Official 2023 NFL Predictions! (Hour 3)

Here we go, hour number three of our radio program.

That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show right here on CBS Sports Radio. We have reached that point where we are one day away. Football is back with the Kansas City Chiefs going up against the Detroit Lions tomorrow evening. So with that being said, we've had months to tell you which teams we like, which teams we dislike. Now we've got to make the official predictions.

Where? We will do the AFC in this segment. We'll do the NFC in the next segment. Then after that, we will tell you who's going to win the Super Bowl, who's going to be the MVP, who's going to be the offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, coach of the year, comeback player of the year, and offensive rookie of the year, and defensive rookie of the year. So here is what I will say. Anything that has been said for the last four or five months, Hickey, you can throw it in the trash can.

I give you one get out of jail free card. So if you were like, I don't know, a producer here at CBS Sports Radio who's hyping up the Rams, and now you're out on the Rams, no harm. If you still want to rock and roll with the Buccaneers, God bless you. But this is your choice.

What you're going to do right now, where we take away the erasable pen, there's no erasing these picks, and we put these picks in Sharpie. So let's do it right now. We will start with the AFC. We look at the AFC East. This is the toughest division in football. All three of these teams taking the Patriots out of it, the Bills, the Dolphins, and the Jets, I think are splitting hairs.

I know this is not great analysis. This is just based off feel. But everyone thinks two won't get through the season.

Usually when people say one thing and everyone's on it, the opposite thing happens. And most people are going to pick the Bills and the Jets to win this AFC East. I will go with the Miami Dolphins here. And I think the least popular pick out of the three, because I had a tough time deciding who I was going to pick to win this AFC East. I like the Dolphins roster on both sides of the ball. I think Phillips is going to have a monster year, and you're number three in the NFL. You got so much speed with Tyreek Hill, and then also Jalen Waddle. I will take the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East.

Hickster? I am going to go with the Buffalo Bills. I like the Dolphins a lot. I am a little nervous about Tua's health for an entire 17-game schedule. And I think the lack of pressure compared to last year where everybody was picking the Bills not to win the AFC East but to win the Super Bowl.

I think almost in a weird way flying under the radar could do him a little benefit here. I'll take Buffalo to win the AFC East. So I go with the Dolphins. You take the Buffalo Bills. Next up, the AFC North.

I don't think we need much analysis here. This is a very good division. But you look at Joe Burrow, what he's been able to do the last two years. This has been someone that has taken the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl and has taken them to an AFC Championship game following that. So that's a heck of a start to his career for a franchise that I don't want to say they've been synonymous with losing because they were a playoff team a bunch of years under Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis as well. And they just weren't able to win any playoff games, which was crazy. So we've seen this team in a Super Bowl before, right, when Boomer Esiason was the quarterback and one other time as well.

But this is a group where now it's like there's actual belief that they could go accomplish something great year in and year out because of the stability at the quarterback position. This is a very tough division. We all know that, but I will take the Cincinnati Bengals once again to win this division. So will I. I would argue this is maybe the toughest division in the NFL. I like the North a lot, but I think Joe Burrow is still the best quarterback in that division. I like the Bengals offense a lot.

I don't know who's going to slow them down. Defense is getting better, or it still is really good, especially when you need to make a stop. They've always been very clutch.

That's been their always big thing. I'm with you, Bengals. Win the AFC North. Let's go to the AFC South, a division that torments Hickey.

So is that right? I know the Colts stink. The Colts haven't won a Week 1 game.

What were you saying before the show? 2013? They have not won Week 1 since 2013.

That's correct. Andrew Luck's second year. I'll tell you this. They're not my pick to win the AFC South.

I am shocked. I did draft Jonathan Taylor last night in a fantasy football draft in the 8th or 9th round, which I didn't feel good about. But if you get him in the 8th or 9th round, it's like, how are you not going to make that pick there?

We're in a 12-team league. I hope he plays well. You're not confident, though, that he's coming back, though? Oh, no, he's coming back. The issue is he's coming back. He's not played or done any football activities since December. And he doesn't want to be there. So I'm more concerned about, okay, even if you're allowed to come off the puck, and he does come off the puck off Week 4, Week 5, he's not getting 30 carries. He's not running for 100 yards.

When do you start to get back into old JT mode? By that point, we're talking, what, Week 10 maybe? I mean, I love him there for more than seven games.

It seems to be a disaster. You guys are finishing last in the AFC South this year. I think the Texans will be better than you guys. I think they'll finish third.

Not going to be by much, but I don't see a way. You guys are going to be one of the worst teams in football this year, which isn't the worst thing in the world because then you'll get a young wide receiver in there and a number one wide receiver, maybe a Marvin Harrison Jr. for Anthony Richardson. And that's Jay. Let's go.

Like father, like son. Bring him back to Indy. Now, I know where you stand on this. If your team gets the number one overall pick, you're going to want them to draft Caleb Williams. Without a doubt. It's not even a question. I wonder if Jim Irsay is going to do that with the way that people are already talking about how much they believe in Anthony Richardson.

He's been at the facility for eight hours a day, doesn't want to go home. He was already named the team captain too. Did I read? Yep.

That's right. So it's like one of those things where I understand you much rather have Caleb Williams and I agree with you. That would be the smart thing to move on from Anthony Richardson. But I wonder if the Colts would actually do that. Look, if we're talking about it again, the Colts are not a very good team. So I'm not going to sit here and say it's Anthony Richardson's fault. They are getting 345 wins and could get the number one overall pick. I can't give your team the benefit of the doubt to make the right decision. But if they are stupid enough to say, you know, we're going to pass on what everyone is calling Caleb Williams, Patrick Holmes 2.0, maybe, possibly. You guys would do it.

The first guy since 1975 with Archie Griffin went back to back highs and trophies and they say, actually, you know what, we're going to keep our guy in Anthony Richardson. I'm not going to quit rooting for them, but that would probably close my breaking point. Last year was close with Jeff Saturday. That would by far take the cake.

Take the cake without a doubt. Who would you root for? You had to pick a new team. No, I wouldn't quit. I would not quit. No, but let's play the game here.

If you were to quit, who would be the team? I could see you being a Steeler fan. No. Especially those Penn State roots.

No. I hate the Steelers and their fans. I like Joe Burrow a lot. He's probably my favorite non-cult, which I know.

I get it. Bandwagon. Bill's Mafia wouldn't accept you. I like the Dolphins and Tua. I do. I could be part of the Tua non-officially then, which would be kind of fun. Maybe you should link up with your good pal Pete Carroll.

We'll Seahawks action. He would not let me. I wouldn't. I would not. But he also, the door's not open. He would close the door and lock it.

Which, you know, if I was him, I can't blame him. We'll see how Russell Wilson plays. I would be, you know, I'd jump me on the Broncos. And you have the jersey. Let's ride.

I do have the jersey and I like Sean Payton and the way he's kind of a swashbuckling, say whatever he wants, shoot from the hip kind of guy. So, you know what? I got some options here.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck, but if in this fantasy world that does come true and Colts have the number one over pick and say, no thanks, Caleb Williams, and now I have to quit my team, there's options out there. I don't think the word swashbuckling has ever been used before on CBS Sports Radio. Great term.

Use it more. Give me the definition of that. I mean, I couldn't say the actual definition, but I just feel like I picture like a pirate just kind of walking around, just saying whatever he wants, kind of like a badass. Is there an actual definition for swashbuckling?

I just looked it up. Now, there is a picture that comes up with a pirate, as you did say, but the definition that comes up on dictionary.com is engaging in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance. Daring and romantic adventure is another definition. That does sound, I mean, maybe not romantic, but daring for sure when it comes to Sean Payton, challenging the league office. Love Island featuring Sean Payton and Russell Wilson. Challenging Russell Wilson.

Love Island, Denver. I'm going to have Sierra feel about that and maybe not too happy. Yeah.

Well, you keep on playing that way. Could be the end of that relationship. I would agree with that probably.

I would hope. It can't be the punching bag for everyone and the joke of the NFL. You got to turn around if you're Russell Wilson. Anyway, AFC South getting back to this. Jaguars. It's the easy pick.

It's the obvious pick. The Jaguars are a contender for an AFC spot in the Super Bowl this year. You have a great quarterback. You're getting Calvin Ridley. Christian Kirk, everyone, clowned a year ago. Turned out to be a really good pickup by them. He's now the number two wide receiver.

Travis ATN is really good. Tank Bigsby, one of the great names in football right now. And I think Scott Hansen put it perfectly yesterday, Hickster, where to determine how far they're going to be able to go, like offensively, you don't have any concern. You don't have any concern with the coach and Doug Peterson. That defense got better at the end of the season. But you need Josh Allen and Trayvon Walker to just be studs this year and show you why they were a first round, a first overall pick and a sixth overall pick in the draft. This is the easiest division pick, right? Like, I was thinking maybe AFC West, but would it be crazy if the Chargers go crazy and maybe the Chiefs, you know, with thin roster, maybe, you know, win 11 games in second place? Like, out of the division winners, I would say this is probably the most shocked. We're talking about our division winners and picks. They don't win the division. Jaguars probably the one.

Yeah, you're not wrong. Now, that's not me saying I'm not picking the Chiefs to win the AFC West. But if you had to do it this way, do I have more confidence in the Chargers or the Titans? Yeah, it'd be the Chargers.

Same. So AFC West, ready? You want to say it? Three, two, one. Broncos.

No, just kidding. I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs. All right. So the division winners, we only disagree on one. You take the Dolphins. You take the Bills in the AFC East. I go with the Dolphins. We both take the Bengals.

We both go the Jaguars in the south. And we both go the Kansas City, how about them Chiefs, in the AFC West. Wildcard teams, let's do this in order now. So the way that I'm going to order my division winners, Chiefs will be the 1 seed, Jaguars will be the 2. Bengals will be the 3. And then I have the Dolphins being the 4. My first AFC wildcard team is... The Buffalo Bills. Your first wildcard team, Hicksie.

Flip it around, I'll take the Dolphins. I just said Hicksie. Hicksie.

Geez, that's a new one. I don't really like that one. Who's your pick? Sorry about that. I'll take the Miami Dolphins, 5th seed.

Okay. The 6th seed. Go Chargers go. I'm going with the Los Angeles Chargers in spite of Brandon Staley. Just too much talent there at the wide receiver position. I love Austin Eckler, who's a running back and practically a wide receiver these days.

And you've got Justin Herbert. Defense you've got to hope could be healthy because they were decimated with injuries a year ago. But I think they will win in spite of the head coach and they will be the 6th seed. I'm also going in the AFC West. The Denver Broncos, 6th seed in the NFL playoffs, AFC playoffs here. Again, back to the playoffs, led by the swashbuckler himself, Sean Payton. Let's go.

Here we go again. Just a disclaimer, last year, and a reminder, Hickey picked the Broncos to go to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. And that Nathaniel Hackett would be a top 3 coach of the year. Which is one of my favorite predictions that you've ever made because I got so much joy out of it.

All right. Finally, it's been the offseason of the Jets. J-A-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets. They will be the 7th and final wildcard spot. I just think these AFC East teams are going to beat up on one another. I think the Jets will look like a better team than the final wildcard team in the AFC. But because of how tough this division is, I think that's going to hurt the Jets in terms of the standings here. I do think the Jets are absolutely a Super Bowl contender. But they will be the 7th seed. And that means they have a very winnable playoff game. Now Jaguars and Jets would be a fun one if that's the way that it goes in my 2-7 matchup.

All righty. Your final wildcard team. Cleveland Browns.

Same sort of logic there. Tough division. So I think they're a good team. But going to beat up on each other in the AFC North. Browns with Deshaun Watson. Big bounce back season.

They make the playoffs. So no Chargers for you. No Chargers. No Jets for you. No Jets. No Ravens. No Ravens. Wow. No sir. See I knew you were going to pick the Broncos and the Browns.

But I gave you the get out of jail free card. I was surprised that you're still going down on the ship that are the Denver Broncos. So my 7 playoff teams in the AFC. Dolphins. Bengals. Jaguars. Chiefs. Bills. Chargers. Jets. So both of us out on the Ravens.

Who is. Let me ask you this. Do we want to go to the NFC?

Right after the break. And just go straight to it. Or should we give the team that's going to the Super Bowl out of the AFC right now. How do we want to do this.

Yeah. Put the cap on the AFC. Who is the AFC champion.

All right. Give me your AFC championship game. Who are the two teams in the AFC championship game.

Heads go chalk but it's going to be this way. Cincinnati Kansas City. Third straight year.

Okay. I'm going to go the Buffalo Bills. Against. Cincinnati Bengals. And the Cincinnati Bengals. Will be going to the Super Bowl for two times.

In three years. So you have chiefs and Bengals corrected window. Chiefs and Bengals. Bengals win the rubber match. They are going back to the Super Bowl. I am in agreement with you. So we have the same AFC Super Bowl pick.

Now we do. You know what that means. Fade. Fade.

Fade. Fade the Bengals this year. Ravens fans are probably doing cartwheels right now after both of us picked them not to go to the playoffs.

Alrighty. So there's the AFC. Hickey once again goes with the the Bills. The Bengals. The Jaguars. The Dolphins. The Broncos and the Browns. I once again take the Chiefs, Jaguars, Bengals, Dolphins, Bills, Chargers, Jets. I have an AFC Championship game. Bills against the Bengals. Hickey goes Chiefs and Bengals. We both take the Bengals to get to the Super Bowl in Vegas. When we come on back, we preview what's going on.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Maybe I'll steal some crab legs there, Hickey. And honor a former Buccaneers quarterback in Jamis Winston.

If you somehow win this bet where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the NFC South. And then I'll have to owe you dinner. So that would be a little bit fun if I had to go get you some crab legs there.

Do a little five finger discount. As long as you go down to the same supermarket in Tallahassee that Jamis went to. I don't like crab legs. But if you want to make the trip down and get them and steal them, you know what? I'll eat crab legs.

That would be such a Hickey thing. I don't like crab legs. Have you ever tried them?

Let me guess. I have had crab before. I like crab dip. I'm in for crab dip. Crab itself.

That would be like a Maggie and Pearl Off bet where I have to drive down to Tallahassee to find the supermarket where Jamis Winston stole the crab legs. Would you rather that or have to eat Skyline Chili without your hands? Skyline Chili without my hands.

Without a doubt. Like a dog just going in there like a bull. Chili's great.

Skyline Chili, right, is phenomenal. You put your hands behind your back and you just get a little bit messy. I'd prefer you making the trip down to Tallahassee, getting arrested, getting crab legs and actually you know what? You're right. Having your hands behind your back just this time in handcuffs.

That changes the conversation. Me actually having to get arrested. We don't have to get arrested, but if you're good at it, you won't.

But if you're bad at it like Jamis Winston, I mean. Well, if I'm going down to Tallahassee, you know, in that area in Florida, it's not as if I could just wear a North Face there and try to smuggle the crab legs. That would be, it would be tough. Maybe you got to give a little heads up. Maybe Mike Norvell can tip off the police down there now that Mike Norvell has been a friend of the show.

That is true. And say, hey, look, I'm coming down. You just do me a favor here. I'm going to do a Jamis Winston 2.0. Have the cops look the other way, please. As much as I like Mike Norvell, he would not be the coach that I would go to to try to bail me out of potentially going to jail. Wouldn't it be Urban Meyer? Urban Meyer would probably have the whole playbook to try to make me a jail time. Well, the only issue with that is Urban does that only for select players. Are you an elite player?

I would think so. He protects the elite, the non-elite. Well, actually, I said some things that Urban Meyer probably doesn't like throughout the year.

So he might, he might be actually the first one there ready to arrest you. All right. So I have to suck up to a college football coach this year that has a history of maybe getting players off the hook with law enforcement. So we'll see how that goes down.

All right. NFC playoff predictions right now. NFC East. I'm going with the Philadelphia Eagles.

This is a very easy pick. It's no disrespect to the Dallas Cowboys. On paper, the Cowboys have a phenomenal team, but the Eagles are just absolutely loaded. They have a phenomenal quarterback, the two pass catchers in A.J. Brown and then also Devante Smith. You know, Dallas Goddard's one of the more underrated tight ends in the league, the best offensive line in football and a defense that, yes, they lost both their offensive and defensive coordinator, which Jonathan Gano, I think, got too much criticism last year in Philadelphia.

Now, it's not me saying he should be a head coach because he creeps me out and I don't believe in him as a head coach and just look at that pump up speech that was a deflating speech the other day and very weird. But I look at the Eagles just even with all they lost, even some of the talent they lost on defense, they're still loaded both sides of the ball. Eagles win the NFC East.

I am a tiny, just tiny bit worried about the coordinator switches, especially offensively when you did have Shane Seiken calling the plays. Otherwise, I'm with the Eagles when the NFC East, they were division champs running back and I'd be the first repeat champ since I think the Eagles won it from 0-1 to 0-4. 0-4?

Yeah. Fitting the Eagles would be the first team to do it since they did it. Let's go to the next pick and that is the NFC, the NFC North. When I look at the NFC North, I think this team has been one of the more disrespected teams in football. I don't think they're great, but this was a team that had 13 wins.

I know we looked at that and said it was kind of fugazi. They will regress, but I think people believe they're going to regress where it all comes crumbling down, crashing and burning. They'll regress to a 10-win team this year. I think 10-7 wins that division. Their defense was god awful last year. Can you just get to being a top 20 defense? That's something that we'll have to wait and see, but you look at the offensive side of the ball for this team, even without Dalvin Cook, they just have so many pieces. I think the Minnesota Vikings win the NFC North.

The hype is there and I'm drinking the Kool-Aid. Detroit Lions break through. They kind of pick up where they left off after their 8-2 finish. They win the NFC North. Let's go.

Let's go, Dan Campbell. You bite off some kneecaps, drink a bunch of coffee. You know what? The coffee, he's going to beat that. I can't do more than one cup, I got a headache, so I give him a lot of credit. Are you a coffee-drinking guy?

Yes. I usually see you with tea around the office, not coffee. Well, coffee in the morning.

Coffee in the morning, I like tea in the afternoon. What time are you drinking your coffee? Right when I wake up.

I need it, right? Boom. As soon as I wake up, boom. What time do you usually wake up? Between 8.30 and 9.

Okay. I kind of wait. The earliest I'll get my coffee is about 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

I get my workout in, I then try to eat my lunch, and it depends on the way to lunch. Do I go get the coffee or do I wait until after lunch? You wake up, no coffee, huh?

Yeah. Interesting. I used to never drink coffee. Same. Until I did the weekend over and I had to drive back to Philly, that's when I would start to drink coffee, and then now I'm addicted to coffee. Interesting. Where if I don't have a cup of coffee, I kind of feel like naked and lost. So you're addicted, but not until like 1 o'clock in the afternoon most days. Yeah.

I function pretty well when I get out of bed, I go within an hour right to the gym downstairs in my building, get about an hour in on the elliptical, bring back the weights now, start to get back into lifting, and away we go, and then have coffee later in the day. So I'm going Vikings, you're going Lions for the NFC North. The NFC South. You want to make your pick?

Are you going to make it official here? You heard the rejoining. Buccaneers, Tampa Bay led by Baker Mayfield winning this division.

No mustache on me. I feel if I had to make, if I had to take a get, well, I know that you're picking the Falcon, you're picking the Buccaneers to win the division, and then you're picking the Rams also to make the playoffs. I got to put a big wager on the box to lose out in that division.

I do have one, you know, get out of jail, get out of free cards. You don't have the cojones, you don't have the brains to say, okay, I'm going away from the LA Rams. I'm going with the Falcons. I don't want to pick the Saints.

I don't believe in Derek Carr. The Panthers offensive line I thought was going to be a strength looked really bad in preseason, they don't have enough weapons around Bryce Young, someone I really like. I do like their defense for Carolina, but I look at the Falcons, I'm going to go with the speed of that offense when you have a Drake London, you got Bijan Robinson, Tyler Algier, I know Desmond Ritter is a concern, Kyle Pitts, he's got to have a big season for them, and he's got to stay healthy, and I think that defense will be improved. I will go with the Atlanta Falcons to win the NFC South. And then the NFC West, I'm going with the 49ers, assuming you're doing the same big boy, right?

That is correct. Okay, let's go to the wildcard teams here in the NFC. Take the Dallas Cowboys. They will be the first wildcard team in the NFC, they'll be the fifth overall seed. I go Eagles, 49ers, Vikings, Falcons in that order, one through four, and my first wildcard team, the Dallas Cowboys.

I am in full agreement, Cowboys fifth and first wildcard team. A team that you can't stand, a coach that embarrassed you last year, Pete Carroll, Geno Smith, even if there's some regression, I don't think it's going to be massive. They have too much talent on the offensive side of the ball with Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet, Metcalf, Lockett, Jackson Smith, and Jigba, who is now back off the wrist surgery. Defensively, they have a really good young up and coming secondary.

You have Bobby Wagner back, I like Brooks. I will take the Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs for the second year in a row without Russell Wilson, and they will be the sixth seed in the NFC postseason. I will take the Minnesota Vikings.

I'm with you in the sense that they're not going to win 13 games again, but people thinking that they're going to be a seven and 10 team and just totally, you know, kind of flopped this year, I think are also mistaken, they're going to the playoffs sixth seed. So for the seventh seed here in the final wildcard spot in the NFC, I thought this was the most difficult prediction because you look around, you have to consider, in my opinion, the Lions. I could consider the Saints. I could consider the Green Bay Packers. No one else in the NFC West because the Rams are going to be horrible and also the Cardinals are going to be horrible.

And then you look inside the NFC East and the Giants made the playoffs last year. They brought him down while this off season. They brought in Bobby Okereke on the defensive side of the ball, Saquon's back, Daniel Jones played well. I like Brian Deball, but for some reason, I'm going to go with the commanders. And I know that you have the Mclaurin foot injury already, the turf toe. I like Jahan Dotson a lot. You have Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson, Sam Howell is a big question mark defensively. That front seven has to play better this year, they just have too much talent. The part that concerns me about the commanders is actually Ron Rivera, because I don't like what he said about Eric Bienemey.

It made no sense whatsoever why you would air that publicly, and then also admit that you didn't know what the heck Sam Howell was until the final game of the season. But I look at that commanders team, I think the Giants and commanders swap places. I'm not as high on the lines everyone else is going to be. I think they'll be fine, but everyone's already crowning them and that does concern me. So I kind of hold my nose with this last prediction and I will take the commanders in Josh Harris's first season as the owner of the Washington commanders.

And I'll say a little, we are commanders, and put the commanders as the final wildcard spot. Emmanuel just looked at me like I had eight heads. Trust me, that's not something I usually say that was from the one fan that did it outside of the ticket box. No, it sounded good.

Yeah. It kind of surprised me, but it sounded good. It did not sound good whatsoever. You have a good voice, I have a good voice as well, but the we are commanders, that just never sounds good. I don't think anybody could bring out the best in their voice doing that. You bring Taylor Swift or Beyonce to the show, I think it would be good. Yeah, get a singer in here, a real vocalist.

Not Zach Gelb and Emmanuel Barnes, you want to try it? We are commanders. Can you give me a little more NFL Films voice? Go a little bit deeper there. Make it more dramatic.

We are commanders. Hickey with the autumn wind. That sounds like a little NFL Films right there. Emmanuel said the bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum sounded very good. I like that. It did.

I think that was the best part of it. You're right. It does not sound good no matter who says it.

It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Can you just say, so we both picked the Bengals to go to the Super Bowl. Can you just say the Bengals are going back to the Super Bowl? The Bengals are going back to the Super Bowl. Man, we may have something here with Emmanuel Babari.

Fordham may be pumping out another great voiceover guy. So Hickey, who's your final wildcard team here? I'm assuming you're going with the Rams.

Look. I've talked highly about the Rams. You know me. I'm one that is usually someone who does not jump off very easily, usually does not kind of go against what they say.

You have been generous enough to offer an olive branch, if you will, of a get out of jail free card Cooper Cup. I mean, I hope it's one game, it does not look like it's going to be one game right now. This is a very thin team. A lot of the reasons why I picked this team were they were top heavy and I liked a lot of the star players, but I will acknowledge the depth is poor to say the least. That said though, my feet are planted on the Titanic. I am going down with the ship and you know what, I got to live with myself. And the only way I'm going to live myself is if I stick with the Rams. I'd rather pick the Rams, have them go five and 12, then jump off the bandwagon now like a rat, have them go 12 and five, make the playoffs and not look like a fool. I will not be able to sleep at night knowing I gave up on a team I shouldn't have when at least my initial thought was correct.

So I could be completely wrong here. I am accepting it, okay with it. Rams, seventh and final playoff team. Big voiceover guy, Emmanuel Babari. Can we try one more out here? Sure. Can you give me the deep NFL films voice saying Ryan Hickey is a moron?

Ryan Hickey is a moron. I love that. That's good. Oh my God, the laugh was even kind of, you could have like a good Dr. Evil laugh I feel like. I've gotten made fun of a few times for that. You have a creepy laugh?

That was a running joke in high school that I had like the Dr. Evil, it wasn't a real laugh. It was. Can I hear the creepy laugh here?

Can I manufacture it? Let's see. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, like I can't, I can't force it. As long as NFL films never makes you do a creepy laugh, I think you could easily get employed there.

I got to train myself on that. So here are the picks in the NFC. I'm going Eagles is the one seed, Niners is the two, Vikings is the three, Falcons is the four, my wildcard teams, Cowboys, Seahawks, Commanders, Hickey has the Eagles winning the NFC East, the Niners winning the NFC West, he has the Lions winning the NFC North, and then he has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the NFC South.

So did I just butcher that completely, Hickey? Did I get that right on you? Lions North and then the Bucks in the South, correct?

And the Niners in the West. Okay. Hickey's wildcard teams are the Cowboys, Vikings, and Rams.

Alrighty. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Real quick, your NFC title game is going chalk again.

Chalk again. Rematch of last year, Eagles, 49ers, which I would love if Devo Samuel has a big drop pass in that game. That would be fun. I'm going to go Eagles and Cowboys. I would take the Eagles and the Cowboys in the NFC championship game and the Philadelphia Eagles will advance to the Super Bowl. So that gives me a Bengals-Eagles-Super Bowl. Your Super Bowl pick, you already have the Bengals in and who's in the NFC? Bengals-Niners.

They get back, they slay the dragon in Philly, Brock Purdy's healthy, they are going back to the Super Bowl. Oh my goodness gracious. Are you really doing that just to annoy me here? You're taking the side of Devo Samuel? I am taking the side in this instance of Devo Samuel. That is correct. Okay.

I'm going to have a producer position open coming up. I think Pete Bellotti's head just exploded by just me saying those words right now because I'll have to sit through another 452 interviews with this comprehensive process to see who figures out to replace Sean Morash in the morning on the DA show. So alrighty, we'll take a break. Hickey is going the Bengals and the Niners in the Super Bowl.

I am going the Bengals and the Eagles. When we come on back, we'll tell you who wins the Super Bowl and we'll go through all the awards. Rapid Fire. Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb Show right here on CBS Sports Radio. As always, you could think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices, and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Also this portion of the show is sponsored by the United States Postal Service introducing USPS ground advantage, reliable, and affordable two to five day package shipping.

The United States Postal Service. So we have made our playoff predictions here. And I have the Cincinnati Bengals going to the Super Bowl up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hickey has the Cincinnati Bengals going to the Super Bowl up against the San Francisco 49ers before we get to who's going to win the Super Bowl, MVP, coach of the year, defensive player of the year, offensive player of the year, comeback player of the year, offensive rookie of the year, and defensive rookie of the year. Remember our pal Sully from the last two Super Bowls and then also the draft?

Of course. Sully is listening to us right now. Where do you think Sully is right now? Sully goes all over the world. Where do you think Sully is vacationing right now?

I'm going to say Spain. He just texted me tuning in from France. Nice.

So it's 2 36 a.m. right now. Sully listening to the Zach Gelb show from France. Absolutely love that. That's why I love Sully. And also like when you hang out with him, he's the greatest human being on like the face of the earth.

He's just a tremendous dude. All right. Super Bowl. I will let you go first once again, reiterate your matchup and who's winning the whole damn thing. The Bengals, Niners, Joe Burr and the Bengals won the Super Bowl. We had the same Super Bowl pick. You're taking Cincy too? Yeah. Cincy against the Eagles and I'm taking the Bengals.

Wow. Eagles two years in a row fallen short. So this is either going to go one or two ways. One, I avoid the hickey hex and the mush and then you just held onto my pockets to try to give you a right prediction or you're going to take me down with you.

And the Bengals are going to have an all-time bad season. No, I think if any, the Gelb, you don't even have a thing to say right here. I know nothing rhymes with Gelb.

The Gelb goo tears me down, suffocates me and takes my right picks down. I don't know. There's a track record here.

Alrighty. MVP of the NFL. Who are you going with? Man who just won the Super Bowl, Joe Burrow gets his first. I'm taking Aaron Rodgers. We'll have a big year in New York, we'll throw for 40 touchdown passes. Jets won't win the division, but Aaron Rodgers is going to be your league MVP this year. Let's go to offensive player of the year, which is basically turned into the best non-quarterback on the offensive side of the ball. Your offensive player of the year is? The receiver chasing 2,000 yards, Tyreek Hill. How?

How about that? Now you will admit that he's not going to get 2,000 yards because he also has Jalen Waddle. So that will prevent it, but big year enough to win the award. So I look at a team that has a question mark at the quarterback. And I like to make this pick where the non-quarterback is also their best offensive player, even when you factor in the quarterback position on the roster. But you know, I'd like to go with the non-quarterback for offensive player of the year and question marks with the 49ers quarterback position, even though it's going to be Brock Purdy to start.

But is he going to be able to recreate that magic from a year ago? And their best offensive player is Christian McCaffrey. I will take Christian McCaffrey to be healthy two years in a row, and he will win the offensive player of the year. Defensive player of the year.

Hickey, who do you got? Micah Parsons, I believe is my pick last year, came close, this is the year he breaks through, gets the award. I'm going Hassan Redick, Hassan Redick the last three years. I know he just suffered injury, but he's going to be good for week one up against the New England Patriots, but Hassan Redick the last three years, back to back to back, 10 plus sack seasons.

I believe Hassan Redick has another monster year this year for the Philadelphia Eagles and he will win the defensive player of the year. Coach of the year, who you going with? The QB whisperer himself, Sean Payton, comes in, saves the day, turns a decrepit franchise or an embarrassing franchise into a playoff team. Broncos fans right now hate your guts. After you said, Nathaniel Hackett's going to be a top three coach of the year candidate and now you're going back to the well with the Broncos and it's going to be Sean Payton. But that was blind faith last year, more belief in Russell Wilson and I will say that was kind of Nathaniel Hackett riding the coattails of Russ and everyone else, clearly that flopped. Sean's in charge. I'm just amazed.

Different, different year. I'm really amazed how optimistic you are with the Broncos, the Rams, and the Bucks. I give you credit because I don't know how you talk up those three teams. Well I think to me the Broncos is easier. The Rams are definitely the hardest of the three, but...

They really got nothing on offense. I'm going to believe in the coach. Outside of Russ, who's a big question mark, and I know how good of a coach Sean Payton is, I called him a hall of famer to start off this show, Jerry, Judy's your best wide receiver.

He's more of a junior. Sean Payton, already talking him up. That was my dark horse rookie of the year draft. We did our offensive rookie of the year draft.

Look out. So he will have like four catches on the year for about like 25 yards. Offensive, excuse me, coach of the year, I have to give you mine. Doug Peterson. Doug Peterson, all this guy does is win and get disrespected. Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, then got back to the playoffs the next two seasons, lost his job, goes to Jacksonville, year one, team back to back number one overall picks and gets them to the playoffs and wins a playoff game and a great comeback up against the Los Angeles Chargers and they lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.

I think the Jaguars will be the number two seed in the AFC. I think Doug Peterson is going to win coach of the year this season. Comeback player of the year, it's got to be Damar Hamlin.

I don't even think how this one's up for debate. When you look at what we saw in that Monday night game, which is the scariest moment of my broadcasting life, and I'm watching that and I thought he died on the football field. It is surreal to me that he's able to walk. It is surreal to me that he's cleared to play.

When you look how he made the roster, he is easily going to be comeback player of the year this season. And I don't even see how anyone could even debate this. I'm assuming you're going Damar Hamlin as well.

I got nothing. I am with you a million percent. And as it says in your bio, you're a natural contrarian.

So usually you're looking to go the other way. But in this case, I don't see how anyone with a brain could say that it's not going to be Damar Hamlin. Offensive rookie of the year, I picked the Falcons to win the division. I'm starting to consider it to be those Zay Flowers that wins the offensive rookie of the year, the wide receiver for the Ravens, because I love the way that he's gelling with all the videos that I see with the teammates. But I'm going to go with Bijan Robinson. We'll see how that offense has worked, because Tyler Algier did have a really good year a season ago.

But you know, when you get drafted in the top 10, you're going to be using a big time way, especially at the state of that position where it's run you into the ground and then hope to not give you the extension after five years or franchise tag you and make it seven years and then maybe your career is almost over. But I will go Bijan Robinson, offensive rookie of the year. I'm going Bryce Young is going to put this Panthers team on his back, not leave him to the playoffs, but have me respectable and do a lot of it on his own. See, I just don't see how Bryce Young is going to win the award. And I'm big on Bryce Young.

And you don't need to make the playoffs to win this award. And you're not that optimistic, but that offense aligns got some problems. You don't have much at wide receiver. And Miles Sanders, I think, is an overrated running back.

So I'll see how that shapes up. I believe in Bryce Young, but I look at that offense and I just do not like what I'm seeing so far outside of the quarterback position. And finally, defensive rookie of the year. I'm going with Christian Gonzalez. I'm shocked that he's still on my football team. I thought for sure he'd be a top ten pick in the draft.

He wasn't. I think Christian Gonzalez is going to be using a big time way for the Patriots. The Patriots won't be any good this year, but I think Christian Gonzalez is going to have a bunch of interceptions and he'll win defensive rookie of the year. Arguably the best value pick in the draft. I like this pick that you're making. I know exactly what you're doing. Jalen Carter.

Yep. It's a good pick by you. Jalen Carter. And you go to a place that gets the benefit of the doubt now all the time with the way that they're run in the Philadelphia Eagles. So we're both taking the Bengals to win the Super Bowl MVP. I go Aaron Rodgers, Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey, Defensive Player of the Year Hassan Reddick, Coach of the Year Doug Peterson, Comeback Player of the Year Damar Hamlin, Offensive Rookie of the Year Bijan Robinson, and Defensive Rookie of the Year Christian Gonzalez. It is the Zach Gilp show on CBS Sports Radio as we just previewed the entire NFL season. When we come on back, QBs under the most pressure entering this year.

I got a list of five for you. Come on back. One more hour to play. We'll be right back here on CBS Sports Radio.