Speaker 1: Now your host Ken Brown on News radio seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 2: There you murd it an extraction from Venezuela overnight. As
Speaker 2: our Gary Jeff Walker said this morning, in this week
Speaker 2: of transfer portals in college football, Nicholas Medoro and his
Speaker 2: wife have entered the transfer portal and they have a
Speaker 2: visit in New York this week in front of a
Speaker 2: in front of a jury, in front of a judge
Speaker 2: on indictment charges. The legalities of all this are interesting.
Speaker 2: The political ramification of what has occurred is interesting. And
Speaker 2: apparently now the United States is running Venezuela. I don't
Speaker 2: know where to begin on this one other than the
Speaker 2: guy was a thug and I'm glad he's gone by
Speaker 2: hooker by crook.
Speaker 3: But on the other.
Speaker 2: Standpoint, you're going to probably see a lot of legal
Speaker 2: hoops that the United States is going to have to
Speaker 2: jump through, and the howling on the left has already begun.
Speaker 2: Things are getting crazy, And when things get crazy politically,
Speaker 2: I want to bring in doctor bo Cabala. He is
Speaker 2: the tall estate professor of law and doctor how are
Speaker 2: you on this glorious Saturday?
Speaker 3: Doing great?
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me, ken Ye talk about an extraordinary day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm saying I was enraptured by the whole extra
Speaker 2: extraction of these two people. And then out of the blues,
Speaker 2: Trump says, and we're going to be running Venezuela.
Speaker 3: How does that work? How can he do that well?
Speaker 5: Direct?
Speaker 4: And to the point of course Vice President now has
Speaker 4: already been sworn in, and the noble laureate in Venezuela,
Speaker 4: Maria Machado, has expressed tremendous hope. So you know, I
Speaker 4: think in the interim, to ensure an orderly transition of power,
Speaker 4: the US will be will be running things. I didn't
Speaker 4: take that to be a sort of long term declaration
Speaker 4: of conquest by any means.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: And he re sizes or will re seize the oil
Speaker 2: operations in Venezuela, which we're taken.
Speaker 3: By the way, I think this hasn't been pointed out yet.
Speaker 2: Those oil operations were taken over by Hugo Chavez and
Speaker 2: his protogy. Now Maduro, they seize those operations from American
Speaker 2: oil companies. I think one company gave it back with
Speaker 2: under the point of a gun saying you're either going
Speaker 2: to give it to us or we're going to kill you. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So those are rightfully possessions of the major oil companies
Speaker 2: of the United States, which the United States government helped
Speaker 2: fund all those years ago, twenty five years ago. So
Speaker 2: that should not be murky ground, should it.
Speaker 4: Exactly, it should not. You're talking about expropriation which also
Speaker 4: detrimentally impacted, you know, the people of Venezuela when the
Speaker 4: socialist inspired party of both Chaves and Maduro did that.
Speaker 4: So no, that's an absolutely fair point, you know, to me.
Speaker 4: Ken to the extent that people are going to trying
Speaker 4: to make hay out of this, it'll have to do
Speaker 4: with the UN Charter, uh and talking about state sovereignty.
Speaker 4: But I would say remember at that point, even the
Speaker 4: UN Charter, the way it sort of sets up state sovereignty,
Speaker 4: says states can do this when it's a question of
Speaker 4: self defense. And I don't think there's too many questions
Speaker 4: about just the amount of drugs that were being funneled
Speaker 4: into the US, uh, you know, by this narco terrorist regime.
Speaker 4: So I agree with you. The point about the oil
Speaker 4: companies and the broader point about you know, America defending
Speaker 4: itself all relevant.
Speaker 2: I would think, Yeah, the the old f A f
Speaker 2: O applies here, I mean Trump, Trump was blowing up,
Speaker 2: blowing up these drug boats, and it was like a warning,
Speaker 2: you know, you better stop, you better stop. And he
Speaker 2: gave the guy several off ramps that he just chose
Speaker 2: not to get the off ramp. Now, doctor, this is
Speaker 2: a exactly this exactly this is this is something else
Speaker 2: that I think will be of interest. You can get
Speaker 2: a judge to you anything in the United States, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure that there are groups right now assembling judge
Speaker 2: shopping to get this case in front of that judge
Speaker 2: or having it challenged in the Southern District of New
Speaker 2: York to try it, if nothing else in Barris Trump.
Speaker 2: But my question to you politically is why would the
Speaker 2: Democrats embrace a guy like Maduro? What would the pushback
Speaker 2: be on Trump for this? Knowing full well that we
Speaker 2: have a margarita sipping senator from Maryland that already has
Speaker 2: cozied up to an MS thirteen gang member, what would
Speaker 2: the point be of the Democrats trying to push back
Speaker 2: on this?
Speaker 5: Well, and I.
Speaker 4: Agree with you, and just like you know, those optics
Speaker 4: you know of sipping the margarita were incomprehensible to me,
Speaker 4: I would think this is incomprehensible as well. You've got,
Speaker 4: you know, clearly a dictator who is not there legitimately,
Speaker 4: who's pu untold numbers of Americans responsible for.
Speaker 3: Death and destruction.
Speaker 4: Is it possible that there are some people who are
Speaker 4: sincerely objecting based on process?
Speaker 5: You know, I'm open.
Speaker 4: I work with people of different persuasions at a university.
Speaker 3: Sure, I'm open to that.
Speaker 5: But I agree with you.
Speaker 4: I don't think it's most of the activists right now
Speaker 4: who will be judge shopping. I think that's an attempt
Speaker 4: to make political hay out of this, and to the
Speaker 4: extent that it's you know, Judge Alvin Hellerstein there on
Speaker 4: the US District Court who is presiding. I don't know
Speaker 4: that there's going to be a lot of judge shopping
Speaker 4: to do based on what I know of his record.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, well there should not be. But I think
Speaker 2: my point of finding a judge to take any case,
Speaker 2: because the judge is an activist judge and he aligns
Speaker 2: himself with whatever wacko ideologically ideology that he embraces, I
Speaker 2: think it could. I mean, the possibility of this thing
Speaker 2: getting derailed between now and when and if it goes
Speaker 2: to trialle I think is remote. I think you're right,
Speaker 2: but you know, there's always hope out there.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I'm just here's the other thing I was wondering about
Speaker 2: when I watched this today. This seemed to be a full,
Speaker 2: full pronged event. Here you had Rubio, you had hag Seth, obviously,
Speaker 2: you had the President. BONDI wasn't there, and I honestly
Speaker 2: think that was a good thing. And then and then
Speaker 2: you you also had the DEA, which actually carried out
Speaker 2: the arrest. So this wasn't you know, Trump sending in
Speaker 2: the seal team and saying, all right, get this guy
Speaker 2: out of here. This was this was an entire government
Speaker 2: effort here.
Speaker 3: No, that's right.
Speaker 4: And in terms of the intense phase of the extraction,
Speaker 4: you know, which took thirty five minutes, I think delta
Speaker 4: forces were in play there. But I agree with you
Speaker 4: in terms of the justification I'm seeing at this point
Speaker 4: for you know, why the US military had to be
Speaker 4: involved protecting law enforcements absolutely, you know, seeing this as
Speaker 4: a US criminal law matter essential. I absolutely agree with
Speaker 4: you on that.
Speaker 2: Okay, So in his news conference, the President fired yet
Speaker 2: another warning shot across the bow of the Columbian president.
Speaker 2: We already know that the Mexican president. She president of Mexico,
Speaker 2: she is. She's all up in arms about this thing
Speaker 2: because Trump obviously knows. And in Mexico the cartels pretty
Speaker 2: much run that country too.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: Does this bring these these other people back to heal
Speaker 2: or do you think that they're just going to go
Speaker 2: merrily along? You know, it's kind of like doctor, It's
Speaker 2: kind of like, you know, you do your taxes. I
Speaker 2: do my taxes, but if the guy across the street
Speaker 2: from you gets audited by the IRS, we do our
Speaker 2: taxes extra best. You know, we were really we're really
Speaker 2: got to rye on the ball if that happens. What
Speaker 2: do you think happens here with these other South American
Speaker 2: countries that are, if not as complicit as Venezuela are,
Speaker 2: certainly they certainly have their hands dirty in cartel business.
Speaker 5: Well?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I think the world is watching. And whether you're
Speaker 4: talking about the Colombian president Gustavo Petro or you mentioned,
Speaker 4: you know, President Shinbaum in Mexico. It never ceases to
Speaker 4: amaze me ken that the same folks who want to
Speaker 4: talk about how interconnected of a world we live in,
Speaker 4: how globalized. It is, you know, pivot back at times
Speaker 4: to emphasizing that we're all separate, disconnected nations.
Speaker 5: We are not.
Speaker 4: And so, you know, is Iran watching as well?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 5: I think so.
Speaker 4: There to the extent that there's contested questions, you know,
Speaker 4: can something be done or not? Technically, I think the
Speaker 4: Trump administration showed there's no question that they can pull
Speaker 4: this kind of operation off. I mean, compare it even
Speaker 4: to what we did in Panama. You had twenty four
Speaker 4: American casualties. No American casualties here, No Venezuelan casualties that
Speaker 4: I saw.
Speaker 5: So my thought is, you bet.
Speaker 4: Watching and people respond to incentives.
Speaker 5: So I agree with that.
Speaker 4: I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 2: You know, you watch what happened in in Uh in
Speaker 2: Iran this this summer when Yeh Bomber's basically, if not
Speaker 2: blew up, they certainly greatly curtailed Iran's nuclear capability.
Speaker 3: And I watched that.
Speaker 2: I watched what happened during Iran and for for all
Speaker 2: intents purposes, I'm sorry Israel, and for all intents and
Speaker 2: purposes Iran and Gaza, I'm watching that. And then I
Speaker 2: watched this, and it just leads me to wonder how
Speaker 2: could the previous administration be so neutered when it came
Speaker 2: to international affairs. I I just, I just it' it's
Speaker 2: it's astounding. Tony Blincoln could not have pulled this off.
Speaker 2: Certainly Joe Biden could not have pulled this off. I'm
Speaker 2: just wondering how neutered was that that that particular regime
Speaker 2: in your opinion, uh, the last Biden administration.
Speaker 4: Well, and certainly on top of what you mentioned the
Speaker 4: treatment of Iran in terms of I mean, I think
Speaker 4: it was actual, you know, cash payouts to go along
Speaker 4: with the nuclear deal. The contrast could not be more stark,
Speaker 4: and I think we can say so in fairness to
Speaker 4: you know, professionals across different administrations.
Speaker 3: There was a previous.
Speaker 4: Attempt to remove Maduro. And you know it's not clear
Speaker 4: the extent to which the Trump administration was involved the
Speaker 4: private contractors in twenty twenties. So if we want to
Speaker 4: be entirely fair, sure, you know, no administration is perfect,
Speaker 4: but yes, overall the Biden administration allowing the invasion of
Speaker 4: Ukraine to happen on their watch. I mean I was
Speaker 4: reading a report and I think it was blinkin even
Speaker 4: Tony Blinken, saying, as much as he disagrees on process
Speaker 4: grounds with how Trump operates, how the president does things,
Speaker 4: he wished is that he had the contacts and just
Speaker 4: the ability to pull things off at that speed. So
Speaker 4: I agree, it's not just a different vibe. I think
Speaker 4: it's a different way of seeing the world. It's a
Speaker 4: different philosophy and and and I think it has.
Speaker 3: Very deep roots.
Speaker 2: Well, doctor Cabala, we appreciate your rocket and rolling with
Speaker 2: us today. It's been an eventful last ten hours or so.
Speaker 2: We'll see how this plays out with the American population.
Speaker 2: We'll see what the political wins look like in the
Speaker 2: wake of this. But I would think so far, so good. Listen, well,
Speaker 2: we can do this more in depth. I'll ring you
Speaker 2: up this week and then we'll try and do it
Speaker 2: more in depth at some point then, Will that be
Speaker 2: all right with you?
Speaker 4: I would truly look forward to And I was just
Speaker 4: going to say quickly, the way that these strikes are
Speaker 4: carried out, and then it appears Trump doesn't fall for
Speaker 4: the temptation of nation building. You know plenty to talk
Speaker 4: about there, but certainly I'd be delighted. And like you said,
Speaker 4: so far, so good. And just a historic day.
Speaker 2: It seems like, well, you know what, you and I
Speaker 2: could maybe be vacationing together in Venezuela next year. Right,
Speaker 2: he may turn it into another beachfront property. We could
Speaker 2: all go down there and surf. Of course we'd have
Speaker 2: to find the beach front. But nevertheless, that could be
Speaker 2: what's on on the board next.
Speaker 4: Or Gaza if things go at this threat who knows,
Speaker 4: who knows?
Speaker 3: Gaza?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Trump, Plaza Gazza. All right, doctor, thanks for tom.
Speaker 2: We appreciate it.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Have a nice one, doctor Bocabala, Tarland State University, Professor
Speaker 2: of Law. Wow Wow, Wow, twelve fifty six on this Saturday,
Speaker 2: news radio seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 1: Now your host Ken Brew on news radio seven hundred
Speaker 1: wl W.
Speaker 2: It's what on nine and we're counting down to UC
Speaker 2: basketball at the bottom of the hour. You see against Houston.
Speaker 2: Houston is Houston is very good.
Speaker 3: Anyway, we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 2: Dan Horde and Terry Nelson and Moeger with all the
Speaker 2: coverage from fifth Third Arena tomorrow. It's the Browns and
Speaker 2: the Bengals. That's how the twenty twenty five now into
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. That's how the twenty twenty five season ends,
Speaker 2: same way as it began. Brown's and Bengals up in
Speaker 2: Cleveland in Week one. And here we go today, the
Speaker 2: day before the Browns and Bengals meet at pay Course
Speaker 2: Stadium tomorrow. The Browns of four and twelve, they seem
Speaker 2: to be a team adrift and possibly on the verge
Speaker 2: of a major shakeup. Yet again, inside that team, it's
Speaker 2: amazing how instability leads to just lousy records. And I
Speaker 2: suppose if there's one criticism of Mike Brown that resounds
Speaker 2: more than anything is that he is too patient. But
Speaker 2: we're seeing in Cleveland what lack of patients is over
Speaker 2: the course of the last twenty five years. And so
Speaker 2: here come the Browns with Shador Sanders's quarterback, with Jerry
Speaker 2: as their number one wide receiver. Think about that for
Speaker 2: a second. Here come the Browns who traded Joe Flacco
Speaker 2: inside the division to the Bengals in the middle of
Speaker 2: the season. And here come the Bengals who are trying
Speaker 2: to finish the season at seven to ten. If you
Speaker 2: think it's been bad down here this year, it has
Speaker 2: been a circus in Cleveland once again, and when it
Speaker 2: comes to circuses standing by to join us as a
Speaker 2: man who covers the Browns for Theathletic dot Com. And
Speaker 2: I've said this many times and I'm going to say
Speaker 2: it again. The best investment you can make in sports
Speaker 2: journalism is the Athletic. There are no junk ads, no
Speaker 2: roll up videos, just good solid sports journalism. And somebody
Speaker 2: who is a part of that is Zach Jackson, beat
Speaker 2: writer Cleveland Brown. Zach, how are you on this glorious
Speaker 2: day before.
Speaker 5: The game when I'm with you? Because you and my
Speaker 5: mom are my fan club, I'm always good. It's been
Speaker 5: a long season since Week one deeps first tangled.
Speaker 2: As you guys know, is it fair to say this
Speaker 2: season didn't go as planned for either team?
Speaker 3: I think that's pretty much fair to say.
Speaker 5: Yeah, certainly for the Bengals. You know, the Browns had weird,
Speaker 5: mixed expectations that certainly weren't as high as the other teams.
Speaker 5: But they did have a defense that's, you know, elite.
Speaker 5: I hate to throw that word around, but I think
Speaker 5: it's fair to say it's Penny Lee. But yeah, the
Speaker 5: quarterback thing has been a mess. You know, they come
Speaker 5: into Sunday and out of Sunday with uncertainty around almost
Speaker 5: every level of the franchise, you know, not just the
Speaker 5: normal roster thing, and you know, it's it's been disappointing,
Speaker 5: sure because they this is a team that could be better,
Speaker 5: right like this is this is the franchise isn't a
Speaker 5: bad spot. But nobody looked at the product on the
Speaker 5: field and said this is as bad as the Jets
Speaker 5: and the Raiders. You know, so we'll see. I mean, now,
Speaker 5: the offense has been that bad, but the defense has
Speaker 5: been has been really good for most almost all.
Speaker 2: Well, the fact of the matter is, you should have
Speaker 2: won the first meeting of the season. I mean, the kicker,
Speaker 2: you know, apples up on a couple of kicks that
Speaker 2: look like Gimmey's, and all of a sudden the Bengals
Speaker 2: skate out of Cleveland with a win, and that might
Speaker 2: have started the spiral.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I kind of look at Cleveland as you know, they're
Speaker 2: really good in spots. I think their defense is terrific.
Speaker 2: I think their front seven is really good. Obviously in
Speaker 2: their secondary, they've got veteran talent and Ward and Delpit.
Speaker 2: They they acquired Campbell. I mean it looks like they're
Speaker 2: trying to do and are accomplishing things on defense, but
Speaker 2: on offense, I mean it's it's just does Kevin Stefanski
Speaker 2: has even delta fair hand offense Shaan Watatson thing, and
Speaker 2: they're now having wide receivers to throw two. I don't
Speaker 2: think it's I think that's as much a problem as anything,
Speaker 2: is it not?
Speaker 5: Oh, for sure, the construction of the offense is deplorably back.
Speaker 5: You know when you talk about Week one, Yes, the
Speaker 5: kicks are, but really it's the two interceptions off guys
Speaker 5: just by catching the ball. That's kind of the story
Speaker 5: of the season. You know. The offensive line, I think
Speaker 5: it's been nine different offensive line combinations and that makes
Speaker 5: it harder. It's from three different quarterbacks that they at heart,
Speaker 5: So there's been glimpses, but yeah, just been overall disappointing products. So,
Speaker 5: you know, good play out of the rookies, but but
Speaker 5: this receiving corps is bottom of the league, This offensive
Speaker 5: line is the bottom of the league. And none of
Speaker 5: them are under contract. None of the original starters anyway,
Speaker 5: are under contract for next year, so a lot of uncertainly.
Speaker 5: So yeah, that's kind of the discussion of my way ken,
Speaker 5: the fairness of this. You know how much losing was
Speaker 5: expected versus how much has gone on. You know what's
Speaker 5: next for Kevin Stepaint. We don't know any of that.
Speaker 5: Snor Sanders has made some strides, He's made some awful throws.
Speaker 5: He's not surrounded by a great group. You mentioned Delpin
Speaker 5: in Ward. Those guys would start for any team in
Speaker 5: this league. And obviously Miles Garrett is in a galaxy
Speaker 5: of his own, and he's coming to get the NFL
Speaker 5: stack records on Sunday, and he probably will get it.
Speaker 5: But you know, nobody also thinks that the Browns can
Speaker 5: score more than ten points because Erhold Fannon is not
Speaker 5: going to play, and this offensive line is a mess,
Speaker 5: and unless they get up early and can win a
Speaker 5: thirteen ten type game for this that history week, and
Speaker 5: then there's going to be real trouble for this office
Speaker 5: trying to keep up de Ice.
Speaker 2: I think that you know, you'd have to be an
Speaker 2: idiot not to understand that what saves his job, it's
Speaker 2: certainly not winning this game this week. What would, if anything,
Speaker 2: would save his job, and.
Speaker 5: An internal commitment and decision that it wasn't his fault
Speaker 5: right that he he has been a good coach. I
Speaker 5: think the last two years to me have shown that
Speaker 5: he's not a great coach. He's not one of the
Speaker 5: better coaches. Like, look what Seohn Payton's done. What's in
Speaker 5: the hand he was delt. You know, look what Kyle
Speaker 5: Shanahan has done with the team this year that didn't
Speaker 5: have it guys for seventy five percent of the season.
Speaker 5: You know, my gut field canons that decision has been
Speaker 5: made and he's going to be out. I think there's
Speaker 5: a little more cloudiness with the front office. But you know,
Speaker 5: we're talking about an organization that's never been normal. We're
Speaker 5: talking about an organization that's been back for three decades
Speaker 5: and has only had four winning seasons. And this ownership
Speaker 5: group is going on fifteen years and was the one
Speaker 5: that really signed off on the de Shaun Watson thing
Speaker 5: that sunk everything. So in terms of firm predictions, until
Speaker 5: we know it on Sunday night or Monday, I don't know.
Speaker 5: And so when you ask that question, it's a fair
Speaker 5: one and it's a valid one. But I could probably
Speaker 5: tough for forty minutes that might give you a straight answer,
Speaker 5: because there is a lot of gray area here, and
Speaker 5: it really comes down to what what do you decide
Speaker 5: with the biggest reason that the offense didn't get any
Speaker 5: better this year?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 5: And then whatever your answer is on that turns into well,
Speaker 5: what the heck gives you hope for it being better
Speaker 5: next year? Because you remember one receivers Jerry Judy, you
Speaker 5: have no offensive linement under contract, who have ever really
Speaker 5: been in your A plans? And their quarterback, I mean,
Speaker 5: you can make a case to Shador pretty easily deserves
Speaker 5: more development, but it gets much harder to make a
Speaker 5: case that he's actually the guy that you feel really
Speaker 5: good about going forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if indeed you go through a regime change
Speaker 2: front office, head coach, you go through coaching staffs, you
Speaker 2: probably lose a guy like Jim Schwartz, who it seems
Speaker 2: to me has done a hell of a job up there.
Speaker 2: But the fact of the matter is you're you're going
Speaker 2: to go through all that change again and as the
Speaker 2: next group been really going to be married to Shardoor
Speaker 2: Sanders and if they're not, then you're going through that
Speaker 2: process again. And since the Browns came into the league,
Speaker 2: they've been nothing but change in the front office and
Speaker 2: in the coaching staff. This is the coach here is
Speaker 2: probably about as stable as any coach has been since
Speaker 2: they came back.
Speaker 5: Right, yeah, oh six years. Yeah, that's that's sixty years
Speaker 5: by Brown standards. They're a guy Joel Beatonio the guard
Speaker 5: for twelve years, and he's been good enough as a
Speaker 5: guard on bad teams that you know him at Cincinnati, right,
Speaker 5: they know him across the league, certainly in the anfty doors.
Speaker 5: When Joel plays what might be his last NFL game
Speaker 5: on Sunday, can he's been playing with the twenty second
Speaker 5: different quarterback that he's blacked, four starting quarterback that he's
Speaker 5: blacked for since twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 2: I mean, how do you how do you expect to
Speaker 2: have any kind of success with that kind of turnover.
Speaker 2: I know everybody has draft busts and everybody goes through
Speaker 2: head coaches, but my gosh, after a while you land
Speaker 2: on go, don't you?
Speaker 3: At some point? It's amazing how this team is just
Speaker 3: go yeah.
Speaker 5: And that's kind of the evaluation of this year is like, Okay,
Speaker 5: it was never going to be good. Okay, there's some
Speaker 5: rokis that it's certainly a better draft class than they had.
Speaker 5: But you have to look at what was the plan
Speaker 5: because they pulled the plot on Joe Flacco after four
Speaker 5: weeks and then traded him to a division rival, which
Speaker 5: is a though no, and he could still play and
Speaker 5: it wasn't working here, and like I said, he clearly
Speaker 5: turned the ball over in a couple of games. It
Speaker 5: didn't get help from his receivers. But it was like,
Speaker 5: what was next Dyllan Gabriel who immediately was diagnosed as
Speaker 5: this guy can't play, you know, and certainly didn't get
Speaker 5: any help. If there is another team in the NFL
Speaker 5: that liked still and Gabriel, or likes still in Gabriel,
Speaker 5: they might be willing to give him a chance because
Speaker 5: they can look and say he didn't have the receivers,
Speaker 5: he didn't have the offensive line. You know, there there
Speaker 5: was a good quarter here and there. But when any
Speaker 5: time you play three different quarterbacks over the course of
Speaker 5: the year, you know you're probably in a bad, bad spot,
Speaker 5: right and there are teams that make it work. And
Speaker 5: when the Browns made the playoffs two years ago, they
Speaker 5: played five quarterbacks from week one to week seventeen. More
Speaker 5: times than that, it's you know, one was an injury
Speaker 5: related move to put somebody in a bad spot. One
Speaker 5: was a desperation move to somebody else feels. And then
Speaker 5: when you're making the natural changes that you make along
Speaker 5: the way, you know you're left to sit in evalue
Speaker 5: eight what what was organically good, what could have worked better,
Speaker 5: and what just flat out didn't work? And frankly, when
Speaker 5: you finish the season for the second straight year ranked
Speaker 5: in the bottom three or four in every single major
Speaker 5: offensive category, then it's hard to give an offensive head
Speaker 5: coach another year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Zach Jackson the Athletic dot Com. You know, it's funny.
Speaker 2: The Bengals have, I think, without question, the best wide
Speaker 2: receiver quarterback combo in the division, maybe in the entire FC.
Speaker 2: But they've got that. The narrative down here, which I
Speaker 2: think is hilarious, is Okay, you've got that, But the
Speaker 2: defense is such a disaster despite nice pieces, that it's
Speaker 2: going to take one, maybe two off seasons to fix
Speaker 2: it to get it to a point where it can
Speaker 2: contend for a Super World championship. Again, I guess my
Speaker 2: question to you, knowing that for a team that has
Speaker 2: the offensive proficiency that Cincinnati has, what do you I mean,
Speaker 2: you've seen this, this this act play out. How many
Speaker 2: how many off seasons is Cleveland before Cleveland? Is any
Speaker 2: work close to contended?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean I think I just said that someone earlier today,
Speaker 5: and I've probably said it ten times over the last months.
Speaker 5: The situation that this franchise is in the next time
Speaker 5: you're really taking it of temperature check is about Halloween
Speaker 5: of twenty seven ten. Next year is going to be
Speaker 5: worse talent wise because a lot of these older guys
Speaker 5: who have produced, whether they're still doing it or not,
Speaker 5: are going out the door. You know, it's a completely
Speaker 5: blank played at quarterback in less shit or somehow becomes
Speaker 5: your answer, like as t easier quarterback for first four
Speaker 5: games next year? What does That's all?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 5: The receiver group needs remade, the offensive line group needs remade,
Speaker 5: and the defense turn as good as the event has
Speaker 5: a lot of older guys, and if there's a new
Speaker 5: coach and a new coordinator, it's not going to be
Speaker 5: the same defense. And even if it is is it's
Speaker 5: hard to replicate what Schwartz has done. So Schwartz has
Speaker 5: been phenomenal and in the small chance that there is
Speaker 5: a head coaching change in Cincinnati has the first guy
Speaker 5: I would call Jim Schwartz because this defense continually shows up.
Speaker 5: It played under these circumstances, and in the six years
Speaker 5: of the head coach and GM from Cleveland, the one
Speaker 5: thing they really have built the identity of the way
Speaker 5: Schwartz's defense is play right. And it's not just Hey,
Speaker 5: Miles garretta because he is he was that before. Schwartz guy.
Speaker 5: I think he's playing the best now. But they really
Speaker 5: built that identity and they showed it last week. They
Speaker 5: kind of got to take a whole victory lap against
Speaker 5: the Steelers like that. I think they'll come out and
Speaker 5: they'll give burrough Fits something that I just don't know
Speaker 5: that the Browns can score enough to even begin to
Speaker 5: keep up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, their front line is terrific, and like I said,
Speaker 2: we talked about the second or.
Speaker 3: I think that's that's good too.
Speaker 2: And you know, you can make an argument for Cleveland
Speaker 2: being one of the top four or five defenses in
Speaker 2: the leg and statistically higher than that.
Speaker 3: Hey, Zach, thanks for your time.
Speaker 2: I guess we'll say enjoy the season finale, but the
Speaker 2: enjoyment will be it is the season finale, and then
Speaker 2: the real starts. The story's never ended in Cleveland. Do
Speaker 2: they simply don't know?
Speaker 5: No, Hey, you have to get two things. Can You
Speaker 5: have to get past the point where everything you hear
Speaker 5: is believable about wild stuff that goes on. And you
Speaker 5: have to get past the point where the off season
Speaker 5: is the season. You know, you build in the off season,
Speaker 5: you set the groundwork, but it has to be to
Speaker 5: where you're playing in games and evaluating guys and going
Speaker 5: in a straight line. And they just have not gone
Speaker 5: in any kind of straight line. When you play twelve
Speaker 5: different quarterbacks over three seasons, there's no straight line. Right
Speaker 5: when you look at mid season and say we're pretty
Speaker 5: hopeless that wide receiver and offense client, there's no straight line.
Speaker 5: It's just what it's beat.
Speaker 3: Keep up the good work.
Speaker 2: You're one of the reasons why I subscribe, and I'm
Speaker 2: sure a lot of other people out there as well.
Speaker 3: Zach, take care of Happy new year. We'll talk down
Speaker 3: the road.
Speaker 5: Thanks, all right, We'll see you too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And the other thing about tomorrow is the sack record.
Speaker 2: Does Miles Garrett, defensive lineman extraordinary, best in the business.
Speaker 2: Does he get the sack record? Sack record in the
Speaker 2: NFL is twenty two and a half, twenty two and
Speaker 2: a half sacks in one season. That of course set
Speaker 2: by Michael Strahand in the calendar year twenty eight thousand
Speaker 2: and one, actually twenty twenty one. TJ one equal that
Speaker 2: as well. Strahan, who was shut out from a sack
Speaker 2: last week by the Steelers and they admitted that was
Speaker 2: one of their top goals. Strayhan needs just half a
Speaker 2: sack half a sack to equal twenty two and a
Speaker 2: half on the season, and if he gets one, then
Speaker 2: he has the record. He has sacked Lamar Jackson twelve
Speaker 2: times in his career. He has sacked Joe Burrow twelve
Speaker 2: times in his career. Somebody asked him if he knew
Speaker 2: that stat going into this game.
Speaker 3: What I've known absolutely.
Speaker 5: I've seen his face on the ground looking up at
Speaker 5: me saying high Miles and Hi Joe.
Speaker 3: Too many times. So yeah, I think you'd be at
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: Well, we'll see tomorrow. I mean, it's one of the subplots.
Speaker 2: The other subplot is is what happens going forward with
Speaker 2: this Bengals franchise. It needs so much. I think there's
Speaker 2: a tendency to get caught up in recent events the
Speaker 2: last month of the season, get caught up in exactly
Speaker 2: what is transpired against weaker opponents. Come on, they haven't
Speaker 2: played anybody the last couple of weeks. In games that mattered,
Speaker 2: they couldn't win. Joe burrowed down for a majority of
Speaker 2: the season. Okay, if you want to rely on that
Speaker 2: as an argument, great, Okay, fall back on that. All
Speaker 2: I know is this, Joe Flacco came here and put
Speaker 2: up some decent number. Is good enough to win the
Speaker 2: Jets on October the twenty six. Defensively, you give up
Speaker 2: five hundred and two yards two hundred and fifty four
Speaker 2: yards on the ground, and fuddle that up with another
Speaker 2: home game against the Chicago Bears five hundred and seventy
Speaker 2: six total yards, two hundred and eighty three on the ground.
Speaker 2: So yeah, okay, Burrow not being here major factor. Flacco
Speaker 2: comes in Flaco, puts up numbers that are winnable in
Speaker 2: at least two games, and then who knows what the
Speaker 2: temper and the UH and the demeanor of that team
Speaker 2: is if you win against Chicago and you win against
Speaker 2: the Jets.
Speaker 3: We'll never know, But I do know this.
Speaker 2: They need a more than just a makeup, touch up
Speaker 2: on offense on defense going into the twenty twenty six season.
Speaker 2: So the Browns have major, major problems, and at least
Speaker 2: on one side of the ball, the Bengals have significant problems.
Speaker 2: And that sets the scene for tomorrow when we will
Speaker 2: reconvene at nine oh six from the Holy Grail to
Speaker 2: preview the Bengals and the Browns season finale at pay
Speaker 2: Course Stadium. Stand by coming up in just a couple
Speaker 2: of minutes from fifth Third Arena, it'll be the University
Speaker 2: of Cincinnati against the University of Houston in what ought
Speaker 2: to be what should be a major attraction on the
Speaker 2: UC schedule this year home game against Houston.
Speaker 3: You're listening to seven hundred WLW