The Lions Are Super Bowl Contenders (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 another week and a Monday edition of the Zach Gilb Show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the Free Odyssey app, and of course streaming on YouTube. 855-212-4CBS, I'm going to jump on in.

855-212-4227, you can always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing, or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gilb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Got Stuart Kovacs and Michael Sampter here with us, and a whole lot cooking as we take you all the way up until 6pm Eastern, 3pm Pacific. We will have the Pro Football Hall of Famer and the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, stopping by the CBS Sports Radio studios 20 minutes from now.

Okay, let's start off the show with this. And I remember saying this on Friday, where I was asking our Ask the Pros question, who are some teams that have no shot to win this weekend? And I said, there's no way that the New York Jets are going to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles.

I also said that there is no way, with Deshaun Watson being out for the Cleveland Browns, that the Cleveland Browns would defeat the San Francisco 49ers. And then, the third team I gave you was the New York Giants, without Daniel Jones, and it didn't look like Saquon Barkley was going to play, and he ended up playing, but there was no way that the Giants were going to find a way to defeat the Buffalo Bills. And two of those three things happened where we got to see the San Francisco 49ers go down, the Philadelphia Eagles go down, the final two remaining teams in the NFL, and right down at the one-yard line, the Giants almost walked into Buffalo with Terod Taylor and upset the Buffalo Bills. And that's why the NFL is the best, because that was an underwhelming week of football going into the weekend, where you're like, oh, we don't have a lot of marquee games, we don't have a lot of great games, and it ended up being an unpredictable and just a crazy amount of good games in the NFL yesterday. And when we get to the NFC, my biggest statement from over the weekend is that the Detroit Lions are a bona fide Super Bowl contender, and you look at Philadelphia, they go down, they're still going to be there right at the end.

The San Francisco 49ers, they go down even though Christian McCaffrey got hurt, Trent Williams got hurt, Deebo Samuel got hurt, they'll find a way to regroup, they'll be there right at the end. And all year long, in the offseason, it was okay, Philadelphia, San Francisco, the two best teams in the NFC, is there going to be a third team that emerges? Seattle's in that conversation, the Cowboys in that conversation, and then everyone looked at the Detroit Lions and they were like, alright, they're going to be good, but are they going to be a threat?

Because you looked at that division, everyone was saying Minnesota was going to regress, you didn't know what to expect out of the Bears and also the Green Bay Packers. And through the first six weeks of the season, the Detroit Lions may be the most impressive team in football, because they sit at 5-1 and their only loss was an overtime to the Seattle Seahawks. And you see this team right now, Jared Goff's a good quarterback. And I think people need to start saying Jared Goff is a good quarterback.

He got to a Super Bowl with the Rams, I know he was inconsistent, but when he got traded to the Detroit Lions, that was a throw-in. No one ever expected Jared Goff to be the long-term starting quarterback, and that's what he put himself in position to be for the Detroit Lions. We have a top-10 wide receiver, Naumara St. Brown, Jameson Williams made a big play yesterday, he's now back from the gambling suspension, but the biggest thing that the Detroit Lions have now is an actual defense. And we saw that defense with Aaron Glenn, who's probably going to be head coach one day, improve down the stretch last year, and that is now carried over into this season. Where you have Aiden Hutchinson, who's a star and should have been the number one overall pick, the Jags got that one wrong, selecting Trayvon Walker, and every week you look at the box score, Alex Anzalone, I know he has luscious locks, but he also always leads the Lions in tackles it feels like.

And he did that once again yesterday. So this Lions team is a force, this Lions team is a well-rounded team, and this team is one of the top three teams in the NFC, and they have a chance to go to a Super Bowl. Now they haven't won their division since 1993, that's already over, that's a lot, they've won the division, and they haven't won a playoff game since 1991, but now we could start to realistically think about the Lions not only winning a playoff game, but winning multiple playoff games, and it's not crazy to say that this team could represent the NFC in a Super Bowl, because they don't have flaws, and they believe in their head coach in Dan Campbell, and that's such a big thing. When you hire a coach, and when you have an organization that just marinated in so many pessimistic views because they have been the lovable loser for so many years, and they've been down and out, and there's just no hope, you have to bring in someone that is a little zany, you have to bring in someone that is different, and someone that could uproot and change the entire culture, and when Dan Campbell was hired it was like, he even made the joke, a lot of people thought this was going to be Matt Campbell, the Iowa State star stinks as a head football coach, and a lot of people are like, who?

Dan Campbell is the guy? And you see his press conference, and he's talking about biting off kneecaps, and you're like, oh, this guy's probably more positioned to be a college coach than an NFL coach, but he has formed the identity of the Detroit Lions through his personality, and look how many good players they have, from Penay Sewell, to Jared Goff, to Amara St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, Aiden Hutchinson, Alex Anzalone, and we can go on and on and on. And Detroit Lions fans, for the first time in a long time, can actually dream big, and can actually look forward to a football season. And if you're just saying, oh, Zach, it's six weeks in, Zach, they're five and one, like pump the brakes a little bit before you start talking Super Bowl, this team's going to win 12 or 13 games bare minimum.

These are some of the cupcakes they still have on their schedule. The Raiders, they haven't even played the Bears yet. They played them twice in division. They still have Green Bay one more time. They already kicked the crap out of the Packers. They still play the pathetic Denver Broncos, and you also have the Minnesota Vikings two more times. So you look at this team, if the Detroit Lions at this rate don't get 12 or 13 wins, and maybe even north of that, this is going to be a big disappointment.

And I look around the NFC, and I look at the teams, sure, Philadelphia and the 49ers, I'm not going to get bent out of shape out of yesterday. Absolutely, that's a bad loss for the Eagles. Jalen Hurts threw the game away. That's a bad loss for the 49ers. You lose to a college buddy of mine in P.J.

Walker. And your kicker, your rookie kicker that you drafted very early on can hit a chip shot field goal even in the bad weather conditions in the dog pound. And Brock Purdy, you know, we could put to bed all this MVP chatter for Brock Purdy, and I kept on telling you, system quarterback, system quarterback that one day could turn into a franchise quarterback, but notice when Christian McCaffrey goes down, when Deebo Samuel goes down, when Trent Williams gets banged up, and you go up against a great defense in the Cleveland Browns, and let's credit the Browns' defense, I know everyone's going to only talk about the 49ers losing, but let's give Cleveland some credit, Brock Purdy doesn't look like he's Superman anymore.

And he finally did have a hole in his cape. But you see those two teams, the Eagles and 49ers are still two of the more well-rounded teams in football. They're going to be right there at the end, but it's not as if in the NFC in all entirety, the NFL, that there aren't some teams that have been lurking, there aren't some teams that we had questions about how good they could be heading into this season, and they could take the baton, and they could take the baton and run with it, potentially all the way to Las Vegas to the Super Bowl. And that Dan Campbell team with the Detroit Lions is more than capable of getting to a Super Bowl this year, and we could talk about how loaded they are on both sides of the ball, as we discussed in the first 10 minutes, but here's the thing I love about this team. There's kind of like a naive factor to them. There's kind of that underdog factor to them.

And also, they have no pressure. If you just look at the NFC, and if you poll any Tom, Dick, and Harry right now who's going to the Super Bowl, they're going to say two teams. Eagles or 49ers.

Those are the only two teams that people will say. So the Lions can go into a game potentially in Philadelphia or at Santa Clara up against the San Francisco 49ers in a playoff game, and we know unless you are an Eagles or 49ers fan, the entire world's going to be rooting for the Detroit Lions. And the Lions could walk into a playoff game against the two elite teams in the NFL, two elite teams in the NFC, and there's no sweat off their back if they lose this game.

And there's no pressure on them. And it's not crazy to say when you look at the schedules, because the 49ers have some tough games, the Eagles have a brutal stretch of games coming up for them, that there's a chance the Lions could be the number one seed in the NFC. Like that's not crazy to say right now. And you have three teams through six weeks that are five and one in the NFC. You knew the Eagles would be there before the year. You knew the 49ers would be there before the year. And I'll raise my hand and I'll say I was a doubter of Detroit. I thought Detroit would be good, but it did scare me. And I was extremely apprehensive this offseason when everyone's picking Detroit and everyone's talking up Detroit.

And I could see why. But I wondered, were they just a good team? Were they just a solid team?

And would the expectations be too big and too large that maybe they would falter and maybe they would fall? But this team, through the first six weeks, have opened up a can of whoop ass. And they sent the message to the NFL that they're a dominant football team and they're a team that has everything in front of them. They're a team that is dangerous. And they are a team, and I can't believe I'm saying this, that they're more than capable of going to a Super Bowl this year. They are a Super Bowl contender.

Forget the Cowboys, like brush them aside. But you look at the Eagles and 49ers who just lost yesterday. Those are bad losses. When you lose to the Jets, when you lose to the Browns, especially with the Jets not having sauce Gardner, not having DJ Reed.

We know Aaron Rodgers is, I think, done for the season, even though he was warming up yesterday. And for the Cleveland Browns, they didn't have Deshaun Watson, the 49ers lost to them. The Lions one loss is up against a good team and the Seattle Seahawks. And it took overtime to knock the Lions out. It's kind of remarkable.

It is awesome. It is sensational what Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes and the Detroit Lions have built. And here's the thing. Their first round draft pick is banged up right now in Jamir Gibbs. They could get him back and maybe he could bring another explosive factor to that offense because we know they're built in a mean way in the trenches. We know they have two explosive players on the offensive side of the ball in Amara, St. Brown and Jamison Williams. You know, Laporta has been a big tight end and he's been a freak for them. No one's missing TJ Hopkinson there anymore in Detroit.

And you could go get an electric back in Jamir Gibbs to compliment David Montgomery, who I know is dealing with an injury. But I'll tell you, you knew that offense was going to be good heading into this season. I didn't know that this defense could be this good. And this Lions defense is damn good.

And the schedule matters. You look at this team and I'll say it again. They are five and one and they still have to play the Raiders, the Bears twice, Green Bay, Denver, two with Minnesota. It is not far fetched to suggest that the Lions can be the number one seed in the NFC and there will be no pressure on them if they have to go up against San Francisco or Philadelphia in the playoffs. Because headed into this year, Lomas Brown, former Lions lineman, told me they have to win a playoff game.

They haven't done that since 1991. But even if they are the number one seed and they're in an NFC title game against Philly or up against the 49ers, you know most of the nation will go, yeah, but it's the Lions, they'll find a way to mess it up. People will be pulling for them, but all the pressure and all the expectation is on Philadelphia and the 49ers. And there's not a team in the league through the first six weeks that I've been more impressed by that was moving in the right direction and has taken it and has run with it than the Detroit Lions.

And everything is possible for them heading into the rest of this season. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break. When we come on back, big game tonight, we'll see if the Cowboys can bounce back and can the Chargers make a statement to conclude week six. It's the Cowboys and the Chargers, the man with the most rushing yards in the history of the NFL. He's a Pro Football Hall of Famer and a legendary Dallas Cowboy. Emmitt Smith's going to stop by the CBS Sports Radio studios next. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio, off and running on a very busy Monday edition of the program.

All right, and we continue rocking and rolling on this Monday. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. The Pro Football Hall of Famer is sitting to the right of me. He, of course, is Emmitt Smith, and he's here on behalf of Emergent to help raise awareness of Narcan nasal spray and the dangers of opioid overdose. Pro Football Famer Emmitt Smith, always great to see you. How you been?

I've been good, been good, been busy, but good. Well, we'll talk about nasal spray in just a bit, but I have to start you off with your Cowboys tonight because they're coming off that beat down of the 49ers. They're going up against a Chargers team that has a lot of talent, but no one could really trust. Where's the confidence level of the great Emmitt Smith with the Cowboys heading into this one? Well, I mean, first and foremost, I'm a realist, and then I noticed, I know that the first couple of games of the season, we played two teams that had very average quarterbacks at the time. And so we dominated them the way we were supposed to. I think last week against the Niners really revealed that we have a ways to go. We have to match that energy that the Niners came to the table with. And so tonight, I'm hoping that we can rebound by matching that energy offensively and defensively because our defense have played very spirited football all season long, which they've been doing for the last couple of years. And so offensively, we just need to raise our intensity level and eliminate some of the mistakes that we make. When you look at Dak, and this is the question that we ask every year, but do you believe the Cowboys one day can win a Super Bowl with him as the quarterback? I think we have an opportunity to.

I really do. I think Dak has not quite developed completely as a quarterback because the offense has changed. The offense is different than it was last year. So I look at him as being a little green in this new offense and learning the nuances of this new offense. I don't think McCarthy's called the same plays that Kelly Moore called last year. So it's a brand new offense, so they take some time to adjust to it. Now, is he adjusting the way that everybody expects him to adjust?

No. But an offense itself can evolve, can also be in a way that it utilizes the talent that's around him in a much more effective way than we're currently using it. I don't believe that the system itself is really creative enough to get cooked the ball, creative enough to make sure that Gallup has been able to get some catches.

And most importantly, C.D. Lamb has been utilizing such a way to where you create matchup issues for C.D. Lamb to make plays. He's the most talented wide receiver we actually have.

But to leave him in a box is not maximizing his talent and relying on others at the time is not really helping them neither. So I think we just need to rethink about how we approach in our offensive scheme. You were on great Cowboys teams. You were on a standard where it was to win a Super Bowl. And when you haven't been in a Super Bowl or an NFC title game since that 1995 season, like I just look around the organization and I wonder, they just stuck in that category of being good, not great. And then Dak's contract. And I think that's a good, not great quarterback is up at the end of the 2024 season.

I'm like, you just need to bring in a new quarterback and not extend him a year or two from now to try to elevate the rest of the franchise to change what has been disastrous for the last 20 years. Well, disastrous. It's funny how people call making the playoff, losing the game disastrous. But for your standard, that's a credit to what you guys did. Yeah, it is a credit to what we did. But that was in our past and what we're trying to get to right now. There's so many other teams that have yet to make the playoffs.

The Detroit Lions will be begging to get to the playoffs. So let's not talk about us being so disastrous. But we are the Dallas Cowboys and the expectations are extremely high, which I do understand and I do appreciate. At the same time, I'm just saying from the standpoint where we sit, have we underachieved? Yes, we have. Can we be better? Yes, we can. Will we be better?

That's remained to be seen. Is Dak the quarterback that can lead us? Who else out there is better than Dak Prescott right now that we can get?

Oh, put it this way. You guys trade for Trey Lance, I don't think he's the answer. What about some of these guys in the draft? I know it's a crapshoot. It is a crapshoot. So why would you go with a crapshoot when you already got somebody that you can develop even further?

Let me throw this one out there. I just think because they're very similar players. Would you rather have Kirk Cousins or Dak Prescott? I'd rather have Dak Prescott. I'd rather have Dak Prescott.

Because I think Dak Prescott leadership also is something that I appreciate. Now, can he get a little bit more intense? Yes, he can. But that's not his personality. But he's very vocal. He's a very communicative person.

So he understands where he's at and he's willing to work hard to even get there. And so I think what can happen is McCarthy can expand the offense and allow the offense not to be so systematic. That's what I'm talking about. Having an offense that's so systematic to where you cannot get outside of it. And I think that's where guys are limited. I think that's where the offense is limited.

And I think that's where the offense can become very predictable. One more that gets thrown out there too is Kyler Murray. Would you rather have Kyler or Dak assuming Kyler Murray gets back healthy? Well, right now I got Dak. I'm not going to be looking at what-ifs and all those kind of things. But right now we have Dak Prescott and I think he is the quarterback for us right now. And I think he will be the quarterback for us in the future.

I just think that we just need to do things to help everybody. Because when you have an offense that's... You have to ask yourself the question. What is the offense? I have no clue.

You have no clue. Put it this way. An offense that I trust the defense but in a big spot against a really good team. I don't have confidence that the offense gets the job done.

And why? Because the offense has not told you who they are. They haven't shown you the ability to be a balanced offense at all. They haven't shown you the ability to be a straight pass in offense.

They haven't shown you anything outside of just an offense. And there's nothing flashy about our offense. There's nothing that's productive, really that productive about our offense.

There's a lot productive about our defense. But offensively wise, we haven't really been a dominant running team. We haven't even been a dominant passing team. We haven't even been a dominant passing team that can throw the ball down the field. So who are we and what are we? So until we get those questions answered, we're going to be exactly what you see right now. Mediocre.

Average at best. Until we start to prove something differently. Now offensive line wise, the line got to come together. We have some young players and mixing and matching here and there and all those kinds of things because of injuries. But we need to come together. We need to commit to something.

Until we commit to who we're going to be, we're going to be just like we are right now. Talking to the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Emmitt Smith. So Austin Eckler expected to play tonight for the Chargers. Personally, he's my favorite running back in the league. I wonder who's your favorite running back these days in the NFL. I really don't have one.

I really don't have one right now. I mean, Jonathan Jacobs just got back. I mean, Josh Jacobs out there in Oakland is doing well.

He's just getting back. But they haven't ran him enough. They don't use him the right way.

They don't use him. Again, that's another topic. When you're down at the three yard line a few weeks ago. Yeah. Let's throw the ball at Aiden O'Connell who not give the ball to Josh Jacobs. My point.

My point. So offensively, you're looking at systems and these systems don't always dictate that the running back should get the ball. The systems are skewed towards the quarterback. I don't care if you're a backup quarterback as sorry as some of these quarterbacks are. Or if you are starting running back that led the league in rushing last year, the system does not dictate that you should get the ball.

Because the system itself is set up to pass. And that's just who the league is. And that's who the league and coaches and offensive coordinators think the whole everybody is. Pass and quarterbacks.

And everybody does not fit that mold. What about the state of the running back position right now? That's always a big topic. We saw Jonathan Taylor just got paid. But a lot of these running backs, they're putting up big numbers and they're not getting rewarded by the franchise. They're not getting rewarded by the franchise because the franchise don't believe in the running game. Again, I'm going, do we believe in Tony Pollard enough to get him the ball 25 times a game?

Or give him 25 touches? Do we believe in our running backs enough to where if Tony Pollard does not test the ball 20 to 25 times a game, can we mix and match it with someone else back there that can, the combination of the two of them, can we leverage our running game to the point where we can come up with a bootleg or something like that and throw the ball play-action off of it? No, we have not done those things because teams and leagues have been so focused on making quarterbacks the marquee players in the National Football League when the game itself is a complete team sport. There aren't many Patrick Mahomes you're going to find in the National Football League. There aren't many Tom Brady's you're going to find in the National Football League. There aren't many Drew Brees and Peyton Manning and guys like that.

Those guys are rarities. And you'll be lucky to get someone half the size or half the caliber of any of those players. And it's crazy to me now because people say you don't need a bell cow back anymore. Because for the last 10 years, most of the teams that have won have gone by running back by committee.

And I could understand then why owners look at it and they go, okay, we'll just get three or four guys in. But it's like you wouldn't want a Christian McCaffrey on your team. You wouldn't want a Jonathan Taylor on your team. The only reason why you went to running back by committee is because of what Belichick was able to do with his system.

Again, his system. And the Chiefs have Mahomes. And the Chiefs have Mahomes. They have Mahomes. But Belichick had Tom Brady.

His system. And the Chiefs system. So you don't have a Mahomes and Dallas. You got a Dak Prescott that's efficient at quarterback enough to throw the ball 35 times a game, maybe 40, maybe. But you got a running game. You should have a running game that should balance that. And create more opportunity for Gallups and everybody else to get down the field with play action. If you run the ball effectively. If we believe in Tony Pollard that much to where we got rid of Zeke Elliott. Well dammit, use him. Does it annoy you that Zeke's not playing for the Cowboys?

It does. Why? Why? Because I thought the one-two punch was awesome.

I thought the one-two punch was awesome. And it does ignore me. It makes me hot that he's not a Dallas Cowboy right now. So then what do you say to people that said, oh well Zeke lost a set. Zeke was slowing down. It was the right move to move on.

Well, we dealing with what we got right now. That's what I would say to people. And don't get mad. And remember your statements. Because those who said those statements remember your statements. Because you think you the best armchair quarterback or armchair coach in the National Football League or around the world.

It's not that simple. There's a lot of issues that takes place or a lot of things that need to take place in order for a team to be successful. Talking to the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Emmitt Smith. Real quickly, your former teammate now Coach Prime Deion Sanders.

I know it was a rough one this weekend. But what he's done at Colorado has been pretty special. What's kind of been your view on the whole situation? I think Deion given time and given him a number of recruiting class members to come in and help support, ensure up the things that he may need in order to compete at that level that he needs to. It's just a matter of time. But I think he's done a great job thus far. And I think he's going to continue to do a great job. But again, it's about bringing a team together and coaching staff together. This is the first year. Got to give them time.

They've had some good wins, but they also have had some bad losses. And so he'll be fine. Tell me about Emergent and Norcan. Well, Emergent and I came together to bring and spread awareness around the Ready to Rescue program, which is acquiring the Norcan nasal spray so you can help preserve a life or save a life when you find someone in need. I think when we look at what we're trying to do and people that we're trying to reach, a lot of people think, why me?

Why not me? The question I have for you, because at the end of the day, we all are subject to be around someone or have known of someone that have lost their lives to opioid overdoses. And so for us who are here and people that are capable, which everyone is capable, we're asking you to go out and get your Norcan nasal spray and carry it on you, whether you have it in your first aid kit in your house or have it on you in your purse or your pocket or your car, because you never know when you might run into someone that might be in need. And so that's what we're trying to convince people and make people aware that that this right here actually can work. And now also can actually save lives.

And you can find out more information about it on www dot Norcan dot com. Last thing I'll ask you, Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith with us. When you get to all the teams of the NFL right now, is there one offense that you go? If I was still playing, I would love to be a part of that offense because I've thought of one right away. You thought of one right away.

Probably. The Eagles of last year's offense with the offense, according from last year, that that leverage everything, but they're doing good right now with Swift, but even though they stumbled yesterday. Yeah, but they went up a very good defense yesterday, too, without Sauce Gardner.

Yeah, they went up a very good up against a very good defense today. But what office you think Miami if we're seeing Raheem Mostert and Devon A. Chan do what they're doing right now, getting three, four touchdowns a week. You're the all time leading rusher. Emmitt Smith, Miami. They do have a machine going with Tyree kill Jalen Waddle and Tua and McDaniel.

I thought forever whenever he would speak, I was just not understanding like the inside joke and he kind of creeped me out a little bit. But that dude is a heck of an offensive mind in the NFL. So far, so good. So so at the end of the year, Cowboys are or what? I don't know. The vision around loss again, if we're lucky to get there.

Wow. This could be regressing this year is what you're saying. It's possible. I mean, there's the season is long and I'm looking forward to seeing how we bounce back from last week's loss. Did it bruise our ego enough to where we're hungry to come back out and bring our A game? And that means offensively and defensively along with special teams or did it bruises enough to where we regress?

Let's remain to be seen. He's the Pro Football Hall of Famer. Emmitt Smith. Emmitt, always appreciate your time. Thanks so much for coming in.

Thank you. Let's get the latest CBS Sports Radio update in with the act man, Rich Ackerman. It is time to ask the pros where you, the listener, gets to ask us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gilbs, ACH GELB using the hashtag. Ask the pros be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts, how your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Oh, O'Reilly Auto Parts already. Alrighty, let's get to a little Onside-Offside on this Monday edition of the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Stuart Kovac, hit it! Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69! It's Onsides-Offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio.

Alright, Big Mike CBS, what do we got cooking? Alright, well Sunday saw a plethora of QBs getting hurt, including the Titans' Ryan Tannehill, who was on crutches after leaving the game with an ankle injury. The 35-year-old is in the last year of his deal in Tennessee, and has an overall record of 38-23 with the Titans, but the team has picked quarterbacks in the last two drafts in Will Levis and obviously Willis. Malik Willis. Malik Willis.

Yes. I'm like, how am I drawing a blank on his name? What are you talking about Willis?

Yeah, what are you talking about Willis? Onside-Offside, Ryan Tannehill has taken his last snap as the Titans' starting quarterback. If I was running the team, I would say Onsides to this one, because where are you going with Ryan Tannehill? You had an opportunity, he got you close, but yet so far he was much better than Marcus Mariota, I kind of feel that Tennessee, the way that they've treated the quarterback position the last two years is how the Texans treated coaches. The two years prior to hiring D'Amico Ryans, where you had David Cully and you had Lovey Smith, nobody thought those two guys were gonna lead them into the next chapter of Titans football, and no one actually believes that Malik Willis or Will Levis, with the mayo and the coffee and all that, are gonna be the next great quarterback for Tennessee. So you pick guys because of the value of where they were, Willis was supposed to be a first round pick, he ended up going in the third, Levis was supposed to go as early as three or four in the draft, he ends up going in the second round, so you have guys because of the value, but I don't think either of those guys are gonna cut it in the NFL. But give them the opportunity, and you're two and four, you shouldn't be a playoff team this year, and if neither of those guys can really go move this team forward or show you anything this year, then you take a quarterback in this upcoming draft or you're aggressive in the trade or free agency cycle, so I would not play Ryan Tanel anymore if I was Tennessee, so I'll go onsides on that one. Another big time quarterback injury was from Stu's Raiders as Jimmy G left the game in an ambulance with a back injury. Garoppolo has missed 31 games since becoming, regular season games that is, since becoming a full time starter in 2017, and counts for 28 million against the cap next season before potential out in 2025. So onside, offside, the Raiders should go all in with Jimmy G rather than trying a rebuild in Vegas.

This is not a revisionist history type of take. I said this the moment they signed Jimmy Garoppolo. It was a massive, massive, massive mistake. I have never thought Jimmy G was that dude. I've never thought Jimmy G was a great quarterback in New England.

We knew that Jimmy G never was going to really get an opportunity because Brady was there. The fact that Belichick wanted to move on from Brady reportedly and go to Jimmy Garoppolo is just absolutely laughable, and then in San Francisco, he showed you he could win games, but he was more a product of the system, and when push came to shove in the Super Bowl with a 10 point lead with seven and a half to go, he got the ball batted down at the line of scrimmage by Chris Jones, big mitt, and then he had Manuel Sanders wide open, and he overthrew him. To move off of Derek Carr, which I had no problem with, I don't think Derek Carr is that great, but to move off of Derek Carr and just bring in Jimmy Garoppolo, it's so wah, wah, wah.

It's underwhelming. You needed to get Brady. You needed to go out and trade for Aaron Rodgers or do what was reported, I think it was Jay Glazer, that they were looking to go and trade up to get CJ Stroud. You needed to sell hope. Jimmy Garoppolo doesn't sell hope.

You know what he is. He's a solid quarterback. He's a quarterback who is always going to get hurt. So the Raiders do a lot of dumb things. If they continue to build moving forward thinking Jimmy Garoppolo is their guy, then they're more lost than we currently think they are, and right now it's like you could slap their face on a milk carton because they're the lost child and we're all looking for them.

So you ask me if the Raiders should go all in with Jimmy G rather than try a rebuild? Yeah, that's a no from me, dog. Offside.

Offside. You're the third person today who's called me dog. Who else? Nobody. You're a hungry dog that runs faster. That's the way that I view Big Mike CBS. Nobody's ever called me dog.

You're the first in the history of my life. Tyreek Hill has been called a dog before, I'm sure. He's on pace for an insane 2,300 receiving yards after pulling in 161 more yards in Sunday's blowout of Carolina.

And he got hurt too for a little bit. He sure did. After his 41 yard touchdown catch, Hill took a fan's phone and filmed himself doing a backflip before handing the phone back to the fan. Now of course he expects to get fined and the NFL probably will, but onside, offside, Tyreek Hill's celebration was fun and you'd like to see more of that. So I don't know if everyone saw the whole video, but a fan was filming him in the first row while he caught the touchdown, like while the ball was in the air, he's filming him, caught touchdown, and Tyreek Hill immediately runs over to the phone and then does a backflip. If you could do a backflip, I'm not going to question it.

It's pretty damn impressive because if I tried to do a backflip, I would be out for the foreseeable future and I don't think Sampder could do a backflip and I do not think that Stu could do a backflip either. But do you think that was planned by Tyreek Hill where he had someone sitting in the first row and said record me whenever there's a deep throw because immediately, and it doesn't matter if it was planned or not, I think it's pretty cool and neat, he runs right over to that fan to grab that cell phone, Sampder. So I was wondering if that was someone that was put in the crowd by Tyreek Hill. If it wasn't, Tyreek Hill has eagle eyes to see the guy recording him on a phone while you're catching a ball running away from the defender, to see the guy is incredible because he ran right towards him. It wasn't like he looked around randomly and saw the guy.

He ran right towards him after he scored that touchdown. So in back-to-back weeks, we had Tyreek Hill trying to give the football to his mother, which created headlines because that one fan didn't realize it, that it was his mother standing behind him and then eventually gave the football to Tyreek Hill's mother. And then the following week, we have him doing a crazy backflip with the fan's phone that may or may not have been someone working with him or his friend.

Either way, I think it's awesome. I don't think he should get fined whatsoever. The NFL will fine him because they're the NFL, the No Fun League. But I grew up loving the Joe Horn celebration with the cell phone when he called his son. You also had Chad Ochocinco with the pylon, using it as a putter, T.O., Terrell Owens with the pom-poms, with the Cowboys Cheerleaders, and San Francisco 49ers, too, with the Get Your Popcorn Ready. That stuff was awesome. I love celebrations like that, and it didn't harm anyone. There's no wrong with having fun, so Tyreek Hill's celebration was fun, and you want to see more of it? Yeah, absolutely.

I love personality. Onsides. For the past three weeks, we've seen games played overseas in London, but the NFL might take it one step further. In talks with fans, Roger Goodell admitted the league has considered a London Super Bowl, saying, quote, it's not impossible, and it's something that's been discussed before, end quote. On that offside, the NFL should hold a Super Bowl in London.

So I'm not a big soccer fan. You think over the pond they're ever bringing a big soccer final here to the U.S.? Maybe. No, never.

Possibly. The NFL, I know they're a bunch of greedy pigs, and I say this loving the NFL, but they're a bunch of greedy pigs. If we have a Super Bowl in London or in Germany, stop it, you better be bringing it to every American city before you go to London and Germany for a Super Bowl. And then the traveling and all that stuff, stop. You guys make so much money as it is, $14, $15 billion a year, you could afford to skip out on the money that you would make in London to grow the game, and we don't need to put a Super Bowl in there.

So that's a hard no for me when you ask me, the NFL should hold a Super Bowl in London. That is the easiest offside ever. Offside. The Deion Sanders, Colorado hype train officially got derailed on Friday night after the team – Coach Prime, show some respect. We're believers here. You know what? After what happened on Friday, he's no longer Coach Prime. He is Deion Sanders.

Oh, that's nice. Because they blew a 29-nothing halftime lead – Coach Prime, that's Samter, not me. The views of Michael Samter do not reflect the views of Zach Gelb here on The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports. Zach, don't lie.

He was there before the show. Do not call him Coach Prime anymore. I love Coach Prime. I mean, you said to me, hey, he's no longer Coach Prime. I'm a Coach Prime guy. You said Samter. I am Zach Gelb. No, no, no, no. I'm no longer referring to him as Coach Prime. Nope, nope, nope. Now you're trying to stage something like Tyreek Hill is staging a celebration.

I may or may not be trying to get you in trouble. Stop with that hot wash. Well, so they lost a previously one-win Stanford. The Buffs scored just seven points in six second half possessions, fall into four and three on the season, and just one and three in Pac-12 play. Yeah, that's more than a choke job.

Sorry. But Colorado, with their four wins, will still play in a bowl game. So the way I look at this is that no one expected them to beat TCU to start the season. They did. And then no one thought they would lose to Stanford, and they did.

So that kind of evens itself out. They're at four wins. You need two more to get to bowl eligibility. UCLA, Oregon State's going to be tough. You still got Arizona on that schedule. Washington State will be tough, and Utah will be tough. So take care of business against Arizona, and then you got to win one of those four games against tough teams in UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, and Utah. I think they'll still find a way to get to six wins.

So I am a believer Coach Prime, big fan of Coach Prime, Colorado will play in a bowl game on sides. All right, I can try to sneak in this last one. Go ahead. All right.

Two minute drop. Omaha, Omaha. Jayden Daniels has been great for LSU despite their bad season. He has 2,300 yards, 22 touchdowns, including 500 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. There is Jayden Daniels, a legitimate NFL quarterback.

Yeah, I don't think anyone's talking about him. And I'm sure as we get closer and closer to the draft process, more people will talk about him. I don't know if he's going to be a first round pick, but he's a mobile quarterback. And if he's still there in the second or third round, there'll be a bunch of teams come knocking. And maybe he does find a way to squeak into the first round because every year there's a quarterback no one's talking about becoming a first round pick, and they end up becoming a first round pick. So I will go on sides there that he could be a legitimate starting quarterback like a style of play.