The Dallas Drama Choking Cowboys (Hour 1)

Live from the play show yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Monday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the Free Odyssey app, and of course on YouTube 855212 for CBS is the number to jump on in 85521242 at 27. You can always get at me on Instagram. We're on straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Got Michael Samter and also Stuart Kovacs riding along with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. We have to start with the game last night in Santa Clara where the San Francisco 49ers just dominated and opened up a can of whoop-ass on the drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys. As the final score was 42 to 10 and well on the big stage once again the drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys showed why I call them the drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys. That is as lethargic of a game and lethargic of an effort that I've ever seen from the Dallas Cowboys. And the amazing part about that is the Cowboys actually have regressed from where they are the last two years. Because the last two times in a big playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers those games were actually close.

Those games came down to Dak Prescott not being able to get the ball in the end zone at the end of the game. But that was a good old-fashioned ass-whooping last night where the 49ers just destroyed the Dallas Cowboys. And the Cowboys are fraudulent. Don't give me any of this nonsense. Oh they're this great team.

They're different. And all you Cockroach Cowboys fans you're all popping up out of nowhere when you beat three bad teams and dominated three bad teams in the Giants, the Jets and the Patriots. Well last night you got exterminated up against another great team and it just shows you that the Dallas Cowboys are the definition of a good team but not a great team.

And when they go up against superior talent, when they go up against great teams in the NFL, the Cowboys deficiencies are shown and they're on full display. But to not even have a pulse in the game last night, to not even have a remote chance to win that game last night, it was severely disappointing. Because as a football fan, I got off the 8 hour marathon of ION football yesterday on CBS Sports Radio. I rush home, I order my Chinese food, make sure I get my pork and shrimp egg roll, my sesame chicken, got some fried rice, some dumplings as well. And I was fired up to watch the game.

And I placed the delivery order, takes about 45 minutes to get there. And by the time the food got there, the game was a wrap. And it's amazing how the Cowboys have the same problem since they last won a Super Bowl. And that was all the way back in the 1995 season.

They just don't have an ability to show up and be present on a big stage. And you can't tell me that this isn't a talented football team. Dak Prescott's a talented quarterback. CeeDee Lamb is a talented wide receiver. Mike McCarthy has won a Super Bowl in this league.

Micah Parsons is one of the best defensive players in the NFL. And I know that the 49ers are filled with talent all over the field. We know the 49ers are a roster that is just the definition of being an elite roster and one of the top rosters, if not the top roster, in the NFL. But you can't tell me that the difference between those two teams is 42 to 10.

And there's a difference from being great to being good. But when you are a good team, which the Cowboys are, the difference shouldn't be 42 to 10 when you're going up against the elite San Francisco 49ers. And if you're a Cowboys fan, your season's over. And what I mean by that is, sure, you're going to go win 11, 12 games like you've done the last two years. But last night just reiterates to you that you know in the big moment in an NFC that the Eagles are damn good, the 49ers are damn good.

We know that. You know when you get into the playoffs, even if you have one little playoff victory against the Buccaneers like last year, it's all for nothing. Because when you go up against those elite teams like Philadelphia and like the 49ers in the playoffs, don't give me this regular season crap when you play the Eagles twice.

I know you've had a good record against them. Or, you know, we saw last night you couldn't even compete with the 49ers. But when you get into the postseason and everyone's watching you and we know how big the stage is, there's just no way if I'm a Cowboys fan that I could realistically anticipate that this team, which they're not going to have a bye, is going to be able to win three games to find themselves in a Super Bowl. Heck, I don't even have confidence they'll be able to win back to back games to get to an NFC title game. Because this team is just allergic to the big moment. When they see the big moment, they start to crap their pants, they start to get hives, and they have to start to check themselves into the hospital because they just can't respond on a big stage.

And it's not as if I could just pinpoint it to one thing. McCarthy got out coached last night. Dak Prescott got outplayed by Brock Purdy. The run game for San Francisco, far superior than the Dallas Cowboys. And it's not like Tony Pollard's a bad back. He's a really damn good running back.

He's making $10-11 million this year on the franchise tag. And all we heard was this great Dallas Cowboys defense. And oh, this Cowboys defense, they're starting to remind you of the 85 Bears and the early 2,000 Ravens. Oh, similar to Legion of Boom. Oh, that's a bunch of hogwash.

That's a bunch of nonsense. You had Brock Purdy carve you up, rock out with this Brock out, and look Purdy awesome, and go 17-24 for 252 yards, four touchdowns. And it got so bad, they said, we'll put Sam Darnold in there. Christian McCaffrey got in the end zone.

Jordan Mason got into the end zone. George Kittle was the easiest anytime touchdown bet of my life at plus 240 last night. And he also had three touchdowns in the game. Deebo Samuel dominant.

Brandon Ayew dominant as well. But this score should not have been 42-10. And the Cowboys now are directionalists. Because if they would have lost 27-24, if they would have lost 27-21, something that constitutes an actual football game, we would have all said, yeah, I want to see the rematch. Yeah, let's see this divisional weekend.

Let's see this in an NFC title game. But when it's 42-10, buh-bye. The Cowboys are what they've always been.

They choke on the big stage, and they're not ready for the big moment. So go win your 11-12 games this year. I'm sure the cockroaches will pop back up as you get into January. All right, here comes the Cowboys. Here they come. How about them Cowboys? The Cowboys are back. This is going to be their year for the first time since the 1995 season.

You know it and I know it. After last night, you don't have a prayer. You don't have a chance to be in an NFC title game or a Super Bowl this year. Your apex is getting to the divisional round and losing in the divisional round. And there's no difference from the team this year compared to the team the last two years.

And quite frankly, after what I saw last night, it looks like it got worse. Because as I said in the open, the last two years, those games were actually close. Dak choked in the big moments. This year, you didn't even have an opportunity to choke. Because San Francisco saw you, and San Francisco ran right through you like a hot knife through butter. And what a disgraceful performance that was by the Dallas Cowboys. Shouldn't even have made the trip to Santa Clara. Shouldn't even have got off the team bus if you're going to be that weak and that lethargic and that lame on a football field.

And you know what? It drives me crazy when teams lose and they just can't take it on the chin and they just can't admit, Hey, we suck tonight. Hey, we were horrible tonight.

Hey, we were embarrassing to the sport that we all grew up loving tonight. This is Micah Parsons after the game in the locker room talking to reporters. When I saw this on Twitter X, whatever you want to call it these days, I thought this was a fake quote.

I saw this and I just only saw it via words and via text. And I go, there's no way Micah Parsons who I like, Micah Parsons is really sharp. I enjoy his podcast, all that stuff. And he is like an alpha, right?

He is a lion. I'm like, there's no way Micah Parsons actually uttered these words. And I texted Santer. I go, you got to find me this audio because I think I'm getting played here on social media. But oh, no, no.

Santer found the audio. Here it is for Micah Parsons. I don't think they really are higher level than us. I think we the same caliber playoff team, if not the same talent standard as them.

I just feel like we need to really reconsider some things, get together, fix some things. I feel like it was a few plays away. The score don't really shape what really happened out there. A few plays away. You would have thought they lost the game by 10. You would have thought they lost the game by 14. Micah, you lost the game 42 to 10 for crying out loud. You can't say, oh, the score doesn't really indicate what happened on the field. Oh, we're just a few plays away. And that's the reality here. And Michael Parsons isn't wrong when he says we have similar talent.

Yes, you have similar talent. The 49ers are better. The 49ers know how to utilize their talent. The 49ers know how to win.

And they haven't won a Super Bowl yet, but they're consistently in the mix and consistently in the NFC title game. You have all this talent. You have the Ferrari in the driveway, but you got a busted tire. You got a broken windshield and you have no gas in the tank to get you from point A to point B.

Doesn't matter if you have a good looking car, if you don't have a tire, if you have a crack in your windshield and if you have no gas. But that's the Dallas Cowboys. They always look like the part.

They always want to give you a reason to believe. And then on the big stage, they disappear. Put the Cowboys face on a milk carton, why don't you? Because they're missing an action last night.

And that was just embarrassing. Now on the other side, after 10 minutes of Cowboys bashing, you do have to acknowledge and praise the San Francisco 49ers. Because that is as good of a victory as any team will have this season in the NFL. Now the 49ers don't win anything last night in terms of their ultimate goal of Super Bowl or bust. And we know they're one of the few teams in the NFL that are Super Bowl or bust this year. But the 49ers sent a big message last night.

And we all missed it. Because going into this game, it was all, can the Cowboys show up? Can the Cowboys send the message?

Can the Cowboys show that something is different? How the 49ers dominated that game, everyone's reaction today. I don't care if you love the 49ers. I don't care if you hate the 49ers. But everyone now is going to say, oh, the 49ers are the best team in the NFL.

Everyone's going to say. Now I think there's a legitimate conversation to be had and we'll see that match up later in the year between the 49ers and the Eagles. But if the 49ers don't get to the Super Bowl this year and don't win the Super Bowl this year, this season's a disaster for them. And that's going to be tough in the NFC because the Eagles are just as good, if not better, you can make the case. But the 49ers have everything this year. And I got to give praise to Brock Purdy. And I've said it before, I think he's a system quarterback right now that could one day turn into a franchise quarterback.

But regardless of how you want to word it, that system and what he's running right now is working. And he did a great job extending the plays last night. He did a great job spreading out the football too and playing the ultimate point guard role. But really, my biggest takeaway from last night, we all know how great the 49ers are defensively.

Everyone knows that. And sometimes it gets lost how great they are defensively because for the last few years, the entirety of the conversation has been, who's going to be playing quarterback for the 49ers? Is it Jimmy G? Is it Trey Lance? Is it Sam Darnold? Is it Brock Purdy? Are they going to get Kirk Cousins?

Is it Nick Mullins? Like we went through the entire circulation of names that you could have. But that defense has always been great. That defense has always been dominant. But last night they took it to a different level of dominance because Dak Prescott, who is just outside, in my opinion, a top 10 quarterback in the league, but is paid like he is a great quarterback. They just went after him all night.

He didn't have a second to breathe. He was under duress all throughout the evening through three interceptions. So much for Dak telling us before the year, oh, he's going to cut down his turnovers. He's going to run against a big opponent. The Dak Prescott of the last few years is a parent. And then you look at the run game.

I know it helps when you're off to that big of a start. But that run game for Dallas, which for years we talked about their offensive line in the run game, they did nothing in the game last night. Their leading rusher was Tony Pollard. He had a measly 29 yards.

I didn't even hear a peep at a C.D. Lamb in the game last night. And it speaks to this defense because if you just looked at the score and if you just watched the game nothing about the history of the Cowboys and the 49ers, you would have thought the Cowboys this season would be heading to pick top 10 in the draft. And the 49ers like the greatest team you've ever seen. It's one thing to win a game in a dominant fashion, but to just emasculate the other team takes it to a totally different level.

So it's very simple. We all know the 49ers are Super Bowl or bus team and the Cowboys are just fraudulent. The Cowboys are just a team where they could look like they're going to be heading real far. But you know it and I know it at the end of the day, this team in a big spot is going to fail. And there's just not consistency in the big moments as you would hope if you're a Cowboys fan where they finally show up.

They finally get the job done. They've consistently failed to show up on the big stage and get back to a Super Bowl. Get back to an NFC title game because the numbers don't lie. And the facts are since the 1995 season, Jerry's team hasn't been to a Super Bowl or they haven't been to an NFC title game. And the same damn thing is happening once again.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. What did you learn last night between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys? Also when we return, Bill Belichick is officially on the hot seat and another legendary coach may be the worst coach in the NFL this season. We'll talk about two coaching legends next. Zach Gelboff and running on this Monday right here on CBS Sports Radio. The Cowboys, 49ers with that massacre last night. We'll get into Bill Belichick and Sean Payton right now. We'll get to the phones in just a second.

855-212-4CBS. I need to wave the white flag right now. And I'm currently on the stream waving a flag, the Maggie and Perloff flag that's autographed by a bunch of legends here on CBS Sports Radio. I had no expectations for the Patriots heading into this season other than not making the playoffs. I was not a believer in this Patriot team. But why I'm waving the flag is they need to move on from Mac Jones at the end of this season. And Bill Belichick is now on the hot seat.

But just because you're on the hot seat doesn't mean that you're going to get fired. I still don't believe Bill Belichick is going to get fired after this season. I still think when you win six Super Bowls and how close him and Robert Kraft are, that Bill Belichick will be afforded another opportunity next season.

Now, there is a chance that they have a meeting at the end of the year. Bill doesn't want to adapt. Bill doesn't want to listen to Robert Kraft. And Kraft has no choice but to fire him. But in all likelihood, I really do believe that Belichick is back next year. However, for the first time in my football fandom, I want to see the Patriots lose every game for the rest of the season. Because the Patriots, since Tom Brady, have been in the worst part of football that you could be in. Where you know you're not going to win a Super Bowl, but you're not bad enough where you have a top ten pick and even a top five pick.

I want them to be as bad as humanly possible. And their one win this year is up against the Jets, whereas more so how the heck do the Jets not win the game rather than, oh, the Patriots did X, Y, and Z possible in the game to go win the game and justify getting a W. But this is what I want to have happen. And I don't know how realistic this is because I still think they'll win four or five games. But my preference would be you lose every game the rest of the way. You hope the Panthers get two wins so the Bears then get, you know, they have their first overall pick with the way that trade went down for Bryce Young. And then you hope the Cardinals get a few more victories as well. But I want this team to be one and sixteen.

That's what I want them to be. One and sixteen so they could go get Caleb Williams. And here's what Bill Belichick needs to realize, because I said this right when they hired Matt Patricia, that it was going to fail from the start. You can't have Patricia and Judge, guys that have made their names on the defensive side of the ball or in the third phase of the game in special teams, run your offense with your young quarterback. And then this year, Bill Belichick, he goes, oh, wow, what I was doing was really damn stupid. I got to go hire Bill O'Brien.

But it was a half assed fix. That's what it was for Bill Belichick bringing in Bill O'Brien, because you didn't surround Mac Jones with a number one wide receiver like Mac Jones when he was in college was really good. Mac Jones is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. And just because you're a finalist for the Heisman Trophy doesn't mean you go on to have a sensational NFL career. But in college, he had a lot of names around him. And you look around the league, there were questions about Josh Allen. There was questions about Jalen Hurts.

There was questions about Tuatunga Vailoa. All those guys took off when they got legit weapons around him. And that's the frustrating part to me with Bill Belichick, is that he's still operating as if he has Tom Brady. Belichick has to get with the times and realize TB12 isn't walking through the door anytime soon. And you can't trot out Danny Amendola, Brandon Lefell, Chris Hogan, David Givens, right? You can't trot out those guys as you did with Tom Brady, because Brady's the GOAT. Brady's the preeminent quarterback of all time. He could win with crap.

Mac Jones, his ceiling is just being good. He's not a great quarterback. But they haven't put him in a position to succeed because they have nothing around him. No quarterback could walk into one Patriot place right now and get this team to being a contending team. Because you have no wide receivers and you have no offensive line. Now that doesn't excuse Mac and take no blame off of Mac Jones' plate, because he's making dumb decisions. He can't even pitch a football to Ramondre Stevenson.

He's throwing interceptions. I saw some stat home interceptions at Gillette Stadium. Mac Jones has four. Tom Brady and his entire career at Gillette Stadium had four.

That's inconceivable. You talked about a guy that played for 20 years, a guy that's in year number three right now. But this is on Bill, and Bill needs to learn what he did with Mac Jones did not work, and he's the biggest person to blame here. So go be as bad as possible.

Be in the top five. Draft Caleb Williams, draft Drake May, draft Michael Penix Jr., whoever the quarterback is. But you need to realize and you need to thoroughly understand you screwed over Mac Jones. And now you need to reset this offseason. You have money to spend and you have to go get elite talent around your new young next quarterback. If you do that, you could potentially have success once again if you're Bill Belichick.

If you don't and if you're stubborn and if you sit there and you go, you know, we're just going to get better and we'll find a way to get the job done and we'll do our job. But you don't actually go get talent, then this is going to be the same old, same old that it's been the last few years where the team has been a giant disappointment ever since Tom Brady has walked away. Now, let me get from one coaching legend to another really great coach. Sean Payton may be the biggest buffoon in the NFL right now because Sean Payton, this offseason, in such an unnecessary way and something that is so uncommon for an NFL head coach, he went after Nathaniel Hackett and he said Nathaniel Hackett with the Broncos, the team that Sean now coaches, did one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the league. When you say that, it's a must win when you go up against Nathaniel Hackett's offense. And instead yesterday, the Jets won the game up against the Denver Broncos, and that is as bad of a look as humanly possible for Sean Payton. And for a guy, by the way, when you throw something out there and you say, oh, Nathaniel Hackett has one of the worst head coaching jobs he's ever seen through five games, he's on pace to be a better coach than you in your one in Denver. He had two wins last year after five games with Nathaniel Hackett. You only have one win, and in that one win, you needed the Bears to choke it up. So you look at Sean Payton. This has been a massive swing and a miss so far, only through five games. And I sit there and I'm watching that Jet game yesterday and I'm thinking to myself, why did Sean take this job?

Like everyone from afar knew how bad of a job this was. And I know you have new ownership coming in and you got a ton of money, but you're in a salary cap league. However, you now have a quarterback that is getting paid great money.

You just gave up a ton of draft capital to go get. And this quarterback is not even performing to anywhere close to what his salary is. And you look at the rest of this roster, even this right talented defense in the back end, they're getting exposed each and every week. So Sean hired the wrong defensive coordinator.

He picked the wrong job. He goes after Nathaniel Hackett and then you let Nathaniel Hackett without Aaron Rodgers. It'd be one thing if you're playing up against Aaron Rodgers, totally different feel with Zach Wilson. You allow him to beat you in that game yesterday. I know Sean after the game can be like, oh, I already addressed it and I'll come off arrogant and all those things.

You got to take that one in the chin yesterday because that is so bad. That is just absolutely putrid and an embarrassing performance by Sean Payton. Your season's over. We all know that this team's going nowhere.

This team is cooked. But yesterday for a coach that's won a Super Bowl in kind of our fun world, that was like the Super Bowl for him, because if you lose that game, you get clowns, you get dragged all around the country. But you did it to yourself because your arrogance and whatever message you were trying to send, you put your own foot in your mouth and football karma worked where the Jets were the worst quarterback.

The Jets with the head coach is not as experienced and an offensive coordinator that was embarrassed last year and was basically the punch line to every joke went into your place. They kicked their feet up on the couch. They drank your beer and they slept with your girl. That's what they did. And they walked out of the stadium.

You know what? Wasn't it Gruden? Still, you would know this didn't Gruden when he had I forget where he had a victory up against. He did like it was against the Chiefs. Thanks to where he had the bus driver do a victory lot in the parking lot. I thought that was really lame and that was really gutless. If the Daniel Hackett did that yesterday, I would have absolutely loved it after the game because everything that Sean did up until this game made zero sense and was unnecessary.

And a little humble pie hopefully was delivered yesterday. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Let's start things off with Daniel in Florida wants to comment on the 49ers and Cowboys game from last night if you even want to call that a game. Daniel, what's happening? Good afternoon. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hey, good afternoon to you as well. As a lifelong Niners fan, that certainly was a delight to watch that that destruction at the hands of the Niners last night. Two things that I noticed I want to point out. First of all, Jordan Mason. The Niners have got to get Jordan Mason involved more often these games. He actually had more more yards on less carries than McCaffrey last night. I was in 5.7 yards carrying like a bulldozer. He just looked like an old school running back from what I watched growing up, which is what I love about him.

So, yeah, they got to get him involved more often just to help protect McCaffrey. Second of all, that 42 to 10 score was actually the Niners showing mercy on the Cowboys. It felt worse. They ganked out their defense and offensive starters with more than 12 minutes left to go. It could have been 60 to nothing.

Or 60 to 10. But no, the magnanimous gesture of the Niners actually was what happened there. So, yeah, that was great to watch and thanks for the time. I appreciate it.

Yeah, Daniel, appreciate it. And that's what makes the 49ers so good. You could have someone call up and say, I want to see Jordan Mason to preserve more of Christian McCaffrey. When you go up against the 49ers, you don't know who's going to beat you on the offensive side of the ball. We all know how great their defense is, but offensively it could be a Brock Purdy game. It could be a Christian McCaffrey game. Or you get a blast from the pass with Mr. Kittle, who goes off for three touchdowns in the game. And you know, you can even my BFF, Deebo Samuel, they're capable of taking over a game. Even Kyle Juszczyk, right? The fullback. And we all love a good fullback story. He even had a touchdown in the game last night. They have so many different weapons where if you prepare to stop one person or if you prepare to try to take away one facet of the game for them.

They have multiple ways for you to for for them to beat you. And their depth is just so crazy. And that roster is just so well, just so perfectly assembled by John Lynch that there's really not a lot of flaws, if any flaws at all with this football team. Let's go to Matt in Massachusetts next up on CBS Sports Radio. Matt, what's happening? How are you doing, Zach? Doing great, Matt.

Go ahead. So, I agree with everything you said about Belichick except for one thing. I think it's time to move on from Belichick.

And I'm going to tell you why I think it's time to move on from Bill. Did you see what happened when the Pats went down 24-0 in the third quarter on 4-3 at the Saints 40? He basically quit on the team and the season. When he punted?

Yes. And to me at that point, if I'm a player, I'm like screw this guy. Screw him. Yeah, but Matt, who are you bringing in? Like, I understand saying you want to get... Hold on, hold on, Matt. I understand you saying you want to fire Belichick.

And I can understand why people would say that. But who are you bringing in is a big question because look at the Giants. They got rid of Tom Coughlin after winning two Super Bowls and they have not been... I know they have the reigning coach of the year, but we'll see what happens with Dave. Well, that team's going the other direction this year.

They went through a bunch of coaches and still haven't been able to find their way. So, how many crap sandwiches do you have to keep eating before you realize that this isn't good anymore? Well, when you have a bunch of chicken parms before that that were excellent for 20 years, you could put up with a few years of crap sandwiches. Yeah, but here's the problem, Zach. Here's the problem. Where's the progress? That's a great point. They've regressed.

They've made no progress. And that's why Bill deserves one more chance. Last year, you didn't have an OC.

That was the big reason. This year now, you have an OC, but you don't have talent. Bill Belichick, the GM, needs to go get talent this offseason and needs to hit on the right talent.

Not guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster and you let Jacoby Myers walk out of the building. He's won six Super Bowls. He's considered to be the greatest coach of all time in the NFL. That means he's going to get another season and he'll get a longer leash than others. But for the first time in forever, and the first time really ever, he's getting legitimate criticism thrown his way. Because he's constructed a crappy roster and his arrogance and his ability to adjust is not there. Where Bill Belichick is synonymous with being one of the greatest guys in adjusting on a football sideline that we've ever seen. But if he doesn't adjust this time around, yeah it's over.

He'll be fired at the end of next season. Let's go to Ryan and Santa Barbara next up on CBS Sports Radio. I know Ryan is a big 49ers fan. Ryan, go ahead. Whoa, Zach.

What is going on? Happy Monday to you. Yes, how are you? Question. I hope you enjoyed your Super Bowl.

Is Micah Parsons sharing with Rodgers or is he smoking the ganja from the 805? Where he came up with that after an interview, what the hell was he talking about? Huh?

Yeah, it made no sense. What an ass spanking by my Niners. And another question. Tell me, who is the number one team in the NFL? The Philadelphia Eagles. Absolutely not.

You're high as a kite as well. And two, is Burt Purdy in the MVP conversation? I say he is. I would think McCaffrey is in more of the MVP conversation when I think of the Niners before Purdy. But Purdy is playing himself into that.

Okay. He has the number one passer rating in the NFL for the last two weeks. We know that, right? But you would agree the player you're most intimidated by on the 49ers on the offense is McCaffrey. That too. But what about Deebo Samuel? Now you, I would take Deebo over A.J. Brown any day.

Remember we had that conversation. Yeah, well I would vehemently disagree with you on that one. He's a beast though. A.J. Brown was a beast. He's about as big and built like Deebo.

I didn't realize that guy was that big. Well, maybe you should pay attention a little bit more, Ryan. Here's what I'll just say to you, Ryan. Let me ask you this.

Because I know where this is going. You called me last week. You called me this week.

I appreciate the phone call. You think the 49ers are better than the Eagles. I think it's very close, but I still slightly go with the Eagles against the 49ers.

You think there's a big difference between these two teams. So when the 49ers, hold on. When the 49ers walk into Lincoln Financial Field on the third day of December in the year of 2023, what's the final score going to be? They'll win by five.

Oh my God, Ryan. Your phone's crapping out just like your football team last year. What's the final score?

Speak into the phone. Okay, let's say 24 to 10. 24 to 10.

Oh, come on. You think they're walking into Philadelphia and the 49ers are going to win that game by 14 points. Again, this high octane offense of the Eagles is only going to put up 10 points. That's my problem with 40-winers fans. They just have no respect to the Eagles.

And the 49ers lost to the Eagles last year. I expect you to pick your team. I expect you to think that you're going to win. But don't tell me the game's going to be a blowout.

That's just a joke. Alright, well come on back a little on-site, off-site. It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Five questions, five answers. We do this segment every Monday and Friday right here on the Zach Gelb Show. Here is first though, Rich Ackerman standing by with the latest CBS Sports Radio update. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Off-side, defense number 69. It's on-sides, off-sides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. Alright, let's get to it.

Five questions, five answers. On-site, off-site on this Monday right here on CBS Sports Radio. Samter, what do we got cooking? Well, for the third time in five weeks, Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson left a game due to injury and is expected to miss a month now with a shoulder. Now, Gardner Minshew has filled in well, winning three games, completing 69% of his passes and not throwing a single pick. So on-side or off-side, the Colts should stick with Minshew the rest of the way and let Richardson heal. Like the rest of the season? Like the rest of the season. The guy's gotten hurt three times in five games. His body might not just be ready for the NFL and the beating he's going to be taking.

I say just sit him out and let Minshew take over and just kind of see what happens next year. What say you? Yeah, no.

No way. This is the easiest off-side question I've ever been answered. Stu, you can hit the sounder.

Off-side. Because I'm not saying you rush him back. Like you got to make sure that he gets healthy. But once he's ready to play, you play him. And once he's healthy enough, you put him out on the field because he's the future of your franchise. Gardner Minshew, he's just a good backup quarterback. When you allow Gardner Minshew to play the entirety of the season, he's not a franchise quarterback in this league.

You don't stop the development of your young quarterback out of fear. They now get Jonathan Taylor back. Zach Moss has been really good for them. The offensive line has improved. They have enough of a good enough situation there where this quarterback should not be ruined here in year number one. So we'll sit out a month and then when he's ready to return, you put him on the field because that's the future of your franchise.

Off-side. After playing his best game as a pro last week against the Chiefs, Zach Wilson put in another solid outing for the Jets. Completing 73% of his passes for nearly 200 yards and a pick in their 31-21 win over Denver. So on-side, off-side, Zach Wilson has done enough to convince you that the Jets can make the playoffs this year. He played well up against the Chiefs.

Yesterday he was good enough. Bryce Hall was really the story of that game on the offensive side of the ball and the defense made a heck of a play with Quincy Williams, who's Quinnen Williams' brother. And then Bryce Hall scooping up that football and going into the end zone. But that's a bad Broncos team. The Jets without Aaron Rodgers are still not a team that I look at as a playoff team and Zach Wilson will be more bad than good as the season does advance. So I do not think that Zach Wilson will end up making the Jets a playoff team so I go off-side on that one.

Off-side. After starting the season 4-0 and cracking the top 10, Notre Dame has lost two of the last three games thanks to Saturday's 13-point blowout loss to Louisville. The Irish have made the college football playoffs twice, though one of those appearances happened in 2020 when they temporarily joined the ACC. So on-side, off-side, the Irish should join a major conference full-time rather than staying as an independent. You could tell me on-side because of money and because of how much more TV money that they would make, but their individual package where they get to control their own rights and sell themselves is more than enough.

I think they enjoy being an independent clearly. They don't feel the pressure to join a big powerful conference. I would not join the ACC. It would have to be either the Big Ten or the SEC where the TV payout is. But remember, we go to 12 teams. So in a four-team format, Notre Dame has got to the standard where it's either one loss or no losses for them to get into the college football playoff. With the brand of Notre Dame, and how sometimes the playoff committee factors in more of the brand than actually the best teams in the country, it will be even easier for them to make the 12-team format. So I would remain from just a football standpoint as an independent school and not join a conference.

And you should be able to find a way to make the playoffs more times than not when you look at going to 12 teams. So the Irish should join a major conference full-time rather than stay independent. I will go off-side.

Off-side. Dion and Colorado snap their two-game losing streak. That's Coach Prime to you. Be respectful.

Be a believer. Coach Prime and Colorado snap their two-game losing streak, barely, by edging my one-win ASU Sun Devils thanks to a miracle pass by Shadore Sanders with just seconds to play to set up that game-winning field goal. After the game, Dion expressed frustration despite the win. Wonderful win.

Played like hot garbage. Trying to figure this out. I'm sick of it. I really am. I'm sick of us coming out here and putting forth the effort we put forth in the first half. We feel practices. We've had really diligent meetings. And we're trying to figure this out.

Trying to figure this out. Because I'm sick of it. I'm sorry. We're better than that. We really are better than that.

And we've got to start showing that. So on-side, off-side. The hype around Colorado is officially done for the season.

Oh, this is off-side as well. And the reason why it's off-side is because as long as Coach Prime is on that sideline, and as long as Shadore Sanders is playing quarterback, and eventually when Travis Hunter comes back, that team is one of the most hyped teams in the country. And it doesn't mean that they're a national title contender. Anyone thought that after their first two wins of the season, you were crazy. This team won one game last year.

I know they had an overhaul change of 80% of their roster. But this is a team that's going to be going to a bowl game this year. They only need two more wins. And the Pac-12 is the best conference in college football. You still play UCLA, who's 18th right now. You still play Oregon State, who's 15. You still play Washington State, who's 19.

And you have Utah at the end of the year, who's 16. So do the Shadore Sanders celebration still when they win. Would you put that watch up to the camera?

I don't have a watch on my wrist right now, but you get the point. You do the Shadore Sanders, and you continue to support Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes. They're still great for the sport of college football. And every time they play, they're a big story with the team that they have put together on the field this year.

I'll never make that mistake again. There are three truths in life. Death, taxes, and Clayton Kershaw getting shelled in October. It happened again with the three-time Cy Young winner allowing six runs in just a third of an inning of work, raising his career postseason ERA to 4-4-9. Just disappointing, embarrassing. I just feel like you let everybody down. You know, guys, the whole organization that looked to you to pitch well in game one, it's just embarrassing really.

So I just feel like I let everybody down. It's a tough way to start the postseason. So despite the loss, the Dodgers still plan to start Kershaw in game four if there is a game four. Onside, offside, the Dodgers should not start Kershaw in game four. We're going for the sweep here.

This is an offside as well. I remember in 2015, and Kershaw wasn't horrible in game one, but they lost the game. He bounced back in game four, an elimination game against the Mets, and that was maybe one of the best starts he's ever had in his postseason career. He's a Hall of Fame pitcher. I know he's not been great in the postseason, but you go back to your ace.

And also, who else are you going to? You know, I like Bobby Miller. He's a good young pitcher, but Urias is out for the year, Walker Bueller out for the year as well. You don't have this deep rotation that we thought the Dodgers had when the season did start.

So you go back, you give the ball if you get to a game four to Clayton Kershaw, and you hope he bounces back and changes the script here for the Dodgers in the postseason. And it's time to ask the pros where you, the listener, get to ask us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Elb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B, using the hashtag AskThePros. Be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. 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. When we come on back, we've talked a lot about the NFC. How about the AFC? We've only talked about Garbage in the AFC with the Pats and the Broncos. Let's get to some of the great teams in the AFC. Who is the best team in the AFC after five weeks of football play in the National Football League?