Panthers Outlook Is Bleak (Hour 1)

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Yeah. Downy Rinse and Refresh removes more odor in one wash than the leading value detergent in three washes. Find it wherever you buy laundry products. You could always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb. That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We're rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. We will be joined by Herm Edwards coming up 40 minutes from now, and then we'll toss around the college football, and we'll speak a little college football with Cole Kublik, SEC Network analyst, former offensive lineman at 4.20 p.m. Eastern, 1.20 p.m. Pacific.

Got Moist Mike riding shotgun with me and also Stuart Kovacs hanging along as well. But we got to start the show with that dreadful football game from last night. It kind of lived up to the hype where you knew it would be sloppy.

You knew it would be ugly. You knew there was not a great incentive to tune in, and then also it was going to be low scoring. And Eddie Pinheiro can't connect on that 59-yard field goal at the end, and the Bears walk out with the victory on their home field, 16 to 13. I had no problem, I think I'm in the minority of this, of Frank Reich attempting that 59-yard field goal. The problem I had, though, was after you get the first down following the fourth down conversion, on first, second, and third down, when you had incomplete pass, incomplete pass, incomplete pass, why didn't you run the ball one time?

You had plenty of time left. And I don't think it's realistic, not that coaches should think this way, but I don't think it's realistic to believe that you were getting the ball in the end zone there with how lethargic your offense has been, not only in last night, but throughout the first nine games of the season for the Carolina Panthers. So run the ball a little bit, waste some clock, and get yourself into better field goal range. But it was clear from the jump last night, and I don't get the approach of the Carolina Panthers, but it's pretty damn clear that they don't run the ball a lot. They only had 16 rushing attempts in the game last night, and three of them came from the quarterback in Bryce Young.

So there's two sides from this. It's the future of the Panthers, and it's the future of the Bears. The Bears actually have somewhat of a future.

I'll get to their plan in just a second, but the Carolina Panthers' plan is really a plan of incompetence, and they are traveling down a road where they're going to eventually meet a dead end, and then they're going to have to turn around and restart this organization once again. And I don't trust David Tepper. I've made that clear. David Tepper is the owner that owns the restaurant, never cooked the chicken parm veal parm spaghetti and meatballs in his life, but then goes into the kitchen and says, I'm the owner of the restaurant, chef of 20 years, your assistant chef, everyone that's a part of the kitchen that has been a part of making fabulous food or good food for years, you move over, I'm going to cook the chicken parm. And he has no experience, and David Tepper continues to burn the meal. And it goes back to the draft process, and this is coming from someone that I'll raise my hand and admit that I got it wrong. I thought CJ Stroud should have been the second pick in the draft, and Bryce Young should have been the first pick in the draft.

But just because the talk show host Zach Gelb says that doesn't mean anything. David Tepper is running the organization, and it is so clear, whether they want to admit it or deny it, that the regime of McCown, the quarterback coach, and then Frank Reich, the head coach, they preferred CJ Stroud. And through the first nine, ten weeks of the season, David Tepper usurping McCown and also Reich is leading the Panthers down the wrong road, because it's clear not that Frank Reich doesn't like Bryce Young, but Frank Reich preferred CJ Stroud.

And so far in their young career, it does look like Frank Reich's initial feeling was actually right. So with all that being said, I just don't know where the Panthers go. Like it's easy for me to get on the radio today and say they need to beef up the offensive line.

No crap. But it is alarming that heading into this season, when I evaluated that offense, that was the one thing I actually liked on the team, was the offensive line. And this offensive line has done a complete 180, and it is now a bad offensive line.

So you first have to start with beefing up the offensive line, but then you need to go get a number one wide receiver. And you look at it, three quarterbacks, and I don't want to say there were questions about Bryce Young coming out of the draft, but three quarterbacks that there were questions about in the last three, four years of football. Josh Allen in Buffalo, Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, and then also Tua Tunga Valoa because of the injuries with the Miami Dolphins.

When did we see those guys show that they could play at a really high level? For the Bills, when they got Staphon Diggs. For Jalen Hurts, when they got not only AJ Brown, but Devante Smith.

And for Tua Tunga Valoa, when he got Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddell. So you need to put your quarterback in a better position to succeed, and that has to happen this offseason. Because if you do not go out there and beef up this offensive line, and then also target Mike Evans, who's a free agent, good luck trying to get him to come to Carolina. Or maybe you give up the 2025 first round draft pick because you don't have the draft pick first round in 2024 for Devante Adams.

If you don't be bold, if you don't be aggressive, we're going to be sitting here at the end of 2024 where it's going to be a reset for the Carolina Panthers. Where I'm not saying they're going to get rid of Bryce Young. You know, I do think Bryce Young is getting too much criticism through the first half of the season because they've put him in a crappy position. Find me a quarterback that's going to come in right now with an offense that isn't tailored to Bryce Young, and isn't tailored to the quarterback, a horrible offensive line, and no weapons that intimidate you. Like don't get me wrong, Adam Thielen has had a very nice career. But Adam Thielen, even though he's having a solid season in the year of 2023, isn't going to spark any intimidation or fear into an opposing defense. Who are the players on this Panthers defense that sparked fear?

You know, to an opposing defense on their offense, none of them, not a single one. So they have to quickly revamp this team this off season. And I think you're asking them to do so much that I don't believe at the end of 2024, there's going to be a big enough improvement where the impatient David Tepper is going to say, yeah, I'm seeing progress.

I need to give Frank Reich a third season. So barring them going out and getting a legit number one wide receiver and really vastly improving this offensive line, what are we looking at here? Maybe a four or five win Carolina Panthers team at most, at most next year. And I do believe David Tepper is going to sit back and after two years, he's going to say, I need to go hire a new coach. So then you're going to have Bryce Young going on year three with his second head coach and then also a completely entire new offensive staff. The Panthers are just set up for failure for the immediate future.

And I read today, this actually made me chuckle. And I hate to kick a fan base while they're down, but the Panthers fan base, I don't know if it's today or in the next few days, they are trying to organize a march to voice their frustration with the crappy football product that they keep on putting on the field. Like Stu, you've been down and out pretty bad as a football fan. Samter, you've been so down and out as a football fan, you claim that you have given up on your jets and you've jumped ships to a new team. What is this going to do when you rally a fan base together to lead a march? Like Stu, Mark Davis can be a dope.

We all know that. Thankfully, he got rid of Josh McDaniels. The Raider fan is as passionate as they come. But if Raiders fans were so sick and tired of the product being put out on the field, what is the purpose of rallying together to voice your frustration?

Like what change do you think is going to happen? David Tepper, a new owner, he's not going to wake up and go, man, the fans really hate me. I got to go sell the team. Like, give me a break.

This seems like an absolute joke to me, Stu. Yeah, it's not going to change anything until the owner leaves, sells the team, something happens to the owner. You know, I was there with Al Davis, you know, you're kind of waiting for that time to tick down.

But yeah, that's the only, that's all you can really hope for. And they already had a scandal with an owner in Carolina. Yeah, and he's new. This owner is new. He's not going anywhere.

Come on. He's not going anywhere. What's going to change? And this is a guy that has so much money. But when you have so much money in a salary cap era, it's not like a big advantage is as if this was baseball and you could just pay the luxury tax. So I do find the fan march and the fan rally, not to poke fun at it, but it is comical. It is, because it's just pointless. Like I could gather people together and go, let's make a statement that we're unhappy with this, but you have no control. This is not like politics or anything where maybe you could spark change. It's a football team. What are you going to do from now until the end of the season?

Just because you're leading a march. So that's the Carolina Panthers. They're traveling down and they've been traveling down a road of failure. And I would love to try to give Panthers fans optimism, but I'm just going to be honest with you.

I got nothing. Now for Bears fans, I do think there is some optimism because last night was a double win. Not only do you get a victory on the field, but the team that you beat, you own their first pick. And that first pick is looking like, since it's the Panthers and it's going to the Bears, it's going to be the number one overall pick in the draft. So Kevin Warren, who used to run the Big Ten and is now running the Bears, he needs to do a few things this off season.

Number one, get rid of this Ryan Pauls and Matt Eberflus regime. Once Matt Eberflus couldn't even tell us the status of Justin Fields. He just confused us and said, he's out. He's doubtful. He's doubtful. He's out.

I was already done with Eberflus, but that was the final nail in the coffin. So you have to get rid of the general manager and the head coach. You then need to use your Big Ten roots and make a little trip to Michigan that is currently in a scandal of their own right now. And you need to go get Jim Harbaugh, who played for the Bears, to run your football team.

Bare minimum needs to be your coach. You're going to have the number one overall pick because the Carolina Panthers suck. And you have their first round pick.

So now you got to go select Caleb Williams and then you got to hope your own pick is in range to go get Marvin Harrison Jr., who is the best non quarterback in college football this year. If you can do those things, or even two of those three things, like if you could get Harbaugh and Williams, and then if you get Harbaugh, Williams, and Marvin Harrison Jr., you at least have an opportunity to succeed. And the Bears haven't had an opportunity to succeed in a long time. And Bears fans, I know this is wishful thinking. Bears fans, I know you are hoping my plan works, but that's all Chicago has right now, is hope. That's all that they have. And there is some optimism, even in another crappy season, because you have two great draft picks, Harbaugh probably wanting to leave Michigan, and you have a golden opportunity to maybe quickly turn this franchise around.

And don't tell me that it can't change quickly. If you bring in the right coach and the right quarterback, it could change instantly. We've seen it in Jacksonville with Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson. And we're seeing it this year in Houston with D'Amico Ryans and also CJ Stroud. So Bears fans, there's hope.

Bears fans, you should love this draft conversation. You got to get the coaching hire right. And they haven't got the coaching hire right since Lovey Smith. And that's even with Matt Nagy winning a coach of the year one year. Yeah, that's some forgotten history for you.

How the heck did that happen? But you can't go to another incompetent Ryan and an incompetent Matt. And that's what they've done now in back to back cycles with their GM and also their head coach. So Harbaugh, Williams, and Harrison Jr.

If you walk away from the game, you'll see the Dawn recruitment. This is what they've done. And they haven't got the coaching hire right since Lovey Smith. And that's even with Matt Nagy winning a coach of the year one year.

Yeah, that's some forgotten history for you. How the heck did that happen? But you can't go to another incompetent Ryan and an incompetent Matt. And that's what they've done now in back Williams and Harrison Jr. If you walk away with that trifecta, you will have Bears fans doing somersaults in the streets. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio 855212 for CBS 855212-4227.

Do you have any long-term hope for the Panthers and Bears? We'll take a break. When we come on back, we got a few questions.

I'll give you a few answers. We do this segment every Monday and Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio, and we call it Onside, Offside. All right, it is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. And right now, you can stream the NFL on Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone. All season long, you can listen to every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL Live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports or on the Odyssey app. Get in the zone, AutoZone.

AutoZone's free battery testing and charging is available for free at your local AutoZone. Get in the zone, AutoZone. Restrictions apply. Let's get to Onside, Offside. All righty, Moist Mike, what do we got cooking?

We're going to start with your favorite team and your ball coach, Mr. Bill Belichick. Yeah, Bill's on the prowl, by the way. I saw that video yesterday. I don't know if it was from yesterday, but it got published yesterday, where it looked like Belichick was doing a little walk of shame. The fact that he's walking around with no shirt on, I'm curious. Did he go into the house without a shirt? Did he lose the shirt? Or did he try to sneak out so quietly that he just decided, you know what, screw it. Let me leave the shirt in the house.

Well, just from personal experience, if you are a large fella, I don't think you ever intend to lose the shirt. So I think Bill went into the house with the shirt on. Then there was a little toss it and turn and roll it in between the sheets. And then he quickly had to make the one, two, I got to go outside of the house. And he was slowly tiptoeing. And then he said, man, I can't find my shirt.

They're lost somewhere. And he went on to the next one. Well, that was very interesting.

And I'm curious to find out more information. I'm sure Bill talked very openly about it during his press conference. Well, he's lucky he's in Germany this week.

So you have less media. I don't think the Germany media is going to be saying, Bill, how was the nookie time that you had? I wonder how that sounds with the German accent.

I can't do it. So as we know, they go to Germany to face the cults. And there's some talk, especially from Ben Volen, that Belichick might not make it home from Germany. I think he'll make it home. He just may not be the coach of the Patriots. I don't think they're going to say you have to stay in Germany and you're never allowed to leave Belichick. Maybe he'll find another shirtless video to kind of creep off into the sunset. Maybe he'll be like Ted Lasso. He'll give up football. And he'll go coach soccer, as you would say, football.

Yeah, listen, I can see it. Listen, Belichick in a German soccer league, Bundesliga press conference, I think that would be gold. So onside, offside, Sunday will be Bill Belichick's last game as Patriots head coach. Yeah, that's a no for me, dog.

This is an easy offside. I don't believe Ben Volen, in terms of that Robert Kraft, who has the utmost respect for Bill Belichick and they've won six Super Bowls together, would fire him in the middle of the season. Like maybe the final two weeks of the season, the final week of the season, even then it's a stretch. If Belichick ever leaves, I do believe there'll be a mutual parting of ways, if you want to throw that term out there. But I don't believe for a coach that has won six Super Bowls and this team is heading nowhere this year, that any change would really do much that would turn this team around.

And what's the point of turning it around? You want to lose as many games as possible so you get the best draft pick to try to set your team up for the future and get a game-changing player. So that is offside. When you ask me, Sunday will be Bill Belichick's last game as Patriots head coach.

Offside. Well, the Packers host the Steelers this weekend with plenty of pressure on Jordan Love's shoulders. Now yesterday, Kevin Harlan joined us and had some harsh words for his Packers and Jordan Love. The quarterback, I think, is a gigantic question mark. I don't think there's any doubt. But since game two or three, it is really regressed.

And he has been incredibly up and down. It's going to take most of this season to figure out. And I do not think that is an organization that will sit and say, let's give it one more year. I don't think they can hang their head on and say, definitively, Jordan Love is our guy. So onside, offside, the Packers should move on from Love after this season. I'm going to go offside because if you're in a good enough draft position, which you could argue they could be, and there's a quarterback that you like, okay.

But I don't think they're going to have a top three pick, which would put them in the territory of getting Caleb Williams or Drake May. So if there's a quarterback they fall in love with, yeah, you go draft him, but then you could wonder if this regime should have the right to fall in love with another quarterback because they fell in love with Jordan Love. A lot of loves here.

And they eventually said to Aaron Rodgers, get on out of town. So I do believe one year of actually seeing this guy play is too premature for me to say, I don't want to see another season. I don't believe in love right now. I'm pulling for him because he's handled. That's sad, you know, believe in love. Love is out there. Yeah, you're probably right.

I probably should be a little bit more optimistic, especially on a Feel Good Friday. But with all that being said, I don't believe in Jordan Love, the quarterback right now. But I can't say after one year as a starter that I'm totally in the thinking of getting rid of him. I think you got to give him two years as a starter.

And I just don't believe there's a great alternative out there. So you asked me the Packers should move on from love after this season, offside. Offside.

The search for love will be put on pause. Now the Jags and 49ers faced off in a huge matchup this weekend as the six and two Jags are riding a five game win streak while the five and three niners have dropped three straight. So onside, offside, the Jaguars are a bigger threat to win the Super Bowl than San Fran. Offside, a lot of offsides so far.

That's three for three. And so far, the reason why I would say no to this question is the AFC has better teams than the NFC. Like the team that's the best team by far in the NFC are the Philadelphia Eagles. After that, the 49ers may not be the two seed this year, but it's a conversation between the 49ers and the Lions on who's the second best inside the NFC. The Jaguars, I still think have the Ravens in front of them, the Chiefs in front of them. And just for starters, I also put the Bengals in front of them, regardless of what the records say right now. Jaguars, tougher road to travel, even though they have a heck of a team and they have a heck of a coach and a heck of a quarterback. 49ers, easier road to travel. All you need are the Eagles to go down.

And then you could argue, you may be the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. So offside. Offside. Now the Cowboys take on the Giants this weekend with Tommy DeVito getting his first start for Big Blue. After his embarrassing showing against the Jets with negative one yard passing, DeVito looked a little bit sharper last week with 175 yards, a touchdown and two picks in that ugly loss. Now onside, offside, this is a must win game for Dallas.

So there's three different terms here. Must win, can't lose, or you gotta have it. I don't think this is a must win. Because a must win kind of means there's like some doubt that you may end up losing the game. And I don't think there's any doubt here in terms of who's going to win this game. So then it comes down to you gotta have it or you can't lose. I would say this is more so a game that you can't lose. And I also am picking the Cowboys this week for my survivor.

So they better not lose to Tommy stinking DeVito. And yes, thankfully I still have the Cowboys alive and it was perfect position here. Even Stu's impressed. Stu's like, how did you get to week 10 of a survivor pool with having the Cowboys still alive? That's great, I'm jealous.

Yeah, it is wonderful. Are we in the same survivor pool? We were. Oh, you're already out? I've been out since week three.

I apologize. So you say this is a must win for the Cowboys. No, I go with a different term, so offside.

Offside. Now all eyes are on Michigan and Penn State this weekend, but the rest of the top six have big games as well. Number two, Georgia takes on number nine, Ole Miss. Number five, Washington has number 18, Utah. Number four, Florida State battles a rivalry with Miami. And number six, Oregon travels to UFC to take on the Trojans. So onside, offside, the college football top five will be different this week than it was last week.

I think Washington will beat Utah. I do think Florida State with Mike Norvell prevails up against Miami. USC, I think, is mentally rattled with how many losses they've already compiled.

And now knowing, even though they were done for a national championship with two losses, now really being done with three losses and no hope of a Pac-12 championship. So I'm going to say that Oregon, even though that game may be close and may be fun, Oregon's going to beat USC. I do think Ole Miss is alive against Georgia, but I can't pick against Georgia right now. And I'm not trusting James Franklin, fraudulent Franklin, leading participation State University, where he is 3 and 16 as a head coach in the top 10 to slay Michigan or walk out with the victory.

So the only way things are going to change is if the committee just wakes up in a different mood. But in terms of the actual results, there's not going to be a point of emphasis to change it because I think the teams that are the favorite right now in the top six or the top five are going to win. The one thing to watch, though, is Michigan, they haven't had a big game yet. This is a big game. So maybe you could argue Michigan should move in front of Ohio State.

But then Ohio State beat Penn State, and they had that Notre Dame victory. So I don't think the committee is going to do much this week if the results play the way that I just said they will go. So the college football playoff top five will be different this week than it was last week. I will go offside.

Offside. Speaking of Caleb Williams and USC, the defending Heisman winner has lost three or four, getting sacked 15 times and turning the ball over five times in that span. Yesterday, former Ohio State Buckeye linebacker Bobby Carpenter told us he's seeing some kinks in the armor for Caleb Williams. I know Caleb Williams can make some unbelievable plays. He does some reckless stuff. My only concern is with Caleb is he developed too many bad habits this year. Because you watch him, he tries to be a hero in every play. And sometimes it works.

But then he's also put himself in harm's way. He's fumbled the ball. He's thrown some picks.

You have to make sure that you can eliminate that when you bring him in. Because that does not work in the NFL by any stretch. So onside, offside, you are less confident in Caleb Williams being an elite NFL quarterback than you were before this last four-game stretch. I'm going to say offside here, even though I am not blown away with what has happened with USC, it was expected where their defense stinks. Williams had a stinker up against Notre Dame.

And you knew their defense was going to let them down in other moments. But they're asking him to do everything on the offensive side of the ball right now. And I just don't think he was put in a great position this year, and there's better teams inside the Pac-12. There are going to be some people that say, take Drake May over Caleb Williams. I'm not there yet. I still think Caleb Williams is the best quarterback in the country and will be the number one pick in the draft.

So I am not less confident in Caleb Williams being an elite QB right now than I was before this stretch. So I will go offside. That's six for six so far in the offside department. That's really scary. So hopefully we'll get this last one.

We'll do a quick Trevor Bauer. I'm in a really negative mood, I guess. Yeah, I know. I'm just saying no to some of these questions.

I don't know if it's a negative mood, actually. No, no, no. You just disagree with everything that I'm saying. So why, the way that you asked this, is this your opinion on these things? Not necessarily. Okay.

You're just, you know, making what I'm saying or looking like sounding terrible and idiotic. So it's a really good segment, by the way, where I get to sip my coffee a little bit. This is fun.

Yeah, I do most of the talking on these. Trevor Bauer hasn't pitched in the big since 2021 when those ugly sexual assault allegations sprung up. However, Bauer has since been exonerated in court and has actually shown some video and written evidence that the accuser was looking for a payday. Now, John Hamon reports Bauer's agents are talking to MLB teams to get him back in the majors in 2024.

So onside, offside, Trevor Bauer will pitch in Major League Baseball this year. So a lot comes with Trevor Bauer outside of all these allegations, which have proven to be false, but he's very vocal. He's outspoken. He's a different guy, very big on social media. Some people like that.

Some people don't. There are distractions that come with Trevor Bauer, but I do think because of his talent, a team will give him an opportunity. So you ask me, Trevor Bauer will pitch in Major League Baseball this year. I will go onsides. So there you go, Sampter. We end the segment where I actually agree with one of the questions that you asked me.

Hello, you play to win the game. That's right. Herm Edwards gonna join us on the other side. He was actually on the same coaching staff when he was the head coach at Arizona State for Antonio Pierce, now the interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. So we'll get his thoughts and everything going down with Antonio Pierce and also go around the rest of the National Football League with the former Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets head coach and a head football coach at Arizona State in Herm Edwards, and we return in five minutes.

Update time first. Here he is, the Ackman. Rich Ackerman. It's time to ask the pros. We hear the listener gets asked us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag askthepros. Be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. 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. We are waiting to be joined by former NFL and college coach Herm Edwards. We will hopefully connect with the head coach in just a second.

We got some Michigan news right around the corner as well. We'll get to that in just a bit, but let's welcome in Herm Edwards right now who's kind enough to join us on CBS Sports Radio. Coach, I know it's been a while. Appreciate the time as always. How you been?

I'm good. Trying to study all these games this weekend, obviously. Every time you think you figured that team out, they play and then you go, who are those guys? Somebody else is wearing their uniforms? I don't know.

Can't figure it out. And we saw that last week with the Raiders. They get rid of Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce injected some life in that team. You were with Antonio when you were coaching at Arizona State and he was on your staff. Just what do you think he brings to a football team now in the NFL? Well, obviously you can see his energy. He has a wealth of knowledge.

Playing in the league, obviously. Former player, played on the Super Bowl team, played for Coach Coughlin. I know he learned a lot from him. But I think right away, when you make a change like that and you hire AP, the thing you realize is that players can connect with him because he's a former player. Now that doesn't mean every former player's a good coach or you have to be a player to be a coach. But I just think in that situation, the transition from one personality to another made a difference last week. Now you got week two.

So now they're kind of all settled in. When you become a new head coach and you've been on that staff, it's not like you can implement a lot of things because you can't change the offense, you can't change the defense, but what you can do, you can simplify some things on both sides of the ball and say, this is the things that we need to get done for us to win this week. When it comes to maybe getting that interim tag removed and becoming the permanent coach, I know it's early, but just a few years ago, Rich Basaccia takes over, did an incredible job, leads that team to the playoffs, and then he didn't get the job and they ended up hiring Josh McDaniels.

Do you think he has a legitimate chance Antonio Pierce to become the full-time head coach, or is it, hey, we just saw something similar a few years ago and they'll probably hire somebody else? Well, I don't know that. They did that after you just mentioned Basaccia, getting them to the playoffs. That's pretty good, by the way.

Last time I checked. To take a team to the playoffs, don't look at it lightly. Don't act like it's easy to do because it's very difficult. But I just think, you know, he'll get weighed on what he does during the season, how competitive they are. They've got, what, eight games left. I mean, obviously, if you can make a little run, that would be a good thing, but not only for the team, but for the league. When the Raiders are relevant, the league is better, to be quite honest. And I'll go back to the history of when I played, and I know I'm one of the old guys that played me. I did have a face mask.

I had a helmet. I ain't that old, but, you know, in that era, in the 70s, and even before I got in the league, in the 60s, and even into the 80s, the Raiders were relevant. And when they're relevant, the league is better. It just is. And so, hopefully, they can string some wins here together and get that base, that fan base of the Raiders excited.

That would be a good thing. Yeah, you brought up your age, and you mentioned you're from a different era, Herr Edwards. I'm just wondering, when people run into you today on the streets, do they bring up more so, hello, you play to win the game, or do they bring up Miracle at the Meadowlands? According to who the person is, right? If you're somebody my age, around my age, you get both.

If you're the young person, you just get the other one, right? Miracle at Meadowlands, they go, what, was that even in color? Did they even have color television when he played, right?

Yeah. Let me get to, well, actually, one more on the Raiders, and then I'll get to your other former, you know, a former team of yours in the Jets. If Mark Davis called you and said, I'm thinking about hiring Antonio Pierce full-time to be the head coach, what would you tell him?

I would say, do it. And hopefully, you know, by him, these next eight, he'll demonstrate the fact that he's the right guy for this team right now. And that's what you gotta look at. And I think there's a reason they hired him, right? I mean, they could've hired anyone on the staff. They chose him.

So there's a reason for that. They're giving him an opportunity, obviously, with nine real games or eight real games, really nine games to really autograph his performance. It is a, it's a look at, okay, if you were the coach, what are you gonna do? And he's put in a tough spot. You know, he's put in a tough spot. He can't hire anybody.

He's with the guys he's with. He can't put in any new offense, as I said before, a new defense. He has to find a way to make these guys play with more energy and believe.

And I think any time you win, that always helps you. Talking to the coach, Herm Edwards, right now on CBS Sports Radio. The Jets with Robert Salah right now, in a tough spot, has a really good defense, but offensively, we all know Zach Wilson isn't the answer. I know their options are only Tim Boyle and Trevor Simeon right now, but have you seen enough and would you make a change? Well, I think, look, as we know, Wilson won last week.

And so I think that's the formula. Now, if he starts throwing the ball to the opponent, then you got a problem. If he starts throwing the ball and turn the ball over, then you're gonna have to make a change. I think this team understands it's destiny.

It's destiny real simple. You gotta make games ugly. You can't get this thing out to score lead by the opponent where it forces you to go back and throw the football. Because that would be bad.

We know that, right? Because this team's not built to do that due to some injuries with the offensive line. What it is able to do, though, it can keep the score down.

You methodically move the ball, get some good field position, and your special teams play. And just, you know, you can win with field goals because that's how good this defense is. You just can't give the defense a short field. That's how you gotta play.

I mean, you gotta play with this in mind. Hey, look, punting is good. If we make this guy go on a long field, that helps our defense. We can't give our defense short fields to defend.

And if you can do that, you'll be in a lot of these games. When we get to CJ Stroud, he was remarkable last week. He's been remarkable all season. But that was some performance, the 490 yards, and leads the drive right at the end of the game to cap off his fifth touchdown.

Has the Bengals this week, so a tough opponent. But what have been your impressions so far on CJ Stroud? No, he's by far, he's a rookie of the year.

Going right now, I mean, you could give it to him. I don't think his play is gonna diminish. I think he's gonna continue to play well. You know, this is a young football team. If you'd have told me these guys would be four and four with a first-year head coach, and I think the head coach has done a great job. And you look at them, you know, you look at the numbers, the first thing that's odd is that you have a rookie quarterback, they're 27th running the ball. And they're fourth passing the ball.

And it's like, that doesn't even make sense. You got a rookie quarterback, your run game is okay, but you're leading on this young quarterback that really gets you through, and he's doing it. And you gotta give that offense's team a lot of credit.

They protect him pretty good. He doesn't throw the ball to the opponent, which is very difficult for young quarterbacks. I mean, you think about one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play in our game was Peyton Manning. He threw 28 of them this first year. He threw 28.

People fail to realize that, right? And I just think the way he's playing, one interception, 14 touchdowns, that's pretty impressive. And also, he has leadership, and you have a head coach who knows the area very well and knows the organization and was a leader and like an extra coach on the field in D'Amico Ryans, and it just shows you, you get the right coach, you get the right quarterback, and you have a positive mentality. Things could change rather quickly in the NFL. Yeah, they can, and I think this ownership is very fortunate to have both of them, to have this quarterback in D'Amico Ryans, because this has been an ownership and a team that has kinda been one of those you look at from afar and go, what are they doing, right? And so I think this is a plus for them.

It's a plus for their fan base, and it's good for the league as well. When we get to the Browns and Ravens this weekend, I can't wait for this game. We know the defenses are incredible. Lot of pressure on Deshaun Watson to start earning that contract, and we haven't seen him on the field the last few years. What type of performance do you think we see from Deshaun Watson this weekend against Baltimore? Well, I think the thing that he has to understand is that these are two of the better defenses in the National Football League. You're talking about the number one defensive ball in the Browns and the number two defense in the Ravens. You know, they can both get after the quarterback. The Ravens have, what, 35 sacks, only giving up, what, 13 points.

The Browns giving up about 17. So this is a game where I think Deshaun Watson can't get into the mode of, I gotta try to out-compete, obviously, Lamar Jackson. I think both quarterbacks have the ability to extend the play. Lamar is extending the play now, but he's extending the play to throw, which is kind of fun to watch.

I mean, he's starting to get familiar with this offense. They're in the same division, which makes it very interesting, because all of a sudden, this division that these guys play is loaded. AFC, I mean, can four teams get into the playoffs? That would be the first time in the history that a division team, division teams in one division all get in. I'm not saying it can happen, but you know what?

The likelihood of it, it ain't that far-fetched. But they play each other, so that'll be interesting. But this is a game that I just think turnovers will play a major factor. What you do on first down will play a big role offensively, because of the fact that both these teams can rush the quarterback. They have good secondary players. They have good rushers. Miles Garrett is, right now, his numbers, when you look at him, he's the front-runner to be the defensive player of the year.

He can wreck the game. We know Baltimore has a bunch of guys that can wreck the game, and this is the scary part, that if the Baltimore Ravens have the most wins and get home field advantage in the playoffs, who's going in there to beat them? I don't think that's gonna happen. Not even Kansas City? Not in Baltimore, I don't know. Not happening.

You can say that I said it on the station. Not happening. You go into Baltimore, you go into Baltimore, forget about it. We have to get you into that Kansas City locker room and then say you play to win the game. No one's giving us a chance. No, and I love the cheese.

I love the cheese, and I think Mahone is the best quarterback on the planet. But you have to go into Baltimore to play those guys in the playoffs? No, no, good luck.

Good luck to you. That's hard. That's a hard one now, because they're rolling right now. They are flat playing really good. You know, the Chiefs are good. I mean, you know, we should expect so much out of them, and that's why when they're kind of like, uh, what's wrong with them? There ain't nothing wrong with them. They're like the Eagles, right? We expect so much out of the Eagles. You know, the Eagles are sitting here 8-1, and everybody's going, what's wrong with them? What's wrong with them? I get it, but they're 8-1. I mean, I can't.

You know, it's an ugly 8-1, but they're still 8-1. Herm, always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for jumping on board with us today. You have a great weekend. My pleasure, my friend.

Thank you. There he is. Coach Herm Edwards joining us on CBS Sports Radio. We got to get to what the expected discipline is for Michigan. Breaking news. We'll react to it on the other side, and I'll tell you this right now, I'm not happy.