The Cowboys Were Lucky They Played The Chargers (Hour 3)

Yo, yo, hour number three of our radio program.

That's right. It is the Zach Gilb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Just reading this from Adam Schefter. Some San Francisco 49ers news. None of the injuries to 49ers standouts. Christian McCaffrey dealing with an oblique. Deebo Samuel with the shoulder and Trent Williams dealing with an ankle are considered long term per sources. Each has a chance to be ready for Monday night's game at Minnesota.

Though the work week will help determine who could play and who can't. I think this is very simple, and I understand this knowing that the San Francisco 49ers just dropped the game to the Cleveland Browns. But the Browns actually have some talent. You look at the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings don't intimidate anybody. Kirk Cousins is a solid quarterback, a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. Addison's a good young wide receiver. But really, other than that, with Justin Jefferson now being out with his hamstring injury and on the IR, there's not enough pieces for the Minnesota Vikings, especially with the defense that played better. But it was also up against the Bears. But a defense that has not been good the last few years, even though they just brought in a new defensive coordinator in Brian Flores.

That makes me think I need to rush anybody. If I'm Kyle Shanahan, I would go out to venture to say one of the three or two of the three. I would be surprised if all three ends up playing. I do think there's importance in trying to get Trent Williams back. And I don't believe you need to play McCaffrey or you need to play Deebo Samuel. For the 49ers, you got to preserve Christian McCaffrey.

You got to make sure that Christian McCaffrey is healthy come playoff time. And I know he was healthy last year, but historically in his career, he's been hurt a lot. And we know the type of force Deebo Samuel could be when he's all there mentally and also all there physically. Because Deebo's dealt with injuries last year and now bleeding over into this season. And two years ago, he was dominant. And last year, he took a massive step back. And he even said it. He said that he was horrible last year. Like he turned on the tape. He told me this. He turned on the tape and he watched film with Kyle Shanahan in the offseason, and he couldn't believe what he was putting on the film.

And put it on the tape. I think they could survive this week without McCaffrey and they could survive this week without Deebo Samuel. Without Trent Williams, that's tough though. Because Williams is that great still even at his age with what he's able to do week in and week out on a football field. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be rushing guys back if you're the 49ers because they know you don't want to ever overlook an opponent.

But you should be able, even if you have your JV team and you don't have all the varsity guys starting, you should be able to take down the Minnesota Vikings this week. So before I get back to the Cowboys, I actually have a big airline topic here. So I'm off tomorrow. I'm going to Florida. I will be doing the show Thursday and Friday right here in this time slot of 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern, noon to 3 p.m. Pacific.

But I'm going to learn a lot here, learning with this new crew of Sampdern and Stu who I've known for a while but don't work on a day in and day out basis with up until recently. When we fly on a plane, aisle seat, middle seat or window seat, what is the preference of one Stuart Kovacs? Definitely the window seat one. The aisle seat is next and the middle is just the worst. Everyone likes the middle. Now I'm a big guy.

So if I'm in the middle, I feel bad for the person to my left and the person to my right. I was once on a flight. It must have been four or five months ago. So that's me not really knowing how long it was, but it wasn't like that short ago, but it was pretty long ago.

So I'll say, yeah, four or five months. And I think I got rerouted where I had to go through Detroit and from Detroit back to New York. They stuck me in the middle and you know what it was?

It was come back from the draft from Kansas City. Oh, that's right. That's what it was.

Yeah. When I got stuck and stranded, everyone else from the company got back on their flight. Zach had to wait nine hours in the airport. Then they canceled the flight. I had to spend an extra night in Kansas City, go stuff my fat face once again to Jack Stacks and get those fired kiss wings and the burnt ends and the baked beans and the cheesy corn and got another carrot cake cupcake. Of course I did because I was all annoyed and I watched the Ranger game and I had tickets for game six.

I was annoyed because I lost money on that and a little weasel Brian Jack McKeon. You know, he ended up getting my tickets and didn't pay me full price. So that was a disaster. And then they didn't want me to fly out until later the next night. And then I started tweeting away and then the airlines direct message me and they go, we get you to connecting flight and leave six a.m. in the morning. And I had to get I had to transfer and land in Detroit from Kansas City, then go from Detroit to New York. And that was the best way of getting home because my parents are moving and I had to assist my parents on the move. You don't want it to be a good son.

I need to get back on that Sunday as early as possible. So they put me in the middle. I felt so bad for the person to the left and I felt so bad for the person to my right. So you are a window guy first. Yes.

Is what you're telling me. I don't like relying on if I if I'm in the aisle seat, that's two people that have to get up and go to the bathroom once or twice. And I'm getting up.

I just like being by the window. Leave me alone for the two, three, four, five, six hours and I'll see you when we land. Now, if you're on like an international flight and it's seven, eight hours, would that change?

I've never been. So maybe that would change. But I think the window is still for me to preference. Because I got long legs and some six four. So I enjoy the aisle where I could stretch the legs out a little bit, at least get one leg out into the aisle. And then the car person comes by and they always hit me and they run over my leg and it's a disaster. Santa, I feel like you're very particular with the airlines when Tiki Barber doesn't get you upgraded to the first class.

Are you a window guy, a middle guy or are you a aisle guy? Not only does Tiki not get me upgraded, but when I would fly with him, he would actually intentionally force me to sit in the back so that I can be as far away from everybody as possible. That's actually false because I did Instagram stalk you the other night because I realized you weren't following me until we started working together. And I was going down the rabbit hole of Big Mike CBS's Instagram account. And one of the first posts I saw was big thanks to Tiki Barber for upgrading me to business class. You know, the good treat of working with Tiki Barber, an NFL legend.

That was a post that you guys had. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. You looked really young, by the way, too. Not that you like look old and decrepit now. That didn't come out the right way. But you looked like you look like a child. Now you have this big burly beard. You look like you were like 13 back in this photo. That's what eight years of working with Tiki will be. Maybe more so BT.

Yeah, he was awesome. No, no, I'm definitely an aisle guy, but it has nothing to do with my size because I can sit literally in a box and I can sit in the overhead compartment and I'd be fine, to be honest with you. I just like the I like that space, like to have one person next to me and then just freedom and space. When you're up against the window, you kind of feel like you're trapped in there. And I understand Stu's mentality of I don't want to worry about people walking over me to get to the bathroom. But the worst is when you're in the window seat and you have to be the one to keep getting up and go to the bathroom or whatever else, especially in a long flight. It is so annoying to ask people if they're napping or taking it up. I don't mind it. I don't really don't care.

I just like to have some space and freedom. You're always the first one that the people with the cards talk to. Right. So like, you know, they come in, you're thirsty, you're hungry. They come to you first. Then they worry about everybody else.

So I owe 100 percent. Now, I was just reading real quick. Well, this is why is it on United?

Is this the yes. That's why I'm bringing it up. Don't don't ruin the surprise here.

Santa is about to kill the segment right here because I took a little stab at Santa saying he looked young about like six, seven years ago. I didn't know this is where you were going to talk to me about the specific flight that you're going. So to answer the question, I am an aisle guy because I like to stretch my legs out. And also, I would feel really bad, like Santa saying, if I'm on the window and I have to go to the bathroom. And let's say you have someone snoring on the aisle and I have to wake them up and nudge them to to make sure that they get out of the seat.

So I could go do my business in the bathroom. I don't think I would have the guts, even if I had to really go to wake up that person while they're while they're snoring on the plane. So I'm just reading this on United, which I am flying tomorrow. They have announced a new boarding policy in an effort to make boarding a plane more efficient, which whenever you go to an airport, boarding the plane is the worst thing ever because they should board, in my opinion, the back first and then the front of the plane. But because if you're in the front of the plane, you pay more money and your first class, business class, whatever emergency exit, they board you first because you're paying more.

So it's a total disaster. So what United is now doing is starting on October 26, people with window seats. So Stu, in the economy section, notice how they say not first class, not business, but in the economy section will board first. This will be followed by those with middle seats and finally those with aisle seats.

So, Santa, this doesn't really apply to Stu, but this applies to us, us aisle guys. You would think we would stick together, even though I like the aisle seat better. There's nothing worse than when you get to the gate and let's say you don't pay to check your bag and you go, oh, I did a good job condensing everything and I'm taking a smaller bag with me and you get right off the plane. And then you could just go right through the terminal and get to your destination.

When you have someone saying, sir, you need to that bag. There's two. There's no overhead space. We're going to have to make it go under the plane.

You'll get it at Carousel 43 in Fort Lauderdale Airport. There's nothing worse than that. And it kind of makes you go back to, who was it? It was Ben Stiller. What was the name of the movie with the Fockers and everything?

Meet the Parents. Meet the Parents, where he has the bag after the bag got lost and he's on the airplane. And then he says a word that you're not ever allowed to say on an airplane because then like the worst thing happens, obviously, when he just he goes, I just want to keep my bag. And so you can't keep the bag. And he goes, well, maybe there's a bomb on this plane. And he just goes, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb in the movie.

So anyway, does this change for you? The aisle seat. If that's the risk where you bring on the carry on bag and they're going to make you check it because they're going to get everyone in on the window first. And then the middle seat as well. No, because gate checking a bag isn't a problem.

Right. Worst case scenario, you gate check it and they bring it. Usually the gate check bags don't go to the carousel. The gate check bags they just bring up and you get off. Sometimes they sometimes tell you will be right there at the gate when you get off the plane. And then they go, oh, actually, it's a carousel. And this in worst case, it's at the carousel. I love the idea of incentivizing middle seat sitters as opposed to not incentivizing them.

I don't think that this is the incentive that's going to work for me. Now, if you were to say because you get in the plane sooner, so you don't have to check, check your bag. But now you're sitting in your seat longer. I always think to board the plane at the very end. That's a great point because I don't want to sit there the longer you're on it, the longer you're sitting.

You know what? I would actually rather have to check my bag at the gate. Yes. Then sit on the plane longer when the AC isn't working right when that plane starts.

Yeah. And then it takes 45 minutes to board. And then you sit down and sit down after you.

And then you're up and down and back and forth. But I like the idea of incentivizing. How about giving people like free Wi-Fi, free movies, free snacks, a free drink, something.

Give them free X, Y, Z to incentivize for the middle seat. Those airlines, they charge you like breathe on the plane, too. And it's like they charge seven, eight bucks now for for AirPods, too, or earbuds on an airplane.

I forgot my earbuds last time I flew. I had to pay seven or eight bucks to be able to watch some TV on a plane. I remember complaining about how bad the meals were on planes. Now you don't even get a meal to complain about. You've got to fly first class. Yeah, but those meals have always been pretty good.

Yeah. The first class meals are good. So I've only flew first class a few times. And it's usually it's just cheap for whatever reason.

I go visit my sister in Colorado. And if I take a red eye, I want to sleep a little bit. I think it'd be like a pretty good gourmet burger on the airlines. Anyway, let's get to the Dallas Cowboys and not think we would spend 12 minutes on airlines. But I was reading that story and I'm like, I wonder if people listening are now going to change the way on their seat preference. They fly United because now they're going to start boarding in a week.

When you're an economy class, which most of us do fly economy, the window seat first, then the middle seat. And then eventually they will board the aisle seat as well. So now I'm going to get shamed on them in the airport because like all of us large people that like to sit in the aisle. They're like, oh, you're the aisle people. You're the people that pack a few extra pounds. And now we have to wait until you go sit your fat ass down.

I sound like Pharrell there for a second. Fat ass. You go sit your fat ass down in the aisle. Anyway, though, the Cowboys last night. Everything goes back to the Cowboys. If you've never listened to a national radio show before and you hear all they do is talk about the Cowboys after 12 minutes of the aisle, middle and window, we go back to the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys, what they did last night does not change my perception of them whatsoever. I know you Cowboys fans, you cockroaches, you pop up after a win.

We don't hear from you after a loss. And all you do is you sit there and you go, see, here come the Cowboys. The Cowboys are a good team. The Cowboys were lucky that they were going up against the Chargers last night because the Cowboys are like the definition of the team that chokes. But then the Chargers somehow do it even better.

We're charging is actually worse, even though in this case we're going to use it as better in terms of who's going to mess it up more than the Cowboys choking. Like, at least the Cowboys will get to the divisional rounds of the playoffs. They'll get there where the Chargers. Sure, when Philip Rivers was there, they win a playoff game. You know, one year they got to the AFC Championship game when everyone got hurt. But now under Brandon Staley, last year they made the playoffs. Then they showed up in the playoffs for half and didn't get the job done in the second half.

But last night, that was like a seesaw ride, or it was actually more of a staring contest, of who was going to blink first and who was going to mess up the game first. And there were so many moments where the Cowboys were begging the Chargers to go win the game. The punt, where it got muffed, and then the Chargers were like, oh, we're going to wait till fourth and goal to go score a touchdown. Then late in the game when the Cowboys are driving, third and long, up penalty, bailed out the Dallas Cowboys, the Chargers two defensive penalties, where they accepted one of them. And then the Cowboys, Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard, they could have connected a wide open touchdown.

They had to settle for the field goal. And the Chargers' offensive line played 56-57 minutes of really good football. But then in the biggest moment, Micah Parsons stepped up, right? The announcer's like, oh, the Cowboys haven't got a sack all throughout the game, and then Micah Parsons already looked like Lawrence Taylor once again.

And Justin Herbert then throws the interception to Stephon Gilmore, the former defensive player of the year. So last night, my takeaway, when I look at the Cowboys and the Chargers, it's not, oh, wow, the Cowboys are back, oh, wow, the Cowboys are a force. It's more so the incompetence of the Chargers, and it's more so Brandon Staley's not the guy, Kellen Moore's not the guy, and they need a new coach to try to get the best of this talent, and there is blame to go around with the players, but it's always going to get excused until they get the right coach in there.

Because everyone knows Brandon Staley is not the right coach. The way you look at the Cowboys is very simply this. The Cowboys are going to win games. The Cowboys have won games the last two years.

They went back-to-back 12-win seasons. But when the games get big, when there's actually pressure, when there's actually an expectation on the Cowboys, what happened two weeks ago is the real Dallas Cowboys. We're up against the better teams.

They fail. Like, they're not going in a big spot. Like, they may beat the Eagles once in the regular season. They play the Eagles well. But if they meet the Eagles in the playoff time, the Eagles will beat the Cowboys. If the Cowboys have to go play the 49ers in the playoff time, the 49ers win. Heck, if the Cowboys had to play the Lions tomorrow in a playoff game, I would absolutely bite off some kneecaps with Dan Campbell. The Cowboys try to play the role of a dominant team, but they don't ever translate to a dominant team in the big moments.

And the Cowboys last night could beat a team that they're slightly better than, like the Chargers, but when you pick up the competition and when you pick up the intensity, they're going to get exposed. I say this all the time about the Cowboys. The Cowboys are the Ferrari in the driveway. They're the nice, luxury car in the driveway. And everyone's like, oh, you have this car. Oh, you have that car. Where the brand recognition is so big and you just think, oh, it's a great car.

But what good is a great car when the front tire's flat, you have no gas in the tank. And then, oh, yeah, Samter, like, had a little road rage. And he said, you know, I'm going to go smash in the windshield as well. And your windshield wipers are broken because that's what the Cowboys are. They look like a dominant team.

They look like they could be a really damn good team. But the car just can't drive in the big moments because the car has suffered way too much damage. All right, we'll take a break here on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll come on back with a little overreaction, proper reaction.

Another NFL week is complete, which means it's another week to freak out about your favorite team. Help! Help! Help!

Help! Which tanks are truly crazy. But sometimes a game can be so bad, it's almost good. You know what I'm saying?

And which are so crazy, they might be right. He's 6'5", he's 245 pounds, he's probably a Popeye's biscuit away from being a tight end. Zach lets you know in this week's edition of overreaction or proper reaction. Alrighty, Big Mike CBS.

Michael Sampda, what do you got for me today, pal? Well, the first one, the Seattle Seahawks dropped a 3-2 after a 17-13 loss to the Bengals on Sunday. Geno Smith threw for over 300 yards, but didn't have a touchdown and tossed two picks. After the game, Geno took the blame. I felt like the guys deserved a win today. Obviously, I didn't do my best job today to get that done. So those are things that I put on myself.

I lay it right on my feet, right on my shoulders, and I look forward to the next opportunity. So overreaction, proper reaction. The Seahawks need a new starting quarterback in 2024. So you look at the structure of the deal. The dead cap next year, if they wanted to move on from after this one season, would be $17.4 million.

A few years ago, I'd be like, oh, you can't do that. Now, with some of the quarterbacks that got traded and their dead cap money was significantly bigger than that, that's not that bad. So they could find a way to get out of that deal if they wanted to after one season. I don't think Geno, though, has played poorly enough where right now I'm ready to say they have to move on. I think it's something you monitor. I think it's something you watch year to year because a lot of people look at Geno Smith and said, oh, maybe it was a one-time wonder thing and a one-hit wonder with what he was able to do last year. And there's a lot of questions if he can continue to do it.

So you monitor it. But I'm not ready to say that the Seahawks need a new starting quarterback in 2024 right now. So I'll go overreaction. The Lions, as we've talked about, are 5-1. Jared Goff has 11 touchdowns and just three picks. He's 13-3 over his last 16 games, dating back to last season. Holy smokes, that's something. And the crazy thing is those three interceptions this year are his only three interceptions in those last 16 games. Oh, is that right?

Yes. Overreaction, proper reaction. Jared Goff is the Lions' long-term franchise quarterback. When they traded for him, I thought that was just a placeholder. I never thought Jared Goff would get a long-term extension by the Detroit Lions. And even the Lions were even skeptical of it because really they got one first-round pick for Stafford and then they got another first-round pick for acquiring the contract of Jared Goff. And the Lions still haven't extended him. And they drafted Hendon Hooker, so even they had some questions about Jared Goff. But Jared Goff continues to show that he's the man in Detroit. And when you're the Lions and you've had this success, I think you need to learn from what happened the last time you had a decent team with Jim Caldwell as the coach. You thought you need to get rid of Caldwell and bring in a new coach to make you great. And Matt Patricia, and how'd that work out?

Oh yeah, it was a disaster. So if Goff continues to play this way, you reward him with the new contract, he's your guy, and he's a good quarterback. And I'm not afraid to say he's a good quarterback. A lot of people are like, Ah, it's Jared Goff. Yeah, he's solid. He's fine. No, the guy's a good quarterback.

And that is a proper reaction when you ask me. Jared Goff is the Lions' long-term franchise QB. Now the Pats are a mess and whisperers of this being Belichick's last season in New England.

That's actually a nice way of saying it. The Patriots are a dumpster fire right now. Not just a mess. Like, a mess is, Oh, I spilled my coffee.

We gotta go clean it up. It would be as if I walked into our Dunkin' Donuts coffee lounge here at CBS Sports Radio inside the Odyssey family, and I'm making the coffee, and I spilled the entire pot of coffee, and then the other three pots that are right next to it as well. That's what the Patriots are right now.

The entire store is flooded, and they're like, Oh, let me get out of here, because this team bleepin' stinks right now. Spoken like a very objective, non-biased Patriots fan right there. You seem like there's no emotion behind it. You don't feel like you're upset in any way, shape, or form. Nah, I'm not an emotional guy.

Well, one guy who might want to get out of this dumpster fire is Bill Belichick. He created it. That's like if I spilled the coffee, and then I'm like, Oh, it wasn't me. Let me run out of this store. Not my problem. You know, I did walk in here the other day and saw some coffee stains, so I'm wondering who that might have been from. Now I think I have my answer. Like Shaggy would say, wasn't me.

Uh-huh. Well, yesterday Belichick's former favorite linebacker, Teddy Brewski, was asked if Belichick could retire after the season. I think Bill Belichick is considering it, and I also think Robert Kraft is the one that has to start to consider, Is it time to move on? Because I have always known, Bill, to only coach for meaningful wins. Meaningful in terms of division championships, playoff wins, Super Bowls. It's shifted now. The meaningful wins are now all for him.

It's for the Shula mark. Because if it is, we really got to look in the mirror and say, Where are we going in the future? So overreaction, proper reaction. This is Belichick's last year, not just with the Pats, but as an NFL head coach. It could be his final year with the Patriots.

I still believe he will be back. But I think Belichick will coach again if the Patriots do move on from him. So when you say this is Belichick's last year as an NFL head coach, I think that's an overreaction. Because if the Crafts traded him, or excuse me, if the Crafts wanted to fire him, or move on from him, I do think another team would pick him up and would hand the reins over to a guy that won six Super Bowls in the NFL as a head coach. So this is Belichick's last year as an NFL head coach.

I will go that's an overreaction. So all eyes were on Aaron Rodgers on Sunday as he was seen throwing the ball on the sideline just five weeks after his Achilles injury. That's wild. This afternoon, Rodgers joined the Pat McAfee Show and discussed how it felt to be back on the field. I really felt great. I had just a little bit of a limp. I'm just not quite walking perfectly normal. But standing and throwing is not a problem.

Moving in a small little area was not a problem. And I was excited to get back out there. And again, it just felt a little bit more normal.

So overreaction, proper reaction. Aaron Rodgers will play again in the 2023 season. So I think we could have two different conversations here. Conversation one, I think we could all acknowledge that Aaron Rodgers is a different human being. If I had this Achilles injury, I'd be milking this as long as possible. And I'd be waiting as long as possible to return to work and being like a good teammate member.

Or even thinking about doing something physical. Now, with that being said, as impressive as it is, what Rodgers is already doing, until I see him play in a game and start in a game again this season, yeah, I'm still going to believe that it's more likely that it won't happen than it will happen. And I would still be shocked if he plays again. But he seems motivated. He seems committed to it. And he's not ruling it out.

And that's wild. If you say Aaron Rodgers will play again in 2023, I will go overreaction. So 2023 has been a wild ride for the three first-round rookie quarterbacks. In Indy, Anthony Richardson is expected to have season-ending shoulder surgery. That's always tough. Shoulder surgery. Yeah, say that ten times fast.

Yeah, I can barely do it once. In Carolina, Frank Reich is giving up play calling duties to OC Thomas Brown. And in Houston, as we've talked about, CJ Stroud is throwing nine touchdowns to just one pick for the surprising three-and-three Texans. So overreaction, proper reaction. Stroud will have the best career of the three rookie quarterbacks.

I actually think that's a proper reaction, and here's why. Bryce Young, I feel, is destined to get failed by the Carolina Panthers. I don't trust David Tepper.

I think David Tepper is one of the worst owners in football. And then, when you look at Anthony Richardson, it's a small sample size, but it's pretty damaging how many injuries we're now talking about a few games into a career. And there was already questions about how good Richardson can be. He was the highest ceiling guy in this draft where he didn't show it on the field yet, but everyone talked about that's what this guy could potentially do if he put it all together. And CJ Stroud, we always knew was going to be solid. We knew he was going to be good. The question was, can he become great? And so far, he's elevating that franchise and moving that franchise in the right direction. So I will go on to say proper reactions. Stroud will end up having the best career of the three rookie QBs that are playing right now in the NFL.

Alright, last one. We all had high expectations for the Bengals, and they finally evened their record to three-and-three with back-to-back wins over the Cardinals and Seahawks. However, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan admitted he was, quote, fuming while he was watching the offensive tape after the game.

So overreaction, proper reaction, now that the Bengals are back to even, are they still a top-three team in the AFC? Well, yeah, and it wasn't just Callahan after the game. I wouldn't say that Joe Burrow was fuming, but Joe Burrow sounded as if he just, like, lost his dog or something. It was so sad. It was like if a kid on Christmas didn't get the gift that he wanted with how bad that they were playing in the second half. And honestly, when I was listening to Burrow and I on football, it sounded like I was at a funeral. That's how somber of a tone Burrow had in the second half.

He was like, yeah, you take the win, but man, I'm not happy with the way that we played in the second half. So I appreciate that, even in a win, knowing that you got to clean things up, and when you're trying to turn this team around and get this team back moving in the right direction, I don't think you just celebrate every win and make it seem as if everything's fixed. There's still a lot of work to do with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Right now, I would say overreaction. When you ask me if the Bengals are still a top three team in the AFC, they could maybe get there towards the end of the season. But right now, Kansas City's better, and I know the Bengals have played really well up against Kansas City the last two years. The Miami Dolphins are better, just for starters. And then that third team, that's the tough one, because the Jaguars have been up and down, the Ravens have been up and down, the Buffalo Bills have been up and down as well.

But I would probably still say it's the Bills, but I would hold my nose when I do that. The Dolphins and Chiefs, through the first six weeks of the season, they're the two best teams, in my opinion, in the AFC. They're fighting for that third spot, but for Cincinnati, yeah, you clean things up, get into three and three, you get a bye week, but now you're going up against San Francisco and Buffalo. There's still work to do for the Cincinnati Bengals, where it could be actually something good that they got off to the slow start, because their defense is getting a lot of shine. Their defense played a heck of a game last week up against Seahawks.

It is the reason why they won the game. But offensively, they got work to do. And on this offense, they have a lot of talent, and you'd think it would eventually start to turn around. Like, look at Kansas City. Their offense hasn't even played their best game yet, and their defense is shining.

So the Chiefs and Bengals are a little bit more similar than what we think, but the Bengals did dig themselves into a deep hole right out of the gate. 855-212 for CBS, 855-212-4227. You can always give me a follow on Instagram and Twitter, at Zach Gelb. Let me go quickly to Charles in Minnesota, next up on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Charles, what's happening? What's up, Zach? Doing fantastic.

What do you got for me? Well, I just couldn't believe how, you know, Brandon Staley and the Chargers blunder and blunder, repeatedly blunder and give the game away, basically. I mean, the Cowboys, to their credit, did what they had to do, just squeak by and get a win.

But really, it was giving away. I mean, it was just unbelievable. And I'm wondering, how long are you going to, you know, what's the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over, respecting different results. When are they going to can this guy? That ownership is lousy. I mean, lousy.

It really is a lousy ownership group. And you could make the case, and thanks for the phone call, Charles, that they should have fired him at the end of last season. But you knew the standard in Los Angeles last year was just make the playoffs and then Brandon Staley would come back. So you make the playoffs, and then you're up, you're cruising to a victory, and you have an all-time bad choke job in the postseason, and you end up losing that playoff game when it was a lock at halftime that you were going to be in the second round and playing in that divisional round. I would have fired him after that game, but you knew the Spanos family with how much money they owe Brandon Staley with the contract that they gave him, that he was going to be back for the third season.

But now, I don't think it's a matter of if he gets fired, it's just a matter of when he's going to get fired. Because there's no justification to bringing him back anymore, because you change coordinators, the offense still is a mess, and the offense has regressed. Like, at least they used to put up a lot of points in this game, and then they just wouldn't find a way like how they did in week one against the Dolphins to be able to make a stop. And also, Brandon Staley made a name for himself being the defensive coordinator in this league with the Rams, and the defense in Los Angeles with the Chargers has been horrible this year.

So they're not doing anything well. And this was another game where they looked right at the Cowboys, very similar teams. Cowboys are better than the Chargers slightly, but both those teams don't know how to close games and close big games. And the Cowboys are better than the Chargers, and that showed last night where both teams made an incredible amount of mistakes, and an abundance of mistakes, and ultimately, the Cowboys made fewer mistakes than the Chargers. But it's a shame because the Chargers have so much talent, and if they continue with this nonsense of Staley, you're just wasting a window here. Because you just paid Herbert, you're going to lose some talent, Keenan Allen's only getting older even though he's still a really good wide receiver in this league, and they've had a core that's been good enough on paper, but it's not translating onto the field, and I don't know how much longer their windows open. And they need a new coach to actually see this team go to the level that they want. Because Staley, maybe one day this guy, with how positively some people talk about him, maybe one day he goes on to be a good head coach, but right now, he's not ready for the job, and he shows it week in and week out.

We're usually in this world, we don't agree on a lot of things. If we put up a poll right now, is Brandon Staley a good head coach? Is Brandon Staley a coach that you could one day believe in?

I would say 95% of the people would say no, and the only 5% that would say yes are people trolling or just being different for the sake of being different. The guy's a terrible coach, I would fire him right now, I don't think the Spanos family is going to do that, but you need to create change in that organization. You need to bring in someone else, because they have too much talent to continue to have these poor efforts and these poor performances and results over and over and over again. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio, we'll take a break, something that I can't believe that was done by one coach and another college coach that I can't believe said something as well, and also a thought on a dream Super Bowl matchup coming up at the end of the year in Vegas. So we've got three more things to get to, one more segment to play, Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio, we'll get an update though first with the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. So Shane Beamer in his first two years with the Gamecocks of South Carolina has done a good job, this year though they've been a team that's been disappointing. I've said this all throughout the year so far that LSU is the most disappointing team in college football, because there were so much higher expectations for LSU than compared to South Carolina, but South Carolina has been disappointing. And Spencer Ratliff played a really good game up against Florida and you lose in a shootout 41-39, the week before that you lose to Tennessee, or two weeks before that you lose to Tennessee 41-20. And your wins this year, as you're sitting at 2-4 through the first six games of the season, Mississippi State you beat them by seven, and then you beat Furman. So you didn't show up against UNC to start off the year, you then played Georgia well for a half and then the talent of Georgia prevailed over you in the second half, and you beat Mississippi State and you lose to Tennessee and Florida.

It's going to be tough to make this look like it's a good season for South Carolina the rest of the way. Last year they started off 1-2, but you played Arkansas and Georgia, and then you found a way to move things back in the right direction and save the ship from sinking, get into 5-2 after a big win against Kentucky, a big win up against A&M. You lose to Missouri, and then you win, you lose to Vanderbilt, Florida, but then at the end of the year you beat big programs inside the top 10. You beat Tennessee, you beat Clemson, and then you were right there, you lost in the bowl game to Notre Dame, and like you walk away you go, 8-5 season, that was pretty damn good.

And it showed consistency with Shane Beamer, who the year before that went 7-6. So this year it's been really ugly to start, and you needed to find a way to win one of these games against Tennessee and Florida, and you lost both of them. Well, not only did Shane Beamer lose, he also broke his foot during the Florida game. So think about this embarrassment. You have now back-to-back losses in a season six games in, you only have two wins, and it's up against Furman and Mississippi State.

So if you even want to call those wins, be my guest. And then in frustration in the craziness of the Florida game, you break your foot. Here is Shane Beamer on how he broke his foot. Saturday after the game I broke my foot, and certainly that was a gut-wrenching emotional loss, and I was frustrated and kicked something that I shouldn't have kicked, and thought I was okay. But journaling of the game wore off, and don't think I have to have surgery, but there is a broken bone in my foot, it hurts like you know what, but you know, I've got to show toughness and fight through it. Show toughness? Coach, I'm a Shane Beamer fan.

Don't be an idiot. You lost the game. I understand and I respect you being upset you should be. You're passionate. That's why a lot of people like you, because you're passionate, but you're a leader of a program. You're not a coordinator anymore. You're a CEO.

You can't be breaking your foot out of frustration because the game didn't go your way. Because that's, it's weird to say it this way, but that's how you end up losing your job. Not because of the act, but because it makes it a clown show. Where now, if you just lose to Florida, you don't know how many people are slamming Shane Beamer nationally.

Not a lot. But now it's like, oh did you see Shane Beamer? Look at that hothead.

Not only is his team underperforming, he breaks his foot because he was annoyed with what happened during the game. It just adds to a circus atmosphere this year. Where the first two years, it was cruising.

It was really good. You're making that trajectory of doing a really good job at South Carolina. And now in the first moments of adversity, and the first legit moments of adversity, you act like a toddler. And you kick something and you break your foot.

And then you talk about like toughness here. And I wonder how this was revealed. Like did he just show up to the podium with a boot on or something? Or a bandage like, oh coach, how'd you break your foot?

And then he admitted it? I don't think I'd be owning that one of, yeah I got frustrated after the game and I kicked something and when the adrenaline wore off I realized I did break a bone in my foot. But look at me, I'm a tough guy. We preach toughness in this program. We gotta be tough.

And I've not heard the audio of this yet, but I was reading this, and it's via On 3 so they're very trusted. Dabo Swinney on the bandwagon Clemson fans. And if you know me, I'm very tired of the arrogant Dabo Swinney. I'm very tired of the preacher Dabo Swinney, who everything he does, oh it's wonderful, he's unbelievable.

Shame on people for embracing NIL and the transfer portal, all things he's failed to do. Like Dabo's become so insufferable because they're no longer winning national championships. Not even getting the college football playoffs. Sure you won the ACC last year, but you didn't make the college football playoff. That's the standard at Clemson.

To Dabo's credit, what he's built at that program. But the last two, three years, you know, he was the first one to take bows when things were going well. But now when things aren't going well, he feels as if he's on a higher throne and he could talk down to all of us. So he picked a battle with the fans that he thinks are bandwagon fans. We're at a point in our time if you don't go undefeated, you're losers, you're terrible. Maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon, you get a little too full.

Oh my God. Dabo, you're that concerned what people are saying about you. When you have a season already of two losses where you didn't show up against Duke and then tried to say, oh, well, we had 200 yards passing, 200 yards rushing, we do that, you know, we're going to be a pretty damn good football team. And we won't lose another game the rest of the year.

And you had the Florida State game one and you messed it up down the stretch. So now since people are starting to turn on you because they expect a certain standard, you're going to go after your fans. That's weak. That's gutless. That's pathetic by Dabo Sweeney. And it just further enhances my dislike for him in the last two years that's starting to grow, not only grow exponentially, grow through the roof, right through the roof.

Oh, man, he's insufferable. You know, Mario Crystal Ball plays him this weekend. I hope Mario beats him, beats him 45 to nothing and does not call off the dogs. But, you know, coach, maybe actually Mario Crystal Ball, you take a few kneel downs because we all remember what happened two weeks ago when you ran the ball and you ended up losing the game.

So I can't trust either of those programs right now. And then finally, here's a dream Super Bowl matchup. I think right now, when we get ready to go to Super Bowl at the end of the year. The two teams I want to see get there in the NFC, it's the Detroit Lions.

Absolutely. Imagine Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, Amara, St. Brown, David Montgomery, Aiden Hutchinson, Alex Anzalone in the Super Bowl. Imagine Dan Campbell at media night and then going up against Mike McDaniel, who's just as equally entertaining, and his Miami Dolphins team that has Tuatunga Vailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, well, Sam through out like Radio Row, waddling like a penguin and doing that dance.

I absolutely love that celebration. And you need Jalen Phillips back because Jalen Phillips is a big time difference maker for them on the defense side of the ball. And you have Christian Wilkins, who's a dominant defensive player from Clemson back when Clemson actually won some things. And Dabo loved the bandwagon that was growing then.

And now all of a sudden hates the bandwagon. And Jalen Ramsey may be getting back into the mix, too. That would be such a fun Super Bowl with the offenses that both those teams have. That would be one of your like 41 to 38 type of Super Bowls where it's just an incredible offensive game. And for the first time in a long time, you could make a realistic case for the Dolphins to get there and a realistic case for the Lions to get there. And yes, the Lions haven't won the division since 1993 and haven't won a playoff game since 1991.

But through six weeks of the season, entering week seven, Lions fans could dream big and Dolphin fans could dream big as well. Great show today. Big thanks to Michael Sampter, Stuart Kovacs, each and every one of you for calling and listening to the show. You could always follow me on social media at Zach Gelb, Twitter and Instagram. Big thanks to all participating in the YouTube chat as well. I'm off tomorrow but back Thursday and Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern. We out. Bye-bye. Peace!