Costly For Colts To Win? (Hour 1)

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There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Live from the Play Show, yet not over, the ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10 floor, 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show 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 can always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing, or via the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We are 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 loan solutions that fit your life well, Rocket can, and producing this extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than hot take hickey. Will Middlebrook's going to stop by at the top of the hour, we will go around the baseball diamond with him, as we will preview all the wildcard games in the AL and NL, before you get into the division league series, and then coming up at 8pm Eastern, 5pm Pacific, friend of show, always great when he joins us. This weekend, he does have Jets and Dolphins, has the Monday night game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, Kevin Harlan will be stopping by, tremendous job as you know, NFL on CBS, Westwood won, and even before you know it, NBA season is going to be coming right around the corner, NBA on TNT. I gotta start the show off though today, talking about the Thursday night matchup that does kick off week 5 of the NFL season, and it's the Indianapolis Colts going up against the Denver Broncos. I don't know if I've ever been like least excited or less excited to go see a game play tonight than I am for this Thursday night game. Indianapolis stinks, and Denver is not a good football team.

So let's just call it for what it is, the reason why you're really going to want to watch this game tonight is to just see incompetence. And I want to start off with, I think this is going to surprise some people, because Denver has been a team I've been so against heading into this season. At least I saw for Indianapolis a road to win just that abysmal AFC South, and they were my pick before the year started. But for Denver, I was out on Denver right before the season started, I thought it was going to be too tough even though you're clearly improving the quarterback position, bringing in Russell Wilson from the just terrible quarterback play that you've had the last five years in Denver, and you have a new coach.

I thought there was just too many new moving pieces for that to work and for it to all come together in year number one. And really that franchise, they're not like in a dead state. Even if they have a really dreadful year this year Denver, and they don't make the playoffs and they only sit at two and two, but their record seems worse than that. By just the level of play like Denver will be a solid team next year. And next year, not that it's really the start of the Broncos regime with Russell Wilson and we'll see if Daniel Hackett even has a job by then. But that is when I start to have expectations for the Broncos because my expectations this year was that they were going to miss the playoffs, then we talk about them differently a year from now when they got their feet wet, and they dip some some toes into the water and kind of get acclimated in a new home with the head football coach and a quarterback. But for Indianapolis, they've been stuck for the last few years on having a good roster, not having a quarterback, and really their apex only being a playoff team. And that's one of the worst spots you could be in in the NFL. Now I know you could tell me, Zach, if you're consistently being a bottom five team in the NFL, that would be worse.

At least Indianapolis puts up a good record each and every year or a decent satisfactory record each and every year. But I've always said this, and Hickey used to laugh at me. Hickey used to say, have patience.

Hickey used to say, oh, you just don't get it. And I was 100% right that the Colts were stuck at a level of just being good, but I never saw them eventually getting into a spot where they could be great. And that offensive line has drastically taken a step back this year. Jonathan Taylor is going to miss the game tonight with an injury. They really only have one competent wide receiver on the roster in Michael Pittman Jr.

The tight end spot, okay, yeah, sure, I bet Molly Cox tonight to go have an anytime touchdown. But really that quarterback position has been, I don't want to say anemic, but it really hasn't been inspiring ever since Andrew Luck had to walk away from the game and thought he needed to retire. Jacoby Brissett, like that's what he is. That's my first reaction when you have Jacoby Brissett. You knew Philip Rivers was only going to be one year.

Carson Wentz, I said was a disaster from the start. And then this year, they basically go back to a younger version of Philip Rivers, where Matt Ryan could go play for Indianapolis for the next two, three, four years, but it's never going to progress to a point where they get to a Super Bowl, let alone win a Super Bowl. So that Colts team is in a spot where if they win eight, nine games this year and rebound to win the division, would that surprise me?

No. Because any team in that division could win that division, other than the Texans, and I wouldn't be surprised at all. Even Jacksonville into that fold.

Tennessee, Indianapolis, I would lean though towards Tennessee. I don't even think Tennessee is that good of a football team. But if you're going to celebrate and pop champagne just winning a division title in a division that is not good, it's basically like celebrating our participation trophy. Oh, we participated in a division that stinks. Okay, we took advantage of that division, but in the big boy world, in the AFC, in the NFL cycle, we're not in the elite category. We're not in the great category. We're not even in the very, very, very good category.

We're in the, okay, our apexes make the playoffs, maybe at most win a playoff game if everything goes right, and we don't have a chance to go to a Super Bowl or win one. And that's a rough spot for your fans to be in. Because when you consistently get into the playoffs, or consistently have a team that's above 500, and you don't find the way to take home that Lombardi Trophy, you're just wasting everyone's time. So if I'm a fan of the Indianapolis Colts, and you know me, if you listen to this show, I can't stand that football team. I despise the Indianapolis Colts. They're my least favorite team in the NFL, but I'm in a benevolent mood today. I'm gonna try to fix the Indianapolis Colts. So one day, my producer extraordinaire, who's still a sucker for this team, and is even wearing his Colts gear today, he has a very nice little, it's kind of oxymoronic, but he has a Indianapolis Colts sweater on right now, or a jacket, is the right way to say it, a zip up.

That's what he has. And tonight, Hot Take Kiki is going into this game, and I'm gonna say that he's not gonna say they can't win the game. I'm not gonna pretend that he's jumping up and down like a fat kid in a candy store, because there's no Jonathan Taylor in this game tonight, and there's no Shaq Leonard in this game tonight. And he's going up against a team that he's loved, and absolutely has praised in his name that they were gonna be in the Super Bowl this year, and win it all, and Russell's gonna be league MVP, and if Daniel Hackett's gonna be a top three coach in league this year, in the Denver Broncos. So before I give you my advice, and before you take the advice of some stage counsel that's right here in the Zach Gelb, when I give you how to kind of fix your team, and what you should be hoping for the rest of the way, Hot Take Kiki, earlier in the week, and I know it was off yesterday, you told me that you still think the Colts are a good team.

I laughed in your face. When you're down 20-3 to the Texans, and you tie up against them, you're not a good team. When you get blown out by the Jaguars 24-0, you're not a good team. When you start off in a game that you had to have, down 14-0, and you lose to Tennessee, you're not a good team. And the one game you won, let's not pretend like the Colts did so many great things in that game. Sure, defensively they were good, but offensively they had barely zero life, and they really won that game because Kansas City couldn't make a kick, and Kansas City gift-wrapped you that 20-17 victory. But this is a football team that they are 1-2-1 right now.

That tie still throws me off, and I think it throws everybody off, but they are 1-2-1. And if you want to start to say they're a good team and actually think it, you need to go get a victory tonight up against a Denver squad that has a good defense, but has shown zero sign of being a good offense, a functioning offense, in the year of 2022. So Hickey, on a scale of 1-10, and you are usually more optimistic and ridiculously optimistic than pessimistic, if 1 is doom and gloom, Colts are screwed, or 10 is, I don't know what is the game tonight, and it's going to be 58-3 on Thursday Night Football, where is your confidence level in the Indianapolis Colts winning, winning the game tonight up against the Broncos in Mile High where there's going to be a lot of incomplete chance? 6 out of 10, I think they're winning the game. The Colts are winning tonight.

There's no real strategy involved. Without Jonathan Taylor, you're winning the game. This is a game to me that feels like everyone's on the Broncos, like you mentioned, the best offensive player and best defensive player are both out. There's no real path for the Colts to win. To their credit, in previous years, those are the games they actually do win. It makes no sense, they can't beat teams like the Texans and the Jaguars. But you just had one of those games. They win tough games like the Chiefs a few weeks ago, and I think they'll win a game like this.

You already had that game this year. But they win multiple games. They play well against good teams.

To their credit, that's one thing they consistently do. They blew the doors off the Bills last year, they beat the Cardinals in no offensive line. This is a game, and the Broncos aren't a great team, we've seen. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Alert, alert, alert. You just said the Broncos aren't a great team? You told me they were going undefeated this year. The coach circles around Belichick, MVP Russell Wilson, and they're winning the Super Bowl. All things you said. You said they were winning the AFC West.

Most. I did say AFC West, I did say Russell Wilson, MVP, and I did say the Broncos Super Bowl. Right now, through four games, they're not a very good team. What do you want me to say? You're really mystifying to me. Do you want me to lie and tell you that they're a great team?

No, here's why you're mystifying to me. I appreciate your honesty on that. But earlier in the week when I asked you about Indianapolis, oh no, they're still a good team. They're not a good team, the Colts. So why are you honest about Denver, but you're still having your Colts jacket on, and you're still having the number one foam finger up in the air, thinking that Indianapolis is going to be this good team this year? You're not a great team, don't get me wrong, but through the first four weeks, they have beaten themselves more than the opponents have beaten them, and it's frustrating. You need to give more credit to the Texans, the Jaguars, and the Titans.

Jaguars get all the credit in the world. They smoke the Colts, there's nothing they can do. Oh, you just can't stand Tennessee.

Stop. Tennessee has smacked your ass around for the last four years, it feels like. They have. They won four straight games against you. To their credit, they have. You haven't won the division since one, like 2014?

2014 was the last time. Texas have won it, Jaguars have won it, and the Titans have won it, and the Colts have not. Just admit it, the Colts are not a good team this year. I'm not even killing you for your prediction tonight. I lean more Denver just because the only thing I know will show up in this game between these two teams is the Broncos defense, and I give the edge to Russell Wilson up against Matt Ryan. So that's why I lean Denver. But if the Colts end up winning this game by three points, would I be shocked?

No. But even I, who usually have a good read on you, and I could usually comprehend where your brain's going to go, I didn't think you'd go to the number six out of ten on the confidence scale. And then follow it up with probably a number that should be greater than a six when you go, the Colts are winning this game. So I'm a little bit surprised by your reaction, even though I shouldn't be, because you're the biggest Colts homer there is. Well I mean, I think they could win but also not feel great about it. This is going to be 2013, it's going to be very ugly football, the Colts cannot run the ball, and Denver has a great secondary. So there's not going to be a lot, I'm banking on Melvin Gordon at least one fumble here, I'm banking on the Broncos offense to continue to sputter the way they have. But this is going to be overall very, very ugly for everyone to watch. Can I give you some advice on what you should be rooting for tonight and the rest of the season?

Sure. I think you should be rooting for losses. This team is going nowhere, even if they win the division, they're going to win a crappy division.

And even if they find a way to win a home playoff game, which I can't even believe I'm going to that level, nothing else is going to happen after that. This is not a Super Bowl roster, this is not a great team. Frank Reich is an overrated coach, you should want him gone after this season, we'll see if he even makes it through the season.

And I would be rooting, if I'm a Colts fan, to lose every game for the rest of the year. Because what you should want is a top five draft pick, or at least a top ten draft pick, so you could go get the quarterback of the future. Because your team has went from Luck, who was supposed to be the guy that injuries derailed his career, shame on Ryan Grickson for that. You went from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Bressett, Phillip Rivers at the end of his career, Carson Wentz, who stinks, and then Matt Ryan at the end of his career, not being an MVP type of Matt Ryan anymore. You should want for next year, this team to be picking in the top ten of the draft, you should want Frank Reich not to be the coach, and then you could go get a new head football coach that isn't overrated like Frank Reich.

You could have either Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Leviss, Anthony Richardson, whoever the quarterback is that the Colts believe will be their next guy. I'm not even saying fire Chris Ballard, and usually I would advocate to get rid of both instead of keep one and do all that. No, you keep Chris Ballard, you say goodbye to Frank, you bring in a new head coach, probably on the offensive side of the ball, and then you go draft the quarterback this year. But if you go win eight, nine games and win the division, it makes it tougher, not that you can't because we've seen teams do it before, like Buffalo and Kansas City, it makes it tougher for you to go move up and pounce to go get that quarterback. So you tonight should want Denver to win this game. You should want Jacksonville to win the week after that. I know you can't ever root for Tennessee, so go take a win there.

But then after that, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, maybe like another win here or there just so you could actually have some sanity, and you should want this team to be a four or five-win football team at most. What do you think about that? I mean, I agree with the quarterback part of it. That was actually what we discussed on the podcast this week. That was actually a majority of the podcast this week. Pinky's a very big popular Colts podcast that he does for Odyssey.

I'm a company guy, just want to give it a plug. The Blue Horseshoe? At Blue Horseshoe, 30 of the 50 whatever minutes was, was on the quarterback and the future of the Colts.

This has to be it. So I think they will draft a quarterback this year. That said, I'm not rooting for them to tank. I'm not rooting unless it gets ugly. Unless we're talking week 11 here and they're two and, I don't know, eight and one, whatever it is.

But what are you playing for this year? Just to get an AFC South Championship at eight wins? Some of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, all were gotten by teams that have traded up in the draft.

It's not impossible to do. This is a deep quarterback draft. You don't have to be number one or number two in order to get a quarterback. I personally, I'm not going to sit here in week five and root for this team to lose.

I would love Bryce Young next year. Yeah, because you don't have a good mentality. Don't get me wrong, but also more times than not. I predicted your football team right for the last three seasons. You should listen to me here.

I'm giving you out free advice right now. Tanking does not work, unfortunately. Joe Burrow works for the Bengals. We'll see whichever Lawrence, but more times than not, the first quarterback to go is not always the best one. I would rather just, if they win the division and they're sitting there, pick 22 and they get bounced in the first round, it's going to suck. Don't get me wrong, but also trade up to number 10.

There's no reason you can't. We've seen some of the best teams do it. Why can't the Colts do it?

Where are you at with Frank Reich? Because I said last year he was overrated. You told me, no, he's top seven coach in the league. And now he did not have his football team prepared against the Texans, did not have his football team prepared against the Jaguars, and did not have his football team prepared against Tennessee.

So three out of the four games this year, he has not had his team prepared when he is on the hot seat. Are you starting to move over to the side of yours truly that the Indianapolis Colts need to, I'll say politely for you, rethink about who they have at their head coaching position? Oh, long past that.

Yeah. Oh, you have totally moved on now. I would be very surprised if he's back next year. I've not heard you say that yet. At least a playoff win.

I don't think even making the playoffs and losing is going to... Remember, I said I'm a company guy. I'll promote the podcast. I have not listened to the podcast other than the clips that you put out on Twitter. Well, we haven't really, you know, after week one, because that was a big topic, we haven't really discussed his future, let's say, in-depth per se. But I think at this point, Jim Irsay is fed up. Now, can I give you a little advice for your career? Sure.

This goes out. I'll give you free Colts advice. I'll give you free career advice. I'm like Dr. Phil right now on CBS Sports Radio. You and George should lead the charge to get Frank Reich fired. You should do some bit, whether it's chanting fire Frank before each and every podcast, before you get into the meat and potatoes of your podcast. Come up with a trendy hashtag like what I did right for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Keep the Greek freak and then sign that supermax. You guys got to do something like that to really tap into that Colts fan base. That's a tortured fan base right now and that has had it with Frank Reich.

That would be my homework assignment or just free advice to you guys. If you want to take it, great. If not, then you know it is what it is.

I would if everyone else in the Colts fan base hasn't already said that same thing. It doesn't matter. Ninety five percent are already done with Frank Reich. There's opinion leaders and there's opinion followers. You got to get the opinion followers to follow your lead and then you have a cause that a lot of people are behind.

You could get more of a platform out there and a huge company like Odyssey to lead that charge. Doesn't matter what everyone else said. The guy's still the head football coach. So if I was hosting that podcast, Jimmer say, screw you, fire Frank Reich, fire Frank, fire Frank, fire Frank. And just relentlessly go after Jim, go after the Colts over and over and over and over and over and over again.

And then you develop this following. And then when he gets fired, not that you ever want to see anyone get fired, you guys can have a little fiesta because you finally got what you want. Because right now, your voices as a Colts fan base aren't being heard.

Because for some reason, they're still employing Frank Reich. And this is that Kelp show on CBS Sports Radio. If you are a fan of the Colts, would you want to see your team be as bad as possible this year to maybe set yourself up with a good roster for excellence the next five to ten years. And you go out there and you get that quarterback and it doesn't have to be more difficult to go trade up for him.

If you were to go win this AFC South this year at eight or nine games. 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Who has more pressure on them tonight? Is it Denver or Indianapolis?

We'll discuss that next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. And it's Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Week five of the NFL season does commence tonight on Thursday Night Football as the Denver Broncos, Hickey's second favorite team are going up against Hickey's favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts out in Denver at mile high. What are you shaking your head about? There's nothing wrong with the way that I just hyped up that matchup.

Is there anything wrong in the way that I have formulated kind of that statement there? The Broncos are your second favorite team? They're not my second favorite team. I'm just rooting for myself to be right this year and win the Super Bowl.

That's all. Rooting for my pick to be right. Not that the Broncos themselves have success. You are known to be someone that double dips in the world of sports. When Bill Ryder hosted this very fine show in this time slot, you were a fan of both Notre Dame and Penn State football. Now for this football season, you are a fan of the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. There's no other way to look into this other than you are a Colts fan first. But then if the Colts can't win, you are rooting heavily because of some of your takes that you have made in this offseason for the Denver Broncos. And I think it's a very fair assessment and now calling for this season, the Broncos as your second favorite team.

You need all the teams that you could root for this year, especially with the way that the Colts are looking right now. I just don't know if I would have put all my eggs in the basket of the Denver Broncos for being team number two, but I tried to tell you that over the summer and you didn't listen. Anyway, though, when we get to the game tonight, who has more pressure on them?

And I want to ask you this question before I give you my answer, because I know what my answer is, but I'm curious where you are. Because your kind of view on this and vision on this could be misguided just because of the team that you root for. But who has more pressure on them tonight? Is it the Denver Broncos at 2-2 or is it maybe the ugliest record in the league other than the Texans, the Indianapolis Colts at 1-2-1?

I think it's definitely the Broncos. Third game now in primetime, we've seen two ugly, ugly games of offensive football. They've got the big time splash move in the offseason, getting Russell Wilson. Nathaniel Hack was brought in to kind of basically listen to what Russ wants to do. He's been in a disaster.

Russ has really struggled. This offense stinks. I think the Broncos have big time pressure on them tonight. Here's why it is the Denver Broncos and not the Indianapolis Colts. Let me first start off with the Colts. If the Colts lose tonight, and let's say they go to 1-3-1, in some weird way, even though they are a bad football team, they are still in this AFC South race. Because the Jaguars and the Titans are 2-2.

Tennessee this weekend, they go up against the commanders. I think that is a 50-50 game, even though I can't stand Carson once. And for the Jaguars, you would agree, right, the Jaguars should win, should win this weekend, up against the Texans who are 0-3-1. So even if you get the Jaguars and Tennessee both winning, you play them again, even though you lost to Jacksonville and you've already lost to Tennessee, but you do get to play them again, and you'll be behind two games in the win column with you only having one win and them having three wins. So, I think that is still serviceable and manageable, because this division is just god-awful. But for Denver, if Denver loses, you look around them, not only is Kansas City rolling, and Kansas City is going to win this division, you're then fighting for a wildcard spot, and you don't have the luxury of a bad division, and you look around, there's a lot of teams that we thought were going to be really good this year, and just right now from a record standpoint, they aren't, with the Ravens being at 2-2, the Bengals being at 2-2. You take a look at a team like the Chargers at 2-2.

And I do think the Bengals, the Ravens, the Chargers are better football teams than the Denver Broncos. So, for the Broncos, they haven't looked competent at all this year. They don't have a good victory yet on their schedule. I know you can say, hey, I think victory is good in the NFL, but the Broncos haven't showed me anything this year. And you take a glance that Seattle game was horrendous, the Texans game, they had to grind one out at the end, and that game against San Francisco, they won, but that game offensively was horrendous. 11-10 was the final, and last week you go up against a Raiders team that had no life, no fight, through the first few weeks of the season were coming off a 20-point blown game where they lose in heartbreaking fashion in overtime, and you gave the Raiders, I don't want to say life, but the Raiders then actually show a pulse and you had nothing to counter that.

And you look at Las Vegas, they win that game 32-23. So, I don't even think it's close tonight that there's more on the line and more pressure on Denver, and you hit the nail right on the head, once again in an isolated window. This is another primetime game where everyone already has the thought that Daniel Hackett stinks, that Daniel Hackett sucks, he's not a good head football coach.

That dude has to delay a game tonight, that dude has a boneheaded decision, he is the lead on every radio show and every TV show in the country tomorrow if he makes a bad mistake in a crucial spot. And also, I do believe that Russell Wilson needs to take more criticism, because everyone so far, Hackett, Hackett, Hackett, Hackett, and just killing Hackett, Russell Wilson has not looked like a great quarterback so far. I can't even say Russell Wilson has looked like a very good quarterback so far. Now, will Russ be good, probably long-term in Denver?

Yeah, he'll probably be good. I don't know if they'll ever win a Super Bowl, but he will be good individually eventually, because he's a damn good player. But for the last year and a half, and now kind of going to two years, Russell Wilson has been given every excuse. There will eventually be a point, if this continues to go south this season, where the large majority of people will start to point the blame and point the finger at Russell Wilson. So Wilson and Hackett tonight going up against a Colts team that right away, when you think Colts, you go Jonathan Taylor, he's not playing the game tonight.

And neither is Shaq Leonard. So you can make the case, if you take Quinnen Nelson out of it, you can still make the case even if you put Quinnen Nelson in it, that the Colts are going to be without their top two players tonight. You just can't lose that game and you're at home. Wilson and Hackett, if they don't win tonight, oh, that's going to be a rough scene, a rough scene at the end of the game in Denver. There cannot be a moment tonight if you're Denver where you're getting booed just in a big time way. And those fans aren't going to hold back. You recall up against the Texans, they were counting down the play clock for Nathaniel Hackett because of all the miscommunication and all the sloppy play that we've seen from that offense. So there's a lot more pressure on Denver tonight and we'll see if they can step up to the occasion and the task at hand. And that's not only getting a victory. Like, if you're Denver tonight, you've got to get the win.

Style points do matter for that football team with how bad that they've been through the first four weeks. Well, come on back. Will Middlebrook is here to join us at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific to preview the wildcard rounds in Major League Baseball. 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific, the legendary Kevin Harlan will stop by. But when we return, we will update you on the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. We'll call that segment The News Brief.

And download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio. Let's start things off with Aaron Rodgers and how the wide receivers will impact his retirement decision. Look, my decision when it comes down to it will be obviously the physical part of the mental part. Seeing where the team is at. Look at the defense. A lot of guys are signed for multiple years now. There's some moving pieces, but, you know, that will factor in for sure.

But seeing the development of those guys, you know, can't help but be a part of the decision. Hickey, now, I don't get Rodgers when he speaks anymore. Why is his retirement being brought up right now? That's a great question.

I have zero idea what sparked the question. Because we have both been on this similar line of thinking that at most we only see Rodgers playing two more years. If I was Aaron, though, and he could have been asked about that, I would not give anything about my future from an optics standpoint when I just signed a brand new three-year contract that pays you like $50 million a year.

And we have talked about this before. If he were to retire after this year, the dead cap for next year, Ryan, almost $100 million. $99.7 million in dead cap.

And then it does fall off in 2024 at $24 million. Now, I do believe that Rodgers is going to be back next year. Is there a shot this offseason that he looks around and goes, man, Christian Watson wasn't what I thought he was going to be.

Romeo Dubs was not consistent. Our defense is good. Jones is good. A.J. Dillon's good.

Bakhtiaris only getting older. How much of a percentage chance do you think there is that Rodgers walks away after this year? I still think there's a chance. I wouldn't go high. I won't say, you know, over 50 percent.

But I still feel like the way he's talking about it. I'll put it like eight, like six or eight percent. I think it's low. Very low. Six or eight, I think maybe high, too.

Do you know how much? Not that. And maybe this is a hot take in the moment. But if he walks away after signing that deal and leaves the Packers in that cap situation. And everyone knows Jordan Love is also not a good quarterback. And I get it right.

You could say, hey, they made their bet that I had a lie in it. But if he leaves the Packers and they have to have ninety nine million dollars in dead cat next year attached to their name. I think a lot of a lot of Packers fans, as great as he was, as great as he is.

Super Bowl championship. He would ruffle a lot of feathers in that fan base, and there would be a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouth if he was to walk away after this year. Like you said before, if the receivers don't develop, he would be an a-hole if he retired after this year. And that's coming from someone retired when you want.

It's a brutal, brutal, violent sport. When you put up that much of a stink the last two years and you got so petty the last two years, if you walk away after this year, as long as it's not because of injury, like he gets hurt this year and goes, I don't want to go through rehab. But if you leave that team with that dead cat pit next year, you would be an a-hole. You are right. With that said, with Aaron Rodgers, I will still leave the door cracked that it's definitely a possibility.

Because you can't read this guy. Now let's just say these younger wide receivers don't work. I think like Dubbs and Watson, right? They'll be okay. I don't know if they'll be ready to be a number one wide receiver next year, but I kind of took that comment as he's already paving the way knowing we don't really have a great team this year, or we don't have enough on offense to win a championship. So I am putting the message and the questions out there now. Maybe this is the impetus to this.

Just to really put the pressure on his now friend, Brian Gudekunz. Hey, I could retire and leave you in Capel if you don't go get me someone to replace Devante Adams. And on the flip side, if they do and these receivers are great and you get a stud number one guy in there, maybe he'll play until 50. Jordan Love, start looking somewhere else, man.

So Love is what? This is third year? Third year, year three. And I would assume he's not playing the starting quarterback next year? And you'll decline his, oh, he doesn't have fifth year.

Oh, yeah, he does. Yeah, first round pick. Would you do it? Would you pick it up? If Rodgers tells me I'm here next year?

No, I wouldn't. What if there's no guarantee after 2023? You could always then franchise tag him. You could go into your, like, let's say Rodgers plays next year and then retires after that, then you could franchise tag him. What a waste.

In terms of Love. And we've talked about it for three years. Well, y'all knew it was a waste of a pick when they made it.

But man, talking about a first round pick that's going to not get their fifth round option picked up, which is. And when he started a game last year because Rodgers had COVID? Yes, sir, against the Chiefs. Did he start a game at the end of the year? Oh, no, he got in the second half against the Lions. I think that was the final game of the season. Yes, you're right. I think Rodgers started.

You're right. And he finished up and then the Lions had a big comeback and won the game. What a waste of a pick. What a waste of a pick. That was the 2020 draft.

Yes. I didn't expect they were going to spend most of the news brief on this, but I just want to see who the guys after him that were drafted right after. So Love was twenty six receiver wise. T. Higgins was at thirty three. T. Higgins will look pretty damn good right now. Aaron Rodgers could use a nice, you know, stud receiver after that. LaVisca Shenal and K.J. Hamler and Chase Claypool.

Better than what they got right now. You would take him. Van Jefferson and Denzel Mims.

Oof. Wasn't Terry? Nah. Was McClure in that draft?

He might be twenty nineteen. Brian Edwards and Devin DuVernay. Looking solid this year.

Yeah, not bad. I'm already in the fourth round. Gabe Davis. There and the Packers was on this show. Gabe Davis was on this show and said he would be the best wide receiver in this draft class. But even if you don't love the names afterwards, they traded up to go get to the twenty six spot.

Yes. They could have traded up to maybe usurp either Philly or the or the Vikings to get a Jefferson. Justin Jefferson, who went at twenty two. Yeah, teams move up in that draft. They moved up. Should've moved up a little bit further.

Or even non wide receiver wise, just draft anyone that could contribute on this team. That is true, because right now it's a dead weight. Yeah. No, you're exactly right on that.

And you know, it's also kind of funny. Oh, I've skipped one name. Michael Pittman.

He was there at thirty four. That would have been a good pick. And that was the same year they also got Jonathan Taylor.

Also would have been a good. Didn't they take AJ? They took AJ Dillon at sixty two. OK, so. So you can take a running back.

Let me just start there. You could have taken Pittman or you didn't even need to trade up right there. They had an original first round pick. You didn't even need to trade up and you could have drafted Jonathan Taylor. If you're going to take a running back at the end of the second round.

Jeez, sheesh wolf. Kenny Pickett says the Steelers don't view themselves as an underdog. I think it's the attitude in which you go about it. You know, you guys, everyone else thinks we're underdogs. We don't. So, you know, we're going to go in there with some confidence. We know how great we can be when we're detailed. So I have a ton of confidence in those guys.

So it's really everyone doing their one eleven. And, you know, we'll be OK. Von Miller and his live stream heard that and says the Steelers aren't underdogs. Everyone thinks we're underdogs, but we don't.

Who thinks you are underdog? But like, geez, Kenny. Nobody said what? Stop it, Kenny. Stop it, Kenny. Don't don't try to get crazy on us, man. We're just come in and play the game.

Don't. Hey, why is he looking at the spread? Nobody looks at the spread of the game like nobody's looking at none of that. Like we were just getting ready to play the Steelers, bro. Like, don't try to get fake mad. You know, don't try to get crazy on us, man.

Nobody thinks you're underdogs, Kenny. Like, no, no, this is no this. You're trying to. No, don't do it.

No, don't do it. Stop it, man. That was a really weird response by Von Miller. Everyone thinks the Bills are the favorite in this game and the Steelers are the underdog. That's why the Bills are a 14-point favorite. Now, I guess Von saying don't listen to Vegas so he's not on the Calvin Ridley plan would then be my assessment of one Von Miller. But you're telling me if I walked into that Bills locker room and say, hey, how do you view the Steelers, that they're going to say they're a good football team this year?

No. And everybody in the Bills locker room should think they're going to win, just like how the Steelers think. And Kenny Pickett being a young guy and trying to lead that football team thinks that, yeah, we should win. But no bones about it, the Steelers are an enormous underdog. The Bills are one of the best teams in the league.

The Steelers are not a good team this year. That was weird by Von Miller, right? Weird.

That's the way that I would classify it. I guess the only thing is that maybe he's the rookie trying to play mind games and trying to be like, oh, you're actually, I don't know, like over, I'm going to kill you this weekend. You know what, Kenny Pickett? I'm the underdog and I'm coming after you because hungry dogs run faster. And I'm Von Miller. Welcome to the league, rook.

You're screwed. You're the top dog. And I'm an underdog. Do you think if he sacks him on Sunday, he gets in his ear like you're not an underdog? I would bark. Who's the underdog now?

Hungry dogs run faster. Tom Brady says the first month the player on the NFL has, well, not been that good. I think there's a lot of bad football from what I watch. I watch a lot of bad football. A lot of, yeah, poor quality of football. That's what I see. He's not wrong.

And my follow up would be, hey, Tom. Do you think it has anything to do with so many players either not showing up to voluntary OTAs, not playing in preseason games, taking 11 day vacations in the middle of training camp? Because we used to say the first two weeks of the season was like, was really the extension of the preseason. This year, it's looked like the first four weeks of the season have become the extension of the preseason.

And that's why it's not a good product right now. Now, these games are close. Like each and every week, I feel like an eye on football. We go into the witching hour and we say, wow, all these games are within one score in the final five minutes are all within one score.

Like it's a compelling watch. But the quality of football has not been good. And that's why when we sit here four weeks into the season with week five about to kick off tonight, it's tough to really identify in the AFC who's great other than Kansas City and Buffalo, because a lot of those teams have been underperforming. And then the NFC, the only great team so far consistently has been Philadelphia. Packers are three and one, but they just needed overtime to be badly zappy. Then you look at the Bucks, they're two and two, the Rams are two and two and their line sucks. So we have not seen enough great teams in this league and you're seeing a lot of back and forth close games, but the actual quality of the game is not good when you look at the level of play.

Eleven to ten. San Francisco, Denver, that game was a joke. Lot of ugly, ugly, ugly, sloppy play.

May want to re approach the preseason and all of that kind of philosophy that a lot of teams have. Will Middlebrooks joins us next talking baseball. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.