Baker Guiding Bucs To NFC South Title? (Hour 2)

The NFL season is inching closer and closer.

Who are the contenders and who are the pretenders? We have four downs to figure out your team's future. It's time now for First and Goal on the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, we continue this Zach Gelb show coast-to-coast on CBS Sports Radio.

It's time to preview the Pittsburgh Steelers. So let's welcome in a man that played for the Steelers from 1987 to 1993 and that of course is Merrill Hodge. Merrill, I always appreciate the time. How you been? Zach, I burned the candle at both ends brother, but doing well.

Well, great to have you back on. Let me start you off because you know what we do in our business. All we do is talk about quarterbacks and coaches. Kenny Pickett had a good finish to his rookie season. Now everyone's wondering if I have a breakout year in year number two.

What do you kind of expect this year from the Steelers quarterback? Well listen, I believe this. I experienced it as a player and oftentimes it is true. If you played a little bit in your first year, which a lot of players usually do, you see your most improvement in their second year and that's kind of normal. Oftentimes, and I can even give a quarterback maybe in his third year when you really see some real growth, but you know if you go back and you look at what what Kenny's skill set was in college, he had the two things that have to be woven together and he did them as good as I've seen a lot of guys coming out of college do and that is process things and then be accurate and processing means decision-making.

It doesn't matter what your system is. Now his system was a pro system so it made it a little bit more valid in the sense that he had played in a pro system so he understood it. So that helps you, but he did those two things extremely well.

He processes things quickly. He's accurate with these football throws with anticipation and he manages things really well. In fact, that's one thing that stood out me in college is that he managed the team and drives to get points and I saw him do that a little better than a lot of college kids will do it. So in Washington training camp this year, Washington preseason, you could tell that there's a growth and a comfort to the system that he played in last year and I feel more comfortable with it and I just expect a big jump with him and all the things I just mentioned you're going to see that on display. Our offensive line has gotten better. We got some upgrades and they're starting to come together. They're going to get better as the year goes on, but they're drastically getting better and he's got a lot of good perimeter players in every aspect of things to help him too.

He doesn't carry the load, but he does have a real special skill set that will allow him to be very successful in this league and I think you're going to see a real impressive growth this year. We've seen a lot of your old draft takes pop up and usually when that happens it's someone getting something wrong. You were spot-on with some of those players. When you look at Kenny Pickett with all that you just said, is there no doubt about it in your mind that this guy is going to be the franchise quarterback for the Steelers one day?

Well, just all the things I just shared with you, you have to have to have a shot. So, he clearly has a shot because he has that. He's not lacking accuracy. Accuracy is a really, really big issue and I've heard people talk about, I've not just played it, I've coached it and I've coached it from every age from 7 to 27. I can just say this, accuracy is just like speed.

It's a gift. If a guy is not accurate, you're not going to correct that one day. You can improve accuracy but you're not going to give him accuracy and that's never going to happen and nobody has yet to prove that at any level, anywhere. If he's accurate, he's accurate.

Kenny is accurate. He processes things really well. He's decisive with his decision-making and those things really are poignant.

Then you grow from there. Is he a good leader? Is he tough? Yes, he has all those things and all the other characteristics that you'd want from a player. So, he does have that but listen, teams win championships. It's not just the quarterback. I'm not minimizing the quarterback play and how important that is. He has the skill set to help you win a championship but a team has to be built around him and you got to get better as a team in order for that to flourish and eventually come to fruition.

Let's get to the next down. Meryl Hodge here with us on the Zach Gelb show previewing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meryl, you talk about the rest of the team. Just on offense, Najee Harris has had a good first two seasons in the league. George Pickens looks primed to have a big year. We'll see how Deontay Johnson's going to be this season. A lot of eyes on Allen Robinson too.

Pat Fryermuth is just the phenomenal tight end in this league. They got some serious talent on the offensive side of the ball and I feel like not a lot of people are talking about the Steelers. Do you look at their weapons offensively as a bit underrated nationally?

Well, yes. I think you can overlook them but that's, for me, it's a fair evaluation because, listen, unless your offensive line comes together and that has been their real struggle over the last three years, getting that solidified, making that the strength of your team is what has to happen. That's just the way it is. I'm telling you, playing this game, starting this league for nearly a decade, been watching it for almost, studying it for nearly three. At the end of the year, the Super Bowl winning team, after you watch tape of that Super Bowl game, it isn't the perimeter players that you saw in the game who got the MVP or made the great plays stand out, it's how they played in the trenches. That is always the difference in the Super Bowl.

How the offensive line played, how the defensive line played, I've never seen it come out any different. So, in order for all those players that you just described, and they're young too, the one thing that you need to emphasize is that they're all growing together. Pickens, Pickett, Fryermuth, Najee. Is there anybody I just mentioned there not going into their fourth year? No, I think it's three years for Fryermuth and Najee. So, there's your veterans.

John might be sick, but he's the wise old guy. That's young when you think about it. They're young people and they're going to get better. They haven't even hit their prime. They're still growing together and learning this game together, which is a real value too, quite honestly.

You're rare to get that young of a group, that talented of a group, that are building and working and growing together. Let's get to the football coach in Mike Tomlin. I'm a big fan of him. I think he's one of the better coaches in the league. I know he's sometimes polarizing in the fan base because we know where the standard is in Pittsburgh.

They haven't won a playoff game since January of 2017. Your view of Mike Tomlin is what as we get to another season of Steelers football? Well, I've got to be a little more in-depth with him and work with him and watch him work.

Let's not play for the other two Hall of Famers, Chuck Nolan, Bill Tauer. So, I understand the standard too. I understand standard coaching and he fulfills that. I think he has a great pulse for his team. I think he does an outstanding job of challenging players, setting expectations and demanding a certain standard.

That's what leaders have to do. He's done that. He's been in situations. You lost Ben one year and you had to find ways to win games.

He did. He retires and now you're starting over. You got to find ways to build and improve. The way that the organization has worked with him to get this team the way it is today, there's massive growth from last year. That's what you got to do.

You got to constantly get better and evolve. So far, that has been on display through the preseason. Let's get to the next down. Merrill Hodge here with us. I look at the defense going to the other side of the ball. TJ Watt, we know the injury from last year was a big concern, but he's a stud. Cam Hayward up front is a beast. Alex Highsmith, just a phenomenal player on the back end.

Who doesn't love Minka Fitzpatrick? What do you think this defense can do this upcoming year, especially in an AFC that has a ton of great quarterback play? They're gonna need that defensive shine. Yeah, well, you know, and all those players that you mentioned, you got difference makers and I've always said that you need about five to six difference makers on the team to have a chance to really be a Super Bowl contender. You have difference makers on defense. You know, you got some young guys at linebacker that fulfill or fill a real void that was inconsistent last year for them. And that leadership and experience so far has manifested that that is an upgrade. You know, getting Joey Porter Jr. play, you know, I've known Joey Porter forever. I mean, I've seen him grow up. I mean, to fall to where he did to the Steelers is, you know, you'd love to script something like that, but most people say, boy, that's it.

They'll do that movie. They write those things up. They usually don't happen. So for it to happen for Mike, just think it's ideal. He fits with the Steelers. His play and training camp has been outstanding, his growth and his willingness to grow, which is really the important part. It's players that know that they got a lot of room to grow and they're willing to do that. And they're willing to put themselves in a position to grow, meaning you're going to get exposed sometimes because you're learning, you're working on things that you need to work on. And he's done that.

And I've been impressed by that, that he wants to work on his weaknesses and make them better. Let's get to the final down. Merrill Hodge here with us on the Zach Gelb show previewing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Merrill, you look at this AFC North.

It is tough. I think it's the second toughest division in football. Bengals to me are the best team in this division. How do you rank the other three between the Ravens, Steelers, and Browns? What's your order when you look at this AFC North? Well, I think Cincinnati is your standard. As well as your Obero's plan, he's lethal and he's your difference maker.

The Ravens will be interesting. I find what they're doing there to be... Actually, I don't quite understand what they're doing there. Their office coordinator has a great reputation of doing what I think great coaches do, which makes him to be one of those coaches that ends up being a really great coach. He takes his personnel and then he fits the system around that.

Isn't like, I got my system, you fit this system. That's kind of Benny's history. But they're asking, the way they're talking about it is now they're going to ask Lamar to do something he's not good at. He's never shown he's good at. And that's playing a pro style, traditional NFL offense.

Now that's not me saying it. The Ravens have showed you that for his entire career. A majority of their formations are two tight ends, two backs, power formations.

They don't run traditional pro style situations. When they have done that, or have been forced to do that, he's been exposed as a passer. That is not his strength. Not in college, not in the NFL.

So he has no evidence of that. But they're going to play into that. So I mean, you could argue, okay, well, that's what they got to do to make that next step. But is it really what he can do?

And it's going to give you your best chance to win? I just think how that ends up coming together. You know, the coach stays true to what he is. I don't think the Ravens look much different than they have in previous years.

You know, they could talk about all this going on all over the place. And keep in mind, these are all new people too, that he's played with, aside from his tight end, and a new system. And I can tell you this from experience and personally in that environment, some of the hardest things to do is after you've played in the system you're comfortable with, you're good at, and you completely change it. You want to talk about a setback? You do those kinds of things.

So to me, that team is the most interesting in how their offense is going to play out and eventually come together. And in Cleveland, watching what was missed about his time out, he didn't play for two years. And listen, that's a big deal. But you took two years where you didn't get to develop. How many thousands of snaps did you miss that would have developed you and made you better? And I think people, if you would ever think about that, and that is the bigger harm than just missing two years. What did you miss in those two years?

And sometimes you never catch up to that. He got a little better, but he was nothing like you saw in Houston. You know, they've had an outstanding running game. Are they going to deviate from that? I think that would be a mistake. I still think Chubb would be your foundation. If they make that still the foundation, and Watson compliments that, I actually think that could be pretty good. But if they choose to like, hey, we're going to Watson roll, I think it could be a mistake to do that and ignore the guy who has kept you in the thick of things. And it's one of the most important things in the NFL too, quite honestly, is controlling the tempo in our league. That is one of the violent components in winning consistently in the NFL, and that has been true for the history of our game.

And to avoid that, or negate that, or say that's not important, I think you put your team in harm's way. Merrill Hodge, always great to catch up with you. Appreciate the time and the insight. Thanks so much. You got it, Zach. See you, Val. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show.

You know, I'm actually in a bad mood right now. It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. I don't know if you've realized this, Hickey, but it is like impossible now when you order food from a restaurant, whether you go pick it up and take it out or they deliver it to you, for them to include utensils. So today was one of those days, usually don't eat during the show, but today was one of those days where I had a very light lunch where I said we have to need to eat something during the show at some point. So I called the place that's adjacent to us where I could just go call in like 20 minutes before I want the food, run downstairs and get back up here before the end of the break.

So I did that going into the Merrill Hodge interview. So all I ordered was a side of broccoli, shrimp, and that was it. I'm trying to eat healthy, right? A little shrimp, a little broccoli. And I said to the guy on the phone, I need utensils because for some reason here, you put utensils out there gone in a second. And all we have are like knives and spoons here.

There's no forks here. So I said to the guy, when I go into the store, did you guys put utensil in there? Yep, absolutely utensils in there. I go to open up my food, no utensils. So I'm running around here trying to find some utensils. And I had to use a spoon to eat broccoli and the shrimp. But why is it so complicated these days for restaurants?

Well, they'll charge you enough for right the broccoli and the shrimp more than what it actually should be. But they can't put some utensils in there after I asked twice Hickey, have you been finding that to be a problem whenever you have delivery orders? Or you go pick something up that they're not including utensils? I'll be honest, I don't order a lot of food. And when I do, it's usually to my apartment. So I don't really need the use of utensils.

You have them in your own house, right? So why are we getting so stingy over utensils? See, I think the problem here is it's not a old universal restaurant issue. I think it's this specific restaurant issue because you shake your head no. This is the same restaurant that has butchered multiple of your orders and has even given you too much, the wrong order, not enough, forgot something. We've talked on the air multiple times about this restaurant messing up an order.

Maybe it's just them. Hey, utensils are in there. Although they're not, maybe it's their lack of good service rather than universally restaurants saying no utensils for you.

So I vehemently disagree. I'm not saying that your analysis is completely wrong with this restaurant, even though they happen to make good food and I enjoy their food and there's healthy options there. But I ordered Chinese food two weeks ago. They didn't bring utensils. Now I requested utensils. I always request utensils because then I don't have to use my own utensils, right?

And then throw them in the dishwasher and all that stuff. And I also like when I get takeout, for some reason, I'd rather have plastic utensils than the metal utensils. But every time I've ordered food recently, even when you request utensils, it's been like for like a month and a half, the restaurants either forget the utensils or just ignore the message. And I think restaurants are getting stingy and maybe it's something with plastic and all that and all that crap. The utensils are already made, okay? I'm gonna sound like a jerk there.

People are gonna say, oh, you're bad dude, blah, blah, blah. If I order food from your restaurant and I ask for utensils, there better be utensils in there. And more times than not, there are not utensils rather than there being utensils when I always ask for utensils.

So I was able to make use of the spoon to eat the broccoli and eat the shrimp, but I was just annoyed by it. Anyway, Merahad just joined us. I think his analysis of the Ravens is spot on. You look at the Ravens last year. That was a team that didn't have all of Lamar Jackson and they were still impressive because they did go 10 and 7 last year and up against one of the better teams, not only in the AFC, but the NFL and the Cincinnati Bengals who at the time were the defending AFC champs, they almost beat them with Tyler Huntley at quarterback. So you go into this year, I think it's easy to say, oh, if Lamar Jackson's healthy, the Ravens could go back to being a dominant force. And I'm a believer in Lamar Jackson.

But sometimes teams do things that don't make sense. And maybe it's just off season noise, but I don't chalk this up to just off season noise because Lamar Jackson, I don't think he actually believes he's going to throw for 6,000 yards, but he said it. And then also you keep on hearing how much they're making it more of an emphasis to throw the football in a new offensive coordinator system with Todd Moncken coming in. So I look at the Ravens where there's reasons to question the Ravens.

I do think the Ravens can be a playoff team this year, but when I make my predictions of the seven teams in the AFC, and it's tough to pick seven teams this year in the AFC with how many good teams there are narrowed down, I'm going to have the Ravens on the outside looking in. And I am someone that speaks usually more positively about Lamar than others, where I think the world of Lamar Jackson, I do think he's a better thrower of the football than what people give him credit for. But what makes Lamar Jackson great is that dual threat ability. And the question of, I just don't know how many more times they're going to throw the football, that does give me a cause for concern because you can't throw the football so much where you're taking away in the prime of his career, his most impressive asset.

And that's with what he does on the ground. And also if they go to an offensive philosophy, which is just so much throwing than running, it's like, is Lamar, even though you're paying him a fortune, is he going to be able to be the best version of Lamar? Because the most amount of yards Lamar Jackson has ever thrown for in the season was when he won a unanimous MVP.

His first, you know, when Lamar Jackson won that unanimous MVP as his first two years as a starter, when he threw for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdown passes, but he also ran for 1,200. So I just don't know what the Ravens are trying to do. Like, are they only trying to make Lamar like a four, 500 yard rushing quarterback with the lowest amount of rushing yards he ever had in his career was 695? Is that what they're trying to do? Because that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to me. So the Ravens could be a good team this year, but until we get further clarity on how that offense is going to look and what the ballpark range breakdown is going to be, passing to running for Lamar Jackson, that's why when I go through a very crowded AFC, and also there's health issues with Lamar Jackson to begin with, that's why I'm more out than in on the Ravens for this upcoming season, Hickey.

Same. You've never seen Lamar Jackson be a pass first quarterback and have that work, so it's dangerous to pay him all the money for what he's done before in one system, ask him to transition to another system, and also look who he's throwing to. Like, Odette Beckham Jr. has not been productive and healthy since really his first year in Cleveland in 2019. So you have a guy that's been a few years not at the top of his games. A-Flowers is turning heads, he's also a rookie.

Wait, but you can't get on the field. Odell was a nice piece for the Rams. Only two playoff games. But he was a nice piece, he caught a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

Okay. He wasn't bad for the Rams. They played like five games.

But my point is like that season. They needed him more than they thought when they made that trade, because remember Woods got hurt. He is now going to be relied upon to probably be their number one receiver. No team has asked him to do that, again, since really 2019 when he's performed.

He had over a thousand yards in his first year at the Browns. So you're asking a guy that's been hurt, who did not play last year at all whatsoever, now coming in off the ACL to be your number one guy after having years of less stellar productivity and also health concerns. He's not a number one that really intimidates you. You're not wrong on that.

They're asking him to do that, and Rashad Baben can't say healthy. Zay Flowers is a rookie. Obviously, outside of Marc Andrews, there's no bonafide true threat in this passing game. Now, if you're going to ask Lamar to be a pass first quarterback or pass it a lot more than he has in the past, it's not like he's throwing to the Chiefs receivers or I really should say the Bengals receivers or what the Eagles have on offense as well.

You're kind of working with scraps. You're not wrong in your analysis of that, and there's question marks at wide receivers. There's no doubt about that. Rashad Bateman, I was a big fan when it was him and Tyler Johnson at Minnesota, and they rode the boat and made you upset when Minnesota had a nice victory over Penn State. And Odell, you're right, has not been a great wide receiver for the last few years.

We all know that. He's taken a massive step back. They're banking on Zay Flowers, but just as quickly as they are to bank on Zay Flowers, a lot of Ravens fans a few years ago were banking and relying on Rashad Bateman. And that hasn't really worked out yet. And that's to me also.

I just don't get the philosophy. And that line has been just banged up throughout the last few years. I look at this team, on the offensive side of the ball, there's clearly upside, but there's a lot of question marks and there's a lot of guys that you're counting on that we just don't know what they're going to be or if they're going to stay healthy. So to make this drastic shift, and if that's what they're going to do, where it's going to be throw, throw, throw, throw, throw, throw, throw, I don't think that gets the best version out of the Ravens this year. And you look at this AFC, it is loaded. AFC East, you got the Jets, you got the Dolphins, you got the Bills. In the North, we know how good the Bengals can be. You have three teams that are splitting hairs with the Ravens, the Steelers, and the Browns. The South, the Jaguars are the Kings there.

In the West, you got the Chiefs and the Chargers. We'll see if the Broncos can bounce back. And if you have some growing pains early on in the season, I know sometimes people say, oh, don't play your best football until after Thanksgiving. That's when the season really starts.

But if you get off to a slow start this year, then that could come back to bite you at the end if you have to find a way to iron out some of the problems and some of the wrinkles here in this new system. Now, week one, they play the Texans, then they play the Texans, then they play the Bengals, then they play the Colts. So two out of the first three games of the season aren't tough. But then after that, you got Cleveland, you got the Steelers, you got Tennessee, you got Detroit. Okay, cupcake game against the Cardinals. But then you're right back into it with the Seahawks, the Browns, the Bengals, the Chargers. And then coming out of the by you play the Rams, they're not going to be any good, but you get Jacksonville, San Francisco, Miami, and then Pittsburgh to wrap up the season, outside of the Texans, outside of the Colts, the Cardinals, and even the Rams, those are only four cupcake games. And I'm very curious to see, there's one thing to say right now, oh, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.

But when the games start to get underway, are you really going to stay true to that? And right now, Hickey, I would say that they are, even though it seems like the definition of insanity, because I think they're following the beat of Lamar Jackson right now. And even though the chip on Lamar Jackson's shoulder is what made him the unanimous MVP, and what has made him a great quarterback and such a highly paid quarterback in this league, it seems stupid at times last year. I know he ended up getting a big contract, but he didn't get the fully guaranteed deal that he wanted.

It seems stupid at times last year that he didn't eventually hire an agent, and it was to prove a point because people said that he couldn't get it done this way. And that one conversation, which a lot of it has been unfair about Lamar, still exists, where a lot of people say, even going back to write the combine, that he's just a running back, he's just a running back. And I think that still is on his shoulder, and he's kind of trying to prove everyone this year that you say I can't be a traditional passing quarterback.

Well, I'll go show you this year, and you see it now with Munkin coming in. They're talking about how they're going to throw the football so much. Lamar set that ridiculous goal. I'm going to be the first ever quarterback to throw 6,000 yards, blah, blah, blah. He asked for Odell Beckham. They go get Odell Beckham. You want another wide receiver?

They go get safe flowers. They are catering to Lamar, and I do believe Lamar right here is, I don't know if sensitive is the right word, but Lamar is definitely annoyed still at some of the ridiculous criticisms at the combine. And this guy hasn't won a Super Bowl yet in this league, and it's still early, but I think he's trying to win and win a certain way that basically flips off people in terms of what they said he couldn't do.

And here's the thing, be the best version of yourself and go win. And the best version of yourself is not to throw the ball to be Lamar Jackson, a 5,000 yard passer, because the most amount of yards you had in your career is like 3,100, 3,200. So if you want to throw the football a little bit more, I'm fine with that. But if it's going to be this big leap to just a ridiculous level where you're taking away a great part of your game in the run game, that just doesn't make sense to me. And if you're the Ravens, I don't get why you would pay Lamar Jackson a record at the time setting deal for, again, a style of play where he's had a lot of success with, won an MVP with, got to the playoffs with when he's healthy. And now you're going to ask him, or he wants to, and you're going to allow it, a total change of philosophy, total change in the offense.

And now you're paying him top five money to do a total opposite thing than what got him to that point in the first place. Does that make sense from Lamar's perspective to want to do it or from the Ravens perspective to pay him and then ask him to change offensive styles? Isn't it very Deebo like where Deebo got paid and Deebo really made a name for himself with being a 1400 yard receiver and also rushing the football as many times as he did.

And then he put up such a stink where they had to put incentives in his contract. If they're going to run him a certain amount of times, isn't it a little bit similar where you want to kind of change something after it being so successful in the past? I don't know about that comp because he still is running the ball. He's getting paid for it, but still running the ball. But Deebo did not have a good year last year. He had a really bad year. I don't know if that was just because of, I mean, he still ran the ball a lot, got injured, banged up, like it's three quarterbacks. I don't think it's because just his play style is different. But you do remember that part of the conversation where he was like, I don't want to be a wide receiver and a running back.

Part of negotiations. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break. When we come on back, an affiliate of ours is crushing, absolutely destroying hot take Hickey for a take that he had last week when I was filling in on Maggie and Perloff and he was hosting a few days here. Hickey has annoyed one of our affiliates that I do a weekly hit on in football season.

I do a weekly spot with them. So we're going to find out what Mack and Bone and WFNZ has said about hot take Hickey as the hot take Hickey nickname is making its rounds across the world, across the nation. And those takes are usually explosive, but it is definitely rubbed two guys that I like a lot in Bone and Mack the wrong way. How about that act? Like Hickey's growing up right in front of our eyes.

He's not only annoying us around here at CBS Sports Radio, he's annoying a lot of our affiliates. Attaboy, Spider. I don't know if Hickey knows what that reference is from. What do you? Oh, um. Goodfellas.

I was going to say a Bronx tale for some reason. I don't know why. Close enough. Yeah. What happened with Hickey today? You were talking a lot of crap about Hickey before the show. No, he just spilled tea on his shirt. It was annoying. Oh, did he really?

Yeah. Like you saw him, he was sitting there with a large cup of tea. No, he spilled some tea and he ran to the bathroom to try to clean it off. And now he's got a tea stain on his shirt, which is annoying him. Did you put honey in that tea? No honey in the tea.

I just go straight. I spilled a cup of tea about three months ago. It was right on my nightstand. And I put the tea down for a second, forgot it was there.

Large cup of tea with honey in it. And it went all over my room. Oh, what a pain in the ass to clean up. Disgusting. Got a cleaning lady the next day. Colton, the cleaning lady, I'm like, I cleaned it, but I need a little assistance here if I was being honest.

Alrighty. Let's find out from what WFNZ in Charlotte is just crushing Hickey for when we come on back up. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show, maybe dinner without utensils.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. You know what I just realized, Hickey? You were on that bachelor party how many weeks ago, two weeks ago, where you for some reason thought it was going to hype up the bachelor party squad if for some reason, geez, this is really lame. But if you showed up with a mustache, how many weeks ago was that, two?

Yeah, two, three weeks ago, first week in August. Your facial hair has grown in rather quickly. I'm very happy about it. You got your full beard back.

I am very excited. So I'm a little bit surprised how quickly that beard did grow back because a lot of people are giving you crap and you just had the mustache. And I wasn't happy that you did the mustache then because we have this bet and I wanted to see what you would look like with the mustache when you lose this bet. But it was one of those situations where I don't even remember you really with the mustache much. Well, that's a tongue twister because how quickly your facial hair has grown back. That's impressive. Shaved it August 3rd. It is now August 22nd and we're basically back to, for the most part, normal. You didn't take like hair off your arms and then just patch it on to the rest of your face because I'm shocked how quickly it's grown back. Thankfully, no.

I got fast growing hair. It's a blessing and a curse. And in this case, it is a blessing. Okay, so Hickey has said this take before that he believes the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield are going to make the playoffs this year. I don't agree with the take, but I think a lot of your take is you don't trust the Saints to win the NFC South. And I'm kind of in that boat as well that I don't believe the Saints are going to win the NFC South as well.

So then you have to find one of the other three teams. Now I have gone to the Atlanta Falcons who last year had seven wins. I know the Panthers also had seven wins last year. And then also you had the Bucks with eight, but the Bucks just lost Tom Brady. So I look around, I would probably say the Bucks are going to be the fourth team in this division. Now they have some talent, but you lose Brady, you have eight wins with Brady. I think you got to go down in the win total.

Now you're only going to need like eight or nine wins to win this division at most, I would think. And I don't love any of these teams in this division, but I've gone with Atlanta, but Hickey has gone with the Buccaneers. And I don't agree with the opinion, but I can't trash it. So you were filling in for me last week, and I guess you brought that opinion up again. I don't know what the context was, but I'll tell you, Mack and Bohn and WFNZ was furious. And Mack probably had this sounder go off in his head when hearing your hot take. Hot take Hickey is edited. We have a hot take alert. Hot take alert. So once again, I don't think it's a hot take. It's just the take that I don't agree with.

There's a difference. But let's hear, as this audio was sent to me, Mack and Bohn and WFNZ that I do a weekly hit with during football season. I love those guys both. Mack and Bohn took a decent run at you in their segment on their wildly popular morning radio show.

This sort of sounds like a WFNZ. That is a man they call hot take Hickey last night with Zach Galb out. This is what happens when our friend Zach Galb has to take a night off.

Hot take Hickey takes over. He's basically the flounder of the Zach Galb show, isn't he? Except this guy, now that's not fair to flounder. His role is similar to you.

Well, hold on now. His role is similar. Our flounder is way better than their flounder.

The Bucks and Baker may feel a little bit different. Hot take Hickey has really transformed how we view content and how things are consumed. Mack, he does a weekly segment from the shower. He films a video where he gives his hot, I call him hot shower Hickey. He does a video segment from the shower that's become all the rage of the media world. Flounder's not taking a lot of showers. I mean, you're not doing a lot of stuff in the shower.

He needs to take a shower and clean that take off. And that takes stakes, man. We just only thought that Zach Galb's Falcons prediction was the worst one. What's wrong with those guys on the Zach Galb show? Thinking the two worst teams in the South, the two teams that don't have any chance to win the division are the ones that are going to win it. The two teams with the two worst quarterbacks in the division, they think are going to win the division. And hot take Hickey, man.

Listen, this week he's being called horrible take Hickey right now by Brad. I've been there, man. We've been there in Charlotte.

We did the thing where we try to talk ourselves into Baker Mayfield. Could it be 2020? Could it be pandemic Baker all over again, tearing people up?

No, drunk old freaking Baker mania. That ain't gonna happen. That ain't gonna happen.

So here's the thing that I don't get. I don't agree with your Buccaneers take, but who are these teams in the NFC South that I have to pick? And they even took a little run at me for picking the Atlanta Falcons. You could pick any of those four teams.

I think the bucks are going to finish in fourth, but you could pick any of those four teams. Cause none of those teams I look at and I go, wow, they're intimidating or, or they're actually going to be good teams. And don't get me wrong. I like Bryce young. I know you love Bryce young. You wish he was your quarterback, but that all fence line hasn't looked good so far. And that's supposed to be a strength of that team.

I don't want to overreact to pre-season and the weapons in Carolina. I like their defense, but offensively I think miles Sanders is overrated and you look at the wide receivers. They don't have a number one wide receiver. So why all of a sudden, and I guess what Mac and bone are kind of saying is if you're not going to pick the saints, you have to pick the Panthers. I don't get why you have to pick the Panthers here, especially when Frank Reich last year never had his team prepared for a game in Indianapolis. And they lost every first half when he was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from just last season. Your response, Hickey is the very popular Mac and bone show on WFNZ.

He took some shots at you. I mean, the arrogance is I'm flabbergasted with how cocky they are talking about the Panthers and I guess in a way the saints and how they are in their minds so much further ahead than everybody else. The peons of the Falcons and the Buccaneers. Apparently there is no one in that division. Don't care what fan you are the four teams. There is no team or no fan base that should ever be talking as arrogantly about their team this year in that division whatsoever.

It's truly a crapshoot. You could say, Oh, I think the buck is going to be bad. Okay, well, I can just tell you right now, like I said, list five reasons why the Panthers are gonna finish the last place. I hope Bryson doesn't die in the field this year.

How bad they protect them so far. There's no reason for anyone to feel arrogant and confident that this is going to be their division easily. So Baker Mayfield, by the way, was named the Buccaneers starting quarterback by Todd Bowles earlier today.

As much as I'm not going to call your take a hot take, and I love calling your takes hot takes. I just still don't think Baker Mayfield is going to make it through the entire season as a starting quarterback inevitably. And I'm not a believer in Kyle trash. You'll see Kyle trash starting games at some point this year for the Buccaneers. Do you see Baker week one versus Steelers eight and nine, March right down the field.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, touchdown. He'll be fine. He's back. Now you were the same guy last year that I'm sure Mac and bone loved you a year ago when you said the Panthers were going to playoffs and Baker Mayfield was going to be a top five quarterback in the NFC traded their tukes for training camp.

That was my bad overlooking the chemistry aspect or lack thereof. Yep. Going right back to that Baker.

Well, I'll take Kiki doubling down. Good stuff by Mac and bone. I enjoy them going after me and you. I enjoy that. I thought that was some good radio, some good stuff. Let's see if they keep that same energy that first football Friday when I'm on with them. Zach Yelp show CBS sports radio coming on back. Talk about expectations in college football next.