00:00So Bull was on afternoon drive, Adam the Lord baseball, yes, and they asked a great question.
00:07Are the rounds closer to what they were in week one in reality, or are they closer to what you
00:13saw against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Here's Bull's answer. I think it's the week one team.
00:17Obviously, the lame and easy answer is that it's somewhere in between. I don't think they're as
00:22bad as the team that played week one, but I definitely don't think they're as good as the
00:26team that played week two. I have been very positive for the last 24 hours about Deshaun Watson.
00:30He played a tremendous game. If you're being negative about his actual performance, it's
00:34unfair. He played well. Now, if you're being unrealistic and saying, wow, now he's going
00:38to, he sucked for four years plus. Now, all of a sudden, we're going to believe one game
00:41means he's great. Well, he'll have a chance to prove it, but I'm not going to just buy
00:45it based on one game. I'd have to say closer to the team that played week one than week
00:49two, but there is such a dramatic difference between the two. But I could argue that in
00:54week one, they were terrible the entire game, or at least the entire game when it mattered.
00:58Whereas week two, the defense was solid in the first half. The offense still stunk in
01:02the first half, but the offense was great in the second half. The whole team was great.
01:06From the final 25 minutes, the whole team played great. I hope it's closer to that, but I fear
01:10it's still closer to the week one.
01:13So that's Bull. Where do I stand on it? Is it week one or week two? Well, you know what?
01:17Hear from John Fanta first. He was asked the same question. Here's Fanta.
01:21It's closer to week one in reality of the record. I don't think that we're going to
01:26be watching week one type performances throughout much of the season. The offensive operation
01:31and the defense are closer to week two. The defense is definitely closer to week two.
01:36I'm not adjusting my win total based off of a win in Tampa Bay. You've got to now back
01:41it up. The basic answer is somewhere in the middle because week one is the worst I've seen
01:44a Browns team look in the first week of a season. So I don't want to sit here and say
01:48that they're going to be performing the majority of the season like their first week.
01:51They caught the buck on the right day. Baker was tight. Baker clearly has nerves with Cleveland.
01:56Baker clearly hasn't gotten over that whole breakup. He's a lot of bark, no actual bite
02:01when the game's on the line and when things get serious quarterback. And that was embarrassing
02:05for Todd Bowles and embarrassing for the Buccaneers who people's jobs are on the line in Tampa
02:10Bay. In reality, it's closer to week two, but I don't know how many of the Browns opponents
02:14are going to play as poorly as Tampa Bay did in the second half.
02:18Well, I agree. It's weird. Bull gave a better answer. John was kind of all over the place
02:25on it, but I wanted to make sure that we were...
02:27But it makes sense.
02:27Well, in reality, this is reality.
02:29They gave you two totally different outcomes.
02:32Yeah.
02:33And going into the season, I think most people had the first two games chalked as a loss.
02:38I know there's optimism about the opener every year and it was Jacksonville, but they were
02:43two totally different results. So I can't blame anybody for picking one thing, especially
02:48nobody's going to believe in Deshaun Watson after just one game.
02:50No. Well, that's another conversation to be had coming up here at 643. The reason I wanted
02:58John in there is not to rip on John. I think it's the truth. I think John gets caught in
03:02wanting it to be more like week two because John...
03:05We all do.
03:07John and I are very close when it comes to those sort of things.
03:10And I know that we... Well, you say we all do. I don't know if we all do because I
03:14think
03:14that there's definitely some anti-Watson folks out there. And again, I get it. There's definitely
03:20some anti-Watson folks out there who do not want this team to quote unquote carry Deshaun
03:25Watson to a victory because the defense played very well. I do think though, if we're just
03:30going and leaving any of the personal feelings, any other stuff out of it, let's just call it
03:34what it is. Are they closer in real life? Are they closer to what they were in week
03:39two? I still think a lot of fans are going to be skeptical. They're going to say week
03:42one. I still say week two because operationally, and I know that's the fun word this year.
03:48I don't know how you could be worse than what you were in week one. I don't know how.
03:53Any of the stuff, like there was a vote of no confidence by Browns fans after the game
03:58against Jacksonville because you stress all these things during the off season. You have
04:03a time to put them in. And when you get the time to put them in, it just ends up
04:07being
04:07a total mess. And I think so many Browns fans were disenchanted with what you were getting
04:12where it was all the fears in the back of their head come to light. And then this last
04:17week, like, I don't think that they, I think there's teams that definitely would have lined
04:21up and beat them on Sunday. All right. But those are contending teams. I don't know what
04:27Tampa Bay is right now. I got to tell you, they were 8-9 last year. Maybe they'll finish
04:32near that same record this year. Like, I really don't know what Tampa is. They should be better
04:37than what they are right now. They should. Hell, if they just sort of ran the ball in
04:40the second half, did they win the game? And that's kind of where I'm at on it. Like,
04:44the defense was better, no doubt about it. But are you guessing too much? Like, is the
04:48replacement for Liam Cohen, I think it's Zach Johnson, is the replacement for Liam
04:51Cohen, is he anywhere near Liam Cohen? Or is Liam Cohen that talented of a play caller that
04:56he knows how to diagnose a defense and how to do it? Because it seemed right as rain to
05:01anybody. Like, you're the 15th person today who seems to have said it, where it's like,
05:05well, if they would have ran the ball in the second half, maybe we don't get as much
05:09possession. Maybe we don't get a chance to tie that game up. Maybe that's the possibility.
05:13You know, I'm not going to sit there and make reasons how we could have lost when we won
05:16the football game. Because I'm sitting here saying, I think we're actually closer to
05:19week two. You still have some talent on the defense. Now, when you get hurt, I'm not sure
05:24how great that statement's going to be. I still don't think you're that deep of a team.
05:28I don't change my win total. I'm still at five. That's where I'm at. And if you're a
05:32five and 12 team, I think a lot of folks are going to look at it and go, well, you're
05:35way closer to week one. No, you can be a team that wins four to six games and still look
05:41at it and go, man, I know that sounds like such patty cake, silver lining. Everybody gets
05:47participation trophies radio when you say, well, there's still this, that, and the other.
05:51But I think that's kind of what you got to be. You kind of got to be a team that
05:54you look
05:55at the young players. You say you were in it. You were in all these ones. You didn't get blown
05:59out after week one, et cetera, et cetera. Like then you find ways.
06:02We were a terrible team the last two years with Miles Garrett, but how many games were
06:05one possession? A bunch of them. Like we said, well, they could have won this game,
06:08this game, this game, this game, but that's the league. That's the NFL. So I don't think
06:11that's, that, that separates you from the rest. Part, part of how difficult it is for me
06:16to assess where they're at is why do we think, and I've gone through this a lot over the last
06:22week because it surprised me so much that Watson was in command, was accurate. No, he's not
06:28throwing deep balls. Like clearly the deep ball is not going to be a part of the arsenal,
06:32which is going to make life tougher on him and the offense as more teams get their tape.
06:37You know, you started to see that happen with Indy and Daniel Jones. He can throw a deep
06:40ball, but they, they, uh, teams adjusted last year to him and then he got injured. Like
06:45there is an adjustment time for these quarterbacks, you know, who haven't been able to necessarily
06:49be good year in and year out. We'll see about Sam Darnold because it's been two, two
06:53years in a row that he has been successful after, you know, being nothing in the league
06:57for a long period of time. Why was Watson? Why was he so hampered for four years? What
07:03was it about him? And then was it different last week? Did Todd Munkin find something that
07:11he thought, Hey, I've got a quarterback that can run this, this, and this, and that's what
07:15we're going to keep it to.
07:16We already had, and I'm hesitant to do it because it's only been one week. We already
07:21had an email from a guy who emails to show all the time, Brock, uh, social media reactions
07:25on X and anywhere are brought to you by Chibon Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
07:30So when he sends, he goes, guys, you got to admit it already looked better in the years
07:34of Stefanski. It already looked better in that week with Todd Munkin. It did wholeheartedly.
07:40It did. I was very impressed with Todd Munkin from week one to week two, where there were
07:45so many things they were late getting the plays in. They were confused, illegal motions,
07:50all the other stuff, which is going to happen once in an NFL football game between the two
07:54teams. I understand some of that stuff. You got new people coming in, you got guys from
07:58the practice squad. You're going to have challenges as you go through the season because of injury.
08:02I get that. But what we're pointing out is that I never saw a dramatic change in operations
08:08from Kevin Stefanski week to week. I never did. I'm not trying to throw the guy under
08:12the bus. We like the guy, but the truth's the truth. I saw a dramatic change. And so that's
08:16what made me excited about Todd Munkin from week to week going, you really put it away.
08:22You found a way to get to a guy to help him out the best. And when people go, well,
08:26Kenny
08:26just dinked and dunked. Yeah. That's all I'm asking them to do. That's really all I'm asking
08:30them to do. Like there's going to be games.
08:32Which is why, even if they play well this year and you're going to lose some football
08:36games. Yeah. That's, that's not necessarily sustainable for any kind of an impact run.
08:42Exactly. So when I, when I look at it and say, I think they're closer to week two than
08:47they are week one, it's not Kenny trying to talk himself into being positive about the
08:51Browns and, and seeing it through rose colored glasses. I, I don't, I just don't think you
08:56can be any worse. Yeah. And, and just running your offense, running your defense, doing what
09:03you're supposed to do the week leading up and then getting ready and going through that
09:08process during the game. I don't know if you can get any worse with this team.
09:12It's whether they were in week one, but whether it's Watson or Shador at this stage of his
09:16career, like they, aren't you expecting them to turn the ball over? Like, aren't you expecting
09:22quarterbacks to, you know, put themselves in bad positions on sacks?
09:27I want to say, no, there's one reason I say yes. And I'll tell you why in five minutes,
09:31as well as we might need to lighten up Ken Carmen, Anthony Lima and Brian Baldinger.
09:36How is Spencer Fano really doing? Well, the guru of offensive linemen, he joins us at 720 on the fan.
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