Browns TE David Njoku put up a huge 10 catch 100+ yard game against the Bears. Anthony Moeglin and Spencer German break it all down.
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00:00 Special German Anthony Maglin alongside as we continue to react to the Browns 20 to 17
00:12 win over the Chicago Bears and week 15 as they improved to 9 and 5 on the season and
00:18 Anthony we we dropped the ball in our instant reaction we barely talked about one of the
00:24 signature performances of the day David and Joku who was just absolutely phenomenal in
00:29 this game he had maybe one drop there was a play I think in the second half where he
00:33 dropped a pass go to guy he finishes the day with 10 catches 104 yards and a touchdown
00:42 and the touchdown play was also pretty remarkable he basically lost the the the safety that
00:49 was that was covering him at the time and tiptoed along the back of the end zone for
00:53 the score I mean the guy was amazing today and in my perspective on on just him in general
01:00 Anthony has always been like yeah he had the drop issues early in his career he worked
01:04 to correct those he was better they still pop up every now and then in the recent weeks
01:09 we had seen that but the joke who feels like to me one of those guys that you take the
01:14 go with the bad because when he gives you the good it's like really good and that's
01:19 what I think we saw today the good is so so good it's top tier NFL tight end play like
01:25 he is he's now in that elite group of dudes because of the way and it hasn't been given
01:30 to him like he is like you said it came in and he had a very obvious problem catching
01:34 the football but you know he grinded it out and you know what he what's most impressive
01:38 is that he's such a willing blocker in the run game and like throughout his whole career
01:42 like think of his whole career to this point it's like hey this team goes through Nick
01:46 Chubb Nick Chubb Nick Chubb it's like hey you'll block and you'll kind of get the scraps
01:50 a little bit you know even with even in the Odell years like hey he's gonna get the lion
01:54 share of targets and we're gonna try to pass it and David was always kind of in the back
01:58 seat and then this year with all this turmoil all these injuries and this and that guys
02:03 playing guys not playing there's been one constant and it's been David and Joku like
02:07 the guy played with a burned off face he and that's like legit like not even like my miles
02:12 Garrett called him he called it like the two face thing like from Batman like that's what
02:17 they called the incident the two face situation I was like I guess we can laugh about it now
02:21 in that way but at the time it was obviously very serious but you're right like he put
02:25 his butt he was playing with like raw birds on his face he went out and played a game
02:29 and he led the team in receiving that day that was the Baltimore Ravens DTR first start
02:33 game like yeah guy is just a warrior and I like that you bring up the point on him blocking
02:39 because I think early in his career I think he wasn't necessarily bought into that like
02:44 he wanted to be the star tight end catching all the passes doing all these things and
02:48 Kevin Stefanski and others have just raved about how how bought in he became on I can
02:53 still impact the game in this way and he's I think one of the best pass blocking or run
02:58 blocking tight ends in the NFL on top of then when he does get used in the passing game
03:03 good luck bling it bringing that guy down dude he's insane like everything he does
03:08 and and like the thing that's the best about him is like okay his stats today 10 catches
03:12 104 yards one touchdown and his average his average catch was about over 10 yards to catch
03:18 so he was more of like hey we're gonna give short completions we need to move the sticks
03:23 and we need you David in big spots whereas it wasn't the big home runs today but when
03:27 the chips were down where did Joe Flacco go he went to David and Joku on that final drive
03:32 he had three catches for I don't know the exact yardage but three straight huge massive
03:36 plays where hey we are gonna drive this team to victory behind David and Joku because he's
03:43 the heart and soul of this group he's the leader of this group he's the one guy who's
03:46 been consistent throughout from week one to week 15 now and he's just he is the when you
03:51 think of this Cleveland Browns team you think of David and Joku because of what he is to
03:57 this group and it's pretty darn special yeah and I had him catching two passes on on that
04:03 final drive that they led that that way they went down the field to kick the game when
04:08 the eventual game winning field goal one of them was for over 30 yards it was a big play
04:12 that got a basic got them into field goal range then they were kind of just setting
04:16 Dustin Hopkins up from the length that he wanted from there yeah I mean a tremendous
04:21 effort from him and it's he's kind of been a constant in this offense like amidst all
04:27 the turmoil at the quarterback position he's been a guy that pretty much all four quarterbacks
04:32 knew that they could count on in different spots I think it maybe took the shot a little
04:35 bit of time to get used to that or figure that out but towards the tail end of his time
04:39 this season playing he was starting to use him a lot more and I think Flacco's used them
04:44 DTR's used him like it has been remarkable to watch just his evolution as a player and
04:48 how much they they count on him to be involved in key moments like we saw on that eventual
04:53 game winning drive yeah he's he is truly like a heart and soul type guy on this team and
05:00 on this offense another interesting note from this game I know it was the first time with
05:06 the joke whose numbers and with Amari Cooper's numbers it was the first time since 2013 that
05:13 two Browns pass catchers had over 100 yards receiving in a game the duo to do that I wish
05:19 we were live because I would ask somebody to comment and give us what their guess was
05:24 as to who that was I gave you the year so it might be a giveaway but the answer is Josh
05:28 Gordon and Jordan Cameron so another tight end wide receiver duo but that tells you how
05:33 long it's been since we've been able to talk about two Browns pass catchers going for over
05:37 100 yards amazing just absolutely amazing from both of those guys and you know it's
05:42 one of those things where you watch that game and it's not going well it's not going well
05:46 all game but when the stars needed to be stars for the Browns or Ninjoku came up huge and
05:51 frankly truthfully he should have had another touchdown catch the interception into the
05:55 end zone yeah like I was late on it yeah oh yeah super late on it but should have had
05:59 another touchdown catch so in his last two games he's now has three touchdown catches
06:03 it's his fifth touchdown catch on the season which is a career high for him he's over 700
06:08 yards receiving he lead he's the team he's just this leader of this football team the
06:12 leader of this offense and today was like the perfect microcosm of all microcosm of
06:18 it all and in the biggest moment third and 12 right on that final drive where does flack
06:23 ago goes to David and Joku gets a huge chunk play just there's not enough words that there's
06:28 not enough good things to say about number 85 no doubt about it and Kevin Safansky I
06:33 think brought up a good point after the game when he was asked about the joke who specifically
06:36 that I want to I want to sort of talk about before we get out of here on the with this
06:39 with this conversation but you know and we've talked about this I know Meg's to like getting
06:45 the ball to your your star players getting the ball to your playmakers when you don't
06:52 have Nick Chubb out there when you're down a whole bunch of offensive linemen and you
06:56 know that your playmakers are largely on the outside obviously no joke who lines up inside
07:00 a lot but it's your it's your pass catchers you want the ball in their hands because good
07:05 things are generally going to happen when you do that so the point of emphasis whether
07:08 or not you agree that they should be throwing the ball 40 plus times and that it's maybe
07:15 a little bit lopsided in terms of the run to pass ratio which is true like the emphasis
07:20 on getting the ball and the guys that are going to go when you football games is evident
07:24 and I think that's a big reason why the Browns are where they're at even despite all the
07:27 injuries even despite all the problems that they've had in the adversity that they faced
07:31 it's because they're going to the guys that are going to that are going to help lift them
07:34 to victory and they're sitting nine to five because of yeah the thing that comes to mind
07:39 there is when coaches say players not plays like we could have the best run game schemed
07:42 up but right now our best players aren't in the run game our best players are David and
07:47 Joku our best players are Mari Cooper like get these dudes the ball good things are going
07:51 to happen really fun over a fun part of the ninja game was when he and Stevenson both
07:57 jumped into each other and started laughing at each other like we've seen it a hundred
08:01 times where David and Joku can jump over a standing human being but Stevenson met him
08:06 it was like Stevenson almost like had like in his brain he's like I don't know what to
08:09 do so he also jumped and they like they met halfway that was a cool little moment there
08:13 but just the joke who dominated all game long by the way I think it was brisker who he he
08:18 lost on the end zone I'm pretty sure that was now it came to me finally but yeah that
08:23 I mean just an incredible play and yeah the I laughed at the the hurt that what like what
08:29 is he doing like I get it I get I get it David and Joku like you're you're an athletic freak
08:34 you can generally hurdle guys but I was like you're not going to hurtle this dude he's
08:37 standing straight up there was no I think he just tries to hurtle guys just to hurtle
08:40 guys like he almost he I think he's like a thrill seeker he just he's he's out there
08:45 just trying to do somersaults in the end zone like we saw yesterday in the Lions game and
08:50 yeah do crazy stuff just to do crazy stuff I don't know it's like it's like Barry Sanders
08:54 go to move was a spin move and like some guys go to move the juke moves like David and Joku
08:58 is like all right I'm in traffic I'm just going to jump over people and see what as
09:01 soon as he turns the field he's looking for the first guy he can hurdle that seems like
09:04 what he's definitely doing but yeah a great game from both the Joku and we mentioned Amari
09:08 Cooper he deserves a lot of credit too because as much as the joke who's been sort of a go
09:13 to safety net for Flacco and all the quarterbacks of season Amari Cooper's been very much the
09:19 same and he he showed that today on the field also scoring a touchdown a big one that ball
09:23 by the way Flacco zipped it in between a couple defenders and then Amari took it down the
09:28 sideline one of the best passes I think I've ever seen and it's from 38 year old Joe Flacco
09:32 still slinging my goodness that window Flacco talked about it in his postgame presser yeah
09:37 kind of like broke down the play and it's very funny listening to him talk about it
09:41 because he goes he made a quote or he made a comment said I knew I would have a big window
09:45 to hit him in and I took a go to Brown's Digest Twitter I took a screenshot of the window
09:50 he was talking about it was no bigger than two yards and it was you couldn't you you
09:55 I'm telling you Spencer you could not have walked out there and placed the ball in a
09:59 better place than where he threw it it was that's perfect and so it's funny it's funny
10:05 from you like D3 quarterback you hear two yards like that dude that's not a big window
10:09 like that tells you how how at the NFL level what a big window feels like to him is like
10:14 not really that big and he was like he was so nonchalant he goes oh once once he cleared
10:19 the mic I knew I'd have a big window with the other route on the other side and you
10:22 like look at the picture and you're like that's not a big window and you're you're a Joe you're
10:26 a lunatic well for his arm I guess it was a big window because he had some zip on it
10:32 still today even in the elements even in the cold weather and we will spend some time talking
10:36 more about Joe Flacco and this banged up Browns offensive line obviously the Browns getting
10:40 the job done regardless 20 to 17 they get the win over the Bears they're 9 and 5 on
10:45 the season be sure to keep following along we got plenty more content for you over at
10:48 the Browns Digest YouTube page and of course as always over at BrownsDigest.com
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