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Transcript
All right.
Welcome in to the Report for Friday , October 2nd.
Week 4 is upon us and underway, and that's where we are gonna start today with the Cleveland Browns outlasting the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Thursday night.
And this was a Browns effort that I think ran the gamut of what you wanted to see.
A really impressive first half.
The Steelers were able to battle back, um, and tie the game with a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Um, it gets to 24, 24, and then the Browns fight back.
Deshaun Watson makes a couple of plays in the final possession.
He did miss Casey Concepcion, which would have made the Andre Smith's field goal a little, a little less stressful, a little easier, a little closer than 56 yards.
But Smith winds up hitting the 56 yarder to win the game and the Browns are now 3-1 and alone atop the AFC North.
They've won 3 straight games.
They've won 3 straight games at the wire.
And I, I, like I, I, I think I can't say enough about where the team is, and there are so many places that we can go with this.
I think I would start with the energy that the team has.
Very clearly, I think if you were at their training camp, you could see there was a different vibe to the way that Todd Monken's team was moving.
And I think that there's a bluntness about the way he coaches, there's a bluntness about the way his staff works.
Um, and there's an honesty to it.
Um, there's an old-school feel to it, and I think that's all reflected in the way that that team is buying in.
And you can see in the postgame locker room, the way that the players are reacting.
To Todd Monken.
Um, and so I think that the, the, the, the energy that Todd Monken has brought to that team is reflected in the way that the team is playing, which in turn wound up being reflected by the crowd last night too.
It looked like an electric atmosphere, um, in, in, in Cleveland and in a stadium that's been starved for these sorts of moments over the course of the last couple of decades.
So, I think Todd Monken's been a real difference-maker for them.
Um, and, and outside the box sort of head coaching hire that's working out at least through four games .
Deshaun Watson will be the second thing that you, that, that I want to get to.
Uh, Watson played great in the first half.
It looked like an old school 2017 to 2020 in Houston.
Deshaun Watson sort of performance.
Um, and I, I think the, the, the best thing he could say was he looked so in control and so in command and knowing when he had to make plays on schedule, knowing when he had to take the layoffs, and knowing when he had to go out there and be a playmaker.
And we saw some of that playmaking ability over the course of the first couple of quarters.
He did hit a little bit of a in the second half.
Um, the interception, which wasn't completely his fault, uh, Denzel Boston was getting ripped to the ground.
The ball was tipped at the line by Jack Sawyer.
Uh, maybe not the most ill-advised, maybe the most, maybe not the most well-advised decision to be making when you're under duress like that.
Nonetheless, even with those bumps, he's able to gather himself and make a couple of throws.
In the final minute of the game to put the team in position, and now you can see why Todd Monken and that staff were resolute really internally throughout that Watson was gonna be the best option for a very young team.
And that brings you to the final thing.
The best thing I think about this whole thing for people in Cleveland, for the Browns organization is you can see the future now.
And you can see the, the, the, the, the light at the end of the tunnel.
And whether Watson's a part of that or not.
Just look at the guys who are making plays for the Cleveland Browns last night.
Now, the unfortunate thing is they lose Mason Graham, and that's a big blow.
But Jarred Verse was part of the equation.
Spencer Fno at left tackle was part of the equation.
Casey Concepcion, Denzel Boston, they were part of the equation.
Quinshaw Judkins, he was part of the equation.
Harold Fannon, he again is part of the equation.
You start to add these things up and all of these guys being 1st and 2nd-year guys that came as part of the overall strategy to get younger, which was behind the Travis Hunter trade, which was behind the Miles Garrett trade, and you see the foundation that they're starting.
to build there.
You see the culture growing there.
And then you look forward and you see two first-round picks in 2027, 2 second-round picks in 2028, 2 third-round picks in 2029.
So they have a surplus of top 100 picks over the next three drafts in addition to this foundation they've already put in place.
The future is starting to look a lot brighter in Cleveland and maybe the present too.
Again, this is, this is becoming a difficult team to play against, and I think that's the best thing I can say about where Todd Monken has them just 4 games in.
It looks like it's a pain in the ass to play against the Cleveland Browns, which is something we haven't been able to say for a while.
So, I, I think Cleveland's got a right to be excited in the here and the now about their football team being in 1st place in the AFC North.
I also think they have a, have reason to feel pretty excited about the future.
So a lot of good stuff in Cleveland.
OK, on to the weekend, and we'll start with the only matchup of Unbeaten, which is in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hard to believe, but that's the reality of it.
I think a lot of people would have expected the Chiefs.
The Chiefs could come into this game 3-0.
I don't think anybody was thinking the Raiders would be here 3-0, but here we are.
And we can start with the Chiefs, who I think have a chance to become what we've become accustomed to them being over the course of the last nine seasons.
And that's a very real Super Bowl contender.
It looks to me like the offensive line issues have sort of started to settle themselves.
They got Khalil Benson at left tackle now.
We'll see when they get Josh Simmons back.
But that group has, for the most part, been pretty solid.
Having Kenneth Walker has helped in that area for sure.
Um, having a, a running back who runs as violently and as productively as Walker does, um, is going to help your offensive line group, you know, both in run blocking and in pass protection.
And then you look at Patrick Mahomes getting comfortable, you look at the benefits that Walker and the run game have given Travis Kelsey, who's getting into space in a way that he hasn't the last couple of years and, and starting to look again like he did a couple of years ago.
And that brings you to the receiver spot where, you know, you've got a couple of guys in Raschi Rice and Xavier Worthy who've always had talent.
Certain things have gotten in the way, they've both been banged up.
Rice has had the off-field issues, and They're flashing.
And so can you continue to build on that over the course of the year?
I think that that sort of potential is there.
There's growth potential for the defense too, particularly at the corner spot where Trent McDuffie, Jalen Watson are now gone.
They've got a first-round pick in Mansor Delane.
They've got Noel Williams, who's, I think going to grow into a really good corner if he's not there already.
The pass rush is getting its footing.
I, I think the Chiefs have a chance.
To again, be the sort of team they were 3 and 4 years ago, um, with a lot of young talent contributing in key spots, and that's a credit to Brett Veach and Andy Reid and the job they've done infusing the roster with young talent.
And then the Raiders, I, I, I think the best thing you can say for Clint Kubiak is they've maximized the top end guys in the roster.
So, Kirk Cousins is playing well, Brock Bowers is playing well.
Ashton Genty's numbers aren't great, but we've seen him sort of be the, the nerve center for the offense.
Max Crosby's playing great on the defensive side of the ball.
Um, is it some of it smoke and mirrors and maybe, maybe.
And I'm not gonna tell, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that they're gonna win 11 or 12 games.
But I think that they're on their, uh, I think they're on their way.
And I think what you're seeing now is a team that's invested in some young talent, that's now getting production from that young talent.
And, you know, we'll see down the line what Fernando Mendoza becomes and all those different things, but it looks, at least early on, like they get the head coaching hire, right, and it looks like there's young talent to start to build looking forward, and this is a big game for all of those guys, the biggest stage for a lot of them of their careers to this point.
And finally, the other game I want to look at on Sunday, the Rams and the Eagles playing in Philadelphia.
And this is a game between two teams where I think the records are lying to you a little bit.
The Rams come into this game 1 and 2.
But I think what we saw against the Giants on Monday night, which was a breezy win for the Rams, and then on Sunday in Denver where a few things went wrong , but you saw the overall strength of the team.
I think the Rams are rounding into shape.
And I think the Rams are gonna be who we thought they were gonna be.
They played well enough to win in Denver.
They obviously crushed the Giants.
Those two games happened without Miles Garrett, without Puka Nakua, so you can talk about them adding those guys over the course of time, but you saw the trademark physicality of the Rams, you've seen the pass rush produced.
Uh, like you've seen Trent McDuffie make an impact.
Devonte Adams looks like he's found the fountain of youth, the running backs, the, the, the, the, the, the, the tandem of Kyron Williams and Blake Coorum.
That, that looks like it's, it's where it needs to be.
I think the Rams are gonna be just fine, and I'm a little worried about the Eagles.
The Eagles struggled to win in Tennessee.
The Eagles struggled to beat the Commanders in the opener .
And then the Eagles went out on Monday night and did not look very good in losing in Chicago.
And to me, the, the, the, the issue that you're gonna want to look at in this one is where the overwhelming strength of the Eagles has been over the years is along the lines of scrimmage.
The offensive line lost Landon Dickerson.
The offensive line is now starting a young player, Drew Kendall at center, moving Cam Jergens to guard.
I think that's gonna be the setup for the foreseeable future.
What does that look like going forward?
You've got aging tackles there too.
Um, and a new offense, you know, I, this is, I, I think they bring in Sean Mannion to, to build the running game back up.
How does Jalen Hurts look on a down to down basis?
He's looked good at the end of games, but I like from 1/4 quarter perspective, the offense looked like a fit for him, and if the offensive line isn't performing at the level that it has the last couple of years, what does that mean?
And then on the defensive line.
The loss of Jalen Phillips, I know he's only been around for half the year last year.
Had they done enough to replace him?
You've got Jalen Carter playing a little bit beat up.
I just, you know, the offensive line, the defensive line, for the Eagles to be the team that they want to be because they've, they invest so much in those areas.
Those areas need to be in good shape.
And I think this week will be a good test and seeing where they're at in both of those spots.
Appreciate you guys coming out.
As always, you can leave your comments down below here on the YouTube page.
Um, you can also get to me on my social media at Albert Breer on Twitter, at Albert R Breer on Facebook, at Albert_Bren on Instagram, and you can also follow me now at Albert Breer on TikTok.
Appreciate you guys coming out.
We will be back on Monday to wrap up a big week 4 slate of games.
