Deion Daggers Keep Flying (Hour 1)

Fall is just around the corner and home is the center of it all. At Ashley, seasonal decorating's a breeze with their range of designs and materials. Snuggle up on a family-friendly sectional or an ultra-modern sofa. Or gather outside and enjoy the crisp, cool air with a new fire pit or conversation set. From minor refreshes to total overhauls, Ashley has the essentials to make your home fall functional and fabulous.

Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. Live from the play show, you're not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the tenth floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great local 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 old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Channing Crowder, who's everywhere these days inside the NFL. You can hear him, Hochman and Crowder on 560WQAM. Also, one of the co-hosts on the Pivot podcast is going to stop by 20 minutes from now and we'll chat it up with the former NFL linebacker. And there's a whole lot to do today. We'll talk a bunch about Deion Sanders. We'll get to that in just a second. But first up, producing this extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Kiki.

I don't know about that Hot Take Kiki. There are just some weekends in college football where the games on paper aren't that good. Like if I had to get you jacked up this weekend for college football, we're talking about Penn State, Illinois, South Carolina against Georgia. You have Tennessee going up against Florida.

There's not a lot of big time signature games. If you want to tell me maybe Wyoming, Texas is intriguing because Wyoming defeated Texas Tech to open up the season after being down 17-0. And we know Quinn Ewers really put Texas back in that conversation of teams that you're really intrigued about because Texas beat up on Alabama last week.

Okay. But here's what you need to know about college football this weekend. All the shows are going to Colorado. And it's the Deion Sanders factor where this sport right now, it's Deion, Deion, Deion and more Deion. But when you go to Colorado, you're at least expecting another big program to be there. And it's now crazy. This is a program that won one game a year ago.

Deion's already doubled that. And now we're saying Colorado is a big program because of who their coach is in coach prime. But like last weekend, I know Nebraska is not in a great state right now, but at least that's a football program that has so much tradition. When I see Colorado's playing Colorado State this weekend at 10 p.m. Eastern and the game's on ESPN.

You got McAfee going out there. You have the game day guys going out there. You have big noon kickoff going out there as well.

When you look at all the studio shows going there, it just shows you how much people are craving Deion Sanders and how much he's really taken the sport by storm. Like if you told me that they're all going to Colorado next week or in two weeks for the USC game, I get it. Or they go to Eugene, Oregon for Colorado up against the Oregon Ducks.

Those are two games that everyone would love to be at. But now Colorado, Colorado State has become a game where it's just more so of not that they're just going there because Deion is there. But because the head coach at Colorado State, Jay Norvell, who's been on the show before and we reached out to Jay today. And we also reached out to Colorado State.

They politely declined to come on. But Jay Norvell has provided a lot more intrigue than there was going into this actual game. Where Colorado is already a 23 point favorite in the game.

We expect Colorado to blow out Colorado State. But let's listen up. This is Jay Norvell on the Jay Norvell Coaches Show taking a shot at Deion Sanders. Here's the audio from Coach Jay Norvell. You know we had to do a bunch of ESPN videos and it was great.

I loved it. But our kids came out of those videos really with a chip on their shoulder. They're tired of all that stuff. They really are tired of it. And I sat down with the ESPN today and I don't care if they hear it in Boulder.

I told them I took my hat off and I took my glasses off and I said when I talk to grown ups I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me. So, you know, they're not going to like us no matter what we say or do. It doesn't matter. Okay? That's just how I feel about it. I'm just tired of it. I mean I'm tired of all that stuff. And I know everybody else is too. So what are there like 12 people in the background applauding Coach Jay Norvell?

What the heck was that for? You're going to go after Deion Sanders because he wears sunglasses and a hat when he talks to the media? I get Jay Norvell wanting to take a shot, put his program in the news when all the attention this week for Colorado, Colorado State is Coach Prime, Shador Sanders, Travis Hunter, Shiloh Sanders, like the entire Colorado team and no one's talking about you. And we've seen coaches go out of their way to make a name for their program or say things that gets their program in the news and shift the attention to their side of the program into the conversation. But if we're just being fully honest here, I don't think this makes Jay Norvell look any good because you're going to go after a coach because he wears sunglasses and a hat.

But what is this 1975? You need Coach Prime to be wearing a suit every time he talks to the media? So this is just, as Coach Prime would say, a bunch of bull junk.

It's a bunch of hogwash. If I was Jay Norvell, you know what I would have done? Instead of going after Coach Prime for wearing sunglasses and a hat when he talks to the media? If I was Jay Norvell, I would say I guarantee we win the game because this is what's going to happen now. You're going to lose to Colorado and all people are going to do is say the coach embarrassed himself off of going after Coach Prime for wearing a hat and sunglasses. At least if you just go out there and say you're going to guarantee and win the game, all they could clown you for is having confidence in your program? So what?

But if you're just trying to get a headline or put yourself in the news, the way that he went about this I thought was wrong. And if I'm Coach Prime, I would do one thing this weekend. I would tell all my players when they're running out of the tunnel, sunglasses and hats, hold your helmet in your hands, and I would run out onto that field in Boulder, Colorado with all my players in sunglasses and hats and walk right up to Coach Jay Norvell and shake his hand. They don't need Colorado anymore bulletin board material. And maybe Colorado could be overlooking Colorado State with the Ducks and also the Trojans right behind them.

But now this game is going to become, as Coach Prime would say, personal because Jay Norvell did something what I thought was stupid. And if you're a Colorado fan, and I know, Hickey, you love this stuff, a good college football crowd. If you're a Colorado football fan, how do you not show up to the stadium even at 10 p.m. Eastern?

Or, you know, it's Mountain Time, so 8 p.m. Mountain. How do you not show up and wear sunglasses and a hat all throughout the game and just troll Jay Norvell? That's the easiest thing that a fan could do if you're a fan of the Colorado Buffaloes for this upcoming weekend.

Let me play you Deion Sanders. This is Coach Prime responding to Jay Norvell's comments at practice. I'm minding my own business, watching some film, trying to get ready, trying to get out here and be the best coach I can be. And I look up and I read some bull junk that they done said about us.

Talk to them. Hickey, why would you want to talk about us when we don't talk about nobody? All we do is go out here, work our butts up and do our job on set. But when they give us ammunition, they done mess around and made it, what, personal? It was just going to be a good game. They done mess around and made it personal.

It was going to be a great test, the Battle of Colorado, but they done mess around and made it personal. I love that. And Hickey, I usually like to say bull crap on the air or hogwash on the air. I think we need to start using bull junk. Bull junk is great. And I love the way that Deion Sanders is basically using that. You know, a bunch of this bull junk that the coach is saying.

That's phenomenal by the head football coach of Colorado and Deion Sanders. I'm a personal bull dookie fan that he used after the TCU win, I think, in talking to Ed Werder directly. So either way, I'm with you. I like the creative ways he's choosing not to curse and dress up the word BS. I love it. I'm in. By the way, I just realized that you could probably use that against me what I just said.

Oh, I love bull junk. But the way that Coach Prime says it, can he do anything wrong right now? And you bring up a good point. The Ed Werder stuff. He was going after Ed Werder and Ed Werder didn't even say anything. I thought the Matt Rule stuff got over exaggerated. I still don't know what Matt said that was in a negative fashion to the Colorado football program.

So sometimes he blows things out of proportion. But so far, his players, they're eating up everything he says. And you could tell those players really believe in Coach Prime and they're using the underdog card.

And no one believes in us to the fullest. And right now, Deion Sanders, and this could be in the moment, but Deion Sanders is the best thing to happen in college football in a long time. Like if we're just evaluating this, this was a program that no one talked about last year. This is a program that had one win a year ago. And after two games, they've already doubled it. And now everyone is discussing them. And this week was kind of irrelevant.

Now it is relevant with the bull junk that Jay Norvell is spewing. But it's only going to pick up in intensity because they're going to be 3-0. You know that they're going to blow out and beat the living snot out of Colorado State. And then this gets really fun going up against Oregon and USC. And I said it the other day, I think they probably lose to Oregon. But then USC, I think they're winning. And I believe that's going to be a shootout.

I think it's going to be a classic game where Colorado wins 41-38. But let me get your thoughts on this, Mr. College Football Hot Take Hickey. The smack talk here, and what I thought was just petty, stupid, and pointless smack talk by the Colorado State head coach and Jay Norvell.

What did you make out of it when you heard it earlier today? So in one sense, I love coaches actually speaking what's on their mind. I hate coach speak. I hate the cliche answers. I hate the politically correct answers that they always give every single week.

It's very boring. I am pro. If you feel something, you let it rip. With that said, if I was Jay Norvell, and I know I'm about to get my butt whooped by Deion Sanders and everyone watching because he's the biggest star right now in college football, I don't think I'm going to give them any extra bull to bore material. I don't think I'm going to give them any extra reason if it's 35-0 in the fourth quarter to run it up and hang a 50 spot on me. But you understand what I'm saying, where if you're Jay Norvell, all throughout the week, all you're hearing is Deion this, Deion that, and you maybe want to get your program, a smaller program in Colorado State, getting talked about more and take advantage of this opportunity with all these media superstars being there, whether it's Shannon Sharpe, Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, all the big noon kickoff guys that are going to be there, and Mark Ingram, you have Matt Leinart, Urban Meyer. Everyone's going to be talking about Deion. Now people are going to be talking about Jay Norvell and Colorado State because of what he said.

At that rate, he would have just been better off saying, we understand the hype around Coach Prime in Colorado. We understand that everyone's thinking that we don't have a shot in this game. We're going to prove everyone wrong. I guarantee you, we're going to win the game.

And if that's the case, that would be brought up, right? You provide bulletin board material. It provides a little extra juice to the game. But if you lose, I don't think people are really clowning Jay Norvell to the extreme that they're going to be clowning him after this game comes to a close on Saturday night because as Coach Prime said, he made it personal. And what he went after Coach Prime for is so irrelevant and so stupid. Does anyone care in the year of 2023? And you're a loser if you ever cared about this. If a coach, when he's talking to grown-ups, is wearing sunglasses and a hat.

No, no one actually cares in the sunglass department for sure. But I guess the thing is, I guess I'm in the mindset of not all attention is good attention. So if you're Jay Norvell and you want some of the shine off Colorado and onto your program, the way you do it is by winning. I don't think saying this is bringing any good to your team. But he knows that's not going to happen.

He won't say that, but he knows it's not going to happen. I think you only bring more negative attention to Colorado State because it's more of an embarrassment than if you lose versus if you're quiet and you lose 35-7 when no one's thinking you're going to win. But then you didn't take advantage of all these people being out there. But at least put your program in the news for a little bit. Is he taking advantage though? If we're talking about him in a negative way, how does that work?

Right now, no. But if you guarantee victory, I think there's no harm in guaranteeing victory even if you end up losing the game. It's what a ton of small programs have done throughout the years. But this one is just so odd and so bizarre. And I like Jay Norvell when he's come on this show. We reached out to him today. They didn't want to come on. I personally think that's rather lame because I would have asked him what he was thinking about this a little bit. What was his goal when he said this? Why is he annoyed about Deion Sanders wearing sunglasses and a hat? Those are things I would have asked him and would not have shied away from. So I would have loved to hear more from him why he elected to go down this road.

But it doesn't make any sense even if you're just trying to put an exclamation mark on this game going into this game, why he elected to travel down this road of sunglasses and also a baseball cap. So here's the poll question that you can find it on Twitter at Zach Gelb at CBS Sports Radio because I know we've got to take a break. Are you rooting for Deion Sanders in Colorado this season? Early return, 75.8% say yes, 24.2% say no. You can chime in on the Jay Norvell-Deion Sanders debate and where's your rooting allegiances this year for the Colorado Buffaloes?

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. We'll take a break when we come on back. One of the big media stars right now, Shannon Crowder, will join us. Facts are facts, like how contributing to employees' financial security makes them want to work harder for their company. In fact, according to a 2023 study by principle, 87% of employers say that better employee financial security means employees are more engaged and productive at work. The fact of the matter is that employees want to feel financially secure in their future.

So consider this. Principle helps you invest in your employees by providing customized benefits and retirement plans to help keep your employees more engaged and productive. When you take care of your team, they take care of business.

That's a fact. Learn how Principle can help you find the right benefits and retirement plan for your team at principle.com slash benefits. Products and services offered by member companies of the Principle Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa.

For important information, visit principle.com slash disclosures. Imagine you're looking at a balancing scale with everything you do for other people on one side and everything you do for yourself on the other side. If it isn't balanced, maybe it's time to spend a little more time on you. And therapy is a great place to start. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can help you find that balance and stick to it. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash positive. I'm here to tell you about Pom Pom at Home where comfort meets elegance. Pom Pom at Home is offering 20% off site wide for a limited time. See why so many of the top designers use Pom Pom's luxury easy care bedding.

They have created a timeless, beautiful, coastal living look that incorporates subtle tones and natural fibers offering a unique touch. Create your dream bed now. Get 20% off sheets, duvets, throws, and more right now at pompomathome.com. Easy to use, easy to love luxury bedding.

Just enter code POMPOM at checkout. No one wants to get sidelined by COVID-19, including me. I've got my work, my family.

I want to be able to keep my plans. I'm getting this season's COVID-19 shot. It helps protect against COVID-19, which can cause severe illness and hospitalization.

Learn about eligibility and schedule your COVID-19 shot on the CDC site vaccines.gov. Sponsored by Pfizer and BioNTech. Oh, look, look who's here. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, we continue this Zach Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. I've known my next guest for a long time, the former Miami Dolphins linebacker, now superstar in the media world with the Pivot Podcast, Mr.

Inside the NFL as well. And I do a weekly segment in football season in his radio program on 560WQAM, Hochman and Crowder. That, of course, is the great Channing Crowder. Channing, how you doing, my friend? I'm good, Zach. I see you with the hat off, man.

You got the frat boy, little moose pushover. You look good, man. I ain't seen you like this before. Yeah, you know, and I have to get into work a little bit extra early to do your segment each and every week, and Solana's like, can you pop on Zoom? I go, ah, do I really have to do my hair and all that? Let me get the ball cap on. And I'll tell you this, next time I come on, maybe I'll wear sunglasses and a baseball cap and see if you guys will talk to me with this whole Deion Sanders, Jay Norvell situation.

This is wild. Oh, yeah, man. You know, deep, bro, Prime is going to do it, and he speaks of himself in third person, so I'm going to do it. He calls himself Prime. I'm going to call him Prime, Zach.

Prime is going to do things differently, bro. What he's doing with Colorado right now, ranked after turning over 80-plus players in his program, it's not going to be a trend because only Prime can do it, but, man, Prime's going to do what he wants to. I honestly, speaking of Norvell, speaking of Florida State, thanks, I think Prime was upset they didn't offer him that job, and that's why he's lashing out and that's why when he was on something and they played it and he didn't want to take credit. They were like, you're a Seminole. He was like, no, I'm not a Seminole.

You see where I graduated from. I believe Prime is upset that Florida State didn't offer him that job, but right now, bro, I'm a gator. Florida State is the best team in the state. Florida State, they turn that thing around.

They can play ball. Well, now with Jay Norvell, the head coach at Colorado State this week, talking about Deion Sanders, where, you know, I'll take his sunglasses off and his baseball cap off with the whole grown man when you talk to people's comments, I don't even get what Jay Norvell is doing right now at Colorado State. If you're going to talk smack and try to put your small program on the map up against Coach Prime, like, just go guarantee victory. It doesn't make sense what the head coach at Colorado State did. Yeah, Zach, I went to Norvell.

I went to the other Norvell. But, yeah, the Jay Norvell thing, bro, you have to fight back. When you see what Prime does on social media and you see all the stuff he's doing for his team, and that pregame speech last week, I don't know if y'all saw it, like, that's big boy stuff. Like, that, you know, I always talk about, like, a pregame speech, when you're in the NFL, Zach, like, I don't need a pregame speech. Everybody pay me $70,000 to go tackle somebody. I'm about to go play.

But as kids in college, 18 to 22-year-olds, it gets them going. Jay is, he's trying to match the energy, which is cute and all, but you just can't match it. Like, I talked about what Prime's doing with Colorado.

You can't match what Prime's doing out there. And I just think he's trying his best to get a terrible team going that's about to get their ass whooped here in a couple days. No doubt about that. Channing Crowder is here with us.

We were talking about this before the show started. If you take all the quarterbacks and push them aside, is Tyree Kill right now the most feared man in the NFL? Oh, yeah, especially how Mike McDaniels is using him.

But, bro, he runs a 4-2-9. Like, the way they're using him, and if you're watching, they're motioning him the same side of the ball. They're not motioning him to see if they're a man of his own. They're motioning him to get at him.

They're giving him a head start, almost like Arena League. They're motioning him out to get him at full speed when he breaks the line of scrimmage. And you're a corner on the outside that runs a 4-4, 4-5, and Tyree's at 4-2 before he breaks the line of scrimmage. What are you going to do? Are you going to sit on that end cut, or are you going to play it deep? Because he's going to catch all those crossing routes. He's going to catch all that stuff he's doing. He's the most feared offense player in the league right now.

There are some greats out there, I'm not going to lie. There's Devontae Adams can ball, but he's not that fast. There's just Justin Jefferson's a monster.

He's not that fast, Zach. There are some guys that can play receiver and running backs. If you can't catch them all in the backfield right now, you ain't get paid. But right now, you can bring all the receivers up in the league. I guarantee, if you ask a cornerback, the last guy he wants to cover is the guy that runs a 4-2, that's running a 4-2 before the ball snaps, and I got to decide if I'm going to bail or I'm going to sit on one of these end routes.

And Mike McDaniels figured that out. He's doing an amazing job right now of utilizing him. Hell yeah. And his 4-2, Zach, you know Tyree's 4-2, if you want to lean that way, Jalen Watto runs a 4-3.

Go ahead and go over there. Put all your efforts on Tyree, and you had a guy that runs a 4-3 on the other side. The Dolphin offense should be very explosive, and to Ron Armstead's coming back this week, where I want to give a shout-out to Kendall Lamb, Liam Eichenberg, who held down that left side last week, but the Miami Dolphin offense is about to be special, bro.

Talking to Shannon Crowder right now. So we were talking about this the other day when I was on your show, the ceiling for the Dolphins this year. It's all dependent on the health of the quarterback and Tua Tunga-Viloa. If Tua's healthy this year, how far can you see the Dolphins going this season? They'll for sure compete in AFC. And I think that week one overreaction to something, where I know the Bengals, they're going to get it together, because Joe Burrow and Chase and T and all them boys, I know a lot of them, they're going to figure it out. The Buffalo Bills, I think, are on the downturn.

I really believe that AFC East is the Dolphins because now the adjustment out of Aaron Rodgers is nothing. He was Zach Wilson. Zach Wilson, he couldn't win Connect Four at my house if he wanted to.

My son and daughter would beat him. Zach Wilson's not that guy. And then I think the Bills are on the downturn, so the AFC East, I believe the Dolphins will win, but just overall in the AFC, don't discount the Kansas City Chiefs. Don't look at... Travis Kelce had, I think, 152 targets last year. Do you think those balls in the fourth quarter were going to Kadarius damn Tony, Zach, or they were going to go to Travis Kelce?

Exactly what Kadarius Tony was doing, they're called level routes, level crossers. He was running the Travis Kelce routes, and he's fast and he can get open, but we saw he can't catch. So don't discount the Chiefs, but right now the Dolphins can compete, and the hashtag of the year, Zach, is if Tua stays healthy.

Yeah. If Tua Tagovailoa is on the field for 17 games, we're going to speak about him in the MVP race. You saw 466 yards, three touchdowns. That interception, it was almost like a punt.

He just threw it up in the air because it was third long. He is a monster if he's healthy, and with McDaniel and all those weapons he has, this offense can get in the 30s, maybe 40s every game, and his defense is going to tighten up with Vic Fangio. The Dolphins ceiling is really winning the AFC and maybe going to the Super Bowl.

Hashtag if Tua stays healthy. Let me ask you about some of the games this weekend. Chiefs and Jaguars.

You talked about it. Chiefs lose the opening game of the season. They're 0-1. Now they're going into Duval, going up against a Jaguars team that I still think is underrated with what they did a year ago. Are the Chiefs in danger here of going 0-2, or do you think they bounce back this week?

Oh, for sure. Is Travis playing? I haven't seen any updates, but if Travis is not playing, they're for sure.

They're for sure. Trevor Lawrence, we're going to talk about him in the conversation with the Jalen Hurts coming up. We're going to talk about him in the conversation with the Patrick Mahomes. Trevor Lawrence is an amazing football player. He is a generational talent, and he is going to get those guys, and now Calvin Ridley, they have their Travis ETN, and I was just talking about the running backs, Zach. If you look at the running backs now that are balling, look at what Bijan Robinson did in Atlanta.

His first NFL touchdown was a reception, and boy, he put that safety on skates, and then he ran over two other guys and just got the hell on. You look at what Kyle Shanahan does in San Francisco with Christian McCaffrey. You look at the running backs that are thriving right now, and they're receiving running backs. Travis ETN is right there with them.

Travis ETN is a dog that can play, so you have all those weapons. You add Calvin Ridley. You add, who is it? Christian Kirk, you got it? Yeah, Evan Ingram. Kurt Kirk, Evan Ingram. They have weapons there, and Trevor Lawrence can make every single play.

I think this is the resurgence. You know my man Fred Taylor off our podcast, The Pivot. Fred is so excited about this team right now, and on defense, there are no sloshes either. That damn Josh Allen, and it's about to turn into the real Josh Allen with how Josh Allen's starting to play three interceptions on prime time.

That guy can play. The Jaguars are one of those teams that are about to turn it around, and for sure, the Chiefs broke, and I just said it. Don't discount the Chiefs. Patrick Mahones is going to figure out a way to win, but this back-to-back, losing to the Lions, which they shouldn't have if Travis Kelce was playing, but also, man, it's a hell of a schedule they're playing, so they can go 0-2. I still believe the Chiefs make the playoffs if they go 0-2, but it is a very good chance that they go 0-2 starting the season. I know that the Ravens won last week.

It was up against the Texans. The Bengals coming off that beatdown by the Cleveland Browns, but the Ravens, they just have that feeling that the injuries are going to keep on going to bite them and be the death of that team. You've already seen now J.K. Dobbins is out for the year. Are you buying into the Ravens, or is it, oh, they just have so many guys that have been hurt throughout the years. I can't believe those guys are going to stay healthy throughout the season.

I'm buying into the Ravens because I know what John Harbaugh can do, and I've heard people discount their defense. My goodness, bro, you have Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen right there in the middle. Roquan had 16 damn tackles, a sack.

I think, what, two tackles for, oh, this man is a beast. This defense can play ball, and I actually, I'm a name-dropper, Zach. I'm a name-dropper.

One out of your pockets, I know that. When I was on your show yesterday, you were waiting for me to mention that Ryan Clark was sitting right behind you. You were begging me to mention him.

He was, he was. I'm a name-dropper. Zay Flowers. I actually coached Zay in high school.

Oh, did you really? Zay was my nickel cornerback, but he didn't know it. He played safety, he played nickel, he played outside linebacker, he played defensive end. He is just a stupid athlete. Zay Flowers.

Oh, yeah, Beckham Jr. Zay Flowers was the best people on that team. I'll say it. We saw it. He can do it. So, what they have with Lamar, and now trying to utilize weapons, where Odell's going to have some big games, Zay's going to have some, I think Zay will be the rookie, rookie offensive player of the year, the newcomer of the year.

I do believe in the Ravens, but because I think people are underestimating their defense, underestimating what they can do defensively, the Ravens are never walking into a season when they can't hold teams under 20. They're going to put something together, hold teams under 20. Lamar got his money, he's happy.

Now he has weapons. J.K. Dobbins, I feel sorry for the young kids, two years in a row now, seizing their injuries, but that's what the league's about, Zach. Availability is better than ability. If your ass can't be on that field, we don't need you. I know it personally, where my injuries got me out of the league, the Ravens are built for old school football. Run game, toughness. You have a running quarterback, but if this defense can be what I believe it can be with the leadership they have in the Linebacking Corps, and if they can get into those, because nowadays you're never going to hold a team to 20-some points. If you're scoring 18 to 23 points a game, you're going to lose. If you can start scoring high 20s, low 30s, even getting to 40-some games, Zach, those are the teams that are going to win. If you look at it with the Eagles, who didn't have a great offensive performance, that's why they're about to beat the hell out of somebody tonight. Their offense is going to blow up tonight. I believe that. But if you cannot score in the 30s and 40s on games, you can't win in this NFL.

And it's not what I love. I'm an old school 2002 Derrick Brooks Buccaneers. I'm a 2000 Ravens, Ray Lewis guy. I love 09 Steelers.

I'll give Ryan Clarkson some love. Those 09 Steelers, bro, they were holding teams to 12 and 14 points a game. It is impossible in this new NFL. So now your offense got to get into the 30s if you're really going to compete.

Now, you're always honest, Shannon Crowder. Let's say you were in that Cowboys locker room. We know how great that Cowboys defense is.

But the last two years in the postseason, the quarterback has held them back. What would be your honest assessment of Dak Prescott if you were in that locker room? I would call Dak to the side. If I was in the locker room, my honest assessment of Dak is he's never going to win a Super Bowl. He's not good enough. I'm not a fan of Dak.

I've been saying it for years. He's going to mess up in the big moments. But if I was a Vander Esch, who plays my position, if I was a D-Law, if I was a Michael Parsons, who's a good friend of mine, I would invite him to a nice dinner. I would sit him down, Dak, and I would tell him, you're the problem of why we're not winning. This defense, bro, they brought in Stephon Gilmore to put on the opposite side of Trevon Diggs. Like, they have Malik Hooker was over there, Vander Esch and Harper, a linebacker who both can play. That front four, Dante Fowler is a backup on that defense.

Bro, this defense is a monster defense. You have all these all pros. Zach Martin is going to the Hall of Fame. Smith, the tackle, he's a Hall of Fame-type player.

You have all this talent. Tony Pollard, C.D. Lamb. You're bringing Brandon Cooks, who's a blazer. Bro, I love this roster. And you know what's going to happen, is what I say all the time, Zach, there's going to be a playoff game. You're going to be down by four.

It's going to be a minute and 37 seconds left on the clock, and your ass got to go get a touchdown. And, Zach, I mean, Dak is not going to do it. I've watched Dak fail over and over again. The 49, if you say the two numbers, 40 and 9 to Dak, he can't sleep that night. Zach, we've watched it two years in a row.

You're right. You're going to put some people that can rush on him, and Dak is not going to be able to perform there. The problem with the Cowboys is their overpaid quarterback, Dak Prescott. I've said it a hundred times, and I do not believe Dak will ever get a ring on his right finger. Somebody married him. He's a good-looking dude. He's very smart.

But I don't believe Dak can get a ring if he's the starting quarterback. Last thing I'll ask you, and I want to ask you this because you're a former player, now in the media, Channing Crowder. The whole turf versus grass debate that has been going wild ever since the Aaron Rodgers injury.

What are your thoughts with your experiences here? I played on the old turf. I played on that AstroTurf. That was no bueno, bro. That was no good. I'm in South Florida.

My wife's Cuban. No bueno. No good. That old AstroTurf, I actually played in Toronto against the Bills, one of those international games, and they had the AstroTurf. That is carpet on cement.

That was terrible. The new turf with the little black graded-up tires in it is a lot better. It's not like natural grass. So I saw when Goodell went on with Stephen A. Smith, I think two days ago yesterday, I watched that, and he was saying that some players love the AstroTurf because it's faster. It is faster.

It's a faster surface. But no player wants to get injured, and there is a higher chance. Look at the numbers. Look at the doctors, whatever they want to put. There's a higher chance of getting injured on the AstroTurf.

I would say me personally as just a banger, like I wasn't blazing. I wasn't running down the sideline on go routes. I didn't see a difference in playing on AstroTurf or playing on grass.

But I know that I've listened and talked to enough guys that were Blazers and did run and all, and they say that the injury rate is higher. The chances, the footing, when you cut how it sticks and how it doesn't slip, there's always a little give. Even if it's a quarter inch, there's a little give on grass. There's never give on the AstroTurf because it's plastic.

It's plastic with little pieces of plastic wrapped up into it. So that little give could be the difference between an ACL tear, a difference between, like you're speaking of, Aaron Rodgers, a difference between an Achilles tear. That little give is something, and I do, like you're saying, there's an argument about it right now, and I know why you're asking me, but I do believe there's a higher injury rate on AstroTurf because of the fact that that natural dirt to root give, there's no roots in AstroTurf. It's just stuck.

It's stowed into the dam to the bottom. So that extra little something that natural grass gives does mean something, and I think it does take down on injuries. But on the other side, I understand the money. I understand the time it's going to take. I understand the finances it's going to have to have grass in December 26th. Stop. The NFL has so much money.

The NFL could afford all that money. They got it. Come on. But, Zach, it can't happen. How the hell am I going to grow grass in Green Bay on December 27th? Where am I going to grow it? I'm going to grow it in Puerto Rico and mail it to Green Bay. Like, Zach, let's be honest.

You can't do it if you can't do it. The coolest thing I've ever seen was in Arizona when Arizona, they have a dome, and the entire field slides into the parking lot. They grow the grass. They grow the grass, and then they slide it back in.

That was the coolest thing I've ever seen. I don't give a damn how many rollers you have under the grass. What are you going to do at MetLife on December 29th?

You're going to roll it out to get snow on it and roll the snow back in? It just can't happen. They have to figure it out. Honestly, my opinion is they're going to run this out like they run anything else. Like, they ran concussions out. Like, they ran concussions out and said, Will Smith did a damn movie speaking like he was an African, and now people care about concussions.

They didn't even want to talk about mental health for 40 years. Zach, come on now. They're going to run this damn turf thing out. They're going to keep this artificial turf until 20... My son might be in the NFL before they really try to get natural grass on every field.

I don't think it's going to happen, but also, I don't think that it's important enough that the product is that bad without natural grass on every field, and I don't believe they're going to address it for a decade. He's Shannon Crowder. You can see him everywhere.

Pivot inside the NFL. The ratings are going through the roof on CW. He was telling me about yesterday, so we'll pat him on the back right there, and also 560WQAM inside the Odyssey family with my guys Mark Hochman and also Alejandro Solana as well. Channing, you're the best. We appreciate it. I appreciate it. ZG, man.

Anytime, man. Let me know, and I've never seen you like a frat boy. You're in the frat art. You're a Zayden fighter.

I was in an Alpha Epsilon Pi, which was my fraternity. I can see it. I can see you under a balcony with a beer bong up to the next floor.

I can see it right now, when you got your hair moosed up like that. Kegs and legs. That's all I'll say, my friends, all right? There he is, the great Channing Crowder. What's up, everybody? I'm Danny Parkins, based out of Chicago. This is my buddy Andrew Filipponi. He's based out of Pittsburgh.

You really got to check out our podcast, First and Pod. Twice a week, we're going to break down the NFL after Thursday Night Football and Sunday Night Football. It's every team. It's every game. It's all 32 teams. We give you a complete picture, and we get into it.

We don't kiss each other's fannies on this show. New episodes of First and Pod available when you wake up every Monday and Friday morning throughout the football season in the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Introducing Carvana Value Tracker, where you can track your car's value over time and learn what's driving it. It might make you excited. Whoa, didn't know my car was valued this high. It might make you nervous.

Uh-oh, market's flooded. My car's value just dipped 2.3%. It might make you optimistic. Our low mileage is paying off. Our value's up, and it might make you realistic. Car prices haven't gone up in a couple weeks. Maybe it's time to sell. But it will definitely make you an expert on your car's value. Carvana Value Tracker.

Visit Carvana.com to start tracking your car's value today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. All righty, this is Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll get to some phone calls in just a bit.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Two things, Hickey, reacting from the Channing Crowder interview. The Miami Dolphins, Channing is absolutely right.

It is hashtag, this is something that you're going to have to talk about all throughout the season if Tua Tunga-Viloa is able to stay healthy. So if he's able to stay healthy, Hickey, what's the ceiling this year for the Miami Dolphins? A team that has so much speed and their defense, you would hope, is only going to improve with the talent on this defensive side of the ball once they get used to Vic Fangio. I know they didn't have a great defensive showing week one up against the Chargers, but they won the game because their offense was just at a ridiculous high flying rate. I mean, I don't think it's hot to take you to say Super Bowl, right?

I don't think you're wrong either. Like, you look at this offense, it's not just Tyreek Hill, it's not just Jalen Waddle. I mean, Tua spread the ball out to a bunch of different receivers. Braxton Barrows on a few third downs, had some clutch catches. I think they got to run the ball a little bit better, a little bit more consistently.

But, I mean, you look at just those two headliner guys. Good luck to any defense trying to slow them down. It's not like the Chiefs have this lockdown defense that you got to worry about too much. Bengals have a good defense, but in the AFC, we talk a lot about quarterbacks and offenses.

It's not like there's a lot of shutdown, lockdown defenses you're going to play in the divisional round or the AFC title game. And there's a reason I picked them to win the AFC East before the year started. And after one week, as long as Tua could stay healthy, they could be the third best team in the AFC. I know we did the power rankings yesterday and I made them the third best team in the NFL. And I didn't have the Chiefs inside the top five. I didn't have the Bengals inside the top five because they just lost.

And you have to do it based off what we've seen so far this season. But I don't think anyone's actually concerned about Kansas City. I don't think anyone's actually concerned about the Cincinnati Bengals. Even if both those teams start out the year 0-2, we know what those teams are capable of. But once you get outside of the Chiefs and the Bengals, it's who else is going to be challenging. And Buffalo, you see Josh Allen just blow up and have three interceptions.

In a game where Aaron Rodgers has the Achilles injury. You want to look inside the AFC North. I think the Bengals are the only team inside the AFC North that can get to the Super Bowl this season.

The South, I like Jacksonville a lot. Are they ready to go to the Super Bowl? They'll have to wait and see in the AFC West. Even if some of these teams get their act together outside of Kansas City, I can't sit here and expect that I trust any of those teams to go win three playoff games because you're not going to win the division to have a chance to go get a bye in the AFC. So after one week, and I know it's only one week, that Miami Dolphins team has really taken that spot of the biggest challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs and also the Cincinnati Bengals. And also I love his answer on Dak Prescott. I really did. How could anyone debate that right now? And I thought his perspective was very compelling where he would sit Dak down and he would say, we have all the pieces.

Now, you got to go get the job done. And I think Dak knows that. But you look at the money that they're paying Dak Prescott, he can't be the reason why they don't get to an NFC championship game and they don't get to the Super Bowl.

But the last two years, and really more specifically last year, that defense should have defeated the 49ers and their quarterback couldn't even do the little things, like do the bare minimum to make sure that they weren't the reason why they lost that game when we saw that pop up. 855-212-4CBS. Let's go to Chad in Green Bay. Chad, go ahead.

What do you got? What's going on, man? I have zero respect for this Colorado State head coach, not because of the glass outline, but when he says, that's how my mom raised me. Now you're calling out the head coach's mom and the starting quarterback's grandmother? And then he doesn't have the gall to go out on your shoulder rebuttal?

The dude's weak. Chad, you bring up a great point, and I didn't even think about it this way, where you're exactly right, where Jay Norvell says, oh, I was raised where when I talk to grownups I take the sunglasses and the hat off. That is a shot at Deion's mom, which I have no problem with, let me be clear. But whether he meant it that way or not, he's saying he was raised better than Deion Sanders and like, who the heck are you to say that?

That's the biggest one that got me. I don't care. I don't care about the sunglasses and the hatline, like someone said that about my mom raising me?

I mean, those are fighting words, man. Chad, it's a great point that you brought up. Maybe a little bit of a creepy laugh right there by Chad, but he's 1000% right.

I thought he hit the nail right on the head where I didn't even think about it. Hickey, real quickly, play me the Jay Norvell clip from the Jay Norvell Coaches show. Let me hear it. You know, we had to do a bunch of ESPN videos, and it was great.

I loved it. But our kids came out of those videos really with a chip on their shoulder. They're tired of all that stuff. They really are tired of it.

And I sat down with the ESPN today, and I don't care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off, and I said, when I talk to grownups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me.

So you know, they're not going to like us no matter what we say or do. It doesn't matter, okay? That's just how I feel about it.

At your show. I'm just tired of it. I mean, I'm tired of all that stuff. And I know everybody else is too. Once again, I don't know if he meant it that way, but Chad in Green Bay brings up a great point. He's taking a shot at Deon's mom when you question the way that he was raised and how he talks to grownups.