- 12 minutes ago
Why trust is building with Browns and Deshaun Watson under Todd Monken; huge opportunity vs Jets
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00:00Hey, I have an interesting thought, and I think my answer actually kind of surprises me when I sit down
00:06and think about it,
00:07but, like, a very general question, right, and you can spin it any way you want,
00:11you can think about it whatever way you want, but I want to know if you would use the word
00:16trust
00:16when you talk about your feelings with Deshaun Watson right now.
00:19I want to. I want to say yes because of the three consecutive game-winning drives
00:25because that's when the quarterback is touching the football every single play,
00:30and he's putting the team in position to win games, and over the last three weeks, that's what he's done.
00:36The one thing that gives me a little bit of pause, Jake, is the ball security issues that he has
00:41had,
00:41and he's gotten tremendously lucky with a couple could-have-been interceptions that weren't.
00:47That's life in football, though. That's just sometimes you get the break, sometimes you don't.
00:51And you can double that down, by the way.
00:53He's gotten lucky with a couple of balls that have popped out of his hands for fumbles
00:56that probably should have not been lucky enough to fall his way that certainly have as well.
01:00So that's kind of my only thing is it's like you do have to take care of the football
01:06because I see a Browns team right now with a quarterback that is getting some lucky breaks
01:11when it comes to the turnover department, both with interceptions and fumbles,
01:14and then a very highly penalized team.
01:17And I just know at some point that's when another shoe could drop on the season,
01:21and we say, wait a minute, if the clock strikes midnight on Deshaun Watson's little comeback bid
01:28that he thinks he's putting together here, and then the Browns remain this penalized,
01:33then I don't know that I can fully trust him.
01:36I want to.
01:37I want to lean into yes, and a positive showing today against the Jets,
01:41even if this is a weird rainy game, could help me trust him even more.
01:47I just don't know that I could give him that full trust yet.
01:51I said it on one of the shows this week, and it might not be the best comparison to make,
01:56but I'm going to say it again.
01:58It's kind of like if you've been in a relationship, long-term relationship,
02:01and you've been getting cheated on for four years,
02:04and then you have three weeks where you weren't getting cheated on.
02:08It's a hell of a start, but I don't know that I could fully trust
02:12that we're not going to revert back to our old ways.
02:14Yeah, I mean, I think there's some flaws in your analogy that you're drawing,
02:18but it's not the worst thing on the planet.
02:20It's an okay one to draw up.
02:22See, I think the problem is right now, I think I use the word trust with Deshaun Watson.
02:27Now, I'm not going full bore like he's Patrick Mahomes, he's Josh Allen.
02:31I just put the ball in his hands, and good things are going to happen,
02:34but if you talk about just trust on a level of, hey, right now,
02:38I think I do have a trust that Deshaun goes out there, plays football,
02:40and puts you in a position to win the game.
02:43Does he go out and win it every time?
02:45Obviously, we're going to see how that plays out through the season,
02:48but does he put me in a position to be competitive,
02:51to give the Browns a chance to win a football game?
02:53I would say even with the turnovers that we're laying up right now,
02:57he has not had a game where he's gone out and turned the ball over three or four times.
03:02He's limited that to once in each game or twice, if you include the fumbles,
03:07but he's put you in a spot in the combination of this defense.
03:12He is a good enough quarterback right now that I think he gives you an opportunity to win,
03:16and as much of things have gone lucky, and I don't think you can just rely on,
03:20hey, last few-minute drives, two-minute drill, you're going to pull it off every single time,
03:25but there is something to be said about a quarterback who knows how to operate in a late game,
03:29knows how to operate in the two-minute drill,
03:30and it's not just fluky that Deshaun has found success at the end of games.
03:35That is him reading the defense.
03:36That is him being able to get the ball out quickly,
03:38make the right reads, and operate an offense that needs to move quickly
03:41and needs to move efficiently.
03:44There's probably people sitting here being like,
03:46can the Browns just run two-minute offense every single time?
03:48I know.
03:48It might be better, but he's doing what's necessary,
03:51and I don't think that's something that's just going to go away on a flutter
03:55and disappear from him at this point in the season.
03:58Yeah, I have complained a ton just about the lack of a full game from Deshaun,
04:02but I will say I'm glad that his heroic put-my-cape-on moments are happening on the last drive
04:08of the game
04:08and not the first.
04:09We saw that so many times under Kevin Stefanski where you'd have this great opening script,
04:13and then the rest of the game just completely goes to crap,
04:16whereas it does feel like with Deshaun Watson he gets better as the game goes on,
04:21which is very positive, and he is putting you in a position to win these games.
04:26So I should trust him.
04:27I want to trust him.
04:28He's also helping me develop my young playmakers, and for that I feel like he deserves just a ton of
04:34credit
04:34because I have seen KC Concepcion develop every single week and contribute in wins.
04:39Denzel Boston is leading all rookies in receiving yards right now,
04:44and that's somebody that's making a big impact in his rookie season in winning efforts,
04:49and that's great for their growth and their development,
04:51and for that Deshaun does deserve a lot of credit.
04:55It is just like I'm scorned a little bit,
04:59and I'm having a hard time letting go of what the past four years were
05:02before I could fully trust him the rest of the way.
05:05Yeah.
05:05Again, it's like a week-to-week trust for me right now.
05:08Right now, even if it's a bad game this week, especially with the weather,
05:12that trust doesn't go away for me,
05:14and if we walk into another good weather game and it's a questionable play from Deshaun,
05:19he doesn't put it together.
05:20I don't know that that trust is fully gone.
05:22He has built that up over the last three games.
05:25Again, it's not like there's a massive trust there, but there is trust there.
05:28It sounds like Deshaun's part of the ride, but are you winning because of him?
05:33I don't think that's happened yet,
05:35and maybe that is something that when it does happen or if it can happen,
05:40where you do start to win games with a complete Deshaun Watson game,
05:44where he throws for 300 yards and you don't need the miraculous fourth quarter comeback
05:48like what you're talking about,
05:50maybe then you will have more people willing to throw flowers at his feet.
05:53I do think he deserves some flowers because he has led you on three straight games.
05:58He is really part of the reason why you are three and one,
06:01so don't misconstrue what I'm saying here.
06:03I just think for a lot of people until he sustains it
06:06and until he puts together a truly complete game,
06:09there is just going to be some hesitation.
06:12Listen, Coach Rays is joining us at 10.
06:14He'll probably tell you when you and him are changing chairs here at 10 o'clock,
06:18there's not many quarterbacks in this league you win because of,
06:21but there are quarterbacks you win with.
06:23I think Deshaun Watson right now is a quarterback you are winning with,
06:26and that's to say he's contributing in these wins.
06:29It's like there's a reason as they are not winning in spite of Deshaun Watson.
06:33That's what you don't want.
06:34Yes, of course.
06:35You're absolutely like it.
06:36That is, I mean, with this team right now, basically unbearable.
06:39You cannot win in spite of it, especially quarterbacks.
06:41You can almost never win in spite of your quarterback.
06:43So like to turn that around though and look at it right here,
06:46it's like, I don't know.
06:49I stare at Deshaun and it's not even just, hey, I mean, he's playing all right.
06:53The defense is carrying most of the load and, you know,
06:55you have a really good run game.
06:56No, like Deshaun has led you on three game-winning drives.
07:00He moved the ball somewhat easily.
07:02You know, like you've seen him, and I don't use this word lightly, Jake,
07:06you've seen him carve up some NFL defenses over the last three weeks
07:10in moments in games.
07:12An entire half against Pittsburgh, right?
07:14Very true.
07:14And then in the final drive also, I mean, he had a couple of riskies.
07:18You know, in all three, yeah, like I'd say the two throws to Jerry, though,
07:22like surgical, you know, what he put together against Carolina,
07:25very similar, like surgical.
07:28And then obviously the second half against Tampa to have that 10-point comeback
07:32on the road like that, he did just dice up the Buccaneers' defense.
07:36So like we have seen him play some really high-level football.
07:40I do wonder how much too, and I am like so sick of talking about this
07:45and even admitting it, how much of this is still like Deshaun knocking off the rust,
07:48and could we have a better Deshaun in four or five weeks?
07:51Well, Nick, I think that's actually a fair point because like I'm staring at him.
07:55I think he's gotten better at certain things every, like you've seen improvements
08:00week to week, and it might not be in the totality of the game.
08:02Like week three, a majority of that game, he was not very good.
08:05But he turned it on and showed you in the two-minute drill,
08:08and then you see him add a little bit of the deep game back in the Pittsburgh game.
08:11And it's like, okay, well, if that's in the arsenal,
08:13if you're able to take advantage of that when it's presented to you, right?
08:16It's not throw the ball to Will Fuller, DeAndre Hopkins back in 2020, 2017.
08:20But like he is putting it in a spot where, hey, okay,
08:24so that's a part of your repertoire now.
08:25Like if it's available down the field, you can push it.
08:28And I think there is part of that that is going to get better week after week.
08:31He is going to get more comfortable week after week just being in that spot.
08:34So I think it's fair to say that there's still room to grow.
08:37At some point we were talking about that trust in Deshaun Watson.
08:40And right, like I'm okay if you, like people are here,
08:42and I think you're to the point where you're probably saying, like you said,
08:45you want to trust Deshaun Watson,
08:46but you don't know that full you can use that word right now.
08:49I'm fine with that.
08:50Like I am at a point where I have some level of trust in him,
08:53probably slightly more trust than I have, like angst and worry that it's not going to work.
08:58I do think it's interesting today.
09:00And I think there's a legitimate conversation.
09:03Browns have the quarterback advantage today.
09:05Like were you taking Deshaun Watson over Gino Smith right now?
09:07Yeah, probably.
09:09I'd think so.
09:10And Gino's playing pretty good football for the Jets, by the way.
09:14You know, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
09:16He's keeping the car on the road.
09:18You know, he's not the reason why, at least, they're one and three.
09:21It's really been everything else.
09:24But with that said, like he's not using his legs the way that Deshaun Watson is.
09:30He's not making some of the layered throws that I've seen over the last couple of weeks
09:34that Deshaun Watson is making to Boston and KC.
09:37So right now, yeah, I'd say that the Browns have the quarterback advantage in this game.
09:42Yeah.
09:43Like I asked Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential Magazine, Series 6 on NFL Radio on Friday night.
09:48And he was like, I understand it's a boring answer, but like kind of a draw.
09:53Yeah.
09:54And I think that's fair.
09:55And that's coming from somebody who watches the Jets, watches Gino.
09:58So like, I respect that take of it, but even to have in that conversation, like I slightly
10:04lean to Deshaun Watson because the Browns are three and one and he's led three game winning
10:07drives.
10:09When is the last time you've been able to turn on a Browns game prior to the game and go
10:12Browns have the quarterback advantage to that?
10:14Dude, even if it is a draw in your mind, right?
10:16Even if you think, okay, Deshaun Watson and Gino Smith are evenly matched, you're going
10:20into today thinking that your quarterback is evenly matched with the opponent.
10:25The Browns are playing, this happens to be the Jets and Gino Smith.
10:28Yeah.
10:29I think that's a win for the Browns coming into the season.
10:32Jake, I can't repeat enough.
10:34I thought seven weeks ago, Deshaun Watson was unplayable.
10:37Like I thought it was a comedy and an insult to the sport of football that the Browns were
10:42going to start him this season because he looked that bad when I was out there throughout
10:46OTAs and training camp.
10:48But to his credit and to what Todd Munkin has been able to do in this offensive environment
10:53to help make Watson's life easier for him, they've really found something over the last
10:58three weeks where now, I like that you said, you know, I'm not dreading today.
11:02I didn't wake up with like angst in my heart to watch Browns football today because I do
11:08feel like they've got a great chance to win.
11:10And part of that reason is because of the quarterback.
11:12Yeah, I think you sit there and I brought up like, I was trying to dig back and think of
11:17when the last time I would say the Browns had a quarterback advantage, walk into a game,
11:21I can say pretty confidently, I think it's 2023 against the Jets.
11:26Maybe ironically, yeah, it was probably the last time that you felt like it.
11:30And that was the primetime game where they clinched with Joe Flacco and you, and you felt
11:33confident in Flacco because he was playing so hot at the time.
11:36Yeah.
11:37Maybe, you know, maybe some of the Jameis, who did Jameis beat in Denver when, when Judy,
11:43when, when Judy went crazy.
11:46I mean, that was a random quarterback because they were trying to get off the Russell Wilson
11:50thing at that time.
11:51I don't think it had been Bo Nix yet.
11:53So, so, you know, they're, they're few and far between when you've been able to go into
11:58a game and say, you know what?
11:59At bare minimum, our quarterback says good is the quarterback that they're getting ready
12:02to start on the other side.
12:04We did the QB comparisons last year, Jake, as a segment at the end of every pregame show.
12:08And by the end of the year, we were kind of laughing at it.
12:11We were like Joe Burrow versus Dylan Gabriel.
12:14Who do we have today?
12:15You know, even last year when Dylan had to play the jets, we have the advantage of the
12:20jets.
12:20No, I still give it to the jets.
12:21It was Bo Nix, by the way, in that game against Jameis.
12:24That was his rookie year.
12:25And like, again, like you walk away from that saying Jameis played the better big game at
12:28quarterback, probably, although he did throw three interceptions and a pick six in that,
12:33but he did throw for 500 yards in that game.
12:35Damn near 497.
12:36It's like you wouldn't have walked into that game.
12:39Two thirds of them.
12:39Yeah, I mean, Jerry had 235 yards, but you wouldn't have walked into that game and like,
12:44yeah, Jameis over first round pick Bo Nix and hands down, Jameis said, no, you wouldn't
12:49have done that.
12:50Like it's probably, it's Joe Flacco against Trevor Simeon earlier that year, Deshaun Watson
12:54against, because it was Clayton Toon for crying out loud.
12:57And Deshaun was actually playing a winning brand of football in 2023, or at least they
13:02were winning with Deshaun playing football in 2023.
13:04And even, and even that game, if I recall, Deshaun wasn't great.
13:08Like they won that game.
13:09I think that was one of his good games.
13:10It was okay, but they won that game because they sacked Clayton Toon like a hundred times.
13:14I think there were double-digit sacks that happened.
13:17It was 27 to nothing.
13:19Deshaun threw for 213 yards and Clayton Toon 11 for 20, two picks, and he was sacked seven
13:25times in that game.
13:26So you really do have to hop in the portal and go all the way back to 2023.
13:30If you want to find a game going into a game where the Browns were the better team as it
13:35pertained to the quarterback matchup, which is a crazy thing to think.
13:38And again, I think through this year, you would have not have said even with Deshaun playing
13:43well, they have the quarterback advantage walking into today, right?
13:45Like you probably wouldn't have done that.
13:46I think it was at least arguable maybe last week with Aaron Rodgers playing as bad as he
13:52did for the first two weeks, but coming off a good game, you're still siding Aaron Rodgers.
13:55I think obviously siding Bryce Young because he was on an absolute chair, still going Baker
14:01and certainly still going Trevor Lawrence to start the year.
14:03And then you even look to the end of last year when Shador was playing maybe the three
14:09and eight Browns against the two and nine Raiders when it was Shador and Geno.
14:13Geno pops up again in this conversation.
14:15But even then, that's Shador's first start.
14:17Like you can't be confident that, I mean, you're hoping Shador is better than Geno.
14:21You had no idea what you were going to see in that game.
14:24Because remember all the narrative about the way that Shador's debut went against the
14:29Ravens was that he had no time with the ones and that going into that Raiders game, it
14:34was like, well, he's had three days with the ones now.
14:37So let's see what it looks like with Shador as the starting quarterback was like the feeling
14:40going in to that late November game last year.
14:43So like to feel like actually all right in your offensive chances because of Deshaun against
14:51the Jets defense that just hasn't lived up to how good I actually think they can be because
14:55there is some talent still on that Jets defense.
14:58I just think the Jets are really poorly coached.
15:00You do feel confident just comparing Watson to Geno Smith today.
15:04Yeah.
15:05I mean, listen, I'm taking Deshaun in that battle right now.
15:08It is not by like, you know, leaps and bounds over Geno because there is a respect to Geno
15:12Smith in the way he's playing right now this year.
15:14But I'm signing with Deshaun and that feels good, by the way, to actually be able to sit
15:19here and talk about a quarterback comparison and be like, even if you don't agree with
15:23me, even if you're like Geno's playing better football, you can't sit here and tell me
15:26Geno's a massively better quarterback than Deshaun Watson is in week five of this NFL
15:30season.
15:31Like to be in the conversation, to legitimately break down the fact that Geno's protected
15:35it better.
15:35Deshaun has played the more winning brand of football.
15:37He's led game winning drives.
15:39He's been really good in a two minute drill.
15:41He's shown that he can play in the first half and early in a half in a way that Geno's
15:44Smith and the Jets have not this year.
15:46Like I can bring up things that actually support my quarterback and give me a potential edge.
15:51I haven't been able to do that for so long.
15:542023, a week, what, 16.
15:57It was a long time ago, Jake.
15:58It was not a good feeling.
16:00Can we live a little?
16:01Can we have a little fun?
16:03I think so.
16:04James, is that allowed?
16:05Can we dream a little?
16:06Let's go ahead.
16:06Let's do it.
16:07On the pregame show this morning, I've got the schedule pulled up.
16:11Okay.
16:11And if you go four and one, beat the Jets and Geno today in a game that Jake, you're
16:16talking about, you're feeling like Deshaun's the better quarterback compared to Geno Smith.
16:21Next week, you got the Baltimore Ravens at home, Huntington Bank Field.
16:25Last time you played in there, the team went viral when they were bopping up and down to
16:29the tune of Mo Bamba during a primetime beatdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
16:35Ravens could be without Lamar Jackson in that game.
16:38Obviously, we don't know.
16:39Lamar is not playing for Baltimore today.
16:41It's Tyler Snoop Huntley.
16:43I think we'd all feel pretty good next week about Deshaun being better than Snoop Huntley.
16:47Has anybody seen what Cam Ward has been up to?
16:50The Tennessee Titans?
16:52Ripped him several times on the night show across the last few weeks.
16:54Yeah.
16:55Maybe a little too hard on Cam Ward, but he is not good.
16:58He is not good.
17:00That's who awaits you after this Baltimore game.
17:03And then you've got Pittsburgh again.
17:05And remember what just happened on Thursday Night Football.
17:08So you could look at the schedule and the team will never do this.
17:11And I know Coach Riz will get on here in a couple of hours and say, look, 1-0 is
17:15the objective
17:16and it should be because you can't overlook the Jets today.
17:18And there has been a lot of conversation about trap game.
17:20And we'll get to some of that later on in the pregame show.
17:23So I just think that if you want to have a little bit of fun with this and you want
17:27to really
17:27believe in the Browns, look at the schedule and listen to what we're talking about when
17:32it comes to what quarterback do you trust more?
17:35Deshaun or Geno today?
17:37Deshaun or potentially Snoop Huntley next week?
17:39Deshaun or Cam Ward who's been the worst quarterback in football this year?
17:43You're 3-1 right now, but you could be feeling really good about this Brown season if things
17:49continue to go your way.