10-7-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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So if I don't get the one and done, this is pretty damn close, right? Because in three days, we're down to four survivors. In three days, we're down to the division series. So at least they're not dragging it out.

I like that. Let's not be doing travel days. Let's not be giving teams a chance to set up their pitching. No. It's a little bit like a survivor pool, is it not?

The rule is don't get cute. If you don't win in week three, you're not going to be around for week four. When it comes to a wildcard series, if you don't win the opener, well, you're really in dire straits then.

And obviously, if you're a team that's facing elimination in game two, you don't save your best pitcher for game three, just in case you get there. Oh my gosh, the analogy is so vivid. It's like a survivor pool. Speaking of, there are five people left on my survivor island, which I'm on Isla Nublar. If you're on, what do we say? Oh, it's, it's the rock.

It's Alcatraz. If you're on the rock, how many people are left, Jay? Three. So there are eight of us?

That's it. Eight people? Yep. Out of nearly a thousand, we think. Close to. Definitely close to.

Easily hundreds, if not more. Eight? Yeah, eight people left. Week five. Well, so in week number one, there are always people who don't make their pick or who forget to make their pick. And I think that you may not realize that you have to make your pick before the week begins. You can't, for whatever reason, the mechanism, you can't go back and make your pick after Thursday Night Football and pick the team that won on Thursday night.

So I think that's why they lock it. But I almost forgot. Oh my gosh, I had company most of Thursday. And I was up early cleaning and just getting ready for my friends to show up. And because of that, I was out walking the dog and I was thinking that, oh my gosh, did I miss it? And then I realized it was Thursday.

Okay, I still have time. I did go back. I looked over all of the possibilities. I considered, well, I backed away from Thursday Night Football because I always do. I did consider the Broncos briefly. Jay reminded me not to get cute.

It wasn't cute at all, actually. And I ended up going with the Buffalo Bills, which I'm not confident in. I'm never confident in. I don't feel confident about anything in the NFL, actually. But it was either the Buffalo Bills. I think I briefly, as in very briefly, considered Tampa Bay over Atlanta. But it's a conference game, not conference game, sorry, division game.

So maybe a little bit nervous. Because actually, Buffalo in Pittsburgh is also a conference game. I'm just, I'm comfortable with the Bills in Orchard Park. I like their defense.

Their defense is really good. There were a couple of others that I toyed with, but I just, there wasn't anything else. Tennessee, I kind of thought about on the road at the commanders. But I just, I didn't feel comfortable with really any of them. But I mean, I'll be honest, I didn't feel super comfortable with Buffalo either.

I swear, Bills Mafia, you better not let me down. I've never made it past week six. I've never won a Survivor Pool, much, much less made it past week six.

So I'm not sure which is my goal. Because I don't win anything if I'm the sole survivor on our archipelago. I don't win anything. I don't want a shirt.

Actually, I guess I should break the news to you, Producer Jay. I did give away one of our shirts to one of my friends. So one of our shirts is now on its way to Europe in a couple days. How about that? We're about to become a European phenomenon.

My friends were visiting from Denmark. I love that, actually. That's amazing.

A ton of exposure across the ocean. I like that. Really funny because the friend who took the t-shirt also spent time with Penny on Thursday evening. Got to meet Penny. She's not a dog person. Her husband loves dogs. She's not a dog person.

And so she did really well. She was very afraid. Can you imagine being afraid of Penny? She's harmless.

Oh, she's harmless, but she's too tired to do anything. Yeah, I told her. I said Penny will be asleep on the floor before we eat dinner.

We were eating dinner within 30 minutes. Penny was already conked out on the kitchen floor, which is great. Anyway, so yes, she spent some time with Penny. She felt a little more confident around dogs after Penny. Penny's very calm. The only thing Penny cares about is, well, sleep for sure, her treats, and then her walks.

But the walks are very short. Anyway, it was good. She got an introduction to Penny and now has a shirt with Penny on the back of it. Oh, dear. I even apologized to her.

I said, no one should have to wear a shirt with my dog on the back of it. But she actually is like me. She looks really good in orange.

I don't know if I look really good in it. Orange is my favorite color. She looks really good in orange because she's got darker skin. And so, yeah, she's got a t-shirt now that's heading back to Denmark. She should wear it on the plane.

We're about to become international. Why would we subject her to wearing the shirt on the plane? She'd be like a billboard.

No, people will stare at her because it's obnoxiously bright orange. That's the point. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. Really excited. An hour from now, driving across this great United States somewhere, Josh Pate will join us. He is on his way from the Thursday night game to a game this weekend on the college football slate.

And he's agreed to join us, which is great. So we'll talk a little bit about the landscape in college football. I don't know if you've heard this from any of your family and friends, and maybe it doesn't matter while the games were going on. But people that I know cannot keep up with conference realignment, the potential for college football playoff expansion.

They really can't keep up with the NIL rules or transfer portal. And it seems like it's a free for all the wild wild west, even if you're in the south in college football. And what do we know?

It's still the same three teams at the top. So we'll sort through it all with Josh Pate, who just signed a brand new deal with CBS and 24-7 Sports. Really excited about it. He's a self-made man, and he's got a great show that airs multiple times per week. And here's what I know about Josh. Whenever we try to get him, he's jammed. His schedule's jammed. So we're excited.

Even if he's on the road, we can't wait to catch up with him. So we've also got, in addition to college football and NFL Week 5, the start of the baseball wildcard weekend, and the poll is up on Twitter after our CBS. Which wildcard series are you most fired up about? I have not voted yet.

I'm not sure. There's so much to like about all of these series. The Guardians being the youngest team in baseball, one of the big surprises. The Phillies ending a 10-year drought. The Mariners ending a 21-year drought. The Mets with 101 wins in a wildcard round. The Padres who found their stride with their hitting and it became formidable at the plate.

The Cardinals who have an outgoing Albert Pujols. Did you all see the comments that Albert made to, I think it might have been, oh it was MLB.com. I was going to say AP, but it was MLB.com that he almost quit this summer before he went on his home run tear. Before, and it wasn't just about the home runs, because he said to him, the ultimate final number did not matter. He was still retiring regardless whether or not he reached 700 home runs. And do you know, in June, when he was considering retirement, these were his numbers.

Listen to this. He was hitting below 200. Only four home runs. He was nowhere near 700. He wasn't sniffing 700.

It was an insult to talk about 700. And so he tells MLB.com he almost quit in the middle of the season. He asked himself that many times. But as a future Hall of Famer, he was working on it. He actually changed how he held the bat in early July.

And when he did that, he says something clicked. Pujols went on to hit 314 from that point. And he was one of the most clutch hitters in Major League Baseball over the course of the final stretch of the season.

So July, August, September. He hit 20 home runs in those three months, obviously surpassing 700, becoming one of the great stories of 2022. And I love what he said, too. Didn't we talk about this last night with Jesse Bradley, the former pro soccer goalkeeper, about how you build culture, how you build chemistry. And he said it starts with leadership for sure, but it also starts with time together. It's about investing in the people around you. And then when you care about the people around you, you're more willing to put in the work.

You're more willing to give heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears. And then, of course, when everybody's pulling the same direction, the winds come and wind solidify your chemistry and your culture. Albert Pujols said this, when you have good people around you and they are encouraging you, and you realize that God has opened so many doors for you, man, it puts things back into perspective. You have good people around you and they are encouraging you. Those guys in the St. Louis clubhouse, they were the ones that were supposed to be learning from Pujols and no doubt they did.

He's the godfather, he's the grandfather, he's the future hall of famer. They were encouraging him to stick with it because sooner or later it's going to turn around for you. Oh my gosh, that almost makes me break into tears. How many of us in life have been stuck, whatever that means, stuck in your personal life, stuck in your professional life? In 2021, I was burnt out.

I thought the show sucked. We had lost a person, we were in a place where it felt like we were doing bare minimum, I didn't enjoy the shows, I didn't enjoy sports, I didn't enjoy the creative process, which is what I'm passionate about. I was stuck. I just couldn't imagine doing this anymore. I would say quit, but I was ready to find something different to do.

But I had friends in my life, family in my life, who kept encouraging me. There's going to be a break. It's going to turn around. It's not always going to be this way. You're going to snap out of your funk. You're going to do what you do. You're going to do what you were born to do. And this is what I was born to do.

I've known it since I was a teenager. And so things did break. Things changed.

Producer J came on board, which was a huge part of that. But the people I had around me who encouraged me and wouldn't let me give up, wouldn't let me forget about all the blood, sweat and tears I put into it. Oh, my gosh, I love that. When you have good people around you and they're encouraging you, man, it puts things back into perspective. And so he said, I'm going to stick with it.

Love it. I knew sooner or later it was going to come and turn around for me because it can't be like it was all year long. No, because he's a Hall of Famer. At some point it was going to click. He's the machine for a reason. Oh, my gosh. How about that?

And if that doesn't encourage you, the fact that Albert Pujols, one of the best of all time, one of only four hitters in baseball history to ever slug 700 home runs. He was discouraged. He was disappointed. He was frustrated. He was anxious.

He was considering quitting. If that guy can go through the tough stuff and come out the other side, well, then so can we. I love that. After reading it, I was so fired up, but also super emotional because, you know me, I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad.

I just cry all the time. And the rest of the season, three months, fire. A huge reason why the Cardinals surged the top of the NL Central, won the division and had some unbelievable moments and memories over those last three months. No wonder his teammates are so thrilled for him. They were part of it. They got to encourage him. Oh, my gosh, I love that. And so anyway, back to all the storylines.

I actually wasn't planning on spending the segment on that. I was going to bring it up at some point, but it just clicked when I was talking about the unbelievable run for the Cardinals to get into the postseason. So Cardinals obviously have a lot of storylines. Yachty, who was part of their big run a couple years ago.

I know Brace, remember that. Yachty, Albert, Wayno, think about the Rays, who haven't yet won a World Series but have come so close. They're incredible pitching. The Blue Jays, obviously, getting to host the rabid fans there at, wait, Rogers Center? Rogers Center? Did they change the name again on me? So there's some really cool, delicious, juicy, sexy storylines about Wild Card Weekend, and it's so fast.

It's not as fast as one and done, but this is a pretty good compromise. We're going to hear from, oh, my gosh, one of my favorites in the whole game, Terry Francona. He's a hoot. The man is how old? And he still gets nervous.

But you know what? Like Buck Showalter, Terry Francona is so good for these young Guardians. Buck Showalter, he's one of the reasons why the Mets won 101 games this year. They needed good leadership. They needed a guy who was kind of steady Eddie. I mean, you can't say that about Tito because he's not steady Eddie, but he's so passionate and he's so knowledgeable.

And he's a perfect complement to a bunch of young guys who have no idea what they're doing. So we're going to hear from those guys because it's cool to get to get ready and to know where they are and to hear their emotions and their anticipation. So we will do that. But in the meantime, want you to vote for the wild card series that you will not miss.

And please don't respond and say I won't miss any of them. Just play along, please. And we have a bunch of people on the phone that want to weigh in. 855-212-4227. Anything to keep me from talking about Thursday Night Football. I got you.

855-212-4CBS. On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too. We've got college football coming in 45 minutes. But for now, it's a football Friday. You know what? It's a Friday free for all. How about that?

We all need some of that in our lives. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. For the future of banking at CapitalOne.com. Capital One.

What's in your wallet? Tom Hamilton on Guardians Radio. And yes, the youngest team in Major League Baseball has got one of the most experienced managers. The longest tenured managers if you consider total service. I know he was in Boston. He obviously had some time away even after he started in Cleveland because of health issues. But Terry Francona is the perfect complement to a bunch of young guys.

A lot of them who are going into this situation without a whole lot of experience. I was nervous yesterday in the ninth inning. That'll never change. I don't know. I remember I can remember back all the way back at 16 before the first game of the World Series. I went out to the dugout like an hour early because I had anxiety and nap was out there. I'm like, what are you doing out here? Because I'm scared to death.

Me too. But I mean, as long as it doesn't get in the way, you know, that's okay. You want to use it to your advantage. If you're a player, you know, use the adrenaline to your advantage. It's an honor. So you want to enjoy. I don't think you need to wait till the end to see if you win to think like, well, did I enjoy this? You know, I do enjoy what we're doing. That's a great perspective.

But also, I love that he's so authentic. I'm scared to death. And that goes back to 2016, right? When they made it to the World Series. Do you guys remember that World Series?

That was incredible. It was the Cubs who ended up winning, of course, after the Cleveland Indians had won a 3-1 lead in the series. And the Cubs came back, not just that, but it was game seven extra innings.

And there was a rain delay or a weather delay of some sort. And the Cubs ended up winning. It's heartbreaking for Cleveland fans.

But man, it was one of the best World Series of recent memory, really. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Let's go to our phones here, 855-212-4227. Let's start with Chris, who's in Maryland. Welcome to the show.

Hi, Amy. Nice to hear you talking about the attendance in baseball and whatnot. I've always kind of thought about that because it's just a different sport. It's more of a go-to-the-park sport than a television sport, necessarily.

I also liked what the guy said about the DA speeding up the games. The TV commercials when it comes to the don't help at all, either, with the extension of the games. Yeah, but that's how baseball makes its money, though. Those are not going away.

In fact, they're probably going to get longer the closer we get to the World Series. I know. So that's catch-22. I don't know what to do about that.

However, here's something funny. Last year, before Max was traded to the Dodgers, he was pitching for the Nationals. It was a Sunday afternoon playing the Marlins. His wife was in labor in the hospital, but he was going to pitch the game anyway. He finished the game in two hours. He pitched at 8 a.m. Amazing what some motivation can do for you. The Marlins were trying to trick him, too, because they said he's going to just throw strikes. They were swinging it all the first pitch of that game.

It might have been under two hours, if I'm not mistaken. It was the funniest thing. Also, you said at the beginning of the year, you really kind of bummed me out. You were being so negative about how the pitch clock, you didn't think, would speed up the game at all.

But I really think it will. Baseball's my favorite. I was a little too much.

They needed all the help they could get. Albert's great for it. And then the one last thing, if I may, it's like with Aaron Judge and home runs and these steroid guys. I can wait. They can wait. They can wait. Because the damage they did, this would be so much important. That's why I feel the way I do about recognizing whatever they accomplished. They can wait and wait and wait before they get recognized.

And the story of their part is told. Anyway, I really appreciate the baseball talk. You'd be good. And hey, maybe TV is better if you talk with your hands a lot. You say you know you were meant for radio, so there you go.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Chris. Thank you, but I'll never be full-time TV. Not unless God completely changes my mind and my heart because I have zero interest in TV. It's not the same thing. There's so many ways that radio and TV are different, but I've always been a radio junkie.

Also, I do think I look weird on TV, but whatever. David is listening in Pittsburgh. Welcome to After Hours. Yes.

Good evening, Amy. Hey, I'm probably going to be in the minority on these points, but you know, our game of baseball and the thing with the pitch clock and speeding the game up, all through four years ago, myself and three friends, we went to a doubleheader in Pittsburgh. And this was before they really started doing the separate admissions. We went to both games. We got there at game time, and we timed it. We were in that ballpark for seven hours and five minutes by the time the second game was over. We all were, because that's how passionate we are.

We were happy as clams. And you know, I'm like you, when they did the thing with the ghost runners, I'm going, what are we doing? I mean, we used to do that.

If you went around the neighborhood on a particular day, and you could only find one of your bodies that was home, and you played wiffle ball, that's what we did for that ghost runners, not in a major league baseball game. And the final thing that's interesting to me is everything is, as you said, with the commercials, and that's how baseball makes its money. I don't think this will happen, but if the games start getting shortened too much, let's say they have maybe 10, 15 percent that are two hours and 15 minutes, let's see what the owners do when they see how much money they're losing at the confession stand. And I'm so excited for tomorrow. This is like Christmas Eve for me. I'm not going to be able to go to sleep tonight waiting for noon to start, because I'm just going wall-to-wall games and watching it tomorrow. And I wanted to tell you too real quick, I'm looking forward mostly to the St. Louis Philadelphia series.

Mm-hmm. Is there a reason why? Yeah, and again, because I'm an old-school baseball fan here, I know it has nothing to do with the teams that are playing tomorrow from St. Louis and Philadelphia, that more than any other sport, baseball is a game of stories and history. And even going back to 64, when the Phillies had a six-game lead with 12 to go, and they collapsed and St. Louis won the pennant and ultimately the World Series. And I also like the history between the two teams, like the Dick Allen trade, the Steve Carlton trade, and Kurt Flood refusing to go to the Phillies and challenging the reserve clause. So maybe that makes me a baseball nerd that when the matchups come out, I look at that and think back on the history. But you're right, it has nothing to do with today's teams. Exactly.

No, it doesn't, and that's why I'm saying, I warned you when I called, I'm probably in the minority on all this, but that matchup intrigues me for those reasons. Thank you very much for taking the call, and I enjoy listening to your show. All right, we're happy to keep you company. David, thanks for listening in Pittsburgh.

Let's talk to Cash, who's in Atlanta. Welcome to After Hours. Good morning slash afternoon slash whatever it is. How you doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm great. Thanks for taking my call.

So I'm going to start off with baseball, and then I'm going to stick one little small thing about football in the middle, and then I'm going to go back to baseball. I'll make it quick though. Okay. Okay.

Actually, I'm going to start with you. I was not a fan of you going to that daytime little slot session for like that week. I only did two days. I was just filling in.

It felt like a week. I didn't like it. Oh, okay. Because these are my hours, but I was happy for you.

I mean, it's no big deal. It was a radio show. I remember.

The only part that was different is that the first one was on TV, which is way outside my comfort zone, but otherwise it's the same thing I do here at night, nothing different, no need to congratulate me. It was just filling in for some people who are out. Okay. That's another pat on the back.

You're welcome. But no. Okay. So the other one was, so you were mentioning some quotes. Well, a quote from somebody earlier.

I've been all over a minute. No, not mad, but I forgot exactly what it was, but I actually have the gigantic book of baseball causation. Oh, yeah. I got that from my dad. It's super old. Don't ask me.

I'm 35. Life is good. But yeah. So one of them is it says fans don't boo nobody.

And that's from Mr. October, Reggie Jackson. I remember hearing you mentioned something about the folks that were booing folks. Yeah, they're booing the Broncos in Denver. Yeah. Yeah.

You see how I'm sliding in there, right? It's okay. I got you. So I'm a co-fan.

Coco, we did that. Yeah. And I'm done.

But no, the last thing is the guy that said that he was a baseball nerd or whatever the case is. Amen. That's your awesome sauce. I love it. And he was quick to the point and he let you do your thing, too.

I thought it was awesome. So props to him and props to you to keep being great. I appreciate you taking my call.

Sure. Good to talk to you in Atlanta. We're always glad to keep you company. Yeah, nerd on this show is a compliment.

So whenever I say it, just take my word for it. I adore nerds. I need to marry a big ol' nerd. Let's do one more here. Let's talk to David, who's in Massachusetts. Welcome to After Hours. Hey, Amy. How are you doing? I'm good. Thank you.

I thought that guy was going to turn into a pumpkin. Oh, you're fine. Yeah.

What else do you have to do with your time? So it's all right. Yeah. Yeah. So Boston's a little stir crazy right now. You know, everyone's talking about, you know, Judge possibly going to the Red Sox. You got Tom Brady 2.0 right about the start Sunday. Wait, I'm sorry. Tom Brady 2.0 meaning Bailey Zappi?

Absolutely. How would anybody know that? How would anybody know that? I mean, the guy's poised in the pocket. The guy looks like nails, you know? Is not Mac Jones the same?

You know, everyone says that Mac Jones looks like that guy from the Mad magazines. I actually feel like Mac Jones was playing his best football. Maybe one of his best halves that we've seen from him in a long time when he got hurt. Honestly, I thought he was playing really well. I have no idea how you could know anything about Bailey Zappi being the next Tom Brady after three quarters of football on the road in a loss.

I mean, yeah, he was poised, but how do you know that? That's crazy. Whatever.

We are completely irrational and illogical when it comes to our sports. I totally get that. So you can find us on Twitter, A Law Radio, on our show Twitter, it's After Hours CBS, and we've got the poll up which of the wildcard series has got you the most fired up, and then also we'll have our Game of the Week poll coming up. So either one, either Twitter or Facebook. You're already blowing up our Facebook page too. You are listening to the After Hour. Terms and conditions apply. The Wong will take off for second base.

No, he doesn't actually. And there's a comebacker. Helmsley has it on the mound, runs toward first, flips to Goldsmith, and the Cardinals can celebrate a Central Division title. Beating the Milwaukee Brewers tonight 6-2 to win the NL Central.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It's go time, right? And I was referring to college football when I used that phrase on Twitter, but it's go time for baseball as well. Hours away from the start of the playoffs, the wildcard weekend.

If I don't get my way, in this case I'm not getting my way, I preferred the one and done, but I'll take three in a row. Except, man, it leaves me with no life this weekend. Are you feeling bad for me?

Don't. There's not a lot of sleep to it, but the cool thing is I can watch in my sweatpants and my comfy chair. Oh my gosh, my friends who came over to my house on Thursday afternoon and hang out with me for a while, I made them sit in my comfy chair. And the second that my girlfriend sank down in it, it's just that sigh that comes out of you. It's comfy as heck.

Almost comfortable enough to fall asleep in. Yeah, you know what, people have done that before. People have threatened to do that before. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So top of the hour, here's the plan.

Top of the hour, you know, the best laid plans of mice and men. There will be some college football talk with our friend Josh Pate. It's an ever-changing landscape in the sport, and the future of the playoff is very much up in the air, and so we'll get the latest with him.

He's driving somewhere in this great United States in college football country, so we're excited to have him join us. We still have both QB news and Week 5 frame through the eyes of the defense. It's a brand-new segment, a brand-new feature that we like called Defense Wins Championships. We're trying to train your minds. We're trying to influence those of you sports fans around the country to remember that it's more than just quarterbacks.

We'll always be obsessed with our quarterbacks, but it's more than just quarterbacks. And yes, we're getting you set for Wild Card Weekend. So all of that, we're going to jam into the next two hours and 15 minutes, and then you're on your own.

I can't help you after that. So take our poll. We've got the Wild Card Weekend poll, and producer Jay, how close are we to our poll for Week 5? I believe I got three of the four locks for game of the week.

There's one. Locks. Whenever Jay says locks, I shy away.

I run the other direction when Jay says locks. I'm in a debate for the final spot, though. With whom?

The Giants and the Packers. No, no, no, no. You said you're in a debate. With whom are you debating? My own mind. With you, yourself, and you, you're debating amongst yourselves? Well, yeah, we haven't conferenced about this yet, but I was trying to narrow them.

Oh, you need me, do you? No, I don't know. I was just trying to narrow them. Nothing true has ever been said on this show. All right, let's talk about Rich.

Let's talk not about Rich. We don't want to talk about you. We want to talk to you.

Rich is in Chicago. Welcome to After Hours. Hey, good evening, Amy. How are you?

I'm great. Hey, I got something for you, and I want to get your opinion on this, that having to suffer through, I'm not from here, but I've been here over 20 years, and I got to tell you, the power rankings are out, and when you talk about the lock of the week, I will give you the lock of the week in just a moment, but the NFL power rankings are very interesting because, as you know, they're adjusted every week depending on the outcome of some games. And when you talk about the Bears, it's really hard to come up with anything positive since they're pretty much less than every measurable, really, area of ranking, whether it's quarterback, defensive back, offensive line, defense, et cetera.

It's just kind of a mess. But the thing I wanted to point out, because I know you're going to talk about college later, and this is not a joke because I am a former college football player. I know a little bit about how difficult it is to play in the NFL because I never made the cut in the NFL, and it is different and it is highly more competitive with world-class athletes, but the Bears are now 30th in the power rankings, which is remarkable. I can't believe they're not last, but they're ahead of the Panthers at 31 and the Texans at 32.

Wait, can I just really quickly interject? The power rankings are just some subjective list. They don't mean anything. They're just what people think about the teams in the NFL.

Well, I think it's not just people. It's really kind of people that track the NFL. Well, we all track the NFL, but I'm saying power rankings are subjective. It's a list that people put together based on, sure, numbers and metrics, but eye tests, too. I mean, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't affect whether or not you can get into the postseason.

It's a subjective list. I agree. I'm not questioning that. What I was going to throw out there is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I think Alabama could beat 33-32.

I'm serious. When you take a look at it, they've got a better defense, they've got a better quarterback, and they've got better receivers, and I can guarantee that's the case against the Bears. And it's really sad when you take a look at a dynamic team like Alabama in college that has really what I believe as a team, not just individuals, but as a team could give them a game. Now, that's, as you know, used to be the college All-Stars against the defending NFL champion before the leagues merged, and I think they only won one.

That was way before me. Yes, but that, you know, exactly, but I mean, even with the All-Stars in college, they couldn't. Well, first of all, to play the NFL champion is kind of silly because they're beating all the NFL teams, but it's the lock of the week, and I'm serious about this, is the Bears and Vikings. Bears and Vikings. Take the Vikings. Find out what you're at worst is and put it all on the Vikings. Nope. Well, okay, I'm just telling you, you'll see on Sunday afternoon.

It doesn't matter. I'm not telling you nope because I don't think the Vikings can beat the Bears. It's a conference matchup. Vikings beat the Packers for heaven's sakes, so they can beat them, but nope to any college team, even if it's Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, beating an NFL team, as in nope. Those are grown men whose living is based on how tough and physical and skilled they are on the football field. The average NFL career is not even four years.

These guys are locked into battles for playing time and battles for their livelihood. It doesn't matter how good Alabama looks against other college competition. You're still pitting college kids against grown men, many of them who've got pounds and years of experience in the NFL. There's absolutely no way that a college team beats an NFL team that is at full strength and is actually trying to win. I admitted that historically.

I'm telling you this would be an exception. You can tell me all you want, but the Bears actually have two wins against actual NFL teams. Fluke. There's still wins, and so that's what I go back to. I go back to that over subjective power rankings because wins in the NFL are wins in the NFL. You don't take them away.

They're not jokes. The Colts beat the Broncos in Denver in overtime with nothing but field goals. It still counts as a win. Well, take a look at the balance of the year, and you tell me how many games you think the Bears are going to win. I don't do predictions. I never would have picked the Vikings to beat the Packers in week number one.

The only predictions you'll ever do are the ones where I have to for my survivor pool, and even those make me uncomfortable. Teams are not static objects. They don't stay the same over the course of an entire season. Some get better. Some come together. There's more fluid.

Think about it. Everything's changing again for Justin Fields. New coach, new system, new everything. He's got new people around him, new receivers. It's all changing.

It's all new, and the responsibility's on him. And so, yeah, I mean, they've had a brutal first month. There's a bunch of teams that have had a brutal first month. Russell Wilson's been a quarterback in the NFL for 10 years, and the Broncos offense is putrid. So there's a lot of teams out there that look terrible, like hideous offense. It's not going to stay that way for most of them through the course of the year. Well, I think Fields has regressed in his second year. So, yeah, you're right. You can either get better or get worse.

He's getting worse. All right, well, we'll see. I mean, like I said, new system, new terminology, new coach, new schemes, new receivers, new everything.

Yet again, it's not easy to go through that either as a young player. So we'll see. I'm not going to tell you they're going to be a playoff team. I have no idea, but I absolutely will never, ever, ever agree that a college team can beat an NFL team, guys who are all-stars and all-Americans at every level, and all they do is work out and play football. That's what they do. They've got world-class technology. They've got nutritionists. They've got everything they could possibly need to be successful as football players. And they're huge. I know there's some big Alabama guys, but these are huge guys at every position.

So it's just a different animal. But I appreciate your call, Rich. Thanks so much for listening in Chicago.

855-212-4227. Do we possibly have time for the Bears' offensive coordinator, Luke Getzey, who he was talking about the first month that was really rough for Justin Fields? I don't think he's had a rough month. I think he's gotten better each week. I think he's growing tremendously.

And, you know, it's not easy. We're playing good football teams, and it's not easy to become, you know, the level quarterback that he wants to become, and I know that he can become. And so the important thing is that we stay focused, we keep our eyes on that progress or on that process, and we make sure we get better each and every week. And I believe that we're in that phase. Yeah, this is not easy, and this is not – it's a lot of changes for Justin Fields, and last year probably made his development harder than it needed to be. And so, yeah, he's not in a good spot, but there are a lot of quarterbacks right now that are not in a good spot and not playing well. Tom Brady would tell you the Buccaneers offense still has a long way to go. It's a race to consistency. College football next, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. See how Capital One is using machine learning for the future of banking at CapitalOne.com. Capital One, what's in your wallet?