Potential Fallout from Michigan Scandal

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 an action packed Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app and of course streaming on YouTube.

You can always interact with me on Instagram where I'm always straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. And Michael Sampter, Manny Rodriguez riding shotgun with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Coming up in 20 minutes from now from the Michigan football team has 10 touchdowns on the season.

Roman Wilson will stop by in the 4 o'clock hour. We'll tip off the NBA season with seven time NBA champion Robert Horry and then we got a game seven tonight. Not the best two words in sports. Game seven is not the best two words in sports. Everyone says that.

All you people get told that all throughout the years. Oh game seven it's the best two words in sports. World champions? Much rather be a world champion than a game seven but a bunch of you that go oh game seven best two words in sports you're a bunch of sheep and guess what I'm a lion.

Alright that sounds very douchey right out of the gate. But Brad Lynch, former member of the Philadelphia Phillies is going to stop by. He will recap everything that transpired last night in game seven between the Astros and the Rangers where the Texas Rangers are down 3-2 going back to Houston. You think a team like the Astros with their experience easy peasy it's over. They'll win in either six or seven.

Not the case. At least Garcia said not so fast my friend and Bruce Bochy is off to another World Series. In 98 got there with the Padres. Got to three World Series championships with the Giants and now in year number one as the head honcho of the Texas Rangers. He's off and running to the fall classic four wins away to continuing to add to what should be a Hall of Fame legacy. So we got that storyline out of the way with the Rangers going to the World Series and we got a preview this game seven tonight between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks where all the pressure is on the Philadelphia Phillies who had that great record of 12-2. Leading into the game last night at home in the last two postseason runs for the fight ins and they lose last night to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So all eyes and all hands on deck in this game seven and Brad Lynch former Phillies closer will stop by at 5 20 p.m. Eastern to 20 p.m. Pacific today. Alrighty let's start off with the latest with Michigan. The details are ugly. It is not good for Michigan but it's not the end of the world in my opinion. Anyone that's sitting here right now and is going on their platform and is saying I can't believe what's happening.

A sign stealing scandal. Michigan needs to be held accountable and they need to be held accountable right now and you need to throw the book at them and you need to make sure they're not eligible for the Big Ten championship and the college football playoff. You're a bunch of losers and quite frankly you don't follow how the NCAA operates. The NCAA operates like my mile time when I was 70 pounds heavier.

They move as slow as possible. The NCAA. So anyone thinks just because the NCAA is annoyed at Harbaugh for giving some recruits a cheeseburger and he didn't take it on the chin and he didn't genuflect to the NCAA and now all of a sudden the NCAA is going to swoop in and say oh we got enough evidence to suspend the coach for the rest of the year and say Michigan isn't allowed to compete in the Big Ten championship game.

You're absolutely ridiculous. And it's a nonsensical take. And most of those takes are coming from Ohio State fans and from Penn State fans where it's funny to me when actual serious things off the field were going on with Ohio State and Urban Meyer and Penn State with Joe Paterno. How do you sycophants for Penn State and Ohio State sat there and said nope Urban Meyer is king he can do no wrong or Joe Pah didn't know Joe Pah is the excellent person he would never do something would never turn an eye the other way or head the other way like all you people that said those things now pop out of the woodworks because you're crazy delusional college football fans and you're demanding for Michigan to basically be sent to jail in the college football world.

So let's be clear about this. Stealing signals is not illegal. You're allowed to steal signals, it's a part of gamesmanship. But if you are using video devices to steal signals, illegal. It appears that's the case from the information that we have that Michigan did that. If you are sending someone to an opposing to a future opponents game, and you are recording their signals.

That's illegal. So I'm not saying there doesn't have to be a punitive action. And I do believe the reaction. And I don't know how real the reaction is because you follow some things on Instagram you follow some things on Twitter, you hear a few talk show hosts opine their opinion on the subject, and you go does that really reflect all of society.

I think a normal sane human being says something wrong, and I think I'm somewhat of a normal scene, human being something wrong did occur. They need to be held responsible for it, but people freaking out as if this is the end of the world. And this is like the worst thing we've ever seen happen to college athletics.

Just stop, because it's really repulsive, and you're embarrassing yourself, and quite frankly, you're embarrassing your families. So let's stop with the nonsense that this is the most egregious thing in the world, based off the information that we have now, because look how we kind of in the moment, viewed Spygate view deflate gate view the Astros cheating scandal and years removed, like we talked about the other day. It's not an intense animosity for a team like the Houston Astros, you know deflate gate didn't age well for all you people that were like up the Patriots footballs were under 12.5 on the psi. So, in the moment right now, because Michigan has been dominant Michigan has been beaten the snot out of everyone in the big 10 for the last two years, I get it. You look at the turnaround, you look at the wind total, you see the dominance, and you say, all right, something was up. But if you think Michigan defeated Ohio State last year, or the last two years, or the way that they just dominated and ran through Penn State's defense like a hot knife through butter was because they had some signs like give me a break. Look at the Michigan team. They're loaded on the offensive line, they're loaded on the defensive line. You have JJ McCarthy, who's a damn good quarterback, you have Blake quorum Donovan Edwards Roman Wilson is going to join us coming up in about 10 minutes.

You got Colston loving like you got a loaded team. And there's a lot of players that already off in the NFL that have been a part of what Michigan is building. So I'm not saying there's nothing here. I'm going to make it out as if this is the worst thing in the world. I'm not going to join the mob, and I'm not going to say, let's rally up the troops, and we need to put Michigan's body on a on a cross and carry them out, or on a board and carry them out like that's just, I don't get outraged over this stuff. This is not something where I think this is the end of the world.

And I understand. If something illegal did happen which it looked like it did. There needs to be a punishment. But the punishment in this world to go to the extreme, and it's like, let's end their season right now is flat out ridiculous, because I can guarantee you this and I know it's a subject of the integrity of the game. There's a lot of worse things that have gone on in college football, and in college athletics, then what Michigan is being accused of, and I'll go back to Spygate. Robert Kraft, in an interview that he did for a book, once said about Spygate that he went to Bill Belichick and he said I want you to be honest with me.

On a scale of one to 100. How important, and how much of an impact did Spygate have on the Patriots in terms of success on the field, and Bill Belichick probably mumbling said one. And Robert Kraft responded, well then you're truly a schmuck. So, I think people that don't know football. I think people that are just fans. I think people that are just following this story.

Yeah, let's throw the book this is the worst thing in the world. But when you hear a lot of people, and I'm not including myself in this camp. But when you hear a lot of coaches speak about this today. When you hear a lot of players speak about this today. Most of them don't make this as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. So, I will look at this, and I want more information, but I think I can acknowledge that Michigan did something wrong, to the extent as to why this is, is why they've been winning the last two years, and this is why they've been dominant. I don't believe that to be fully true. There is something here, there needs to be some punishment, but people that are talking about bowl bans and they're talking about stopping their season right now.

You're really an inane human being, if I may say so myself. Now, as for the future of Jim Harbaugh. I've been saying, even before this. This goes back to the cheeseburgers, this goes back to the recruiting violations and the time where the staff members were in the building and, and working with players they weren't allowed to be that this was going to be Jim Harbaugh's final season at Michigan. I said that months ago, I stand by that today, because Jim Harbaugh, even though he's not, you know, he has no, you know, there is a percentage of blame that goes to Harbaugh here. But for him, do you want to deal with this, like, you have the background of having success, not only in college, but also in the NFL. And with the success that he had in the NFL in a small sample size was massive four seasons. Sure, he was a pain in the ass with the general manager and all that stuff and control, but four seasons, three trips to the NFC title game, and one trip to the Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh decisions easy here, as much as this is your school, as much as you love your alma mater in Michigan, as much as you probably still want to be there. There has to be some itch for you to return to the NFL.

And that itch. It's been scratched the last few years, he interviewed for the Vikings job for like 11 or 12 hours. He was trying to throw his name in NFL jobs last year as well. So now, where there's going to be some punishment, even before the allegations of sign signal stealing and all that, there was going to be an additional punishment of probably bare minimum two games because he wanted, or him and the infractions committee looked like they were agreeing to a four game suspension.

He only served three. So they're not just going to give him one extra game if there's going to be this fight, bare minimum he's probably sitting out the first two games of next season anyway. Now, there's gonna have to be some punishment.

And they're probably going to tack on a few more games. And there's going to be other sanctions to the program. So as weak as this could be, and you hate to leave the university in the dark, and in a tough spot. Because of things that you allowed to have happen on your watch. Ultimately, aren't we all selfish, like I know we all preach.

Oh, you got to do great things for everyone in this world and you got to help others. But most of the time, we are selfish human beings and Jim Harbaugh is going to make a selfish decision where he's going to say I don't want to put up with this crap. You know, I would love it if Jim Harbaugh puts the middle finger up to the NCAA and all college football and says bleep you. Like I'm loving this Michigan storyline the rest of the year.

We got a villain. We got a team that everyone can't stand right now. They're going to destroy Penn State in two weeks. They're going to hammer probably Ohio State even though I probably think that game will be a little bit closer this year.

And Thanksgiving weekend, like I love the Michigan story. I want to see Michigan go on the revenge tour from their own problems and just flip off everyone along the way. So that'd be cool if Harbaugh did that. But even if Harbaugh doesn't win a national championship this year.

What's the incentive to stay. If you don't know how many games are going to sit out next year, and what sanctions the NCAA is going to impose on your program and they're going to want to drop the hammer. Because this is now a you-know-what swinging contest between the NCAA and Jim Harbaugh. And that's what happens over and over again with the NCAA.

It's usually a lot of minor infractions and a lot of more serious infractions get ignored. But once you have someone fight back and once you have someone that doesn't fall in line with the NCAA, even if you did some things that are wrong, there'll be a royal pain in the ass and they'll haunt you for a long time. If it's Harbaugh after this year, he should be off to the NFL.

And let's be real about it. If you're the Chicago Bears, you'd be stupid to not hand over your franchise to Jim Harbaugh. If you're a team like the Minnesota Vikings, you know, I do wonder, well actually not Minnesota. Forget Minnesota.

We'll talk about them later. But if you're a team like the Chargers, or if you're a team like the Bills, or the Commanders. You should go out there and bring in Harbaugh.

Commanders, absolutely. They're going to be moving on from Rivera at the end of this year. The Bears will be moving on from Iberfluz.

The Chargers should be moving on from Staley. And then the Bills will see what happens to Sean McDermott, but that's a team that's ready to win and they need a better coach. So there's enough teams this year, and Harbaugh has done enough, where it should be something where this marriage develops and he divorces. I don't want to say divorce Michigan, but leaves Michigan and goes back and it takes two to tango and he'll return to the NFL. So those are my thoughts on everything happening with Michigan today. I think a lot of it is an overreaction where I'm not ignoring that something did occur.

But to the way that people want to tear down Michigan and throw the book at them, I think is just a great overreaction and very silly right now. Alrighty, this is Zach Gilp's show on CBS Sports Radio. We will take a break. When we come on back, let's chat it up with Roman Wilson from the Michigan Wolverines. Having a star season, breakout season for himself in his senior year as 10 touchdowns. We'll chat with Roman Wilson on the Zach Gilp show next. We continue this Zach Gilp show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Michigan is 8-0, number two in the country as they do enter their bye week. And now joining us on the Zach Gilp show on CBS Sports Radio is a man that's made a living this year in the end zone. And he had another touchdown his 10th of the season up against Michigan State.

And that of course is wide receiver Roman Wilson. Roman, appreciate the time. Thanks for it. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I appreciate you having me today, man.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So this has been such a successful season for you individually. 27 receptions, 446 yards and 10 touchdowns. I know you've been given more of an opportunity this year, but why have you been able to really take that baton and take it to the level of dominance that you've been able to?

I don't know. Maybe at the end of the day, maybe it's a big secret. But one thing I like to think about is just, you know, focusing on like having good team success. You know, winning each week, not thinking about next week or just focusing on our, you know, doing everything I can to make the team better. Whether that's being blocking, giving good effort, trying to be a better leader, you know, taking my focus to the next level.

I think all those things, they all add up and then you start to have a lot of success by yourself. And there's no ego on this team. You guys have a lot of mouths to feed. We know who the quarterback is.

We know who the two running backs are. And there's a wide receiver each and every week that pops off for you guys. What is that camaraderie with the team like? Because it seems like you guys all feed off each other's success.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like this is the definition of a team. Everyone really loves each other. There's not really individual like cliques throughout the locker room. Everyone kind of hangs out with each other. We all have a good time.

We all bond really well. So I think it's just knowing that I feel like each person on this team knows that the person right next to you is very good, too. Just like you, like you're looking at yourself like, hey, I'm really good.

But then I also understand that the guy next to me is also really good. So, I mean, it's just you never know what's going to happen each week, whether it's going to be my turn or his turn when the guy next to him, you know, just keeps going. Someone's going to have a big week. And when it does, I feel like this team does a really good job of understanding that, you know, everyone's going to eat.

It's not just going to be one guy every week. There's a lot of unfinished business with this team, even with you guys winning the last two Big Ten championship games. So many people make the Penn State game and the Ohio State game right as the big talking points for this program.

How do you guys block out all that noise and get to this elite level week in and week out where there's really not many hiccups for you guys? Yeah, well, especially in college football, if you lose one game, that could be your season. So just understanding that you got to win every single week, just to even just just to silence the fans sometimes, because the fans or whoever on Twitter or the Internet or the media, those try to find anything to try to tear like what we build up here down and and kind of hate on it.

So just understand that we got to come out every week and every day and, you know, not take anything for granted and just give it all whenever we have the chance. Talking to Roman Wilson right now for you individually with the team success, your individual success, more attention gets brought your way. People start talking about your future in the NFL. I'm just wondering if NFL GM came to you and said, Roman Wilson, what could you bring down the road to an NFL team?

What would that answer be? Just a guy who's ready to give it all. Like everything I got just to win a game. And, you know, I love the win.

That's all that matters in my heart. I'll do anything. I'll go out there and block. I'm playing special teams.

You know, you need me to do something crazy. Like I'm all for it. Like you want to put me on defense. I'll play defense, whatever you got to do. Like I'm ready to win a game.

So that's what I want. Roman Wilson here with us from the Michigan Wolverines, undefeated ranked second in the country there in a bye week right now. I want to hear more about your upbringing.

I know your background. Growing up in Hawaii, you won four state titles. You guys won 38 straight games in high school.

But tell me a little bit more about the high school version and even before that of Roman Wilson. Yes, I was born and raised on the island of Maui. I grew up in Kihei. I'm a Kihei boy.

That's what we like to call it. I went to St. Louis High School. It's got some big names there. Tula and Marcus Mariano went there.

Yeah, I mean, there's not much to do. It's an all boys Catholic school. It was very hard, very dedicated. It was on a different island from where I was born. So it's very hard for me to be like, I got to leave all my friends behind everything and just move to the school and kind of start a new life for myself.

And it was hard. Did that help you, though, adapt to the college lifestyle? Because going from Hawaii to Michigan is totally different. Yeah, I mean, that definitely helped me like moving on from certain schools when I was younger and kind of having to like adapt into new cultures and meet new friends.

So it made the transition from Hawaii to Michigan a little bit easier. We've seen so many people from Hawaii go on to dominate college football and also have successful NFL careers. Who were some of the players, though, when you were growing up as a kid paying attention to football that you really gravitated towards and kind of looked up to? Yeah, for me, like in middle school, Marcus Mariano did a lot just watching him go out there and win the Heisman. I remember being in like seventh grade or eighth grade and watching him get drafted after school. I was like, that's a big deal for me. And then right after that was to I mean, I remember I still remember this. I was in a driver's ed class and I was in the back of my computer watching a national championship game and I saw him come in and do his thing. And to me, like that's when I knew that, you know, I really wanted to go in and play college football because, man, the way he did like made me feel like that's what I wanted. I wanted to replicate that. And, you know, I kind of want to get back to the community like both those guys do and kind of way they step up for Hawaii and be a role model for them.

Based off you saying what you just did, it was great answer. Roman Wilson here with us from the Michigan football team. Why did you ultimately choose to spend your college career at Michigan? Just the school and the culture and everything coming here.

I think we're ranked six at the time. And that's something I want to be a part of. I want to be a team that can win the national championship.

I want to be a team that is a brotherhood for life. Not just I'm just going to go through the cycle and get kicked out once my years are over. But, you know, once I'm done here, like I can always come back. You know, they always welcome me back. They want me back. I'm going to be a Michigan man for life.

So that's what I want to be a part of. Let me ask you about your quarterback, JJ McCarthy. He's having a sensational season. Just with your time being his wide receiver and seeing the work that he puts in. How have you seen him over the years grow as a player? I mean, just stepping into that leadership role and becoming a leader of this team. Even when he was a younger guy, he's still a leader. Like, he's our guy.

Like, there's no other way to put it. Like, that's my guy. Like, if I need something, I'm going to call him up. Like, he gives back to our team a lot more than probably anybody does or has to. He's a cool, like, cool, vibey guy to be around. Very chill.

Very. I feel like I can come to him and talk to him about whatever. And he's also like just fun to be around. He's always, he's never a negative guy. I feel like every time I come to him, we're always laughing and having a good time. And he also puts in a lot of work and something that I like to do, too.

So I feel like we bond over that a lot. He has put himself right in the conversation to go win the Heisman. He's right now, I know you can't participate in this, but he's the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. If you had to make a pitch like I'm a Heisman voter, why should people vote for JJ McCarthy to win the Heisman this year? Yeah, I mean, he's just the best of everything.

I think somebody asked him about the trophy. He's just like, I don't even care about it. Like, that's how locked in he is on this team. Like, he's the best leader. He's the best thrower. He's the best, like, on his legs. He's the best at everything, like reading coverages, all that. Like, he's the best of both worlds, not just one category.

Like, he has everything. How did you find out this offseason, by the way, when Blake Coram was coming back? Because that was a big piece of news for the Michigan team and a big jolt of energy for your program. I found out just like everybody else.

I was at home watching it. But, you know, I kind of had a feeling he was coming back. He's got a little itch. He's got a scratch. So, I mean, it was great to have him back. He's an elite player, probably one of a kind. You don't see him, like, too often.

So, it was very, very good, very exciting to see him come back. Wrapping up with Roman Wilson, I got to ask you about the scandal right now that's going on with the sign-stealing allegations. People are now calling Michigan cheaters. They're calling your coach into question. Just how do you respond to that? And when you hear those things, just how do you process it? Someone in this building, like, said it perfectly.

We're whatever an O right now, a very good team. Someone's going to try to do something that tears down, no matter what it is. And you just got to block it out. It is what it is. Someone's going to try to tear us down.

You got to leave it alone. Were the allegations at all when they were made public, did they come to a surprise to you? Or like, wow, I wasn't expecting this to happen?

No, I feel like every year I've been here, something's always come up with someone trying to, like, make some allegation or some scandal. So, it's not a big surprise. I mean, we are Michigan. We're a big name.

So, it comes with it, too. Last thing I'll ask you, just when you take a look at this college experience so far, and I know that you have your eyes set on going undefeated, winning the national championship game, beating Penn State, Ohio State, winning another Big Ten championship and winning it all. When you reflect on your career so far at Michigan, just what are some of the memories that come back to mind with what you've already been able to accomplish?

For me, probably just growth. I mean, coming in here in 2020 and having a really, really hard year and seeing the culture and just the rise of this team go from 2020 to 21. And then it's like, oh, how much better can we get from 21 to 22? And now it's, oh, how much better can we get from 22 to 23? I mean, people keep saying we're such a good team, but we still have so much more space to go and so much time to get better. You know what I mean?

And what's your favorite hardball story, by the way? Probably, let's just turn it off. It's all right. You can continue.

It's good. We can still see it. My favorite hardball story is probably seeing him in the cold tub with his khakis on. Wait, he has the khakis on in the cold tub?

Yeah, khakis in the cold tub. Man, that's someone that never breaks character. Well, hey, Roman Wilson, you have an incredible season, 10 touchdowns. We're excited to see what keeps on happening with the football team. Appreciate you doing this and good luck today.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Oh, Ryan in Santa Barbara. Where is he at?

He's put his face on a milk carton. We got to alert the authorities. We got to put the search committee together. Back to back weeks, the San Francisco 40-winers go down. Last week, okay, your young kicker couldn't make a field goal. Things like that happen, but you're going up against Kirk Cousins in prime time on a Monday night football game, everybody watching.

And that's the effort you give? You allow Kirk Cousins to look like he's a Hall of Famer when he's the farthest thing from it? Without Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, who had two touchdowns in and out of the game, TJ Hockinson getting instructed to get hurt and then actually getting hurt? That was not a pretty performance, necessarily. It wasn't an ideal situation for the Minnesota Vikings, but they smacked you in the mouth, and I absolutely loved it.

And the San Francisco 49ers, all those fans, you know, they have some cowboy-like qualities, their fans, like cockroach-like qualities, if you know what I'm saying. And how many 49ers fans told me a few weeks ago, Gelb, you're a fat idiot. Gelb, you're a moron. Gelb, you're a dope.

Gelb, you're a loser. When all my take was is Brock Purdy's a good quarterback, but Brock Purdy is more of a product of the system right now than when I look at him for me to say automatically he's definitely a franchise quarterback. And Brock Purdy last night almost threw an interception on that final drive, then did throw an interception on that final drive. So there's two takes about both these teams that we'll get to in just a second, but first, the Defense of Player of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the armed forces, DoD, veterans, and their families. Their members are the mission.

Learn more at navyfederal.org. Nobody dominated the NFL this weekend like Browns defensive player Myles Garrett. The former number one overall pick had nine tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and a blocked field goal as Cleveland, here we go, Brownies, here we go.

Improved to four and two. Alrighty, let's start with Minnesota, and we'll circle back to Ryan and Santa Barbara's 49ers, who now have not one but two losses on the season. The Minnesota Vikings, three and four, started off the year 0-3.

No hope, doom and gloom. Two weeks ago, Justin Jefferson gets put on the injured list, so he's out a bare minimum four games. They've been two games without Justin Jefferson. I did not think the Minnesota Vikings would have something to play for the rest of the season. And I'll give credit to Pat Boyle yesterday, who said if they were able to win this game, then their schedule becomes very intriguing because of how easy their schedule is towards the back end of the season. Now, to be fair, Pat didn't think the Vikings were going to win the game last night. So he was operating under them being a two and five football team and still being able to go on a run.

But last night, they win a game that they weren't expected to win, and now they're three and four. And Kirk Cousins, you know, I tweeted this out during the game where I thought it was going to be a close game, but I didn't think the 49ers were going to lose. I tweeted out something online during the game that Kirk Cousins is better than what people give him credit for.

He's a good quarterback, a very good quarterback, just not a great quarterback. But probably after this year, the Minnesota Vikings are going to move on from Kirk Cousins because the contract is up. Like, after last night, I don't know if they are going to move on from Kirk Cousins because you have to ask yourself, who are you bringing in? And now, if you're going to go on a run where you're going to win a few more games than what people expected, and maybe you make a run where you go to the playoffs, you're in the wildcard, and you lose again for back-to-back years, consecutive years in the wildcard round, you're not going to be having this great draft pick. And I don't operate under the belief that you draft a quarterback just for the sake of drafting a quarterback. Like, you have to fall in love with the quarterback. If you talk yourself into settling for a quarterback, or, oh, I like this quarterback, oh, this quarterback one day could be a great quarterback, but I'm not sure right now if he'll be a great quarterback, that's when teams ultimately regret pulling the trigger and selecting a quarterback in the first round. So for someone like Kirk Cousins, who's solid, who's good, who you could win games with, but you won't ever win the game, the Super Bowl with, I think this is a tough decision for Kevin O'Connell and also for Questia Dofa-Mensah, the general manager, where I could understand why you want to move on, I could understand why you have not extended him again and why you operate under the belief that you're going to move on from Kirk Cousins after this season, but with how the offseason may play out, if there's no big trade, and how those big trades really worked out. You know, Stafford worked, but Russell Wilson hasn't worked with Denver.

Deshaun Watson hasn't worked with Cleveland. We'll see if Kyler Murray becomes available. You know, Kyler Murray could be a fit with the Minnesota Vikings.

Imagine Murray and Jefferson and Addison, whole lot of speed on that offense. Now Kyler would have to study a new playbook, so that could be problematic as well, but I don't have the name right now that I could see matching up with the Minnesota Vikings, and there's always an unknown. There's always someone that becomes available that we don't think will become available, but Minnesota is an attractive destination. If you're a quarterback, you should want to join the Minnesota Vikings if you need a new home, because they have Jefferson, who's a top-three wide receiver in the sport.

I know he's hurt right now. You have Jordan Addison, who was a stud and won the Blitnikov Award when he was at Pitt and then played a year with Kyler Williams at USC a year ago, and he was on and off the field because of injuries, but those two players alone, plus T.J. Hawkinson, who's a good tight end, he's probably, with the level that he's paid, is supposed to be better, but he's a good tight end. So you have three really solid weapons there, and if K.J.

Osborne is your third wide receiver, that's a pretty damn good third wide receiver to have. So quarterbacks should want to join the Minnesota Vikings, but if there's not a disgruntled quarterback that becomes available, if there's not someone that's intriguing on the free agency market, if the Vikings don't have this great draft pick in the top ten, which now they may be playing themselves out of that, it's not a lock that Kirk Cousins isn't back next year, and maybe you do a two-year extension or a three-year extension that has an easy out, something like that, but Kirk Cousins, what makes him so tough is he's good, he's not good enough, he's not great, but he is good. And when you are good, can you get better?

Sure. Is it easy, though, for the Vikings to find that better option in the interim? Not always. And remember, this is why the Vikings were very stupid before the start of the season. They didn't take care of Justin Jefferson before the start of the season.

They should have paid him before the start of the season. And now, if Kirk Cousins goes somewhere else and you don't get a deal done this offseason, which you've got to think the Vikings will, but if Justin Jefferson doesn't like that Kirk Cousins is gone and doesn't like the way or whoever you pick to replace Kirk Cousins, if Jefferson gets annoyed, then your franchise goes from somewhat relevant to irrelevant when Justin Jefferson says, hmm, I want to be out. I no longer want to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings. So if you're a Viking fan, it's a heck of a win last night. It's a great win.

But now, it's can you continue that moving forward? Can you go on a run, and can you be a team that starts to look like the playoff team not to the level of 13 wins from last year, but a playoff team, one of the top seven seeds, a wild card, six or seven seed, and get in the playoffs and an open NFC, go make a run for it? Because I'll tell you, the biggest takeaway from the game last night, even though we just talked so much in a positive way about Kirk Cousins looking great, it's really the defense. That defense last year, Brian Flores takes over that defense. That was the 31st ranked defense in football last year. They were terrible, awful, putrid, lethargic.

Look at me giving all those SAT words. I feel like I'm back in high school there for a second. And Flores comes in, and I know there's no Deebo last night by BFF. I know there's no Trent Williams last night. But that defense still up against McCaffrey, up against the great rock out with your Brock out, Brock Purdy. Well, the 49ers didn't play this great offensive game. So I got to give credit to Minnesota's defense for taking a step in the right direction.

I got to give credit to Kirk Cousins for playing well without Justin Jefferson, and maybe in two weeks you get Justin Jefferson back. But these next two weeks, they almost feel like must-wins. You go up against Green Bay, you go up against Atlanta, if you could be sitting a game above.500 after how disastrous of a start that you got off to, that's a heck of a job by Minnesota.

But look at their schedule the next few weeks. Green Bay, easy peasy. Falcons a little bit tough. Saints, no one's afraid of Derek Carr. Broncos, they stink.

Bears, they stink. Well, actually, maybe different now with Baygen as their quarterback, but Fields will be back by then. Then you play the Raiders, they're horrible. Then your schedule in Week 15 picks up in intensity. Bengals tough, Lions tough, Green Bay not tough, but then the Lions again.

So from right now, Week 8 until really Week 14, you got to be dominant. You got to be damn good if you're Minnesota. And they continue to pile up those wins. That's a team that has a shot to make the playoffs, where three, four weeks ago, we would have never thought for a damn second that Minnesota would have had a shot to make the playoffs. Now to the 40-winers, excuse me, the 49ers.

Let me be nice here. Don't want to hurt too many of those fan bases feelings right now, and everyone will start hating me. But the 49ers, that's a bad loss last night. And Brock Purdy shows he still has a way to go. And all you delusional 49ers fans that thought, oh, Brock Purdy was never going to lose the game.

Well, now he's locked back to back games. The guy's still on track to be a solid quarterback. But when you're without Debo and you're without Trent Williams, you're without some of your weapons, this franchise quarterback of Brock Purdy isn't all that. And it's not enough to say he's a system quarterback right now.

It's just the reality. You just got to manage the game for Brock Purdy. And if Brock Purdy manages the game, that's a team that could beat anybody in the NFL.

And last night with the game on the line, he almost threw a pick and then did throw a pick. So there is a ranking in the NFC. The Eagles haven't played their best brands of football yet, and they're still 6-1. The 49ers have now compiled two losses. The Eagles, I've been saying this all year, are slightly better than the 49ers. Now that doesn't mean the 49ers can't walk into South Philadelphia in a few weeks and beat the Eagles. Doesn't mean that. But are they going to beat them twice in a season?

I don't think so. And they're on a collision course once again to meet up in the NFC title game. Because you look at the rest of the NFC, Lions, people start to tone down on them a little bit after what happened last week to the Ravens. No one loves whoever's going to win the NFC South. The Seahawks are a good team, but two weeks ago they lose, then they bounce back and win, but it wasn't pretty up against the Cardinals. The biggest detriment and the biggest thing that could deter this 49er season, it's the health. And I don't think because Brock Purdy went down last year is why the Eagles won the NFC title game.

I think the game would have been closer. I still thought the Eagles were going to win. But we saw how dominant this team was the first weeks of the season, and then the worst thing that happened in the NFL did occur, injuries. And the last two weeks, they've looked like a football team that's not this dominant, dominant force. So I don't think any 49er fam should be freaking out after last night because the San Francisco 49ers have had tougher circumstances and worse records to overcome to start a season. They still find a way in the NFC championship game. But it's a reminder, when you lose some of those pieces, it's tougher to win. You don't need a PhD in football to figure this thing out.

But it's tougher to win. And two weeks in a row, the 49ers were vulnerable, and they got got by teams like the Browns and the Minnesota Vikings. We will take a break on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Robert Horry is going to join us, a seven-time champion coming up in about 15, 20 minutes from now. But first, when we come on back, Caleb Williams. Should he continue to play for the rest of the season? When it looks like USC has no chance to get into the college football playoff.