The Eagles Are Still NFC’s Best (Hour 1)

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Whole lot to do today. Coming off an exciting weekend of college football and what was just a chaotic week 10 in our 10th NFL Sunday get together of the season. And I gotta start with the game that was hyped up to be a big game and it was a big measuring stick for both teams. It was an opportunity for the San Francisco 49ers to show that their last three games were an anomaly and for the Jacksonville Jaguars, it was an opportunity to actually have a legitimate win this season. And it was an opportunity for them to put the flag in the ground and say the Jacksonville Jaguars are ready to take that next step.

And going into the game, I trusted the 49ers, I liked the 49ers, but I didn't think we were going to see this be a bloodbath and this be a massacre. And when you walk away from that game, the immediate takeaway is 49ers are back in the good graces and the Jacksonville Jaguars are fraudulent football team. And when I say fraudulent football team for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and let's start with them, that's not me saying they suck. That's not me saying that they're terrible.

That's not me saying that they won't make the playoffs this year. But Jacksonville is kind of the team that where if you want to equate it to a freshman quarterback, that's a four, five star recruit in college. And there's so much expectation. There's so much buzz.

There's so much hype. And then you get them on the field and you go, yeah, that quarterback is too young. That quarterback is not ready to play. And that's what you're seeing right now with the entirety of the team in the Jacksonville Jaguars, because the facts are in their two biggest games of the year. And I was talking about this all throughout the week that in their previous biggest game of the season, they laid an egg. And I said this going back to week two, where I was out on Jacksonville after their performance up against Kansas city, because we all knew going into this season, Jacksonville was going to win double digits. Jacksonville was going to be in the playoffs, but they were in the playoffs last year. They had the dramatic turnaround a season ago where they went from back to back number one, overall picks taken Trevor Lawrence and Trayvon Walker survive the catastrophe of Urban Meyer. And they bring in Doug Peterson. They win the AFC South. They go to the playoffs. They win a playoff game and they lose in the divisional round.

But off of that, you put yourself in a situation where people want to see you and people expect you to take the next step forward. And in week two, they had a vulnerable Kansas city team, a Kansas city team. Yes, they were just getting back Chris Jones. They were just getting back Travis Kelsey as well. But that offense, even now after 10 weeks is still not in sync with Kansas city, even with the great Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reed and Travis Kelsey.

And you were at home for both of these biggest games. And in week two up against Kansas city, they laid an egg in week two against Kansas city. They only were able to put up three Brandon McManus field goals. Heck, no one loves Brandon McManus more than me. I went to college with the guy at temple university, but when he's your leading scorer in a game, that's a problem.

And think about that. They did not score a touchdown up against Kansas city and yesterday against the San Francisco 49ers. And they were playing a pissed off motivated San Francisco 49ers team. They repeated what happened in week two and the Jacksonville Jaguars actually made it worse. They only got one field goal.

They saw Trevor Lawrence throw two interceptions. And once again, in a big game, one of their biggest games of the season with an opportunity to show that they'll they belong amongst the NFL elite and the top contenders, they didn't even get a touchdown. It's one thing that they would have lost the game, right?

If they would have lost to the 49ers 28 to 27, bleep happens, right? We all know the 49ers are a heck of a football team, but to get dragged up and down the field and look like you had no business being on the field, that's something where I will channel what I said back in week two, and I'll repeat it again. This is just a good team. This team is not ready to take the next step and up against the marquee opponents. This team does not perform to the level that they are capable of. And this is a fraudulent football team from where we thought they could be prior to the season commencing. And if you want to disagree with it, if you're one of those Jaguar fans that a few years ago were so embarrassed with your football team, you're so passionate, you were dressing up like clowns and you're saying, oh, Zach, I want to clown you today. Oh, Zach, you're not being fair with my football team.

Well, the proof's in the pudding. Go look at your schedule this year. You struggled with Indianapolis in week one.

You beat them. Then you got embarrassed by Kansas City. You lost to the Texans by 20 points.

You sparked the Texans run a dominance as of late. Then you beat the Falcons, whip the damn do. You beat the Bills. The Bills, that's not aging like a great victory.

And the game was also right in London when you were there for two weeks. You beat the Colts. All right, you beat them twice.

Let me throw you a parade for that. You beat the Saints. They're no good. You beat the Steelers, good defense, but the Steelers got nothing on offense. And then up against a marquee opponent in the 49ers, you got embarrassed.

You got exposed. You got dominated. And you lost the football game 34 to 3. So go bounce back this upcoming weekend against Tennessee.

Dress up the record and make it seven and three. You'll be a double digit win football team. No one's taking that away. But I can't believe in Jacksonville. And I can't think Jacksonville is going to do anything great come playoff time. And I can't trust them because we've now seen it twice against two of the top what, six or seven teams in the league.

There is a big gap from good to great. And that's even with Kansas City struggling this year. The 49ers struggling this year, you couldn't even show up. It's one thing to win the game, but bare minimum, you should be able to show up against these teams. And it's alarming with how great I believe Trevor Lawrence could be that in the two biggest games of the season, he did squat. That entire offense started to look like they were playing offense right now for the New England Patriots. Where you go from being a good team and a good offense to an anemic putrid, lethargic offense.

And it just doesn't add up because you have all the pieces there. You got enough in the wide receiving department. You got enough in the running back department. You got enough in the quarterback department.

You know the coach is a championship coach. And this is the results that we have. The results are that you're a six and three football team. But two of those losses carry an enormous amount of weight. And they indicate to me that I can't trust that the Jaguars will be hanging around long come playoff time. So that's the Jacksonville side of it. But when we get to the 49ers, I think a lot of people owe the 49ers an apology.

And I know I get often confused as being a hater of the 40 whiners because of the whole Deebo Samuel interview when he hung up on me. But I defended the 49ers last week. I said the criticism about the 49ers got taken too far. And all I said going into this year, and I'll still stand by this, is that the Eagles are better than the 49ers. And I do believe the 49ers are the second best team in the NFC. That's what I said before the season.

Now through 10 weeks, you could have a healthy debate. It's clear that the Eagles are the best team in the NFC. The record says so. And then you can debate, should the Lions be the second best team? Or should the 49ers be the second best team? But if you go through the numbers and you see where this team was the last two years, they have gotten off to slow starts. And in the last two years, they have found a way to get it right. They've been to the last two NFC championship games, where they lost to the Rams and they lost and they lost to the Eagles. So just cuz they got off to a little bit of a shaky start, where they were thriving in the beginning of the season. But then when they got to 5-0, they lost three games in a row.

And two of those games, they just got bad bounces. But it was not a mystery to why the 49ers were struggling. It's because in those weeks where they lost, they asked Brock Purdy to be great. Brock Purdy right now, even though he was incredible yesterday, is not in a position to carry a team. He is a part of a system, a system that has one of the more loaded rosters in the NFL. So when Trent Williams is hurt, when Deebo Samuel is dealing with an injury, even though McCaffrey only does besides yesterday's get in the end zone, even he was banged up.

When you see the roster start to get a little bit decimated with injuries, naturally, that's gonna level out the playing field. But there is still no doubt in my mind that the 49ers are a contender. The 49ers have a chance to go to the Super Bowl. The 49ers have a chance to win the Super Bowl, but they're just personally not my pick.

They're not. And the NFC, as long as Jalen Hurts is healthy, the Eagles, I believe, are the best team in the NFC. So yesterday, you see two different kind of statements that were made. One in a positive way for the 49ers and one in an extremely negative way for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 49ers, I don't know if I want to say they put the flag in the ground, but the 49ers basically did the Undertaker GIF yesterday, or the Undertaker meme, where it's like, all right, we're back from the dead. We have popped back up from the tombstone, from the casket.

We're alive, we're well. And they do have a presence to them where they could haunt you, and they could haunt many teams in the NFL. And it wasn't just that the 49ers won yesterday, it was how they won. With Brock Purdy looking great, with McCaffrey dominant in the run game, George Kittle going for over 100 yards, Debo returning, you know, Trent Williams. It wasn't just that they won, it was how they won. And then the most impressive thing was the defense. The defense holds Jacksonville to a lousy three points.

Think about that. So that's a statement yesterday by the 49ers. We are more so the team that was 5-0 compared to the team that lost three in a row. And then the other statement that was made by the Jaguars is we're solid, we're good. We can look the part at times, but when we go up against the big boys, when we go up against Kansas City, when we go up against the 49ers, we're just not there yet.

And I just wonder with Jacksonville, how much is it is maybe a mental problem? Because we all know they have the talent, we all know they're a good team. And when you see a performance like yesterday, and this is coming from someone that laid the three points with the 49ers, it doesn't make sense how you could play that poorly.

How you could play that poorly in your two biggest games of the year. And I understand, hey, this team has limitations, but they don't have limitations that would suggest to me that they shouldn't show up in the two biggest games of the year. They're not better than Kansas City. They're not better than the 49ers, but it shouldn't look like a game where the men are the 49ers and Chiefs and the Jaguars are like a bunch of little boys. That shouldn't be the case.

You should be able to sit at the grownup table and show that you belong, even though if you're not at the head of the table. But after watching what happened in week two and watching what happened in week 10, it is clear that the Jaguars right now, they may be the head of the kiddie table, but they're not close to sitting at the adult table. And they'll be in the playoffs. They'll be in the dance. Maybe they win a game at home in the playoffs, assuming they still win the division, but I don't see them going to conference championship weekend. I don't see them taking that next step.

And they had the potential to do that before the start of the season, especially with the momentum that they built last year, doing the unthinkable, making the playoffs, doing the unthinkable, coming back against the Chargers and also finding a spot in the divisional round and keeping it competitive, keeping it close against the eventual world champion, Kansas city chiefs. It is Zach Yelp show on CBS sports radio. Where's your confidence with the 49ers and how concerned are you with the Jacksonville Jaguars?

8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. We'll take a break. When we come on back, Jimbo Fisher fired by Texas A&M.

Was it worth it to get rid of him? And also there's an NFL coach that is getting rumored as the dream destination of the dream choice for A&M to hire. I'll tell you why that won't happen when we return. You know, got to get rid of this old Backstreet boys t-shirt because it stinks boys. I've washed it so many times, but the odor won't come out. No, you tell me why I can't get rid of this odor. Wow. It worked guys. 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 can stream the NFL and what's the one for free sponsored by AutoZone all season long. You can listen to every what's the one broadcast of the NFL live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open what's the one sports are on the Odyssey app. Get in the zone auto zone, the free auto zone fix finder service could help you find a fix for free. Get in the zone auto zone restrictions apply A&M finally did it. And A&M did it following a 51 to 10 victory up against Mississippi state, who also saw their coach get fired. Now Zach Arnett was the first year head coach of Mississippi state taken over for Mike Leach after Mike Leach unfortunately did pass away. So you could maybe just argue, maybe they never really believed in Zach Arnett long term.

And he's like 36, 37 years old. But when you have a coach die, which was just absolutely horrible with how much Mike Leach is beloved, you know, you, you quickly got to go find someone else. And, you know, Arnett, maybe just knowing some of those players at the time was perceived to be the best guy for the job. And I think a lot of people viewed him as a stopgap hire before a year or two from now barring a miraculous season for Mississippi state, that they would probably be in the market for a new coach because it's always tough to replace a legendary coach.

It's one thing though, when like the coach loses, it's another thing when the coach in just horrible fashion literally dies. So that's a very tough situation there at Mississippi state. And now they'll start their, their search for their next new head football coach, but the Jimbo Fisher, it wasn't a matter of if he should be the head coach at A&M any longer.

Like we all knew that ship did sail. We all knew that Jimbo Fisher was past his prime far away from the days of winning a national championship at Florida state outside of the COVID season really did nothing at A&M. And when you watched A&M under Jimbo Fisher, I didn't see really any difference compared to the A&M under coach Sumlin, who they got rid of in order to bring in Jimbo Fisher.

Now, the one thing I'll give credit to Jimbo is that the last two years he has done a kick-ass job on the recruiting trail. In 2022, they were number one and they were top 10 in 2021 in terms of recruiting. I think they were eighth, but when you have all that talent and you have high expectations, and when people are talking about you as a dark horse to win the SEC, or one of the more talented teams in the country, when there's maybe only two or three other rosters that you could argue you would want in the SEC, you can't afford to bottom out. And last year they bottomed out. They went five and seven. So going into this year, just being above 500 wasn't going to be good enough. And we talked about records, and then we talked about sometimes records being misleading, where you could have a decent record, a solid record, but it's where your standards are and what are your expectations. And for Jimbo Fisher this year, at best in the final two games of the season, he could be eight and four, and then if they win a bowl game, nine and four.

So you can look at that record and go, oh Zach, nine and four isn't terrible, but let's take a deep dive into that record. Big game week two, Miami, you got smacked in the second half. You played Alabama, had Alabama on the ropes. Your coach got conservative. You lose to Tennessee, who wasn't the same Tennessee as a year ago. And probably the final nail in the coffin here for Jimbo Fisher, or the thing that just reiterated that they have to get the boosters and the donors to pay the $70 million buyout, even though Ole Miss is having a really good season, it was another game that they lost.

So it's like you have a coach that could get the talent in there, but what do you do with the talent? And another thing is, this is why I was not a Jimbo Fisher fan. It's also why when Dan Mullen was at Florida, I was not a fan of Dan Mullen, and it's why I'm not a fan of James Franklin at Penn State. I understand there is a recruiting brilliance to every time a coach is in front of a podium, every time a coach is holding a press conference, but when coaches lose and try to tell you it's not as bad as it seems, or they almost act as if they win following a loss, or make excuses and just say things that are nonsensical, it drives me crazy.

Like when I talk to my doctor and I have pretty good blood pressure, but Zach, what makes your blood pressure rise? It is when a coach says something that's extremely stupid following a loss. So in this case with Jimbo Fisher, this was actually following a win. So it's pretty, it was only a 10-minute press conference.

I watched the entire thing. So congratulations coach, you beat a bad Mississippi State team 51 to 10. You're six and four.

You're still underachieving this season. And this was Jimbo Fisher talking to the media after the game. And when I heard this, I said, hold on, I gotta, I gotta run that back. You know, Zach, maybe you're a little bit tired.

Zach, maybe you had a long weekend. Don't you have a night like tonight where you're using your third-string quarterback and you play as well as you do. Did you have a cocktail after I won football? Like there's no way this coach actually said this, but this is what Jimbo Fisher had to say following the Mississippi State team. We gotta put that past us and gotta grow from it and learn from it for next year, but we gotta finish out this year. We're six and four, need to be the best seven and four team in the country and the best eight and four team in the country. That's our goal. And that's what we can control right now.

But now I don't dwell on those things right now. I live in the moment and that's getting ready when we have to be ready to play Abilene Christian next week. Down front left, Mark. A few plays away from contending for the college football playoff? On what field? In what sport?

What team are you watching? You got smacked by Miami in the second half. That's not a few plays. You lost to Alabama. You lost to Tennessee. You lost to Ole Miss. You want to tell me, okay, those games were close. A few plays go your way.

Yeah, in each of those games. But overall, you guys have never looked like a threat. You guys have never been a force. You've never been a team outside of brand recognition and the talent that you have. That anyone shaking in your boots?

When the go up against you? Because everyone knows A&M is all sizzle under Jimbo Fisher. They're all hype.

They're all talk. And outside of 2020, when you get on the damn field, this team isn't a juggernaut. This team isn't a force. This team doesn't spark fear in the actual big dogs in the SEC and in college football. So that's really, I had enough of Jimbo Fisher before them.

I am not a fan of Jimbo Fisher, but to try to dress up your season following a win and trying to tell people, yeah, we're a few plays away from making the college football playoff. If you had two losses on the season, okay, I could see it. If you had one loss on the season and it just didn't play out in your favor, okay, I could see a coach. I could rock and roll with that coach. I think I'm a pretty understanding person.

I think I like to listen to both sides, even if it goes against my beliefs. But when there's still two games left in the season, and even before you had three games left in the season, you're sitting there with four losses on your resume and you lost to Ole Miss, who's in the top 10. You lost to Tennessee, who's in the top 25. You lost to Alabama, even when Alabama wasn't heading in the right direction.

You got exposed up against Miami. You can't give me that bull junk as Deion Sanders would say about this team being a few plays away from the college football playoff. And maybe the college football playoff that they expanded this baby next year to 12 teams when they do, but not in a 14 format. Maybe Jimbo jumbled that up. Maybe he didn't get the message. Maybe he didn't get the memo that only four teams make the college football playoff this year. Give me a break, Jimbo Fisher.

And now he's out of a job. And I was reading today that the dream candidate for A&M and the guy that A&M wants is Dan Campbell, who attended A&M and played for A&M. Dan Campbell's not going to A&M. Go ask football coaches, would you rather be a college coach or an NFL coach?

What's the easier lifestyle? It's the NFL. NFL, you actually get to leave the facility. NFL, you actually get to go home. NFL, you don't have to recruit.

And then when you recruit players and then you give them some tough love, you don't have to fear that they're going to hit the transfer portal. And also Dan Campbell, even though when he was hired, and I heard his introductory press conference by the Detroit Lions, I was like, this guy sounds like a Big 10 coach. He sounds like a college coach. Even though I said that, the last few years, he has displayed he's an NFL coach. And not only an NFL coach, he is an NFL coach. He is an elite NFL head coach right now. Look at what he's doing in a miserable, terrible, usually putrid football team in the Detroit Lions.

He has grown them each year. And they took a big step last year towards the end of the season after a terrible start where it looked like it was trending where he would be begging to take a college job and they finished strong. And this year they are thriving. And they are one of the better teams in the NFC.

And you could argue they're the second or third best team in the NFC. So you could want Dan Campbell as your next head coach if you're A&M, like I want to go on a date with Beyonce. It's not realistic. It's not happening. Don't sell yourself short.

What do you mean? I hear Beyonce is kind of into tall sports media personalities. She's married to Jay Z. What do you have that you don't? A lot. Look at the dinero. Look at the looks as well. Come on, that's Hova.

He's got a certain swag to him. I'm just Zach Gelb, the yelling talk show host. Come on.

I thought you were making around the same amount of money as Jay Z. I was once in the same room as Beyonce. There it is. It was coach Vermeil. And I had a Super Bowl where you're talking about his wine and football. And Beyonce walked right behind us. And JJ Watt was actually off to the right corner. Beyonce goes to sit down and let's just say her backside was facing us. And JJ Watt turns to me and he goes, we got the best view in the house. And JJ Watt was 110% right. He was love at first sight.

It was. Beyonce was my childhood crush. So I'm not saying A&M shouldn't place a phone call to Dan Campbell. If I had Beyonce's number, I shoot a text message, hey, you up? What you doing? You know, you want to go on that date, but I'm not expecting a response or you're expecting the response of, yeah, lose my number.

No, not interested. So when I thought of the A&M job, this is, you know, these are the five names, which the A&M job is a good job. You got to go win, but you got a ton of resources.

You can recruit. We know they love NIL and even annoyed Nick Saban that he was getting beat out by Jimbo Fisher. It led to that almost kerfuffle a few years back at the SEC media days. But the five names that I would consider in order and five names that I would place a phone call to, you got to see if Dan Lanning would say no at Oregon. I don't think he would leave, but Dan Lanning has SEC roots. Kalen DeBoer at Washington, even with them going to the Big Ten. Mike Elko, who was your defensive coordinator. I don't think it hurts you to place a phone call to Coach Prime.

And I've said this going back to last year or even two years ago. I thought Coach Prime was deserving of a power five job. He got a power five job at Colorado, even though it's not a behemoth of a job. But could you imagine what Coach Prime could do in the recruiting world with the resources at A&M?

Now, I don't think he's going to leave his sons right now in Chador and Shiloh Sanders, but at least ask. And then finally, Lance Leipold. I know Lance Leipold, Coach Leipold has said Kansas is the last job. He's not leaving Kansas.

That's all fine to say. It's all nice to say if this guy could win games at Kansas and he could turn around Kansas quickly and bring Kansas to a level in the national cycle where people actually care about them and they're respectable. Imagine what he could do at A&M. So those are five names that I did look at.

Now in the betting world, I did see the odds come out. Jeff Traylor is at plus 300. Mike Elko at plus 300. DeBoer plus 500. Dan Lanning at plus 600. Lance Leipold at plus 1000.

And here are some names down on the list, but intriguing names. James Franklin at plus 2000. If A&M hires James Franklin, and I saw my buddy Matt Lombardo, who covers the NFL, who's like a Penn State SICA fan. He was like, oh, Penn State fan base doesn't appreciate James Franklin.

Maybe you should show them like, you know, how he actually would get appreciated. Goes to A&M. If he goes to A&M, you're basically hiring Jimbo Fisher without the national championship.

Because James Franklin can't win a big game to save his life. Lane Kiffin, depending on what you want to believe, I think he wanted the Auburn job last year. Auburn didn't want him at plus 2500. Would he jump Ole Miss to go to A&M? I don't think Mike Norvell is leaving at plus 3000 with the job that he's done at Florida State. And Deon Coach Prime was at plus 5000.

But here's the big name. At plus 5000, Urban Meyer. Now Urban Meyer comes with a lot of baggage. Urban Meyer could be a pain in the ass. The moment things don't trend the right way for Urban Meyer, right, he's on the sideline falling down and, and basically looking like he's gonna need to take a leave from the team. But we know Urban Meyer can win. Urban Meyer has won everywhere. He is gone in the college world, the NFL world.

He was a disaster, one of the worst NFL head coaches we've ever seen. And I think Urban Meyer, even though he says he doesn't, and he leaks out that he doesn't, I don't think he could say no if the right job came calling. And you could win at A&M. You could easily win at A&M if you are Urban Meyer.

But I don't know if Urban Meyer's style flies anymore in the year of 2023. So there are some names right there that have been thrown around in the betting world, the names that I've thrown around as well. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break. We got a few questions. We got a few answers.

Blue on-site off-site next. We do that segment every Monday and Friday right here on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Standing by first, though, with the latest CBS Sports Radio update, here he is, the act man, Rich Ackerman. It's time to ask the pros where you, the listener, gets to ask us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B, using the hashtag ask the pros.

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. O-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts on-site off-site time. Let's go. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside defense number 69. It's on-sides off-sides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio.

All right, Zach. Well, in the Steelers, they escaped Green Bay with a controversial win over the Packers. In the second quarter, Kenny Pickett threw what appeared to be a backwards pass that was dropped and picked up by the Packers. However, the refs called it an incomplete pass, even after replay, despite disagreements with Gene Steratore and Charles Davis in the CBS broadcast booth.

Sometimes these are really difficult in that stands world because of that angle. And when you're looking at it, to me, it was just not enough to overturn one way or the other, guys. I know you may disagree with me, Charles, but I just felt like it was a tough one. Gene, I think if the official on the side moves himself in position, he sees clearly that that's a lateral and that should have been Green Bay's football. So on-site off-site, the place should have been ruled the fumble. I'm actually gonna agree here with Gene Steratore. I thought it was very close. I thought it could have gone either way. And even though I can't stand those TV refs, I will agree with Gene and give Gene the benefit of the doubt on this. So I'm gonna agree with Gene Steratore there.

And I'll go offside. Now the Lions last second win over the Chargers, Dan Campbell took a huge risk late in the game. Yeah. Going forward on fourth and two with a minute 38 to play rather than kicking the go ahead field goal. Now the Lions ended up converting on fourth down and ended up kicking the game winning field goal as time expired. So it worked out in his favor. However, on-site off-sides, it was the right call to go forward on fourth down in that situation.

I think so. Dan Campbell has the aggressive approach and he has this aggressive mentality. Now sometimes just because you're aggressive, it could also be a stupid decision.

But so far that guy has understood his team and the decisions that he has made has pretty much have gone to a tee in the way that they've expected to. So yeah, you could say it's a huge risk going forward on fourth and two with a minute 38 left rather than kicking the go ahead field goal. But if you don't do that and then the other team gets the ball back and they go march down the field and get a field goal, you go into overtime. So I'm okay with playing to really bleed out the clock there. So I thought that was the right call on fourth down on-sides.

Now Will Levis, we've talked about a lot. He looks sharp for the Titans in his first start with four touchdown passes but has two picks and hasn't thrown a touchdown in his last two games, both losses including yesterday's bad loss for the Titans. So onside offside, Levis' first game was more of a fluke and he's not a starting caliber quarterback.

I think this is an easy offside and the reason why is we live in a world, especially when it comes to football, where we react to everything and one game determines the bigger picture. Oh this guy's the GOAT, oh this guy stinks, oh this guy could be the guy, he is him, he is not him with all these sayings and everything. The guy is not going to be perfect.

There's a reason why he fell to the second round. The first two games of the season for him, the first game he thrived, the second game he was solid and also this Tennessee team is not great. So there's going to be some ups and downs but at the end of the season it's how do you view him, how do you walk away from that conversation and I don't think this will go that south for Levis individually, where you're not at least bare minimum intrigued to see what he could do from start to finish when you give him the full season. So when you say Levis' first game was a fluke and he's not a starting caliber QB, that's offside, it's just the natural ups and downs. Now you vacillate from good to bad, good to bad, eventually you got to get it consistently good when you are a young quarterback and here's a big hot take and a take you don't need a PhD in football for. People are human. People make mistakes.

You don't automatically walk onto the scene and become this rock star and never have a moment where you stumble. So I go offside. Now my former team the Jets lost again to Stu's Raiders and have just three offensive touchdowns in their last five games with Zach Wilson throwing just one touchdown pass in that span which is insane. Robert Salah is now 15 and 28 in three seasons as the Jets head coach. So onside all sides the Jets should fire Salah after this season.

I say onsides and here's why. That team it's one thing to lose to Stu's Raiders but it's another thing to get out coached by an interim head coach who's in his second game as the interim head coach and not only that have sloppy undisciplined play and a ton of penalties over and over and over again and Salah I don't know if he's afraid of Joe Douglas if he's not allowed to make the decision but it's almost like he doesn't have Cajones to sit down Zach Wilson. I know he did that last year but you had an alternative of Mike White like you look around the league there's a lot of bad quarterbacks being given opportunities and they're at least playing somewhat competent football and Zach Wilson wasn't even the biggest problem last night but with the game on the line he threw a terrible interception. The Jets next year could be a contender with the healthy Aaron Rodgers and you can't leave any stone unturned because you're gonna basically have one year to go win it.

This is not gonna I don't know if Rogers gonna play an extra year after that where when Rogers got there was like okay you gotta at least have him for two years so I have questions about the coach and I don't know if the coach could be a good coach so I would probably set the restart button at the head coaching position and go get an established coach after this season so you asked me the Jets should fire Salah after this year I would say onside there. Now Kyler Murray returned from injury throwing for 249 yards and rushing for a touchdown leading the Cardinals on a game-winning drive in the fourth so onside offside the Cardinals can build a title contender around Kyler Murray. Moist Mike I love you I do I love the question here the team wins one game after we just trashed them for like the first six seven eight weeks of the season they win one game and now it's oh Kyler Murray who we all left for dead and we all left for him getting traded this offseason now the question is can they build a title contender around Kyler Murray. I'm not saying this team to win a title I'm just saying Kyler Murray a a Super Bowl caliber quarterback.

No I think he's a good quarterback I question the work ethic he could put on electrifying plays like yesterday he could look confident like yesterday he's a good quarterback a really good quarterback but I don't think he's a great quarterback so he may be the quarterback next year for the Cardinals because he'll win some games and maybe they'll move down the draft board but I don't think that's the guy that I look at especially with how he handled the poor performance in the playoffs a few years ago and say that's a guy I'm winning a Super Bowl with so I'll go offside. We'll go through this one real quick you mentioned before that Mississippi State fired Zach Arnett after just over a year under the helm he won a bowl game last year in replacing Mike Leach but he's been four and six this year so onside offside Mississippi State is a top 25 college football program for a coach. I think it's close but I'm gonna go offside it does not sit well with me after the standards of these circumstances here like Mike Leach horrible story passes away you you go to a guy on his staff and Zach Arnett to be the head coach and after one year you pull the plug on Zach Arnett like they weren't that bad where you don't with the young coach give him another season especially under those circumstances it shows you that they did not believe in Arnett but they're in a really tough conference we know that the best conference in college football in the SEC they're a good job but I don't think that's an elite job where you're consistently a top 25 college football program with the way that it's viewed so I will go offside on that one.

Offside. We'll do this one really quickly as well Dion and Colorado lost again they've dropped to four and six after starting three and oh now after the loss Winston Watkins the cousin of Sammy Watkins and a top 100 player from the 2025 class announced he was decommitting from Colorado and the Colorado Buffaloes have just the 63rd best class for 2024 so recruiting wise we're not seeing the results and the returns that Dion keeps promising. Onside offside despite the hype Dion will not be able to build a true contender in Boulder.

A contender to do what? Because they're moving the big 12. To win the big 12. To win the big 12 and make a run in the playoffs maybe not win a title but to you know in a 12 team expand the playoff do something. Okay that's two different things do I think he could win the big 12 through time yes do will he be at Colorado for three four five seasons I probably don't feel that way um but I don't think just by winning the big 12 because we saw Oklahoma dominate the big 12 with these great Heisman Trophy winners and they couldn't do squat in the playoffs so I will lean more offside if it's to make a little bit of a run eventually in a 12 team college football playoff which does start next year so I would go offside uh all right despite the hype Dion won't be able to build a true title contender in Boulder I'll actually go onside I agree with that statement. All righty Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio coming on back talking a little Bill Belichick should he stay or should he go.