49ers Cooked? (Hour 1)

Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen 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 2, 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 ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen 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 2, The Dixie Mafia. Available now on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the police show, yet not over, the ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street, welcome on in to a Monday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great locals. CBS Sports Radio affiliates Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. 855-212-4CBS, the number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing, or via the good ol' 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.

Need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Well, Rocket can, and producing the extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Kicky. I don't know about that Hot Take Kicky. You know, it's kind of crazy in the world that we live in when it comes to the NFL, when you start to buy in on a team, or you start to buy in on an individual player, and the possibility against all odds of Jimmy Garoppolo coming back next year for the 49ers, being the starting quarterback. Maybe Trey Lance will be traded. You even had the report before the game. Oh, the 49ers are inclined to bring Jimmy Garoppolo back for another season and have him be the starting quarterback again.

And that's on the table, and that's an authentic and legit and genuine possibility. And then the game plays out between the 49ers and the Dolphins. Dolphins strike first. They get the big touchdown in the first play of the game. And then Jimmy Garoppolo leaves the game with an injury, gets hurt, and the 49ers still find a way to win the game. Like, that's the craziest part about all of this, that Brock Purdy was able to win a football game for the San Francisco 49ers after being Mr. Relevant. And not only win the game, outplayed Tuatunga Vailoa, who up until yesterday was in the conversation for MVP, potentially, of the NFL.

And then right away, it's okay. Jimmy G leaves the game with an injury. How bad is this? We don't know. It's a foot injury. He's not going to come back. And when I was in the final segment of ION Football during our eight-hour marathon, each and every Sunday on CBS Sports Radio, right in the final segment, we find out Jimmy Garoppolo out for the rest of the season as Kyle Shanahan knew that news in about the second quarter.

So it was a very quick, serious injury. Jimmy Garoppolo needs surgery out for the rest of the year. And in a year where all year long, everyone has told me the 49ers are dangerous. The 49ers are a great team. And I said to people, I see what you're saying in terms of the construction of the roster with Deebo, with Christian McCaffrey, with that offensive line, with Kyle Shanahan, defensively led by Nick Bosa, D'Mico Ryans, like that great defensive coaching staff and unit that they have. And I've just been asking every year or every week this year, I got to see it on the field because all the talent that they have, all the moving pieces, all the injuries, it just wasn't adding up in what everyone was saying how great and how dangerous they are in terms of, yes, I know you're relying on the pass. I know you're relying on the way that this NFC is not strong and it's a weak NFC and this thing is wide open and you're going to say this team's going to catch their rhythm, going to find their groove.

But throughout all that, I was just asking for that to be translated onto the field in a game up against a legit opponent. And the greatest irony of this in the statement that I'm about to say and that the 49er season is pretty much cooked in terms of winning a Super Bowl and it's over now, the greatest irony is they finally met my wish yesterday. They granted my wish yesterday because the Brock Purdie at quarterback, they were awesome and they defeated an opponent in Miami that has gained respect throughout the year, is going to be in the postseason.

And they found the way to have a heck of an effort yesterday at the 49ers. But when you have Brock Purdie at quarterback, and who knows, could they bring in Baker Mayfield, I guess, but what is Baker Mayfield at this point? Does Matt Ryan ask for a release from Indianapolis and wind up in San Francisco?

I don't know, there's familiarity there clearly with Kyle Shanahan, but did you watch Matt Ryan last night? That guy sucks right now as a quarterback. So whoever you bring in, and it's going to be speculated, do you bring in Cam? Do you bring in Drew Brees when he's getting struck by lightning on hold in that stupid point spec commercial? Do you give Philip Rivers a call?

Do you call Big Ben? Whoever the name is, what are the odds that that person's going to come in and actually be any good and also get caught up to speed on the playbook in enough time to go on a Super Bowl run? And without knowing who they're bringing in, other than Johnson, and I'm assuming that Brock Purdie is going to be the starter still, because he deserves it after the way that he played last week on Sunday, I just can't envision right now the 49ers going to a Super Bowl. Which, if you would have said that last week, I think a lot of people would have been sending in your tweets to freezing cold takes, old takes expose, because outside of Philadelphia, when you got into that conversation of who's the second best team in the NFC or maybe who's even the best team, a lot of people, not based off merit, but based off potential and where they thought this team was going, was saying that it was going to be the San Francisco 49ers. Now with Jimmy Garoppolo, though, out for the rest of the season, and no Trey Lance as well, that dream is dead of the 49ers winning a Super Bowl this year. And before you call me at 855-212-4CBS and say, but Zach, the roster's great.

You could have a great roster. You did competent quarterback play. And you tell me if you're going to call up and make the case of the 49ers going to the Super Bowl this year and winning the Super Bowl this year, and you just say, oh, it's because the NFC is weak. Can you see Brock Purdy, even with how great he played yesterday and that big throw that he delivered to Christian McCaffrey, can you see Mr. Irrelevant, who's now very relevant, winning not one, but then two and three playoff games to get to a Super Bowl? I can't.

I can't envision that. If Trey Lance was still there, maybe it's different because there is an unknown with high potential. If Jimmy Garoppolo was there, even though I was asking to see it on the field this year, there was potential. I know that people have a great amount of respect for Kyle Shanahan. People love Deebo Samuel. People love Christian McCaffrey.

People love that offensive line. And when you have Brandon Aiyuk as well, who's a really good wide receiver, like that is a heck of a team. On paper, that's a Super Bowl caliber team. But if you don't have the quarterback, you're not going to find a way to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year. And you look at the NFC right now. Philadelphia. If they're not in the Super Bowl this year out of the NFC, I'll be greatly disappointed. And at this point, with how open or how many teams haven't really made statements in the NFC, I would kind of be shocked at this point if Philadelphia isn't in the Super Bowl.

And here's why. They have the quarterback. They have two stud wide receivers. You're getting Dallas Scott back, who's been one of the better tight ends in the league this year before the injury. You have a great offensive line. The run defense is going to get better. You just got Jordan Davis back.

We'll see what Nadamuk and Suleiman Valjosef could do. You know, you have good pieces on that defensive line to begin with. Brandon Graham, Hassan Redick, and Fletcher Cox. Secondary, survived, had some injuries, but is a good secondary. Just a solid team.

And not only that, not that it's the end-all be-all, but in a year like this, I think it is, home field advantage is massive. And the last time the Eagles got to the Super Bowl, what happened? They lost a quarterback. They lost Carson Wentz was playing MVP ball. They survived an ugly game against the Falcons.

And then there was a party at Lincoln Financial Field against the Minnesota Vikings. Home field advantage, Philly crown, the Link bumping, as long as the Eagles with their quarterback stay healthy, who's looking like an MVP candidate this year, I don't see another team that I'm falling in love with that's really going to be able to knock off the Eagles in Philadelphia. Now, if you have to make me give you who that other team is, I think my answer may surprise some people. Because I'm extremely skeptical of this team because the last 25 years, whenever you think they're a good team, they choke in the playoffs. I know that it was against an inferior football team last night in Indianapolis. And I know that things got away in the fourth quarter where the Colts got outscored 33-0 by the Cowboys and that game was tight for a little bit. But now with the 49ers feeling like they're out of it in terms of getting to a Super Bowl, they'll still make the postseason. They could still win the NFC West, but without Jimmy Garoppolo, that team's not getting to a Super Bowl.

But I look at a team like Dallas, I think the Cowboys are the second best team in the NFC. They're 9-3. That's a tough football team.

That's a football team that may get Odell Beckham. That's a football team that found a way to survive a decent chunk of games without Dak Prescott. I'm not telling you that the Cowboys are this great team, but they got a good defense. Sure, you could be skeptical of Dak Prescott in a big game.

Sure, you could be hesitant about Mike McCarthy in a big game. But this year, you don't need to be great to win it. You don't need to be great in the NFC. Let's look at the teams.

Who are your contenders? Eagles, strong. Cowboys, very good. 49ers, don't have a quarterback. Seahawks, I'm not saying that their luster's starting to fade, but I can't see them in a Super Bowl. Giants, commanders, playoff caliber teams, not Super Bowl contenders. Buccaneers, I know they have Brady, but they're 5-6. They could be 6-6 at the end of tonight. But until that offensive line starts playing well, I can't tell you that Brady's going to the Super Bowl this year. And then you look at the Minnesota Vikings, as much as I want to root for Minnesota, as much as I want to see Minnesota have success, Kirk Cousins doesn't get the job done in a big spot. And not only that, their defense has problems.

Big time problems. And oh yeah, by the way, they got blown out by the Cowboys and blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles. So right now, if you ask me who the two best teams are in the NFC, if it would have been before the weekend, maybe I would have said Eagles and 49ers. Even though the 49ers still have a heck of a roster, if you think they're going to win three playoff games this year, or even two, to get to the NFC title game of Brock Purdy at quarterback, I'm not seeing it. And this is not as if this injury occurred earlier in the season, where you could go get another guy like, I know the trademark, it's done.

If you're bringing someone in off the streets, what can you expect out of them? You're trying to turn an old quarterback that hasn't played in a few years to what, have some magic left in the tank? You're trying to turn garbage into gold.

That's what you're trying to do. So now 13 weeks in, after tonight, as we get set to turn the page to week 14, I would like to see an Eagles Cowboys NFC title game in Philadelphia. I think those are the two best teams in the NFC, and with how complete of a team Philadelphia has, and how Philadelphia's only lost one game through 13 weeks of the season and just annihilated Tennessee, they look like, to me, as if they should be in the Super Bowl.

And expectations change throughout the course of a year. Going into the year, the expectations with Philadelphia was to just win the NFCs, and I expected them to win the NFCs. I said it at Vegas, at the draft, the moment they traded for A.J. Brown, I said that just made them NFCs champions. If you told me before the year the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl, I would say, what are you smoking? What are you sipping on?

I would have never believed it. But now with the way that this has unfolded, Packers dead, Rams dead, Bucks not that good. This is up there for the taking. The Eagles will be the number one overall seed. The Eagles do have the best team in the NFC, and the Eagles should be in the Super Bowl. And anything short of getting to the Super Bowl this year for the Philadelphia Eagles now is an absolute disaster. So who do you believe the most in the NFC?

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. And if it's not the Eagles, I'm curious who it is. And if it is the Eagles, I'm wondering who do you think the second best team is? And is there any road still for the 49ers to maybe get some Tom Brady magic, some Haas Stetler magic, some Nick Foles magic, and still find a way to get to the big game and get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl, even though now they have gone through two of their quarterbacks going down. Trey Lance, down, done for the year. Jimmy Garoppolo, down, done for the year. Can they find Brock Purdy to be the guy that makes them really pretty and gets them into a Super Bowl? That's what I'm wondering.

Hickey, where are you at on this right now? Would you agree that the Eagles are the best team in the NFC to start things off? Yes. Who is then the second best team in the NFC after the 49ers news? Because you were someone that thought the 49ers were going to go to the Super Bowl.

They're not going to the Super Bowl now. You could agree with that, right? No, I'm still sick of them as my pick.

Are you really? Yeah. Oh, now I feel even more confident. Hot take Hickey, who picked Baker Mayfield who got waived today to be a top five quarterback in the NFC this year. That's right. And predicted Russell Wilson to win the Super Bowl MVP and the league MVP is now jumping on the Brock Purdy bandwagon.

That's what you're doing? Not Brock Purdy per se, but there's only one team I think that's built to really not utilize a court acquisition. 49ers. You can argue the Titans, but I think the 49ers do it a lot better than Tennessee.

But you still got to have a quarterback. You look at the four games they've won in the playoffs. What game has Jimmy G played well in? Timeout.

Can't give you one. But when they lost the Super Bowl, Jimmy G played really damn well for three quarters. And then when the game was the brightest and the moment was the brightest, he overthrew Emmanuel Sanders and that cost him a Super Bowl. Unique, competent quarterback play bare minimum to win a Super Bowl.

And I don't know, I'm not relying on Brock Purdy. I know he played great yesterday, but I'm not relying on him to get them to a Super Bowl. And you look at the 49ers win, like look at the playoffs last year. Jimmy G almost lost in the Cowboys game.

That's more of a Deebo Samuel taking the team on his back. The second game they won in Lambeau without an offensive touchdown. You think the 49ers can go into Philadelphia in an NFC title game of Brock Purdy and outscore Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles with their high octane offense? I don't think they'd have to outscore them. I don't think it's going to be one of those 35, you know, 31 games. I think the defense for San Francisco can limit the Eagles offense. You think that the 49ers can limit the Eagles to only two touchdowns and then still find a way to put up at least two touchdowns of their own. That's what you're thinking. Man, I can't wait for you to be wrong at the end of the year.

But this is what I can't even celebrate about. The 49ers are done. They're done. They argue might be the best-built roster in the NFL. I'm not ditching it just yet.

Okay, that's fine. You don't have a quarterback. I don't care how greatly built your roster is.

You're also the same guy that told me how great this Colts roster was before the season started. And they don't have a quarterback. They haven't had a quarterback in a long time. Didn't have one last year. Cost them. I know there's more problems this year. Didn't have a quarterback.

It cost them. You've got to have a quarterback in this league. I will trust Kyle Shannon. Okay, you keep on doing that. Kyle Shannon, anytime he gets into a big game and has a lead, he chokes it up.

That's what he does. I can't believe I'm saying this. The Cowboys right now, if they play the 49ers in a playoff game, give me the Cowboys all day.

And you know me. I call them the Drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys. But they clearly move past the 49ers if the 49ers have to rock and roll with Brock Purdy. Is there a name out there that you think, and we'll delve into this a little bit later in the show, but is there one name that you say, okay, 49ers, they got to go bring that guy in, whether the guys retire, whether the guy was just cut today, maybe if he's on another team and you want him to just basically tell the organization, it's time to let me go. Is there one guy that you say, that's got to go replace Brock Purdy? Honestly, no. Baker Mayfield, is he going to come in and play better than Brock Purdy, knowing the playbook for five games or Phillip Rivers or Drew Brees off the couch? I don't think so.

I would just roll with the guy who's in the building already. This one, the 49ers still going to the Super Bowl. It's really not that crazy. I know it's one game. They just destroyed one of the best teams in the AFC in the Dolphins and took him handily.

I don't want to say stinks, that would be crazy, but the defense did a great job. So why can't that happen again in the playoffs? No preparation for Brock Purdy. When teams start to prepare for him, you think that's happening three times in the playoffs, three times to get to a Super Bowl. I'm not talking about one game.

I'm talking about three times that you're going to need it to get. I don't think that they're going to need Brock Purdy or whoever is that quarterback a lot. This is not an offense that is predicated on the quarterback making big throws.

But by the way, real quickly here, because it's come to my attention, this has been a big topic of conversation on Twitter today. What's the worst take you've had this year? Is it the Baker Mayfield was going to be a top five quarterback in the NFC or Russell Wilson was going to win the Super Bowl MVP? Oh, without a doubt, the Broncos.

Baker Mayfield is more predictable with easily. Yeah, you were going out more. No, the Broncos were the Broncos. I was all in. And that that not only failed, it failed pretty quickly. Yeah, like two weeks in, Hickey was saying, can I return this?

Did it go past the 30-day warranty? This is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Are the 49ers dunzo in terms of getting to a Super Bowl or do you agree with hot take Hickey? Do you want to join the hot take party and say that they're still alive to get to the big game in Glendale, Arizona? We'll take your calls on that next.

Plus, when we come on back, the AFC playoff picture is shaping up and I think there's only three Super Bowl contenders in the AFC. 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. 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. 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.

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O-O-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. I think the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. And if it's not Philadelphia, the team I would have the most confidence in, in the NFC.

And I can't believe I'm saying this because this goes against everything that I've said probably for the last 10 years. It would be the Dallas Cowboys. 49ers are dunzo in terms of getting to a Super Bowl. They'll still make the playoffs. They still could win the NFC West. But I don't see how they're getting to a Super Bowl this year with Brock Purdy as the quarterback.

At Zach Gelb on Twitter, Slick Reynolds chimes in and he says, I'm calling my shot right now. The Super Bowl will be Kansas City versus Dallas. I don't care that Kansas City lost yesterday. I don't care that Dallas blew it last year.

That is your Super Bowl. Adam Ritchie on Twitter says, Zach, we need a mute button on hot take hickey. These hot takes are getting frustrating because hot take hickey, who just gave me a Jordan shrug right now. He claims before the start of the show and actually not even knows from the start of show on the in the opening segment that the 49ers are still going to the Super Bowl. So the hot take artist that is hot take hickey is still doing what he always does. He digs his heels in deep when he makes a prediction. And even when he gets some signs that his prediction is not going to happen, which the prediction was the 49ers are going to the Super Bowl. Now Jimmy Garoppolo done for the year. We know Trey Lance isn't coming back. Hickey is still going to dig his heels in deep once again. And then eventually at some point during the playoffs, we will then get the hickey apology, the hickey tweet of, oh, I'm an idiot. I still believed in the 49ers. Shame on me. They don't get to the Super Bowl.

They don't get the job done. But a mute button on your hickey. That's a man who could be like Tony Riali on around the horn and just mute you. Boom. All of a sudden.

I'm talking phone being on, though. No, no, no. Keep your microphone on.

I'll just see myself yourself, which sometimes you should probably do. Oh, you put your foot in your mouth too many times. But I like the takes that you bring. I don't like a mute button from Adam. That's a hot take right there.

I take Adam. Imagine I walked into Spike's office tomorrow. Hey, Spike.

I want to implement a mute button here like hickey controls the microphone so he could technically mute me if he wanted to. Watch yourself. Watch yourself. I saw that. That's true.

I could tell you reality over here. You watch yourself. But imagine if I then went into Spike's office and said, Spike, I would like a mute button for Hickey's microphone. So whenever he gives a sizzling hot take, I could just mute him. So the rest of the audience doesn't have to get dumber here. This is Jackassery.

The thing that I still don't understand. It's not a hot take. A hot take is saying the Broncos are still going to the Super Bowl. Why is that?

I don't know. They're just going to the Super Bowl. There's no reasoning.

There's no I can't sit here and tell you at three and ten or whatever they are. I think they're officially limited at this point anyway, that they're going to go to the Super Bowl without any sort of actual reasoning. There's reason. There's logic. What I say this. They're not hot takes. I don't. They are. You take artists a misnomer.

I'm not saying that you're intentionally doing it, but your takes do come off as very hot take. Like after you even say, see USC lose on Friday. They're going to still be in the college football playoffs.

And I texted you. That's not going to happen. But yet you still thought it was going to happen. You said before the year Denver going to be in the Super Bowl.

They're going to win the Super Bowl. You said Nathaniel Hackett is going to be a top three coach in the league. I tried to warn you. It was not going to happen.

You didn't listen. And I don't bat perfect. I don't in 100 shots.

I'm not making all hundred. But I know a bad take when I see one. And as we sit here today thinking Kyle Shannon and the 49ers have a great team are still going to the Super Bowl with Brock Purdy. I just can't see that.

I can't envision that. Like when the Eagles got when Wentz got hurt and they put in Nick Foles. Not that I was guaranteed they were going to Super Bowl, but I felt like they still had an opportunity because they had home field advantage. And then once they beat the Atlanta Falcons, I picked them to beat the Vikings and I picked them to beat my team. The New England Patriots. Because you saw some signs. This one, though, even though Brock played great yesterday.

I have a tough time thinking that they're going to be able to get through the regular season and the postseason with this guy not costing them a game in a big spot. That's just me. 855-212-4CBS. Let's go to Scott in California. First up on the Zach Gelb show. Scotty, what say you? Hey, I'm a hardened Viking fan and I just mentioned something earlier. I just I don't know what Vikings have to do to be considered in the mix.

I realize we lost badly to the Eagles and the Cowboys, but we beat the whole entire AFC East. I think Kirk Cousins is getting a little older. He's realizing his time is coming up. He's playing pretty well. We're injury free. I just want to know. I've been a Viking fan for 49 years. I don't know if this has to do with some of us. Well, let me ask you this, Scott.

Scott, let me ask you this. You've been a fan for forever with the Vikings. That means you've seen a lot of heartbreaking losses. Why do you think this year is different with this team? I think I've been pretty respectful to the Vikings throughout the year. I picked them to make the playoffs before the start of season. I'm just wondering with how bad it was against Philly, how bad it was against the Cowboys, the team that you're going to have to beat to get to the Super Bowl.

With the defense that's been up and down, I don't think as bad as when they lose games as people makes it out to be. But why do you think this year is going to be different? Tell me on your team. Make the case.

I appreciate the question. I just, like I said, it has something to do with, I realized my back, my secondary, just like the last game. We had a 23 lead and we go into pre-vet and teams chew us up.

And so we get down to the fourth quarter and we're battling. It's been all year long, you know, one point games. But they still are finding ways to beat the Buffalo Bills, you know, and the Dolphins and very good teams.

Dolphins in an 0-2 though in that game, to be fair. We had a third string quarterback there, so yeah, I'll give you that one. But I just think, I don't know, Dallin Cooks, I think Thielen, everyone's on Jefferson.

Thielen needs to have a breakout game. I just think they're solid. Well yeah, no, they're definitely, and Scott, thanks for the phone call, they're definitely a solid team. We know they got talent. Kirk Cousins, good quarterback. Justin Jefferson is my favorite wide receiver in the league. I love Adam Thielen. I like T.J. Hawkinson.

We had him on yesterday and I on football. You got Dallin Cook, one of the better running backs in the league. Defensively, you got some playmakers, Adarius Smith, Patrick Peterson, you got some vets. But that defense is shaky.

You know, they've made some timely stops. You've won a lot of close games this year, but I can't put the Vikings right now in front of Dallas. I can't put the Vikings right now in front of Philadelphia because it'd be one thing if you lost those games close. For example, there were some that thought Kansas City was better than Buffalo even though Buffalo beat them. Because, you know, of how that game played out. But when you look at the dominant efforts that Philadelphia and Dallas had, 40-3 and 24-7, I can't be sitting here and saying that I expect the Vikings to be in the Super Bowl.

Now they're in the conversation, sure. Because you look at the NFC and maybe this is why Vikings fans feel differently this year. Because Zimmer's no longer there. You got Kevin O'Connor, you got a team year one.

Anything can happen in year one. You got a lot of offensive weapons. You look at the NFC, you shouldn't be afraid of anyone. But the two teams that are in front of you right now, which are the Dallas Cowboys and the Eagles, beat the slant out of you. So until you get a rematch with them and beat them, I'm going to put Dallas in front of you and then also the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hickey, right now, I'm going to give you the poll question today. Who's getting to the Super Bowl out of the AFC? We opened up the show talking about the NFC. Now let's circle to the AFC and the three, there's four options. The Bengals, the Chiefs, the Bills, other. I put other as a courtesy just so I didn't get a bunch of people saying, Oh, what about the Ravens? Oh, what about the Dolphins? What about this team?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's really three Super Bowl contenders in the AFC in my mind. Bengals, Chiefs and Bills.

And right now, the early returns are other twelve point three percent. Bengals, eighteen point four percent. Chiefs, twenty six point three percent.

And the Bills overwhelmingly at forty three percent. If you had to say right now, rank the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals. How would you rank them one, two, three, one being most likely to go to the Super Bowl? I will say number one, I would still put the Chiefs, even though the Chiefs lost to both the Bills and the Bengals. Yes.

OK. Oh, number two is really tough. Well, before the year, you like you like Buffalo a lot, right? Now, you didn't love Buffalo. I mean, everyone like they were.

There's nothing you didn't love. Buffalo had nothing to knock them. I just didn't I didn't think all the hype that was there was going to, you know, live up to their expectations. It does not mean that they're definitely going to have the one seed. But with the Chiefs going down yesterday and they beat Kansas City now, they still play Cincinnati later on in the year. They get back the one seed just like that in the span of of a week.

Well, like you said, still a month to go. So you lose one game. The Chiefs have the easiest schedule, arguably down the stretch. The Chiefs schedule is easy.

It's not like, you know, the Bills are locked in by any stretch of the imagination. I will say I will go with the Bills to Bengals three, but very close to three. Last week I would have said Kansas City.

Maybe this is in the moment. Maybe I'm channeling my inner hot take Hickey and I'm going very hot takey here. I'm going Bills one. Bengals two. Chiefs three. Now the Bengals offensive line concerns me. That Chiefs defense does concern me. And if the Chiefs have to go up against the Bengals again.

Oh, you want to talk about a big pressure spot for Mahomes and Andy Reid? They've now beat you three times in a row. They beat you twice last year and they beat you yesterday. And just maybe, just maybe this Bengals offensive line is starting to find something. Played well against Tennessee.

Played fine yesterday. Burrow now has chased back. You wonder, just wonder. Not that I'm telling you it's definitely happening. You wonder if maybe that started to turn in the direction we thought that line was going to be before the season commenced with all the moves that they made in the offseason. So who's going to Super Bowl out of the AFC? Bills, Chiefs or Bengals?

855-212 for CBS. We will take a break when we come on back. Did the college football playoff committee get it right? We have our semifinal matchups. It's going to be Georgia going up against Ohio State as Ohio State backs their way in.

And then you do have Michigan going up against TCU coming up in a few weeks. 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 hurting people. Fifteen 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 ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen 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. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show.

It is Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. That is the Pro Football Hall of Famer in Kurt Warner, whose son is now a Big 12 champion as a part of the Kansas State Wildcats program. And in the contest, Cade Warner had five receptions in that 31 to 28 victory in the Big 12 championship game.

Now, I'm going to give Hickey some credit in a moment, but then also rip him. But in that Kansas State TCU game, I said all throughout the week I thought TCU was going to win. I was wrong. When I woke up those Saturday, I bet Kansas State. I looked at that line. I didn't think for a moment when I saw that Kansas State was a one-point favorite. I'm like, oh, they're begging to take TCU.

That line moved. I'm going to go with Kansas State. I should have lost that bet, though, because what TCU did with Max Duggan or what they failed to do made no sense to me, Hickey. How they didn't give him the ball on a QB sneak on third or fourth down and elected to go down, not with their best player, that makes no sense to me.

I thought in that spot, and let me remind you, I bet Kansas State, and I was so annoyed that I felt compelled to send out a video afterwards because I was losing my mind. This was before the game even ended because then Kansas State gets the ball back and they get a field goal. But on third and goal at the one, when you have Max Duggan, who was wearing his heart on his sleeve, he was playing great. I don't know how the guy was even standing up, and he was running through that team. How they didn't hand the ball to him once. Like third and goal, you don't hand it to him. Okay, I thought they should have done a QB sneak.

I even tweeted out before they even called the play. Then on fourth and goal after, you just had third and goal at the one, and Miller didn't get you anything. How you go back to Miller there, and you don't go to Max Duggan. Hickey, I thought in a year that's been masterful for Sonny Dykes, he's still going to the college football playoff.

They should be undefeated though. They should be Big 12 champions, and the fact that you didn't give the ball there to Max Duggan made no sense to me. Yeah, I mean he's also partly on the offensive line for getting no push whatsoever. I mean you need literally six inches to get in the end zone. But you're lining up five yards behind the line of scrimmage too. And it felt like the handoff took forever. It was slowly walking back there.

Molasses. It's been like a new trend now, because you even saw it in the Bengals chief scheme. I hate it. Coaches are afraid to go to the quarterback sneak.

If it doesn't work the first time, they just totally abandon it and never go back to it. It's the, just please do not, they would have gotten to have had one QB sneak. And not only that, did you see on third and goal the formation on defense? Oh yeah, they were there. They were begging. Yeah. They were begging. It wasn't like everyone was lined up over the A-gap.

Yeah. I think I could have hiked the ball. And with my slow ass, I think I could have made it into the end zone with how wide that hole was.

That was just, that was bonkers. So TCU still gets in. USC, here's what I would say. I want to give you credit, but then also rip you. If that's alright with you, is that okay?

You know, not rip you in like a mean way or anything. Sure, what the hell, let's hear it. But we had a conversation on Friday before that game started. And I said, do you think USC is going to the college football playoff? And you said yes. And I said, okay, so then you're thinking they're going to win the game tonight.

And you're like, oh, no, no, no, no. I think Utah's going to win. And then you said Utah was going to win. And I may have danced in your grave a little bit when USC was up by 14 again on Utah. And then the show ended and I saw the game play out and Utah blew them out. USC, 14 point lead right out the window. Caleb Williams played really well. Stupid with the whole F Utah that he wrote on his nails.

I don't get why you'd do that. But that's not the reason why they lost the game. That defense was horrendous, as you pointed out and you said all throughout the year.

But I never got your logic. When you look at trying to find the best four teams in the country, and I know that's very vague how we get to those four teams, how you thought USC, and I told you this on Friday, was going to lose the Pac-12 championship and then still find a way to get into the college football playoff with a very flimsy resume, to say the least, when they picked up their second loss, which was on a Friday night. So you actually thought yesterday, because I know that you said that they should still get in, did you think that they were actually going to get in? Yeah. You did.

Stunned by that. Was that you? Can you just be honest? Was that you just digging your heels in once again? You're hoping to be right. I think you were digging your heels in once again. You got to stop doing that. Well, you know, it's sometimes hard to separate should and would. And sometimes when I just get into the should department, it's sometimes tough to, I just feel like I'm conjuring myself when we go to would, but was I like, I was not totally shocked. Basically, by Sunday morning, it was everyone and their mother said, USC's out.

So it's just like, all right, well, Sunday morning, Friday night, I did an instant reaction video. I said, all right, USC's outdoors, open for Ohio state. As long as TCU doesn't get blown out, they're going to be in the college football playoff. They didn't get blown out.

It looked like they were going to for a little bit and then I was shaking a little bit, but they didn't get blown out and then they get in. It was obvious it was going to be one through four. Georgia was going to be one after Friday. You're going to have Ohio State four and Michigan was going to be two and TCU was going to be three. Now, your whole thing is you don't think they should be penalized for losing on conference championship weekend when Ohio State didn't get there, right?

That's your whole thing? Yeah. USC had a better regular season than both Ohio State and Alabama. They made a game that neither of those two teams I mentioned were good enough to make. And let's just say for argument's sake, if they were to make it like USC played Utah, the second best team in the PAC 12 number 11. So if Ohio State was to and if the Big Ten had adopted the same format as PAC 12, it would win Ohio State, Michigan round two a week later. Indianapolis is Ohio State winning that game? Probably not. I don't know.

Probably not. But I probably know. But I can't tell you that Ohio State's definitely going to lose the game. We're talking about a situation where Ohio State probably would have had the same exact result as USC did. But again, because the Big Ten format's not the same and because Ohio State didn't win the one game they had to win in order to get there, I just don't like giving the benefit of the doubt and the reward to a team that did not accomplish as much as USC did when everything was equal in the 12 games during the regular season. But they didn't accomplish more than USC did in terms of the resume. When you look at the resume and that factors into it, like you could think Alabama, and I know Nick Saban thinks this, is a better team than Ohio State or is a better team than anyone who was fighting for that fourth seed.

You have to have the resume though as well. And when I look at the resume of USC beating Notre Dame, well, Ohio State also did that. Then it's the UCLA win up against the Penn State win.

And this is the one time I'm going to speak nicely about your program. The Penn State win is better than the UCLA win. And also you lost to Utah twice. Well, the committee in the regular season didn't see that way because they had USC above Ohio State. They had USC 4, Ohio State 5. So again, with everything equal through 12 games, they said USC is a better team. And USC made a game and was still too good that Ohio State couldn't make it.

We do it going into the college football playoff. And after conference championship weekend, all USC had to do was beat Utah. And they had a 14-point lead again.

And they blew it again. So therefore, I don't think they're deserving. And I had zero problem, zero problem with Ohio State getting in over Alabama. And I know Nick Saban, if I was him, I would have gone on that tour as well.

And he made a fair argument. We'd be the favorite. We'd be the favorite. He's not wrong.

They would be. But you're also the favorite against Tennessee. You're a half-point favorite. You lost that game. You're the favorite against LSU a few weeks ago, 15 and a half.

You lost that game. So just because you're the favorite in Vegas' mind doesn't mean you're the better team with the better resume. And the teams with the best resumes got in. Kansas State had five top 25 wins. We know what Georgia did. We know what Michigan did. And Ohio State, I think, got in because their resume, A, was better than USC.

Even when you look at the entire thing and all, yeah, by the way, USC had two losses, Ohio State only had one. 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 hurting people. Fifteen 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 2, 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 ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen 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 2, 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 ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen 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 2, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.