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How massive this Browns - Steelers matchup really is for the season, playoff hopes & Deshaun Watson
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00:00Where I think we need to start, and where I think we're starting here, is whether or not this is
00:03a big game, or have we overreacted to this being a big game? That's the other part of this?
00:08Honestly.
00:08Did we go too far in suggesting that a game with a 30% swing in playoff odds is merely
00:14just another game?
00:15The idea that you could react, or overreact, to a Brown-Steelers game when both of you are 5-2,
00:22and to the winner goes the divisional lead, is one of the most nonsensical, silly, stupid, nutless thoughts I've ever
00:34heard in the history of this station.
00:36Nutless?
00:37I said nutless.
00:38I don't know if we just really want everyone to think we're football guys.
00:42Oh, I turned 40, and now everybody's going to identify me as a football guy.
00:47Okay.
00:47I don't know what it is.
00:49That does seem mean.
00:50No, it is mean.
00:51It is.
00:52I've never in my life heard anybody on this station downplay a game.
00:57In the 7 o'clock hour this morning, I heard somebody say, this would be a bigger game if the
01:01Browns were a 1- or 2-win team.
01:04What in the blue?
01:05How have you lost the plot so tremendously that you play down rivalries consistently that a game where literally first
01:13place in the division, which we haven't won since most people weren't alive listening.
01:19The idea that we have to downplay this game to protect all of our feelings because, oh, callers might be
01:25upset on Monday.
01:27Oh, not the callers.
01:29Not social media.
01:31Oh, we should just forget this game's happening.
01:34Can we put, you know what?
01:36Can we do a little bit more?
01:37Can we just all watch the Bills and Ravens?
01:39And then what we'll do is we'll just look at the box score at 4 o'clock, and if the
01:44Browns won, Super Bowl, Super Bowl, and if they lose, wow, we're on to New Orleans.
01:53Should the Browns trade for Tyler Shuck next year?
01:56That's where we're going to be because this game doesn't matter.
02:00It's just one game.
02:01You know, in the grand cosmos of life, it's just one Sunday.
02:06What a bunch of nutless crap that I've heard all week on the station, and then people bending over backward
02:13to defend the dumbest takes I've ever heard.
02:16So I want to get riled up right now, but I'm not going to match that, so that just is
02:19what that is.
02:20I'm not, I'm not, no part of me is matching that, but I, but I do think it's...
02:23Oh, is, oh, what, how big of a game is it, Jonathan?
02:25Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty big game.
02:27I know, it's just one Sunday.
02:28This game could not matter in January, so let's not even talk about it now.
02:33We must not know what it's like to be good football fans is the point, right?
02:37You don't know what covering a good football team is like if you get excited for this game.
02:40And I'll tell you, you know who's not excited right now?
02:42People in Buffalo, they're talking about the Sabres.
02:45They're thinking about the Sabres because why even think about this Ravens game?
02:49Doesn't even matter.
02:50I took pity on him.
02:51I felt bad for the morning show.
02:53My end result was I felt bad for him.
02:54If you can't get excited for this game, and then you're going to go ahead and say,
02:57well, you can go, you'll be five and three with a loss, and who cares?
03:00There's no games that are ever going to get you excited in the regular season.
03:04Unless it's the game that potentially could get you knocked out and eliminated from the postseason.
03:08Apparently, that's the only game you can get excited for in life.
03:11Every day must be your wedding day.
03:13Every day has got to be the most important and best day of your life ever.
03:16You have a whole other life to live.
03:18There's a bunch of other days.
03:20Same thing with this.
03:20There's a bunch of other games and games that matter.
03:22There's a 30-point percentage swing on if they advance to the playoffs based off of this game.
03:27It's the largest spread of the week that way.
03:29You know, maybe it is.
03:31We get so used to talking down regular season games in a 162-game season in baseball
03:36and an 82-game season in basketball that it's only logical that then one of 17 games,
03:42which happens to be, what is it, the multiplier game, the doubler game, as Mary Kay likes to say.
03:47I butchered that.
03:48This is not about you, Mary Kay.
03:49I'm not taking a shot at you.
03:50But, you know, a game that seems like it's pretty important on the face of it
03:54is suddenly just one game.
03:56I mean, if we turn this into the NBA regular season, is that all we're doing?
04:00I mean, should they even play Deshaun?
04:01I just think that's okay.
04:02You could get banged up in this game and it's only one game.
04:04I just think it sucks as a sports radio host that that's got to be the route that you take.
04:07You can do whatever you want to do.
04:09It is obviously your choice, your dime, your dance floor, whatever you want to do.
04:13For myself, though, I like to think the regular season matters.
04:16And I like to put importance on these games.
04:18Is the overarching theme correct?
04:20That, yes, you could lose this game and the season will still go and life will still turn
04:26and everything is...
04:26Yes, of course, they can lose this game and it doesn't mean we're packing it all in.
04:31But there's an obvious importance to this game that has to exist.
04:34We just don't have to be afraid of our own shadows.
04:36The Browns might lose on Sunday.
04:37And if people lose their mind, they probably should.
04:41This is the kind of game that if you lose your mind because the Cleveland Browns lost
04:45a golden opportunity to take the division, it doesn't matter what you thought seven weeks ago.
04:51All right?
04:52They're in a position now to take a lead in the division.
04:55That's one game up on Pittsburgh.
04:57That would be at least one and a half games up on Cincinnati.
05:00And I'm assuming the Ravens are going to lose even with Lamar back this week.
05:03That's an extra game on Buffalo as well.
05:06Like that's...
05:07I just...
05:07This is what we live for as Browns fans.
05:10If you lose, you are third in the AFC North, assuming that the Bengals take care of the Titans.
05:14Like you drop in such a way.
05:16And again, you still might end up making the playoffs.
05:17Everything could still be right there for you.
05:19But also, if you're going to be one of these teams that's borderline in the playoffs anyway,
05:23wouldn't you think a game at the end of the season would matter?
05:25I realize now, can we not post any clips from the first 12 minutes of this show?
05:32Because I have not ran my thoughts past Ben Axelrod or Andre Knott or...
05:38Is Kevin Klepp still in town?
05:39Kevin Klepp, I haven't really run it by any of the tastemakers in Cleveland sports.
05:43Okay.
05:44And I base all of my opinions based off firsthand what people tell me who certainly aren't in
05:50any way biased in Berea or like a small cabal of people, you know, tastemakers in Cleveland.
05:55These are the shots where you get me roped in with you here.
05:57No, no.
05:58These are the...
05:59None of those people like us anyways.
06:00You're new to the show, Marcotte.
06:01Oh, no.
06:02I take the shrapnel with it.
06:03Oh, no.
06:03I take the shrapnel.
06:04A guy that doesn't like me is going to hear I say his name on the radio.
06:08Oh, no.
06:09Okay.
06:10Oh.
06:10He's going to wipe tweets about me when people say mean things about me.
06:15All right.
06:16You don't even like being on social media.
06:18I don't.
06:18You're right about that.
06:19I don't.
06:19And I don't care about that necessarily.
06:20It's just an unnecessary bring-in of people's names is all I'm getting at.
06:24I mean, I was trying to think of the cabal.
06:25It's just unnecessary.
06:27Is Manilov in there?
06:27I don't know if any of my god Manilov is in there.
06:30It's just unnecessary.
06:31Is Ziggler in there, PJ?
06:32You don't have to bring people's names into it.
06:34They know who they are.
06:35I don't know who they are.
06:36You don't have to bring them into it.
06:36I don't know where they are.
06:38They know who they are.
06:38I don't want to upset them with opinions that aren't theirs.
06:41You don't have to say their names.
06:41They know who they are.
06:42Is Shadowski in it?
06:43He's such a nice guy.
06:45That's the ones you don't think about is the nice guys.
06:47Shadowski, he could be in the cabal.
06:49I love Dave.
06:49Dave, I don't know that he's in the cabal.
06:51I don't think he's in the cabal either.
06:52I think he's too nice to have a cabal.
06:53I think he's a fantastic human.
06:55You know what, though?
06:55He's a cabal to hang out with.
06:57Come on, now.
06:57Yeah, that was nice.
06:58Come on.
06:58That was nice.
06:58Yeah, I don't know what it is.
06:59I remember when he used to do the part-time shows here.
07:01He was very, very nice.
07:02Yeah, he's a great guy.
07:03I just wanted to shout him out.
07:04Yeah.
07:04But I don't think he's in the cabal either.
07:06216-474-0092.
07:08At Nick Wilson says,
07:09At Jay Peterlin on social media.
07:11Social media reactions on X.
07:13It's powered by Scheiben Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
07:17So, there is one show in town that has downplayed this game on Sunday.
07:22Everyone else seems to understand this is a significant game for the Cleveland Browns.
07:26It's a massive game.
07:27I just want to know if you're protecting your feelings.
07:29If you don't, if you're worried about,
07:31Oh, what happens if the Browns lose?
07:34People are going to be big mad.
07:35Or, whether you would also like to talk about a pretty freaking exciting football game
07:40with gigantic implications for the Cleveland Browns.
07:42I just want to know.
07:43Sometimes I wake up and then I start listening and I think I'm in like a bizarro world or something.
07:46Where it's like, hold on.
07:47So, the accusation is that we're hijacking people's emotions and we're doing it unfairly.
07:52That's what Ken said today.
07:54We're unfairly putting people's emotions in a spot that they don't need to be.
07:58Like, guys, the defense shouldn't have to be that the Browns stealers in week 9
08:03for the fate of the AFC North, or at least the start of the AFC North in the standings,
08:08is some sort of, I don't know, big game.
08:11Or even week 8.
08:12How is that a discussion?
08:14Even week 8.
08:15That one too.
08:15Yeah.
08:16Whichever one you want.
08:17Right.
08:17Week 8, week 9, week 10.
08:18Whenever it happens, Nick, it doesn't really matter.
08:21The point is, it's going to be, it's a big game on Sunday.
08:24All right.
08:24But don't you guys get mad.
08:26Don't you, you guys listen out there.
08:27Don't you get mad.
08:28Please don't get mad if the Browns lose.
08:30Do you feel like you were unfairly taking people's emotions as if they're 10-year-olds
08:36and can be swayed that easily with their emotions?
08:38No, I feel like I've talked to enough people that are super excited about this game.
08:42Even Bill at the...
08:43I also give enough credit to the audience, Nick, that we're not talking to 10-year-olds.
08:48Yes.
08:48Everyone has their own thoughts and their opinions.
08:50We don't necessarily drive your emotions.
08:52You have your own emotions.
08:54Because you're an adult.
08:55You pay taxes.
08:56You do real-life things.
08:58You don't need us to tell you whether or not you feel big or small about a game.
09:01I keep hearing all the time, you guys don't know how to deal with a winning team.
09:05I think this is where it shows people don't know how to deal with a winning team.
09:09Oh, my God.
09:09Because you banked margin for error because you're 5-2.
09:13That's why I think...
09:15You're telling me...
09:15I think this is evidence where guys at the Afternoon Show lobbying these complaints,
09:19it's pretty clear they're not used to a winning team.
09:22Because when you're a winning team or when you bank some wins,
09:25it affords you margin for error that you can lose a game at Pittsburgh.
09:28That's all I'm trying to say.
09:29Especially when you've already beaten them.
09:30That's all I'm trying to say.
09:32Let me look into the camera on YouTube Live.
09:34I ain't afraid of nothing.
09:35I ain't afraid of social media if they lose.
09:38I ain't afraid of anybody with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
09:41I don't give a damn.
09:42I care about the Browns and making the postseason
09:45in a season I didn't think that they were going to make anything this year.
09:49I'm playing the long game.
09:50If they go there and win, I'm going to come in here dressed as Dusty Rhodes
09:53and we're going to whoop it up and have a pep rally.
09:56But I'm not going to sit there and insult everybody's feelings and their intelligence
09:59because guess what?
09:59They're 5-3 if they lose and they go down to New Orleans and they win their 6-3.
10:05It's called a season.
10:06I know that I'm supposed to act like everything's life and death
10:08and I'm supposed to get you guys all worked up and calling in.
10:11But for the love of God, that's an insult to your intelligence and your emotions as adults.
10:15Speaking of insult to your intelligence, that was Ken Carman this morning
10:20and giving his take on why this game is just 1 of 17.
10:24Yeah, I guess it just doesn't matter.
10:26It doesn't matter, which is why they're going to scream and hoop and holler
10:30and be dressed like Dusty Rhodes on Monday.
10:33Yeah, now with the win, I'm sure they'll take it in stride because, again,
10:36nothing really can tilt your scales in the postseason one way or another, can it?
10:39You know the Browns Radio Network doesn't have a morning show.
10:42They don't have one.
10:43Yeah.
10:44You keep coming in with that, hey, when we win, we rah-rah, and we lose,
10:48well, that's football.
10:49Yeah.
10:50Yeah.
10:50That really is a nice way to kind of just spin it if you're trying to do state-run media.
10:56Blessing kind of already does.
10:58So what would this, you know, just make it official in this case?
11:00I mean, if you can't get excited for this game, I just can't help you.
11:03Or if you don't think this game matters, I can only, and I'm going to bring it up all day
11:06long
11:07because I really don't think they understand the magnitude of what this game is
11:11for your playoff percentages, 67%, Nick, 67% if you win this game, 37% if you don't.
11:17There's a 30 percentile swing.
11:19Now I feel like I'm talking to Dan Orlovsky explaining percents out here.
11:22But there's a 30 percentile swing.
11:24What percent is that out of?
11:25Yeah.
11:26But that is the difference from your kid being an honor roll student
11:29to needing summer classes, okay?
11:32It's a massive difference in whether or not they win this game
11:35and whether or not they go to the postseason
11:36and whether they lose this game and go to the postseason.
11:39This game is huge and the biggest game this regular season by far for the Browns.
11:43And this was all in reaction to me saying yesterday
11:47that I thought people were protecting their feelings.
11:49If you're downplaying this game, that's the only reasonable idea that I can have.
11:55If you look at this game, I get it.
11:57They haven't won in 23 years.
11:58That's why it's a huge game to win a game in Pittsburgh.
12:02They also haven't won the division since Clinton was president.
12:06And they haven't been at the top of the AFC North this late into the season since 2014, Nick.
12:12I got here in 2016.
12:13The entire time I've been here, they haven't been in first in the AFC North this late in the division.
12:17It's insane.
12:18It even feels like, and this is where this could be hyperbole.
12:22I'm willing to admit this.
12:23But it even feels like beyond just the obvious, which is it's for first place in this division.
12:28Moving to 6-2.
12:30Your odds of making the playoffs go exponentially up.
12:33Same with winning the division as well.
12:35Like, there's so many obvious things that winning this game would do for the Browns where it also just feels
12:42like you're back in this rivalry.
12:44Because you haven't swept them since the 80s.
12:46You haven't beat them in Pittsburgh, in the regular season that is, since 2003.
12:52Like, there are so many parts of this where, and I've been so annoyed by the Steelers who have done
12:58such a great job at little brothering us for so long.
13:01And Steelers fans have too.
13:03Oh, no, we don't think about the Browns fans.
13:05They won't be able to say that after this game because they're going to, the same people selling their seats
13:12to Browns fans to make a couple extra bucks.
13:16Those same people are going to be mother bleeping the Browns on Monday if the Browns win.
13:20I mean, it's almost like a passing of the baton type moment.
13:23And it came earlier than we ever could have expected.
13:26And that's the beautiful part about this.
13:28If you take them down on Sunday, you're achieving a lot of things that we thought wasn't going to happen
13:32for at least another year, maybe even two at a minimum, if we ever even got there.
13:37And that's what makes that so incredible.
13:39And I think it's a huge game for Deshaun.
13:41Massive game.
13:42There's a segment of Browns fans and there's a segment of media that will never rock with Deshaun.
13:49There's nothing he can do short of winning a Super Bowl or winning a playoff game or a 15-win
13:54season.
13:54Like, you have to think gigantic.
13:56You have to think bigger than gigantic to get probably 25% of people back in the Deshaun Watson business.
14:04I think there's another element of people, though, that he has them a little bit intrigued after seven games.
14:11Listen, I have said this before.
14:13Deshaun will never be my quarterback.
14:15He can't be.
14:15There's too much water under the bridge.
14:17But you want to talk about respect-earning games where I can put some football respect Deshaun's way?
14:24You beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh and you have the Browns starting 6-2.
14:28I don't care what your QBR is.
14:30I don't care what PFF says your grade is.
14:32I don't care what's your turnover margin if you win this game.
14:37All right.
14:38That is feather in your cap.
14:40And you can say something that a fair amount of Browns quarterbacks haven't been able to say, I mean, ever,
14:45but let alone since 1999.
14:47Well, and he'll be chipping away at the idea that it was the worst NFL contract in NFL history.
14:52You start stacking some wins together and then you beat the Steelers twice.
14:56You go to the postseason, maybe even win a playoff game.
14:58Maybe it's still up there as far as one of the worst, but for Browns fans, it won't feel nearly
15:05as disastrous as it did a year ago at this time.
15:08And so for me, it's not about style points, but let's not admit or let's not act like he's not
15:13coming off his first 300-yard performance as a Cleveland Browns quarterback.
15:17If you win and then you stack, not necessarily 300 yards, but you stack another quality performance up against the
15:25one thing I think the Steelers do really, really well, which is their defense.
15:28Old as it is, you stack, you can pick apart the Titans game for a fair amount of reasons, even
15:36though Jeffrey Simmons was going against you and he wreaked havoc in that game.
15:39You can't really pick apart this performance for Deshaun if he takes that defense to task this weekend.
15:44Well, yeah, the Steelers ranked their fifth in scoring defense right now.
15:47Go back to that New Orleans game they just played in Paris.
15:50They allowed New Orleans just 18 rushing yards last Sunday.
15:53And so, like, this is not going to be a game for the running backs, for the Browns.
15:56This is going to be a game where Deshaun Watson's going to have to put them, really put the whole
16:01entire offense on his shoulders and showcase why he can win a game.