Hands Up If You’re Also Shocked the 4-2 Browns are Sitting atop the AFC North

Look who's in first place in the AFC North. The Cleveland Browns are 4-2, and Rich could hardly believe it either.

Sunday night against Baltimore did not start like a statement game. Rich described three quarters of "absolutely like stick needles in your eyes offensive execution and results." Then, in the fourth quarter, Deshaun Watson stepped up and started slinging it around.

It's the second time Watson has led a game-winning drive against the Ravens as a member of the Browns. The first came in 2023, before he got hurt and disappeared from view. He's the first Browns player to do it against Baltimore, and as Rich noted, in that town, beating that team is everything.

The Ravens' defense balled out. But, like the Rams, Baltimore let the other team hang around. Tyler Huntley didn't put up the kind of points he did the week before against Atlanta, and Tyler Loop missed a 49-yarder, which the studio agreed is rare for a kicker who has been on fire. Cleveland trailed 10-0 at the half and won 13-10.

That's how the Browns ended up atop the division. They have home wins over both the Steelers and the Ravens, each of whom is also 4-2. The last time Cleveland led the AFC North this deep into a season was week 10 of 2014. Twelve years ago.

Rich found a fun bit of symmetry there. That same season was the last time the Rams lost a game without allowing a touchdown, back in the Jeff Fisher era in St. Louis. "So, both these teams playing like it's 2014 again," Rich said. "Except one team doesn't want to play like that and the other team does."

And the Browns are doing it without Myles Garrett. Defensively, they are stout.

Then there's Todd Monken, who beat his former team. Monken was the offensive coordinator in Baltimore and was cut loose when John Harbaugh was. After the game, he delivered a postgame soliloquy for the ages.

"These are the nights that you don't ever want to end," Monken said. "I know it sounds really goofy, but you sit there in bed and you don't want the night to end. It's 10:30 and you're tired as hell and you want to be up another 15, 20, 30 minutes to enjoy it." He added that until things get squared away offensively, every game will be a scratch and claw. "And I love that type of game with the guys we have. We're wired for that."

Rich has long pointed out that Monken sounds like Bill Parcells. Someone on social media has even dubbed him "Chill Parcells." But to Rich, this one sounded like a country song. He floated getting Trace Adkins back on the show to put it to music. Someone suggested an AI app could turn it into a song. The working title: "Nights That Never Want to End."

"All they had to do was trade away a Hall of Famer," someone joked about the Browns' rise.

Not everyone was ready to buy in. A voice in the studio hoped this goes better than 2014, when the Browns were 6-3 at that point and "only won one game" after it. That launched a memory hunt. Mike Pettine was the head coach. Rich recalled a Thursday night game at Cincinnati that got Cleveland to 6-3, and he was there that night. Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. And the quarterback? After an agonizing search that drew a jab about "the slowest Googler on planet Earth," the answer came back: Brian Hoyer.

As for what's next, the Browns should pack a suitcase. They go to Tennessee, then to Pittsburgh, where the Steelers will want a piece back, then to New Orleans before coming home for Houston and a bye. That Houston game means a Deshaun Watson reunion, too.

Could they be 7-3? Maybe. Maybe 6-3 again, someone cracked. The studio agreed there's no way they sweep Pittsburgh. Cam Heyward, Rich said, wants a piece. They all do.

The way the Steelers are playing, look out. The North is wide open.