00:00They play the Houston Texans tomorrow.
00:03And listen, I think, I'm curious your thoughts on this
00:08because I might have a different perspective now
00:12as I've thought about it more,
00:15but we always like to find natural points in the schedule
00:18where it's like, okay, where does it make sense?
00:21When you don't have a quarterback,
00:22you always try to find natural points in the schedule
00:23where it's like, well, where could it turn?
00:25Where could they change quarterbacks?
00:26Where could they make that change to a different QB?
00:29And the bye week kind of feels like that point
00:32for this Browns team right now.
00:34Given that we just saw Chido play last week,
00:36there were some good moments.
00:38It took a while to get the offense going,
00:40similar to what we've seen in previous weeks with Deshaun.
00:43I think the biggest positive, of course,
00:44is that you saw him push the ball down the field a little bit more,
00:47make some of those explosive plays happen.
00:49That's always been in his arsenal.
00:50But Todd Munkin went back to Deshaun.
00:54And he's going to start tomorrow
00:56in a game that feels pretty big for him,
00:59but also for the Browns.
01:00Because 5-5 is a lot different than 6-4
01:03going into the bye week with 7 to play
01:04if you're trying to make the playoffs, right?
01:06And so, Megs, do you feel that Deshaun Watson
01:10is playing for his job tomorrow
01:13and that if it doesn't go well
01:16and if the Browns get blown out by Houston,
01:19which I don't even know if that's going to happen,
01:22do we come back in Week 12 against the Raiders
01:26and it's Shador Sanders starting for the second time this season?
01:29Yeah, so it's tough because the way that this all lays out,
01:31the next three games, you're looking at,
01:36you know, I believe tomorrow is definitely a playoff game for sure,
01:40and we'll get into that here in a little bit.
01:42And then the Raiders game,
01:43you're also competing with the Raiders
01:44for that final spot in the playoffs.
01:46So, as the math goes,
01:49the Browns aren't going to be, like, eliminated
01:51unless they lose, really, the next three.
01:54If you lose the Texans, Raiders, and Bengals,
01:56then you're, like, eliminated, eliminated.
01:59And now, where the bye week falls,
02:01it goes Texans, bye week, Raiders, Bengals,
02:04it kind of makes it a little awkward
02:05because that would be, in theory,
02:07the right time to,
02:08if you were going to make a quarterback change,
02:10that would be the time to do it for sure.
02:12However, the way that we view all of this
02:15and, like, hey, find the next, find, you know,
02:17find out if one of the young quarterbacks can play
02:19and see if Shador or Dylan
02:20or even Taylon Green can get in there and go play,
02:24I've coined him Cam Newton, Cam Newton-Lite.
02:27Yeah, that's another take in our group chat.
02:30But the point, the real point is,
02:33is that, you know, the way we view that
02:35is different than the way that Todd Munkin views
02:37this whole thing.
02:38And because, right, wrong, or indifferent,
02:40whether you agree with it or not,
02:41the head coach of your football team,
02:42and this is what you want,
02:43he believes that this team is going to go win the Super Bowl.
02:45And he's going to do everything that he can
02:46to get them to the playoffs
02:47and to go and win the Super Bowl, right?
02:49I think that it's obvious
02:50they're not a Super Bowl contender,
02:52but don't tell a coach that.
02:53A coach is going to figure out every single way
02:55to do that.
02:56And in his mind,
02:57the best way to beat the Texans
02:59is through Deshaun Watson.
03:00The best way to beat the Raiders
03:01is through Deshaun Watson.
03:02The best way to beat the Bengals
03:04is probably through Deshaun Watson.
03:05And then, let's say,
03:06let's live in a world where they go 2-1 in that,
03:08and you're 7-6, right?
03:10You'd be 7-5.
03:12You're totally in it, all right?
03:13You're totally in it.
03:14Let's say they go 0-3,
03:15and you're 5-7.
03:16You're totally out of it.
03:17And then, at that point,
03:19it's like, you can now,
03:21Todd Munkin can't argue with you.
03:22Like, no, dude,
03:22you're not even going to,
03:23you can't even,
03:24it's impossible for you to make the playoffs.
03:25Now would be the time
03:26to go figure out how you go
03:27and do it next year, right?
03:29So, I think that the actual line of demarcation,
03:31I asked Daryl Ryder this yesterday,
03:33and we had a good conversation
03:34kind of back and forth,
03:34because it is hard,
03:35and it is a little awkward,
03:36but that line of demarcation,
03:37for me, is the Bengals game.
03:39Like, if they're still in it,
03:40it's going to be Deshaun Watson.
03:41If they're mathematically out of it,
03:43I think that's where you make a change.
03:44So, that's a good point.
03:45It's a good sort of look at the,
03:48like, what kind of lies ahead.
03:49And I guess, in a way,
03:51I guess we're going to kind of agree here,
03:53because, I'm going to be honest, Megs,
03:56like, I entered the week thinking
03:58all bets would be off after this game.
04:01Like, if they lose and they're 5-5,
04:03all right, well, now you can have
04:04legitimate conversations about it being time
04:06to change things,
04:08and you're, you know,
04:08you're, you have seven games left
04:10at 5-5.
04:12You got to win at least four
04:14to get to nine
04:15and feel like you're in the mix.
04:17Probably, though, you got to win five.
04:19Like, so, like, that's a tough,
04:21that's a tall task.
04:22And so, if you're looking to, like,
04:23inject some life into the offense,
04:24maybe that's the time to do it.
04:27But, then I've thought about it more,
04:28and, like, I listened to Todd Munkin's
04:30press conference on Wednesday
04:32when he, you know,
04:34formally reasserted that
04:36Deshaun was his guy.
04:38And, you know,
04:40the whole line about
04:42the intent was always to go back to Deshaun.
04:44He's our quarterback.
04:46He said,
04:47I don't know why I had to say it publicly, right?
04:50Like, when he's saying stuff like that,
04:52it just makes me think,
04:53and I understand, too.
04:55Like, my,
04:56this is what I try to tell people.
04:58When I talk about these things,
04:59oftentimes on the air,
05:01like, here in this space,
05:03I have my opinion,
05:05you have your opinion,
05:07and then there's, like,
05:09and the listener has their opinion,
05:11but then there's also, like,
05:13okay, but what is Todd Munkin's thinking?
05:15And what I try to give you,
05:17as somebody who's in that building,
05:19around Todd,
05:21has talked to Todd,
05:22even, like, off the record,
05:23and, like, gotten to just know him
05:25and his personality
05:26and what he kind of prioritizes,
05:28like, I do,
05:30it does feel like
05:32he is committed to Deshaun
05:34at this stage,
05:35and I don't know
05:37that he's just gonna, like,
05:39pull the plug
05:39while they're still
05:40in that playoff conversation.
05:42Like, I think he views it as
05:43this guy got us here,
05:45unless it's so bad.
05:46Yeah.
05:46Like, so, so bad.
05:48Like, if the offense tomorrow
05:50cannot move the foot,
05:51if it, if,
05:52because right now,
05:53the theme's been the same.
05:55Slow start.
05:56Slower middle.
05:58Unbelievable.
05:59You start to maybe find
05:59something at times.
06:00There's, like, a few,
06:01there's a few series
06:02where you make some plays
06:03or you score,
06:04maybe in the third quarter,
06:05and then the fourth quarter,
06:06just, like,
06:07it all takes off.
06:08Right?
06:08It's prime Tom Brady.
06:09And if, so, like,
06:10if tomorrow goes so bad
06:11that it's, like,
06:12the entire game is just,
06:13they can't figure it out,
06:14they can't move the football,
06:15they can't do anything,
06:16and you lose by double digits,
06:17okay, then maybe we're talking
06:19about them coming back
06:20and then being like,
06:20we gotta change something.
06:21Right.
06:21But as long as they're, like,
06:23losing these one possession games
06:26and they're still in it
06:27and the playoffs
06:28are still in picture,
06:29like, Todd's told you
06:30that Deshaun is his guy
06:32and he thinks Deshaun
06:33gives him the best chance
06:34to win.
06:35If he's gonna make the,
06:36if he'd make the change
06:37during the bye week
06:37or after the bye week,
06:38why wouldn't he just
06:39make the change now?
06:40You just saw Shador last week.
06:41Yeah.
06:42So I don't know that I,
06:43I thought early in the week
06:45that it could be a,
06:46you're playing for your job
06:47game for Deshaun.
06:48Now I'm starting to wonder
06:49if it's,
06:50if it's gonna be Deshaun
06:51for the foreseeable future
06:52and that the only thing
06:53that would make him
06:54sort of pivot to Shador
06:55is like,
06:56okay,
06:56the season's on the brink
06:57or like,
06:58we're like almost
06:59mathematically eliminated here.
07:00Like,
07:00let's try,
07:01let's try to switch things up
07:03here and see what happens.
07:04There's no doubt about it.
07:06And,
07:06you know,
07:07I think context
07:08is gonna be important
07:09of how it looks tomorrow
07:10because if,
07:12like you said,
07:12I think there's two scenarios
07:13and I totally agree
07:14with the fact that
07:15if they do get blown out
07:17and it does look horrible,
07:18now we're having
07:19a different conversation
07:21about what it should be
07:22and what,
07:22you know,
07:24we think Todd
07:25should be looking at it from,
07:27the viewpoint he should
07:28be looking at it from,
07:28but I just think
07:29they are going to,
07:30he is going to keep
07:32Deshaun in
07:33until the wheels are off.
07:35And then once the wheels
07:35are off,
07:36it's now find out
07:36because he's also not dumb,
07:38right?
07:38For the future of this team,
07:39he knows they're not
07:40playing good football,
07:40but he knows they're winning
07:41and he knows that,
07:43hey,
07:43it's not sustainable
07:44as we found out
07:45against the Jets
07:46and against the Saints
07:47that this version
07:49of this team
07:50where you just stink
07:51for three quarters
07:51and then are great
07:52in the fourth,
07:53you lose a lot of games
07:54doing that
07:55and that's not a sustainable
07:56thing against these good teams.
07:58So I see this going,
07:59you know,
08:00Texans,
08:00Raiders,
08:01Bengals,
08:01and then there's an evaluation
08:03point after that Bengals game
08:04because there is a legitimate world
08:06where the Bengals come
08:07to Huntington Bankfield
08:08and win 50 to 10,
08:09you know,
08:10and it's like,
08:11okay,
08:11we're so done,
08:13let's figure out
08:13what we have
08:15with this team.
08:16Is tomorrow,
08:18is Deshaun playing
08:18for his job tomorrow
08:20and Meg's laid out
08:21the upcoming schedule,
08:23kind of feels like
08:24a pseudo playoff game
08:25and I'm kind of wondering
08:26if the Browns lose tomorrow,
08:28how quickly are people
08:30going to be mock drafting
08:31during the bye week?
