Cleveland Browns' Offensive Brilliance Seals Playoff Berth
Transcript
00:00 A game that featured a ton more offensive production than we first assumed.
00:07 It was a pregame over-under of 34-and-a-half that had trickled down to 33-and-a-half right
00:13 before kick.
00:14 The Browns were laying a touchdown or seven in a hook at home.
00:18 No bother either way.
00:19 Cleveland wins and covers for a fourth consecutive game booked as a favorite behind the man on
00:26 your screen.
00:27 So cool, Joe Flacco, the 38-year-old throws for more than 300 yards in his fourth consecutive
00:33 game to guide the Browns to the playoffs.
00:36 Eleven victories this year, Donny, right side for Cleveland, who now improves to seven and
00:41 two against the number one booked as the favorite side.
00:45 So impressive here.
00:46 And by the way, I haven't taken a look at the standings yet for coach of the year, but
00:48 I'm pretty sure Kevin Stefanski is putting his stamp on that thing as we speak right
00:52 now.
00:53 Came into the favorite before that game, and then you're going to say, all right, let me
00:55 take away your best wide receiving option, who has a great rapport with Joe Flacco, eating
00:59 up the NFL well over 200 yards last week against the Houston Texans, and then sit him at game
01:05 time and still put up 37 points, have a quarterback throw for over 300 yards and a running game
01:10 that had 127 yards on the ground, 4.5 yards per carry against a quality defense in the
01:15 New York Jets.
01:16 That's an impressive performance as it gets here.
01:19 And now we start to turn the tide because the Browns now, Ben, are in the playoffs.
01:23 Now we take a look, can they do damage?
01:25 And they're sitting in that fifth seat here, which again, could be advantageous, just like
01:28 we talk about the NFC, because let's just say they run up against a Jaguars team, absolutely
01:33 leaking oil.
01:34 Now we're talking about Cleveland being one of the hottest teams in the NFL with a playoff
01:38 victory and nobody's going to want to face them in the divisional round.
01:41 I was so impressed by the offense in a game that most people thought we wouldn't get a
01:45 lot of offense.
01:46 Joe Flacco was a superstar last night and David Najoku.
01:49 Mike, I mean, you want to talk about getting Christmas presents and having your agent call
01:53 my agent and say, "Thank you for resurrecting my career and I'm probably going to make millions
01:57 of dollars based on what you're doing for me."
01:59 Najoku looks like a completely new player, a dominant athlete at the tight end position.
02:05 That rapport between Najoku and Joe Flacco, almost as good as what we saw from Flacco
02:10 and Amari Cooper a weekend ago in Houston.
02:13 Joe Flacco is now thrown for more than 300 yards in four consecutive games.
02:18 He threw for more than 303 straight entering last night.
02:21 That was the first ever three-game straight stint in Joe Flacco's career.
02:25 He threw for 300 or more yards.
02:28 So now, of course, it's the first time in his career he's had four straight games of
02:32 300-plus passing yards.
02:34 But Najoku in that span has had 91 yards in three of the four, at least 91 in three of
02:41 the four last night.
02:42 Six grabs on eight targets for 134 yards.
02:46 And when you see that out of Joe Flacco, of course, there will be yards to go around for
02:51 his wide receiver core.
02:53 Fourth consecutive game for the 38-year-old Joe Flacco, over 300 yards.
02:59 And his passing yards prompt last night, Donnie, did not reflect three straight games of more
03:03 than 300.
03:04 It was 233.5, which actually made some sense because the Jets entered last night as the
03:09 second-best passing defense in all of the National Football League.
03:13 Joe Flacco skies over that number of 233.5.
03:16 Donnie, I have one simple question.
03:19 How in the world is Joe Kuhl getting this done?
03:22 I don't know.
03:23 I don't know.
03:24 And maybe it's Kevin Stefanski right now is a whisperer for quarterbacks because this
03:27 is the fourth-string quarterback who came in off his couch midseason, and we probably
03:31 thought his career was done.
03:32 And now it looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, row throwing for routine 300-yard
03:36 performances and without top-line talent.
03:39 If you want to say, because so many people around the league make excuses for quarterbacks.
03:42 So what's he supposed to do with that wide receiving core?
03:44 I don't know.
03:45 Elijah Moore is your top guy who averages like three catches per game.
03:47 Cedric Tillman chips in with like one catch for eight yards last night.
03:51 But David Njoku, and also, here's what we, this is the best part about sometimes where
03:54 you talk yourself into wages and say, now, hold on, we're getting a little bit less.
03:58 The fantasy sports book yesterday, Ben, at game time, had Joe Flacco 220.5.
04:01 And I said to myself, look at the numbers he's putting out.
04:04 I'm led to believe that just because he doesn't have his top wideout, he's not even going
04:07 to be serviceable in the game center, just have an underwhelming performance.
04:11 And that wasn't the case.
04:12 And they came out throwing right away.
04:14 It was almost like Robert Salah.
04:16 Here's the key to the game, right?
04:17 We know David Njoku is the best weapon.
04:19 Let's make sure we remove him from the game right away and see if those other wide receivers
04:22 can beat us.
04:23 And they let Njoku go for 100 yards in the first quarter alone.
04:28 It was just so impressive here.
04:29 The scheme was right.
04:30 And also, sometimes you take a look at early in the week, Ben, hey, we know we're going
04:33 to be without Amari Cooper.
04:34 Let's get a game plan together.
04:36 They didn't know to an hour before the game, we worked out of the field.
04:38 He wasn't going.
04:39 So the fact of the matter, that Cleveland coaching staff, Ben, kicked it into overdrive.
04:42 It's like, no big deal.
04:43 We'll still dominate anyway without one of the hottest wide receivers in the NFL.
04:47 Loved what I saw from the Cleveland Browns.
04:50 [MUSIC]
04:52 (upbeat music)