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How Browns' ugly loss to Steelers exposed Jared Verse's lack of production, Deshaun Watson & offense
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00:00there was a lot going into this week there was a lot of talk there was a lot of clips
00:05being cut
00:06in front of microphones before and after practice from everybody on both sides of the aisle and the
00:12Steelers and the Browns there was history at stake and there was a spot a chance to get that
00:18first place spot in the AFC North at stake and what ensued was the most was the second most
00:26hapless pathetic ridiculously boring performance that I have seen this season second only to that
00:34week one opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars that was basically my only takeaway when we got
00:40to the late stages of the third quarter and the Steelers scored once again to go up 27 to six
00:47and I basically set my notes down and I was like well this is it I don't think that they're
00:52going
00:52to come back from 21 points in a quarter and a half despite the fact that we've seen some magic
00:58happen out of this Deshaun Watson led offense out of this offense that seems to come alive late in a
01:05defense that plays their best style of football late in the game and I even heard on the broadcast
01:10that oh once again the Browns hold the team scoreless in the fourth quarter yeah how'd that
01:15go for you guys after the game was basically over and Aaron Rodgers and company were based just trying
01:20to get out of town and on to next week with that six and two record for you that was
01:25that was bad
01:26and bad is putting it lightly and I didn't want to come into tonight I tried not to go into
01:32the game
01:33today being all over reactionary and yelling and screaming and throwing things if they had lost the game
01:40because again as Tyvus and Jeff Phelps mentioned throughout the Browns Network postgame show the team
01:47is still five and three there's still one game off the pace in first place in the AFC North they
01:52still
01:53are eons ahead of where a lot of us felt like they would be at at this point in the
01:58season and yet
02:00with everything that was going into this game I couldn't help but find myself aggravated and angry
02:06and pissed off and ready to yell and scream about these things so hello everybody long cold open my name's
02:13anthony alant welcome to the fan final call we got some people on hold if you're on hold stay there
02:18we'll get to you in a minute we're going to take you all the way up until eight o'clock
02:22where we click
02:22over to westwood ones coverage of sunday night football between the eagles and the commanders
02:28real real barn burner we're lining up for there tonight uh but we'll be on taking your calls at
02:34216-474-0092 there's a lot of ways to go with this game there's a lot of things that we
02:40can break down
02:41we do have a little bit over an hour and a half to do it but I think there is
02:44no more apropos way
02:46to start than with the trash talk and with jared verse did I like the fact that jared verse the
02:52newest addition the biggest offseason acquisition that this team made that he's going headlong into
03:00this rivalry and he's cutting clips and he's getting fans excited about things I enjoyed it I enjoyed
03:07listening to the fact that they felt confident because as a fan base they were echoing how we were feeling
03:12that whether or not we're playing with fool's gold early on in the season whether or not this is a
03:17sustainable way to continue to win football games the fact of the matter was you were going into
03:22a stealers game against a team that you had already beaten this year in heroic comeback fashion
03:28and it felt like the momentum was on your side I had a weird weird feeling coming into this game
03:36just because it's really really difficult to beat an afc north opponent two times in the same season
03:43obviously now the browns still haven't done it last time they've done it 1988 we're all very familiar
03:48with the two you know last time quote-unquote said we've won both times over the stealers and
03:54at Heinz Field or Akersher Stadium still waiting on that uh regular season win over in Pittsburgh
04:01I was excited by it and I didn't mind that Jared first was talking trash and saying that we wanted
04:08to make Pittsburgh hours heading into this game because I knew that it wasn't Todd Munkin and it
04:14wasn't a coach that couldn't back it up on the field and I was confident in the fact that Jared
04:19first or at least this defense and this team overall that I've seen pull a rabbit out of a hat
04:24five times
04:25this season I felt like they'd be able to do it once again and maybe not win at the end
04:30of the day
04:31but at the very least not come out completely flat not have any fight be as penalized as I've seen
04:38them
04:38all season long have sat have eight sacks not protect Deshaun Watson whatsoever not make any
04:45halftime adjustments for the second third fourth however many weeks it's been not be able to stop the
04:52run once again and allow over 100 rushing yards in the first quarter alone and I know that Jalen
04:58Warren is a really good running back and he's a lot better in our minds than Tony Pollard last week
05:03but you got torched by an old Tony Pollard last week against a really bad Titans team don't you think
05:10that would have been an area of emphasis for you this week against a much better Steelers offensive line
05:15a much more complete veteran offense overall and a much better running back in Jalen Warren
05:22but at the end of the day I'm looking at the box sheet I'm watching the game and I don't
05:27see Jared
05:28verse and I think that now is as good of a time to take the gloves off on a guy
05:33that I think that
05:33we've been tiptoeing around because for the longest time since we made that Miles Garrett trade we've kind
05:39of held it off as well Jared versus a really good player and I like the acquisition I like the
05:45idea
05:45of getting a proven player that has been to the Pro Bowl twice that one defensive rookie of the year
05:51his first year in the league and was coming from a winning culture in the LA Rams and we've kind
05:57of
05:57put it at arm's length say we're not going to compare him to Miles Garrett Jared versus never going
06:03to be Miles Garrett as long as he just continues to improve and get better he'll get his sacks he'll
06:08help
06:09Mason Graham and Mike Hall and the other defensive linemen on that unit and he did a couple of times
06:13today but when I look at the stat sheet and when I just watch the game and the fact that
06:18I continue
06:18to wonder where in the hell Jared versus he ends today with all but a half of a sack or
06:25a half of a
06:26tackle congratulations dude you had almost as much as contribution as me and Jax did by the way Jax
06:33Gregory on the board answering your calls as well yet half a tackle today for a defense that only
06:40allowed seven points in the second half that for the second half and for multiple times throughout
06:45the game was really good I mean I know they had that one defensive stand right at the goal line
06:50where they force the Steelers to kick a field goal it wasn't a great defensive day whatsoever I mean
06:55even calling it a fine defensive day is exaggerating a little bit but if you're Jared verse you spend all
07:03week endearing yourself to the fan base cutting these clips for yourself saying all of the quote
07:09unquote right things to drum up excitement for this rivalry and clapping back at Cam Hayward after he
07:14called you a dirty player and how did you the face of all the conversation this week on the defense
07:21handle things this week you didn't show up in the box sheet you didn't get to Aaron Rodgers who
07:27somehow some way looked more fleet of foot than Deshaun Watson this afternoon but at the end of the day
07:32he's
07:32still a quarterback over 40 years old and we've seen players not just Miles Garrett totally disrupt his
07:39game plan totally disrupt him in the pocket Jared first was a non-factor today and the biggest thing for
07:46me
07:46obviously outside of that is watching him get flipped over tabletopped little boy and ragdolled
07:54on an extra point and then nobody doing anything about it Jared verse who was the talk of the town
08:01this entire week who is the talk of Pittsburgh radio guess what here and across the way in Pittsburgh
08:08everybody should be on his ass as much as anybody on that defense of course there were players like
08:14Carson Swessinger and I didn't see a whole lot from Mason Graham and Mike Hall today either but there
08:19are players to nitpick on that defensive side of the ball and believe me guys we have plenty of time
08:24to
08:24get to the offense because they left plenty to be desired but after you go on this scorched earth tour
08:33in front of the media like that I expect you to at least back it up and at the very
08:39least if I'm going
08:40full loser mentality I expect you to at least not look like you're just not trying out there
08:45and it looked at so many points like they had no answers for Pittsburgh offense that yeah we allowed
08:5124 points to last game and they you know only allowed 27 points so like that's you know it's not
08:57the worst Steelers offense that we've ever seen that's certainly not the Steelers offense from last
09:02year where Miles Garrett could just plug and play and completely disrupt the game plan and make sure that
09:07they don't get the ball past the 50 but you didn't do anything to stop you didn't do anything
09:13to back up your words and all right fine Jared versus postgame that he's going to stand by those
09:18words whatever I I have plenty of words to say if he would have gone the other way and said
09:23well you
09:23know maybe I got a little over my skis there but at the end of the day I want the
09:27team to back it up
09:28you're five and two heading into an environment that you haven't won in the regular season since 2003
09:34and we all know the lines of it are you at the level are you above where the Pittsburgh Steelers
09:41the
09:41blue chip mark the benchmark of the AFC North over these last however many different years
09:47and you know you're obviously the the Bengals win today but they struggled they're kind of waiting
09:53in the wings the Ravens who the hell knows going on with them we might not see Lamar Jackson for
09:58the
09:58rest of the year you had an opportunity to showcase today where you were and after that performance
10:06I don't know if I can put you up there with the Steelers where if you remember a couple of
10:11weeks
10:11ago against the Jets a lot of what we were talking about and I think I said the same thing
10:15as well
10:16was go in take care of business get out there with a double digit win win by 10 points look
10:23like you are
10:25so much better than the Jets because the Jets are competing for the first overall pick lost again
10:30today to the Raiders by the way and you started off the season looking like you were gonna be
10:35competing for that first round pick and then you got off to this great start and for some reason
10:40there was a clunker and maybe we could excuse it for bad rain and a bad approach to the offense
10:45whatever but you didn't pass that test to showcase that you weren't above where the New York Jets were in
10:51that week and this was a test to show whether or not you were legit and you failed and you
10:56failed
10:57miserably and you failed with a lot of the sports and NFL world watching you because of the comments
11:03that Jared verse and other players on this defense made if you're going to go full bore attack mode on
11:10on the press junket heading into this game you have to back it up and I didn't see anything in
11:18that
11:19way that they should back it up so yeah I think that we should never compare Jared verse to Miles
11:23Garrett we should never ever compare the two together but not only because Miles Garrett is a
11:30generational player and it's just wrong to try and compare the two but because at least Miles Garrett
11:38would back up what he said or at least Miles Garrett would just keep his mouth shut and showcase to
11:43you
11:43on the field I thought Todd Munkin's you know statement afterwards when he's actually Jax I know we're doing this
11:48on
11:48fly do you have Todd Munkin's statement afterwards about whether or not he agreed with Jared verse and
11:55the rest of the defense saying that you know a couple of years ago we watched Freddie Kitchens go
12:01scorched earth just like Jared verse did and you're the coach and it's a little harder for you to back
12:06it
12:06up but at least with Jared verse we knew that he could be on the field and this is a
12:11guy that we've kind
12:12of looked a little side eye at like hey we saw that report that the Buffalo Bills were going to
12:17have
12:17we're going to offer you three first round picks for Miles Garrett and the Browns decided that they
12:23like Jared verse so much they like the idea of him lining up with their timeline so much that they
12:27were going to forego the idea of three first round picks which holy hell think about what that could
12:33have done for your future of your franchise you went out of your way to stop talking to other teams
12:41because you liked what Jared verse brought to the table so much and then I don't think he's
12:49shown us that he was worth what was the equivalent of a first round pick I think in many points
12:56he's
12:56been a damn good player and again even today there was a sack that Aiden Huntington wrapped up that
13:00the Steelers sent two players Jared versus way and Huntington was able to kind of cobble together what
13:06was left of the pocket that's what Jared verse does really well but if you're the defensive end
13:11if you're the guy that after this season is supposed to be up for this big massive contract extension
13:16I'm going to need to see a hell of a lot more from you and today was a backsliding day
13:23to the last two
13:25years where you'd win the press conference you'd talk a big game and then you wouldn't show up on the
13:31field of play and I thought with Todd Munkin because he seemed like a lot more measured of a
13:36head coach a lot more in your face don't give the other side anything to give them any more
13:42confidence that they need or any more bulletin board material I thought that we were over and
13:46done with that but it doesn't seem like that do we have that audio clip good to go I'm not
13:52sure
13:52what number it is Anthony no worries well we'll figure it out I know there's a lot of audio here
13:57but again it's just it was I was on board with the excitement that was being drummed up all week
14:06I was really nervous going into this game I'll just be totally honest and I even said this morning
14:10I didn't think that they were going to win I know that there was a lot of reasons to be
14:15confident
14:15that they were going to win and that even at one point in the second quarter they were down 10
14:20to
14:20nothing and I'm thinking okay Browns are going to go down here they kick the field goal cut the lead
14:26to 10 to 3 and I'm thinking maybe this is just going to be that same slow start that we've
14:31seen
14:31throughout the season and then they're going to settle into things then the offense is going to
14:36get click it clicking then the defense is going to follow suit and really stand tall and then none of
14:43that happened and I do think that a lot of the angst coming out of this game was the fact
14:49that you
14:50such a big game in front of the microphones and then when you were facing off head-to-head with
14:56the Steelers offensive line you didn't do anything I guess I shouldn't discount he had a half a sack
15:01or he had a half a tackle so congratulations to that but like all over the place and it wasn't
15:08just
15:08the slow start but that keyed it up for sure where you came out flat in a divisional game in
15:14an
15:14opportunity to get into first place sweep the Steelers in the regular season and cement yourself
15:21give yourself the inside track to a playoff spot because if this team comes out of this at six and
15:27two all you gotta do is win like three more games the rest of the season and the sky is
15:32not all
15:33falling I don't know how good the Saints are we'll see next week and that's a game that you're gearing
15:37up
15:37for you still have gettable winnable games the rest of the way and it would be an epic
15:44cataclysmic event if they weren't able to at least get to a 500 record after this point
15:49but all of the things that we have been holding off because we have been winning over these last
15:55couple of weeks the slow starts the late game comebacks the run the rush defense just being
16:00horrific and hapless even against guys like Tony Pollard all of that came cycling back to you
16:07I think we knew that this was going to happen eventually that if they were going to lose a game
16:11like this it was going to give us the opportunity to just you know rip on them for everything bad
16:17that we've seen over these first now eight weeks of the season but yeah we knew that at some point
16:23things were not going to go our way some point those slow starts were going to turn into humongous
16:29deficits that we weren't going to overcome at some point the defense allowing them to run rough shot
16:35over you no matter who the running back is and again I I heard a caller earlier we still have
16:41bjohn robinson on the docket we still have some uh ashton jenny on the docket we have some really
16:47good running backs left to face so you better get this issue fixed quickly whether it's better coaching
16:53more from people like jared verse mason graham and mike hall or going to get a guy like yaya diaby
17:00khalil max some of the guys that i've seen rumored in the trade mill before the trade deadline but like
17:05a day like today made me think that right now you need to be as aggressive as possible or you're
17:10going
17:11to continue to be in spots like this you're going to continue to allow teams to bully ball you
17:17throughout the game and your offense and deshaun watson and everybody on the offensive side of the ball
17:24is just not talented enough but we knew that and we just were waiting for the other shoe to drop
17:29and
17:29today was a day that not only did the shoe drop but it dropped an epic proportion and it allows
17:36the steelers fans to chant cleveland sucks as you're leaving the field it allows patrick queen to be
17:42chirping you on the way out in the final play when you try and get a garbage time touchdown which
17:47was so
17:49loser mentality so ridiculous because what you get the touchdown at the end of the game todd munkin goes
17:54up and says well we could really build off of that just like he did in week one against jacksonville
17:58on that garbage time denzel boston touchdown give me a break and then at the end of the day you're
18:03not even able to do it because some guy false start some guy illegally shifts i don't even know who
18:08it
18:08was i was throwing things in my apartment at that point because i was like this is so ridiculous you
18:13had an opportunity to showcase that you were no longer the little child in the afc north and the
18:20steelers once again proved that they had your number and you once again proved that we have a long
18:25ass way to go before we can compare ourselves legitimately to the steelers 216 474 0092 want to
18:34get into the offense because we kind of harped on the defense there a little bit deshaun watson
18:38didn't have a great day don't give me that box score crap i'm not going to fight with you guys
18:42for
18:42a second straight week saying that he did better than he actually did watch the damn game he didn't
18:48do that well and a lot of it was his fault a lot of it was terrible play from the
18:52offensive line
18:52we're going to get into all of that as well um was this team is this team actually closer to
18:58today
18:59or is this just a bad day and we're all overreacting