Bills & Rams Expectations (Hour 1)

Live from the police show yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show, our preview of the NFL season with the game happening in about 2 hours and 20 minutes as the world champions will start their season right where it ended.

A team that has Super Bowl aspirations in the Buffalo Bills. So welcome on in across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM channel 158 and that free Odyssey app. 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You could always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. And we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage could help you get there for home-owned solutions that fit your life. Well, Rocket can and producing the extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Kiki. It is the official start of the football season and one thing determines the official start of the football season. When you have wings. And that's what transpired right before the start of the show. Now, our friends down the hall at WFAN had some beautiful wings catered in. Buffalo wings, garlic parmesan wings, and they also had pepperoni garlic knots. There is nothing like devouring wings and then getting ready to watch football. And that's the beautiful part of this game that we love.

Eating food and then watching all the chaos unfold in front of us. And it starts tonight. Football is a 365-day sport now. The way that we talk about it, the way that we cover it. But there is nothing like the run that we're going to get ready to embark on for the next four or five months where Saturday you have a loaded college slate, Sunday you always have a loaded NFL slate, and then you end the week off on Monday night with Monday night football.

There's nothing like this. When you go through this routine of Tuesday and Wednesday reaction, Thursday football, Friday some college, Saturday college, Sunday all NFL, and then one final game on Monday night. And when I look at the game tonight, both of these teams are fascinating to me because there's big expectations. Now for the Rams, it's Super Bowl or bust, but I always think when you hear the word bust, it usually is associated with failure. If the Rams don't win the Super Bowl this year, yes, they failed. Yes, they did not accomplish their goal.

But there's different levels of failure. If the Bills, since they've never won a Super Bowl before, and they've been knocking on the door for the last two, three years, and they have their quarterback in Josh Allen, if they don't win it all this year, as they are the overwhelming favorite to do so, there's no way to talk this season into being a success. And Brandon being their general manager, he joined us right after the draft, and he refused to say that this was a Super Bowl or bust season.

He said he would never define his team that way. And I said to him, with all due respect, and I like Brandon being a lot, I actually talked to him this morning, that this is Super Bowl or bust for the Buffalo Bills. I don't care what you say, I don't care how you spin it, with the way that they've performed the last two years, getting to the AFC title game, and last year, losing a game that was an instant classic in the divisional round, where they gave Kansas City all that they could handle and should have won the game, it's now time. Because there's a lot of times where you see a team, and they lose in a big spot, and you go, oh, they'll be back.

Or, oh, their time is coming. And Buffalo right now is in that stage of they'll be back, and their time is now. You would expect the Bills to be a force to be reckoned with for the next decade. You just don't know what the team's going to look like a few years from now, even though you feel really damn good about the quarterback, and you have the quarterback tied up to a long-term contract.

You know, think about it this way. Kansas City, when they won their first Super Bowl three years ago, you would have thought by now that Kansas City would have another ring. We talk about dynasties. When the Chiefs won that Super Bowl up against San Francisco and had that fourth quarter comeback, every year when someone wins a Super Bowl, the D word gets thrown around, dynasty.

For 99% of the teams, though, it's not believable. You don't actually realistically think they're going to become a dynasty. For Kansas City, you thought they were going to become a dynasty.

Now, they haven't been bad. The following year they got to the Super Bowl, they lost to Tampa Bay and Tom Brady. The year after that, they were on their way to another Super Bowl, and then Patrick Mahomes in the first time in his career looked like a bad quarterback with the blunder right before halftime and the Bengals just stopping him and shutting him out in the second half and in that overtime where he almost threw a pick and then did throw a pick. You look at this LA Rams team, they do have a feel like they're a team that can repeat.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you they're going to become a dynasty. If the LA Rams don't win the Super Bowl this year, I can't sit here and act like I'm shocked because that team has Matthew Stafford now in year number two with the Rams. They have maybe the best wide receiver in the sport in Cooper Cup.

If you want to take Devante Adams, if you want to take Justin Jefferson, you can. They have a defense with one of the greatest defensive players of all time in Aaron Donald. You just added Bobby Wagner, who still has a few years left in this league. You have Jalen Ramsey, who's a top 15, top 20 player in the NFL in the top 100 list. He was put in at number nine. And you have a young coach who in his first five years in the league has been to two Super Bowls and has done masterful stuff. And when everyone heard of his hiring, they said, man, how is a young coach like that in his 30s going to lead a locker room of men?

And that hasn't been a problem. I love this matchup tonight. The NFL schedule makers did a fantastic job giving us this gem of a game for week one. You have a high octane offense type of game tonight. Allen up against Stafford, Diggs up against Cup. Dawson Knox is a really good underrated tight end in this league.

I love Gabriel Davis as well. You'll get the debut of Allen Robinson in a Rams uniform and defensively, we know how great the Rams could be. We saw Aaron Donald with the Super Bowl on the line a few months ago in February at SoFi Stadium, a game that I was at. Run right through that Bengals offensive line on third down and then throw Joe Burrow around like a rag doll on fourth down. And for the Buffalo Bills, yes, you're without Tredavious White for at least the first four games of the season. You bring in a Von Miller. Von Miller brings you Super Bowl experience, legit Super Bowl experience, playing in two Super Bowls. Winning two. One with Denver, one with L.A. A Super Bowl MVP. And you look at that defense.

Yes, they were a number one defense a season ago. And Sean McDermott has done a remarkable job as the H.C. of the Buffalo Bills with how many times he only missed the playoffs once. He got this team to the playoffs with Tarod Taylor and now he has the quarterback and it's not, oh, just simply get to the playoffs. It's win the AFC.

It's get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. But that defense from what did transpire in the final game did put a damper on their season. Because that defense, when you spot them a lead with 13 seconds to go, I don't care if it's Mahomes. I don't care if it's Tyreke Hill at the time. I don't care if it's Travis Kelce.

I don't care that Andrew Reid's the head coach. You needed to find a way to get that game over within regulation. And we all know what happened. The big plays, the field goal. And then they lose in overtime when the coin toss did not go Buffalo's way.

And Kansas City moved the ball right down the field and into the end zone before they would then go on to lose to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC title game. So both of these teams, if you had to ask me right now, who's the best team in the AFC? It's Buffalo. Who's the best team in the NFC? You probably go with the Rams. The AFC is so crowded, though. When you have teams like Buffalo, you have teams like the Bengals, the Ravens, Tennessee, the Colts, all the teams in the AFC West. If you want to throw teams in there like the Steelers, the Patriots, and the Dolphins and call them wildcard contenders, you can.

The AFC is going to be pretty tough to predict. Home field advantage in the AFC this year, I think, can potentially be enormous. Because you have a team like Buffalo, and I was at that playoff game last year up against the Pats. Imagine you get a bye and then to get to the Super Bowl, you have to win two games in Buffalo. Your bills, you have that that stadium, new era field, which I still call Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park.

If you have to welcome in an opponent twice in the postseason in that stadium, good luck to the opponent. Because that place is rocket. That place is cold. That place is awesome. That's a party atmosphere. So for Buffalo, go get the number one seed this year and control your own destiny.

Make the path travel through Orchard Park. And for the Rams, you look at this NFC, I can only see three teams get into the Super Bowl from the NFC. That's the LA Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then also the Green Bay Packers, even though they did lose Devontae Adams this offseason. Other than that, I think the Eagles win the NFC East. I don't view them as a Super Bowl contender. Cowboys are a potential playoff team. Vikings are a potential playoff team. You want to throw the Saints or the Panthers as potential playoff teams?

Be my guess. AFC West, Cardinals without Hopkins for the first six games. Let's see if they could survive. The 49ers, I don't know what Trey Lance is going to be. And the 49ers are a team. If Trey Lance pops, then maybe you can enter them into a team that will be in the Super Bowl conversation just because the last few years with Jimmy Garoppolo, they've been in that conversation.

And the goal by bringing in Trey Lance was to take that next step. But this NFC, until I'm proven wrong or proven to provide my trust in another team, I'm not going to welcome anyone else into the party of potentially playing in Phoenix this year, Phoenix, Arizona for the Super Bowl. Unless if your names are the Rams, the Packers, and then also the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So for the Rams, you have a window here. You have guys like Stafford, Donald getting up there in age. Cooper Cup's been a stud. Let's see how many could go win. And for Buffalo, it's trying to finally bring that Lombardi trophy to your loyal, great fan base.

You know, it's weird, Ryan. I'm a Patriot fan. I should not be rooting for the Bills, but the Bills are a likable team. Josh Allen, likable quarterback. Staphon Diggs, heck of a wide receiver.

Gabe Davis, phenomenal story. I like Von Miller. I like Micah Hyde.

I like Sean McDermott. And maybe it's because I lived in Philadelphia and that did come at the expense of my team not winning another title. But just seeing the way that the fans who looked for a trophy for so many years and looked to win that Super Bowl react, it was pretty cool to be a part of when I was doing postgame in Philadelphia after every Eagles game. And that Buffalo fan base reminds me a lot like the Philadelphia fan base.

They've been tortured for years. They've come really close. We know the Bills went to four straight Super Bowls and lost. Philadelphia went to two Super Bowls and lost.

And then finally they got their moment. But the Bills are a very likable team. And a lot of people, and there's one thing to say, the Bills are the best team. But I can't really find many analysts who aren't picking the Bills to win the Super Bowl. I don't think that's a concern for me because if they came out of nowhere and this was a year where they just had a big offseason and they did improve a lot.

You could say, OK, that would be a cause for concern since everyone's picking them. Maybe they get complacent since they've been really good for the last two years and they've had to go through the heartbreak the last two years. That's why I don't think the expectation and the hype is going to be too much for the Buffalo Bills. If they don't get to the Super Bowl, though, and win the damn thing, then their season will be disappointing. And for the L.A. Rams, once you win one, the standard is always to win another one.

How about you, Hot Take Kiki? Because I think we have a sensational matchup tonight. I know you like the Rams in this game.

So do I. It's bizarre to me when a team won a Super Bowl, even though the Bills are great, that the Rams are an underdog in this game. So I did plus the two and a half points. And I think that the Rams are going to win this game outright tonight. And what's going to be a high scoring game and I think it's going to be back and forth and the Rams will pull it out late. But when you look at these two teams and the Bills and the Rams, what are the first two things that come to mind individually for those two teams? Well, the Bills, I mean, is obvious.

Like you said, now it's just it's kind of cutting through all the nonsense and the talk and the hype and just getting the job done. But for the Rams, like, look, you look at their path back to the Super Bowl. Look at the team that they have. And frankly, the disrespect that they've gotten. This is one of the easiest, if not maybe the easiest route back to the Super Bowl for a defending champ that I can remember in a very long time. Wait, what do you mean the Rams have been disrespected?

No one's really talking about him. I wouldn't say that. The Rams just kind of like, you know, a one and done kind of team. Now people I see are, you know, high on them in terms of, you know, consensus going to the Super Bowl like the Bills have been and consensus going to the Super Bowl. That's for sure and a tougher AFC. Well, you also got to remember people make predictions.

People don't like to just predict whoever the last champion was. I don't think anyone's saying that the Rams are going to miss the playoffs. I think almost every prediction I read has the Rams winning the NFC West. I think it goes with saying that if you gave people only three choices to go to Super Bowl at the NFC, I think every list would have the Rams on it. You see how many picks are actually going the Rams way to go to the Super Bowl.

I mean, this is tailor made for them. I wouldn't say it's disrespect because everyone knows that Aaron Donald's the best defensive player in the sport. Last year, Stafford got all the bouquets thrown at him when he had that postseason run. Cooper Cup could be one person that's disrespected because there is still a hesitance from a lot of people to call him the best wide receiver in the sport. Now, you want to tell me Devonta Adams because he's done it longer?

Fine. Justin Jefferson had a great start to his first two years of the career. You know I love the guy. But it does seem like there is some skepticism to anoint Cooper Cup as the best wide receiver in the sport. But other than that, McVay's gotten all of his respect. He won the big game. He just got a contract extension, less need as well. I would disagree with the respect part about the LA Rams. How do you view the bills in the Rams?

855-2124, CBS 855-212-4227. We will take a time out talking about getting paid. One college football coach got paid again. We'll have to talk about the expectations for his program when we continue in five minutes.

That's right, it is Zach Gelb's show. On CBS Sports Radio, the NFL season kicks off in two hours. Let's go! We got the Buffalo Bills and the LA Rams and I can't wait.

How are you spending your Sunday, by the way, Hot Take Hickey? A few programming notes here. I will be on every Sunday, every regular season Sunday in football season from 12 to 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Radio hosting ION Football. We take you to every stadium, tell you how every score happens and how it did go down. We recap all the games. We preview all the games.

We give you post-game sound, talk to the players after the game. Do some betting lines. Also, do a little Fantasy 5 as well. Keep you up to date on your Fantasy team. All that stuff each and every Sunday in the regular season from 12 to 8 p.m. Eastern.

And two other things that I'm adding to my schedule. We're on WFNZ in Charlotte, one of our great affiliates. The legendary Mac Attack Morning Show will be having me on as a weekly guest every Friday in football season if you want to tune in at 9.20 a.m. Eastern. And then also, if you have not heard, yours truly up against Miraz in the mornings for NFL picks on the DA show. I'll be giving you three picks each and every Football Friday and we'll be keeping tabs up against Miraz. If I lose at their Memorial Day Bob's Bar Show, I will have to park your car if you show up in attendance while I'm dressed up as Matt Ruhle.

That's what they wanted to do. In return, if I win and Miraz loses, which that's going to happen, I guarantee it, then Miraz is going to have to be a pig and it's going to be pin the tail on the pig where you will get to slap something on Miraz at the Memorial Day Bob's Bar Show. So, Football Sundays, I am here on the air for eight hours, Monday through Friday, clearly this show 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern. You check me in the morning on DA, check me in the morning on WFNZ at 9.20 a.m. And tomorrow on Twitter, early in the morning, at Zach Geld, maybe not so early in the morning, we will put this out there by 11 a.m. I will reveal who will be picking games up against me on Football Fridays at 9.20 p.m. Eastern right here on CBS Sports Radio. The last two years, we have gone with Gus Farratt after how much I made Gus want to bang his head into a wall, beating the living snot out of him in picks. We are now going to move on to someone else. We'll have Gus on multiple times throughout the season. We'll always connect with him. We love Gus Farratt, but we have picked someone else that has a big gambling background.

So this is a big task for me and a big challenge to go up against me in NFL picks. But Hot Take Hickey, how are you spending your Sundays in football season? Because that's what we really like to enjoy. Like I love doing eye on football, but there's nothing like getting some good food and watching the games and drinking a few brews with the boys. Yeah, mostly on the couch with the Colts Pod, selfless plug the Blue Horseshoe podcast for any Colts fans out there. We'll be doing instant reaction to every single game every Sunday. So not only will I be screaming at my TV at hopefully, which is many Matt Ryan touchdowns and many Colts wins this year, but then also talking about it after the game.

Otherwise, sitting back, putting the feet up and just enjoying some hopefully good football this year. And how can people get your podcast, the name of the podcast one more time? The Blue Horseshoe podcast, wherever you get your podcast, including Odyssey, Apple, Spotify, wherever you are, wherever podcasts are, that's where we are. Can I just make one quick comment? Sure. And you know me, I am so supportive of you. I hope you get every opportunity possible. I advocated for you to get the Weekend Overnight show, fill in for this show when I'm away.

And I was also thrilled when they said that you were going to be hosting this podcast. I think the name should be a work in progress. The Blue Horseshoe. That name, it still has not resonated with me. I thought it would marinate. Once we let it marinate, I'd be OK with it. Blue Horseshoe, we could do better on the podcast name. But it's so easy to say that until you actually think of all the names that have already been taken.

Some, you know, legalities, what you can use. I don't think it's that easy. And what do you what are you going to say?

No horsing around. The Private Jet. That's already taken. The Private Jet.

Jim Irsay's Private Jet. I don't want to be doing a show with a jet engine blaring in my ear and having no one being able to understand what the hell I'm trying to say. If that's what you want, if that's what the podcast you're looking for, then we'll do it. But I mean, I don't know if anyone else is looking for that. How about the Pat McAfee?

Get a lot of easy downloads that way. Until he sues us. I don't know. I think McAfee would be honored if you named the podcast Adafem. The Pat McAfee Show, but just dropped the W. So it's S-H-O.

Get as close to it as possible. The Pat McAfee shoe shoe. There it is.

A cult spot. All right. Let's get to a little Dabo, Sweeney. He has agreed to a new contract. Ten years, one hundred and fifteen million dollars. That's the extension through twenty thirty one. Did you see one specific clause in this contract? And I guess it's a clause that they've had in the contract before hot take. The Alabama clause.

Yes. I was not aware of this on his last contract extension for 90 something million. But if he ever wants to go to a school that he walked on to and become their head coach, A.K.A. be the guy to replace Nick Saban, the buyout to leave for Alabama is one and a half times higher annually than it is for any other college.

So that means two things. One, Clemson has a really intelligent athletic department. And number two, Dabo, he could say he wants to be at Clemson and all that stuff.

If that clause is in the contract and that was a big sticking point, there's a reason for it to be a big sticking point. And that means Clemson knows eventually when the time is appropriate, A.K.A. Nick Saban retires. Dabo has to be interested, Ryan, in that Alabama job. You would think, you know, it's close to home.

It's where, you know, your alma mater was. You have that, you know, natural attraction to go back. I mean, they can try to keep them. I don't know if one and a half times, whatever his buyout is, is going to really be the deal breaker for a school like Alabama.

That won't matter. I would agree. So it's just more, I guess, in principle, hey, we want to keep you as bad as you can. And that's the biggest threat, which makes sense. I don't think he's leaving for anything else right now outside of Alabama.

But that just shows you it's a real threat. The only thing is, I mean, Saban might outlive Dabo, you know, and out coach him. Guys, no signs of slowing down. Doesn't want to retire anytime soon. Here's what I'll say to people always say you don't want to be the guy replacing the guy.

Like I've had people tell me that in my career when a legendary radio host retires. Oh, you don't want to be the guy replacing the guy. You want to be the guy that's replacing the guy that's replacing the guy. And I say B.S. to that. I get it's tough. It's big shoes to fill. But if you could get that job and you get that opportunity, I don't think you wait and go, oh, I don't want to be the guy that's replacing the guy.

That's just me. But for Dabo Sweeney, with what he's accomplished in this sport, with the way that he's gone head to head, toe to toe with Alabama. I think that's one of the rare exceptions, even with how legendary Nick Saban is, where if you go from Nick Saban to Dabo Sweeney, I don't think anyone's going to say, oh, Dabo can't handle what comes with Alabama and can't handle being the guy that replaces the legendary figure in a Nick Saban.

How about you there? No, I agree, especially when he's one of their own. You know, it's very easy to get, you know, even though Nick Saban was an outsider when he came there to go.

This is our guy now. He's ingratiated himself within the program. And it's like if you bring in outsider and especially someone that's very different than Nick Saban and is different from the success he has, it's very easy to turn on him. But again, when you're welcoming what is one of your own back and so successful in Dabo Sweeney, I'm with you.

I don't think it'd be that that challenging or that hard to win over a fan base. You bring up a great point with him being one of one of your own, because you look at two schools that just had to replace legendary coaches. UNC had to replace Roy Williams, did so with Hubert Davis, one of their own. Duke had to replace Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary Coach K. They did so with one of their own in John Shire.

Not that it necessarily means that the job's going to be easy, but you do get the support, especially in colleges. Like you look at Villanova. Villanova, Jay Wright retires.

They bring back one of their own in Kyle Neptune. When you bring in someone that either, A, has a relationship with the university from its past, or you bring in someone that has a relationship with the legendary figure, the legendary figure gives the blessing. And then fans go, oh, they had this idea that Coach K's really going to be coaching the team from afar, Roy Williams really going to be coaching the team from afar, or Jay Wright and all that stuff.

You look at your school, Penn State. You guys had a good replacement for Joe Paterno and Bill O'Brien, but Bill O'Brien was fighting so much with people that were in the Joe Paterno camp that he said, bleep this, I'm going to the NFL. So it's so important sometimes in college, and I don't usually say you have to bring in one of your own, but when you're replacing a legendary figure, it does smooth that transition if you bring in someone that has attachment, has an affiliation, has a background with the university.

That, to me, is important. Or you just have to be one of the best in the business. Like Bill O'Brien, say what you want. He wasn't perceived as one of the best in the business, even though he was the Patriots' offensive coordinator.

Dabo is a top five coach, top three coach in college football. I don't think anyone in the Alabama fan base is going to say, oh, I'm going to object to Dabo Sweeney coming in. Now, he could be obnoxious, don't get me wrong. He could be different.

He could be bizarre. But that would be an excellent move to bring in Dabo whenever Nick Saban does walk away, who also just agreed on a 10-year contract extension. And I'm going to say five more years, you would think, of Nick Saban. But the guy still looks young. He's still in good shape. And he still loves doing this. And he clearly has not lost his fastball, any speed off his fastball.

But isn't it funny to me, Ryan, and I have to imagine it's funny to you. Here's Dabo Sweeney, who was one of the first coaches to speak out about players getting paid. And I remember him saying he was going to walk away or find another job the moment players get paid.

Well, you make all your money off the kids that you bring in. So it never makes sense to me in this antiquated line of thinking, why everyone should get a chunk of the pie other than the guys that are doing the hard work on the field that we all watch and obsess over that are playing the game. And it makes Dabo look bad when he agrees to this contract extension now. It's one hundred something million dollars and they're going to fault the man for taking money.

And how many times you see someone say something to the other. But it does come off as do what I say, not what I do. Like that's what Dabo Sweeney, even though he is a fantastic football coach, he does come off hypocritical when he makes all this money. But he is so much against the professionalism of college athletics.

Yeah, I don't really like Dabo, to be honest, like he's a great coach. I'm not taking anything away from his on the field coaching ability, but he feels disingenuous and he feels like a phony, to be honest, when he says all those things about players not getting paid and not kind of having, you know, deserving what they deserve. But here you are, like you said, profiting off of them, winning all these games for what they're doing. And you're taking, you know, ten million dollars a year. And you said, oh, no, you can't get any of what I'm getting or you can't get any money at all.

And if you do, I'm going to go just quit and go somewhere else because everyone else is entitled. It's disingenuous to say the least. It's weird because this was a guy that had to work his ass off to get to where he's at. And you are right, there is an arrogance about Dabo Swinney that he could say what he wants and there's no way that you're going to change his opinion. And that's why I'm curious with his football team. And I was very critical of him last year, early on, if he's going to adjust. Because the offensive line hasn't really improved from a year ago. The receivers are still dropping the football. And you have someone there in DJ Leong'olle who you keep on praising, but he hasn't shown you anything last year. And to start off this season, that first game, he was not good and you still praised him afterwards. So I get being loyal to your player, but there's going to have to be a point where they make some changes because I don't view Clemson as a national championship contender.

But Ryan, I want you to bring up one other point here. You thought the timing of this contract extension was bizarre? Why is that when you look at the Dabo extension?

Why now? He had all offseason to get this hammered out. If you want to say, well, OK, the recent extensions, even Nick Saban was, I believe, on August 23rd.

So Kirby Smark has extension in July. There's other, Jim Harbaugh got his after the season. So outside of Saban, which happened about 10 days before the season started, he had all offseason to know what the numbers are, have an idea if we're going to go give a contract extension. Let's just hammer out the details now. And when Nick Saban gets his, maybe just subtract or so.

I think he actually surpassed in terms of total competition, not average annual value, but total competition, $115 million. Why are you doing it after the first game? How does this drag into the season? Well, you basically just answered your own question because of the timing of all the other extensions. But it's like you have no time to get it done.

Yeah, but you know how many T's there is that you have to cross, how many I's you have to dot on a contract. I will say it does put more pressure on Dabo. Not that Dabo is clearly in any jeopardy of losing his job. But if your team continues to struggle in an ACC that's not all that, and you don't get back to the ACC championship game for a second here in a row, you're not wrong. The timing, you take the money when you get it, but the timing does look bizarre, especially since this was the week where a lot of people are being critical of Clemson, even though Clemson, when you look at the score, had a dominant victory up against Georgia Tech.

But when you watch that game, it was the farthest thing from a dominant victory. It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Hot take kick, he has five gambling takeaways for this upcoming season.

He's been number crunching, he wants to run them by me on the other side. And coming up at the top of the hour, the entire 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific hours dedicated to NFL predictions. We'll tell you, all your eight division winners, all your 14 playoff teams, who's going to be in the Super Bowl, who's going to be winning the MVP, Comeback Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, all the awards, we will hit up in the next hour, but when we return, a little gambling fix. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. That's right, this is Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio.

Our NFL preview show is here, the season starts tonight at 8.20 p.m. Eastern, 5.20 p.m. Pacific. By the way, Hickey, the broadcasting crews this year, I think it's going to take a little bit of an adjustment. So NBC, I think Torrico will slide right in with Chris Collinsworth, who does the ultimate slide-in, it won't be a problem. Al Michaels, though, is doing Thursday nights with Kirk Herbstreet. Now, everyone loves Kirk Herbstreet, and Al Michaels is an absolute legend.

But I think it's going to be tough having to explain to people on how to find these Amazon games, and that's, though, going to be an adjustment. How do you think the team of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreet will do? I think good. Kirk has a good sense of humor, I think he's funny, and Al, I think, will bring that out of him.

It's weird to say this. I wonder if there's too much, though, on his plate. I know he's done some NFL games in the past, but now he's doing one each and every week, or almost each and every week.

He then got the college football game, he got game day as well. And the big picture, he's not digging ditches for a living. He's calling games and he's talking football. I just wonder, with some more on his plate, how that's going to be. But I would think with a legend like Al Michaels, and Herbstreet with Chris Fowler for football is fantastic for college football, I think he'll be fine.

I just wonder, though, with how much is on his plate, how he's going to respond. Now, when we get to Fox, I like Kevin Burkhart a lot. Greg Olson really doesn't do anything for me on the number one broadcast team.

But he's basically just keeping the seat warm for Tom Brady. And CBS, Nance Romo, obviously have been doing it now for a while. And Monday night, you will get Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Now, we know the two of them are going to be great. That's an adjustment, though, hearing them on ESPN. When I see Joe Buck on ESPN now, it's weird. And then also this year, when you get the World Series and it's Joe Davis and you don't have Joe Buck, that's going to be even more bizarre because I love when October basically was just the month of Joe Buck when he was doing baseball games and World Series playoff games and then also calling games at NFL Sunday. You know, Nance has that big run. Super Bowl sometimes into the NCAA tournament, Augusta at the Masters, all that stuff, Final Four.

That's always cool. October is really reserved for Joe Buck. Now he's not going to be calling baseball games, clearly, with ESPN. And now it's a tougher decision of whether to watch the Manning cast or watch the main Monday Night Football broadcast. Yeah, I don't love the Manning cast as much as everyone else does.

I like it for a brief little bit. I think Eli, by the way, is sensational. The problem that I have with the Manning cast, and I said this in the first broadcast, they do too many interviews. And it does feel as if the game is getting taken away from. When you're in the fourth quarter and there's big plays going on, I need the focus to be on the game. And I would find it often at times last year that I'd be flipping over in the fourth quarter in clutch moments when there's a big game to here at the time. Who was it? Steve Levy, Lewis Riddick and Brian Griese. Because the main focus was on the game.

Now, I get it. That's the style of broadcast that they want for the Manning cast. I need to do something different, but I don't need an interview every quarter with the guests.

That's just for my preference. I'll tell you now, I will flip to the Manning broadcast from time to time, but the majority of my watching, when I'm tuning on ESPN Monday Night Football, tuning in after this show ends, will be with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Who's the best broadcast team? Out of all the major networks, when we look at the number ones, who's the best broadcast team, in your opinion there, Hatekeke? I will go still Buck and Aikman. Buck and Aikman? Yes.

Okay. I can't disagree with that. I don't think any of those teams are bad. Greg Olson leaves you wanting a little bit more, but the guy recently retired, he was good in those XFL games, remember, and he's called NFL games before, and he has the familiarity with Burkhart.

I would just personally, I can't wait to see what Brady does in the booth, but hey, let's just get some good football, and it doesn't really matter who's calling the games anyway. All right, you got some gambling picks here for me or some reaction when you look at the numbers? Even though you're not a big gambling guy, you've been all over some of the numbers here.

Well, this is very interesting. This is all season long, all offseason long bets coming in for each team to win the division. Let's start in the division you were for, the AFC East. Clearly, look, the bills are by far the favorite in terms of the number of tickets put in, the amount of money, it's the bills.

What's interesting, though, is the last one. The Jets have had 21% of all tickets cashed or all tickets made to win the AFC East, that's been on them. Wait, 21%? Yes, the Patriots, 10%.

What? When you look at the amount of money, so like, you know, the sharp money, right, the most money put on the teams, again, the bills are a runaway. Jets, 12% of all bets made on AFC East winners are on them, the Patriots last 5%.

Wait, 12% on the Jets to win the division? Yes, in terms of amount of money. So not, you said 21 at first. That was the number of tickets, like the actual number, like let's say there's 100 tickets. Oh, there's only 21 tickets? Yes.

Okay. Well, percent, no, it's a percentage of, like tickets, you can put a dollar bet for the Patriots, you know, and then now it's the ticket number or ticket percentage, and then it's the money percentage, actual how much money is wagered. Either way, the Jets are in third place in both categories. The Patriots are in fourth place in terms of money. Yeah, that's just people looking at the number being it's so big and putting some money down. That's the way that I interpret it. 5% on the Patriots?

It's rich people doing that. 475? There's no way the Jets are winning. I guarantee the Jets are finishing fourth in this division. I would agree, but what does it say about the Patriots then? Geez.

I don't get it. People are doubting the Patriots. I'm even doubting my own football team. I don't think they're going to be great this year, but whatever. Okay, that's weird.

Let's keep the bizarre trends going. AFC North, Bengals, Ravens are pretty close, but second place, first place is the Bengals. Second place is actually the Steelers.

Really? In terms of the amount of tickets made. The Bengals, 33.2% of tickets are on them. 33.1%, so one, 10% or one tenth difference. You're confusing me with these numbers. Bengals and Steelers. Just give me one percentage here. I just did. 33.2 to 33.1.

Okay. Bengals to Steelers. The Steelers are the second most bet team in the AFC North. To win the division or finish in second? Yes, win the division. This is all to win. Yeah, I would still go with the Bengals and the Ravens. Very bizarre.

Like Mitch Trubusky. Here's one. AFC West, very popular. All four teams are close, but the winner, at least the most bet on? Can I guess? Sure. Raiders? No. Chargers? No. Broncos?

Nope. It's the Chiefs? Chiefs.

I'm surprised. There'll be some Chiefs for teams. Chiefs. The Chiefs are my last guess there, obviously.

That's why it's interesting. That's all the other three teams have gotten a lot of attention, but according to BetMGN, the most tickets they've received have been on the Chiefs to win the AFC West. The king of sportsbooks. The king of sportsbooks.

Overall, the highest percentage of tickets to win one division, the Eagles. Hold on. Wow. Sorry. I should have let you guess.

Yeah. I was going to say Tampa or Buffalo. There's a greater percentage of them to win the NFC East than the Bills to win the AFC East than the, what are their runaways here? Bucks. Bucks to win the NFC South. Are the Eagles, out of the eight divisions in your mind, the biggest slam dunk to win the division?

No. Bills and Bucks. I was one of the first people to say the Eagles are going to win the division at the draft, but it's not as if they are so much better than the Cowboys. Now the commanders, they have Carson Wentz and the Giants are going to stink, but I'm surprised that the Eagles, out of all the divisions, they have the most bets on them to win that division. Second most, Saints to win the NFC South.

What? Yep. The Saints? Saints. I don't get where all the Saints hype to win the division is. Do people forget that the GOAT is still playing and the GOAT is still dominating? What's wrong with you people? Zach Gelb shows you.