00:00Neither side wants to take claim to what this team is.
00:02For the Texans, a team that has won a playoff game in each of the last three seasons, Nick,
00:06this season has been embarrassing.
00:07The loss to the Giants in overtime was kind of the tipping point,
00:10but they have an embarrassing loss to the Colts in there.
00:12They have all sorts of really rough games,
00:14and they once again started their season behind the eight ball.
00:16And so they're now trying to dig out of that.
00:18There's respect for what C.J. Stroud is doing,
00:20but their run game's atrocious.
00:22I mean, I like Woody Marks.
00:24He's questionable for this game.
00:25They can't run the football at all.
00:26They have a really bad offensive line.
00:28Their defense is very average.
00:29The only thing they have going for them right now
00:31is a passing offense that actually works.
00:35Is that more to hang their hat on than what we have right now?
00:37It kind of sounds like it.
00:38Well, so it's the passing offense with C.J. Stroud
00:42because he is capable of doing stuff.
00:44And Tank Dell, I'm forgetting the other receiver's name
00:47just off the top of my head.
00:48Nico Collins?
00:49There's another kid that's really playing well right now
00:52who isn't Nico Collins.
00:53He had 100 yards last week, although it might have been Nico
00:55now that I'm saying it.
00:56I might just be crossing myself up here.
00:57But that's going really well.
01:00I've got to say, though, their ability to generate pressure
01:02has been fantastic as well.
01:05Those two things are enough to beat the Browns.
01:08Oh, Booty.
01:08Booty had a great game last week.
01:10Oh, yeah, yeah.
01:10Kayshawn.
01:11I knew it was somebody that was not there previously.
01:13The Patriots could have really used a guy like that.
01:15Yeah.
01:15Yeah, Patriots really could use some booty right now.
01:17I'm looking at you, Stephon Diggs.
01:19They enjoyed their booty last year and decided to give up on it.
01:22Look at you, Stephon Diggs.
01:23You're in Washington now.
01:25But no, I mean, this is one of those weird games where,
01:27from the Browns' perspective, it is critically important
01:30because you and the Texans are within a game of each other.
01:33So it almost acts as a divisional game.
01:36It's incredibly important because you've got a two-game schneid going on now.
01:40And it's incredibly important because Deshaun Watson might be playing
01:43for his time in Cleveland as starter.
01:46And yet I come back to, oh, it's also your first home game in forever
01:50in about a month.
01:52And yet it's also, you know, if they get to the bye and they're five and five,
01:56you can live with that.
01:58It's just setting yourself up for six and four with a very winnable game
02:02for the Raiders after the bye.
02:04Stopping the bleeding going into the bye I just think is so critically important.
02:07Well, and for the playoffs, if you want to go to the playoffs this year,
02:10this game is massive.
02:11I looked at three different playoff models ahead of this game.
02:14The Athletic, if you lose this one, has you at 17%.
02:18Computer Cowboy, he's kind of been the guy with all this stuff.
02:21He's at 13%.
02:22And then ESPN at 7%, okay?
02:24Because we have six seeds that are basically locked up.
02:27Because there's six teams in the AFC.
02:28Currently, six and two are better.
02:30So those six are all kind of in.
02:31The seventh is what we're playing for here.
02:33And there's really four teams you can talk about,
02:36but there's two teams we take seriously in that discussion.
02:38One of them is the Texans, obviously.
02:40That's why this weekend is so important.
02:42And then the other one is the Patriots.
02:43And the Patriots have a really hard second half of the season schedule.
02:48But, like, there's really, in this race,
02:50it could inevitably come down to you versus either the Patriots,
02:54you versus the Texans.
02:55And that's why this game feels like it matters for more than just one.
02:57And I think that's something that is incredibly important to remind Browns fans.
03:01If you're just looking at the top six of the AFC and saying,
03:04what's the point, you're missing the point.
03:07Because there is not a big middle class in the AFC.
03:11If you want to throw, you might be able to throw the Ravens in there as well,
03:14by the way, as another team.
03:15The four teams that are kind of, like, nipping on the heels there
03:17is you've got to throw in then the Ravens as well, and then the Raiders.
03:20I think the Raiders are going to drop like flies.
03:21I do, too.
03:22And then, obviously, with the Ravens news today with Lamar Jackson,
03:24the assumption right now is they won't be a 10-win team
03:27or potentially even a 9-win team.
03:28But, obviously, we can debate that another day.
03:30But I just look at this and I go, you know, I don't quite consider it
03:34a playoff elimination game, but this is the kind of game that I care very much.
03:40I don't want to say I care how much it looks because, in the end, just win, baby.
03:45But if it is an L, it's got to be another game like the Saints.
03:50This cannot be – the thing that scares me about this game,
03:53between CJ and the way that they blitz and the fact that you can't stop the run either,
03:57they might make Demarcato look like Audrick Estame did last week,
04:01there's a version of this game that if you start poorly,
04:05you're getting your penalties, you're turning the ball over, interceptions, whatever,
04:09and that defense doesn't show up until the second quarter,
04:12there is a version of this game that looks too close to the Steelers game
04:16and Jags game, and that's the thing I can't have.
04:19I'm expecting a close game.
04:21I'm expecting it to come down to the final drive or two
04:24because I think that's where the Browns have been for most of this year.
04:28But if you dilly around here, if you dally around here,
04:31if you dilly and dally around here,
04:33this could be your third bad loss of the season,
04:36and you cannot have that going into the bye
04:39because of everything that it means,
04:41specifically starting with what it's going to necessitate at quarterback.
04:45Yes, you say this isn't the playoffs,
04:47but I really do think this game is going to be about as big of a game
04:50as you can think of for whether or not you do make the postseason.
04:52Think about it, Nick. If you lose this game, you're 5-5,
04:55which means if you want to make it to the postseason,
04:57you have to go 5-2 the rest of the way, in my opinion.
05:00I think it's got to be a 10-win team is what that 7-seed is going to end up
05:03being.
05:03You have to legitimately go 5-2 the rest of the way.
05:06Your margin for error is shot if you don't win this one.
05:09But I'm nervous. I'm nervous about this one.
05:11I think the Texans are a better team than the Browns.
05:12From the Deshaun side of things,
05:14I think it's crazy that he could be playing for his job on Sunday.
05:18I also know the bye week looms large in this.
05:21Chador's play with the explosives from Sunday ago looms large in this.
05:27And it makes sense that the Browns would look at changing the quarterback position
05:32if Deshaun has another subpar performance on Sunday.
05:36I just look at it as like, you win, you get to go ahead and pass on through.
05:39We'll see with the Raiders.
05:41But I think what's interesting about this game is,
05:44I don't think it's just about Deshaun Watson.
05:46I think part of why Deshaun has refused to throw to any player
05:50that isn't blatantly wide open on the field has been
05:53that's what he's being coached to do by Todd Munkin.
05:56And so in these last two weeks, my hope is that Munkin has gone to Deshaun
06:01and be like, I know you're starting to feel the pressure of losing
06:04and the fact that the offense is only averaging 17 points a game.
06:09Here's what we're going to do.
06:10I'm going to loosen up the restrictions here,
06:12and I want you to start looking for big explosive plays
06:15because it's clear that Deshaun is not comfortable doing that yet.
06:19I'm assuming that's because of directives from Todd Munkin
06:22and you want to win this game,
06:24you are going to not just have to make explosive plays late in the game
06:28like they have previously.
06:29They're going to do it all four quarters long
06:31because that's how you're going to stop the Texans
06:34from pinning their ears back
06:36and turning Deshaun Watson into a human piñata.
06:38Well, so that's what's so fascinating about this Texans team
06:41is between their dynamic pass rushers
06:44and what they try to do in getting home,
06:45they just allow a lot of big plays on the back end of that defense.
06:48And that's why like Boston versus Stingley
06:50was going to be a really interesting matchup
06:52and one, if he wasn't dealing with this toe issue
06:53and we'll find out if he can even play on Sunday
06:55was going to be one that I think a lot of fans would highlight.
06:58I mean, the explosive play rate allowed by this Texans defense
07:02is 25th in the NFL.
07:04They allow you to beat them deep.
07:06And so Will Deshaun actually kind of, I don't know,
07:09take a page from Shador's book and try to flex on that
07:12and try to throw the ball deep and say,
07:14INT's be damned.
07:15I got to stretch the field at some point.
07:17Like this is your opportunity if ever.
07:18So it's interesting.
07:19The weather could be troublesome on Sunday,
07:23which I think is a good thing for the Browns
07:25because it's going to slop up the game.
07:27I don't think it's a good thing for Deshaun though
07:29because he's not a good cold weather quarterback.
07:31Yeah, that's kind of where it's been a little bit
07:32of an up in the air type thing, right?
07:34Like typically, if you're the worst team,
07:36you want it to be as bad a weather as you possibly can get.
07:38It just helps you out if you're a worse team.
07:41Deshaun does not play good in cold weather though.
07:42Yeah, he's not.
07:44Now here's the other thing.
07:46Houston is, this is where I actually do think ultimately,
07:49all right, you're the lesser team,
07:50so you want it to get sloppy.
07:52Houston's also a team that,
07:55a guy like Tank Dell, he's so fast,
07:58a field might just slow him down just enough
08:00to give you an even better chance.
08:02And the fact they play in a dome, I think,
08:04is their wusses, is what I'm trying to say.
08:07You get away from those fast tracks.
08:08Yeah.
08:09So I just, there's something that happened
08:14in that Steelers game that I should,
08:17how I should be feeling going into this game is,
08:19it's going down, it's going to come down
08:20to the final drive,
08:22and I have faith that the Browns can win it.
08:26But man, does this feel like the kind of game,
08:28if you start slow, that team can start fast.
08:31And if they get blown out,
08:32I'll be very, very disappointed.
08:35This is as open as I've been to that possibility
08:37in a game in a while.
08:38CJ Stroud is just playing good enough football,
08:40and if their defensive line gets at Deshaun
08:43the way that not only a lot of other defensive lines have,
08:45but the way they just did the Chargers this last week
08:47with eight sacks,
08:48it's got a chance to get away from the Browns really quickly.
