Overreaction/Proper Reaction

Then away we go, hour number three of our radio program.

That's right, it is a Zach Gelb show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Time to get to a little overreaction, proper reaction with week seven of the NFL season coming to a close last night as the San Francisco 49ers go down in back to back weeks. Last week it was the Cleveland Browns and this week it was at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings.

Manny Rodriguez, hit it! Another NFL week is complete, which means it's another week to freak out about your favorite team. Witch 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. All right, Sam, so what do we got cooking Big Mike CBS? Big Mike CBS, where we talked a little about this yesterday, the Ravens crushed the Lions 38-6 thanks to four total touchdowns from Lamar Jackson. Now Baltimore's offense is top 10 in both yards and points, but the defense is rolling second in yards allowed and leading the NFL in points allowed per game. So overreaction, proper reaction, the Ravens are a top three team in the NFL right now.

Right now, today, that is a proper reaction. I won't go into too much further details because I don't want to ruin Take 5 Wednesday tomorrow when I give you my top five teams in the NFL, but I'll give you a little pig in the blanket for that. For Minyana's show, I do have the Baltimore Ravens as a top three team in the NFL as we currently sit.

A lot of teams were in front of the Baltimore Ravens, but the Ravens kept on winning and all those other teams kept on losing. Lamar plays the way that he played on Sunday. There's not many teams that could beat them because that defense is legit. The offense, they don't have a ton of weapons that you're like, ooh and ah about, but when Lamar Jackson looks like he's about to get sacked, then runs around and finds a way to go to the right sideline, stops on a dime, then throws the ball to Nelson Aguilar and Nelson Aguilar catches the football with Mark Andrews as well. And if some of these receivers could break out, we'll see what happens with, say, Flowers. Man, Lamar, there's not a lot of individuals that could win in the NFL because you need a team sport and you need a group of great guys, but Lamar has that ability because of his speed and the way that he extends plays and just defenders never know if he's going to throw the ball or run the ball. He has the ability to just take over a game and that offense isn't even at the level that it should be yet because you're implementing a new offensive coordinator and there's an identity problem with the Ravens. They're like, they don't know if they want to run the ball, they don't know if they want to throw the ball, so that's just a team that has so much potential. I hate the word potential because it means it hasn't done it yet, but when this team's sitting there at five and two and I'm talking about potential, yeah, buying on the Ravens. I'm curious, I don't want to ruin Take 5 Wednesday, but I'm curious who the three teams are and which of the main teams you've kicked out of that top three. I think it's fairly obvious.

If you listen to this show, the two teams that I've given the benefit of the doubt to over and over and over again, we'll be joining the Ravens in the top three. But don't put your hand to the cookie jar any more than that. I don't want to spoil what's going to happen tomorrow, so we'll learn more about it, but I think I have an idea.

I think I have an idea. Growing up, I may have had a few too many cookies, so my parents got a cookie jar and it ended up being a frog and you would open it and it would go ribbit, ribbit, ribbit. So there was a way where I got slick at this. You could open up the cookie jar and if you quickly put your thumb underneath the, like there was a button there, it would cancel out or mute out the ribbit.

But until I realized that, yeah, I got yelled at a bunch of times when my hand was in the cookie jar. This is good information for my daughter, so I'm going to try this out. Thank you. I'll put it this way though. And I'm going to be careful here.

This is a positive comment. I know you got to look very nervous there. I'm going to assume that your daughter will be a lot more intelligent than I ever was. So I don't think that's a very difficult assumption, but I'm going to, I'm going to hope that that's correct. You may need a few extra tricks up your sleeve. That's all I'm going to say.

All right. Well, two years ago, the AFC West was all the rage with some predicting all four teams would make a push for the playoffs. However, after a subpar 2022, this year has been even worst and the West is the only AFC division with three teams under 500. It's crazy. That's nasty. Overreaction, proper reaction. The AFC West is actually the worst division in the AFC.

So when I just heard you say that at first, I want to be like, what are you crazy? It's still the AFC South. That's the worst division. But the more and more you think about it, the chiefs are so top heavy. The Chargers have an incompetent coach and Brandon Staley, they have a lot of talent, but their coach stinks. The Broncos horrible, the Raiders dysfunctional. So then you look at the AFC South. Yes, the chiefs are better than the Jaguars, but the Jaguars are no slouch and teams like the Texans and the Colts have been competitive. They've been decent. The Texans and the Colts, Tennessee stinks. They're a bad football team. So since the Texans and the Colts have been, eh, I actually get the edge to the AFC South over the AFC West.

So that is a proper reaction. When you say the AFC West is actually the worst division in the AFC in two, three years ago. Oh, it's the greatest division of all time. All four teams are going to make the playoffs.

Been terrible. You know, when I was writing the question, I was kicking myself and then I started thinking about it. I'm like, you know what?

Maybe this can be real. You're onto something there, Sam. Now, after two straight wins, the Vikings hit a three and four, just a half game back of a playoff spot in the NFC. Over those next seven games, Minnesota, Minnesota plays only one team with the winning record.

They have a combined record of 19 and 28 currently. So a lot of bad teams in there. So overreaction, proper reaction. The Vikings should be buyers at the deadline and make one last run with Kirk Cousins. That's an overreaction because I don't think there's anything that could, they could do the rest of the way that makes me say, okay, they're a legitimate Super Bowl contender. So I think even though they may not be taking as far of a step back as we thought a few weeks ago, I would just let the season play out with the roster that you have. I go overreaction. You say the Vikings should be buyers to the deadline and make one last run with, you like that, you like that, Kirk Cousins, who could be back next year as the Vikings quarterback.

So moving on, that was a very quick answer. The Saints gave Derek Carr a four year, $150 million contract, but after starting three and two, they have dropped two straight and sit at three and four. Carr has thrown just six touchdowns in seven games, but the team has stuck with him. I'm sorry, the team is stuck with him through the 2025 season. So they got this year, next year, and another year, and could potentially get out around 2026, even with some dead cat money that they'd have to deal with. So overreaction, proper reaction, the Saints should still draft a quarterback in the first round. So the Saints are not a good team, but I don't think they're going to be bad enough where they're picking in the top 10. So with that being said, and they could probably get out of that deal after 2024, when the dead cap goes down, because in 2025, it's like 17 or 18 million in dead cap.

That's serviceable. You could get out of that. Teams have done a lot worse, but since the Saints aren't going to be an ideal draft position, I don't think you just take a quarterback to take a quarterback. You got to fall in love with the quarterback to take a quarterback, especially in the first round. So you say to me, the Saints should draft a QB in the first round. I think that's an overreaction because I don't believe they're going to be in a draft position where they're in the top 10 and they have a chance to go get a Michael Penix Jr. or Drake May, Caleb Williams. If Shannara Sanders says, Pops, I'm going to the pros, find someone else at Colorado.

I just don't know if they're guys going to be there. And when you just take a quarterback to take a quarterback, that's when you see like a Johnny Manziel or Brandon Whedon, things like that play on out and you're like, oh, we got that. Oh, we got Paxton Lynch. Oh yeah. Although Aaron Rodgers was there at that point as well. Okay. But if someone falls like that, that could have been the number one overall pick.

That's a different conversation. Caleb Williams and Drake May aren't falling past the first three picks and the Saints won't be in the first three picks. Certainly true, but we have no idea where Shannara Sanders could be.

There's a ton of guys coming out that seem to be potential franchise caliber quarterbacks. Are we going to dress up for Halloween by the way? We as a show or? We as in like the collective we.

We as a show. I know you are going to dress up for Halloween because you have a one-year-old. So you're going to want to be right. That's our first Halloween or second? First. First Halloween. So you're going to dress up. I guess I'll dress up.

Oh, come on. I've met your wife once. I know your wife is going to get you a costume, going to get the kid the costume. The three of you are going to be like, I don't know what you're going to dress up as, but you guys are going to dress up as something.

That's possible. I'm thinking more about her costume as opposed to my costume. Manny, you got that what I just said, right? I understood it. Okay. But anyway, I think you guys will dress up something, but I was saying, what are you going to dress up as? We, I mean, as a show, I thought of something today.

Okay. I may reveal it on actual Halloween on the show, but it is something sports related. It is sports related, but I think you should dress up as something.

As long as Stu gets over the Raiders flu, he'll be black and he should dress up as something. I think we should all dress up on Halloween. I think it's good. All right.

We'll give it a try. We'll see what I can pull together from my closet. I think there's a lot. I think you have a lot of costumes. I used to I've gotten older and I've gotten more mature, which is surprising to say, you know, the Samters are probably up to some sneaky things in that household.

They probably have some costumes, some good role-play costumes that you could maybe bring in and make a Halloween costume. So I'm going to move on to number five was calling for Mac Jones to be bench, but Jones had a resurgent game tossing two touchdowns and no picks in that stunning 29 25 win over the bills. So overreaction proper reaction. You still have faith that Mac Jones can be a franchise starting quarterback in new England.

Sure. That's a no for me, dog. That's an overreaction. The Mac Jones era in new England is over. They'll be drafted a quarterback.

You would think this year, and then bill needs to realize that this new contract, you got to actually go get some talent for that young quarterback, which they failed to do during Mac Jones's three years as the quarterback of the new England Patriots. Next question. Okay. That was very quick. Last one.

Why are you surprised there? I know I'm bloviating a lot of times where I go on and on and on and on, and on and on, but it's a quick answer right there. No, listen, I like when you go quick.

That sounded really bad. I'm going to move on to the next one. That's not what she says.

That is definitely not what she says. The bears won their second game of the season, upping Matt Eber fluces record to a paltry five and 19 in two years at the helm in Chicago. So overreaction proper reaction. Matt Eber flus still has a chance to save his job in Chicago.

No, he does not. That is an overreaction. And here's why the bears are going to have two excellent picks. They have their own pick their own first round pick because of how bad they are. And then they also have the Carolinas pick the Carolina Panthers because they made that trade with Bryce young in the draft where the bears moved down to aid and the Panthers moved up to one and the Panthers are the worst team in the NFL. So there is no doubt about it that they're going to clean house this year get rid of Ryan polls, you know, polls, maybe could keep his job.

I don't think that's a good idea. But they're definitely gonna get rid of Eber flus. And you're going to bring in a new coach, maybe Jim Harbaugh. And you were going to use those two picks to try to finally change the direction of your franchise.

I would be shocked stunned if Matt Eber flus still has a chance to save his job. So I would go overreaction. And Sam, I'm actually going to throw you a bonus overreaction proper reaction question here.

And I'm a little skeptical to do this. But I see some comments in the chat. And I need to see if this is an overreaction of the proper reaction. Do you have any issues with moist pork? People are saying I need to make these moist pork references in the chat.

Is there overreaction proper reaction? Is there a beef between Michael Samter and moist pork? No, there's not a beef between me and him or her as a human being moist pork is his guy.

Okay. I just Yeah, stop saying it. I hate that word. I hate that word. Pork is fun. Say pork all you want. Oh, wait. Oh my god is terrible. Disgusting. Who says that word? So you're not a fan of moist pork.

Oh, come on now. Moist pork is like one of the nicest human beings I've ever had. I don't even know who moist pork is.

I don't know. I know nothing about the human being who runs the account. I hate the name. I hate the word. I hate the sound of it. I hate everything about that.

Oh, enough of you stop. You're disgusting. Doesn't sound right when I say moist and then Samter goes, Oh, yeah, it doesn't sound right.

Geez. So what do you say to something that's like not too wet, but still yet somewhat dry. Damp.

That's boring. And pork moist. All right, it is the Sam Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Maybe we should invite invite moist pork to the studios to have a little powwow with Samter. I think you guys would get along.

I'm sure he's very nice. I have no issue with him as a person. I have no issue about any of the weedos, the purple drinkers, the Gelber's, the Gelbinos, the Zack Attackers. I got no exact any of them. The Zack Pack. No issues. There's just a word that I can't say.

Listen to hear, read or anything else. And this guy just loves to push it in my face. All right. Samter moist pork.

Maybe we should call you moist Mike. That's not going to go well. CBS Sports Radio.

That's not going to go well. All right. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We will take a break. When we come on back, we will chat it up with longtime MLB closer. Now a part of the MLB network. Brad Lidge will join us World Series champion in Philadelphia, Philly's first ever game seven tonight in their franchise's history.

And also the Rangers are dancing on their own. If you want to say off to the World Series right now, where they will have some company tonight after we see who wins between the Diamondbacks and the fighters. Zack Gelb show CBS Sports Radio.

All right. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to preview a little game seven of the NLCS tonight. Once again, disclaimer, the two best words in sports are not game seven. It's world champions.

Those are the best two words in sports. And last night, the Texas Rangers did punch their ticket to the fall classic with Bruce Bochy as the manager of that team in year one. And now he's going off to another World Series.

We know he's won four with the San Francisco or won three with the San Francisco Giants and then got to another with the San Diego Padres. So the Texas Rangers await. And here we are with the game seven tonight in South Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks. And it's crazy that the Diamondbacks are here. They were hot early in the season.

Then they cooled off. Then they found a way in the postseason and they found their way into a game seven of the NLCS where all the pressure is on Philadelphia. Philadelphia drops one last night. We know how great Philadelphia has been at home 12 and three during their last two postseason runs in South Philadelphia. Now joining us is a man that knows a thing or two about pitching big games in Philadelphia and coming out of that bullpen. He, of course, is from MLB Network Radio, long time MLB closer Brad Lidge.

Brad, appreciate the time. How you been, my friend? I've been good, Zach. I've been good, but I never liked stressing game seven. So I guess I could be better had the Phillies wrapped it up last night, but that's okay. I'm still feeling good. Still feeling confident.

We'll see what happens. Well, it's alarming to me that the Phillies have never played in a game seven before in franchise history. Like when I read that earlier today, I go, that can't be true, but that's what the stat says. That is surprising.

Actually, I was not aware of that. And I don't know, I, you know, what does it mean? I don't think it means much. I, you know, it's just another game, but it's another game with everything on the line. Phillies have faced elimination before and come out pretty good. I would have to imagine most of the time. So it's elimination game.

And I guess that's the odd thing, right? Is because how did we get here to an elimination game with this team? But nonetheless, here we are. But yeah, it is, it is crazy to hear that they have not had a game seven. Well, this is a great way to start the first time you have a game seven, you win.

Perfect. Yeah, you are undefeated right now, so you could use that stat in your, in your advantage. Here's the thing though. We know all the pressure is on Philadelphia tonight. Everyone expects the Phillies to win.

They have been sensational last two years at home. All right. They lose last night.

No big deal. You got another chance to go at it tonight. What do you think is going on in the Diamondbacks locker room though? Because I know you could use the underdog card only so far, but here you are one win away and you go to the world series. Does that play a factor in this tonight where everyone thinks Philadelphia is going to win? You know, I think playing a factor tonight is, is above and beyond anything else is that they won in citizens at citizens bank last night. They know they can do it.

The seal has been broken. And I think for them, you know, coming out and doing what they did last night gives them a lot of confidence. And, and frankly it should, I mean, they were able to, to, you know, post on Aaron Nola who had been dominating and you know, that's, that's a team that I think, you know, you could have said they're going to throw in the towel because they're back at citizens bank. But, you know, we heard Tory Lovello's comments. He's a great manager. He said, we didn't come all this way to get our asses kicked.

And you know what, I think he's, he put his, he put the money where his mouth is. So good for them in game six. I think what that does though, you know, certainly, I mean, it's, it's, it's going to give them a ton of confidence going into tonight that they feel that they can, you know, they hadn't scored off Nola before, but now they do.

And so, you know, they didn't really score off Ranger Suarez before, but now they think maybe we can because look what we just did against Aaron Nola. So I think the bottom line is that they're going to be playing with confidence and, and it's, it's a scary situation in game seven. Obviously the Phillies are still going to have confidence and, and by all intents and purposes, they should absolutely still be considered the favorites to win this game. And I think they will, I believe they will, but it is scary that it's a game seven and it's against a team that won last night doing some things they had not done yet in the series.

Brad Lidge here with us. Do you see any similarities between this team and your team back in 2008 that won the world series for the fight-ins? Well, I think the biggest similarity is the comfort level at home and how comfortable the offense is. I know, you know, last night, not withstanding, but how comfortable the offense is at home in the post season, when everything is on the line, when the fans are on their feet, you can see that, that this Phillies team is using that extra adrenaline. They're using all that to, to create a higher level of play. And, you know, that's, that's something we did, you know, back in a way where, where the fans literally took us to another level, took us to a higher level of play. And that's what we're seeing, I think this year with this team.

So there's a lot of similarities in that. Obviously the offense is fantastic. It was for us as well. I think the stuff in the bullpen is actually better than what we had. You know, we had to get some guys that were grinders and we had some guys that got the job done and knew how to pitch really well.

But I mean, the stuff is incredible. The arms coming out of the bullpen right now. Starting pitching, to be honest, is probably, I mean, you know, we had Hamels at the top and, you know, we had the guys come in after him. I actually think the starting pitching is probably even better for the Phillies right now with that one, two punch.

And as I mentioned, Ranger Suarez, it's just been a really deep rotational year. So, you know, there's a lot of ways the team reminds me of our squad in 08, but the talent level is certainly, you know, about as good as it's ever been, I think in Philly right now. So it's an exciting team to watch, but I think that the biggest similarity is that when the crowd is fired up, the Phillies are playing at a higher level than we have seen. And that probably even, you know, some people thought they'd be capable of in the postseason. And that's why I really think the first three innings tonight are so important. Not that the game is over there, but if you get a few home runs by like a Schwarber or Harper, Castellanos, Riomuto, whoever it is, and that team gets up three, four, nothing early at home, that crowd is just going to be electric.

Yeah, that's it. I mean, you get the crowd into this game early. And I think the, you know, and with all due respect to Faught, you know, he's a rookie. He's still going through the rookie, you know, thing. And I think for me, like people could say, well, he's going to be confident coming off that last start, but I don't know, like you face a team twice in a row, you know, it's kind of the best start of your career.

And there's a lot of like exhaling that comes after that. And probably didn't figure he'd be throwing against the Phillies again. And now yet here he is having to do the same thing again.

That takes a lot of energy, a lot of focus. And it's, it's a pretty rare rookie that could actually navigate through this again tonight. I think the advantage swings back in favor of the Phillies for sure. And if the crowd gets going, like he, you know, he didn't throw that game against the Phillies and citizens bank.

He did it in Arizona. If he gives up a first inning tater to, to shore or Bryce or whoever it's going to be and the fans get going, I think it's going to be all downhill for the Philly. So it really is. I'm with you. It's super important to score first in this game and to keep the fans going nuts all day. Talking to Brad Lidge right now, Zach Galp here with you on CBS sports radio. Craig Kimbrel, he struggled.

We know that I know you were perfect in 08, but you've had moments where you've struggled in your career as well. What advice, what do you kind of expect to see Kimbrel in the game tonight from him? Well, it's, it's tricky if you're Kimball, right? Because you know, at this point, it's not likely that he's going to be in the safe situation or the super high leverage situation. And so, you know, for him right now, it's a matter of going out there and getting yourself dialed in for hopefully the world series. But it is, you know, two things really, I guess, you know, when you're struggling and you don't have that confidence, it's never a good time to have to figure that out on the fly in the, you know, the game seven of the, of the NLCS. But, you know, he's, look, he's, he's had an incredible career, borderline hall of Famer, for sure. And I think probably what we're seeing is, you know, Craig Kimbrel about 90% of what he used to be. And he's got to figure out how to pitch a little bit better now. I mean, easier said than done, right?

I know the last year of my career, I couldn't stitch that together. So, you know, it's not like you can all of a sudden come up with a change up out of the middle of nowhere. He's been a fastball, you know, curveball guy his entire career. The velocity isn't quite what it used to be. The carry on his fastball isn't quite what it used to be. The break on the, on the curveball is still good.

But, you know, the spin rate isn't quite as high as it used to be. So, he's trying to figure out and learn how to pitch on the fly. And I think that's why you see him giving up more free passes is that he's used to guys swinging at that curveball down. And now they don't have to respect his fastball quite as much so they can lay off it.

More free passes, more free passes leads to trouble. So, it's a tough place to be in at this stage in his career. But I think the right thing now is that he's not going to necessarily be in those high leverage situations.

You know, where the other guys in the Phillies pen are thrown in the upper nineties or a hundred, like let's go to those guys. And Kimball is still an asset for the team. He's still somebody that, that I've seen just dominate his entire career. He's still very useful down there, but just maybe not in that, you know, ninth inning situation anymore.

Yeah. Talking to Brad Lidge, going over to the American league. We know the Rangers punched their ticket to the fall classic last night. Let me start you off with Bruce Bochy. Everyone tells me now the manager doesn't matter in baseball anymore.

He goes there his first year with his pedigree. And now they're four wins away from hoisting that piece of metal that the commissioner calls it a Rob Manfred with the commissioner's trophy. Yeah, I guess the manager doesn't matter unless you got, you know, Bochy or Charlie manual or somebody like that.

Then it matters. So, you know, I think, you know, for me, Boach has definitely been someone who creates a tone and an environment in which winning feels anticipated expected. I mean, you know, as I just mentioned Chuck with us, like that's, that was the expectation.

That was the feeling. And the Rangers are a great team. I mean, it is remarkable to me that they're going to be representing the American league in the world series and they don't have a great bullpen.

Like that is not something we have seen for a while. A team being in the world series without a really solid bullpen. And you can make an argument that there are even maybe below average, but they're starting pitching has been so good. And the offense has been so explosive, even against a good staff like Houston that, you know, that's kind of led the way and they haven't necessarily had tons of pressure on that bullpen. A couple of games here and there, and they didn't even necessarily fare that well, but they've, they've scored so many runs against the Astros and so many other teams that their bullpen hasn't really been, you know, exploited in the way that maybe other teams thought they could. But yeah, the Rangers are a great ball club, super offensive unit. And, you know, it's exciting to watch them play. That was a great, incredible series against the Astros.

Nobody would have seen that coming, right? The home team didn't win one fricking game in that. That's crazy. And also at least Garcia, right after whatever transpired in game five, that dude went to a different level in game six and seven.

Yeah, he did. And, you know, I, I don't necessarily love all of his antics, you know, watching, you know, in the first inning, a ball hit off the fence there where he should have been on second base, but it's like, he's so talented that he makes up for it, you know, on the next pitch, he's still second base. And then the entire rest of the game last night, he backs it up with more home runs and just goes ballistic. So, you know, I think that I think there's a, there's a lesson in there. There was probably a lesson for the Atlanta Braves when they chirped a little bit about Bryce. And there's a lesson for the, you know, for the Astros when, when they go after somebody and look, I'm not saying that, you know, Brian brave did that intentionally. I really don't think he did, but it'd be kind of became that and all of a sudden it fueled the Dallas Garcia.

So I don't, you know, you got to avoid stuff like that. Does Scherzer have any shot of giving us a good game in the world series? Cause the last two years in big moments, he has struggled. And that's an understatement. I say that as a method.

Yeah. I mean, honestly, for me, he is kind of a game four type of starter where if he goes out there and gives you three or four good innings, great. But the expectation level for me is pretty low and I respect the hell out of Max. I mean, he's just for him to be on the mound right now after having some rotator cuff issues going on in his shoulder to be able to try and get back out there. But that's, I mean, that's the competitor in him and that's not his fault. If he's going out there at 90%, 95% and they're saying be Max Scherzer, he's going to do everything he can, but he's not Max Scherzer right now. He's not, you know, a hundred percent and he's not his former self from five, 10 years ago. So it's a really tough task. And, and, you know, the Rangers have, you know, obviously a great one, two punch with, with the Baldy and Montgomery, but it, and they've got other guys out there, but I just, yeah, I don't think, you know, I, I three or four innings of max can navigate through that.

Then I think he's done his job. Otherwise you're not going to get a vintage Max Scherzer routing in the world series. No way. Last thing I'll ask you go into the Astros. They've been to seven straight ALCS. They lose last night. They dropped six and seven at home.

Like we're talking about, right? Looks like dusty Baker's walking away as well after a legendary career. Is this the end of the road for this team? Cause I hear people say that last night and I'm like, until I see that team miss the playoffs or not be as dominant as they've been where they're not in the ALCS each and every year, I'm not going to count them out of it.

Yeah, I'm not either. You know, as all two of us still on that team next year, you know, I mean, you know, you're on Alvarez, Bregman. I, if the same guys are coming back, then they're going nowhere and you know, they might not play at a super high level in the regular season because honestly for them, they've been doing it for a long time and they know like the post-seasons where it's at now, it was surprising to see what happened in this post-season. They couldn't win at home. That is very odd, but, but that team's going, you know, that team's going right back to the post-season next year.

And that's just, that's where they've lived. I, I don't know if they'll continue to get as deep as they have, you know, at some point the starting pitching is going to take a hit at some point. Maybe some of the offense doesn't, you know, light it up quite as much as they have, but it's still a great pull.

I mean, top to bottom, it's still a great ball club and the experience level is real and the confidence is real in big situations. You know, Seattle, it'll kind of be up to the rest of the division, maybe Seattle leapfrogs them next year, but I don't know. I don't even, to be honest, I don't even know if the Rangers will leapfrog them next year necessarily.

It could be the Astros division again and it wouldn't surprise me. All right. One more for Brad Lidge.

Yeah. I think we try to make this more Hollywood than it actually is, but you always expect this big speech before game seven. Let's say if the skipper came up to you, Rob Thompson with the Phillies and said, Brad, you're our guy in this locker. We want you to make the speech. What do you tell the team?

And remember it's on the radio. So keep it PG 13. I don't know if there's a let's win one for the gipper speech. You know, at this point, I think at this point, you know, it's more a matter of him just saying, go out there and be yourselves, like enjoy the hell out of a game seven, because frankly, as you just said, it hasn't happened before in the history of the franchise, be the first to show, you know, what you guys are like in a game seven, you know, for the city of Philadelphia. But there is so much I honestly, I don't even think anything needs to be said. That would be my final thought there. They know what's on the line. I mean, they're such a talented group. I don't think there's anything you could say that would sound like super genuine or a fire up speech like they're already there.

He pitched for the Phillies, the Astros, and of course, wrapped up his career with the Nationals. Now does a great job. That will be network radio. He is Brad Lidge. Brad always appreciate the time. Thanks so much. Yeah. Thank you, Zach.

I will talk to you again soon. You got it. There he is. Brad Lidge joining us right here on CBS Sports, ready to wrap up the show.

Next update time. First here's the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. Good job by Manny Rodriguez today on the tunes. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports radio, wrapping up the biggest story of the day, Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines. So you have all these allegations of the sign stealing scandal.

Stealing signs isn't illegal, but when you use technology, when you send someone to a future opponent's game, it is. So with this, I think it creates a difficult situation because we know the passion that is there of college football fans. And I do believe a lot of the conversation last 24, 48 hours is a gross overreaction. I do not think this is something that you just say, Oh, nothing to see here.

Oh, no big deal. Like it's not the end of the world. There needs to be some punitive action. I thought actually Matt Ruhl said it best, Manny. Actually, if we want to get back to this audio of Matt Ruhl on sign stealing, just let me know when you have it.

I thought what Matt Ruhl said the other day at his press conference was actually the best thing. Sign stealing happens every game. There's nothing wrong with teams over there looking over trying to steal our signs. There's nothing wrong with us trying to look at their signs. We can get rid of all the stupid signs on the sidelines.

We could get pictures of, you know, rock stars and all that stuff. We could just play football, but that's sign stealing. I would not carry that over to going and filming someone else's practices or something like that, or filming someone else's games.

That's completely something different. Sports need rules to keep competitive balance. And when someone does something against the rules, we say, well, should that really even be a rule? And it is the rule. We don't get five downs.

If that is happening somewhere, it's completely, completely wrong. That's a great take. And I think he's onto something where they have communication through the headsets in high school. They have it in the pros, right? To the quarterback, to the linebacker of the defensive captain is the play caller on the field. And in college they don't.

So what does the signs mean if you're doing everything electronically, if you were just able to have that communication device? So that's one thing. The other part is, yes, rules are broken. There needs to be a punishment. But that does not mean the punishment needs to be so severe as if this is the greatest infraction that has ever happened in the history of college athletics.

And that's the thing that I had the biggest issue with in the last 48 hours or so. You have Penn State fans who are annoyed that they just lost to Ohio State and you have Ohio State fans that can't stand that Michigan has beat them the last two years and are like, oh, this is why we lost. It's because Michigan had our signs. So now those two fan bases are fed up and they're going to want like the death penalty for Michigan, which is absurd, which let me remind you, it's the same two fan bases that defended Urban Meyer and the whole Zach Smith situation and defended Joe Paterno in the Jerry Sandusky situation, which were a lot more serious things.

Those are life things. Those are off the field things that were absolutely abhorrent. But people are going to say, oh, this is about the integrity of the game. Okay, yeah, Michigan did something wrong, allegedly. So there should be a punishment. But it doesn't mean that Michigan now needs to be held out of a bowl game this year, or the NCAA has to swoop in and expedite the process, which they never do, and not allow Michigan or have the Big Ten, not allow them to compete in the Big Ten championship.

Like that never is going to happen. You're going to let this play out. And if there's eventually wins that get vacated, which is the dumbest thing that goes on in the NCAA, where they try to ignore the results that happen, then that's what transpires. But ultimately, I said this before the start of the season, with the other recruiting violations that occurred.

And now I believe it even more today, and I'll double down on it. Jim Harbaugh, which he needs to take some responsibility for this, which he's not going to admit it right now. And he's going to say he had no knowledge of this. And the Marine is going to turn out to be like John Jastremski. Remember, John Jastremski was one of the deflators in Deflategate.

That was the name of the guy, where they'll pay him off and he'll go live a life somewhere and you'll never hear from him again. So that's what's going to happen here. But Harbaugh has put himself in a position where it's either you're going to have to face what the NCAA is going to do to you and your program, or at the end of the year, you're going to bail. And there is part of me that wants to say, I'd love to see Harbaugh stick it to the NCAA and say, I'm not going anywhere. Do like the Jordan Belfort thing where you go, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere and have an unbelievable fun time.

But I do believe Harbaugh is going back to the NFL. Hey, by the way, Santer, you want to hear a fun fact about the Gelb family? Since that ball, I'm going to give you one anyway. Maybe you could dress up as a mole as a, as Halloween and we'll play whack a mole here. That could be your costume. My mother actually dated the real Wolf of wall street in college, Jordan Belfort for like two years. They had a long-term relationship.

Now, let me say that again. My mother dated the Wolf of wall street, the real Wolf of wall street, Jordan Belfort. There's some moron on Twitter who keeps on tweeting people and goes, Gelb's mom dated Anthony Scaramucci.

So clean out your ears a little bit. I never said my mother dated Anthony Scaramucci. My mother would never did Anthony Scaramucci. She dated Jordan Belfort, but there's some idiot on Twitter that keeps on tweeting me that. Now did Margot Robbie portray your mother on the big screen?

That's not a nice thing to ask someone. That's not, that's my mother we're talking about here. Margot Robbie is one of the, she's an award-winning actress. And sorry mom, sorry mom, if you're listening, no Margot Robbie, if we're being honest here. But no, my, my mother, whoever Margot Robbie played was not my mother. My mother never married Jordan Belfort.

They just were like college sweethearts. He used to actually sell one of his first jobs. He used to sell stakes to all the homes in the neighborhood. So like you would knock on the door and it'd be like Jordan Belfort selling steaks to everyone in the neighborhood. They're like, oh, sweet Jordan. And then we found out what Jordan Belfort ended up becoming. Was Jonah Hill walking around behind Mr. Belfort? That I don't know. I wasn't alive.

So I can't tell you. I just know that they dated, there's some pictures and they've done dinner together. Like when I don't even know if he lives in the United States anymore, they've done dinner together with my dad and stuff throughout the years and things like that.

When the book came out and the movie came out and, and all that stuff. But there's a little, a Gelb connection right there when you least expect it. But anyway, get him back to Harbaugh here. Harbaugh's going to leave. Harbaugh's not going to do Belfort in the Wolf of Wall Street and say, I'm not leaving. He's going to the NFL. And the four teams that I think right now are in the lead spot for the Harbaugh sweepstakes, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Buffalo Bills, it's the Chicago Bears and it's the Washington commanders.

And I think the two most likeliest destinations would be the commanders. And then it would also, it's not going to be the Chargers. It should be the Chargers because they have the most talent, but I would then say it's the Chicago Bears where he's played because I do believe control is going to be a big thing here with what happened at the end in San Francisco with Trent Baalke. I believe Harbaugh's going to want control. You have a new owner in Josh Harris. He'll hand the entire organization over to Jim Harbaugh and the Bears, like you're going to let Ryan Polz get in the way of this. Now you get rid of Ryan Polz and you'd have him be the GM and the coach of, of the football team if he wants to do that or he gets to bring in his guy.

So I think the commanders and the Bears, they'll spend the money. They're the two more desperate teams to make a splash where logically it should be the Chargers or the Bills. If things continue to go south, like the way they are this year with Sean McDermott.

Yeah. If you're Harbaugh, you'd rather have a better team than the Bills and the Chargers, but I don't know with the beam connection, if the Bills will actually move on from McDermott and for the Chargers, I can't ever expect the Spanos family to do what is logical. Logically Harbaugh should be their coach.

He should be, but what makes sense to us doesn't always make dollar and cents to the Spanos family. So I would say right now Bears and commanders right at the top, then right underneath it's the Chargers and the Bills are hovering and we'll see if they just have the Cajones to pull the trigger and take the rug out from underneath Sean McDermott. Alrighty, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio fun show today. Big thanks to Manny Rodriguez for producing this extravaganza along with Moist Mike.

We'll see if that starts to get trending. Moist Mike, maybe put that on a t-shirt. Like to thank Roman Wilson for stopping by.

Also Robert Horry as well and Brad Lidge and Big Mike CBS Michael Santa looks like he wants to throw some things at me after calling you Moist Mike. You even going to show up tomorrow now? I want to throw up.

Forget about throwing things at you. Okay, we learned today Santa does not like the word moist. All right, you have a Moisty Tuesday. We'll see you tomorrow on a Moisty Wednesday and then we got a Moisty Thursday, Moisty Friday, a Moisty Saturday, a Moisty Sunday and then a Moisty Monday. Alrighty, everybody. We out. Bye-bye. Have a good one. Peace.