Bucking Broncos (Hour 3)

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One-year upgrade requires financing, qualifying, device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Alrighty, this is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. The Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent will stop by. 20 minutes from now and an hour 20 from now, the head football coach of the 12th ranked Utah Utes, Kyle Whittingham will join us. How about Utah by the way?

No cam rising. First two games of the season. We'll see when the quarterback makes his return coming off that ACL tear from the Rose Bowl. And they're going up against Florida and Baylor. And I know Florida and Baylor, they're not as good as the name recognition of Florida and Baylor. But Hickey, you being a savvy college football mind, Kyle Whittingham continues to be maybe the most underrated coach in the country. He's been at Utah since 2005. He's won back-to-back Pac-12 championships the last two seasons. And now you look at Kyle Whittingham with what he's done at that university to start the year off without your starting quarterback. And having to go to this two quarterbacks and defense playing awesome. I know he's a defensive minded coach. To win those two games, Florida and Baylor without your best player, that's a tip of the cap to Kyle Whittingham. And it's funny because he accomplishes so much every year. Like I said, two-time defending conference champ. You go to the Rose Bowl last year. You're winning two Power Five games, one on the road without your starting quarterback. No one mentions Utah, no one talks about it, no one gives any credit.

He continues to do more with less and continues, even with all the success, fly right under the radar. Alrighty, let's update you to some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. Let's get to the News Brief. Time for your Daily News Brief.

We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. So we all know the horrible injury that Aaron Rodgers did suffer last night, the Achilles injury. This was Robert Salah after the game saying he's gutted for Aaron Rodgers. Personally, I don't hurt for me. I don't hurt for our locker room. I hurt for Aaron and how much he's invested in all of this. You know, my heart's with Aaron right now and nowhere else. Let's hear more from Robert Salah.

This is from today. He says the Jets season is not over. I don't know why people are trying to put an obituary under our team name.

I like that. You know, Aaron is an unbelievable piece to this whole thing and we love him, but I think there's 52 other guys in the locker room plus the 16 practice squad guys that believe that we can do a hell of a lot of good things here. And, you know, we've got championship caliber defense. We've got great skill guys on the offensive side of the ball. Our O-line is going to continue to gel and get better, but we're excited about our group.

You know what gets lost here? Going into the year, we all wondered what Robert Salah could be as a head football coach and he's coaching for his job bare minimum and you have to make the playoffs with Aaron Rodgers. Now it's almost as if how do you judge Robert Salah if this team goes, I know they just beat the Bills last night, but if they win like eight or nine games this year, Hickey, I know they only won seven last year, but really with no quarterback that you feel good about, how do you not bring this guy back that year?

I think it'll gain national respect, like borderline top ten. If he is able to keep this team together and you saw it last night in the heat of adversity, like I said, he goes from the hot seat to again, I think in the upper echelon or close to that of head coaches in this league. And take your fandom out of it, neither of us are Bills or Jets fans so we could do that, but seeing Salah run from the sideline to the end zone to go celebrate with Xavier Gibson last night, Xavier Gibson, that was a really cool moment.

That makes you want to root for Robert Salah. It was awesome, he's got his players back, he knows how emotional that was and is still going to keep everyone together enough to where you're competing and then win, I'm sure he thought an improbable game, just kind of saw the emotions let out right there. So let me get your emotions right now. You obviously didn't want to see what happened occur last night, but going into this year you were rooting against the Jets because you were annoyed with the hype I guess and you didn't pick the Jets to make the playoffs and you were a non-believer in the Jets. Now with Rogers being out for the year, do you at all change your prediction on the Jets as weird as that sounds because they got worse, where now it's like oh you're rooting for them so you actually want to see them go make the playoffs? Not changing my prediction, still think they're missing the playoffs but I guess they are, so I root for myself to be right and in being right in this case it's the Jets losing.

Can I tell you a little secret? You do this job, you can't get concerned if you're right or you're wrong, you're going to be right, you're going to be wrong, it's going to be a whole different blend of emotions here. Well I'm saying I'm going to be right so I'm not going to root for the Jets in a game in which I make my prediction look wrong, I just don't operate that way. So yeah I mean I'd flat out be rooting against the Jets to lose to make me look good. Out of 100%, the chances the Jets make the playoffs this year? Not what you want to see happen, not what you said in the past, just what is the percentages here? 15% right now with this team, right now, maybe if they get Kirk Cousins if they hit a miracle and it's like Matthew Stafford, the two unrealistic options that would help them the most are not happening, 15%. And where were you at before the start of the season?

Had to be higher right? I think right now it's like a 30% chance, that's not like a high number, it would have been like 75-80% right before the start of the season with Aaron Rodgers, I thought for sure they were going to make the playoffs, but this is a team that just beat the bills. After having two, it's like getting two victories basically in a game, that seems like that should count as two wins, even though that sounds crazy because you had to not only survive losing your franchise quarterback but the emotions that come with it and you're still going up against this heck of a team in the Buffalo Bills and you beat them. This is a kickass defense, you got Garrett Wilson, you got Breece Hall, you got Dalvin Cook, the name of the game is to dominate you defensively and run the football and you need the quarterback to be a game manager.

I don't think 30% is high, I'm not expecting them to make the playoffs without Aaron Rodgers, but would it shock me if they end up going 9-8 and maybe the AFC is more down than what we thought it was going to be with how optimistic we were on these AFC teams, I couldn't say I'd be shocked by it. Alright let's hear one more from Robert Salah, he says they will add another quarterback but is confident in Zach Wilson. We are going to look through some things but I do want to make it very clear Zach is our quarterback, we've got a lot of faith in Zach, we're really excited about his opportunity but we're rolling with Zach and excited for him and like I said this opportunity that he's going to get. So I know he did go on to say that Zach is the man and will bring someone in to back him up, I just wonder how long that lasts, how long is Robert Salah going to have that energy hickey, especially with the tough schedule and knowing the locker room doesn't believe in him. Maybe it's changed a little bit because Rodgers kind of pumped him up so much and all that with the learning experience and he'll take the baton once he's an old man and he retires blah blah blah blah blah but this team last year couldn't stand Zach Wilson. Zach Wilson didn't take any accountability after that putrid loss, which I love by the way, to the New England Patriots. So, I think for the interim, you could say Zach is your guy but if Zach doesn't play well, you're going to have to go somewhere else. 100%, in terms of like how long will Robert Salah put this face up for, I mean it's gonna be as long as he has to, he did it last year all season long, because he had to. Until Zach then said that it wasn't basically the offense's fault, he didn't have to apologize to the defense or whatever the quote was. But it's just like if you're Robert Salah, unless you bring someone else in, you're not going to throw Zach Wilson under the bus and say we don't believe in him. Imagine if Tim Boyle comes in and plays well, Pat Boyle's going to be like, oh that's my cousin, he's sensational, he's great, he's wonderful.

I was going to say the Brock Purdy comps, I know it's not a direct comp but if Tim Boyle comes in out of nowhere, leads the Jets to the playoffs, oh jeez. Zach Wilson says Monday night was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. My job as a quarterback is I gotta step up and I gotta be able to be as efficient as I can in that offense. A lot of emotions right, like week one, opening day, you know, trying to learn as much as I can from this guy but I also gotta make sure I'm ready to go.

So a lot of emotions, you gotta be able to try and stay calm and go out there and try and perform the best you can. So correct me if I'm wrong here Hickey when we go to the next story, this CBS 58 news report from Jack's American Pub in Wisconsin, is this the same place that we were talking about weeks ago where they said they would give free drinks when the Jets lose this year? The promo is, the promo I should say.

And it was a lot of fine print by the way I remember from this. Yes, Jets lose, you win. So how it works is this, now like I said fine print is this, Packers and Jets have to be playing in different time slots. Can't be a Packers game because the Packers fans will be there trying to load up the bar tab. Right, exactly right. So the Jets at 1, Packers at 4, in this case Packers on Sunday, Jets on Monday.

How it works is, if the Jets lose, they pay, the bar itself absorbs your bar tab. And that's in an ode to obviously Aaron Rodgers losing and seeing him suffer. So this was an actual thing?

Yes, started last night. No, no, what I'm saying is that video that people are commenting on, like when so many people are quote tweeting one video, sometimes they just don't even click it because they just don't want to see what it's about. The fans were actually cheering when Rodgers got hurt because they were getting free booze?

Correct. Or they thought they were getting free booze? Thought they were getting, you can hear it in the beginning a little bit, but yes, when he got hurt and was getting helped off the field, there was some cheers because they thought that's going to help their odds of getting free booze. Don't get me wrong, that's a little scummy behavior, but when you're all liquored up at a bar, I don't think you're really thinking what the right thing is incoherently, right? So do you give the fans a pass that we're cheering Aaron Rodgers?

I cut it out because it's a long clip and I want to kind of condense it a little bit. There was a fan that said, look, I'm not rooting it to Aaron Rodgers, but I'm rooting for my wallet here. So I will give the fans the benefit of the doubt and say they were not happy Aaron got hurt. They're happy that they could have a free night at the bar.

Here is the report from CBS 58. Another condition is Aaron Rodgers must start the game, but the rules say nothing about him having to finish it. So there's a loud roar when Rodgers leaves the game hurt in the first quarter. The fans say it's nothing personal. And the mood has changed considerably. That is because the Jets just won the game on a long touchdown in overtime.

You can take a look. This is the reaction from a bar where people are realizing the bar tabs, they've been racking up all night thinking certainly with Rodgers hurt, the bar was going to be paying that tab. It is setting in. They were going to have to go to the bar and pay that tab.

So if I was in that situation, Rodgers gets hurt. I am loading up on the bill, nachos, chicken wings. You know what, I even buy you boneless wings. I don't mean to interrupt. Don't say there was no food included. No food. Don't ruin it. Only booze. Who cares about contacts? Who cares about facts?

We're in the media in 2023. All right, anyway, so you're running over and go get a bunch of shots and beers and all those things. And then the game gets to overtime. The kick goes off the upright and in by Bass. And then in overtime, the Jets win on a punt return. Kind of serves those fans right for the cheering that you got with the injury.

That's karma. Give Jack's credit, the promo is not cancer because Ann Rogers got hurt. They're keeping it the rest of the year.

I think it's only four or five games to begin with if they're at different times. But still, they're rolling with it. Josh Allen frustrated the Jets defense dominated him again. Trying to force the ball.

Same ****, same place, different day. Josh Allen says he's the reason why the Bills lost. I hurt our team tonight. I cost our team tonight. It feels really similar to last year and I hate that it's the same. And Josh Allen says he needs to be better.

Mindset-wise, just trusting what I see and sticking with it and not trying to force anything. It's a good defense we played, but we can't play two guys. Can't play them and us and I played us tonight. There's some times when you're a quarterback, there's just some teams that get in your head.

And you know there's nothing you could do. And mentally you're so fried when you go up against his team. Now in this case, he could protect the ball better, obviously, and not try to be Superman every play. But I just think he's mentally shot Hickey when he goes up against the New York Jets. Joe Burrow with the Browns, we saw it again on Sunday, just own him and Josh Allen with the Jets right now. And kind of the Patriots for all those years going down to Miami. Patriots could like never win a Miami. That's right, that's right.

Whatever it is, it's the location, it gets in your head, you can't get rid of it. And he sounded lost last night. And he looked to his face and his eyes, said it all.

He was in a different place. Jerry Jones, of course, had to comment on the Jets situation. He's got a lot of backup quarterbacks, Cooper Rush and also Trey Lance.

He was on 105.3, the fan, for his probably 9,000th interview already of the season. And here is Jerry Jones and if he would trade a quarterback to the New York Jets. I can't imagine what it would be. But the facts are that just as they do, we can make Rush in a play and did last year and did the year before. And so, boy, you've got to, especially when you've got all the promise we got to compromise yourself with depth, that that position wouldn't be very unlikely.

Alright, so he said very unlikely. But that's for Cooper Rush. What about Trey Lance, Hickey?

I mean, I... He just gave up, what, a fourth to get him? And he also said that he does not anticipate and or hope not to see Trey Lance at any point this season.

If the Jets offer you a fourth, you just recoup your value back and move on? The only thing is, aren't... At least we've seen a lot of Zach Wilson. We haven't really seen a lot of Trey Lance. Like, if I asked you right now, would you rather have Trey Lance or Zach Wilson star for the Jets tomorrow?

What would the answer be? I mean, I guess Zach Wilson. But the thing is, like, we don't know what Trey Lance is. We know Zach Wilson stinks. So at least he knows the playbook.

That's... That's like me asking, would you rather have pneumonia or hand-foot analysis? I know. You know what?

For the rest of the season, I think I would take the unknown in Trey Lance. For, like, tomorrow's game, obviously. And ironic that they're going to Dallas. And maybe, you know, Joe Douglas and Jerry Jones can talk on Saturday or Sunday. Jerry, come here. I got you a salt sandwich from McDonald's. A lot of salt.

Extra salt. I think Jerry Jones is telling him, you come here. Joe Douglas is like, no, you come here.

Jerry's like, no, you come here. I can see Jerry Jones being that guy that goes, I'm never going to go where you tell me to go. I can see, like, Joe Douglas walking in with a big jacket and have, like, eight or nine McGriddles covered in salt. A little kosher salt for Jerry Jones, maybe?

I think if you're Joe Douglas and this helps you get to the playoffs, whatever it takes, right? If it means ten McGriddles for Jerry Jones before the game on Sunday, so be it. Have Dak, or I know Zeke's no longer there, wrap him up in presents, like that cringe-worthy scene on Hard Knocks that I never remember who was getting the present for who. I think Zeke was getting it for Dak, I believe. And Zeke had a hard time wrapping up the present, so. So don't call Zeke about that.

Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio, the Hall of Famer, Steve Largent will join us next. 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 Principal, 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. Principal 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.

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It's not just because we had football back. Last week, I got a package to my apartment and it was from my dear friend Mark Singleton at Southern Recipes Small Batch Pork Rinds. And he sent me like six or seven different flavors of Southern Recipes Pork Rinds and they are delicious. Absolutely delicious. One of my favorite snacks on a football Sunday. Always love devouring the pork rinds. And now joining us on behalf of Southern Recipes Pork Rinds and Pork Rinds Appreciation Day and also the great foundation, the Gridiron Grates is the Pro Football Hall of Famer, the legendary wide receiver, Seahawks legend in Steve Large. And Steve, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Oh, Zach, great to talk with you.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So the entire NFL world today is reacting to the crazy scene last night on Monday Night Football. Horrible Achilles injury for Aaron Rodgers. A great victory though for the Jets. Just watching that game last night, just what were the emotions when you saw the Aaron Rodgers injury?

Well, I was not disappointed but really sad for Aaron. He's such a great player and was going to be just a real instigator for turning the Jets around and now he plays one game and he's out. And so when you tear up your Achilles, I think that's what it is, right? It's an Achilles injury. He may not ever play again.

It can be that bad. Yeah, we always know how serious of an injury that is. We'll see what the future has in store for Aaron Rodgers. The Pro Football Hall of Famer, Steve Largent is here with us. You know, if you were in that locker room and you still find the way to win the game, the Jets have a good defense, they can run the ball. Garrett Wilson made a great catch.

He's a phenomenal young wide receiver. You know, you being a leader on a team in your life before, just what would your message be when you lose your starting quarterback and a guy that was supposed to save the franchise like you were saying in Aaron Rodgers? Well, I think, you know, in most cases, if it's a linebacker or a defensive lineman or an offensive lineman or even a running back or a defensive back, you know, you can say, hey, we can overcome this. But when you're talking about your star quarterback who's, you know, just, you know, is really a Hall of Famer himself, will be, you know, that's a different subject. So I don't know what the coach told his team, but he obviously told them that, you know, enough to fire him up and keep the team going and win the game. So I really thought the Jets would win the game, but I thought the Jets would win the game with Aaron Rodgers, not without him. And that's always the thing that amazed me the most with pro athletes.

We know the connection and the bond playing this game does bring. And when you lose someone so powerful like that, I know it's not life and death, but you have a serious injury, it's kind of crazy how the team was able to block that out and mentally focus back in. Yeah, it really is a credit to them and to their coaching staff that they were able to do that. So, you know, now it will draw into question, you know, what do they do for the rest of the season?

And, you know, if they played the way they played last night, then they'll be in great shape. But, you know, it's tough when you're a second team quarterback and you're coming in and you're now the starter, you know, to keep that momentum going. Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent is here with us. All right, let me get to the Seahawks. I was very optimistic of the Seahawks entering this season. I thought they could be the third best team in the NFC. I know it's only one game, but I didn't have high expectations for the Rams entering this season. What a lopsided affair that was on Sunday. How did you kind of react to what the Rams did to your Seahawks? Well, Zach, I was at the game.

So I got to watch it firsthand and see the things that I saw. And I don't think the Seahawks played well at all. And the Rams didn't play that great. But I tell you, when their quarterback got in the huddle and got the offense going, the Seahawks couldn't stop him. There wasn't much of a pass rush. I don't know if he got sacked maybe one or two times the whole game. But the Seahawks have a lot to work on, to say the least.

But I think the Rams do, too. So it was not a pretty weekend for me because I was out there watching on Saturday. My golden hurricane, Tulsa University, was playing the Huskies. They got whooped. And then I go to the Seahawks game and they get whooped.

So it was a sad weekend for me. Seems like you need some pork rinds after a weekend like that, right? I need some pork rinds.

That's exactly right. We'll talk about pork rinds in just a bit as the pro football famous Steve Largent is here with us. You know, Stafford coming off an injury, also playing without Cooper Cupp, one of the better wide receivers in the league. I know what you said about the Seahawks defense.

It was awful. And you're right, they didn't even get to Stafford once in the game to sack him. But to see guys like Tutu Atwell and Puka Nakua both go for a buck 19, that was really impressive what the Rams were able to do with those two young wide receivers and not having a guy like Cooper Cupp on the field.

I think so too. They really were impressive. I love any receiver's plan, whoever they're playing for. But yeah, they really played well. And it really was disappointing to me to see the coverage not any better than it was either. Because there were a lot of times that I was watching the entire field and if Stafford could have seen the receivers I saw, they were running wide open downfield. But Stafford didn't throw them the ball, fortunately for the Seahawks. But their receivers played really well. So now the Seahawks have a tough game coming up against the Lions in Detroit.

They're already 0-1. You've got offensive line injuries, they're bringing in Jason Peters who's 41 years old. If you were on that team, you know what it's like. You lose a game in the NFL, everyone's going to panic, people are going to start counting you out and writing you off. Just what would your message be to the Seahawks this week?

Well, you're exactly right. It's one game and you've got to put it behind you and look at the positive things that you did and then look at the areas of improvement and then try to work on those and make them better for when you're playing Detroit. But I watched Detroit play too this weekend and they have a very good team and they're going to be tough this year.

And the Seahawks are playing them in Detroit, which won't be an easy chore. But Pete Carroll has an uncanny way of getting a team ready and up for a game and he's going to have to do it for this week, for sure. On offense, there's so much talent with the Seattle team. The two running backs, Walker and Charbonnet, the wide receivers, Metcalf and Lockett, Jackson Smith and Jigba, the rookie out of Ohio State. The big question is, no one was expecting Geno Smith to do what he did a year ago. People wonder how much regression there's going to be this year. Where's your confidence that Geno Smith can not only replicate what he did a season ago but get even better?

You know, the thing that I was surprised by, I was at the practice on Saturday morning and was out there with the Seahawks. Geno Smith, he's like 6'5 or something. He's really a tall dude and I didn't realize he was that tall. But my word to Geno is that's one game, you've got to put it behind you and he needs to play better next week. But he's a good player. I think he had an outstanding year last year. I hope he replicates it this year, but I don't know that he will. Let me ask you about Jackson Smith and Jigba. I know he's coming off the injury right before the start of the season, so who knows how healthy he is.

But we know the talents there. The question is, can the guy just stay healthy? Unfortunately going back to last year at Ohio State with the injuries that kept on popping up. When you have a young receiver like that making the transition from college to the NFL, just what advice do you give a youngster like that? You've got to keep your nose to the grindstone and know that you're going to have some up times and you're going to have some down times.

You've got to try to minimize the down times and maximize the up times. I think that he knows that he's got to play better and hopefully he will. Who are some of your favorite wide receivers in the NFL just wondering these days? Fred Balitnikov is a name that jumps right off the pages to me. I used to love to watch Fred play the way he'd run his routes and catch the ball. He was my hero. We got to play the Raiders twice every year, so I got to see a lot of Fred. He was just a classy guy and a classy football player. I really liked watching him, but Jerry Rice played the same time I did.

He was a little bit later than I was, but not much. Jerry was just phenomenal. Of course, you had Joe Montana throwing to him, so that didn't hurt either. He was really a fun guy to watch. The thing about him was that he was not that fast. People don't realize that he was just not that fast, but he could catch the ball and get open. He was fun for me to watch on the sideline unless we were playing in the regular season.

That wasn't fun at all. Is there anyone in today's game that you really enjoy watching when you look at the wide receiver position? I think wide receiver has become such a more prominent position for a team to have multiple good receivers because they just don't run the ball. The running game is almost nonexistent in the NFL anymore. It's all about throwing the ball. Every team has a good receiver, at least one good receiver, and most teams have two or three good receivers. It's just fun for me to see all of these guys playing.

There's really not anybody in particular that jumps out off the pages to me because I think there are so many good receivers and so much talent at that particular position now. Tell me what you're doing with the fine folks at Southern Recipe Small Batch and also a great organization, the Gridiron Grates, which I've been going to their events for many years throughout the last decade or so. I've been there too. The Gridiron Grates does a great job of helping players when they're down, helping players that just need help for physical maladies that they may have or whatever. It's something that Mike Ditka started and it's really gone over great. These people, the pork rind industry is basically underwriting a number of efforts that the Gridiron Grates are making. I'm teaming up with them. I'll be at the Super Bowl with them. They're doing a great job and they're helping some really needy guys. And you can follow them on social media at Southern Recipe Small Batch.

Also make sure you visit porkrindappreciationday.com. He's the Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent. Steve, hopefully you see some more winning football when you continue to go to games, alright?

I hope so too. You got it. There he is.

Thanks for asking me to come. There he is. Steve Largent here with us. When you need to know what's happening, it's time to get hit in the huddle. Somebody's picking the Colts to win the Super Bowl, so let's just go learn, right? Well, this is always going to happen. Jim Irsay's calling all the shots there.

And the hunky-tonk man didn't draft this kid where they drafted this kid to have him look great in practice and look awesome running the scout team. You know what I mean? But yeah, let's play this Minshew cat or whatever on Sunday. Listen and subscribe to In the Huddle, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. But selling your car to Carvana is as easy as can be.

Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get an instant offer today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Overreaction, proper reaction coming off week one of the NFL season. Coming up 18 minutes from now on the Zach Gelb Show. Kyle Whittingham, the head football coach at Utah, is going to join us at 9.20 p.m. Eastern, 6.20 p.m. Pacific. But first.

Oh, Hickey. You were kind of lucky that the Aaron Rodgers injury occurred yesterday because you were waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting to bring up this topic of conversation at this segment yesterday. But then Aaron Rodgers has the Achilles injury and we had to let me just do the sound effect here.

Rip up. The rundown from yesterday and throw it out when Aaron Rodgers leaves the game and ends up having a season come to an end. But I was really looking forward to bringing up the Denver Broncos to you. Not that I'm anti Denver Bronco, but you are so cocky and arrogant about them saying they're going to win 11 or 12 games this upcoming season.

And I also know that hot take Hickey. There's one coach that he hates above all the rest. And that's Josh McDaniels with the Las Vegas Raiders. So you got the double whammy on Sunday where not only your Denver Broncos lose and I call him your Denver Broncos because they're basically your second favorite team. But it comes at the success of Josh McDaniels through one week of the football season.

So I just wanted to ask you one simple question. How did you process that one on Sunday? That was the worst loss of week one. I don't care about the Steelers laying an egg to the 49ers. I don't care about the Giants getting pants in front of their home crowd for the entire nation to see on Sunday Night Football. What about the Rams? I don't care. What about the Rams-Seawalk game?

That's bad luck. I think they're a playoff team. Rams are a playoff team.

Stop. Rams are a playoff team. I don't even care about last night. They're outside the Bills, embarrassing themselves, losing to an Aaron Rogers-less Jets team in overtime. That's pretty bad. Should not have even been close.

You at home cannot lose to McIdiot and Brittle G. You cannot do it. What do you call it? What was the last part? Brittle G. Jimmy G. That's what you're calling him? Brittle G. I would go back to the drawing board on a nickname.

That's what he is. Brittle G? Brittle G blows and he knocks over and hurts his foot. But I'm sorry. Brittle G?

Brittle G and McIdiot. Cringeworthy. Josh McDaniels is the worst head coach in the NFL.

Well, that's just not true. Sean Payton and Russell Wilson and Coe. Everyone's getting blamed for this. No one's getting deflected at blame here.

They all deserve blame for their worst loss and the most embarrassing loss of week one. Take your time now. I'm disgusted. McIdiot's like low-hanging fruit. I'll give you that.

Fine. I love that one, but McIdiot's tough. A little golf clap.

But Brittle G? Well, I have a good one for McDaniels. I don't think it's appropriate for the radio, so I'm not going to say it. Did you get cancelled if you said it?

No. I probably could say it, but I'm not going to. I'm going to choose not to.

I think it's safe, but I don't want to tell the lie today. I've cursed once about Russell Westbrook. I don't want to risk cursing again over Josh McDaniels. Well, don't tease me. Just don't say anything then in the future. Now my brain is racing in 9,000 different directions trying to think how you believe you're going to disparage Josh McDaniels.

Instead of Josh McDaniels, Josh Mc in the words out to the D. Oh, okay. Gotcha. So I just figured. Eh. A little piece of advice here.

Unsolicited. Let's not have Hickey come up with nicknames. I don't think you're good in the nickname department. You're good at many other things. I probably should have tweeted that one. Preparing the show, hosting the Hick at Night show, things like that.

You do a lot of good things. The cult podcast. I don't think you're a nickname guy for being fair. I like Brittle G. I was actually very happy myself for that.

That's horrible. What else? Jimmy G. Brittle G. Brittle G. Nothing rhymes with Garoppolo. Good luck with that.

I know, but you can't just go Brittle G. It makes no sense. Jimmy Hurtopolo. There we go.

They lost to Josh McDaniels and Jimmy Hurtopolo. We may need to send you back to the minors. All right. We may need to say you may not be ready for the moment here.

Okay. Jimmy Injuryopolo. Just stop. Jimmy Foot Injuryopolo. Do me a favor.

We're just all getting dumber here listening to you come up with some of these nicknames. But let's not bury the lead here. I kind of told you about the Raiders. I'm not a big believer in the Raiders. I'm not a big believer in Jimmy G. I think McDaniels can be arrogant, but they got talent on that team.

They have some names on that team. And I kind of said it before the I think they're over under was at like six and a half. I would bet the over with the Raiders.

But it was amazing to me. How do you got burned last year by the Denver Broncos? They were your Super Bowl pick. Russell Wilson said was going to win the Super Bowl MVP.

Nathaniel Hackett. You said was going to be top three coach of the year candidate. You love the Broncos last year. One move bringing in Sean Payton. All of a sudden wiped out a team that not having that great of an offensive line. The weapons being subpar for Russell Wilson to throw the ball to. And also oh yeah by the way Russell Wilson having a big bounce back season. Defensively they're really damn good. But offensively you said 11 or 12 wins for this team.

I just never got how you got to that number. And think so highly of the Broncos but then so lowly of the Raiders. Where I don't think there's that big of a difference between those two teams. Head coach.

That's what I look at. Head coach for one stinks. Head coach for the other is one of the best all time. And for whatever reason I don't know what Sean Payton was thinking. Well McDaniel's not coached him this weekend. He did and I don't know what he was doing. Can I say one thing really fast? I don't really get this take.

I don't know if you have it or not. I've seen a lot of people say the game was lost in the opening kickoff. Which Sean Payton decided to do the onside kick. That's not true. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The game is not over in the opening kickoff.

I don't know if it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. One onside kick to start the season is not the reason why the Broncos lost the game. But you onside kicked it.

Then it was the illegal touching. The Raiders scored a touchdown off that. But the Broncos answered right back with a touchdown and then missed the extra point. So even though it was a dumb gamble by Sean Payton.

Now it's easy to say that. You can say it's a dumb gamble. The guy once did it coming at halftime out of a Super Bowl. The illegal touching was a half yard if that. It wasn't like it was an awfully executed onside kick. You miss an extra point. You miss a field goal. It's four points right there. You lose by one. Put it this way. Your nicknames were a zero. The analysis that you just had on the whole opening kickoff.

I think it's a solid eight out of ten. I don't think that's a reason why they lost the game. But I thought Russell Wilson was supposed to be this god with Sean Payton. I thought Sean Payton was going to be putting up this high octane offensive type of performances. They scored 16 damn points against a Raiders defense that by the way had no Chandler Jones in the game. And a Raiders defense which let me be real. As much as I like to praise some of the names on the Raiders offense. The Raiders defense stinks. The Raiders defense on paper sucks. Like outside of Max Crosby for being serious.

And this great offense of the Broncos that you were talking about. Man. And you know what? You tweet so much.

So maybe tough to find it. And I did not pull it before the show. But how quickly. I'm doing ION football. Sitting here in this studio for eight hours. Diligent all throughout the day.

How quickly you were to pull the trigger. It was almost as if you had the tweets in the draft. You had them in your drafts. To tweet that Russell Wilson is back. And that we're all screwed.

And that Russell Wilson from Seattle has now popped up in Denver. What are you doing? Great first drive. Looking control. Marching down the field. That touch that passes. The thing of beauty rolling out. Firing a dart in the back corner of the end zone. Oh yeah. First drive.

I tweeted right out to the tight wall. Supposed to have the score before kicker missed the extra point. Hold on. I'm scrolling down here. I'm almost finding it. I'm scrolling.

Scrolling. Something like the rest of the AFC is in trouble. You tweet. Oh my God. Seattle Russ is back.

Something like that. How many times are you going to tweet? It's NFL Sunday.

You got a lot of thoughts. 30,000 tweets about this Indianapolis Colts game. Please no one cares about the Colts though. Well it was after the Colts game. There's all these tweets about the Colts. I can't even find this.

Well I think you went too far. Colts were at 1 o'clock. Just so you know. Seattle Russ. Seattle Russ. Seattle. I said Seattle Russ is back. Oh you just did Russ.

Yes. Here we go. That's a great first drive by the Broncos and a beautiful TD pass by Russell Wilson. Bad news for the rest of the AFC. Seattle Russ is back. Look the Broncos. Sean Payton, he's included in this.

You know I gave a lot of praises off season. Russell Wilson, the entire 53 man roster and coaching staff is lucky I'm not the owner of the Broncos and lucky this was a home game. You would have done nothing. If this was in Vegas.

How could this tough guy talk that you do? I am slashing the tires on the bus. I'm canceling the plane. And they are walking from Vegas to Denver if this was in Vegas because you are not allowed on the team bus. That team bus is for winners only.

They play like losers on Sunday. That bus, that plane is not for losers. I'm going to give you a second or two to find this. Can you find me your hot take sound effect that I tell you to load each and every day and have ready if I ever feel like there was a hot take by you? You know just let me give me a thumbs up when you got it.

Don't play it yet. This was hickey. Sunday 453 p.m. Eastern. This actually kind of was like my coffee if I'm being honest. When I'm doing ion football for eight hours I saw this. I was all jacked up on caffeine because I knew it was going to be a disaster for Russ. Here's the tweet. Ryan underscore hickey three on Twitter. That's a great first drive by the Broncos and a beautiful TD pass by Russell Wilson. Bad news for the rest of the AFC. Seattle Russell is back. Oh no no. Oh hot take hickey is at it again.

We have a hot take alert. I believe you said the Broncos before the year we're going to have what 12 12 wins and make the playoffs. Yes sir. OK. You did have them beating the Raiders in week one sweeping them that.

So that didn't occur. So just real quickly. You got it.

Got a minute here. Give me a win or loss commanders this week win at Miami loss at Chicago win. Jets win at Kansas City loss. Green Bay loss.

Wow. Kansas City again loss. Oh wait. So so far that's only two wins that you have them. New York and the commanders.

All right. At Buffalo loss. Minnesota win. They say Cleveland. That's tough. Where's that game. I'll say the home team wins that game.

All right. Then you're taking the Broncos. So that's three wins on a four wins at the Texans win at the Chargers. Quickly quickly when at the Lions loss Patriots win. Chargers split loss at the Raiders win.

No they'll get rich. That's only seven wins. I think I just counted.

They're getting the plus. I'm not. I'm not.

I'm not panicking. Eleven and five. Eleven and six. I was twelve five eleven and six. Folks don't. No one panic. Eleven eleven six. Yeah sure buddy.