literally, whenever it's up, 24/7 you can say whatever you want and we take the best takes and we put them on the air. So if you could spread that around to your group, hopefully we get some input there. Bones been trying to get one of his coworkers to call for like six weeks now. Still hasn't happened.
[01:58:07] Speaker B: He's close.
[01:58:07] Speaker C: He's really close.
[01:58:08] Speaker A: One of these days he's only going.
[01:58:09] Speaker C: To talk about Columbus Crew. Well, he probably won't talk about the Brown.
[01:58:15] Speaker A: But yeah. So the number for that is three 30 227-808-0330 yeah, two 2780, call now.
And so, Brandon, thank you for joining us here. It's been awesome having you.
We really appreciate your time again. And go Browns here.
[01:58:36] Speaker E: Yeah, go BrownS. And thank you so much for having me on. If you could give me just. Here we go, Brownies. Here we go.
[01:58:46] Speaker A: Come on.
[01:58:47] Speaker E: There's the answer. So, no, thanks a lot, guys, and go Browns this weekend. I really think they're going to win.
[01:58:53] Speaker A: Hell yes.
[01:59:05] Speaker E: We're the Jacksonville Browns backers and you're listening to Burning River Sportscast. Go Browns.
[01:59:26] Speaker A: Wow, that was fun, guys. He really got you bum.
[01:59:29] Speaker C: Yeah, he roasted me. I appreciate a good roasting.
[01:59:34] Speaker A: He just called you out for ghosting and he's like, who's this guy sitting over here doing nothing?
[01:59:41] Speaker C: Go ahead, Kenny.
[01:59:43] Speaker B: The best part of this is like, if I had to put money on something happening this year, it would not have been on a Brownsbacker roasting.
[01:59:51] Speaker A: Like, if that was on your bingo square, you just want a lot of money.
[01:59:57] Speaker C: We kind of even said, like, I was probably just going to be hanging out here. And then he just took it upon himself to roast me for that.
[02:00:03] Speaker A: He was like, that guy sitting over there doing nothing, I'm going to shit on him.
It was so unexpected, like he was just out of nowhere. Well, good contribution today.
[02:00:15] Speaker C: I like his sense of humor. That was fantastic.
[02:00:20] Speaker A: Like a champ. He just accepted. He just were like, thank you.
[02:00:23] Speaker B: He was a good interview. He was fun to talk to and that definitely had a sense of humor, for sure.
[02:00:28] Speaker A: No, you're right. I mean, it was a good interview. And again, I just want to point out the charity work that these guys do, their cause is fantastic down there. And everybody that we've talked to this year, they all have their own different charities, different causes that they donate to. And that's just awesome. And I mentioned it in the interview, but I also want to mention it one more time.
We are doing our first burning river sportscast holiday virtual food drive. You can get all the information on our social medias. I'm also going to put a link to it in our show notes, so make sure you check that out.
We started small this year. We just want to get to $1,000 to give back to the Cleveland Food Bank. So, guys, help us out. Give what you can. It's the holidays. Let's make somebody's holiday a little.
[02:01:17] Speaker B: Help us crush that goal.
[02:01:20] Speaker A: Hell yes. Hell yes. So guys, you know what's next?
All right? 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. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. 330227 Sweaty Hot 0803-3022-7808-0330-2278-0803-3022-78.
[02:01:56] Speaker B: Sweaty Hot takes.
[02:01:59] Speaker A: Operators are not standing by.
[02:02:00] Speaker C: There's nobody there.
[02:02:01] Speaker A: Nobody's operating. But we'll put you on the air. If you leave a good tank, leave a hot take. So let's take a quick break and then get back here and talk to Brown's alumni. Who do we got this week, guys?
[02:02:14] Speaker C: Joshua Crib.
[02:02:15] Speaker A: Joshua Cribs. Hell yes. And then we will preview the Week 14 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Yes.
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All right, so before we get into the Week 14 preview, let's take a few minutes to talk to another Cleveland Browns legend that will be joining us on the Browns fan Cruise in March of 2024.
[02:04:28] Speaker B: Here's the thing. I know that these guys are all NFL players and all former Browns players, but this one's got me a little geeked.
[02:04:35] Speaker A: Are you talking to our fans?
[02:04:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm talking to just everybody right now. Just because I love Josh Cribs.
[02:04:41] Speaker C: Cribs, baby.
[02:04:42] Speaker A: Hell yes. Let's do it.
[02:04:54] Speaker B: Powered by Riverside FM.
[02:05:09] Speaker A: Okay, so our next guest is an absolute Browns God. He was inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends program in 2020. His career statistics include 110 receptions, 1175 receiving yards, 13,448 total return yards, 20 total touchdowns, three time Pro Bowler, first team All Pro in 2009, 2nd Team All Pro in 2007, NFL Kickoff return Yards leader In 2007, the NFL 2000s All Decade Team, and a future hall of Famer, one of the greatest returners that has ever lived and an all around great guy. Here he is, everybody. Welcome, Josh. Chris.
All right, Josh.
Thanks for joining us.
Yeah, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. We know you're a busy man, so thank you for your time.
And before we get started here and get into some of the questions that we have for you, we do want to talk about something here. We're very excited about this. You're going to be on the Browns fan Cruise in March of 2024. Yes, sir. The Joshua Cribs will be there. So we have to say, being that we are brought to you by Seaside events, who is putting on the Browns fan Cruise? And we will be on that fan Cruise. MCG several events on that fan Cruise. We're really looking forward to sharing the fan cruise with a legend such as yourself. So can you tell our listeners a little bit about that fan cruise?
[02:06:40] Speaker D: Yes, I'm excited about it, actually. To be able to be on a luxurious boat, to cruise around the Caribbean with Browns fans, with alike people, and to have fun, to genuinely have fun all day every day there's a lot of scheduled events that fans can interact with, alumni legends like myself. And I'm looking forward to hearing those stories that I have to cut short sometimes in the autograph line or when you meet a fan out there in public and they want to tell you these things and you don't have the time or they feel uncomfortable, well, this is that time and place that we can, both as a fan and as former players, can just unwind. They could tell us their favorite memories. We could tell them our favorite stories on the field, and it's geared around just that experience, but in the greatest locations, cruising around the Caribbean, being able to know, get off the boat and have such memorable times along with our fans. So then fans will have the experience of watching the great plays, our greatest touchdowns, my greatest returns, as well as our greatest toast, and having fun at the pool or on a Mopad in Jamaica, or riding down the slide. So this is about creating more memories off the field with fans than just the fans, than just the memories that we have in the stadium.
[02:08:19] Speaker A: Hell, yes. I couldn't put it better myself. I'm ready to go right now, but no, I'm sure we're going to get back into some things about the fan cruise later on here. But I do want to talk about you a little bit here. I want to let our listeners know a little bit about your story. So let's get into that. I know you were born kind of Washington, DC area, went to Dunbar High School, if I'm not mistaken, and you actually played with an NFL legend, Vernon Davis. Is that right?
[02:08:48] Speaker D: Absolutely. Born and raised in Washington, DC, in northeast Washington, DC. I went to Paul Lawrence Dunbar Senior High SChool, Vernon Davis. He was one of several guys on my football team that was able to make it pro as I was. He's a little younger than I am, so he was my tight end. He was a phenome, I would say, in high school as well, standing at about 6364 in the 10th grade, all the way on. So to be able to have a guy like that helped us to win at least one of our championships. But I was three years in high school, was able to win three championships while in high school, and to earn division one scholarship at State University.
[02:09:39] Speaker A: Nice. That's pretty incredible. I don't know how you don't win championships if you got Josh Cribs and Vernon Davis on the same offense in high school. I'm sure you guys probably played both ways in high school, didn't you? Did you play defense?
[02:09:50] Speaker D: We definitely wouldn't matter. Since I was a quarterback, I was only able to play defense in bigger caliber games. Not regular season games, but playoffs championships, of course. And also when we played out of town versus good opponents. So the way I got seen was we played against St. Ignatius here in Ohio and we played at Byers Field all those years ago. And Ken State saw me. They were there for another athlete because at the time you had a team insane who was ranked like two or three in the country at the time. And they had an All American quarterback, I believe. So a lot of scouts was out to see them and Ken State saw me. We were able to warm up and have a workout, a practice at Kent State's indoor facility. And from that practice they offered me a full scholarship. So I talked to the coaches and they said they went to the game to confirm what they saw in practice. And they offered me from that practice and that game. So that's how I made it to Ohio by way of that game against St. Ignatius.
[02:11:08] Speaker A: Well, thank God you played them. Was it your senior year, I'm assuming?
[02:11:11] Speaker D: Yes. Early my senior year.
[02:11:13] Speaker A: Yep, you're correct. Thank God for that. And I will say you mentioned Kent State and you going to Kent State.
You didn't just go to Kent State. Let me just rattle some of these school records off that you hold for Kent State. You are the all time total offense leader with 10,839 yards. The all time rushing touchdowns leader with 38, the all time pass completions record holder with 616 pass attempts with 1123 passing yardage with 7169 touchdowns scored with 41 points scored with 246. Oh, and I'm not done. You're one of only two freshmen in NCAA history to both Rush and pass for 1000 yards. One of only eight players in NCAA history to both Rush and pass for 1000 yards in at least two different seasons. You had your number nine retired at Kent State.
You're one of only four quarterbacks in NCAA history to rush for 3500 yards and throw for 7000 yards in your career. And you are the only player in NCAA history to lead his team in both rushing and passing in four different seasons.
[02:12:23] Speaker D: Wow, that's impressive.
I don't think I knew all that myself.
Yeah, there is a caveat to the freshman part.
Coming in rushing and throwing for 1000. I came in with a teammate. So let me tell you this. I had a wide receiver, Darryl Dowry, who was a four star receiver who had committed to Arizona. So Arizona's whole coaching staff got fired that year. So they were like, hey, we'll take you but you're not hiring our list. So he came to Kent State with me, and the reason why I rushed for so many yards was because I didn't know the playbook that well.
If my friend wasn't open, I would just take off running.
[02:13:16] Speaker B: Well, it worked out well for you.
[02:13:18] Speaker D: Yeah, it worked out. So I remember one of the receivers was mad and was like, man, I need to throw an 81 because my friends who came from Dunbar, he had number 81. So everybody was like, man, we need to wear a number 81 so cribs to throw us the ball.
Oh, my gosh. So there's a lot of stories behind that.
[02:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
Do you have anything else you could tell us about your time at Kent State? I mean, I know being Browns fans, I think most Browns fans living in Northeast Ohio have at least heard of, you know, one of the Division one schools in the area.
And obviously, it was a big deal that you ended up with the Browns, which we'll get to in a minute, but can you tell us anything else about your time at Kent State?
[02:14:04] Speaker D: Yes.
My teammates, one bit in particular, welcomed me to NCAA football.
James Harrison, and he's a linebacker for the Steelers for years. I saw him twice a year, played against him twice a year, but he was my teammate for four years, and it was awkward being welcomed to NCAA football by a linebacker that's on your team in practice with the red jersey know, and I thought the red jersey mean don't hit the. But, uh, James Hurzen, he did not get the.
[02:14:43] Speaker B: So that doesn't surprise me about, yeah.
[02:14:48] Speaker D: Running the know, getting hit that hard in practice as a freshman, it was eye opening. I was confused because I thought I wasn't supposed to be getting hit.
And then when I found out I wasn't supposed to get hit, I was confused. Why isn't anybody doing anything about it?
This can very well happen again.
And nothing was done. My head coach at the time was Dean Peas. He has since went on from Kent to the Patriots, and then from there, he was at Baltimore a lot of years. And I think he finished up because he coached variable when he was with the Patriots. So Varable hired him as his defensive coordinator, but he had some health issues. Dean Peas and he, since, I believe, retired or doing some consultation still in the league. But, man, I got so many memories at Kent. Man, I was there with Antonio Gates when he was playing basketball. He never played a downer football. He was just all American runner up in basketball.
[02:15:54] Speaker B: You were trying to convince him to play with you guys.
[02:15:56] Speaker D: Oh, definitely tried to get him out on the field. He came out for about one practice and then the basketball coach came right behind him.
Come on off the field. You'll come on out of here.
[02:16:12] Speaker A: There won't be any of that.
[02:16:14] Speaker D: Not at all. He was able to get Kent State, the basketball team, to the Elite.
You know, he holds records. His name is up in the rafters at Kent State as well. But, man, so much fun. I was able to get Kent State bowl eligible for the first time my freshman year after winning, I think, one game the year before. And back then, they didn't have all the bowls they have now. So I never played in a bowl. We just celebrated the fact that if we were a bigger school, we would have went to a bowl game. Now you win six games, everybody go to a bowl.
[02:16:56] Speaker A: So many of them.
[02:16:57] Speaker D: Yes. That was not the case at Kent.
[02:17:00] Speaker A: It's a better time in college football, I think, when there weren't so many bowl. As much as I love football, it's.
[02:17:05] Speaker B: Kind of watered down.
[02:17:05] Speaker A: It's kind of watered down now. Yeah, it is. Well, it's weird, too, because you got the College Football Playoff and now it's even more watered down because it's like all these other ones don't really mean anything. So what are we doing here exactly?
[02:17:17] Speaker D: I think the whole notion of being bold, eligible and playing those exhibition games were meant for seniors having another opportunity to show their stuff before they have an opportunity to play at the next level or to have their last game, their last hoorah. But now it's just so many.
[02:17:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[02:17:38] Speaker D: There's a ton of products I've never.
[02:17:41] Speaker B: Heard about, for sure, Josh. So obviously you played some big time high school football and Division one college football. Was the NFL always the end goal for you or was that kind of, like, at the back of your mind, okay, if I stay healthy and I do the right things and make the right moves, maybe. Or was it always something that was just. That was the end goal?
[02:18:02] Speaker D: Well, let me say this. As a kid, everybody wants to go pro, right?
Until they have to put in that work. So at each level, it wasn't in my head. At each level, it was to get to the next level in college, in high school, it was to get Division one, get to a D one school or get to college and play football. My friends and I, we used to prank call each other and they prank call me the best. And they actually got me. They pretended to be Bobby Bowden from Florida State and they called my house on three way and I was fooled. I straightened mean, I remember one of my friends was like, I'm just goddamn.
I mean, he. He had his voice down.
He was like, I'm looking for Mr. Josh. I mean, it was his can't. I can't reenact it. But my friends, as soon as I said something to the affirmative, like, yes, sir, coach. I heard all these different voices laughing and snickering, and I was just so embarrassed. But we used to prank call each other and I used to send out a lot of mail questionnaires to get schools excited about me. And it wasn't as easy as it is now. You had to produce a VHS tape of your highlights. And then when I finally was able to have an opportunity to go to Kent State, the same thing.
I didn't know I had the opportunity to play professionally until my first year, until I was playing against team. And it was easy for me, like, the level of talent. I mean, we played against West Virginia, Iowa my first year, and then again Ohio State when they won the championship. I had 100 yards rushing, 100 yards passing. They beat our tails. I put up 14 points.
We did our thing. But for me, as an individual, playing the game of football was still easy for me. I had Canadian leagues already sending me mail, getting my rights to play Canadian. So at worst, I would have played in the CFL. So I had to switch my gears, even my major, because I was an introvert. So I didn't talk well, I didn't speak. I figured, you know, I might go to play professional, so I would have to learn how to speak well and open up. So I switched from business management to communications at that point. So it became real to me throughout my sports career at Kent that I had an opportunity to actually make this a was we were know I was having a lot of success against. We were beating Charlie Fry and them. I remember one game, Charlie Fry was crying. We beat him at the rubber bowl. He was like, good game.
To hear that voice, to hear his voice tremble, I was like, oh, man, we got him. And to beat Ben Roethlisberger. My first year, we beat Miami, Ohio, the teams that were heralded as the best teams. And then when I beat him, he got drafted. He left a year early. So he actually went to the Pittsburgh Steelers after getting beat by Kent State. So I was like, okay, well, I'm going pro too.
And then when I was coming out, lo and behold, I wasn't drafted, of course, but we drafted the Browns. Charlie Fry. And what number did Charlie Fry get? Number nine. I'm like, wait a minute, man. We beat him.
It was just apparent that the NFL was different. They had a different metric.
It was all about I had to prove myself all over again. Coming from Kent State and not being the ideal quarterback, that wasn't my dream to play quarterback at the NFL level. It was just to make it to the NFL. So I guess when life rewinds itself, I'll be more specific next time, in the next lifetime, I'll say I want to play quarterback.
[02:22:38] Speaker A: A couple of things about that story, Josh, specifically, you and Charlie Fry. One, you have no idea how big of a Charlie Fry fan this guy was.
He was one of the.
Yeah, he was one of the people. That was Charlie Fry for Heisman. He was Fry. He's. The Browns drafted him. He's going to be phenomenal.
[02:23:01] Speaker B: To be fair, we had season tickets to the Zips growing up.
[02:23:05] Speaker A: We're both from Akron, Ohio.
Yeah, he did go to Kent State.
[02:23:14] Speaker D: I'm trying to look for where they do that at, where they go to Kent and then become huge.
[02:23:21] Speaker B: I was saying, first growing up, and then as I got older, I changed my ways.
[02:23:28] Speaker D: He learned, became smart. There you. Yes.
[02:23:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[02:23:32] Speaker D: Charlie Fire wasn't bad. We grew to become good friends. We used to have standoffs at the mall in Akron. Chapel Hill, I think it's called. We would have standoffs. It would be me and my lineman and then him and his lineman. We were both walking to. I wouldn't know he was there. I remember we walked to a foot locker or something, and him and his friend, him and his teammates were there, and they like, Chris. Chris, that's Charlie Fryer. So me and Charlie met in the middle while our guys stayed. So, yes, it was like a standoff. It was like closing powers or something.
[02:24:10] Speaker A: Out of like a high school football movie.
[02:24:13] Speaker D: Yes, it was something you definitely see in a movie. But we met in the middle. We was like, yeah, what's up, Charlie? He was like, yeah, what's up? Chris dapped it up, and then he was like, y'all ain't here. It was like we couldn't occupy the same space, so we had to have a treaty on who was going to occupy the foot locker.
Look, since they were already done, they was like, yeah, we're going to roll, and you all can have it after that. So we lie. So we stood outside.
[02:24:43] Speaker A: We'll wait out here.
[02:24:45] Speaker D: Yeah. And then they was like, yeah, we ain't going to be long. So I brokered the treaty, and then we waited for a few minutes. The zips exited, and then the flashes came in to shop to window shop some shoes using Pell Grant money because we didn't have no nil deals, man.
[02:25:08] Speaker B: No, Jeff, we've been doing this all season, and I've cried three times already.
[02:25:11] Speaker A: Just laugh.
[02:25:13] Speaker D: It was crazy, man.
[02:25:16] Speaker A: You mentioned Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill. I don't know if you know this or not. Chapel Hill is actually closed down now. I mean, it's still kind of open. There's some stores in there, but it's not a mall.
[02:25:24] Speaker B: Industrial park.
[02:25:24] Speaker A: Oh, it's an industrial park. Yeah. So it's done.
[02:25:27] Speaker B: You guys shut it down.
[02:25:28] Speaker D: A lot of malls, man. You know how the economy think.
[02:25:34] Speaker A: The goal. Like Kenny said, I think the Kent State golden flashes and the Akron zips got handle it. They shut it down. They said there's too much.
Yeah, too much controversy, too much conflict.
[02:25:46] Speaker D: Animosity used to build too much between the zips and the flashes.
[02:25:50] Speaker A: I don't blame them. Yeah, so you kind of mentioned it already, Josh, but it took me, like, I don't know, four minutes to ratle off all your records in college, and somehow after all of that, you still went undrafted in 2005, but the Browns did pick you up as an undrafted free agent, and we kind of knew right away as the season got started, and you made a pretty immediate impact on special teams that we got to steal. So can you kind of tell us about the process going undrafted, then kind of coming onto the Browns and how you broke out with them?
[02:26:30] Speaker D: Yeah, actually, I actually coached for the Browns in 2018, and I was able to talk to one of the scouts who was in the war room when they actually got me as an undrafted free agent, and he said they all were like, high five and thinking I was going to go. I had different offers to go to different teams training camps, but since I was closer to the Browns, I figured they saw me the most. I was right up the road making their local television. They would have more knowledge of me. But he told me, he was like, man, they know they got a steal and they start high five. And he was speaking as it more of a full circle moment. But I was kind of like, man, you all should have dragged me, man.
Yeah, I was kind of disappointed, like, oh, so you all got to steal?
Because I remember Coach Rabisky called me, Terry Rabisky, and he offered me $5,000 to play for the Browns to come in as a priority free agent.
I must have heard 5 million because I blanked out.
I started to tear a little bit. I didn't know the process. For me, that call meant you're on the team.
We're going to sign you. You're on the team. I didn't know there was a bachelor type setting to, whereas we had to audition every single day, and then there's an actual role ceremony where they cut throughout training camp. I didn't know none of that. So throughout the whole process of training camp, I'm like, where is such and such? They was like, yeah, they cut them. I was like, we had no games yet. I was like, they cut people already. So it was all new to me that you were getting judged off of practice. They were looking at film. You were getting judged off of the meeting room. And I remember Coach Romeo Cornell looked at the room. It was like 30 guys, 30 rookies and free agents, six draft picks. He said, we only have room for about two undrafted free agents plus the six rookies. And I was looking around at all those guys. I'm like, man, I'm in this number, man. I don't care what nobody say. So Romeo Cornell said, if you can go down the field, if you can beat a double vice, go down the field and make a tackle on the NFL punt returner, you got a spot on this football team. So I almost raised my hand, like, man, that's me. I can do that. What's a double vice? Because I never played special team.
What is the double vice? First tell me so. I didn't know the language that they use because, understand, I'm a quarterback. My coaches ain't let me play special teams. I never caught a punt return, let alone from an NFL punter. So I did all of that kick returns. I did all of it from scratch. So my canvas was clear. So everything that the coaches were coaching me on, it was a clean slate. I was downloading and running with their information and doing it to a teeth. I even called Jerry Rosberg. He went to Baltimore before he retired as a defensive special teams coordinator. I called him at home and he was like, yes, sir. What you need, Mr. Crib? What you need, Josh? And I just said, coach, I'm just calling you just so my name would be in your head, just so I'm not the first to leave. I really love being. And he started laughing. I was just calling to suck up and say, man, I really want to play in the NFL.
When I did it, I'm like, why are you doing this? That was the voice in my head, like, he's on the phone, like I'm calling a woman or something for a date. I just didn't know why I did it. I just called him and from there, he started laughing, was like, I got you. He's like, I appreciate the call, man. You get a good night's rest and just make sure you study up on your playbook. And I was like, I will, Coach. I laugh with him, a fake laugh.
[02:30:54] Speaker A: Meanwhile, you're nervous as hell. You're like, oh, God, I could get cut tomorrow.
[02:30:58] Speaker D: Yes. Didn't know how to rip, move. None of that. What was required I was doing for the first time. But one thing you didn't have to teach me was how to go down and make a tackle. So I remember the first game, I'm just like a bat out of hell. Tackle inside the 20, catching the ball, just running as hard as I can. You didn't have to tell me how to run, so that's why I sailed as a kick returner. Hey, I'm going towards the open areas, running to where there is no person. If there's a guy here, people always say, oh, you got good vision and moves. I was like, yeah, I just didn't want to get hit. That's all.
[02:31:41] Speaker A: Pretty simple.
[02:31:42] Speaker D: I take the compliment, but if you see a linebacker run that you try to tackle you, you will move, too. It's going to look like a juke. But it was just me reacting like, oh, I don't want to get hit. Another guy.
It looked like I had moves. I just didn't want to get hit. So enough of that actually landed me on the team. I had a lot of energy, though, coming out guys.
It was something different for me. Again, it seemed easy for me to make tackles. I had to run around big linemen that were trying to block me as a receiver, and it was easy for me. It wasn't that easy for everybody. I remember one of the returners who was on her team last season, the previous year was looking at me like, you tackle two and you will return. I'm like, you don't. How are you still here?
What purpose do you have? I'm going to return.
So why are you here? I just didn't understand it. So a lot of the things became easy, but it was still so very difficult, especially the interpersonal player dynamics, like understanding that you're coming in to take a person's job.
Guys wouldn't so forthcoming. I lined up at receiver one time and I asked, I don't want to say his name. That's okay because he's still a friend. I'm going to say his name anyway. He's still cool. I laugh with him. I lined up next to Dennis north cut. And I looked down. I was like, hey, Dennis. And he act like he didn't hear me. I was like, who's the fight again?
Dennis.
[02:33:22] Speaker A: Dennis.
[02:33:24] Speaker D: And I'm lined up.
I'm trying not to have my lips move. So nobody. Dennis. And he just act like he didn't sit. He heard me. He act like he didn't hear me. So when the quarterback said, hut or hike the ball, I just ran straight as fast as, and surely the offense know Maury's car down, threw his paper down on the ground, and cuts me out.
[02:33:51] Speaker B: Did you ever figure out what you were supposed to be running on that play?
[02:33:53] Speaker D: I didn't, but let me tell you why. The plays would change depending on the defense. And I wasn't used to looking at defensive disguises at that point. This was new to me as a receiver, as a quarterback, it was a clear view. But NFL defense, disguising their coverage, they're not teaching me the plays. They're teaching the starters, the plays. Terry, Rubisky, all the coach, they're teaching north cut, Andre, the starting wide receivers, once it got to me, it was secondhand knowledge. I'm like, I'm looking around people, and once I'm in the game, I know how to line up. I know what the original play is. They switch the COVID too, and my mind go blank. I'm like, oh, the play change.
They call in audibles. I was like, oh, I don't call no audible.
And then I was done. I knew how to line up. Check. I knew the original play. Check. But then the defense move quarterback called the Audible. I wanted to come out the game. I was about to call a timeout, but it was practice.
[02:35:09] Speaker A: Oh, man. I guess the moral of the story here is, even though we believe you're a future hall of Famer, I mean, I guess it wasn't always so easy as you were learning the playbook, especially at the wide receiver spot.
[02:35:22] Speaker D: Definitely not. Man, that was just like week one or week two.
So, honestly, there were so many stories like that. But I had a lot of time to bury my head in the playbook, and I became so skilled at watching film, running, kick returns, kickoff cover, punt cover. It became an art form to me because of how much I didn't want to be in the position to not know what was going on. So I studied and learned. It became truly a job. It was like school all over again. It was like I was going to get my master's or my PhD in football, had to become a student of the game more so than anything because it was the highest level of sports of, you know, for me to be the best at what I did, I had to prepare like the best, for sure.
[02:36:22] Speaker B: So obviously, Coach Cornell made it pretty clear to you early on that you were going to have to scrap and fight to make the team to anybody that was going to make that team. Right. So you were up for that challenge, but did you ever let those guys know, like, hey, I'm pretty good throwing a ball around? Did you ever pick up a ball after Palm return at practice and just kind of just Chuck at 60 yards just to let them know like, hey, this is out here?
[02:36:46] Speaker D: I did. Do you know why we started running the Wildcat? The Wildcat came about because we were losing so bad. And I just started at some point throughout the year, I started writing plays down that I ran in college and I had enough in me.
I was having success enough on special teams that I could command an audience with the offensive coordinator and the head coach, for that matter. So I literally went to the offensive coordinator with about, I want to say six or seven plays, and I said, look, man, and this is like week ten. I'm like, man, look, I think this will help save your job. My job.
Here goes some foolproof plays that will work. And honestly, we started running those plays. We started running Wildcat. They were more receptive. Even in my second year, even when I went to the jets, we started running the plays that I ran in college, and we called it the flash package after Kansas State Golden Flash, because I ran it, we didn't call it the zippers.
[02:38:00] Speaker A: We didn't do that. That's an awesome story, too. Coach Cornell, help me help you.
[02:38:09] Speaker D: But it was Maurice Cartown because Coach Cornell was mostly a defensive coach, so I didn't have to bring the plays to him. It was the Morris Carthan and hoping that he was receptive enough to help me help him.
[02:38:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
That's amazing. Look, I know you played for the Browns from 2005 to 2012. You spent a lot of good years here, played a lot of great football.
I would love to talk about all of your on the field stories. I'm sure you've got about a million of them that you could tell us, but that's why these people got to come on the Browns fan cruise, so.
[02:38:48] Speaker E: They could hear more.
[02:38:48] Speaker A: Exactly.
Then they'll be even Wilder.
But what I do want to ask you right now is, I just know spending time with the franchise and being with them, especially for that long, I mean, that's a long time in the NFL, to be with one team, you start to become involved with not only your teammates off the field and become close friends with them, but also your community.
You start meeting a lot of people out there. So do you have a favorite off the field memory from the time you were in Cleveland or even up to now? I know you're still local.
[02:39:29] Speaker D: Yeah, I have a ton of know. Just a few quick ones.
At restaurants, fans would buy my food, cover my tab. I'm the NFL athlete, but that's our fan base. Like paying my tab. And I remember me at certain times going to try to pay my bill and they said, oh, don't mind, it's already been taken care of. That table right there. And it was just a bunch of guys.
We got you.
And I'm like, and I was thinking, I always will say this as a joke. I should have ordered more food.
Gas stations, guys. Browns fans take at gas stations. I pull up, they like look crib oh no.
Take their card and put it in my gas pump to pay for me gas. I mean remarkable. And one of my greatest memories is us being six and ten.
But the last game we're beating the Steelers.
So they invited us to the Cavs game and put us on the floor on the wood and then put us on the Jumbletron and it was as if we had won the playoff game of the Super Bowl. The stadium erupted just because we beat the Steelers. We didn't even make the playoffs. We were six and ten. But it was all right with our dog fans because we beat the brakes off of the Steelers and we had thwarted them from getting into the playoffs. So I guess that was enough. But I have so many memories like that around becoming, not being born and raised here, not being originally from actually once I left I played briefly for the Raiders, jets and Colts. I got homesick from Cleveland and it was the funniest thing. Like nothing moved, right. Whether it's the people or the place I was at, it just didn't feel right. I just eerie feeling, no pun intended, because of Lake Erie, right.
Not there was an unsettling so I got homesick from Cleveland. So I came on back and I made this my so I don't understand when people I understand the cold and everything, but this is an awesome place to raise a family all the seasons. My daughter, she know the snow and yes it stays too long when it comes the winter overstays its welcome but we love know and so I wouldn't regret it for the.
[02:42:22] Speaker A: We do to your know Browns fans love the Browns, as much as we like to criticize and as much as we like, uh, Monday morning quarterback or Monday morning coach, even when we're upset, if we saw one of our favorite Browns players out there at bay, we're going nuts because we love our Browns.
[02:42:44] Speaker B: Something different about it.
[02:42:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And so, again, Josh, I know obviously you're a fan favorite with the Browns and an absolute stud to our generation. Like I said before, I believe, and all of us here at Burning River Sportscast believe you're a future hall of Famer and we're going to speak into existence.
[02:43:01] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[02:43:02] Speaker A: But for most guys, they get sort of this whole second life after football. And I'll be honest with you, it seems like you're living your best life. So can you tell us what you're up to these days?
[02:43:12] Speaker D: I'm up to everything.
For me, first, I'm a dad. So I'm a dad of a junior in college. I have a daughter. My oldest is a daughter. She's a junior at college in North Carolina. I love being a dad. I love blocking her from her boyfriend a lot and making it hard for her. Not because I really mean it, but because I get to do them because I'm a dad. Stay here. I make her bring them back to Cleveland, and when they try to get time alone, like, they'll go in the basement. I keep walking around the step.
[02:43:54] Speaker A: No matter how old you are.
[02:43:56] Speaker D: Yeah. I don't even want nothing. I just make it hard for them to. But anyway, I have a 14 year old son, is in sports, and I just love pouring into him as a father, but as a coach as well. And my wife and I, we used to have a TV show, cribs in the Cle. Now we have our own live podcast that's on Bally's network. It come on before the Guardians games, before Cavs games, on Bally's network. We enjoy that so much. That's the way of the world streaming, being able to do podcasts like you guys are doing now, video podcast.
It's so much more personable. I get to interact with the fans more, talk to them, allow fans to come on the show, have fun. We shoot and film right at Burke Lakefront Airport. That's our studio. We're expanding so much, and we just love it, man. We have a good group of people down there, big play studios, and it's all Cleveland. A lot of history down there.
It's a mural on the wall that's speaking into fruition. My hall of Fame campaign. It says Josh Cribs to the Pro Football hall of Fame. I've been nominated four times, rightfully so. I have no problem with my plugs, my stainless plugs. When you mentioned great returners, you mentioned me. But one thing I have over other returners I covered as well. When I made the Provo as a returner, I was also a first alternate as a cover guy because you couldn't make it at two positions. And I think that's very important because nobody has ever done that. Nobody has done it both at the highest of levels and to be an all decade, there's not a lot. So putting my name out there. When you speak of hall of Famers, I'm blessed. I'm honored to have come from so far to where I am now, but I'm doing so much. I'm out there in the community. I'm still attached to the Browns organization. They have me speak on their behalf and attend corporate events and engagements on their behalf. Community service.
Cribs loves the kids. I'm out there helping the youth.
My foundation, team Cribs organization, as well as Salvation Army. I help other foundations who are starting out become bigger or meet their financial or community goals. So that's what my foundation is based on. No calls left behind. So wherever we meet and decide there's a need, we try to fill it as a community, as a.
[02:46:45] Speaker A: And obviously, like I said, a huge name. We all know who you are around Cleveland.
[02:46:51] Speaker D: Did I say our show is called the Return?
The return on big play. Still big play network. The return.
[02:47:01] Speaker A: Great name for a show, by the way. I wonder where they came up with that.
[02:47:06] Speaker D: Exactly.
Stream on Twitter. Every Tuesday at seven, we go live on Twitter and Facebook, and then it airs on TV three times a week on ballot.
[02:47:17] Speaker B: Very nice.
[02:47:18] Speaker A: We'll have to let everybody know over there on your show because I'm sure, I mean, let's be honest, your show is a little bit bigger than our show.
Let them know that you run this Dope podcast, too.
[02:47:28] Speaker D: I'm going to let them know tomorrow.
[02:47:31] Speaker A: Thank you. We appreciate that.
Exactly.
Everybody in Cleveland could talk about the Browns and there still wouldn't be enough coverage on the Browns.
[02:47:40] Speaker D: Exactly. I rifle between everybody. I sift through a lot of. I comment, I love interacting with true Browns fans and podcasts.
[02:47:51] Speaker A: Yeah, we do, too. And we really appreciate that. And I will say this, some of your talk about events that you're doing, especially for the Browns and things, it kind of is a good segue here because I'm going to bring things back a little bit to what we talked about at the beginning of the interview here, the time we're going to spend on the open ocean in March of 2024, as well as a couple of amazing stops along the way. So let's talk about some of the things everyone should look forward to on the Browns fan Cruise. I know you mentioned a couple of things we're doing. Did you have one event in particular or that is going to be happening on the Browns fan cruise that you're looking forward to?
[02:48:30] Speaker D: There's no one event that I'm specifically looking forward to. I'm just looking forward to the cruise itself because we're going to be on there. It's going to be a ton of Browns fans. It's not as if a Browns fan is on. They won't be able to meet and talk to a lot of alumni and have real experiences while mostly having fun, the atmosphere that we're going to have. So I'm really looking for not truly the events, but running into fans while I'm going to the pool, running into fans while I'm going to play shuffleboard or know, or at the know, having a drink. Those are more. The more organic meetings that I'm looking forward to. I remember when the Browns had the London game, I was able to attend the game in London and me meeting Browns fans out at the bars, genuinely, that was one of the greatest experience I had. Like having fun, being able to have a drink with a true dog and just talk about memories and the past and the future and complain and drink some more and then forget about it all in the morning.
[02:49:45] Speaker A: It's amazing how easily talking Browns and drinking go together.
[02:49:52] Speaker D: You got to do that when you're talking about Browns. You got to be like, wait a minute, my drink is on the way. Hold on.
[02:49:58] Speaker A: Exactly.
No, but I do know that one thing that the Browns fan Cruise had going was it just wrapped up not too long ago. They had a competition for the Brownsbackers organizations out there, and so basically the winner will be announced soon. But what the winner gets is the chapter with the most bookings is going to 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 in mind and all the effort that these Browns, I.
[02:50:39] Speaker D: Might need to start signing people up, too.
[02:50:42] Speaker A: All the effort that the Brownsbackers kind of put in to get signed up and to come along with us on the Browns fan Cruise. Do you have anything you want to say to Brownsbackers across the nation? And you mentioned Germany across the world as well. I know they have some over there.
[02:50:54] Speaker D: Yes, man, we have the greatest fan base in the world.
I didn't know how great it was until I dove into the Dog Pound nation. All of our browns backers from year one, going to San Francisco, being able to travel as a rookie, and meeting just so many people from all across the country. And then the know who are Browns fans. We are truly everywhere from Vegas, from Cleveland to London to Germany. We're everywhere. Politicians. Condoleeza Rice is a Browns fan. She owns minority ownership in who we just played, Denver. Denver. She owns a minority ownership, but she's a huge Browns fan. She had an ad where she was wearing my jersey. The Browns were the only network, only station that she could get as a child. So she grew up a Browns fan. So our Browns backers are everywhere. They're at every level of, you know, without know, I wouldn't be still in Cleveland, honestly. It's because of our nation, our fandom. How real? Our Browns fans, like, we didn't have to put a hot tub in our stadium to draw fans out to the game. They have to do that.
[02:52:21] Speaker A: It's super cold, but they have to do that.
[02:52:24] Speaker D: They have to create opportunities to draw fans to the game and win or lose, and there's been a lot of losing. We still have the greatest and the best fan base, and that's how you could tell. So I wanted to say thank you to him, and I can't wait to see him out in paradise.
[02:52:40] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. Sure. And you mentioned getting homesick at some of these other places you played. So did you secretly look up the Brownsbackers in all those areas? Go to a guys. If you guys happen to have a day off, you went to a game, I'm going to go watch a Browns play.
[02:52:54] Speaker D: That would have been good back then.
I did. That would have been a good idea. That's some advice you get from your mom or your dad, like, oh, you got family out here once you check out some of your family? I didn't get that advice when I was homesick. You know, I'm a guy, man. We don't tell people we homesick. You know, that's something you do afterwards, after you over it.
[02:53:18] Speaker A: We feel it. Well, Josh, listen, we would love to sit here and talk Browns with you all day. We didn't even really get to the team this year, but that's okay. No, that's okay.
These stories were fantastic.
We're looking forward to hearing more of them in March of 2024 on the Browns fan Cruise. So, everybody, if you haven't got your tickets yet, you got to get them soon if you want to be able to have an opportunity to talk to Josh Cribs and hear some of these amazing stories, as well as, I don't know, 16 other alumni.
[02:53:52] Speaker B: Real quick, Josh, before we get off here, I know we went a little long, but do you have a final season long prediction for this year's team.
[02:54:00] Speaker D: As far as record? I think this team will muster and do what it has to do to get to a playoff berth. Beyond that, I'll be excited, but this team has been through so much, the injuries, so I'm almost, as a fan giving them a Mulligan because I had so much hopes, high hopes for this team, but without the necessary talent, it's almost defeating. But I understand as a fan, I'm like, what do we expect with all these injuries? So I hope they do what it takes to get to a playoff berth.
I will be excited if they can get that done, but I'm giving them grace just because of all the injuries.
[02:54:46] Speaker A: That's totally fair. The laundry list of injuries is quite long, very real.
[02:54:52] Speaker B: But again, really appreciate your time today and we appreciate just the fact that you're a huge advocate for Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland area and the Browns so much. So thank you so much for joining us. And like Ronnie said, we can't wait to get on that cruise with you, have a few drinks and listen to some more stories.
[02:55:07] Speaker D: Absolutely. Thank you for having me, guys.
[02:55:10] Speaker A: Thanks, Josh.
[02:55:21] Speaker D: I'm Josh Cribs and you're listening to burning river sports.
[02:55:36] Speaker A: Guys, Josh Cribs is a dirty dog.
[02:55:41] Speaker B: We just talked to Josh.
[02:55:41] Speaker A: He's the dirtiest dog.
What we did just talk to Josh Cribs. He was legitimately. He's been one of my favorite players since I've been watching the Browns for so many reasons. For so many reasons. Obviously, he was a Kent State guy and we grew up right down the road, but he's so fun to watch and he always had that underdog mentality and he always came out on top.
[02:56:08] Speaker B: Just feels like a real milestone moment for us.
Again, all these guys are fan favorites, but this is like our fan favorite. This is the one guy that we grew up watching outside of Joe Thomas that was really good and really exciting to watch every time he hit the field. So really awesome to catch up with Josh. So I was grateful that he was able to spend some time with us and look forward to spending some time on the fan cruise, because we'll geek out again and get him telling us some stories because he had quite a few of them.
[02:56:37] Speaker A: Hell, yes. And I will say this just for our listeners here.
I don't think I could put into words the fact that we were able to do this for our 50th episode. Have such a great interview like that for our 50th episode. I mean, it's a real awesome moment for all of us here at Burning River Sportscast. We started from the bottom. Now we'll say this.
[02:57:03] Speaker B: Every interview we've done, these guys, these alumni have been so gracious and generous with their time. It felt like with Josh, he would have kept talking to us all night if we didn't cut it.
Been a great series.
[02:57:20] Speaker A: I mean, hell, we only really got through his college career. We barely got to talk about the Browns, and he just had so many stories. But again, I will say this. That's why you got to go on the Browns fan Cruise in March of 2024, because those Brown stories, you will be able to hear, and as Kenny mentioned, I'm sure he'll be telling them all night, every night, and it's going to be fucking glorious. So come take a trip with us on the Browns fan Cruise. I know I'm not supposed to drop F bombs around that, but I don't really give a shit right now. So it's going to be super dope. Get on board.
[02:57:52] Speaker B: Yes. One more note about the fan cruise. I know that we had. Obviously, the competition came and went. We had the 90 and 60 day payment plans that came and went. Now, there is a promotion. If you book a cabin now through, I think, right up until the day of the cruise, you get on cruise or in boat credit, however they're describing it, of, I think, $100, depending on which cabin you buy. So those things can be used, like in the casino or for the upscale dining options and things like that.
[02:58:22] Speaker A: We all know how people are using those, let's be honest.
[02:58:26] Speaker B: Dump it on one. Because one slot machine or put it on red at the roulette table.
[02:58:31] Speaker A: No, everybody's buying booze with that.
[02:58:37] Speaker B: I think booze is included in your drink package, right? With everything.
[02:58:41] Speaker A: Yeah, you're right.
Nobody's buying booze with that. They're all putting it on red.
[02:58:46] Speaker C: That might be like a top shelf booze.
[02:58:48] Speaker B: Top shelf. I don't know.
[02:58:49] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't really know how that works. I've never been on a cruise. It's going to be fucking sweet. Anyways, that's two of them. I'm sorry, but that'll take us to the Week 14 preview.
[02:58:58] Speaker B: We're getting gizzled.
[02:59:02] Speaker A: I got really excited about.
Talk to Josh Pritch.
All right, so this week we have the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Kenny, I'm going to start it with you like I always do. You got any matchup previews or opposition research you want to highlight here?
[02:59:19] Speaker B: Look, I think, as our brownsbacker kind of put it, this is an interesting team that can kind of play up or play down to their opponents. If you look through their team statistics, there's a couple of things that jump out to me.
Their numbers are kind of all over the place, but they're kind of middle range. But if you actually look at their overall statistics for their offense and their defense, they rank in the top six in both, which is kind of surprising.
[02:59:46] Speaker A: That's a pretty good.
[02:59:47] Speaker B: A lot of these are kind of all over the place. It's like they rank in twelveth if they rank in fifth, but as a conglomerate, they are number six in offense and number six in defense. So not a pushover by any means. This team can certainly move the ball, certainly has the opportunity to stop better offenses. The other number that really stuck out to me, though, which I think is going to be critical this week, is their sack percentage. On defense, they are ranked 20 eigth in the league in sack percentage. So with a guy like Joe Flacco back there, I think that's a good thing. Advantage Browns. The fact that not only are we just trying to keep him upright, we aren't even really playing a team that has a pass rush that is super effective. So I think that's a big win for the Browns. But that being said, they are ranked, I think, third overall in opponent rush yards per game. So what we get out of Joe might be the difference in the game because they're pretty stout against the run, even if they don't have a great pass rush. So young team, well coached, near the top of the league in terms of penalties not being called on them. I think they're like third or fourth in the league in total penalties against so well coached team, young team, and they have some athletes out there. I mean, we've talked about them a little bit this year. Guys like Travis Etienne, Trevor Lawrence. Obviously we talked about as a generational talent with our Brownsbacker friend. So, yeah, there's potential for a lot of things to go wrong, but this team is also young and this Browns team has played above their skill level all season long. So I think it's one of those that really can go either way. But I think it's just the team that shows up better prepared on Sunday is going to take this one nice.
[03:01:31] Speaker A: A lot of good points there. A lot of good points for me. Obviously, I always do two position matchups here and both of mine focus on the secondaries versus the other team's quarterback. So we'll start with the Brown secondary versus Trevor Lawrence. The Brown secondary is banged up right now, obviously with Denzel missing the last few games and Juan Thornhill missed a few games, came back this week but didn't look particularly good. So it's been rough lately. And Trevor Lawrence, he's a pretty good quarterback. I will say this, while he does have some down games occasionally, he can also pop off for 400 yards on any given Sunday. So it's going to be interesting to see with the Browns DBS, especially if Zell can't go this week, if they're able to kind of keep him in check.
That's even besides the fact that we don't know what kind of pass rush we're going to be able to get with Miles Garrett and what condition he's in. So I think the secondary is going to have to play well in this one. And if they don't, it could be a long day on defense for the Browns. And then you take it over to the other side here, Joe Flacco or DTR, whoever plays, in my opinion, they're probably leaning towards Joe Flacco at this moment. But again, we record on Monday, so we have no idea. So Browns QB versus Jaguar secondary, you mentioned that they're, what did you say? Third against the run? Fourth against the run.
[03:03:04] Speaker B: Third against the run. Yes, that's correct.
[03:03:06] Speaker A: Third against the run. Well, on the flip side of that, one of the biggest weaknesses of this Jaguars team is they are 20 eigth against the pass.
And so this is the game that Kevin Stefanik has been waiting for all season long.
We've got a team that has got a bad pass defense, and there's no excuses. There's no explaining that needs to be done when he passes the ball 74 times.
[03:03:36] Speaker B: This is the one game where Stefanic is going to pass the ball 16 times.
[03:03:40] Speaker C: It's going to be the most run heavy game of the year.
[03:03:42] Speaker A: It is, because you know how that goes. And if we're talking about that next week on our show, then I almost guarantee we lost this game. But they are.
[03:03:54] Speaker B: I'm going to put a bull in my head.
[03:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah, you and me both. And then it'll just be the bone cast.
[03:04:02] Speaker C: I'll keep it running.
[03:04:03] Speaker A: Do you guys get it? The bone cast.
But anyway, well done.
Stefanik's been waiting for this game all season long, so I guess we'll see what happens to your guys'point. We're probably going to run the ball a lot, but the Jaguars as a team, they have an eight and three record. They're currently playing on Monday Night Football against the Bengals. Right now the score is tied 1414, which is kind of a good sign for the Browns because the Bengals is ass.
But this team, we mentioned it. There are a couple of things that stick out. Third against the run, 20 eigth against the pass. But besides that, overall most of their individual stack categories land somewhere between ten and 14. So they're towards the top portion of the league, but not quite elite. I wouldn't say they are very good in red zone defense and third down defense. So that's something to watch because the Browns are going to need to move the ball and take advantage of every single point in this one to have a chance.
And in my opinion, it's not a great matchup for the Browns, especially at this juncture in the season, coming off of two really bad losses. So we'll see what happens. But before we get into our picks, Kenny, can you give us the injury report?
[03:05:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[03:05:31] Speaker A: All right, what do you got for us, Kenny?
[03:05:36] Speaker B: The injury report. So the good news is the Jacksonville Jaguars have quite a few injuries. Not that we won't be able to get hurt, but you're looking at tonight for the Monday night game, they have a handful of guys out. Bretton Strange, tight end. Chandler Brewer, offensive tackle. Monterey Brown, corner. Elijah Cooks, wide receiver. Yes, sir. Abdula, linebacker. Angelo Blackson, defensive end. That's all just for the Monday night game, so we'll see how those guys fare during the week. But they are missing the game against Cincinnati on the night we record.
And then before that, most of these guys are all injured reserve guys came. Robinson was the last guy to go on injured reserve. They're right after Thanksgiving. So a team that's pretty banged up, they got a number of other guys that have been injured reserve for most of the season. So one of the more banged up teams that we've seen this year, but not to be outdone, thank God it's.
[03:06:29] Speaker A: Almost a level playing field.
[03:06:31] Speaker B: The Browns also have their share of injuries. Obviously we know about all the guys on IR. Dorian Thompson Robinson still in the concussion protocol. Denzel Ward still status as out. Marquise Goodwin still status as out.
The Marquis Goodwin injury. I don't know even what is wrong with him at this point. He's had a couple of different things that they've kind of blamed it on, but at this point I don't even know if he's just a healthy scratch that doesn't fit in the game plan anymore with the quarterback's carousel. Mark Cooper obviously got hit so hard he couldn't catch the ball anymore on Sunday. So he's questionable for Sunday in the concussion protocol.
[03:07:12] Speaker A: It's not funny when guys go in concussion protocol, but that was nearly to.
[03:07:15] Speaker B: The list and this happened even before the game this weekend. But his status is out. Michael Woods Achilles was handed a six game suspension for violating NFL's personal conduct policy. So he'll be done through the end of the year. I didn't even know he was back off the practice squad on our team. Be honest.
[03:07:34] Speaker A: He wasn't. He's on IR. He's done for the year now.
[03:07:37] Speaker B: He's on.
He's, he's out.
[03:07:40] Speaker A: He was trying to get on the real quick. The greatest way to get suspended. I'm already on IR, so I'm suspended. Six he was, but he was going.
[03:07:51] Speaker B: To the same doctor that Aaron Rodgers is going to. He's trying to get back on the field know.
[03:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah, but I'm just saying you're already injured and you're like, okay, I guess I'll serve my six game suspension while I'm injured.
[03:08:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Look, anyway, bottom line, there's a lot of guys here that are banged up on both squads. So in terms of attrition, this should be one of those games where you're going to see backups and key places from both teams, which always can lead to disaster.
[03:08:19] Speaker A: Yeah, you ain't kidding, man. So real quick, before we get to King of the north and all of our picks, let's talk about players to watch here. I think last week I started with Bone. Kenny, I'm going to start with you this week. Who's your player to watch?
[03:08:38] Speaker B: My player to watch is going to be Elijah Moore this week. I think this game has the potential to be a bit of a shootout.
I think that his chemistry with Joe Flacco was apparent on day one. I have a hard time believing that if DTR is still on the concussion protocol now as well as Joe Flacco played this weekend, that they would change anything for Sunday. So I'm going to go Elijah Moore just because I think he had a really nice kind of almost breakout performance Sunday. I think we'll see more of the same this weekend as Joe Flacco continues to spread the ball around the other guy player to watch. But I thought that fared well, at least from Joe Flacco playing was David Bell. Got some extra touches this week that he normally doesn't get.
[03:09:15] Speaker A: He did.
[03:09:16] Speaker B: We'll see as he continues to get young guys involved. I just like the way he moves the ball and distributes it across the group.
[03:09:22] Speaker A: I didn't have him in there, but I think him and Cedric Tillman both got two catches in this. Yep.
For me, my player to watch this week is to obviously we all know he was basically a ghost in this last game. So I want to know did one more week of rehab help? Does the home crowd behind him help a little bit as far as just getting that adrenaline going and getting some big plays or whatever the case may be or does he just turn into a ghost again this week and just he's on the field but nobody really knows or cares if we get the same Miles Garrett in this game that we got against the Rams. I think the Browns lose soundly. I will say that. So that's my player to watch. Bone, who you got?
[03:10:13] Speaker C: I'm going to go Najoku. I think he needs to get back on track. He was a stud most of the year and with Flacco throwing the ball as much as we think he might this weekend, I think Najoku's got to be a big part of it and hopefully gets a touchdown and I don't know, six, seven catches.
[03:10:31] Speaker A: Nice. I like that. But that'll take us to the king of the north it every week. 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 season. Last year, this past year, before the season, whatever you want to say. Kenny had a gross of eggs thrown at him by fans in the Munilot before a preseason game. We're still working on the punishment for this year. Guys. Off top of your head, Bone, what do you got?
[03:11:10] Speaker C: Goodness, man. I'm really running out of ideas.
Maybe like a bath and like a tub of hot sauce.
[03:11:18] Speaker A: Hell yes. That will hurt your pee hole. Kenny, what do you got?
[03:11:24] Speaker B: I was just thinking about sleeping on a bit of nails.
[03:11:29] Speaker A: Nice. John Bon Jovi style. I like it.
Yeah. In the next part of the song, you see it says something about a bed of nails.
[03:11:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, you're right. That's my.
[03:11:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. It's John Bon Jovi style. That's what I said. Anyway, good song. Maybe that's our maybe that's our song that we sing us off at the end of the episode. Anyways, shut up. Not now. Not now.
We will figure out the punishment. We will let you guys know what it is. But for now, let's get into things. First things first, I want to remind everyone that I am still the reigning, defending, undefeated, undisputed King of the North. And Kenny. Kenny is still where he belongs, in last place. How does it feel, peasant?
[03:12:20] Speaker B: You're still the ugliest one in the group.
[03:12:23] Speaker A: That is not true at all. We all know that Bone's the hot one. But besides that, I mean, I definitely come in second place. You're ugly as shit. Literally as a piece of shit.
[03:12:35] Speaker B: False.
[03:12:37] Speaker A: But anyways, Bone has also joined us. Obviously, he's our trusty board op. He's been added to the competition this year and he currently is tied with me in first place. So let's remind everybody of the current records before we make our picks. Me and Bone, man, 20 and 18, Kenny. 18 and 20.
So let's get into this week's matchups. We'll start with the Steelers. The Steelers host the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. Bone, man, who do you got?
[03:13:07] Speaker C: I'm going to go Patriots. I was listening to somebody on the radio day and they were talking about how good their defense has been the last three weeks. They've given up like a touchdown in each game and then they've lost all three games. And that's literally all they've given up.
No, Kenny Pickett. Steelers suck. They're going to lose.
[03:13:25] Speaker A: There you go.
And then I am going to pick. Actually, I had Steelers written down to throw you guys off, but I'm going Patriots as well.
The whole Kenny Pickett injury. Not that Kenny Pickett is good, but he's better than their backups. And I just don't mean they're ass. And they just got even more ass. So it's the ass Bowl. And I think the Patriots come out on top in the ass Bowl.
Patriots win this one. Kenny, who you got?
[03:13:59] Speaker B: I disagree. I think all of the Steelers backup quarterbacks are better than think New England is.
[03:14:07] Speaker A: I'm not going to argue it. I accept.
[03:14:10] Speaker B: I think New England is on the path for the first overall pick in the drafts and I think that they are just already in that mentality. They've had the quarterback carousel.
[03:14:19] Speaker A: They're going for Caleb Williams with Bailey.
[03:14:21] Speaker B: Zappy in at quarterback 14 times this season. So I'm going to go Steelers this week on the short week for Thursday Night Football.
[03:14:30] Speaker A: Kenny's really trying to make a comeback here.
[03:14:32] Speaker C: He might. I feel like Mike Tomlin is pretty good on primetime games. I didn't really.
[03:14:36] Speaker A: Mike Tomlin is, too. They were at home last week, though, and I trusted Mike Tomlin. He let me, so.
[03:14:41] Speaker B: But Kyler Murray's not bad.
[03:14:45] Speaker A: Kyler Murray is bad. He's not good.
But anyways, we'll move on to the Ravens. The Ravens host the Rams.
I'll go first. This one I got the Ravens.
There was nothing spectacular that I saw out of the Rams this week. I mean, they weren't bad and they handled us fairly easily. But with that being said, I just didn't see anything that jumped out at me where I was like, oh, gosh, the Rams are really good. So I like the Ravens in this one. They're rested, they're coming off a buy. They'll be fine. Kenny, who you got?
[03:15:18] Speaker B: This is a hard one to pick.
This week's games are hard to pick, just in general the matchups.
[03:15:25] Speaker A: Your mom's hard to pick.
[03:15:27] Speaker B: She is hard to pick. She's like the Victorian lock.
Look, I'm going to go Rams here. I'm going to go with the hot hand. I think Matt Stafford, like I think said it, has gone seven and zero the last two weeks in touchdowns.
For some reason, it doesn't feel like this Ravens team to me, can really play in a shootout. It's either like they win by a lot, but the other team doesn't score very many. I don't know that I've seen them win a shootout this year. So I feel like this is a game that if the Rams can put 30 points on the board, could be a tough day for the Ravens.
[03:16:02] Speaker A: Fair bone, who you got?
[03:16:04] Speaker C: I'm going to go Ravens. I just think they're good, so I have trouble picking against them. That's kind of the only reason.
[03:16:09] Speaker A: Oh, man. Kenny really is trying to make a comeback. Me and you might get the same. Maybe if I just pick the same as you the rest of the season. I guarantee I don't come in last unless we both come in last place, in which case that could be bad.
[03:16:21] Speaker B: Yes.
Double gang bang punishment.
[03:16:24] Speaker C: Kenny gets to punish us.
[03:16:26] Speaker A: That'd be the worst thing that could ever happen.
[03:16:28] Speaker C: I like that idea.
[03:16:31] Speaker A: Anyways, next up, we got the Bengals host Gardner Minshew in the red hot Colts, not to be confused with red hot Ronnie jams.
Kenny, who you got in this one?
[03:16:43] Speaker B: I'm actually surprised that the Bengals are putting up so much fight against the Jaguars right now on Monday football, but I'm going to go Colts on this as well. I just think the Bengals are so bad without Joey B.
That I trust Gardner Minshew more than the former number one high school quarterback in the country that plays for the Bengals.
[03:17:05] Speaker A: Fair. So, Colts for you. Bone, who you got?
[03:17:08] Speaker C: I'm going Colts as well. I think they're looking to make the playoffs and they need to beat the Bengals to do that. So I think they're a better team.
[03:17:15] Speaker A: Yep, fair. I got the Colts as well, so it's clean sweep there. We all think the Colts will handle that armpit of a town, Cincinnati.
[03:17:22] Speaker B: They don't even have their own airport.
[03:17:24] Speaker A: And basically end their play basically in Kentucky. Yeah, basically in Kentucky.
And then finally, the reason you're all here, the Browns host the Jacksonville Jaguars. Who wants to volunteer to start this one?
[03:17:39] Speaker C: I'll do it.
[03:17:40] Speaker A: Bone's doing it. Bone, who you got?
[03:17:42] Speaker C: Browns are going to win.
[03:17:43] Speaker A: Hell yeah.
[03:17:43] Speaker C: Hands down. Another big game from dhop. He'll be back, he'll be making field goals. And then our defense is going to have a resurgence. They'll be wearing that chain. Everybody's going to be all excited again. Okay. It's going to be great. Okay, so what am I going to do? I'm going to go. Browns 26, Jaguars 20.
[03:18:06] Speaker A: Nice.
Kenny, who you got?
[03:18:12] Speaker B: Look, I think, unfortunately, this is just the wrong time of year to play this Jaguars team.
I think they're playing good football and we, on the other hand, are not.
So I'm going to go Jacksonville, let's.
[03:18:27] Speaker A: Call it 3124-3124 okay.
All right.
I'm struggling with this one. You made a lot of really good points just now, Kenny.
And I had the Jaguars picked. I had them picked. I had the scores, 27 to 20, Jaguars. But I'm doing the old flip flop here, and I'm going to go with the Cleveland Browns. Brandon and bone man here, Zach, have swung me, they've swung me, they've made me feel confident in home field advantage and our defense bouncing back. We're going to be wearing the chain. There's going to be lots of swag. D Hop is going to be hitting field goals. It's going to be fucking great. And the Browns are going to win 27 20.
[03:19:16] Speaker B: I hope so.
[03:19:17] Speaker A: I'm lightheaded. I'm lightheaded, but let me remind you to call the Bernie river sportscast hot take hotline.
Don't forget, these are hot takes. Call us. Leave your hot takes on the hot take hotline. These are hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes.
We want the hot takes.
[03:19:34] Speaker B: The hot hotline.
[03:19:36] Speaker A: 3302-2780-8033-02 27 80 80 33 02-2780-8033-0227 80 Call now. Operators are never standing by.
[03:19:52] Speaker C: Never ever.
[03:19:53] Speaker A: Nobody home. But we'll play your hot take on the air. And be sure to check out our merchandise. That's at ww dot thetappinmedia.com shop. And that'll do it for us. Kenny, what can we expect next week?
[03:20:09] Speaker B: Another great show. Just like today's 50th anniversary special show.
[03:20:14] Speaker A: We've done it. Half a Hondo, baby.
[03:20:16] Speaker B: But yeah, most podcasts don't make it to their second show. So we are blessed to have had the longevity that we have had.
[03:20:22] Speaker A: Hashtag blessed.
[03:20:23] Speaker B: Blessed to have some of the opportunities we've had to interview Browns alumni this season, Browns Backers. And can't wait to be on that Browns fan Cruise hosted by Seaside events. So great show. Next week, we will recap the game against the Jaguars. We will preview the week 15 matchup with the Chicago Bears, which should be a lock.
And then we will do an interview with another Brownsbackers chapter, the Chicagoland Browns Backers. And we are wrapping up our interview series rapidly with our Browns alumni, who will be joining us on the Browns fan Cruise in March of 2024. So thanks to everybody today, Big Ball man stepping in, doing double duty for me. Red Hot Ronnie jams running the desk, and all of our guests double duty, Josh Cribs and Brandon from the Brownsbackers there in Jacksonville was a great show. And look to bring you another one next week.
[03:21:15] Speaker A: Hell yeah. And you can. Don't forget to check us out on social media. Tapping media is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. At the Tapping media and Burning River Sportscast. That's this podcast is on Burning river is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Burning River Sportscast and on X at Burning River Pod. You can find our podcast wherever you get your podcast. I'm talking Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Pandora, iHeartRadio Podcast, Castro, Good Pods, and so many more. And Kenny, do you know what that takes us to.
Thanks for.
[03:22:07] Speaker B: Okay, facts for days.
[03:22:10] Speaker A: What do you got for us, Kenny?
[03:22:11] Speaker B: We're going to run through these here, courtesy of the trip that I'm on in the beautiful Gatlinburg of Tennessee, by.
[03:22:19] Speaker A: The way, before you get started, I got to say to all our listeners, if you haven't been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and checked out the Smoky Mountains, you've got to go. It's legitimately one of my favorite places in the entire world. I've been to Ireland, that was cool. I've been to Mexico, that was cool. I've been to Canada, that was cool. I've been all over the United States, but the Smoky Mountains, there's just something about them, man. I would go there every summer if I could. It's a fantastic place to be. So get down there.
[03:22:51] Speaker B: And there's black bear.
[03:22:54] Speaker A: Engaged. My wife and I got engaged there. So at the top of chimney tops.
[03:22:59] Speaker B: The national park is free down here.
[03:23:01] Speaker A: Yeah, it is.
[03:23:04] Speaker B: Anyway, facts for days Gatlinburg. We appreciate our tour guide, Red Hot Rod and James there.
[03:23:13] Speaker A: Hiking recommendations. Let me know. I've basically hiked the entire Smoky Mountains at this point.
[03:23:18] Speaker B: His lead into Gatlinburg factS, which is where again, I am right now, in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. Number one, Gatlinburg was named after the most hated man in town.
The Gatlin family added some zeros to their initial land grant. It took up more than 100,000 acres, dispossessing a bunch of people out of their land claims in what took over a century to settle in court. So this guy opened up his own general stores, own post office, used all of his influence and land ownership to drive ultra forced roads to be driven through his business districts, which eventually became known as Gatlinburg. The family was so hated that they were eventually chased out of town and forced to settle nearby Strawberry Plains for their remainder of their days. Number two, get out of here.
[03:24:07] Speaker D: You get out of here and you.
[03:24:08] Speaker A: Head on over to Strawberry Plains.
[03:24:11] Speaker B: It's just crazy that in the 1850s you could just write extra zeros on like a government document. Nobody would know.
That's how good record keeping checking it.
[03:24:24] Speaker A: The auditor there are more fish in.
[03:24:27] Speaker B: Ripley's Aquarium than people who live in Gatlinburg. As crazy as it sounds, it's true. Gatlinburg receives over 11 million visitors per year, but the city only has about 4000 permanent residents. Meanwhile, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies is home to over 10,000 sea creatures. That means that Gatlinburg technically has more permanent aquatic residents than humans.
[03:24:51] Speaker A: That's incredible. That is a really small town, though. So, I mean, I guess it makes sense just right there in the middle.
[03:24:56] Speaker B: Of the mountain, but it gets so many visitors each year. It was a huge tourist town.
Number three, speaking of tourism, Gatlinburg is the second most popular wedding destination in the country.
And you might think there's a couple of good reasons for that. Well, first off, they host over 20,000 weddings every year. That's the only place that has more than that in the country is in Las Vegas. So what happens in Vegas or in Gatlinburg stays in Vegas or Gatlinburg, of course. And you would think, yeah, surely it's a desirable wedding for a wedding destination because you got the forested mountains of the great smokies, great, fantastic backdrops and location. But the number one reason Gatlinburg has become Wedding destination number two number douse is the fact that Gatlinburg is actually centrally located for an incredible 60% of the United States population. So the total population can. 60% of the total population can reach Gatlinburg within a day's drive or even a fairly direct flight. So that makes it easy for wedding guests and lowers the associated travel costs. So if you're looking for a destination wedding, very convenient one to do, and destination wedings really aren't convenient to do. People go to the beach and they're like, why don't you come to my weding? Well, you're going 1000 miles away. Most people can get to Gatlinburg in just a short drive, a few hours. And it's a scenic, beautiful little community with tons of shopping and restaurants and things. There's a good couple of days to spend if you have to get some time off work, relax, and unplug. Anyways, Gatlinburg is definitely not part of the problem. But if you're going to be a problem, don't just settle for being a.
[03:26:34] Speaker A: Part of the problem.
[03:26:35] Speaker B: Be the whole damn problem.
[03:26:37] Speaker A: And only you can prevent. River fires Burning River Sports Burning River.
[03:26:44] Speaker B: Sports Burning Burning River Episode Extravaganza Joshua.
[03:26:50] Speaker A: Crib 50th Episode Burning Rivers hey, Sing Bon Jovi so I can.
[03:27:00] Speaker B: Lay you down in a bed of roses. What was that like about it that just appeared on Zach's head?
[03:27:09] Speaker A: I don't know who did that?
[03:27:12] Speaker C: Is it a reflection?
[03:27:14] Speaker A: I don't know what was happening on his head.
[03:27:16] Speaker B: It was an actual, like, button. It just showed up there. Did one of you guys.
[03:27:19] Speaker A: Good job, guys.
[03:27:21] Speaker B: What was that?
[03:27:22] Speaker A: It said, good job, guys.
[03:27:23] Speaker B: Say it again.
[03:27:24] Speaker C: Was it in my mouth?
[03:27:25] Speaker A: Did AI put a like button above him?
[03:27:29] Speaker B: Because he said that was bizarre. What? Do it again.
[03:27:34] Speaker C: Hey, guys. Good job. Really good job.
Anything?
[03:27:38] Speaker A: Nothing.
[03:27:39] Speaker B: I don't know what the hell that was. Bizarre.
[03:27:44] Speaker A: It's the magic of the Burning River Sportscast studio. Burning river Sports. Burning River Sports River.
We really should have gave Zach a sign off for this one.
[03:27:54] Speaker B: Zach, what's your new sign off like?
Just say, I love Dustin Hopkins.
[03:28:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[03:28:07] Speaker B: Don't just kind of be as hard as the bone in a bit of bone roses.
[03:28:14] Speaker A: I'm gonna.
Burning River Sports is burning river.
[03:28:22] Speaker B: Well done, boys. Good night, Cleveland Browns fan Cruise and the Burning river sports cast. What better combination could you possibly think of?
[03:28:30] Speaker E: Motorboat. You play the motorboat?
[03:28:34] Speaker A: You wrote a boat?
[03:28:35] Speaker E: Son of a bitch.
[03:28:35] Speaker A: You old sailor, you.
[03:28:37] Speaker B: You know, I was thinking during that.
[03:28:38] Speaker A: Interview, what were you. Nothing. Because you don't have thoughts. Because you're a brainless idiot.
[03:28:43] Speaker B: Wow. My name is Uhtred, son of Utrid.
[03:28:52] Speaker A: By the way. I want my foreskin back.
[03:28:54] Speaker B: It doesn't matter what you think, Reggie. Ranges about twelve to 15, so it's dank weed.
[03:29:00] Speaker A: Dank.
Shit's dank, bro.
[03:29:03] Speaker B: Just had to make that clear that I wasn't an idiot.
[03:29:05] Speaker A: Shit's dank.
[03:29:07] Speaker B: The weather outside is weather.
[03:29:09] Speaker A: The other one. The finger. The finger eating food? Fingers, yes.
[03:29:12] Speaker B: Ejaculate all over my body and my genitals?
[03:29:15] Speaker C: Yes.
[03:29:15] Speaker D: Oh, my God. I have a bullet everywhere. What do you mean, funny? Funny how? How am I funny?
[03:29:23] Speaker A: All I do is win win no matter what.
[03:29:26] Speaker D: My friends and I, we used to prank call each other and they prank call me the best. And they actually got me. They pretended to be Bobby Bowden from Florida State, and they called my house on three way. And I was fooled. I straightened up.
I remember one of my friends was like, I'm just goddamn.
I mean, he had his voice down.
He was like, I'm looking for Mr. Josh. I mean, it was his voice.
I can't reenact it. But my friends, as soon as I said something to the firm, to the affirmative, like, yes, sir, Coach. I heard all these different voices laughing and snickering, and I was just so embarrassed.
[03:30:19] Speaker A: Erroneous. Erroneous on both counts.
[03:30:22] Speaker B: Wow.
[03:30:22] Speaker D: But damn, the leads are weak.
[03:30:25] Speaker A: Leads are weak.
[03:30:26] Speaker D: Fucking leads are weak. You are weak.
[03:30:29] Speaker A: I've been in this business 15 years. What's your name? You.
[03:30:33] Speaker D: That's my name.
[03:30:34] Speaker B: You know why, Mr. Because you drove a Hyundai.
[03:30:37] Speaker D: To get here tonight, I drove an $80,000 BMW.
[03:30:41] Speaker A: That's my name.
Now, I think we've officially lost all of our more conservative viewers.
I don't think they want to listen any longer.
[03:30:52] Speaker C: It's Mother Nature.
[03:30:53] Speaker B: Where's logo girl when you need her?
[03:30:54] Speaker C: I desperately want to make love to us.
[03:30:56] Speaker B: We need cheese girl, now.
[03:30:58] Speaker A: Oh, man.
[03:30:59] Speaker B: We need cheese girl, now. We need cheese girl, now.
[03:31:02] Speaker A: Eating that.
[03:31:03] Speaker B: We need cheese girl, now.
[03:31:04] Speaker D: Down goes Anderson.
[03:31:06] Speaker A: Down goes Anderson.
[03:31:08] Speaker B: Who's canceled now? Who's canceled now?
[03:31:11] Speaker A: Probably me.
[03:31:12] Speaker B: You making a photo of fat people?
[03:31:14] Speaker A: I'm not just you. We're a whole race, basically.
No way. Just straight finger banger salad.
[03:31:25] Speaker C: You first get shocked, and then you get the shocker.
[03:31:30] Speaker D: You like to see almost naked.
[03:31:32] Speaker A: That's cool, man.
[03:31:33] Speaker B: Whatever.
[03:31:33] Speaker D: No.
[03:31:35] Speaker A: Brilliant Media Today's episode was brought to you by Topath Vodka. Topath Vodka, an award winning, ultra premium, extremely smooth, high quality vodka, six times distilled and made from Midwest corn and Ohio fruit. Clean and crisp. A truly high quality spirit made right here in Northeast Ohio. Available locally in Northeast Ohio and online in 44 states. Topath vodka.
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