Week 1 Prove-It Games (Hour 3)

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. Our number three of our radio program, it is the Zach Geld show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. I almost had to look up at the clock again and say we're already at our number three?

Man, this is flying by on our first football Friday of the year. Appreciate you stopping by with us. You can always give us a call 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Follow us on the good old cesspool of Twitter or on Instagram. I'm always straight-flexing, at Zach Geld, that is Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. By the way, this portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial, stuck in a timeshare and want out.

Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. And this portion of the show, which is sponsored by Wesley Financial, is of course the news brief. Extra, extra real about it.

Extra, extra real about it. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Now, I know we know this, but last night I think it was as true as ever. How many different emotions did you have in the ebbs and flows of a football game last night? Because for a while it was like, alright, Detroit throws the first punch, then Kansas City counters, and then the Lions who were so aggressive early on with the fake punt back in their own end inside their own 20. Then got conservative in the second half and they're punting the ball when they should be going for it about fourth and short at around midfield and they're giving the ball back to Patrick Mahomes. And when that was happening it was like, oh, the Lions just aren't ready for it. And then Jared Goff completes a monster third down play. And then eventually does get the team into the end zone when Montgomery did have the rushing touchdown. And then the Chiefs get the ball back at about midfield after going for it.

And it's like, oh, they're definitely going to get into field goal range and kick the game-winning field goal. The Lions still aren't going to get the job done and then boom, the Lions get the job done. Hickey, that was a seesaw ride of a game last night where it was like, Lions, Chiefs, Lions, Chiefs. Oh, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs. And then the Lions were the fat kid at the end that jumped right on the seesaw and the Chiefs said, weeee, and then fell off the seesaw. And adding it to him more was a sloppiness where you had Detroit going in for a touchdown, they fumble it with the 5-yard line. You had, I mean, how many drops from the Chiefs led by Kadarius Toney.

Kadarius Toney is Clifford Franklin. Next week, Andy Reid's going to channel the coach for the replacements and make him do something with an elephant to get some sticky stuff on his hands, if you know what I'm saying. Stick them.

Get the hands, put them in the stick them and put them on the field because that's also part of it. Oh, here's a big gain for Kansas City. Oh, dropped.

Here's a big gain. Oh, actually dropped and now intercepted and now it's a pick six game, you know, brand new game. Kadarius Toney needs to hang out with the guy last night that was protesting at the U.S. Open that glued his feet to the floor of the stadium. He needs to get that glue on his hands so he can actually catch the football. Or, I mean, they did remove them, so maybe that's not the best glue. Well, after a 40-minute delay.

But how much do they actually know? Are they negotiating with him? Are they actually the whole 40 minutes pulling his feet off? If it's a whole 40 minutes, talk to the glue guy. If it's like five minutes and they just quickly dispose of him, maybe get a new glue guy. I also think it's a lot tougher to glue your feet to the cement floor than it is your hands to a football.

Patrick Holmes rocking them in there. Could be tough enough. Fastball's coming in from the side and you're not expecting it. Dan Campbell says this win verified that this team is oh so good.

I didn't learn anything. I got verification on what I already knew. And this is a resilient team. It already was a resilient team and we added pieces to that resilient team.

So, we're built to handle some stuff and we did that today against a very good opponent. I like that line. That's some good gospel speak by the coach where he goes on to say this didn't. But what was the line again one more time, Hickey?

Play that one more time? I didn't learn anything. I got verification on what I already knew.

I didn't learn anything. I got verification of what I already knew. I feel like you could use that a lot in life, Hickey, these days.

You absolutely can. Any aspect of life is one of those universally said sayings, phrases that could work anywhere. Dan Campbell says he wasn't surprised they won. We expected to win this game. We came in here and we knew what we needed to do and we knew it wasn't going to be easy.

And we did that. And really what it means is that's one. That's one.

That's one. So, we got to clean up our issues that hurt us on some stuff today and be ready for Seattle in ten days. Well, that's a good week two game.

Lions and Seahawks, really good week two game. Let's hear from Jared Goff. He says he's proud that the Lions won a sloppy game. We just didn't play our best ball today. We kind of got away with one in some ways, but that's what good teams do. You don't play your best and you find a way in the fourth quarter to get a stop on defense, to get a first down on offense, to make those catches Josh made and be able to score on that drive, that long drive we had.

So, that's what we're starting to become now and it's a good feeling. So, sometimes people try to sound like you're a winning player or you're a winning team and they just completely mess it up. What I just heard from Dan Campbell and then also Jared Goff, they do sound like a winning team here.

Because Jared Goff is 100% right. The really good and great teams find a way to win games when they don't play their best brands of football. And as we said, there was moments in the game last night where it looked like the Lions weren't going to be able to find a way to win the game. And I know you could say, oh, there's no Chris Jones, there's no Travis Kelce, you're still going up against 15.

And they found a way to be one point better than the defending world champions. Here's Andy Reid saying the loss can't be blamed on the absence of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. No excuses at all. We've got guys that can play, we're right there to take care of business. It's unusual for the guys that drop the ball to drop the ball and that's not what I've seen from them and I wouldn't expect them to do that.

So, you do that, you take care of business there and you'll be alright. He's 100% right. You play with the players that you have, you still have 15. Like, even without bad Kansas City play, they still almost won the game. They only lost the game by one point. So, I'm not blaming that they didn't have Chris Jones or Travis Kelce why they lost the game. The number one culprit why they lost the game and the number one reason is because Kadarius Toney was awful. He couldn't catch the ball at all. He couldn't catch the ball to save his life.

I don't know. Did you find it weird last night? I know we talked about what Torrico said, oh, you have to put an asterisk on it because they didn't have Travis Kelce, they didn't have Chris Jones.

Did you find that weird? How that was the conversation right afterwards? Maybe I'm a little bit more sensitive to this because, right, I lived it for 20 years with Brady. Whenever Brady would lose, it didn't seem like any excuses would be made. I was surprised Torrico used that as an excuse last night for Kansas City. Same, especially because, again, it was like, I thought it was more about the Lions and, again, everybody knew that without their two best players, but it's also not like it's the craziest thing in the world that a good team was without a good player or two.

It's just one of those where, again, I don't think it's an asterisk. He's right because injuries happen and teams win games without players and teams lose games that are their best players too. And I also guess that the appeal of the Chiefs and seeing the Chiefs win hasn't gotten old to people yet. Where, like, the Patriots won three out of four that had the scandals and then they won so many Super Bowls after that. I think people enjoyed seeing the Patriots lose and that's why they would never use any excuses when Brady was playing with, like, Reshay Caldwell and Doug Gabriel. But on the Kansas City side, yes, they've won two Super Bowls and that's a ton for many organizations. I don't feel as if the Chiefs winning yet nationally has gotten people, like, all riled up and fed up.

No. And the Chiefs don't really have villains. They're likable in the Holmes, Reed, Kelsey. They're all likable guys.

Chris Jones himself, who's a character. Oh, Brady's likable. And Gronkowski was likable. Belichick was the one that was the unlikeable. Well, Brady was very quiet for a large part of his career, especially early on when they were winning a lot. He was very Mr. Business. And obviously, like you said, Mr. Mumbles, Bill Belichick, was very business.

Two business, maybe. We're on to Cincinnati. I wonder when people get tired of the Chiefs, though. They win a Super Bowl this year, back to back.

Three out of, what, five years, I believe, of this? Do then people get insufferable with the Kansas City Chiefs or not so much? I mean, it's come and close. It's come and close because people... Oh, you're getting tired of them? I'm not.

Like, I'm not, yeah. No, but again, same team over and over again. Your TV screens and they keep winning. Frustration's going to set in sooner rather than later. Let's hear from Patrick Mahomes, says it's tough to play without Travis Kelce. I mean, you're losing one of the best, I think the best tight end of all time. But guys, other guys got to step up. I mean, it's going to have an impact on the game, but other guys got to step up. And they're going to have to step up in moments because I'm sure there'll be times he gets doubled. Just going to have to rely on these other guys that are young and talented to step up and make plays.

And I believe that they will. Patrick Mahomes says he still believes in Kadarius Turney even after a blunder and a awful game last night for the Chiefs wide receiver. I have trust in KT. He missed a lot of training camp. Obviously, he wanted to play and fought for rehab hard so he could play.

And stuff's not always going to go your way. Obviously, he would have wanted to catch a few of those in the game, but I have trust that he's going to be that guy that I go to in those crucial moments. Singles and Browns, it's getting good. Jamar Chase, he almost called the Browns the elves. They feel like a regular game to me. They don't feel no different. I mean, it's just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns.

I was about to call them the elves, but yeah. Are you tired of all this talk about Cleveland and how tough it's been for this team? I don't really hear it. If you ask me, I don't really pay attention to it because it's Cleveland, it's Cleveland.

I look forward to the matchup that we have when we're facing them, but I don't really care. Do you think the elf logo is silly? It's funny.

It's just different, I guess. Are you incensed by that, Hickey? Am I incensed by that as a non-Browns fan? I am not. If you were a Browns fan, would you be furious about that?

I don't know about furious. I would just say I would maybe enjoy a victory a little bit more if that does come on Sunday after hearing these comments. Do you think he was close to calling them the elves there, or like he kind of planned that just because of the logo? I would say that's probably a running joke in the locker room, it sounds like, where him and his teammates call the elves a lot. Oh, locker room talk. Then he realized that, oh, I'm in front of the media, and now I got to kind of call them, you know, the Browns and be professional. Kind of not pull a Juju Smith-Schuster, but also kind of doing so the same way.

Well, I was just going to say, I feel as if it's different when you're the player of a caliber of Jamar Chase. Where when Juju Smith-Schuster was yapping about the Browns as the Browns, then you get embarrassed by the Browns. That annoyed me, because Juju Smith-Schuster was never an elite player in this league. He had that one really good season, but he's not an elite wide receiver.

And I feel as if when you are an elite player, I give you more freedom to be able to run your mouth if you do choose to do so. Like, remember Chase Claypool after that game, then got on the Zoom and he was like, oh, the next team next week will find the way to kick their ass. Which ended up being the Kansas City Chiefs.

And that game was close to the backup quarterback type of game. Big conversion on that fourth down play that they had to go for. In his own end, with less than a minute to go. I thought that was at midfield. It was, like, in their, like, their 48-yard line. Oh, gotcha.

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Myles Garrett says Jamar Chase was out of line. Oh, another star going after another star for calling the Browns the elves. Didn't have to go there. The elves probably wasn't. He knew better. We might have to have a discussion before after the game.

Maybe during if I see him, but the elves were a little bit too far. If there's one guy in the NFL that you don't want to annoy, would it be Myles Garrett? The guy with a history of taking someone else's helmet and swinging it at them? Uh, yeah. Myles Garrett or Aaron Donald? Ooh. Um.

Oof. That's a tough one. I would say Myles Garrett because he looks taller and his arms look a little bit longer so he has a bigger wingspan. So you would rather annoy Aaron Donald?

Yes. I think I could get away a little easier than Myles Garrett. I think you're screwed in both cases. Well, yes, obviously, but if it's one or the other, I would rather pick on Aaron Donald. Do that as a question tonight on the big national show that you have coming up later.

Who would you rather fight? Let's go to Jerry Jones on why he hasn't offered Dak Press got a new contract and Jerry Jones' 9,000 interview this week on 105.3 The Fan. I'm curious, if the price of quarterback continues to go up and you believe Dak will be here for a long time, does it not make more sense to try to get that extension done right now at a rate that might look good in two years? Unless you'd have to cut four players right now to do that right now.

Huh. And no, I'm going to use those players who should win now. Who would be the four players that you would cut, Jerry?

That would be my follow up. What do you make of that answer there, Hickster? A little bit of a change of tune from, let's say, February when it seemed like all but a certainty. There's going to get a contract extension. If you're Dak, forget about the Cowboys. He changes his answer every day. It seems like if you are Dak, I don't know how you can latch on this team long term. Put it this way. If you asked Jerry Jones on Tuesday in the morning, what's the day he would say Tuesday?

And then if you asked him like the afternoon, he may say Wednesday and you asked him in the evening, he may say it's like Friday and just skip over Thursday. He gives you a different answer for everything. I'm not making an excuse for Dak. Again, a lot of it's on him. But from a quarterback perspective, you have enough to deal with. I think it would probably be a good thing for him to go somewhere else and not have an owner every week putting your name in the news one way or another and constantly being speculating about your job security. So yes and no. One part is he's been through this before, and I think Dak has basically already said it.

He's immune to all this stuff and he gets the drama and he went through that big fight and he ended up getting his way and he ended up winning. The other part about it is if you do want to go somewhere else, like I understand what you're saying, where are you going? That's a better destination than the one that you have right now. Say what you want about the Cowboys. The defense is great and on offense there's enough pieces. The quarterback just has to step up and play better in these games.

Where are you going where you're in a better spot? I mean, equal if you want to say. Look, he's a free agent after the 2024 season, right? So 2025. Is Aaron Rodgers still playing for the Jets in 2025? Who knows?

Maybe not. Are the Jets, though, a better situation by far? They're a young team, right? They got a lot of still young, good players on that team, skill-wise, defensively, where again, you look, you don't have Woody Johnson every week having a press conference on the radio talking about the quarterback position.

You see how they welcomed Aaron Rodgers. He'd be like the ambassador of England. What was that title for? I forget the exact, but you're right. He's busy doing political stuff, but you know what? It's fine. If you're a player, be distracted.

Just pay my paycheck and I don't want to worry about anything else. Like the NFC South? Wide open in two years, possibly.

Baker, my guy Baker, Lyles? If Derek Carr stinks? But Mike Evans ain't going to be there. I'm just saying, the landscape can change a lot in two years, and you may not necessarily be going to a place with better talent than Dallas, but I think part of the upgrade would be not dealing with an owner where every day your name's in the news of if the team wants to keep you or not. And now, even though you signed a big-time deal and you're still two years away from being a free agent, it's, well, we're not going to give Dak a contract extension, even though we talked about it two months ago, because now we've got to cut four players. I think they'll get a deal done.

I do eventually. It's not going to be this year. But if I was Dak, you know the two places I would want to go to?

Let's hear it. Minnesota, assuming Justin Jefferson's still there. And then also, I'm becoming the biggest fan of the 49ers quarterback situation not working out this year. I mean, look, if we talk about Kirk Cousins and Kyle Shanahan's love for him, aren't they kind of similar to Kirk and Dak? If Kirk is unavailable, let's say Minnesota locks him up for Kyle Shanahan, and if you're more of a Dak Prescott, I would take less to go there. And I'm bullish on this team. But if Geno Smith regresses, I know they just gave him that new deal a few years from now, it's a pretty damn good wide receiving core with Lockett, Metcalf, and Jackson Smith and Jigba with the two young running backs, too.

Dak is good enough. Well, he will have a market for sure if he does elect to play out and become a free agent, and if you get him for free in the sense of draft capital. T. Hagan says he's going to do whatever it takes to win despite not getting a new contract. Remember, Joe Burrow got taken care of last night, $275 million, $219 of a guaranteed. For me, I don't know what that means, but I'm still going to do my job and do what I need to do to help this team get a W. And T. Hagan says he won't consider sitting out games. You know, me as a competitor, I want to play the game, and I also can set myself up for the future. And then there is a report out there from the Enquirer, from the Bengals beat reporter, Kelsey Conway, that T. Higgins is not believed to be in the Bengals' future plans, and there's no word about a trade coming for Higgins at this time, but a possible tag-and-trade could happen in the offseason.

That's a News Brief, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio, this QB or that QB, 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.

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

For important information, visit principal.com slash disclosures. 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 pompomethome.com. Easy to use, easy to love luxury bedding.

Just enter code POMPOM at checkout. Sponsored by Pfizer and BioNTech. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, how we doing? Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. We just had week one start last night. Chiefs defending Super Bowl champions lose to the Detroit Lions with high expectations this year by one point. So Detroit's 1-0, Kansas City's 0-1. We move closer and closer to the first football Sunday though of the year.

And we do a little this QB or that QB. Let's start Zach with a battle of youngsters. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You forgot my favorite part of this segment. I was going to get into it right now. I need the disclaimer. The disclaimer is this. You're picking which quarterback you want on your team for this week and this week only.

Thank you. Previous history does not matter. All that matters is how they are playing or how you think they will play this upcoming Sunday. So with that said, a battle of youngsters. Bryce Young making his first start as NFL debut against Desmond Ritter who did have four starts last year but again also relatively inexperienced. Who would you rather have on your team for week one? Bryce Young or Desmond Ritter? That QB or this one? Let me ask you a question. If I say one quarterback, could I rather have that quarterback and still think they're going to lose the game?

Yes. Then it's Bryce Young. Bryce Young did not have much at Alabama for normal Alabama standards last year.

And they only lost two games and they were in every game that they did play. Bryce Young is a better quarterback than Desmond Ritter. With that being said, though, I think the Falcons are the better team and the Falcons will win. But if it's just which quarterback would I rather have?

Yeah, it's Bryce Young. You know, like the Panthers and the Falcons had a baby. That'd be a pretty good team because the defense for the Panthers is really good. You got some players on the defense side of the ball for the Falcons, but offensively the Panthers should use those skill position players that the Atlanta Falcons do have with Bijan Robinson, Tyler Algier, Drake London, and also Kyle Pitts as well.

All right, here's an interesting one. You have Deshaun Watson making his week one debut for the Cleveland Browns, taking on Joe Burrow, newly paid. Joe Burrow cut off the calf injury.

Now, Cincinnati has had trouble with the Browns recently. So, which QB would you rather have for week number one, Joe Burrow or Deshaun Watson? Joe Burrow. And I don't even hesitate on that when I say Joe Burrow just because he's the better quarterback. And we know that he's playing at an elite level right now. Deshaun Watson used to be perceived as an elite level quarterback. Now, he has to prove something this year that he can get back to that form and how much Russ is there to still knock off for one Deshaun Watson. Joe Burrow had the calf injury.

Does not matter to me. He just got paid. I'd much rather have Joe Burrow. He's the second best quarterback in football.

Here is a good one. Derek Carr making his Saints debut down in NOLA, hosting Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans. Oh, can I hold my nose on this game?

Sure. Do whatever you gotta do to make a pick. Man, that's going to be painful on Sunday. Like, this could be a good game. But is there a game that has potential to be a good game that you really just don't give a rat's ass about compared to Tennessee up against New Orleans? It's like both those teams, they could make the playoffs, but does anyone actually think they're really good? I don't think either of those teams are really good. With that being said, and I do not like Derek Carr, but I would take Derek Carr of Ryan Tannehill. Like a double-edged sword right there.

That's what that game is, a double-edged sword. DC going 1-0, or at least being, I should say, have the quarterback match appear in week number one in his game against Tennessee. I'm surprised you didn't ask me about one game so far yet. We're going down the list. Are you looking at ESPN.com? Yeah. I'm surprised you skipped over one game.

What is that? You said if Anthony Richardson puts it all together, he could be the best quarterback in the NFL. Why don't you ask me Trevor Lawrence against Anthony Richardson?

Because I didn't think that week one he's going to be putting it all together. Do you want to answer that question? Richardson or Trevor Lawrence? Do you want to shock the world and say AR?

No, I was just being a jackass there. It's easily Trevor Lawrence. All righty. Brock Purdy or Kenny Pickett? Brock Purdy or Kenny Pickett. I'd rather have Kenny Pickett. I think Kenny Pickett, we know more about him. We've seen more of him. And I think he is the better quarterback.

I would go Kenny Pickett over Brock Purdy who last year looked pretty awesome in the small sample size. Two QBs making their official starting debuts. I know Sam Howell started last year one game, but now he's a full-time starter for the first time in his career. Hosting, of course, just like we all thought, Joshua Dobbs and the Arizona Cardinals. Well, we don't know if Joshua Dobbs is going to start. It's been reported.

It's been reported. Jonathan Gannon is playing those dumb games because Jonathan Gannon has clout to play those dumb games. That creepy coach.

You're in high school. Sam Howell. Next question. Jordan Love or Justin Fields?

That's a great question. Oh, that actually is going to be the I think that's the toughest one of this QB or that QB for this week and outside of one other game. That's really tough. I would lean I would lean Fields. I think Jordan Love could pop off this year, but we just haven't seen enough of him. So I would go Justin Fields here. Jimmy G hoping to revive his career in Vegas or Russell Wilson trying to revive his career after a disappointing 2022 in Denver.

That could be or this could be or that could be. Russell Wilson has still potential to be great. We've seen him be great before. We've never seen Jimmy G be great.

He's just the ceiling is good for him. So even though Russell Wilson has a lot of work to do and he has to stop kissing babies and focus on the field and stop worrying about Russell Inc. It's Russell Wilson because that greatness still has to be somewhere inside that body, even if it's buried really deep and like his pinky toe right now. This could be the most fun matchup arguably of Sunday.

Dolphins Chargers in LA. Would you rather have for week one to a tongue of Aloha or Justin Herbert? I think Justin Herbert's a better quarterback. So I go Justin Herbert, but I expect both these teams to put up a lot of points.

Now. I know that this doesn't factor into the question because it's if you put this QB on any like the same team, that's how I'm supposed to do this. But Toronto Armstead not there this week for the Miami Dolphins out.

So that could be a big factor in this game. When you look at the overall totality of who's going to win this game. Matthew Stafford or Gino Smith.

I think you're going to be surprised by this one. I'm going Gino. Now, Matthew Stafford. Is the better quarterback, but I am concerned about Matthew Stafford coming off the injury.

The issues with connecting with teammates that we heard from his wife, so it's a reliable source. I just don't believe in Matthew Stafford heading into this year, so I'll go Gino Smith on this one. And I can't believe I just said that, but that's the way I feel on it.

Two more here. Sunday Night Football Cowboys at the Giants. Would you rather have what you said Sunday Night Football?

Yes. I love the Sunday Night Football music on NBC. Very catchy.

Very, very, very catchy. Carrie Underwood set to make her debut to the new song, sounds like, or the new addition to the song. Didn't she sing last night, I thought, before the game to open up the season?

I do not know. I was here. So were you. Oh, maybe she didn't. At some point they did mention Carrie Underwood.

They were like, how lucky are we to have her? I think they were hyping it up for Sunday Believe, because also the song. I mean, unless you change that one word for waiting all day for Thursday night.

Waiting all day for Sunday night. Dak Prescott or Daniel Jones, who would you rather have for week one on your squad? I'm not the biggest fan of Dak Prescott, the quarterback, but the answer here is Dak Prescott. He's the better quarterback with the higher ceiling.

And finally, the game I think everyone is most excited for. Bills and Jets, Aaron Rodgers' debut in gang green. Josh Allen or AR? Right now, Josh Allen is the third best quarterback in football. I put the fifth best quarterback in football, Aaron Rodgers. Now, once again, this is if, like, let's say Aaron Rodgers could be the quarterback for the Bills, correct?

In terms of answering this? Which one do I have right now for week one? This QB or that QB?

Because the home element of this being a debut for Rodgers I think does factor into picking who's going to win the game. But if it's who's the better quarterback right now, I do think it is Josh Allen. Alrighty, this QB or that QB right here on CBS Sports Radio.

Just curious, Icky. Would you rather have Baker Mayfield, who you believe is going to the playoffs this year, or Kirk Cousins? Kirk Cousins.

He's the better quarterback. I just wanted to make sure. It was the easiest question you've ever been asked. It was the layup.

It was a slam dunk. I just wanted to make sure that you were going that way because you have a love and a serious, just blind loyalty for some reason to Baker Mayfield. Why are you... I'm a Baker believer. Yeah, why are you a Baker believer? I think he's good.

I think he's just, unfortunately for him, got the short end of the stick in a few different situations. That's all. I think he sells a lot of potential left. Let me ask you this. They're your pick to win that division this year?

Yes. If they don't win the division, does that mean you're finally out on Baker after three different times believing in him, him not finding a way to really make you happy and make you look like you're smart? It depends how he plays, but part of the reason why I picked them to win the division is partly Baker, but also partly because the division's not very good. So if Baker was in the NFC North, would I fuse on the Bears? Am I picking the Bears to win the division?

I'm not. It's not like I'm all in on Baker that he's this great, great quarterback. I think it's partly situational. Understood, but if he can't find a way to get to eight or nine wins and win this crappy division, that probably means that your quarterback wasn't good. You would think. You would think. We'll see how he plays out.

We've seen playing quarterbacks play well and unfortunately not get the job done, but yes, you would think that would be on him. You want to know what my favorite part is about you? I try to put you into these areas where I just want to know when you're going to give up on someone, and you will not give up on someone until you are proven wrong and then some.

Even the hypothetical, you won't even allow yourself to kind of get into that mindset that there's a chance at Baker Mayfield and a good probability that Baker Mayfield is going to be a crappy quarterback this year. Why entertain thoughts that are not going to come to fruition? Why waste time?

Why waste energy? You are. You are a loyal human being. There is no doubt about that. We will come on back. Five teams that have the biggest point to prove this week.

We'll get to that on the other side. I think the Patriots have a lot to prove this weekend. The Eagles are expected to win the game. A lot of people, including yours truly, don't even believe that this game is going to be all that close, but you have Tom Brady coming back to the building. And now this is year four without Tom Brady being a part of this organization. But Brady's getting honored and they're having Tom Brady Day at one Patriot place at Gillette Stadium. When you look at the Patriots, this is a game where Bill Belichick, where everyone's going to be talking about the Patriots. When you look at the Patriots, this is a game where Bill Belichick, where everyone's going to be talking Tom and Bill, Bill and Tom, Tom and Bill, Bill and Tom. Bill Belichick could still show you that you still have to look at the Patriots as a team that could be a threat to make the playoffs if they find a way to win this game. And this would be a big win for Bill Belichick.

Once again, let me be clear. I don't think the Patriots are a playoff team this year, but they have a lot to prove going up against one of the NFL's best teams coming up on Sunday. Next one, the Chicago Bears. The Bears are a team that it feels like we at least know they're starting to move in the right direction.

We still got to see if Justin Fields is that dude, but they are now putting him in a position to succeed by going out and trading for DJ Moore this offseason. You're going up against the Green Bay Packers, who have owned you forever. Aaron Rodgers no longer there.

Jordan Love, I know it's not his debut, but it's the first year where he is the starting quarterback from the jump. And oh yeah, Christian Watson's not going to play and we don't even know the health status of Romeo Dobbs going into this game. The Bears, I don't think they have a shot to win this division this year, but if the Bears aren't the third team in this division, it's like, okay, how, how much did you really improve? Because you could be the third best team in this division.

And maybe you're better than what a lot of us expecting you to be the second best team in the division. But for the Bears' hickey this weekend, I think there's a lot of pressure on them because even though I think that Packers' defense is good and they have to be more consistent, heck Kenny Clark even told us that. You're going up against the Packers, it's week one.

We haven't seen much of love. And oh yeah, by the way, Watson isn't there. This is a big game for the Bears at home too. And you talk a good amount, or at least Justin Fields isn't talking a good amount of what he's going to accomplish this year. Right, like talk about him being one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks. Like with the division now seemingly truly open for the first time in the last few years with now Aaron Rodgers gone and the Packers' grip off the NFC North, this is your chance to maybe not compete for the division. But again, show like you're here and going to be a competitor going forward and making strides to win a year or two, you are a real threat. And hey, that's a regime with Ryan Polz and you also have Matt Eberfluse where year one it was a wash, year two you have to improve, which they're in right now, and then year three you have to go contend for a playoff spot. If you end up being a very similar team as you were last year when you made improvements this offseason, it's not a good reflection on this coaching staff and also not a good reflection on the quarterback in Justin Fields.

Next team, the Atlanta Falcons. Bryce Young's making his debut. I think the Falcons are good enough to win this division, that's why they're my pick to win this division.

Bryce Young does not have anything around him. DJ Chark out for the game. We'll see if Adam Thielen does play, it's not looking optimistic, at least from things that I was reading. Miles Sanders I think is an overrated running back and this preseason it showed you that the Panthers' offensive line may not be as good as what we thought it was. Atlanta has more talent for the skilled position players, they don't have the better quarterback, but for Atlanta, they were a team last year that were seven wins and I walked away from that season saying okay this is a team where if they could find the quarterback they could be good. And when you're going up against a quarterback even as highly touted as Bryce Young, who's the number one overall pick, but he doesn't have a lot around him, I think this is a big game this week for the Atlanta Falcons to prove that this is going to be our division this year. Justin Fields Especially with the weapons they got too.

Adam Thielen Exactly. Next up I'm going to stay in that division. Most people believe the Saints are going to win that division. I can't trust Derek Carr to win a division.

I think it was Eric Eager who said it to us and he's a Chiefs fan so that makes sense. He goes, I will never pick a team led by Derek Carr to win a division. And that's kind of my factor in this where if you look at it from top to bottom the Saints probably have the most talented roster in the NFC South.

But I just can't pick them because also everyone's picking them. And I don't believe in Derek Carr. But you could win the NFC South this year and be a bad team. You could win the NFC South this year and really not be a major player in the postseason. The Saints are going up against a respectable team that has warts now, but they're respectable and they're a tough team in Tennessee.

I think there's a lot of pressure on the Saints this weekend. Not only are you at home. Well, well, well. Shopping for a car? Yep. Carvana made financing a car as smooth as can be.

Oh yeah? I got pre-qualified instantly and had real terms personalized just for me. It doesn't get much smoother than that. Well, I got to browse thousands of car options on Carvana.

All within my budget. It doesn't get much smoother than that. It does. I actually wanted a car that seemed out of my range, but I was able to add a co-signer and found my dream car. It doesn't get much- Oh, it gets smoother. It's getting delivered tomorrow.

Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get pre-qualified today. But is this a scenario where the Saints lose this game and then it's like, OK, right, they're still clearly alive for the division. It's one week. But will that give you the feel of, OK, the Saints are just going to be the bad team that wins this division? The team that gets like eight or nine wins isn't really a threat that wins this division.

Or when you go against someone that's out of division, out of conference, that has some respect in this league. That was seven and three last year before the injuries did pile up and they didn't win a game down the stretch, which is still crazy to say. But this is a team that in recent years has been consistently in the playoffs, right, was in an AFC championship about four years ago. I want to see from the Saints, can you win this game and show me, OK, we are worth some of the hype that we have and we're not just going to win this division because of the product of the division. And I think, Kiki, this Tennessee team, it doesn't really. It won't make people like me change my tune at all on the Saints.

But if they like lose this, like if they win the game, but if they lose the game, then it's like, ah, see, these are the fraudulent Saints. And also the Saints right now are healthy, which is which I know not Alvin Kamara in this game because of the suspension. But you have you have Michael Thomas now, right, somewhat healthy.

All right. They say he's a full go now. Crystal lobbies a stud. They do have talent there. And now it's OK when you have a team that would say Tennessee and the Saints are similar this year.

Can you find a way to beat a quality opponent like this? Especially when you're still not even really sure where Tennessee is going. Like they drafted Will Levis, but they kept Derek Henry and signed Andrew Hopkins. Like, are they going for the rebuilding? They trust Ryan Tannehill like Will is still there a team like right. It's like feels like they're in like kind of stuck in the middle. Don't know which direction to go. You have an idea.

You have an identity. You got to capitalize and again, beat a team that kind of feels like they're in the middle of no man's land right now. And Tennessee, they're not slouches. You have Derek Henry.

You have the Andre Hopkins. You have players on that defense like this would not be a great win. That's a good win for the Saints. So they beat Tennessee.

And then finally, I think this is the most obvious one. It's the Jets. On Tuesday, and it helps that it's a Monday night game. But like let's say if all these games are on Sunday, I could guarantee you this. On Monday, the team that we would be talking about the most would be the Jets off a reaction game.

Because this goes either two ways. Jets win. Jets worth the hype. Jets send a message to the Buffalo Bills that this year in the AFC East is not going to be a cakewalk for you. Remember the Jets beat the Bills one time last year with Zach Wilson as the quarterback. So this could be a big message game for the Jets if they win. Now they lose. I do believe there will be people that will be like, OK, after an entire offseason of hype with the Jets, they lose to Buffalo and people are questioning the Buffalo Bills.

So this is a game where the Jets could start to mark their territory against the team that has marked their territory for the last four years all over the AFC East in the Buffalo Bills. Without a doubt. I mean, that's the number one.

Number one by far. The Jets now with the perfect offseason, right? It's been the summer of Aaron and it's everything's gone.

Ayahuasca, Aaron. According to plan, even hard knocks, the one thing they didn't want to do turned out pretty well in their favor. Got to win this game. Any other teams? I just gave you five teams that have a lot to prove this weekend. When you look at the Pats, the Bears, the Falcons, the Saints and the Jets.

Anyone else to jump? I'd actually go back to a game you mentioned already, but their opponent. I think the Packers have a lot to prove.

Oh, interesting. Jordan Love era? Yes, even without Christian Watson, but the Jordan Love era starts. There's a lot of people that are now slowly starting to believe in the Packers, think they're a playoff team.

Kenny Clark was on the show and mentioned he loves to disrespect. Like they feel like not a sleeping giant, but they feel like a team that internally thinks they're better than they are. Which if that's the case, you got to then go out and beat the Bears. I'll tell you, two more teams that can't lose this weekend. The Vikings going up against the Bucks first game since Tom Brady. And then Seattle going up against the Rams where Cooper Cup isn't playing. Those two teams have to win this weekend in the Vikings and the Seahawks. And not only win, win big. Well, come on back. We'll give you one thought in every game in the NFL. We'll do picks coming up 25 minutes from now and then a closing bell 40 minutes from now.