Better With Age (Hour 3)

And away we go, our number three of already a program.

That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We all saw what the Seattle Seahawks did to the New York Football Giants last night to conclude week four, and there's two takeaways from that. Number one, even though Daniel Jones is paid like a franchise quarterback, he looked like the farthest thing from a franchise quarterback last night. And there's one thing when you're missing your best offensive lineman and you're missing your best playmaker in Saquon Barkley, but the fumble and then more so the interception when you were trying to get back into the game is really unexcusable. And you see the same old mistakes just when sometimes people start to buy into Daniel Jones, pop back up, and this Giants team is going nowhere other than picking inside the top 10 of the draft. I don't think that's an overreaction four weeks into the season where this is a team that's one in three. And is anyone going to tell me right now that the New York Giants are going to go to Miami or going to go to Buffalo and beat either of those teams with the amount of points the Dolphins could put up, the amount of points the Bills could put up?

I just simply do not see that. So the Giants are heading to one in five. The big question with the Giants before the year was we knew there was going to be regression.

Samter kind of painted the picture yesterday. They were going to fall flat on their face. I just thought that there was going to be some slight regression for the Giants. It looks like though, we're going to see some big time regression here for the New York Giants. We all knew they overachieved last year. And eventually when you don't have a ton of talent, you could only win so many games, but this team is bottoming out and they're bottoming out real early.

And there's no encouraging things I could say because let's just be real about it. This is a football team that they're one win. They were down 20 something points. And I know the Cardinals have been a gritty team this year, better than what we could expect, but the Cardinals aren't a good team. And they had to scratch and claw and be as resilient as possible to come on back and defeat the Arizona Cardinals. So the Giants are going nowhere. Now, as far as the Seahawks, my takeaway from last night with the Seahawks, where Seattle could have been viewed similarly as the Giants, where Seattle has more talent than the Giants, but was there going to be regression when you lose Russell Wilson? I know Russell Wilson's career is going the wrong way now, but is Geno Smith going to be able to be all that for another year? And this was a team that made the playoffs.

Could you not only repeat that success, but could you get better next year? And through the first four weeks of the season, outside of the Rams game, this has been a good football team that also beat the Detroit Lions, who everyone loves to praise, not only inside the NFC, but also the NFL. But I examined the Seahawks team, and I can't say this enough, because sometimes in the media, right, we get things wrong and you crucify a coach, or you lambaste the player, and then you're proven to be wrong, and people in the media go, oh, I never said that, or it didn't happen, and you can't find the tape, blah, blah, blah.

It's okay for talk show hosts, for analysts, whatever you want to call us, to admit that they got things wrong. And a big part of the conversation when Russell Wilson got traded was the game has passed Pete Carroll by, and shame on Pete Carroll for not finding a way to fix the relationship with Russell Wilson, and the Seahawks were going to be a disaster. How could you trust Geno Smith, or how could you trust Drew Locke when it was a conversation of who was going to be able to start for the Seattle Seahawks? And last year, the Seahawks with Geno Smith as their quarterback, not only a Geno wing comeback player of the year, but they made the playoffs. So this year, we're all trying to figure out what the Seahawks are going to be. In the offseason, I thought they could be the third best team in the NFC.

Right now, if you're listening earlier, my NFC power rankings, I have them as four, with the Eagles being one, Niners being two, Cowboys three, Seahawks four, and then the Detroit Lions being in at five. But Pete Carroll is someone that today, every single talk show host and every single media platform should be praising Pete and genuflecting to him. Because two years ago, it got ugly, it got nasty, and people went after Pete Carroll and forgot how good of a coach this was. And maybe with how close Pete is to Russ, and how Pete was Russ's loyal supporter from forever many years it was, if he was okay with getting rid of Russell Wilson, maybe that should have been a big message that everyone else should have said, hmm, maybe we shouldn't question Pete that much and actually trust him.

And look where we are two years later. But you see the way that Pete Carroll and John Schneider have run this organization in the last two years, because it's very tough to get rid of your quarterback, your star quarterback, regardless of what you think he is, and have this success. And this is going to be a team that most likely is going to be going to the playoffs without Russell Wilson in back-to-back seasons. When Russell Wilson's in Denver and is already on his second coach in Denver, and I know people could say, oh, Russ isn't playing horribly this year.

Yeah, he's not, stat-wise he's not playing like he's a bad quarterback. But that team has only won one game. And the one game they won was up against the Chicago Bears, where you had to have a comeback to do so when you were down 28 to 7. And let's see what happens with the Broncos this week going up against another bad team in the New York Jets.

But getting back to Pete, and I'll just throw this question out there. Is there a more impressive coach in the NFL in the last two seasons than Pete Carroll? And I was examining all the names, and I can't say that there's a coach in the last two years that has done a more impressive job than Pete Carroll. You know, Sean McDermott, great win against the Dolphins. But the last two years, your team hasn't been able to capitalize on that championship window. Mike McDaniel is up there.

It's been one year. He made the playoffs last year. Skylar Thompson was his quarterback, and they lose to the Bills in the slimmest of margins, and the Dolphins outside of Sunday have been humming. So McDaniel's kind of in that conversation, but the Dolphins have so much talent. I'm not saying Seattle doesn't have talent.

They have DK Mecca. They have Tyler Lockett. But if you ask anyone around the league, would you rather have Tua or Geno Smith? It's not even close.

You'd rather have Tua, Tunga, Vailoa compared to Geno Smith. You look inside the AFC West. You know, Andy Reid, we all know he's a Hall of Fame coach. He has Patrick Mahomes.

What Pete Carroll has done is more impressive, and Pete Carroll didn't win a Super Bowl last year. And it's no one else in the AFC West, right? The rest of the coaches there, geez.

You want to talk about a clown show and a comedy show? Maybe the comedy seller here in New York City should invite Brandon Staley, Sean Payton, and Josh McDaniels to do the opening act before they go through their great list of comedians. In the NFC North, I'll give credit to Harbaugh. It was a messy situation last year with Lamar Jackson. Still made the playoffs with the backup quarterback, and Tyler Huntley gave the Bengals everything they could until the fact where Huntley tried to go be Michael Jordan jumping from the two yard line to try to get in the end zone where he fumbled the ball, and then it goes for a touchdown. Tomlin, really good coach. Stefanski, no. Zach Taylor's done a heck of a job the last two years, but you think more so about Joe Burrow and Lou Annarumo before you give praise to Zach Taylor.

AFC South, yes. Stikin and D'Amico Ryans have been really good, but it's their first year. Doug Peterson, heck of a job last year, and Mike Vrabel's good coach, but you were 7-3 last year, and you didn't make the playoffs, and you lost all your games down the stretch. In the NFC, Sirianni's impressive. McCarthy's done a good job.

You know, Brian Dayball was impressive last year, this year, and he really could pull the carpet out from underneath them. Ron Rivera, got to make the playoffs this year. Shanahan, really impressive coach, but this quarterback situation up until Brock Purdy has been a mess, and McVeigh, they're regressing. You look around here, NFC North, Campbell, give him a round of applause. We'll see what the floor is as a head coach. Kevin O'Connell, good one year, bad this year. NFC South, I can't pick any of those coaches yet. So you go through the entirety of the league, it's incredible to win with less, and when you have a guy like Pete Carroll, where he's not a coach that has no talent, but you significantly declined your quarterback play in the public perception, and everyone's hammering you, everyone's saying retire.

Oh, you should be fired at the end of the year if this doesn't work out. He got it right, and it just shows you, like we talk about great organizations, and there's some organizations like right away, oh, Patriot, great organization. Oh, the Ravens, a great organization. The Steelers, a great organization. The 49ers, a great organization. Like there's just some teams that we talk about.

Philadelphia, great organization, where the teams roll right off the tip of the tongue. Seattle is a great organization. What the Seahawks have done for the last decade is really impressive, and I know they went to two Super Bowls. They won one, and then they should have won another, and Pete Carroll and Darryl Beville made an idiotic decision. But in this second chapter, after losing a franchise legend because the franchise legend said, I want to be more of an icon, I want to be more of a celebrity than an actual quarterback, you know that the public's going to turn on you, and they're going to hold you accountable, Pete Carroll, if you don't get it right.

And the Seahawks have got it right. And if you would have told me three years ago, Zach, you'd be on a national radio show, and you would be talking confidently about Geno Smith, I would have never believed you in a million years. But here we are, where you had a team that has a very likable coach, and they saw their coach getting dragged through the mud publicly, and all they've done has won since then. And I know you could say, oh, they haven't won a Super Bowl, or they haven't won a division championship, but they've been to the playoffs with Geno Smith as their quarterback. The Seahawks made Geno Smith the comeback player of the year in the NFL, and now this year, where we see teams like the Vikings have a strong season, and the Giants have a strong season, and now they're bottoming out in the second year of Brian Deball and Kevin O'Connell, Pete Carroll in the second year without Russell Wilson is excelling.

He's a coach right now that is 3-1. With the defense, when you look at what John Schneider did in the draft in working with Pete Carroll, a defense the last two years that drafted really well, getting a cornerback in the fifth round, and then with the fifth overall pick, taking a cornerback as well. I know we haven't seen the success yet offensively, but I believe Jackson Smith and Jigba is going to be a good wide receiver. You have Tyler Lockett, who's an incredibly underrated wide receiver in the NFL.

DK Metcalf, thank you for the anytime touchdown money last night. We appreciate that, but he's a stud. And you have two really good young running backs in Zach Charbonnet, and then also Kenneth Walker.

And here's the other thing. Look at Pete Carroll, where you can say, Zach, that's a lot of talent that you just have. And you're talking about this guy as if he's like one of the great football coaches. How many teams this year have we complained about their offensive line? The Seattle Seahawks have had a bunch of injuries. They had to call Jason Peters out of retirement.

I thought that guy felt like he retired five years ago. He keeps on popping up on teams, whether it's Dallas or Chicago and now Seattle. That offensive line has been injured. That offensive line has had question marks, and this team is still three and one. Pete Carroll keeps on performing, and he keeps on exceeding expectations. And in the last two years, I can't think of a coach considering the circumstances that has done a more impressive job than Pete Carroll. And usually when we talk about like the best coach in the league, forever it was Belichick.

Now Belichick isn't getting the job done in New England. Andy Reid started to take that number one spot. You look at Sean McVay, he's been under consideration as well, especially after he won a Super Bowl. In other years, it's been Tomlin, it's been Harbaugh. When you talk about the top five coaches in the league, now Sirianni's on his way. Kyle Shanahan has done a really good job as well.

There's a bunch of names. And I think if this continues, where maybe Pete Carroll wins a playoff game, we may be looking at this this time next year, where we say Pete Carroll is the best coach in football entering the 2024 season. But right now, as far as I'm willing to go, he's the most impressive coach in the NFL right now. Because I would have never thought after getting rid of Russell Wilson, that you would be on pace to make the playoffs in back to back years.

And I would actually trust what the Seahawks are doing with Geno Smith as their quarterback. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio 855-212 for CBS 855-212-4227. If you want to chime in on a conversation on who's the most impressive coach in the NFL, we got phone lines open for you. You could always interact with me on Twitter and Instagram as well at Zach Gelb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Santor, you got something to say?

They look like you're itching to say something. I love Pete Carroll. He's a former Jets defensive coordinator and he wasn't great as a coach there, but he was a former Jet. I have a place in my heart for Pete Carroll. But there's two guys that you're missing.

Okay. And I know that maybe because of what's going on this year, it's easy to overlook Zach Taylor. But what he's done in Cincinnati, bringing them to his Super Bowl, AFC Championship game. That's the guy to me in my head that I think has done the best job because the expectations for the Bengals were so low and what he's done with that team. Now we look back like, oh, of course, they're great. The Bengals are fantastic. And yeah, they're off to a rough start now. But two years ago when they went to the Super Bowl, they were picked to finish last in that division.

But here's the thing. I'm not saying Zach Taylor's a bad football coach. When I look at the Seahawks, I don't see a Joe Burrow on that team. When I look at the Bengals, I see Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, Hendrickson's very good defensively. I give Zach Taylor credit, right? Made the right hire in Lou Anne Arumo as well, who should be a head coach in this league. I'm not taking away from Taylor, but he's not one of the first people that you think of. With the Seahawks, the first person you think of is Pete Carroll.

Sure. And then here's the second one that to me just stands out. This is an egregious miss, you're saying? Not an egregious miss.

A swing and a miss. This is a guy where like, you want to talk about, okay, you think about the team, you think about the coach and what he's done. Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions. He's not only, he's working with Jared Goff. I'll, for the most part, I'll take Daniel Smith over Jared Goff most days. And when you think about the Lions and that franchise and how moribund they've been, he's not only turning around a team, he's turning around a franchise.

Sure. A team, a franchise that has a loser mentality, a loser history, one playoff win in 40 years or whatever the number is, they are a joke. And he's turned them into a team that believes in themselves, that has confidence, that the country is rallying behind and they don't have a star quarterback there either. Dan Campbell has turned that franchise around. I think Dan Campbell, to me, if the Lions continue on this trajectory. Which they have to do.

Yes. We'll surpass Pete Carroll in the Seahawks. And it's just fair to point out that Pete Carroll did beat Dan Campbell a few weeks ago.

37-31 in overtime. You're not wrong though, in terms of how good of a coach Dan Campbell has been, but let's see them make the playoffs first. Let's see them win the division going away first. And right now it looks like they've set themselves up to do that. Alrighty, Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

Well, come on back. Big game for Georgia this weekend. They look vulnerable with the way that they've played up against South Carolina and Auburn. They welcome in one of the more underrated coaches in the country in Mark Stoops, who's actually going to join us tomorrow. But first up, we will have Aaron Murray, the former Georgia quarterback and now college football analyst. He'll join us when we return in five minutes right here on CBS Sports Radio. We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio, continuing to go through the college football season. Let's go out to the guest line right now and welcome in the former Georgia quarterback. Big matchup this weekend, Georgia up against Kentucky.

And you can find Darren Murray all over the place, ESPN, Sirius and the volume. And he's kind enough to join us right now. Aaron, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Good, man.

Appreciate you. We're in the thick of a very entertaining college football season. It's wide open, man, which is exciting. It kind of feels closer to the NFL product. I know there's a lot of college football fans that kind of are a little disturbed with some of the direction we're going within.

Oh, the transfer portal, yada, yada, yada. But I don't think you can complain with how exciting each Saturday has been because of some of these new rule changes. And I think the future for college football is pretty bright. So it should be another great weekend of some great action. Yeah, it's so funny where we're at with your program, because we know they're the kings of college football.

And now it's not just when you got to win with style points. And that hasn't been the case with South Carolina and Auburn. When you look at Georgia right now through the first few weeks of the season, where's your confidence level at with them? Not as high as it's been for the past couple of years. And I think that's kind of the sentiment among Georgia, the Georgia faithful right now.

There are some question marks. And I guess I'll give one big excuse and Kirby kind of hit this coming out of camp. They had a really bad camp in the sense of not like it wasn't competitive or they didn't feel good about their players, but they got banged up.

It was a very, and that's the one thing that you always talk about with elite teams. Like what will hold the team back from winning a championship that has the type of talent that Georgia has? The first thing is injuries.

Can you stay healthy? And you know that that will derail a season right away. And it hasn't yet. I mean, there's still five and oh, they're undefeated. They're finding ways to win football games, but they've yet to be healthy. Latima Conkey, their best receiver finally played this weekend versus Auburn, but in limited snaps. One of their best offensive lineman Mims has been out for three weeks. They've been shuffling the offensive line around. So the running back position has been banged up. Edwards has only played two games.

Kendall, Kendall Milton's only played a couple of games. So I think they're, they're, they're, they're trying to just survive right now as guys work their way back to being able to compete weekend and week out in an SEC type SEC schedule. So that I think you'll see improvement with those once all those guys are on the field, but they're not as dominant in the trenches. And if you think about Georgia football over the past two years, like why is Georgia one?

Well, they've kicked everyone's butt. The line of scrimmage two years ago, Jordan Davis and company and Nolan Smith last year, Jalen Carter. And we're seeing him what he's doing to get authority now for Philadelphia was an absolute terror. They don't have that guy on the defensive line spot right now. They're, they're not getting after the quarterback as consistently as, as years past. And they're not running the ball as consistently as, as they have in years past either. So I said, part of that's to do with injury, especially in the offensive line.

But I just think they're just not as dominant in the interior as we're used to seeing it. How about the quarterback? What is Aaron Murray's evaluation of Carson Beck so far?

I think he's great, man. Like there's so many fans just drives me crazy. And I think the problem is when you watch a game, you watch just in the box, like that's all you're seeing. You're not watching it. And it's unfortunate.

I would love for more fans to get the all 22 and be able to get the access to see, plan and play out what, what truly is going on on the backend. I think he's been awesome this entire season. He's taking care of the football. He's, he's getting the ball out of his hands. He's not taking sacks.

He's doing a better job. These past two weeks have taken some more shots down the field, but in crunch time, because that was a big thing. Like in close games in the past couple of years, Stetson Bennett has found a way to win football games. Does Carson Beck have that in his DNA? And I think based on what we've seen in the second half of South Carolina, and then the game winning drive first Auburn on the road, a quality defense hostile environment.

He, he did not flinch for a single second. There was not a moment watching the game versus Auburn that I felt like this kid is, is, is going to lose it. He doesn't have command of the offense.

He's the moment's too big for him. You could tell by his demeanor in the pocket and the throws he was making the type of the way in which the ball was coming out of his hands. This kid's got it. This kid's got, got, got that juice you need and crunch on the gut there and went, and he's done that. So I think he's had a hell of a start to the season.

And I think he's only going to get better and better as we get further along. This is a really fun matchup. Aaron Murray on Saturday, Mark Stoops is one of the more underrated coaches in the country on a scale of one to 10, one, no confidence 10, the most confidence in the world. Where's the confidence level at with Georgia going up against Kentucky, that they'll find the way to get the job done.

I think being at home helps. And then I know there's a big worry of like, Oh my gosh, Auburn ran the ball over Georgia last week, you know, over 200 yards the first time it's happened in five years or four years, whatever it's been. And you look at Ray Davis and, and, and, and, and, you know, just how good the big blue wall was last week for Florida. Oh my gosh, two very different running style offenses. Auburn did a great job of essentially creating a triple option style attack where Robbie Ashford was running well, Payne Thorne was running well. It was, it was, it was, it was a modern day triple option.

Plain and simple. Hugh Freeze had an incredible game plan. Hugh Freeze took over the play calling last week and, and, and Philip Montgomery just assisted the OC there.

And I thought he did a great job getting on the edges. Obviously did a great job of incorporating the quarterback, adding that extra blocker with the running back, giving Georgia a lot to handle. You know, that's what the triple option does. You have to worry about the dive. You have to worry about the quarterback. You have to worry about the pitch.

And it's just really tough. Kentucky's more traditional. Kentucky is, is, is, is yeah, the offense line is looked and proved from where they were last year. Ray Davis is a hell of a running back, but you're going to get the traditional running schemes, which I think is a little bit easier for a defense to kind of handle that. So I think that will be more manageable on that side of the football, but Kentucky is a really good football team.

Like I love what they can do. I think their defense can get after you. I think they're talented on the back end. Devin Leary has not clicked yet.

Is this the game where he clicks? You've seen a couple of moments here or there, but nothing special in the passing game, but you look at them, you're like, all right, you had a quarterback like Devin who we, we saw two years ago was dominant NC state. You got receivers like Robinson and Berrien Brown and Dane Key and Jordan Dingle at the tight end position.

Like you should be good throwing the football. Once again, it just has not come together for Kentucky. So I think for Georgia fans, you're hoping that it's not this week. All of a sudden they're able to run the ball with Ray Davis.

And then on top of that, be able to play action, take some shots down the field. So we'll see. But I still think Georgia fans feel pretty confident that they can take care of business for Kentucky this weekend at home. Do you trust either Alabama or A&M when they go up against one another this week? Because Bama, the quarterback situation has been a mess. And now Wegman's done for the year for the Aggies. I love Max Johnson.

I'll start there first. Like Max, to me, you go back a couple of years ago, what he was doing at LSU on a not very good LSU football team was like, man, this kid's got it. He was a young kid making a lot of big time throws and, and it has a lot of talent, good size, good arm shape throws with anticipation, or it's gotten better throwing with anticipation. And he's athletic.

He can beat you with his legs too. And he's shown that over the course of his career. So I don't think it was an upgrade with Wegman.

Obviously he was a starter, but I don't think it was a downgrade either. I think what you thought about A&M prior to the injury is how you should view A&M, you know, with next Johnson as your quarterback now. So that's the two really good quarterbacks. And, and I know A&M feels pretty good about that going forward. I've been impressed since that USF game though, with Alabama flipping it over to that side with, with now what their mentality is. It's, it's, we are going to just run the damn football because they're, they're, they're really good defense, man. They're, they're big, they're faster physical on that side of the football.

Just don't force Jalen to throw the ball more than 20 times in the game. I think if, if A&M could put them into a situation where he's having to be a known passing downs, advantage A&M. So it's all going to be first, first and second down success, plain and simple. You have, I think the most physical offensive line, who's great at run protection, not great at pass protection, greater run, run pro going against one of the best, if not best front six, front sevens in college football. A&M is big, they're faster physical upfront.

It wasn't, that wasn't what beat them versus Miami. It was more the secondary and, and, and, and we're starting to give Miami some more respect when it comes to throwing the football this year. So it's going to be a battle. It is going to be an all out war. Alabama's offensive line, A&M's defensive line. Can Alabama get to third and five and under, can A&M hold them to third and six plus that's going to be determining of, of what this ball game is going to be when it's all said and done. When we get to red river between Oklahoma and Texas, Aaron Murray, is it horns up this week or horns down?

I think it's horns up. I think I like Oklahoma, what they've done this year. And it's funny if you look at the, the, the, the stats of breaking down everything of offensive production, defensive production, you know, Oklahoma is, is like one, Texas is two in that conference, but Oklahoma hasn't really played anyone yet either. So they've done what they've needed to do against lesser competition.

But the Texas is more battle proven right now. Like when in the Tuscaloosa won that football game, Wyoming's four and one, yeah. Like, like you kind of like, like, Oh, they barely escaped the way, you know, they have a great fourth quarter beat Wyoming. Wyoming's four and one and beat Texas Tech. That's a good football team. Down 17 to Wyoming was when they beat them.

Yeah. So, and then you beat Kansas. I know Kansas didn't have their quarterback last week, but they still, you have two ranked wins on your resume. I think Texas is better at more positions.

They're more physical in the interior. I just don't think Oklahoma has faced a team that can punch them in the mouth that can get after, can get after Dylan Gabriel. And I think it's going to be somewhat tough sledding, but I think Oklahoma is a good team. Like I don't think Texas is just going to roll.

I think this is a single digit game. I think Oklahoma has the personnel. I think in year two with Venables, you're seeing that defense play more fundamentally sound football. They're not as talented as Texas, but they also do a lot on that side of the football to, to create havoc.

Different fronts, four down fronts, three down fronts, bare fronts, exotic blitzes. Danny Stutzman at linebacker has had a hell of a season. So like they do things to, to, to take advantage schematically of, of maybe not being as physical as what Texas is. But I still think at the end of the day, Texas is a better football team. Texas has the better quarterback. Texas has the better receivers. They got the run game going right now.

I do think horns up, like you alluded to when it's all said and done. Last thing I'll ask you when we look at the PAC 12 and the big 10, Aaron Murray, who do you have as the best team right now in the PAC 12 of the best team in the big 10? I'll go, I'll go, I'll go Michigan first in the big 10. I think they're, they're more complete, the most complete team. And finally, they, they Nebraska is not a great football team, but it was a, a, a defense at least was one of the best defenses and, and, and being able to stop the run this year. And they kind of just ran right through them.

JJ McCarthy's taken his game to another level. So I like Michigan in that conference. I don't buy Penn state. I think Penn state's a bunch of friends.

I think Penn state's going to be 10 and two, and it's all said and done. They, they, they, they have no explosive plays on the offense. They, they're not running the ball well. They don't have elite receivers. I like their quarterback, but he's not a superstar right now in this point of his career.

And he doesn't have the support. Like, I don't think they can score against Ohio state or Michigan. Like they're going to be tending to once again, this year, they got a great defense, but their offense lacks explosive plates. And they have to go on the road to Iowa state and Michigan's just better than them. So Penn state will be two and oh, or 10 and two when it's all said and done. So I like Michigan out of the big 10 pack 12. I like Oregon.

I like Washington. USC doesn't have that dog in them. I think when, when Bush comes to shove, Oregon has shown me this year that they want to beat you down. USC to me does not have that feeling.

They feel like they're a little bit soft. They're just happy to be out there. They're happy that they got Caleb, but they don't got that dog in a man. They don't, we saw this week for us, Colorado.

You, you watch both tapes. Oregon wanted to embarrass Colorado. Oregon wanted to, to make them quit. USC doesn't have that. And when you fade, if you want to win a championship, you have to have that dog-like mentality. USC doesn't. Oregon does.

So I give them the advantage. He's Aaron Murray. Does a great job. ESPN serious the volume.

You catch him everywhere. The former Georgia quarterback, Aaron, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this as always appreciate you have a great week. Alrighty. It's time to answer our, ask the pros question of the day brought to you by O'Reilly auto parts, Ryan and Des Moines, Iowa.

How about that? I was in Des Moines this past weekend was listening to our great CBS sports radio affiliate, 1700, the champ while driving through the state of Iowa says who has more pressure on them tonight? Is it Daniel Jones or is it Gino Smith?

You could submit a, ask the pros question by tweeting at CBS sports radio at Zach Gelb using the hashtag, ask the pros, think O'Reilly auto parts for all your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly auto parts. I actually think the, the player with more pressure under him tonight, when you consider Daniel Jones going up against Gino Smith, it's actually Daniel Jones. And here's why Gino Smith should win the game tonight. Gino Smith has more weapons on the offense side of the ball.

So you may be sitting there saying, Zach, whoa, whoa, there's more pressure on Gino Smith. If you think he's in a better situation, I think though, most people now realize what Gino Smith is where he was lost, right? Everyone wrote him off.

He'll tell you, he didn't write back. And that was a great line after week one last year, where he did take down the Denver Broncos. But going into this year, I don't think a lot of people doubted Gino Smith, where what I mean by that is we expect some regression, but not for him to fall flat on his face. When it comes to Daniel Jones, it was so negative and it was so nasty from the start where even last year, and he had a really good season with the rushing yards. And I know his passing numbers weren't great, but he had no one to really throw the ball to, but for Daniel Jones, where he was drafted and everyone thought, including myself, that it was a horrible draft pick and he turned out to be an okay quarterback.

I still don't know what his ceiling is. I still think there's more doubt with Daniel Jones compared to Gino Smith. So for tonight, I think this is a moment where Daniel Jones in an isolated window, a Monday night football, can show everyone last year wasn't a one-time thing.

Last year wasn't a one-time lucky kind of situation that ended up happening where you got to give him a lot of credit for what he did with Isaiah Hodgins as his best wide receiver. So I look at this game tonight and I think because more people doubt Daniel Jones compared to Gino Smith in the year of 2023. That's why I do believe that the Giants and their quarterback has more pressure than the Seahawks quarterback in Gino Smith. Now, as for the game tonight, Seahawks are a two and a half point favorite. The Seahawks last year did a really good number on the New York Giants. And with all the injuries that the Giants have, it feels like, right, and my antenna's up on this one, that the Seahawks should be more than a two and a half point favorite.

And even though internally, there's like a part of me saying, take the Giants, take the Giants, take the Giants, right? Don't love where the spread's at. A lot of people are going to take the Seahawks tonight. Maybe Vegas is going to get me tonight.

And Vegas usually does get me. I like the Seahawks in the game tonight. And I think the Seahawks are going to win and they're going to cover the spread. The Seahawks just have too much talent compared to this Giants team. And the Giants, I said this going into the year and I thought Seattle could be the third best team in the NFC. It doesn't look like they're going to be, but the Seahawks should be a playoff team. And the Cowboys, I would say, are the third best team in the NFC behind the Eagles and the 49ers right now in that order. But you look at this Giants team, coaching can only take you so far and you need a good coach.

You need a good culture. And the Giants finally got that last year, but you need more talent. And I know Darren Waller gets injured a lot.

Saquon, right? Injured a lot, as you've seen last week and then this week. And it's just one of those things where you could only go so far if you don't have the talent. And for the Giants last year, this was a football team that got all the way to the second round of the playoffs. Like if you would have told me before the start of last season that the Giants would be in the playoffs, I would have said you're crazy. But then if you would have told me that the Giants would have not only made the playoffs, but won a playoff game, I would have said, what are you smoking? I really would have said that.

That's inconceivable. But now when you look at that team, especially with the injuries on the offensive line, Saquon as well, still not having great wide receivers in there. We'll see what Hyatt could do. A lot of pressure on Jalen Hyatt tonight. I may bet him anytime touchdown in the game, because I don't think there's going to be a blowout. I just believe that the Seahawks are in better position right now to win this football game.

So let me go around the room here. Stu, let me get your thoughts on the game tonight as the Seahawks are two and a half point favorites up against the Giants. Yeah, it feels like the Seahawks are just a better team than the Giants.

I think Geno Smith is a better quarterback. They have more playmakers. And usually you see a West Coast team coming to the East Coast and it's like, oh, you know, they play an early game.

But the fact that this is a prime time game, a standalone game, I don't think that really affects them. They have some more rest to play on the Monday night. So I think the Seahawks win this one pretty comfortably, actually.

Samter, I know you're a natural contrarian. I feel like this means you're picking the Giants. No, I would never pick the Giants. The Giants were so overrated last year and that the expectations going into this year was so ridiculous.

But were they really? Like, do people have high expectations for the Giants this year? People were calling them a playoff team.

I thought the Giants- Well, that's not crazy. They made the playoffs last year and won a playoff game. And my point is that they were incredibly huge overachievers last year that made something out of literally nothing. And they did nothing to improve their team whatsoever other than adding Darren Waller, who's always hurt. So even having him on your roster doesn't actually mean he's on your team because he's never there. They've done nothing.

They don't really have anything to go by. I don't buy Saquon Barkley as an elite running back. Daniel Jones is- Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you don't buy Saquon Barkley? He can't say healthy.

That's a problem. But when he is healthy, the guy's a dominant running back. He's fine. He's fine.

He's a make or break guy. He's going to get you nine carries with no yards and he's going to break one for 40. That's just what he does.

That's what he's always going to do. And that's fine to get that 25 yard run. But when you're at second and 10, third and 10, every single drive, you're just not going to win ballgames. So I've never been a believer in Saquon Barkley.

He doesn't see the whole well. Daniel Jones is nothing. Zach Wilson is as good.

Maybe not. Man, you're really negative. I have no faith in the Giants whatsoever. I love Dayball. I think Dayball is a great coach who got everything possible out of that team. But they were such overachievers last year. And every year we see a team or two that catches lightning in the bottle and does not belong where they are. Whether they just have a terrible year or a great year, they just don't belong. And the Giants just didn't belong. There's not a lot of talent on that team other than the offensive line. And their offensive line best player is hurt. I have no faith in the Giants. They're going to get crushed by 30.

Wow. So, folks, let me just give you a little rule of thumb here. This is what happens on all sports talk shows. Whenever every single person on the show picks one team, you fade the crap out of us. There is no doubt about it now that the Giants are going to win the game. I just picked Seattle. Stu just picked Seattle. Samter just picked Seattle.

And Samter was the most defiant about the Seattle Seahawks. I mean, winning this game like I look at the Giants and I said, I thought the Giants are going to regress this year. But Samter makes it seem as if they're going to fall flat on their face and they're going to be like kissing the floor all throughout the season. I think the best way to describe what the Giants will be this year is what the commanders were last year is what the Giants will be this year. And the Giants and the commanders will swap places with the with the Giants this year. Like the commanders are right there and they just missed out on the playoffs. I think the Giants will be right there and they'll just miss out on the playoffs. And I do believe the commanders will go to the postseason this year.

But geez, that was really depressing what Samter just painted the picture here. You would make it seem as if the Giants are the Bears for crying out loud with no hope, no future. They're not the Bears yet, but the Bears have hope and future because they're going to get the first two picks in the draft.

You would hope so. But with all that being said, how many times have we been down this road before with the Bears? Will the Bears have a future? The Bears have a hope. And then the next thing you know, the Bears are where the Bears always were.

And that's not a good football team outside of right now, one of the greatest seasons that you'll ever see back in back in 1985. So one more thing that I want to get to before we wrap up the show today, Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. All the Taylor Swift coverage from yesterday. I meant to bring this up earlier. I mentioned it for a second. Now we've got to spend the final three, four minutes on it.

As a consumer, I think it's a little bit too much now. And I know this is going to be a wildly unpopular opinion. And I don't want to start any wars with the Swifties. I like Taylor Swift. I have no issue with Taylor Swift.

I get it. Why NBC wants to show Taylor Swift 3000 times last night in the game. We don't need to see her 3000 times. I thought it was a bit too much last night. And I thought it was cool before the game, right? You see her walking into the stadium with all the other celebrities, the fans that are standing outside of her apartment. Like, what do you think? She's going to walk out of her apartment and be like, Taylor, she's going to be like, Hey guys, how you doing? And walk right into an SUV and then get escorted to the stadium. But last night, and I do believe that is a genuine relationship with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

I don't know if it's going to work. I don't know if there's going to be wedding bells that are going to be rung and heard soon, but last night, right away, the promotion of the Taylor Swift movie of her Eros tour that's coming out, Travis Kelce now popping up in a lot more commercials. I look back at that entire thing and just what happened last night as a consumer of football.

And I like the other things as well. It was just overdone. Like you could make mention of it. You could show her a few times throughout the games, but they must've showed her at least 20 times in the game last night.

Sam, let me just quickly throw this out to you. Do you think that was just a little bit too much last night? Cause that's the way that I felt about it during the game. It almost felt like some of the other games, they kind of flashed to her quickly and then would mention it. And that was two weeks ago in KC, they mentioned it, they flashed to her. Well, they went to her a lot. The game also sucked.

This was a good game tonight, last night. And it was like break after break after break, like every single moment you saw, it was definitely way too much Taylor Swift. Stu, I know you're a big Swiftie.

You spent like your entire life savings on going to Taylor Swift this year. Basically. What did you think of the coverage last night? I didn't mind it. I was kind of entertained by it. I think they were preparing for a blowout and it wasn't a blowout. So they were kind of surprised that it wasn't a blowout. So maybe they should have deviated from that. But that's why you have to adapt.

Don't be like Mac Canada and fail to adapt here. You have to realize that's a good game. I don't need to see Taylor Swift 4000 times when I was watching the game on a plane too. But man, what a spectacle that was. And Brittany Mahomes, she's sitting right next to Taylor Swift. No one realized it was Brittany Mahomes as well until I saw all the pictures of her not looking too happy during the game.

And that's because it wasn't going the way that usually the games do go for the Kansas City Chiefs. But the biggest winner of all this is Donna Kelsey. Donna Kelsey with Jake from State Farm. Tremendous yesterday. And then right to the Chiefs game where she sent him with the new BFF and maybe her daughter-in-law in Taylor Swift. Donna Kelsey stock all the way up all the way through the roof.

All right. That concludes this Monday edition of the Zach Gelb show. We'll be back tomorrow and all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM Channel 158, the free Odyssey app. And of course, with all the passionate people that are in the YouTube chat, we always appreciate you listening and watching us right here on CBS Sports Radio. Big thanks to Stuart Kovacs. Big thanks to Michael Samter as well.

We'll be back tomorrow. Gonna have a fun show. And yes, I do like to see all of us in the game tonight minus the two and a half points. So does Stu.

So does Samter. So expect to talk about a big Giants victory tomorrow. All right, everybody. We out.

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