00:00I messed up.
00:01Dropped the ball, and I'm sorry about that.
00:02Also, apparently we're messing up, and I'm not making a big enough damn deal
00:05about the Browns on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:10I got people saying I'm scared, which I'm not.
00:13Well, I think people obviously are getting swept up in how awesome this is
00:20if we beat Pittsburgh, like what this means for the rest of the season,
00:23what this means for expectations, for the rivalry, for the divisional stuff.
00:28And while I completely acknowledge all of that,
00:31all that stuff isn't gone if they lose.
00:33That's to me why this isn't the life or death game that I think we want to make it.
00:38So we agree with each other.
00:40This isn't easy.
00:42If anybody disagrees, I'm not going to run you off.
00:45But I, no, I guess I'm going to.
00:48Hold on.
00:49Play Nick apparently going after me yesterday.
00:52I don't think we have to check our emotions going into it, though,
00:55because they might lose.
00:56I think that sounds an awful lot like protecting our feelings
00:59because we don't want to be let down
01:00and we don't want people to overreact if they lose.
01:03No, this is the kind of game you should overreact if they lose.
01:05It's okay.
01:06I also, I guess it depends what your priorities are
01:08or what you think actually matters big picture in this.
01:10I just don't think people realize you're in first place clearly with a win in this game.
01:14If not, you're in third.
01:14You're going to wake up on Monday morning.
01:16You'll be in third place because the Bengals are going to beat the Titans,
01:18so they're going to leapfrog everyone in that discussion.
01:20And then obviously the Steelers will have sole possession of first.
01:22Of course, I thought being in first in the AFC North this late in the season mattered,
01:25but maybe it doesn't.
01:26Maybe I just have the wrong appeal on that.
01:28Maybe Ken just wants to make it to the postseason
01:29and that's all he's happy about and he doesn't care about winning the AFC North.
01:32Or maybe he thinks there's enough time to come back,
01:35eventually pull away and win that thing.
01:36I don't know.
01:37You really don't have to freak out if they lose.
01:39There's a lot at stake here.
01:40Yeah, it's also okay if you do, given the gravity of the game.
01:43You're in first place and no one's touching you
01:45and a pretty substantial lead, all things considered,
01:48if you win this game on Sunday.
01:49If not, you dropped a third immediately.
01:50Like the narrative should be, with a loss, missed opportunity.
01:54That doesn't mean the season will end,
01:55but it might feel like that way for a majority of our listeners in some media
01:59because this is the moment.
02:01So wait a minute, am I getting called out?
02:02Because it sounded like at the end both of them agreed with me.
02:04That's also not true what Jonathan just said.
02:07If you win the game, you don't distance yourself from the rest of the division.
02:10You're not.
02:11This division is going to be a battle,
02:14is going to be a huge race the rest of the year.
02:17It's independent of whether or not you win or lose this game.
02:19I don't understand what standings they're looking at.
02:21If they go down, I just need to know.
02:23If they go down to New Orleans, if they lose on Sunday,
02:26and then they go down to New Orleans and they win and they're 6-3,
02:28am I supposed to dump all over the win?
02:33A team that I picked to win five games, I'm going to dump all over.
02:36Now I am mad.
02:38This is stupid.
02:39I'm dead serious.
02:40Now I'm mad.
02:41Now I'm agitated.
02:43Are we missing something here?
02:45I'm putting my faith in the organization that if you don't win the game,
02:50which by the way, you've won five of your last six games.
02:54It's the NFL.
02:55It's not Ohio State, the old Big Ten.
02:58I don't need to win 11 games out of 12 to get to the postseason for crying out loud.
03:04It's meant to be tight.
03:06I'm not bringing up any of the history of 23 years.
03:09I'm not afraid of Ben Roethlisberger's boogeyman.
03:12Ben, I'm not.
03:13I don't care.
03:14I also think that was a talking point from pre-2020 or even 2019.
03:18Do you guys realize we're 8-8 in the last 16 games if you include the playoff win?
03:22Judas Priest.
03:22This isn't the same Browns-Steelers one-sided affair that had been a staple of this rivalry for so many
03:31years.
03:32Owen said it better than anybody before the show, and I'm going to want Owen to say it again.
03:36I don't know if you remember what you said.
03:37I'm typing it as a thing.
03:39There's a lot of things, Ken.
03:40There's a lot of people about a lot of stuff.
03:43I know, I know.
03:43I'll keep saying words right now until you get done typing those words.
03:47Go ahead and look at it.
03:48Because my issue is, like, guys, this is a way better start than any of us thought.
03:51All right?
03:52If you're in panic mode, then, again, I got to go back and call you out for lying to yourself
03:57and everybody else because I'm not the one who said that eight or nine wins would be the, quote, freaking
04:02Shangri-La.
04:03That was the quote that was played for eons and eons in the promos before the season started.
04:09That's the thing.
04:10So, if you were, like, thinking, even though you said they were going to win eight or nine games, but
04:14they would be winless with Deshaun Watson.
04:16So, again, I don't know where anybody stands except for you and me and Owen anymore and John.
04:20John's standing up for things now.
04:23I don't know where anybody else stands anymore because it seems to be a moving target.
04:27But I'm putting my faith in the organization.
04:29I'm putting my faith.
04:30Trust in Todd.
04:31I'm putting my trust in Todd.
04:33Yeah, you go on the road.
04:34You lose a game on the road.
04:36If you lose a game on the road, you go on the road again, you win the game, you're six
04:40and three.
04:42So, is the season, again, you're five and two right now.
04:45The season's over if we lose to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
04:49But then at the end of the quotes, it sounded like they agreed with me.
04:51So, where are we at, guys?
04:53Where are we at?
04:53Yeah, I think it's safe to say it's a big game that we're excited about that is, you know, going
05:00to be a tough road challenge.
05:02Similar teams, like, if you were to go up and down roster-wise, like, we've got the younger talented players.
05:11They've got the older veteran talented players.
05:14And it's a great matchup.
05:15And you beat them once already.
05:17I'm playing a long game here, man.
05:18But nothing is spoiled if you lose the game.
05:20And if you win, it's not like you have some four-game lead in the division.
05:26Like, Baltimore's right there.
05:28Cincinnati's right there.
05:28And, yes, even if you beat Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh's right there.
05:31I do think, like, if – I get it being big if they were 2-5 going into the game,
05:382-6 going into the game.
05:39They're not – the season's not over already.
05:42The season will continue.
05:43Yes.
05:44And the way that they sit right now.
05:45And that's what Owen said before the show, and I totally agree.
05:47If the Browns were 2-5 going into this game or 1-6, yeah, this would be – it would
05:52be a bigger deal.
05:52Because I know I ain't going anywhere.
05:53And I'd love to stick it to Pittsburgh before we end up going back to our swamp and getting ready
05:59for the postseason.
06:00Yes, and then getting ready for the offseason.
06:02I totally, 100% agree with Owen.
06:04But I'm not going to sit here and fake it up for everybody.
06:07It's the Steelers.
06:08Yeah, you should be ready to be excited for the Browns and want the Browns to win because it is
06:13the Steelers.
06:14But I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and insult your emotions as a fan.
06:18Guys, if they go out there and they lose the football game and they get hammered and embarrassed in front
06:22of God and everybody,
06:23I might be a little bit perturbed, certainly.
06:26But if they go out there and they lose 21-17 in a football game, I'm not going to come
06:30in here saying that everybody needs to go
06:32and that the emperor ain't wearing any clothes and that everybody's an idiot and we got to get Watson out
06:38of here
06:38and we got to get ready for Arch and we made a mistake trading – I mean, that is insanity.
06:44Because that's the way it sounds.
06:46Because week eight doesn't mean the season.
06:50It doesn't.
06:51So I know I'm yelling at everybody and I'm sorry about that because now I am mad.
06:55Don't sit there and tell me that I'm not getting the thing of it right because I'm not going to
07:00sit there and insult people's emotions.
07:02You're five and two.
07:03We're thinking playoffs now for the love of God.
07:06And if you are, then five and three isn't the worst thing.
07:11Well, you're just making up excuses because you're afraid they're going to lose.
07:15I'm afraid of nothing.
07:17Oh, my God.
07:18Pony's going to make fun of me?
07:20Oh, no.
07:22No.
07:23Steeler fans are going to call me fat on social media?
07:26No.
07:27I don't care.
07:28It doesn't matter.
07:29I'm still five.
07:30My team's still five and three and we split the season.
07:32Kenny, I keep hearing all the time you guys don't know how to deal with a winning team.
07:36I think this is where it shows people don't know how to deal with a winning team because you've banked
07:42margin for error because you're five and two.
07:45That's why I think this is evidence where guys at the afternoon show lobbying these complaints, it's pretty clear they're
07:52not used to a winning team.
07:54Because when you're a winning team or when you've banked some wins, it affords you margin for error that you
07:59can lose a game at Pittsburgh.
08:00That's all I'm trying to say.
08:01Especially when you've already beaten them.
08:02That's all I'm trying to say.
08:04Hey, let me look into the camera on YouTube Live.
08:07I ain't afraid of nothing.
08:08I ain't afraid of social media if they lose.
08:10I ain't afraid of anybody with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
08:13You know damn well I ain't afraid of Pony.
08:16I'm not afraid of the old host there that's a failed host coming after me on social media.
08:21I don't give a damn.
08:23I care about the Browns and making the postseason in a season I didn't think that they were going to
08:28make anything this year.
08:30I'm playing the long game.
08:31It's complimentary football.
08:33If they go there and win, I'm going to come in here dressed as Dusty Rhodes and we're going to
08:37whoop it up and have a pep rally.
08:39But I'm not going to sit there and insult everybody's feelings and their intelligence because guess what?
08:43They're 5-3 if they lose and they go down to New Orleans and they win their 6-3.
08:50It's called a season.
08:53I know that I'm supposed to act like everything's life and death and I'm supposed to get you guys all
08:57worked up and calling in.
08:58But for the love of God, come on.
09:02That's an insult to your intelligence and your emotions as adults.
09:07I don't need to sit here.
09:08We're not terrible anymore.
09:09I think it's nice that our season doesn't rest on this game.
09:13If our season rested on this game, I'd be very nervous.
09:16I don't need to make a guarantee to a room full of school children about beating this football team.
09:20I don't need to do it.
09:22You win the game, great.
09:23You lose the game, it sucks.
09:25I'm not going to be happy we lost.
09:29Okay, you're 5-3 and we move on with the season.
09:31We get ready for New Orleans.
09:32On to the next one.
09:33Winning road games in the NFL is difficult.
09:35Winning any games in the NFL is difficult.
09:37Having to do three in a row, that's pretty damn difficult.
09:41So if I told you at the beginning of the year that, hey, they're going to be 5-2,
09:44if I didn't tell you about opponents, hey, they're going to be 5-2 going into week 8
09:48and they're going to take two or three straight games on the road,
09:53what would you say?
09:54Okay, you'd tell me I was stoned that they were 5-2.
09:57That's what you would have said to me in the summer.
09:59But now because, well, it's at Accrashire Stadium.
10:02Oh, my God.
10:04Jeans jackets and renegade.
10:08Terrible towels.
10:10I don't want to say any of the other things.
10:12You know what I'm thinking.
10:152-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
10:17Daryl Ryder coming up at 8-22.
10:21Now, maybe you disagree with me.
10:22Are we all right, win or lose?
10:24I think we are.
10:26And coming up, Siskel and Ebert and Lima at the movies.
