Low Tide (Hour 2)

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Download the Odyssey app today. Yo, yo, our number two of our radio program. That's right, it's Zach Gelb's show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're coming to you live from the Rocket Morgan Studios.

Need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Well, Rocket can. We'll get back into the NFL in just a bit. I gotta react, though, to one game right now from college football over the weekend. Alabama and A&M. Now, I thought Alabama was gonna win and was gonna win by like two touchdowns.

It got a little bit interesting because you didn't know the status of Bryce Young, but you felt like Bryce Young was not going to play. There was never a doubt that Bama was going to win the game. I never thought Bama was going to lose the game. But you look at the state of A&M entering that game, you lose to App State early in the year. Then you find a way to go back to back against Miami and Arkansas. You're just coming off a blowout loss up against Mississippi State. If you can't get up for that game against Alabama, you can never get up for any game.

Haynes King, then, is gonna be starting because you had Max Johnson get hurt. So that was the game where you knew that there was gonna be some sloppy play, but I thought the better team and the better program was gonna win and would probably end up winning by two touchdowns. Now, I was shocked to see that that game came down to one final play. And still, Ryan, I can't believe the play call there.

Now, you could also get on the execution as well, but that throw wasn't even in the end zone. So some of it's on the quarterback too, but it does appear that the play call was just a bad play call in that spot. And I can't say I'm annoyed about it because Jimbo Fisher, to me, is so obnoxious. I get that he had to go back and forth with Nick Saban this summer when Saban started it. I thought he took it to a different level when you say, oh, start interviewing the guys on his staff and all that and have their true thoughts on Nick Saban when you used to work for Nick Saban as well. But Jimbo Fisher, even in a weird spot when his team actually showed up against Alabama after beating them a year ago, he's someone that right now, the last few years, he's all sizzle.

He's all hype. It's all Jimbo's this, Jimbo's that because of what Jimbo did at Florida State. So far, that A&M team, other than one year when they were like, what, 8-1 or 9-1, whatever it was, they're not close to being a contending team, to being a team that I look at them and go, wow, you could get to the college football playoff and also you could go find a way to go win a national championship.

And eventually you got to go to Wigman. You got to go to the young quarterback. And he has not had a great quarterback.

I get that. But you look at A&M-Alabama, Ry, it does feel weird to kill Jimbo Fisher after that game because it was close. But then you think, okay, Bryce Young wasn't playing for Alabama, but that final play call, you could still be upset and annoyed with the coach even when the team gives a better effort when you thought.

When they have a chance to literally go win the game and take down Alabama for two years in a row. And that's what gets dialed up with the game on the line. You couldn't have more creativity with the game on the line or you could not have a better play call. Maybe some of it's on the execution of the players, too.

But I thought that was a terrible ending for a game that you could have easily won when you went into this game when no one was picking you to win. And that's why I keep coming back to, I don't think this massive $90 million buyout is enough to truly have him be guaranteed to be back next year. Because you look at this game specifically. He was brought in to beat Alabama. He was brought in to take A&M to a level that Kevin Selmon could not. They're used to winning 7-8 games a year. They want to get to that 9, 10, 11, 12 and start winning national titles. You got to be careful what you wish for because look at Auburn, too. Auburn had a lot of success up against Alabama. You had to get rid of Gus Malzahn, right? Every Auburn fan told me. And I said, be careful what you wish for if you're Auburn.

Because getting rid of Gus Malzahn, who was a good football coach, you didn't upgrade. So if you're going to tell me that A&M needs to get rid of Jimbo Fisher, you got to give me a name or two that instantly I'll say, okay, boom. That would be significantly better than Jimbo Fisher there. And ultimately, I do think, and we have a conversation about this, I do think Jimbo's going to be back regardless of how this year plays out. And you could mention the contract and all that. But remember the recruiting class that he's bringing on in. Now, I know you could say, right, any Tom, Dick and Harry, if you have all the resources to go get the players that they could go get.

That recruiting class is massive. And I don't think right now you want to disrupt the apple cart and he should get another year, especially with this quarterback that is there right now. I at least want to see the quarterback play and what the quarterback looks like before I throw Jimbo Fisher away. Here's my frustration with Jimbo.

I thought Saturday seven to perfect. I'll be honest, I would have laid the points if I go into this game. I thought Alabama, even with Jalen Milro, was going to handle A&M. To their credit, they play tight, but also how that game breaks down. You have four turnovers from Alabama. You mentioned before they're playing with the backup quarterback.

You had to miss field goals as well. It's an untimely and un-Alabama like stupid penalties at some bad times that extended drives. Yes, I get Haynes King is he was a starter, got bench, whatever. You lose Max Johnson. But even going back to that last play call, to your point, we talk about and we laud or have lauded Jimbo Fisher for his offensive genius and his ability to be a quarterback whisperer.

Right. And then the last play call, the last play of the game, Haynes King, it could be on him execution wise, knocking the ball out, bad play call, combination of both. But also too, then if you're Jimbo Fisher, you have to drill in your quarterback's head, get the ball out quick. Like you have to know time situation and basically realize this court, this this route is seven yards.

He's turning around. You got to get it out right away because the longer you wait, the receiver ran himself out of the end zone. I don't really think it's his fault, but how long it took is just one of those things where you cannot have your quarterback in that situation. Just be unaware, basically, that you like you can't hold on the ball that long. And that goes back to Jimbo getting his guys ready to play in a big moment.

And they've not done that. It's so crazy how much different we approach coaches in the NFL to college. Like if Jimbo Fisher was in the NFL, he would be fired. But in college, there are a lot of coaches that could just be good.

And I know it's the SEC, right, that's super duper competitive and patience does wear thin in the SEC. But I keep on thinking when you look at the pool and the pool of guys that are available in college, who you get in an A&M that's going to be better without a doubt than Jimbo Fisher. Like, who's that guy? Like, who would be your guy if you're going to get rid of Jimbo, Ry, that you say, OK, that's the guy that I would go higher?

If you give me three names, I mean, I'll go right over to the rival. I'll take Bill O'Brien, take off the staff. Like, A&M has a talent and this has been something that Jimbo Fisher's fallen short of the last few years. It's not getting the players to College Station. It's getting the most out of the roster.

And now this is again, we've seen you can get the recruits in there, but if you can't win with them, if you can't make them better than when they walked in from day one, what are you doing? Does Bill O'Brien, though, who I do think could be a good college coach again at the right job. Does Bill O'Brien make me think, man, that creates excitement if I'm an A&M fan? I don't think Bill O'Brien creates excitement. Is he that much different than Steve Sarkeesian when he was hired at Texas?

Because I kind of look at it similar. Texas could get talent. Like, Texas is not losing because they are fiftieth in recruiting every single year. They have the resources. But A&M's not as dreadful as the spot as Texas was.

No. I'm talking about it like the way that they've been playing recently. I know this year, Sark is there, so it's different. But I get your point because Sark has been a coach before, learned from his different reasons, learned from his failures. Yeah, Sark was a good hire at Texas. And you're seeing, like, he's a guy who's now with his scheme able to get the talent already there. But the thing is, though, Tom Herman to Sark, you look at it, you said, wow, upgrade.

Jimbo to Bill O'Brien, a little bit different. It is different to me than when you compare him to Sark for the guy that he was taking over. And Sark was a multiple failed head coach.

It's not like, you know, he had his own issues. So it's not like this was a slam dunk hire. And also, Texas has made sexy hires. Like, Tom Herman, go back, that was a sexy coach hire when they got him. It's like, oh, this is the guy that's going to turn the program around. And we've seen Texas, really since Mac Brown left, swing and miss at every head coach hire they made. I hate this because it's not really an answer to your question.

So it's it's not a cop out. But that's you don't have one like like that's the thing. There isn't a great one right now that if you look at the situation of A&M and that's just the point that I'm making.

If you give me a tangible name that makes me go, wow, I'm excited. I'm like, OK, then I can move on from from A&M, especially with how their AD does go star hunting for coaches and gets big name coaches. That's why when I just look at that whole situation, it's just I think he gets another year. And in a weird way, sometimes when you have some patients in college football, it ends up working.

But to answer your question, do I think we'll end up working at A&M? They have the talent. So there's really no more excuses.

Like, this is the best way to say it. He'll be back next year. The seat, though, is on fire to start the year.

You lose like app state or something to the equivalent of that. Again, early, you have an early loss or two next year that then you're probably on the outside. Then then then you're probably getting dumped next year. Very early for Jimbo Fisher.

The frustrating part is faster. Like if you're an A&M fan, it's just like forget about competing with Alabama. And again, they lost the coast game, but we saw Alabama play one of the worst games ever played on Nick Saban on Saturday night with the backup quarterback. Like they can't even consistently beat the middle teams in the SEC. It's not like it's like Alabama, Georgia. And then they're kind of like that third team there.

They can't. And we've seen Mississippi State now two years in a row just thump them. They can't consistently beat Auburn. They can't consistently be LSU.

So like a lot of these programs that have had been even down the last few years, like they're struggling. Just get by the the middle tier teams and the SEC. It's like you're paying this guy all that money. And it's like he's not even sniffed for the most part in SEC title game appearance. I'm agreeing with you.

He is not worth it right now. But alternative wise, he's still good enough where they're going to give him another year, especially with the recruits that they have. And also, what did you think A&M was going to be this year?

Don't get me wrong. I didn't think A&M was going to lose to App State. But A&M, their quarterback position was a big question mark going into this year. Now, the other part of this conversation, Ryan, Alabama, and you know me, for me to say this, this is big. Because I give Alabama the benefit of the doubt 10 times out of 10 times. And, you know, even 15 times out of 10 times. I'm a little bit concerned about Alabama.

We've seen them now in quote unquote their two big gates. Texas. Quinn Ewers gets hurt. They had to have a great defensive play by Will Anderson Jr. And then Bryce Young make it a great play to just grab that victory out. And this game, I know you don't have Bryce Young, but this is not a good A&M team and they almost lost. Now, Georgia, everyone is allowed to have one stinker. That's why I did not freak out after the Missouri game for Georgia. Alabama's one stinker was up against Texas. Now they got another one. And I know they had a very good one up against Arkansas, but Arkansas wasn't as good as what we thought.

But other than that, like, what is there to be excited about? That they blew out Utah State 15-5 to nothing? That they beat up Louisiana Monroe? They beat up Vanderbilt? And the game this weekend, how much do we talk about this all the time?

Timing is everything in sports. Tennessee is as red hot as they've been in forever. Josh Heifel has those guys going. Hendon Hooker looks like he could win the Heisman this year. And now Alabama has to go to Tennessee. And that's a game where we're going to learn a lot about Alabama this weekend. Because through the first five, six weeks of the college football season, if I just gave you the resumes and didn't tell you the school, you would say the resume of Tennessee is better. Doesn't mean that Tennessee is going to win the game, but the resume of Tennessee is better.

And it's still the mental side of it. You hear the name Alabama. And you go, man, I can't really pick against them. But I am monitoring now Alabama. And they're going to need Bryce Young to play this week and we'll see if he does. But this is a huge weak drive for Alabama up against Tennessee where any of those doubts that you have, you could totally wipe them away if you do what Alabama usually does in these games.

And you go wipe Tennessee off the football field. And the concern, the reason for the concern being valid is just like you mentioned, the two biggest games so far, they have struggled. To their credit, they won, right? So it's not like we're talking about an Alabama team that's 4-3, they're 6-0. But also at the same time, a lot of the same issues now in both of their biggest games have kept on creeping up. It's uncharacteristically bonehead mistake penalties. A lot of penalties and turnovers. They fumbled, it felt like eight times on Saturday. They recovered a few, but it's like every time a running back receiver got hit, they just boom, balls out.

That's not a nixie, but they do the technical things better than any school in the country. And the last two big games, they've forgot how to do that. And last year was the rebuilding, you remember. Now they're not good at wide receiver this year. They are not Alabama wide receivers that we've been accustomed to for the better part of the last decade. But you have one of the best offensive players in the sport, guy with a Heisman last year, and a guy that's going to be a top three pick in the NFL draft in the defensive side of the ball in Will Anderson Jr. And you have guys that last year that Nick Saban, you could tell he was proud of his team for still getting to the national championship game, which is not the standard Alabama. It's championship robust each and every year, fair or not. But you could tell he was so excited for this season because he knew that team was ahead of the curve from where they actually should have been.

And then this year, the product's just not that clean. We've seen this before with the cupcakes games that they sometimes play, where when they get to the early part of the SEC schedule and the games are close, they're a non-conference game that gets close, everyone starts to doubt Alabama, and I'm usually never that person. This year just feels a little bit different because you look at the wide receiver unit and it's not three, four guys that you're shaking in your boots over. And they've had injuries the last few years with the wide receiver position, but the depth's been so good.

Look at the guys that are in the NFL right now. So this is a big test for Alabama this week, huge test. And I hope we get a close game between Alabama and Tennessee because Tennessee, I like the energy that Hypos brought to that program, the AD as well, White coming over from UCF.

And Hooker's been great for them. This is going to be, I really hope it's going to be a fun game. For Tennessee, it's a statement game. For Alabama, it's a reminder, yeah, it hasn't gone great this year, even though we still are undefeated. And we've had to scratch and claw our way to victory in some of these games, but we can remind you of anyone doubting us.

But right now, like, will it take five on Wednesday? I haven't put Alabama lower than two. I've got to put Ohio State and Georgia in front of them, just for starters. Ohio State and Georgia in front of them. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio.

We'll have a news brief next. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team. Your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

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Download the 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. Let's listen up from a media session today with Ron Rivera. He is asked why the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys are all better than the commanders who are 1 and 4 when you have the Giants and Cowboys at 4 and 1 and the EAGLES Eagles at 5 and 0. Quarterback. The truth is that this is a quarterback driven league and if you look at the teams that have been able to sustain success, they've been able to build it around a specific quarterback. You chose the quarterback here though, so do you have any regrets about that?

No, I got no regrets about that quarterback. I think our quarterback has done some good things. There's been a couple of games that he's struggled. But you look at his numbers from yesterday and he was okay. Look at his numbers he's had throughout the year. There was a time he was very solid and then we had the unfortunate Philadelphia game and we struggled a little bit in the Dallas game but the way he performed yesterday, it just shows you what he's capable of. You know, we chose him because we believe him. We chose him because we looked at what we felt were things that pointed towards him.

My brain goes in a thousand directions with that bullcrap answer. From Ron Rivera who's been on this show multiple times before, one of the good guys in the NFL, but a problem I've had with Ron has been the way he's approached this quarterback position. At first, it was okay. You got to build the roster then get the quarterback. Then it was, all right, we're going to be patient. We don't have to get one in the draft. Then this year, you were going to think draft. They tried to be aggressive, try to go trade for Russell Wilson. You knew they couldn't go make a play for Deshaun Watson with Daniel Snyder as their owner.

And then it was, okay, we're going to give up significant capital for Carson Wentz who stinks. I love how he said, yeah, he struggled in a few games. Ron, this is not week 15.

You just finished up week five. So if he struggled in a few games and it's only a handful of games, that means he has not played well. And the things he showed yesterday, what, that he had a few deep balls in the game and a few nice plays? With the game on the line, he had three opportunities to get the job done and all three footballs could have been picked off and one of them was.

So what the bleep are you talking about? And not only that, then he says, oh, the other teams are built because of their quarterback and that's been the difference. Daniel Jones, a franchise quarterback? Nope. Is Cooper Rush a franchise quarterback?

Nope. Jalen Hurts, looking like a franchise quarterback, but the Eagles have a great roster. Dallas, their success has been predicated off their defense, the Giants so far coaching. So there was nothing that Ron Rivera said there that made me go, oh, aha, I see what he's saying. Man, that was verbal diarrhea. That is what that was.

I actually get where he's coming from. Phillies, Phillies, Eagles fans have gone through it the hard way. I unfortunately learned the lesson last year the hard way. You talk yourself into Carson Wentz. No, no, no, no, no, no. You look at the stats. Stop, stop, stop, stop. You realize what happens.

That doesn't work anymore. In Philadelphia, I got it. They traded up for him. He's a prospect. In Indianapolis, okay, now he's getting a coach that actually supports him, even though I warned you that it was a dumb decision. You saw him failing Philly and failing Indy. And that's the guy with how selective and patient you've been for a quarterback go, woohoo, I got to go get him? If it wasn't for his owner just being a moron and a dope and a buffoon with the way that he conducts himself, Ron Rivera would be on the hot seat right now. But no one talks about Ron Rivera potentially getting fired because we all know the real problems that organization is Dan Snyder and everyone likes Ron Rivera. So for the commanders, it's like, all right, let's keep Ron because at least someone likes something about our team. Maybe this is Ron Rivera intentionally trying to get fired because he has really lost me in the quarterback selection. And then remember last year he goes, oh, don't be surprised that we take a step back because we made the playoffs, but that wasn't really that good of a team. And this year he said, you expect to see a jump. So he put the pressure back on himself and now this team is one and four.

That's horrible. Carson Wentz is throwing an interception to lose the game, was crushing. You get first and goal from the two and you're thinking, all right, we got this. We got a couple of chances here and hats off to them. They made a couple of good plays and it's frustrating. It's definitely frustrating and kind of stings a little bit extra just because I thought we had it there.

Can I be transparent here, Ron? And maybe this factored in because in our NFL picks, which Meraz is now up three games on me, when I do the picks on the DA show, not this show, that Meraz took Tennessee. I think they were like laying a point and a half, two points. When Wentz gets the flag and the ball goes down to the two yard line, I go, oh, commanders are going to score.

And that's me being the biggest critic of Carson Wentz in the world. But at the two, you can't find a way to get the ball in the end zone at the two. And the first football that he threw away, I don't know how he didn't throw that 15 feet out of the end zone and it almost got picked off. The second one almost got picked off and the third one got picked off. That's my favorite part because, oh, we were so close.

Third time was a charm. But it's not like, you know, he actually threw any of those three passes that anywhere had a chance of being a touchdown. If you are an NFL team that employs Carson Wentz as your starting quarterback, you're a bad team.

You're a bad organization. Talking about bad decisions, Brandon Staley on why he went for it on fourth and one at the end of the game. This was at his own 46 yard line. He did not get it, gives the ball back to Cleveland. Cleveland ends up missing a 50 plus yard field goal from Cade York.

This was on the Jim Rome show earlier today. Brandon Staley explaining that decision. Our offense, it had a huge day and I really liked the matchups that we had and, you know, I had full confidence that we would make it with them out of timeouts, that we would be, you know, finishing it there on our terms. Fourth and one and a half, going to trust Justin Herbert and our guys to go do it. And I felt like we had the play call and I would do the same thing again.

And, you know, I also know that there's a lot of scrutiny that comes with it, you know, and I take full responsibility for all of it. But, you know, our mindset was to go be aggressive and win that game. So I get why you go for it. If you go for it, the game's over. But you have to understand the scenario and the scenario in that game. You're at what was like a buck 15 left or whatever it is, fourth and one at the 46. You need to look at the risk and the reward.

And the reward is you win the game. But the risk is if you don't get it, you're giving the ball back to the Browns at the Chargers' 46-yard line. Now, this would have been a much bigger deal if Cade York makes the kick, just in the way of reaction. That's the natural decision.

That's just the natural conversation of it. Because they ended up winning the game so you could at least have something positive to chew on. But that's still a bad decision. And I don't care what the analytics say.

I don't care if you want to be aggressive. Sometimes it's just being stupid. And Brandon Staley in that game yesterday was stupid. And he hasn't learned anything. And he continues to be stupid. So stop being stupid. And if your gut says in that decision to go for it, maybe then you should listen to your cabeza. Because there's no way that your head's saying, yeah, this is a great decision.

And also, here's the part that's not getting really talked about. Do you have any problem, Ryan? And I know Herbert is a wonderful quarterback. Fourth and one. That game yesterday was dominated by Austin Eckler. Don't you gotta get Austin Eckler the football who had 10.8 yards per carry in the game if you just need one little yard.

I would 100% agree. That play call he had did not have a chance. Aye yi yi. Let's hear more from Brandon Staley. Did you see Keenan Allen's reaction to this? He was saying, what the bleep? He said, WTF on Twitter are we doing?

And then he followed up with, so glad he missed that, because man, man, man. Let's hear Brandon Staley of the Jim Rome Show give his reaction to Keenan Allen questioning Staley's decision making during the game on Twitter. Keenan Allen was out of the game with an injury. Keenan Allen has my full respect.

Keenan Allen has proven himself in more ways than one in his NFL career. And to me, you know, our relationship to me is what I trust and believe in. So, you know, that's what you go back on. And I think that when you're very close with people, and it doesn't matter if it's Keenan or Derwin or Justin or whomever, Khalil Mack, there's going to be times like that in competition. And so you just know that that's part of it. And you also know that moving forward that, you know, we're each other's guy. So moving forward, I know that we're going to be closer than ever. If that was his answer last year, Ryan, I'd be okay with it.

But now this is year number two. This guy just bloviates every time he talks. It just never ends. And I don't buy anything that he's actually saying. He's the problem. And it's also concerning, like it's coming from an offensive guy. Like if the tweet was from a defensive player, it makes sense to think of the game from the defense only. And it's like, oh, you're putting us in a bad spot here. But you have an offensive guy who's always programmed, let's go for it.

We're going to get it for sure. Saying, what are we doing? That's a major red flag. I had Josh Kelly on yesterday, on ION Football, and I asked him about it. And he basically said, oh yeah, I love the confidence the coach has in us.

You're right. Offensive guy. In the moment, if I'm an offensive guy, you didn't want to go in the game.

But you would expect that tweet to be from a defensive player. Hey, coach, you're screwing us here. The fact that that came from Keenan Allen, man, that's major, major, major. Let's listen up to Cliff Kingsbury on the Cardinals spiking the ball on third down before kicking a field goal that ended up missing. Thought he was clearly passed, and they brought it back.

And by that time, we'd committed to clocking it. So it was just pass the point and no return. Is that a kind of call or a coach call? That's a coach call. Yeah, it's a coach call. It's amazing how the coach and the quarterback didn't know what down it was.

Now, don't get me wrong. When I'm watching that game live, I thought he got the first down. And then when they show the replay, and they were able to show a replay, he does slide and gives himself up.

So when you start to give yourself up, that's where it's down, not where the ball is, not where you finish the slide. But when I saw that live, I go, oh, they got a first down, and they quickly show a replay. And the next thing you know, they spiked the ball. I go, okay, and then I'm like, oh, wait, it's fourth and one. So now you got to kick the field goal. It's just bad awareness by the coach and bad awareness by the quarterback. And how both of them, right, we're big on this show, checks and balances.

How many times do we talk about checks and balances? If I mess something up, Hickey has to be right. If Hickey messes something up, which usually is the way that happens, I have to correct Hickey. Neither of them knew the situation there? He can't operate impromptu a little bit? That's absolutely brutal. Kyler Marion, why he spiked the ball on third down, let's hear from him. After the play, everybody's screaming clock, you know, in my ear. So I assume, yeah, I had first down. I put that more on the coach because let's say if I have ten seconds to get to break and Ryan goes clock, clock, clock, clock, clock, I'm just listening to your command, right? Even though you would think the guy that you're paying all that money would look up and go, oh, wait, no, I actually had 20 seconds, not ten seconds. And then you could quick think a little bit quickly on your feet. But when you're in a moment like that, a pressure situation, you hear the first thing, yeah, I probably would have clocked the football as well.

Daniel Laski made a great point. You're calling quarterback sneak or quarterback draw on second down. You'd assume, we may not get it, we do great. If not, should you have another play call ready to go? Agreed, 100%. Like the clock was stopped on first down, so you had time to call two plays.

Again, it's bad situational awareness, you're 100% right, you've got to be better in that situation. The whole four down sequence was terrible. Awful. Because they also spiked it on first down, too.

Brutal. And then did you hear David Pugh after the game? Justin Pugh, excuse me, of the Cardinals. He says the Cardinals' loss isn't squarely on Matt Amendola.

I missed the block, we missed touchdowns, we should have had the ball and been able to score. It's not on one guy. Everyone's waiting around for one guy to come back here. Fucking ain't right. It's not right.

All right? It's not on one fucking guy. Give your fucking head up and we'll make it worse. I respect Justin Pugh, Jersey guy.

I like Justin Pugh, or Bucks County guy I believe he's from, Ben Peay. But I don't know, it's the right idea that he has to go defend the kicker who's been bouncing around the league. But does that just cause more tension? Doesn't that just make the situation a little bit worse?

I get it, he's a leader, he's a veteran, been with the Giants, now with the Cardinals for a bunch of years. Ryan, do you think that just makes the situation a little bit worse than just letting the guy get up in front of the cameras and adjust the media before that being the pigs in the blank and the appetizer served before you get to hear from the kicker? I like it. I think it's the right move to defend the guy because... But if you were the kicker, would you like it? I think I would just want to stand up there for four or five minutes, say, hey, I missed the kick, and then get out and not have that extra attention. Since she has a guy being new on the team, I would appreciate someone having my back.

Okay. And then finally, Brian Dable says the win over the Packers, where they're down 17-3, then 20-10 at halftime was a complete team win. Aaron Rodgers is an exceptional quarterback, but again, it's a team game. We have to play well to put ourselves in position. I thought the coordinators did a fantastic job, winning Kafka and TMAC all week, leading up to it, being prepared, getting their stuff done ahead of time, coming out here, adjustments at halftime. Those three guys did a great job, and the players followed their lead. Dable's been incredible. Through the first five weeks, I would make him the coach of the year. We'll see where the Giants are at the end of the year, but that's an incredible win yesterday in London, especially with the start that they got off to. All right, that's the News Briefs at the Guelph Show CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, Packers struggling, Bucks struggling, Rams struggling. Those are supposed to be the three teams that were contenders in the NFC before the year started.

Who do you have the most confidence in after their struggles through the first five weeks of the season? So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. 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. Get in the zone, AutoZone. The quest for one Matthew Stafford to make the Hall of Fame when going to L.A. started off with a bang by getting a Super Bowl and getting that championship and finding a way to leave comeback drive after comeback drive in that postseason run. This year, what an ugly start. And I mean a horrific start for the L.A. Rams, who are two and three. Now, you get beat up by the 49ers.

That's one thing. They've owned you. You've had Shanahan just dominating McVeigh in the regular season, Jimmy G as well. But then you get a Cowboys team who's better than what we thought. They won three games in a row with Cooper Rush.

You've got to give them their credit, but to not even give yourself a chance in that game, that's frustrating. And we said it last year, we just played you the clip. If Stafford wants to get to the Hall, he's going to have to have three more dominant seasons. Now, he turns 35 in February, and he only has one Pro Bowl to his name. Now, Pro Bowl could be a little bit misleading because, what, nowadays?

I don't know about Pro Bowl really anymore. I mean, we knew it, but in the last two, three years, like Mac Jones, who I love. Mac Jones should never have been a Pro Bowler last year, but because so many guys said no, he ended up getting a Pro Bowl selection. And Stafford's been a good quarterback, but he's not a great quarterback. If there was a Hall of Very Good, he'd be in it already.

But he has not been more great in his career than Very Good. And the way that this is going, and the way that we're seeing this Rams team, the offensive line in shambles, the offense is pretty much just Cooper Cup. The astonishing thing is that Allen Robinson has been a zero so far in L.A. You know, could they bring back Odell Beckham? Yeah, I guess, and maybe Odell wants to go back there. But if I'm Odell, Ryan, I wouldn't want to go to the Rams right now. I know you just won a Super Bowl there.

I know they like you. I know you're a big part of their offense in that playoff run. Von Miller's trying to get you to go to Buffalo.

I go to Buffalo in a second. There's a few other destinations that are more attractive than the Rams right now. So we could pump the brakes on this Stafford Hall of Fame conversation.

I'll ask a question I never thought I was going to ask. How about the Rams just making a playoffs this year? Because with the way that offense align is, can they gel throughout the season?

Yes, we only returned one starter from that Super Bowl team from a year ago. These next few weeks are going to be really telling for the direction of the Rams. And here's the good news if you're a Rams fan. You get the Panthers this week, okay?

The Panthers stink. And then you get a bye week. But after that bye week, you play San Francisco, Tampa, and Arizona. Then New Orleans and Kansas City. This is a big stretch the next four or five weeks for the L.A. Rams.

But right now, there's not a lot to latch onto. Like that defense is good, but it's not a great defense. And when your defense is very good, not great, you need the other side of the ball to play really well. And I can't crush that defense, but offensively, and Dallas has a very good defense. We know that, a great defense. Offensively though, the Rams gave you nothing last week against Dallas on Sunday.

They gave you nothing against San Francisco. They really gave you nothing against Arizona. And they got up to a 28-3 lead up against the Falcons and shut themselves down.

Against the Bills, they only scored 10 points when the Bills were giving you the football left and right in that game. We've not seen this Rams offense look competent other than one half up against the Falcons. They have not looked competent at all this year. I'm concerned about the Rams, I really am. And it's crazy because boy wonder, Sean McVay, you'd think would have an answer to try to fix this and at least keep the ship from sinking.

That's been one of the biggest surprises and one of the reasons for concern. Like I said, we have a banged up Matthew Stafford. The offense line is in total shambles. But Sean McVay, to his credit, even last year, there were some rough patches for sure and he found a way to get that team out of it. It's like this year, anything they try or now, even just from a week-to-week basis, it gets worse. I thought week one was as bad as it's going to get. You watch yesterday with this Cowboys defense, they're really good.

They're flying around. They're making the Rams offense look like the Bears. Mentally, and I know this was your team last year. Have you adopted this team this season since your Colts really have nowhere to go? I asked that for a specific reason.

You laugh and you may be saying like, why the heck is that guy? You used the we there when talking about the Rams. I meant we as like a collective NFL fandom that's questioning his decision-making. Now we as we, the Rams nation. I just had to ask, because you were down in the dumps last week, so I don't know if over the weekend you just said, okay, I got to embrace after that catastrophe of a Thursday night game, the Rams. And if you latched onto the Rams, I just wanted to be aware so I could keep track of that. I mean, they're not even the team I'd probably latch on to right now if I wanted to see a winner.

Sheesh. Oh yeah, they stink. The Colts have a better record then, so it's like.

Pump the brakes. I'm just technically, I'm not wrong. You aren't, but the Colts stink.

But I would agree. I'm just saying if I'm going to ditch my Colts, which I would never do, but in this hypothetical war that we're in right now, I wouldn't leave them for the Rams this year. That's like asking like which illness would you rather have right now when you look at the Rams or or the Colts? That's yeah. Misery or pain? What do you want? Yeah.

Which one? If you had to pick a new team, who'd you pick? You could pick one team in the NFL to root for the rest of the way. If I told you the Colts, they got dropped down into a division, got dropped down.

Yeah, relegated to the AAF or the XFL or the Mac. Now you're playing on Tuesday nights. Who would be your team? Um, I guess I'd go the Rams, you know, real. Oh, yikes. OK.

I mean, yeah, well, I what else you want to do? I'm not taking your Patriots. That's for sure. Yeah, although Bailey's happy could be the next Tom Brady.

I'm not saying you should pick the Patriots, but I like the Dolphins. I like to come on. Well, who knows when two is going to get back?

Unfortunately, that's part of reason. You know, I can't be trying to turn the wrong direction now. If Skyler Thompson has to start this week. Kansas State legend.

Let's go. Minnesota can't lose that game this week. Must win. Can't lose.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got to have it. I know they're 4-1. They're doing stinker, but come on.

You got to have that game. But you look at the NFC. Packers lose to the Giants. Bucks just survive against the Falcons. And I'm the biggest Brady fan there is. What a disgrace of a call that was on Grady Jared. That was horrible how they called that roughing the passer. But that's the NFL. You have no clue how to tackle the quarterback anymore.

It was just stunning. And you have the Rams, who just got beat up by the Cowboys. If you had to pick one team, Packers, Bucks, Rams, to trust the most the rest of the way, who would the team be? It has to be the Bucks.

Right? Tom Brady. Because they have a great defense. Brady's not declining. People are like, oh, Brady's finally showing his age. The line stinks right now. And who is he throwing to a wide receiver?

It's like a rotation of guys each and every week. But I would think the combination of Brady figuring it out or making it look competent down here for the NFC or not a strong NFC, and that defense would give me the most confidence between the Packers, Bucks, and the Rams. Rams, I can't trust their offensive line, and Stafford's not Brady. And the Packers, I think they're starting to be a little internal struggle with the Packers. I hear Alexander saying one thing.

Rogers then basically telling you, I hear Alexander to shut up. And you just blew a lead to the Giants, too. Give them credit. They are 4-1.

But, jeez, that was a bad loss out in London when you thought you were cruising. Come on back. No huddle offense.

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