Week 7 NFL Picks (Hour 3)

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That's right. It is the Zach Gelb show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Ryan Horvat from BetMGM tonight via the BetQL family. We'll stop by 20 minutes from now in his weekly spot as we'll do some college picks with Ryan.

And then I will go head to head with Horvat in some NFL picks as well. But we got to start this hour doing a little double dip of the NFL and college football and talk about the Detroit Lions and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Let's start with the college football, then we'll circle back in on the NFL. So Ryan Day and James Franklin are two totally different coaches. But James Franklin is at a point in his tenure where we know he has that big contract with Penn State. And we know he has amassed a lot of wins at Penn State.

But what is it leading to? Because, yes, they've won a Big Ten championship, but they didn't go to the college football playoff. And James Franklin, why I've called him an overrated coach is because when you go up against the elite opponents, his record's been extremely subpar. Where I understand, especially the circumstances that he took over, and I know Bill O'Brien there was a buffer in between, but trying to overcome the awful things that happened at Penn State, it was going to take a lot of building. There was a lot of recovery that needed to happen with the sanctions from the fallout in the aftermath of the disgusting Jerry Sandusky, the time at Penn State, and also the lack of care that Penn State showed in responding to the awful things that Jerry Sandusky did.

And the cover-up from Spanier, Curly, Schultz, Joe Pa, and we talked about that numerous times. So James Franklin has got Penn State to a level where, once again, they're good. But you have a fan base that expects to be great.

And James Franklin, against the top ten teams, he's supporting a 3-15 record. And every Penn State fan, you know, they tell me, this is our year. They're confident with Penn State.

And I go, what do you mean this is your year? Because I look at the Big Ten, it's been a two-team race for a while, really a one-team race, and the last two years it's turned into a two-team race with Michigan just dominating Ohio State the last two years. So Penn State thinks they're in the same weight class as Michigan and Ohio State. You could think that. You could believe that.

You could want to do that. But until you do that on a football field, there is still a separation with Michigan and Ohio State compared to Penn State. And all throughout the year, this is coming from someone that has acknowledged how good Penn State could be. And for the first six, seven weeks of the season, I've said that I believe Penn State is better than Ohio State this year. But as we get here to game week and as we get here to the Friday night before the game on Saturday that kicks off tomorrow at noon Eastern, you're asking me to trust James Franklin.

You're asking me to expect James Franklin to improve to 4-15 against the top ten. And until James Franklin does it, it's almost as if it's kind of viewed as Michigan and Ohio State. Remember that one year Michigan was on the revenge tour? And they beat a lot of schools that they lost to the year before. But when push came to shove with that great defense that they had with Brown, the coach now, or he used to be the coach at UMass, I don't even know if he's the coach at UMass, but he was the defensive coordinator, they were supposed to go on out there and destroy Ohio State, or win the game against Ohio State, and they got destroyed.

And it was like one of those moments where it's like, this was supposed to be your year. This is when you were supposed to get over the hump, and Urban Meyer and Ohio State smacked you around again. So now it's like, alright with Penn State, you're telling me this is your year, and you are a better football team than the year ago, but just because you're a better football team, will the results be different? And for Penn State, there's an enormous amount of pressure on James Franklin this weekend. Because if he loses, every talk show in the country on Monday or on Sunday is going to be saying, Penn State's a good program, Penn State's a really solid program, but they're up against the elite, they're not getting the job done. And they need to find a way, bare minimum, to split against Ohio State and Michigan this year. And I think Michigan's the best team in the Big Ten. And I don't know what words of optimism I would have for the Penn State fan if they lose to Ohio State this weekend.

And this is a big showing for James Franklin. But on the other side, it is also enormous for Ryan Day. Because Ryan Day doesn't have many losses as the head coach of Ohio State. But the Ohio State fans' confidence in Ryan Day is mixed. And I don't want to say the majority of Ohio State fans are turning on Ryan Day, because that would not be fair.

But there is a loud minority that are not satisfied with the job that Ryan Day is doing. Because the standard at Ohio State, ever since Urban Meyer took over, and Urban Meyer brought that program back to a national championship contending level, is you beat the snot out of Michigan and Urban Meyer never lost the game to Michigan, and then you're competing for a national championship. Well, you look at Ryan Day, he coached in a national championship game, didn't win it. And in the last two years, they have lost both times to Michigan. So the build-up, always for Ohio State, is the Michigan game. Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, at the end of the season, Thanksgiving weekend on that Saturday at noon Eastern.

And this year it's at Ann Arbor. But also, you know you're trying to get to the college football playoff. And if you lose to Ohio State this weekend, you're going to hear, or if you lose to Penn State this weekend, you're going to hear from the Ryan Day and Ohio State fan, man, Ryan Day couldn't even get us to the Michigan game this year undefeated. Because if you lose that game, let's just say Ohio State loses to Penn State this weekend. Even if you come back and beat Michigan at the end of November, if Penn State's only loss is to Michigan, the committee is going to have to go with Penn State, and also Penn State's going to hold the tiebreaker. Because Penn State, they both would have had one loss, but Penn State would have beat Ohio State. And Penn State, if they only have one loss, they would be in the Big Ten championship game, and they would win the Big Ten championship game. Because whoever comes out of the Big Ten standings from that side in the east, with Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State, they're going to the college. They're going to defeat whoever the team is in the Big Ten West.

They will. So this game, it's only big for two reasons. It's big for Ryan Day to get to the Michigan game undefeated. But if you lose this game in your Ohio State, even if Penn State loses to Michigan, I'm sure Michigan could be undefeated and whatnot, and they still play Ohio State, it's still going to be tough for you to get into the college football playoff. And there's three teams. There is three teams this year in the Big Ten, and they are three of the top ten teams in the country.

They are dominant teams. There is still a separation, though, because Michigan and Ohio State have done it, and Penn State has not. But both of these coaches this weekend, Franklin more than Day, but Franklin's under more pressure because he hasn't done it yet, and the record is 3-15 against top ten teams. And for Ryan Day, I don't think he's in danger of losing his job. But if you don't even get to the Michigan game undefeated, you're going to already have people turning on you, where the only time they've turned on you in your career as the Ohio State head coach is when you've lost to Michigan twice.

And really more so the second time than the first time, because then it was sustained success for Michigan. And you will already have people jump ahead of the line than normally where they're calling for your job, and maybe that starts to change the way that we view Ryan Day's job and his status as the head football coach of Ohio State. Alrighty, so that's the Penn State-Ohio State game this weekend.

I'll pick Ohio State to win the game. I think it's going to be a close game and it comes down to I just don't trust James Franklin in a big game, and until he gets the job done in a big game, and I know he's won a Big Ten championship, but until he gets the job done against a top ten team and this is a year where he's supposed to do it, I'm going to fade James Franklin because there's a lack of trust between James Franklin and yours truly. Now let's get to the Lions. When we talk about the Lions going up against the Ravens this week, this is going to be a wonderful matchup. And I think people view the Ravens as a good team.

I think people understand the Ravens are a very solid organization, the Ravens are a good team, but usually their season gets derailed by injuries. But this is a good measuring stick for the Detroit Lions, who are a team that are 5-1 right now, they're playing incredible football, it looks like they're getting Jameer Gibbs back from what Dan Campbell said the other day, you have Amal Ross St. Brown who's a top ten wide receiver in the sport, you have Jamison Williams who's back from the gambling suspension and he's been, you know, in doses explosive with what we've been able to see, his big playability, Sam LaPorta, the rookie tight end has been sensational, and Jared Goff is playing like a top ten quarterback right now. Jared Goff is a dark horse to win the NFL MVP, where today we opened up the show, and I said through the first six weeks of the season, my MVP pick would be Tyreek Hill who's on pace to hit over 2,300 yards receiving this year, and then also get 17 touchdowns receiving touchdowns.

But if it's not Tyreek Hill, because maybe him and Tua splits votes, I'm looking around and a non-quarterback hasn't won the award since 2012, and I'm looking around and I'm trying to identify, you know, when Adrian Peterson won the award, who could win the MVP? And, you know, I think everything has to be perfect for Mahomes to win it, I don't think Josh Allen will win it, Lamar Jackson has a chance, but they gotta win that division, which has a good chance of it happening, but Lamar also has to be healthy, something he has not been at the end of the last two years, and you look around, it's like the Lions have a damn good chance, where they don't have a lot of tough games on their schedule, the rest of the way, this is a tough one this weekend, but the Lions have a damn good chance to surprise a lot of people, we knew the Lions would be good this year, but I don't know how great we thought the Lions would be, where the Detroit Lions could get the number one seed, and if the Lions get the number one seed, sure, Dan Campbell probably will be coach of the year, you know, maybe Aiden Hutchinson will be defensive player of the year, but there's gonna have to be a player that emerges in the MVP conversation, when you're the number one seed in the NFC, and having this historical season for the Detroit Lions, where, let's be real about it, they haven't won their division since 1993, and they haven't won a playoff game since 1991, like, the guy that called me yesterday and said, I've never heard a radio show, that when they did their power rankings, they had the Lions as the best team in the nation, and they had Michigan as the best team in the nation, so, for Michigan, they've been there the last two years, not the best team, but one of the best teams, this has been, for most Lions fans, uncharted territory, and you just wanna see this momentum train keep on moving, and keep on soaring for the Detroit Lions, and I think the Lions are a better team than the Ravens, but there's not many measuring stick games anymore for the Detroit Lions, because they started off the season even though you didn't have Chris Jones, even though you did not have Travis Kelce in the game, they go to Kansas City and they get a win, that did set the tone for the season, and now at five and one, the conversations are deriving about how great this team could be, and I don't think there's three Super Bowl contenders right now in the NFC, Eagles, 49ers, and I can't wait for that Eagles-Dolphins game this weekend, and then it's the Detroit Lions, but really, after this game this weekend for the Ravens, like, even if you're still a non-believer in the Lions, outside of this game against the Ravens, there's not really a moment that, if you haven't believed in the Lions yet, that they're gonna give you a reason to believe more based off the quality of opponent. Like, they play the Raiders, they have a bye week, they play the Chargers, they play the Bears, they play the Packers, they play the Saints, they play the Bears again, you have Denver, Minnesota, you know, the Cowboys are a good team, not a great team, they're fraudulent, but they play them on December 30th, and then you play Minnesota again. So, for the Lions, if you're trying to get that number one seed, and have the road to the Super Bowl, think about that, travel through, um, Ford Field, and you win this game, you're 6-1, you know, I could only see, maybe at most, if they win this weekend, the Lions only having three losses at the end of the year. And I may have to reach to find two more losses on this schedule to get them to three, because the only opponents that really make you say, okay, that's a big game for them the rest of the way for the Lions, are the Ravens and the Cowboys. Now, I can't trust the Chargers anymore, especially with Brandon Staley as their coach, you can't trust the Raiders, the Bears twice, that's a gift, the Packers, they beat the crap out of them earlier this year, the Saints stink, the Broncos stink, and the Vikings stink. So, this is a big test where the dessert could get even sweeter, this week, in terms of the national respect and the national conversation for the Detroit Lions, and I'm looking forward to it. Because I actually like the Lions in this game. I think a lot of people will say, oh, this is a letdown spot, you know, you win the season against Kansas City, then you lose in overtime to Seattle, and you haven't lost a game since, taking care of Atlanta, Green Bay, Carolina, and Tampa Bay. I think some people think this is a letdown spot, but I just trust the Lions offense more, and the Lions team more with Anzaloni and also Aiden Hutchinson, than the Baltimore Ravens, and just that statement is marvelous.

And you're also going to Baltimore, so there's a lot of reasons why you should want to pick the Baltimore Ravens, but I'm not going to pick against these Detroit Lions right now. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Ready, we'll take a break, we'll come on back in five minutes, we'll do so with some gambling picks from Ryan Horvat via BetMGM tonight, he'll give us some college picks, some NFL picks as well, Zach Gelb here with you, 41 minutes to go on a football Friday right here, but where else? CBS Sports Radio. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio, Ryan Horvat joins us right now via BetMGM tonight, and the BetQL family in his weekly football Friday spot with us, Ryan, I always appreciate the time, how you been my friend? I've been good, I'm excited for the weekend, I mean we've got a great college slate once again, we kick it off with Ohio State, Penn State, but I'm a little jealous, I hear you're in Miami, and I'm stuck here in D.C. where it's windy, it's cold, it's a little rainy, I can't even walk down the street to get a burger, because it's looking like it's going to pour here, so I'm a little jealous of you, Zach.

Yeah, that sucks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, the weather here is sensational, I had a delicious meal last night, I'm going to go enjoy myself on a little Friday night in South Beach, so having a good grand old time here in Florida before I fly back tomorrow evening and get back into our CBS Sports Radio studio, Sunday, for eight hours of ION football starting at noon Eastern. Let me start you off with that game, Penn State, Ohio State, can't wait to watch it tomorrow at noon Eastern. Ohio State is a five point favorite, is that too many points for the Buckeyes? Yeah, I think so, I mean, I get why people would like Ohio State in this matchup, I mean, last season Ohio State beats Penn State 44-31, Ryan Day 35-0 against every coach in the Big Ten, except for Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin, he's 4-14 against Ohio State and Michigan.

So, I mean, going back to James Franklin, that's the thing, man, I'm trusting James Franklin in a big spot, and these are the two teams he can't beat, right? It's Michigan, it's Ohio State, but I think that this is the perfect year for them to actually get it done. There are a couple concerns I have, which is why I like the under in the game, and I also like the first half under, that's all the way down to 22, I think it's going to be a little bit of a feeling out process, Penn State has one of the best defenses in the country, Ohio State also has a really good defense, two top ten defenses, but, you know, both quarterbacks, I don't really know what to expect, Drew Aller, the numbers look good, but he's only thrown seven balls, 15 yards or more down the field this season, so, you know, he hasn't really had to make these big throws, this is going to be the toughest environment that he's played in so far, but I like the running backs for Penn State, the offensive line still needs to figure some things out, they have Katron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, neither backs averaging more than five yards per carry, but they're not hitting you with the explosives, I think they might be able to kind of like pick up some first downs, grind this game out, I think it's at least a field goal game, so I'm going to lean Penn State if James Franklin's ever going to beat Ryan Day or Jim Harbaugh, it's got to be this year, so I'll take the points with the Nittany Lions, and I like the under in the game a lot. A lot of people look at Alabama, and they discuss how vulnerable Alabama is, and they only have one loss on the season, now Brock Bowers is out for four to six weeks for Georgia, and people are wondering is this the undertaker moment here for Alabama, we're like we're not dead yet, they go up against Tennessee, we know Bama has to win out to get back to the college football playoff, which they did not make a year ago, Bama is a nine point favorite, I feel like that is Vegas, begging everyone to plus the points here with Tennessee, is this one of those things where plus Tennessee, plus nine, it's too good to be true, and then Alabama blows out the volunteers. Yeah, I like Alabama in this game, you know, Tennessee, they pull off I guess you want to call it the upset last year, I like Tennessee in the game last year, because I like the Tennessee team a lot more last year, I like Hendon Hooker.

And it was that Rocky Top too. Yeah, I mean it's just this is a different Tennessee offense, you know what I mean, like you look at it last week, and they couldn't take advantage of that Texas A&M secondary, who's outside the top 120 in EPA per pass, the Josh Leipold offense even like Squirrel White, they're top three receivers, none of them are averaging more than two yards per outrun, they're surviving right now, because they have a really good offensive line, and Jalen Wright has went over 100 yards rushing in four games, out of the six they played already this season, but I just I don't trust Joe Milton in this game, you know in Alabama starting to kind of figure things out offensively, they're sleepwalking through these games, they haven't put together a full four quarters, I still don't love them in the trenches, their offensive line, but Alabama still has a really good defense, and if Tennessee can't make those big throws down the field with Joe Milton, I just think it's going to be kind of like a grind out game, and Alabama might be able to push away a little bit later on, so I took the points with Alabama here, or laid the points I should say minus nine with the Crimson Tide Zach. Another game where I think it's too many points, I don't think this team is in danger of losing, it would be very Pac-12 like if they lost, but they're coming off a loss, Oregon against Washington State, I'm reading this right, but Oregon, I know Oregon's phenomenal, but a 20 point favorite in a Pac-12 game, that seems like too many points if you ask me. Right, especially like, it depends how you're looking at it, see I like Oregon in the game, I couldn't lay 20 here, you just never know what you're going to get with Washington State, right, like they've had some big wins this season, but the last couple weeks, they kind of came back down to earth, and with Oregon, that's my favorite team in the Pac-12, I don't really think that you could drop them for losing that game to Washington, I mean- Make the kick, it goes to overtime. Yeah, I mean, if you make the kick, and also like Michael Penix just kept making throw after throw in the fourth quarter, they hit them a lot, I mean, you had to gain a lot of respect from Michael Penix in that game, there's a reason why right now he's the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman, but I think Oregon wins, I couldn't lay 20 here, just because if they do go up a couple scores, do they take their foot off the gas, but I do think they're going to be motivated the rest of the way, right, to get to the Pac-12 championship game, and I want to see a rematch against Washington, problem is, I can see one of those teams getting clipped down the stretch, man, Pac-12 is really good, there's some tough matchups on the back end for both of these teams on their schedule.

Yeah, I know that Washington State just lost like 40 or 44 to 6 to Arizona, but I think 20 points is just too great here, but we'll see with Dan Lanning, I'm sure he'll give some crazy pregame speech, and then they'll win the game by like 40 points this weekend, up against Washington State. Alrighty, Ryan Horvat here with us, Stu, you can cue the music for us right now, we'll get to some NFL picks right now, Horvat and I had the same record last week, so I'm still up a week on the season, I'll let you start off though first, Ryan Horvat, who do you like this week in your first NFL play? Oh yeah, so down the street from my apartment, out in Maryland, we're going to have some windy conditions, it looks like, Zach, on Sunday, and that means Jared Goff is going to be throwing the football into the wind, you already look at the home road splits for Jared Goff, the Ravens offense, last week was the first week since week one, Lamar Jackson had all five starting offensive linemen healthy, I actually like this Ravens offense, I know a couple weeks ago against the Steelers, they had a bunch of drops, but what we're getting is a bunch of three wide receiver sets, and when Lamar is using his legs, he's running into a bunch of light boxes, and right now for the Lions, they have a bunch of injuries, especially in their backfield, if that's a healthy David Montgomery, and the Lions are at home, I probably like them in the game, but windy conditions, Jared Goff on the road, he's going to get pressured in this game, we know he's sensitive when he's pressured, and I think this could be a big game for Mark Andrews, you know, the safeties and the linebackers really have struggled in coverage for the Lions, and they might not have Brian Branch in this game, so give me the Ravens, I'll lay the three points, and give me some Mark Andrews anytime touchdowns.

I'm actually going to fade you this week, I like the Lions plus three, I'm not going to fade you for every pick, just this pick in particular, I think this is one of those games where you look at the spread, yeah it's laying three, I hear what you're saying about the running backs, and we'll see what Jameer Gibbs can provide for this team this week with the Detroit Lions, but I'm not betting against right now, Dan Campbell, Aiden Hutchinson, Alex Anzalone is going to make a big play this week, and he makes plays each and every week, and I look at Jared Goff, dark horse, dark horse MVP candidate, not too many games this year that you could impress, because the Lions schedule stinks, outside of the Cowboys, and if you want to talk up the Chargers, be my guest, they're a bad football team as well, I think this is one of those Jared Goff dark horse MVP type of performances, I like the Lions plus the three, I like the Lions to win the game outright, your next pick is what Ryan Horvat? I don't hate that Jared Goff MVP look, to be honest with you, man, Let me ask you this, let me ask you this real quickly, Tyreke Hill, or Tua Tonga-Vailoa, if you had to pick one dolphin to win the MVP? Okay, so I want to make the case for Tyreke, because you're getting the better price, but remember a couple years ago, the season that Cooper Cup put together, now, it's a quarterback award, you know what I mean? So, if anything, he'll be offensive player of the year, so I would most like, yeah, I'd go with Tua, even though you're not getting the better number. I would actually take Tyreke, and I hear what you're saying, and a non-quarterback hasn't won the award since 2012, a wide receiver has never won the award, but you put up 2,300 yards receiving, and 17 touchdowns is what he's on pace to do, and you ask me who's the more intimidating player on the dolphins, and I like Tua, but it is, to me, Tyreke Hill over Tua Tonga-Vailoa, but you know how these writers get, they'll probably just vote the quarterback, you're probably right and end up going with Tua.

Alrighty, play number two, what do you got, Ryan Horvat? You know what, I was going to go with the dog, I'm going to go back to another favorite, because I want to talk about this team now, I want to talk about the Dolphins, because this is going to be the first meeting, if you could believe it, between Tua and Jalen, actually, so we'll go to that Eagles-Dolphins game, and I like the Eagles, the bounce back, this opened up at four, we're under the three right now, we're actually at two and a half, so I'm going to take Philadelphia under a field goal to bounce back after they suffer their first loss. You know, the Dolphins offense, you talk about Tyreke and Tua, you know what people don't realize, they're run game, they lead the league in EPA per rush and success rate.

It's Mike McDaniel, he was obviously the run game coordinator in San Francisco, and they're able to run the ball, man, they're able to obviously hit you down the field as well. Tua, though, when he's pressured, the fifth highest turnover rate when under pressure, I think that that pass rush is going to get home, he may even throw a pick in this game, and I think that the Eagles are going to be able to run the football, right, and then they're going to open up the big play down the field, maybe A.J. Brown could have a multi-touchdown game finally this season, but I think they're going to eat a lot of clock, and I worry about that Dolphins defense, love the Dolphins on the offensive side of the ball, I know eventually they're going to get Jalen Ramsey back in that secondary, but right now, run defense not great, you could still figure out the, you know, the pass defense is still trying to figure out the Vic Fangio system, year one, so I'm going to go with the Eagles here, even though I really like both teams. Alrighty, I'm going to go to Monday Night Football. Kirk Cousins, prime time spot, Kirk Cousins, no Justin Jefferson, I don't even know who's playing for the 49ers on the offensive side of the ball, but I know the 49ers have a bunch of dogs on the defensive side of the ball, and they are going to embarrass someone that I like in Kirk Cousins, they will find a way to win this game by more than a touchdown, give me the Niners off a loss, going to Skoll Nation, and they're going to be rocking Kirk Cousins on Monday Night Football, give me the Niners, wow, I'm picking the Niners, there you go all you 40-winers fans, I pick your team when I think it's correct to do so, give me the Niners, laying the seven points in freezing Minnesota. I think you're on the right side, and I just can't trust that Vikings pass defense, or Kirk Cousins in prime time. How about this, there was two that I was going back and forth on, I wanted to go with the Steelers because it's Mike Tomlin off the bye, and we're living in a world where this Rams team is a three-point favorite, Steelers 12-4 off the bye since 2007, against the spread, which was Mike Tomlin's first season, they're 6-0 straight up their last six years off the bye, but let me go with an ugly one, because that would be too easy just to go with Tomlin in the underdog role, I'll go with the Chargers, plus five and a half against the Kansas City Chiefs, reason being, Justin Herbert has covered the number in all but one game against the Chiefs, I believe he's 500 against the spread against the rest of the league, Chargers 8-3 against the spread on the road since last season, they're not a good home team because they don't have a home field advantage, I just think man if you get Austin Eckler back, if you could get him going in the pass game, dump the ball off in the backfield, the problem for the Chargers, they need to figure out who that number two wide receiver is, the Mike Williams injury has been huge, I really like the draft pick of Quinton Johnson out of TCU, last week again though man, you're thinking coming off the bye, he's going to have a bigger role, two targets, no receptions, they got to figure out who that next guy is, because Keenan Allen, the first five weeks of the season, has put together the best receiving season for a Charger in team history, defensive side of the ball, we kind of know what they are, I think it's going to be a higher scoring game, I think it comes down to a field goal though, so I'll take the points with the Chargers in a divisional matchup, Chief's still trying to figure things out offensively, love them on defense right now, Spags is a genius, but they're still as well trying to figure out who that number one guy is man, lately it's been Rice, I like his over on the receptions, and you can never go wrong with a Travis Kelce anytime touchdown, but I think the Chargers keep this one close, I'll take LA plus five and a half.

Do we know if Taylor Swift's going to be there? I'm kind of hoping that she is, because then I could use the narrative when the Chargers win outright, because I like a little money line sprinkle that Travis Kelce was distracted. I know you have this GQ look to you Ryan Horvat, but is that the only reason why you like the Chargers, because their GQ coach Brandon Staley just doesn't really belong, like he loses this game, and they're not expected to win this game, he deserves to be fired, because through seven weeks of the season, he would have two wins, and they would be up against the Vikings who stink, and then the Raiders who stink as well.

If Staley doesn't win this game, bye bye, gone. Oh I agree, and you know what, I like the Chargers coming into the season, so I went over ten and a half wins, I actually took a shot with them to win the division, even though you have the Chiefs who are favored in every game this season, just because we were getting a three to one price, but I also sprinkled a little bit on Brandon Staley to be the first coach fired, because in my dream world, I think the Chargers have to win a playoff game, because they made the playoffs last season with Justin Herbert, and with Brandon Staley as head coach, they were gifted four turnovers in the first half by Trevor Lawrence, and his first start in the playoffs, they still blow that game, I think in my dream world if they don't make the playoffs, I want to see Justin Herbert with an offensive minded head coach, not just Kellen Moore as his play caller, Ben Johnson and Justin Herbert together, that's what I'm dreaming of, but I don't know man, I just can't quit this Chargers team, way too much talent, I know the defense hasn't lived up to expectations, I know they had to trade away J.C. Jackson already, Cleo Mack's been playing pretty good football, what does he have, six sacks the last two weeks, pass defense, run defense not very good, but I just think they have too much talent to finish with seven, eight wins, I know Herbert's not healthy right now, but I think he bounces back. I'm pretty sure, didn't Cleo Mack have that one game, didn't Cleo Mack have that one game where he had six sacks?

Yes he had six sacks, no then he had another one last week, so seven sacks is last two weeks. I was about to say that's a misleading stat right there, the guy had six sacks in one game and then he doesn't get one the next week, it's like oh he has six sacks in the last two weeks, final one for me, I'm taking the Packers, laying the point, I'm not saying the Packers are a good team, I don't like this Green Bay Packers team in terms of me trusting them, but the Broncos stink, Sean Payton is arrogant, his defense is horrible, I will enjoy laying the point with the Packers even if I don't win, because I can't get behind this Broncos team at any point this season. If the Packers lose to this Bronco team as a Packer fan, I will be calling for the head of Matt Lafleur, I will be calling for the firing, I'm only half joking, I was talking about this last night Zach, Jim Harbaugh wins the national title, wins the national championship this year with Michigan, goes back to the National Football League. If the Packers are a disaster, I know Matt Lafleur won 13 games three consecutive years with Aaron Rodgers, I expected way more from this offense, you could say Jordan loves a young quarterback, but he's been in the system now for four years man, I know it's the youngest wide receiver room but you have eight first round picks on that defense, I don't think you could finish with a losing record in the NFC North, I think you at least need to have a better record than Minnesota and Chicago, or I don't know, I don't know how long that leash is, because last year you finished with a losing season with Aaron Rodgers, you lose to the Lions in a game that you should have won to make the playoffs, and then this year I think it's been a disappointment, you just lost to the Raiders. I'll be back next year Lafleur, Harbaugh if he's going to the NFL, it's going to be like the commanders, it's going to be the Chargers, or it's going to be the Bears, he's not winding up at legendary Lambeau Field, he is Ryan Horvath from BetMGM tonight via BeckQL, Ryan thanks so much, we'll do it again next week.

Thanks so much for having me Zach. Alrighty, Zach Gilb's show on CBS Sports Radio, you can stream the NFL and Wessel One for free, sponsored by AutoZone all season long, you can listen to every Wessel One broadcast of the NFL Live on the NFL app, by asking Alexa to open Wessel One Sports on the Odyssey app, get in the zone, AutoZone, the free AutoZone fix finder service can help you find a fix for free. Get in the zone, AutoZone, restrictions apply. Here's Rich Ackerman. And it's time to answer Ask the Pros Question of the Day, brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts, David in Buffalo says, Hey Zach, big Bills fan, see that Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley could potentially become available, who do you think is the better running back for the Bills to trade for? You could submit a question by tweeting at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gilb, using the hashtag, Ask the Pros, think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O-O-O-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts.

That's a great question. I would personally trust Derrick Henry more, and not only that, even though Derrick Henry is the better back, I think it would require less to get Derrick Henry than it would Saquon Barkley. Because Saquon Barkley is younger, even though there's more injury concerns with Saquon Barkley, he is the most dominant player and the identity of the Giants offense. And the Giants just went through this contract negotiations with him, where they came up short, they didn't get the deal done, and even though I don't think they'll get a long-term agreement done with Saquon Barkley, there's at least hope that it could still get done. For Derrick Henry, we all know that he's clearly still the best offensive player for the Tennessee Titans, even though you do have DeAndre Hopkins there, who we all know is still a number one wide receiver and a damn good football player in this league, but Tennessee is coming to the end of their run, even though the Giants never had to really run to begin with outside of going to the playoffs for one year. But you have a new regime in there, and when you look at Tennessee, with Henry getting up there in the age of this contract coming to a close, I don't think that there's much of a negotiation tactic that you could use where you're going to get a great return for Derrick Henry. So I think there would be a more lucrative and robust market for Saquon Barkley in terms of what it's going to cost to go get him, and then if you're going to give up something to get him, you have to then go pay him.

But the reason why my answer is Derrick Henry, I think he's the better football player, and also I do believe that you're not going to have to give up an arm and a leg to get him. And for the Buffalo Bills, I just don't think they're going to pull the trigger on that. Because remember, Brandon, on either player, remember Brandon Bean came from Carolina. Brandon Bean had a chance last year to go get Christian McCaffrey, and a lot of people threw out the Buffalo Bills, and that didn't come to fruition. So even though the price in return that you're going to have to give up to go get a player like Henry or a player like Saquon won't be as much as what you had to give up for Christian McCaffrey a year ago, I think the Bills are okay where they're at with James Cook, using a second-round pick on him.

I don't think that's a smart decision. Now remember, you're the Damien Harris injury, too, so there could be a need for running back. If I'm the Bills, I don't leave any stone unturned.

I would pounce. But how many times do we link a big player going to the Bills, and outside of the Staphon Diggs trade and Von Miller signing there, it seems like the last two years, most of the times, we link a big player in there, whether it's Odell, whether last year it was Christian McCaffrey, the player does not end up winding there. So for those two players in particular, if I had to throw out a few more teams, I would say that the Ravens could use Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley, and J.K. Dobbins earlier in the year had the Achilles injury.

If you want to say the rich get richer in Kansas City, that's a possibility. Imagine Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley with Patrick Mahomes, and you have Isaiah Pacheco. And Isaiah Pacheco has done a nice job there for Kansas City this season, the second year running back out of Rutgers. So outside of those three teams in the AFC, there's really not another team that I'm looking at and say, okay, you've got to go make a move. But then if you go into the NFC, and I know that the Giants and Saquon trading in the NFC, so that could be dangerous, but for Derrick Henry, it would be going from AFC to NFC.

I know the Eagles just got DeAndre Swift, but Howie Roseman, he's always aggressive. The Cowboys need another back to compliment Tony Pollard, and even Emmitt Smith joined us in the studio earlier this year, and he says he needs a one-two punch to be there in Dallas, and they've got to run the football more. Zeke no longer there, and Tony Pollard's on a franchise tag. You could bring in Saquon Barkley in a similar spot, and I don't think the Giants would trade him to the Cowboys, so it would be more so Derrick Henry. And if I had to speculate another team or two, if you're the Lions, I know you drafted Jameer Gibbs, but why not?

And I know you have David Montgomery who's now hurt, but why not? You're the Lions. You're in an opportunity where you have not been in a long time, where you haven't won your division since 93. You're going to win it this year.

You haven't won a playoff game since 91, and you're one of the three best teams in the NFC. You go get a Derrick Henry. You go get a Saquon Barkley.

I think you pounce, and I think you go for it. And really, the running back position, we've now grown accustomed to running back by committee with so many teams that have recently just won the Super Bowl. I don't think you have to give up a ton to go get a running back, but if you're a team that maybe is a running back away, and you have this really good roster, like a team that the Lions have, and Montgomery's good. We'll see what happens after the injury. Jameer Gibbs, you just used a total overall pick on him, but I don't know what he's going to be. I don't think it hurts you whatsoever to give up some capital to go get a Saquon or to go get a Derrick Henry, and I'll throw one more team out there. If Tampa Bay starts to pick up a few more wins, and you look at the division right now, they're probably saying, why not them with that defense? And you've got Baker Mayfield, you've got Mike Evans, you've got Chris Godwin, and you go at it running back there like a Saquon or a Derrick Henry, that could pick up the focus on Tampa Bay a little bit and improve that offensive side of the ball with some already loaded names and get them even better. Saquon Barkley, we have this audio, Saquon Barkley talked to reporters earlier this week, and he discussed all this trade speculation with his name now being thrown back into the conversation.

Here's Saquon. I mean, it never crossed my mind. Obviously, I've been public and vocal about how I feel about this organization and where I want to be.

But like I said, knowing the business and seeing that side of it, there's a lot of things that I can't control. So, sitting here, everyone knows how I feel. Everyone knows I don't want to get traded. So Saquon can say he wants to be a Giant, he knows he doesn't want to get traded, but Saquon also wants to get paid. And in the direction the Giants are moving in, I think they're blowing this thing up after this offseason, where Joe Shane will stay there, Brian DeBolt will stay there, but they don't have a lot of pieces, and this team stinks, and they know they have Daniel Jones on the roster, and they're paying Daniel Jones, and they can get out of the contract a year from now, but they're probably going to be picking a quarterback because the Giants are heading into that top ten category once again in the draft order where they thought they were going to get out of it because of making the playoffs, and not only did they regress this year, they did fall flat on their face. So, good question there from David and Buffalo. Personally, I would want Derrick Henry more than Saquon.

I think Derrick Henry is the younger, even though he's the older player, I think he's the better player, and it wouldn't cost you more than it would to go acquire Saquon Barkley. Good stuff from everyone here at WQAM. Appreciate them hosting me the last few days. Big thanks to Samford and Stu back in New York City and each and every one of you. Have a great weekend. We'll talk to you Monday. Bye-bye. Peace.