Panic In Philadelphia? (Hour 1)

So my biggest fear is there's going to be sneaks in the toilet. We're all afraid of that one strange thing. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new short 10-minute podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. We unpack where these fears come from. A rat climbed into my toilet.

And learn how to manage them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake? I'm going to leak ocular fluid down my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I got to start off with the game last night. I have two reactions. When we see the surprising victory from the Washington commanders over the Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles lose their first game of the year. The undefeated season, the dream, when were they going to lose a game? We now have that answer.

It was last night. I'll start with the commander side and then we'll segue into the Eagles. With the commanders, I've been impressed with them the last few weeks. And when Carson Wentz was their starting quarterback, this team wasn't winning games. Now, with Taylor Heinecke as their quarterback, and it's not that Taylor Heinecke is this great quarterback, but they have now restored their season and salvaged their season. Where this is a commander's team that they're now in playoff contention and they could be fighting for one of those wildcard spots. And, oh yeah, by the way, you get Chase Young back next week, as that was announced today, and you have an easy game against the Houston Texans. So I got to give a lot of credit to Ron Rivera. This thing really could have got ugly when they started off the year two and four Carson Wentz's starting quarterback.

Ever since Heinecke got into the fold, he's been three and one as a starting quarterback. So this is the obvious take. It's the only take. And I know people will say, oh, well, Zach, you're a Carson Wentz hater.

That's not wrong, but I'm also a realist. Carson Wentz should not be starting this weekend. When they play the Texans, I don't care if he's ready or not.

I don't care if his feelings are hurt or not. Carson Wentz does not deserve to play this weekend for the starting quarterback position for the Washington commanders against the Houston Texans. Taylor Heinecke has helped save this season, has brought energy to that offense.

I get it. His numbers aren't sexy, but the objective of this sport is to win games. And there's no way that you could give me a good argument on why Carson Wentz for this weekend. I'm not saying the rest of the season. I don't know if Heinecke is going to continue this.

I'm not a big fan of Taylor Ham Heinecke when it comes to him being the starting quarterback for a full 17 regular season games. But what he's proven to me in the last four weeks is this ship was about to sink for the commanders. And now it's starting to float.

Now it's starting to take off and sail. They have a good defense. You have weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Terry McLaurin is a great wide receiver in this league. Jahann Dodson, Brian Robinson, Antonio Gibson, you have some pieces.

Don't fix what isn't broken. And if you are the commanders of Ron Rivera, just because you gave up swapping twos and you traded two threes and one could become a two if Wentz plays 70% of the snaps this year, just because you gave up that draft capital to go trade for Carson Wentz doesn't mean you owe him a damn thing. Because time in and time again, Carson Wentz has displayed that he's not a reliable starting quarterback in the National Football League. He's not a quarterback that wins a ton of games. And if you tell me, but Zach, Carson Wentz had a great regular season and could have been an MVP the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Yeah, I covered the Eagles that year.

I'm totally aware of that. We're talking about 2017. That's a long time ago. He failed at the end in Philadelphia. Frank Reich went all in on him in Indianapolis. He failed in big spots against Tennessee, against the Rams, against the Jaguars. And this year, people were going crazy in a loss against the Detroit Lions because he had a good second half. The guy is not a good starting quarterback. You don't need to bend over backwards to protect the feelings of Carson Wentz. It is so simple.

You do not disrupt the apple cart right now. And this team has galvanized. They have rallied around Taylor Heinecke. They have been better with Taylor Heinecke.

And they, for the first time this year, have a jolt of energy. And I got applaud on Rivera because this was getting ugly when even Rivera was criticizing his quarterback and then realized he stepped into something that he shouldn't have. But with everything that's going on with the owner and Dan Snyder, I gotta give a lot of credit to Ron Rivera because this team really had every excuse and every reason to lose their way. And they did not wilt under pressure so far. This is not a great football team. This is not a team that is guaranteed to get to the playoffs. But 10 weeks into the season, if you would ask me about five weeks ago, do you think we would be leading a show talking about the commanders in a positive way? I would have said you're out of your damn mind.

I really would have. But now, with the way that they've played as of late, they've at least made me raise an eyebrow and have some curiosity of how good they could be moving forward. And I look at this NFC East, Eagles are locked to make the playoffs. The Giants will make the playoffs. They'll probably get their eighth win this weekend, which is remarkable that they're gonna be going into Thanksgiving weekend. And they're gonna play that Thanksgiving Thursday with an eight and two record, that's crazy. And you look at a Dallas team, I know Dallas just lost a 14-point fourth quarter lead, but I like what Dallas can do. I think Dallas is a playoff team. Can you get four teams into the playoffs from the NFC East?

It's a possibility. I'm not gonna say it's likely. You know that in the North, it's gonna be the Vikings. In the South, it's gonna be Tampa Bay. And in the West, that's what's gonna determine if you get a fourth team in from the NFC East. Because I think Seattle will get in the playoffs. The question becomes, will the 49ers be the division champion or will they be a wildcard team?

You're probably looking at three teams get in. Commanders probably on the outside looking in from the NFC East. But they have at least allowed me to at least entertain the idea of them making the playoffs. Which if you would have told me that three, four weeks ago, I would have never believed it.

So that is the side of the commanders. Now, when we get to the Philadelphia Eagles, last night was terrible. Last night was a bad performance. It was a performance where they had for the first time this year, a letdown and they still almost found a way to bail themselves out and go win the game.

I think the offense is really good. You had some you had some turnovers last night, some unfortunate breaks. You know, Goddard fumbles the ball, but that's not his fault. He was grabbed on the face mask.

Ques Watkins has to hang on to that football. It wasn't a fortuitous bounce. The ball didn't bounce your way last night. Even with how poorly they played against the football team that's been up and down in the commanders, they still had a chance to win the game and they failed to do so. So when you have a team that's been so good, when you have a team that has been 8-0 and people were trying to question them and doubt them and they lose a game, today's the day of reckoning. Today is the day where everyone gets in front of the microphone, everyone gets in front of the TV camera and they go, oh, gee, golly, the Eagles aren't that good. In the NFC this year, there's not many great teams. You know, you want to I think the Eagles are a great team. I think Minnesota can be a great team. Compared to other years, are they better than some of those great teams in the past?

Probably not. But this NFC is wide open. And right now, if the season were to end today, the number one overall seed in the NFC would be the Philadelphia Eagles.

Have fun. I know they lost last night at home, but have fun if you're an opponent going into a raucous crowd, playoff crowd in Philadelphia and trying to beat the Eagles. I think the Eagles offense is really damn good. I know they're going to have to now deal with the Dallas Goddard injury, but that offensive line is phenomenal. Jalen Hurts is a very, very good quarterback at times. He's looked great this year.

And he showed me that he could be a franchise guy. I like AJ Brown. I like Devontae Smith, Miles Sanders.

They got weapons. But defensively, you saw a flaw in that defense. The secondary is good. On paper, they have a really good defensive line. But that run game and that run defense got abused last night. And then this week it's a good test because Matt Ryan's not a mobile quarterback for the Colts. So I think that does behoove the Eagles and give the Eagles a little bit of an advantage. But they can run the football because they have one of the better running backs in the league in Jonathan Taylor. I expect the Eagles to bounce back in a big way this weekend.

I don't think there will be a carry over and there will be a bad hangover from what occurred on Monday night. They were bound to lose. If I would have told you before the start of the season, the Eagles would be 8-1 after the first 10 weeks of the year. If you were a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you'd be jumping up and down like a fat kid in a candy store.

So I don't think the loss is the worst thing in the world and it serves as a reminder that, OK, you're feeling yourself. Team is really good. You lose the game. Now let's see in a moment of adversity how this team responds. And from what I've seen this year from the Eagles and the talent that they have, I have no reason to believe that they will respond the rest of the way. Now the question becomes, because this has been an NFL year, it seems like we latch on to a team for two weeks and that team disappoints. And we've gone through the ebbs and flows of really examining some of the top teams in the NFL, whether that's Buffalo, who's now in a bad spot.

And I think they'll rebound because the way their schedule breaks out. But they've lost two in a row and they've not been able to close games against the Jets and in the game of the year against the Minnesota Vikings. You see a team like Kansas City earlier this year lose a game to Buffalo, lose a game to Indianapolis. The Eagles now have lost the game. The Vikings went into Philadelphia week two and got their doors blown off.

The Baltimore Ravens could be a top team in the NFL, but they've struggled protecting leads. They blew leads to the Giants up 10 in the fourth. They blew a lead to the Buffalo Bills where they're up 20 to three.

They were up 35 to 14 against the Dolphins blew that game. So you have an idea of your Super Bowl contenders. And in the AFC, your Super Bowl contenders right now, I really think are four teams. Kansas City, Buffalo, the Baltimore Ravens, and then the Miami Dolphins. And in the NFC, it's more open.

And right now I could really only say two teams. I look at Philadelphia. I think they're a Super Bowl contender. And I look at the Vikings. Everyone else, I'm not going to trust the Giants in a big spot. I'm not going to trust Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy in a big spot.

I look at Tampa Bay. They got to play more consistent football. Now they do have Tom Brady. So if Brady gets in the dance, he'll have a chance.

And I think he will be in the dance, but that defense has had problems. And that offensive line has been God awful. And in the NFC West, everyone keeps on telling me 49ers, 49ers, 49ers. I was discouraged by the 49ers, even in a win on Sunday Night Football against the Chargers. That Chargers team was without two offensive linemen. They were playing three defensive linemen in the game.

They were without Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. And San Francisco had to come from behind to get the victory. So San Francisco has got to prove it to me a little bit more consistently before I put them and catapult them in the Super Bowl conversation. Through ten weeks, the team that I'm going to trust the most, it's the Kansas City Chiefs.

And isn't that a crazy thing to say a little bit, which how much concern there was before the year? The AFC West is going to be the best division in football, and that division has been terrible. Josh McDaniels may get fired. Nathaniel Hackett may get fired.

We'll get fired. The Chargers, tough to trust them with their head football coach and Brandon Staley. The Chiefs are easily going to win that division. And even though they lost to Buffalo Bills earlier in the year, right now they'd have home field advantage throughout the playoffs because they only have two losses and the Bills have three losses. And with the way their schedule is, I think Kansas City is going to be the number one overall seed.

And it's more than just having the number one overall seed. They have the best player in football. And that's Patrick Mahomes, who's getting the ball to so many different weapons. And yes, you'd rather have Tyreke Hill, but not having the safety blanket of Tyreke Hill anymore has made him a sharper quarterback.

And he's now distributed the ball to more options. And Andy Reid, who is a very good coach, great coach, going to be a hall of famer. Yeah, he's had some post-season blunders, but when you look at some of these other coaches, McDermott hasn't done it. Harbaugh hasn't won in a long time. Excellent coach, but hasn't won in a long time. Mike McDaniel, this is his first year in the league. You look in the NFC. Nick Sirianni, second year in the league.

Kevin O'Connell, first year in the league. I think the big game experience of Mahomes and Andy Reid is going to pay off in a big way come post-season time. I'm not saying the Bills are dead. I still think the Bills are gonna be a great team, but they have some warts right now and their quarterback isn't healthy. And for the Eagles, they're a great team, but there is still that unknown factor, even though they still have some Super Bowl experience from a few years ago.

But with this group, it is a different group than the group that won a Super Bowl. So I look at Kansas City and I look at coaching quarterback. There's no better coach quarterback in the league right now than Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes as a duo. And I think the Chiefs for the first 10 weeks of the season as we get ready to get into week 11 are the team to beat in the NFL. I would go Kansas City one, Philadelphia two, and then the third team is a fascinating one. Because the Dolphins there could be an argument for. The Vikings there could be an argument for. Buffalo there could be an argument for. It's gonna be a heck of a race, but right now, I don't think there's a better team in the NFL and a team that I don't trust more than the Kansas City Chiefs because of who they have at the two most important positions in this sport, the coach and the quarterback, and that's Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. At Zach Elba on Twitter at CBS Sports Radio as well. That's where you could find our poll question today.

And it's a very simple question. I believe the Kansas City Chiefs are the best team in the NFL. Do you believe right now the Chiefs are the best team in the NFL?

46% say yes, 54% say no. It is the Zach Elba show on CBS Sports Radio. We will have a new college football playoff ranking coming up later tonight at 9 PM Eastern. I'll tell you how that will shape out when we come on back. Plus, we got some big questions remaining the rest of the way in college football.

We'll delve into that when we return in five minutes. 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. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurt people. 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio, season two, the Dixie Mafia. Available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. It is Zach Guilb's show. You're listening to the Zach Guilb show coming up at the top of the hour. The head football coach of the Washington Huskies, Kalen DeBoer, coming off that big time victory against at the time number six Oregon on Saturday, then at 8 p.m. Eastern, five Pacific.

He had three touchdowns for the Green Bay Packers in their come from behind victory against the Dallas Cowboys. Christian Watson and then former Vikings player and team sideline reporter Ben Lieber will join us in the final hour of the program. Also, coming up later tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific, you will have the new college football playoff rankings. And I guess, Hickey, we really only need to break down who's gonna be the top seven teams in the nation, because it feels like those seven teams are really the only teams that are still alive. And I would probably wanna cut it to six, but I do think LSU is probably gonna be rated better than USC, even though I think USC has a better shot to make the college football playoff than LSU, because LSU has two losses and they just barely beat Arkansas.

And I don't think they'll have two loss at the end of the season. I think they'll lose in the SEC title game to Georgia, so that will kick them out of the conversation. But how the committee has given LSU favorable positioning and the initial rankings at 10, and then obviously getting the bolt up from beating Alabama, I would still expect them to be in front of USC tonight.

So you tell me if I'm right or wrong, I think this is pretty clear cut. Georgia's gonna be one, Ohio State's gonna be two, Michigan's gonna be three, TCU four, Tennessee five, LSU six, and then USC in at number seven. Do you see that being the way it goes, one through seven, with now Oregon pretty much out of the picture with two losses, and UCLA also fading after picking up their second loss of the season as well? I think the only movement you could see out of that is maybe LSU and USC flip-flopping because of the close game against a 13 quarterback for LSU compared to USC wiping the floor with a bad Colorado team, but that's also semantics at this point. So otherwise, I think the first top guaranteed top five I think is moving whatsoever. And then like I said, if you want to argue about six LSU, USC, we can have a discussion.

But again, that's they both long shots anyway. But yeah, I think the top's five without a doubt locked in. So here are the big questions the rest of the way. Number one, you know that Georgia's in, so we could just put Georgia in the college football playoff. Then the second question becomes, is it Michigan or Ohio State?

And I feel like we ask this question each and every week. And I was kind of pounding the drum earlier in the season that Michigan was better than Ohio State. You had some skepticism. And then the last week or two, I've noticed a change in your tune when it's come to the Michigan Wolverines. Now, as we're two weeks away from the game, as we're on the road to have undefeated Michigan, undefeated Ohio State in the horseshoe, are you still where you've been the last week or two where you've changed that narrative that Michigan's gonna slightly beat Ohio State? Or do you now jump back to the side of the Ohio State Buckeyes? No, I mean, I hate to say it because I'm not rooting for them for sure. But I think Michigan, I do hate a strong word. No, I hate Michigan.

But I'm also being objective. I think Michigan right now is a better team. And I think they're gonna win.

Honestly, they are physical. I trust their running. I think it carries. Look, JJ McCarthy scares me in terms of having to win the game. He has to make a big throw.

But also, I don't know if he's gonna need to him. Kate McNamara doesn't make any big throws last time. And Ohio State with their injuries at running back, with their inability to run the ball against good defenses, I am concerned. You know Blake Coram is the Heisman hopeful. And we've been leading that charge, the Coram charge all throughout the year for Blake Coram to win the Heisman Trophy.

You are right. If Michigan's gonna beat Ohio State again, it's gonna be a similar formula as last year. I'm not saying it's gonna be a blowout and as lopsided as it was last year where they're gonna beat them up inside the trenches, maul them on the offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, inside the trenches. And the main guy is gonna have to be Blake Coram going for like a buck 85, 200 yards, 2-3 touchdowns. And you have your other running back as well who could compliment off Coram and the two of them have been a great one-two punch all throughout the year.

I've been saying this though all throughout the year. I do think the best game that JJ McCarthy will play this year will be at the end of the season against Ohio State. I've just had this vision all throughout the year that you're going to have JJ McCarthy because they've been trying to implement it the last few weeks and the timing has been a little bit off. You had some drop passes.

You had some overthrows. I just have a feeling that you're going to get a 60-65 yard touchdown pass big play by JJ McCarthy in that Ohio State game. Now if Ohio State wins, is anyone stunned?

No. I think it's gonna be close but CJ Stroud has concerned me the last few weeks. Now if he wins the Ohio State-Michigan game, he's probably gonna win the Heisman. But the last few weeks, he hasn't looked as sharp as CJ Stroud usually looks and he has so many weapons at his disposal with how great those wide receivers are at Ohio State. That to me, the quarterbacks are massive in that game two weeks from now. Can McCarthy not lose the game?

Can he step up and make an extra player too? And for CJ Stroud, if you have to grind it out against Michigan, like you could survive grinding it out against Penn State who's a good football team. But against Michigan, they're a different animal. So that game, I really do think the quarterbacks are gonna be front and center and that could be what determines that contest. And I just have a feeling with McCarthy, with Coram, with that offensive line, I think they win that game by like the slimmest of margins. I think it's close. I think that game's gonna meet the billing.

It's gonna meet the hype. I do believe that's gonna be like a three-point or fewer game and maybe it's a game-winning two-point conversion that seals the deal. So we're both in agreement right now that it's Michigan over Ohio State.

That's where we're both at, which I'm shocked that we agree on because we've been really going at it all throughout the year on that. Now, is this one of your intentional mushes if we're being transparent here? Is this you just trying to mush the Wolverines because you can't stand the Michigan Wolverines?

No, because what have I been saying this entire time? Intentional mushes don't work. When you try, you know, pull those okey-doke on the sports guy, I definitely think that Michigan's gonna win for sure and I'm hoping Ohio State wins. They know. They know.

So it does not work. This is my true genuine feeling watching both teams all year long. So if it does go Georgia and then Michigan and if Ohio State wins, then Ohio State would be the two seed. But we're both thinking it's Michigan right now. Then the next two spots are fascinating.

And I'm ready to say it. And I thought TCU was gonna go down last week to Texas. That spread was funky all throughout the week where it was seven and a half points of favorite for Texas. It made no sense because TCU was clearly the better team.

But I thought Vegas knew something that we didn't know. That's why I thought Texas was gonna win the game and Texas loses 17 to 10. Baylor's offense was dreadful against Kansas State last week. They also have Iowa State the rest of the way for TCU. And TCU is already in the Big 12 championship sitting in at 10 and 0. I think TCU is gonna win their next three games. And an undefeated TCU clearly is gonna make the college football playoff.

I know you've been a big proponent of TCU. They've had some close calls the last few weeks. Are you still on board with the Horn Frogs and making the college football playoff and seeing them find a way to win the next three games? Because they lose the game, then all bets are off and you don't know how the committee's gonna approach them.

Oh yeah. I still think there's a good chance that there's one game that they still have a good chance of getting in. And maybe some casts will go their way, but... I would feel a little bit uneasy if you lose a game. I feel very uneasy because then you're leaving it in the trust of the committee. And remember, TCU is not this big mega brand. And sometimes you're a little bit naive in terms of what the committee looks for. And you look for the best teams.

You, I'm talking about, that's the right way to go about it. I don't know if the committee always does that, but I think TCU is going undefeated. And if they're undefeated, they're in.

Which is a great story with Duggan getting hurt. You know, the quarterback getting hurt, him losing the competition, then getting back in the fold, now being a Heisman finalist. Johnson, the wide receiver, is the best wide receiver in the country maybe. Addison's also in that conversation as well from USC.

And Sonny Dykes, his first year as a head coach, his fourth head coaching job, he's been wonderful. So that means three out of the four teams, in our opinion, Georgia, Michigan, TCU. Then the question becomes who gets that last spot? Cuz Tennessee will have one loss. LSU's gonna be out of the picture.

Cuz they'll have three losses, Georgia's gonna beat them. Do you take Ohio State as a loser in? And then the other question becomes, does USC run the table?

And I don't know where you stand on this. But I don't think USC's gonna run the table the rest of the way. They already have one loss, and that one loss came by one point to Utah. But I think these next two weeks, this is a perfect bounce back spot for UCLA where everyone's gonna write UCLA off. It would not surprise me if Denard Robinson goes right through that USC defense. But then the following week after that, you have Notre Dame, who's starting to trend in the right direction with Marcus Freeman.

They've been hot. They just destroyed Clemson two weeks ago. I think USC is gonna drop one of these next two games. And even if they're in the Pac-12 championship, who knows if they're gonna win it. I think the odds of USC being a one loss Pac-12 conference champion are not in their favor. They'll have two losses at some point, and I don't think they'll be in the college football playoff.

Yeah, I think they'll lose this weekend, to be honest. But if they don't, let's just say they run the table when the next three, there are 12 and one Pac-12 champ. I still think it's Tennessee and Tennessee pretty easily, to be honest. What about Tennessee against Ohio State? Tennessee easily. Even if Ohio State loses by a two point conversion by Michigan, and they lose by one point. I mean, Tennessee's resume is really good. It is.

Really good. LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Pitt when they were ranked at the time when they played. No one else's resume wins-wise compares to what Tennessee has right now. Yeah, I'm in agreement. So I think the way that this would shake out, wouldn't it be Georgia one, Michigan two, TCU three, and then Tennessee four? Yeah.

Wow. Georgia, Tennessee, first round. Sign me up for that, and it feels like whoever wins that would win the national championship. Now, if Tennessee wins that game, I do think it'd be a closer game between the winner of Michigan and TCU. If Georgia beats Tennessee, Georgia will clearly, in my opinion, go win the college football playoff. Right now, who do you think is the championship game? I'm gonna say it's Georgia going up against Michigan. So Georgia going up against whoever wins the Big Ten, and it's gonna be Georgia winning the entire thing.

Where you at? Because your four is Georgia. You then took, the same as me, Michigan, TCU, and Tennessee. Yeah, those are the four. I'd probably take Michigan, Georgia, Michigan, with Georgia winning again for sure.

Geez, we're in agreement on everything. You know what that means? Fade, fade, fade, fade. Ohio State's gonna win by like three touchdowns. Watch. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio.

When we come on back, we'll do a little week 10 recap, overreaction, a proper reaction. 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. What makes your skin crawl? No matter how absurd, I wanna know.

Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. You send me your fear.

I'm just so weirded out about the texture and how they can just move around and flop. And then I go to the experts to learn how to overcome them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. So my biggest fear is there's going to be snakes in the toilet. We're all afraid of that one strange thing. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new short 10-minute podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. We unpack where these fears come from. A rat climbed into my toilet.

And learn how to manage them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Oh, Hickey, before we get to overreaction, proper reaction, I think your brand just took a little bit of a hit. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about, why your brand, the Hot Take Hickey brand? Well, first of all, that is not my brand.

Yes, it is. Second of all... That's how people know you. You know how many tweets I get from people saying, oh, you're going to go after Hot Take Hickey's cults today. Oh, Hot Take Hickey said this and it ended up being wrong. You have a brand that it's Hot Take Hickey. That's how people know of you. If you were to die tomorrow on your tombstone would say, here lies Ryan Hot Take Hickey. I don't know about that.

I have control of my own head, so that's for sure. It will not say Hot Take Hickey. That is for sure. So this alleged brand is taking a hit because why? There's an actor, French Stewart, who plays Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom Third Rock from the Sun. He just tweeted CBS Sports Radio and he tweeted saying, I enjoy sports radio. I love it, but I have one rule. Anytime I hear someone say that's a hot take, I change the station because I feel like I've been manipulated by a marketing guy named Brad and then just randomly tagged at CBS Sports Radio, hashtag sports, hashtag sports center. Now, we say the word hot take or we say that's a hot take a lot.

And this tweet came right at 629 p.m. Eastern during our show. So French Stewart, if you're listening, hello. And you are ruining the brand of one Ryan Hot Take Hickey. Again, not my brand, number one. Number two, wasn't it just in sarcasm?

Like, if I remember correctly, wasn't it just like Georgia and like they'll go undefeated hot take or something like that or number one seed? I guess so. I don't understand who's... I don't get the reference. I don't get it.

But you're saying anytime someone says that's a hot take, I change the station. Yeah, because then he said what? He feels like somebody's talking to some marketing manager named Brad.

Yeah, he's an actor. I guess it's a funny cheesy joke or something that we don't really get. Oh, that's that.

Interesting. OK, so you really got offended by the brand of hot take Hickey. Again, it's not my brand, number one.

Number two. Had people called you up during your show and said, hey, hot take Hickey. I've heard it before.

We have the audio clips. That doesn't mean that's what I'm marketing myself as. It doesn't mean that I'm, you know, calling myself hot take artist. People have nicknames in sports radio. You know what Stu Gotz means? You think Stu Gotz originally loved being called Stu Gotz? You think he gave it to himself? No.

Doesn't matter. Guys made a great career out of it. We could be looking back in 10, 15 years. Oh, you're the hot take Hickey guy. When your bank account is going up and up and up, you're going to be fine with hot take Hickey. Well, sure. If I'm making Stu Gotz, then I have no problem.

Call me whatever you want. So now you're going to management asking for a raise after the show? I might have to. You know, I did get your raise about over a year ago. Do I have to now start campaigning for another raise for one hot take Hickey? It's going to be a big race.

I mean, Stu Gotz is going to be a big race. Yeah. Well, attack on a few zeros.

I think you may have to start doing some more work then. Oh, please. All right. Let's get to overreaction. Proper action. Hit it. Another NFL week is complete, which means it's another week to freak out about your favorite team, which takes are truly crazy, but sometimes the game can be so bad. It's almost good. You know what I'm saying?

And which are so crazy? They might be right. He's six five. He's 245 pounds.

He's probably a Popeye's biscuit away from being a tight end. Zach let you know in this week's edition of overreaction or proper reaction. All right. Hot take Hickey, the man known as hot take Hickey.

What do you got for me? All right. The Eagles, Zach did lose last night. They fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Now you have the obnoxious 72 dolphins.

I saw Larry Zonko last night posting a cheers and a scotch. Like, come on. The more think about it, we'll say they're obnoxious.

Yes, I get it though. I would probably, I would be the same way to be honest. I don't know what the equivalent would be of like going undefeated in the radio, but I'd be rooting for the demise of everyone else too.

So cheers to you, Larry. See, I'm petty, but the dolphins are just so obnoxious. They really are the 72 dolphins. They've become so unlikable because they take joy in others. You know, not going undefeated.

I just don't like it anyway. Come on. So because the 72 dolphins were celebrating Morris, that means the Eagles lost last night. But even with the law, Zach overreaction or proper reaction, the Eagles are still the number one team right now in the NFL.

That is an overreaction. And it's because the Kansas city chiefs are the best team in the NFL. They had the best player and they had the best duo of coach quarterback. And then the team I trust the most in Kansas city. So Philadelphia, can they get to the super bowl?

Absolutely. That'd be a great super bowl. Andy Reed going up against the Eagles, Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts against Patrick Mahomes with the, the defenses too.

But right now I think Kansas city through 10 weeks of the best team in the league. On the other side of that game, the commanders were victorious led by Taylor Heineke. Now Carson Wentz eligible come off IR this week. If he wants to overreaction or proper action, Zach Taylor Heineke should still be QB one for the commanders.

Go grab some bench Carson. There is no reason why this week up against the Texans that Taylor Heineke should be bench. They are winning games with Taylor Heineke. They have saved their season with Taylor Heineke. Not that he's this great quarterback, but they have totally turned their season around. They were two and four with once, four and one with Heineke.

Keep on playing Taylor Heineke until he gives you a reason to say, okay, maybe we have to go back to Carson. Vikings won the game of the year, beating the bills, 33 30 and overtime. They are, they are eight and one right now in the NFL overreaction of proper action. Zach, the Vikings, they're the biggest threats to the Eagles in the NFC.

That's a proper reaction. I know that the Vikings at their doors blown off by the Eagles earlier in the year in week two, but that offense is really humming. Justin Jefferson's the best wide receiver in football. Dalvin cooks at top five running back.

I like the complimentary pieces as well. And Adam Thielen and KJ Osborn, Alexander Madison, the second running back. You just traded for TJ Hockinson. That defense is playing well under Zadarius Smith. They've become a serviceable defense.

Patrick Peterson, we know is a hall of fame corner. They are a tremendous team. The only question is, can Kirk consistently win big games, but this is not a deep year in the NFC. I can't trust San Francisco right now. I like Seattle.

I don't love Seattle. Tampa, they got to show me more, but they could be a threat at the end of the year. And you look at the Dallas drama choking Cowboys, they had a 14 point lead in Lambeau Field and couldn't get the job done against a team that was limping in the Green Bay Packers.

So I'll say, yeah, Minnesota is the second best team in the NFC and they're the biggest challengers to the Eagles. This time last week, everyone is raking Jim Mercy over the Colts for his decision to hire Jeff Saturday as the Colts interim head coach. I'm surprised you haven't taken a victory tour over that. Well, I mean, I don't think the result, I know, but I'm surprised that you just haven't jumped on the side of Jim Mercy and the Colts and start to make a playoff push again, because you say all these wacky things about the Indianapolis Colts and it doesn't take much for you to really start to believe again in the Colts at four or five and one I'm surprised you didn't put your playoff pushes back on.

When you play a JV team, the Raiders coach by a Pop Warner coach, a guy that you called McIdiot on the idiot. Yeah. There's a lot of words I could have used.

So that's just, you know, that's a free space one right there. I like Macduffis. Yeah. We'll stay with them. We'll keep it on Macduffis.

Use that in your podcast. Macduffis. Macduffis. Macduffis. What are you doing?

Macduffis. So with Jeff Saturday's win over the Raiders, Zach overreaction or proper reaction, Jim Mercy, the man who made the decision to hire Jeff Saturday, he's vindicated. Overreaction. It was one win and in classic Jim Mercy fashion, he's popping champagne like he won the Super Bowl and sending out those cringe-worthy videos in front of his rich private jet. Like enough of Jim Mercy. You guys won one game against, as you said, a JV team in the Las Vegas Raiders.

I don't think we need to be throwing bouquets at Jim Mercy. So overreaction. Packers had a nice come from behind victory over the Cowboys on Sunday and much needed victory to go to four and six on the season. Overreaction or proper reaction, the Packers can make a run to the postseason.

Overreaction. Need to see what they do on Thursday night football first against the Tennessee Titans. I'm not going to be a big-time believer in them just because they played a good fourth quarter and then won the game in overtime. They are running the football more which behooves them to win more games.

Defensively they're fine but that quarterback wide receiver relationship, maybe they found something in Christian Watson but there's not been enough consistency from that offense where they are behind right now at four and six and they were almost going to be three and seven for me to say yeah, they're definitely gonna get nine or ten wins and make the playoffs. When it comes to comeback player of the year award, the two names most popular, Geno Smith, the Seahawks, Saquon Barkley of the Giants. Overreaction or proper reactions, Zach. Justin Fields is a candidate to win comeback player of the year.

Overreaction. What did he come back from? A bad rookie year where he wasn't really given much of a chance? If that's the standard to win comeback player of the year and I think Justin Fields has been great this year but I don't see how you could give him comeback player of the year because then anyone that struggles as a rookie then they could win comeback player of the year. Like to me, comeback player of the year is someone that was just career was totally written off thought they had no chance overcoming injury like Saquon overcoming injuries only playing eight games last year. Geno Smith hasn't played in in forever. I know he started like three games last year because Russell Wilson got hurt but he hasn't been the guy since he got punched in the mouth by one of his former teammates on the special teams when he was with the Jets. I don't see what Justin Fields came back from.

It's a great story but I can't say he's comeback player of the year because it wasn't that much adversity that had to overcome in terms of what I think the standard of that award should be so overreaction. Rams are three and six they just put Cooper Cup on IR meaning he'll miss at least the next four games after he got ankle surgery. Overreaction of proper reaction the Rams should shut down Cooper Cup for the rest of the season.

Proper reaction. There is no reason when he is your entire offense and this team has no shot to make the playoffs now behind that garbage offensive line a quarterback who's showing you that he's not a Hall of Famer and Matthew Stafford and no great number two weapon on that team and no consistent run game and a coach in Sean McVay who I thought was maybe the second best coach of league this year and hasn't found the way to make it work this year. There is zero reason to put that player on the field like in four or five weeks from now.

It doesn't make sense. They're done now. They're going to be more than burnt in a few weeks from now.

Just sit them down for the rest of the year and you regroup and recharge for next year and see if you can go get one more big run with this group. And finally through 10 weeks the playoff picture the AFC is very AFC East heavy all four teams dolphins, Patriots, Bills, Jets in the playoff picture right now for those teams holding these seven playoff spots. On overreaction of proper reaction all four AFC East teams will make the playoffs.

That's an overreaction. So whoever wins your AFC East I still think it'll be Buffalo. Then the AFC North I would go with the Ravens. The South Tennessee and the West the Chiefs. So you have three spots open and with those three spots I think Cincinnati will get one so that knocks out one of the AFC East teams and then I do think that the Chargers are going to get in still as well. So I would say probably three AFC East teams get in and that will be the seventh spot and that's going to be a fight between the Patriots and the Jets for that last spot because the Dolphins. Oh I didn't say the Dolphins there. So then only two. Yeah I'll just go two. Yeah I don't want to forget about Miami.

Sorry about that. Yeah so it'd be the Dolphins. So I think your wildcard teams would be the Dolphins, the Bengals and the Chargers. So two AFC East teams get in. There's a chance that three could get in like maybe the Chargers blow a big game in a big spot. That wouldn't surprise anyone with their coach and Brandon Staley.

So maybe three could get in but I would lean probably two right now with the Dolphins and Bills getting in the AFC East. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio the head coach of the Washington Huskies ranked 15th in the nation. Kaelin DeBoer off his big win against Oregon joins us next. Throughout the 60s and 70s cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia including its enigmatic ring leader Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals a Cadence 13 studio. Season two the Dixie Mafia available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Throughout the 60s and 70s cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia including its enigmatic ring leader Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals a Cadence 13 studio. Season two the Dixie Mafia available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Throughout the 60s and 70s cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia including its enigmatic ring leader Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money. I'm not in a rush to hurting people. 15 years into Kirksey's life sentence the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals a Cadence 13 studio. Season two the Dixie Mafia available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.