Bengals Season Is Now Over (Hour 1)

We all know cats are intelligent. Felix Cat Insurance was able to secretly record two cats on a hidden microphone.

Let's listen in. Did you hear the one about the three dogs at the park? That's old.

Like four lives ago. But did you hear about the new pet insurance just for cats from felixcatinsurance.com? Of course! What do I look like, a dog? When you're coughing up a furball.

Yes. Listen, Felix Cat Insurance plans start at under $1 per day and are as unique as you and me. They call it whisker to tail protection. Even furballs?

Even that. Remember the last time you had a furball? I made a TikTok. It went viral. Oh, that's good.

Wait, you're on social media? There you have it. Felix Cat Insurance. Customizable coverage exclusively for felines. Sorry, no dogs allowed. felixcatinsurance.com.

Get it? Meow! Insurance is underwritten by Independence American Insurance Company and produced by Independence Pet Group. The existing conditions are not covered.

For all terms and limitations, visit felixcatinsurance.com slash terms. Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the Sports Media Podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the Sports Media Podcast has you covered.

Here's longtime NFL and NBA announcer, Ian Eagle. Would I find this entertaining if I was sitting on the couch watching the game? Or would this be a nuisance? Would this get in the way? Does it enhance the enjoyment for the viewer?

Or at some point, are you becoming an annoyance? Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the play show getting out over the ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street, welcome on in to a somber football Friday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and of course streaming on YouTube. 855-212-4CBS is numbered to jump on in.

855-212-4227, and 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. Got Moist Mike and Stuart Kovacs rocking and rolling with me all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Last night was a deflating football game where you tune in, you expect a heavyweight fight between two AFC North teams and the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. And the last thing that you want to see are injuries impact and be the story of this game. Now, you commend the Baltimore Ravens for the way that they played. It's either them or Kansas City to go to the Super Bowl this year in the AFC, but you see Baltimore lose Mark Andrews, and then right as the game was getting good, Joe Burrow has a wrist injury, you pan to him on the sidelines, he's trying to throw the football, he then realizes he can't, he falls down, walks off into the locker room, and you knew Joe Burrow wasn't going to return to the game. I was even thinking when it played out, remember we talked about this yesterday, a photo of him coming off the bus or the team plane as they were traveling to Baltimore and it zoomed in, and you see this bandage that was on his wrist and he wasn't on the injury report, so it was, oh, let's monitor it and let's see if this has a real impact on the game and if this is going to be a story, and then during the game it did become a story because he suffered a further injury. So when you see him leave the game last night, I'm thinking to myself, okay, maybe Burrow misses a few weeks and let's see if the Bengals survive, and now they're back at 5-5 after losing the game last night, but a few moments ago you get the breaking news, which I'm sure many of you are aware that this happened, if you're not, well, if you're a Bengals fan, I say my apologies and that's why I say it's a somber Football Friday because Joe Burrow is one of my favorite quarterbacks, my favorite people in the NFL, and Joe Burrow is now out for the season due to the right injury that he suffered on the right wrist injury on Thursday night, and it's a torn ligament and it's likely to require surgery. So now it's the Jake Browning show for the Cincinnati Bengals unless they go get Matt Ryan out of the broadcast booth. I saw that Joe Flacco was working out for the Cleveland Browns.

Who would have ever thought we'd see that? Maybe he then reroutes that plane and goes to Cincinnati, so we'll see what the Bengals do from here, but it is wild how quickly you could go from a team being back and a team looking like they were getting back into Super Bowl form to then boom, your season's over, poof, your season just now fades away into the air, because that's what has happened here in the last three weeks with the Cincinnati Bengals. Coming off two awesome wins, really three awesome wins, against the Seahawks, the 49ers, and the Bills. They were thriving.

They were moving back to the right direction. They won four games in a row, and it's like, okay, they survived the early injury scare to start the season with Joe Burrow. Then you have that back and forth game on the seesaw ride against the Texans, and we know last night they ended up losing 34 to 20 to the Ravens, but the loss is so much bigger than, oh, you just lost a football game and now you even up that record in the craziness of the chase to the AFC playoffs and the seven teams that make it, because now you don't have the quarterback for the rest of the season, and you could argue out of all the teams in the NFL, the most valuable player to his team and to his franchise is Joe Burrow. Now, you could just make as easy of that argument for Patrick Mahomes. We've seen Mahomes get hurt twice in the playoffs, and we've seen Chad Hennewright complete that throw to Tyreek Hill to beat the Browns in the playoff game. We saw Mahomes get hurt last year in the playoffs as well. But you look at Burrow, year one as a rookie, he gets in there, starts to play well, and then tears his ACL. Then year two, which is really his first true year as a starter from start to finish, they go to Super Bowl. Last year, banged up, they get through that, and we know they go to an AFC championship game. And then this year, injured to start the season with the calf injury, finally starts to get healthy, and then you start to deal with the wrist injury, and this wrist injury ends up getting really bad where you have a torn ligament and now you're going to need season-ending surgery. So as long as Burrow's on the field, this team has the look of a Super Bowl contender, this team has the look of a force and a dominant team not only inside the AFC but the entirety of the NFL, and now that evaporates into the thin air because Joe Burrow's done for the season. And we could play this game of who are they going to bring in, and unfortunately, we've had to play this game a lot this year. Aaron Rodgers with the Jets with the torn Achilles, we just played it earlier in the week with Deshaun Watson who's out for the season with the shoulder injury, and now Joe Burrow with the torn ligament in his right wrist.

So we have played this game, who could you pick up, who's going to come out of retirement, and usually when that happens, you are going down a road where there's nowhere to go and you know there's a dead end and you have to stick with the guy that's in your locker room. And Jake Browning was fine last night. You know, he didn't light the world on fire, but he looked competent at times.

But he's not Joe Burrow. And even though this defense is really damn good, led by Lou Anna Rumo and Trey Hendrickson, and on offense, I know T. Higgins was out last night, but you have a ton of pieces in Jamar Chase, Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, T. Higgins, the list goes on and on and on, you could have a great team, you could have the looks of a dominant team, but if you're without your quarterback, you're SOL. And not every team and not every situation has the proper backup quarterback in place to survive, but can function also without their quarterback. You know, when you see Phil Simms go down and Jeff Hostetler takes over and wins a Super Bowl, that's usually an anomaly. When Drew Bledsoe goes down and this kid Tom Brady gets onto the field and wins a Super Bowl in year number one, those are rare occurrences. Carson Wentz, thriving in Philly, playing like the MVP, and then he gets hurt. They had the right backup in Nick Foles who went on a magical run. But nine times out of ten, and I guess you could say the same with Kurt Warner too, but nine times out of ten, you lose your quarterback with how important the quarterback position is in this sport.

Your season's over, your season's done. And it's not as if the Bengals, like the Eagles did a few years ago, were on their way to the number one overall seed. Were so far in front of the pack that they were going to have home field advantage, they were going to have a bye.

After that game last week against the Texans, there were legitimate concerns if the Bengals could still bounce back. And last night when I looked at that spread, and trust me, I did not win a lot of money last night. The three anytime touchdown bets I had, and no, that's not your emergency alert test system, so I don't want to alarm anybody. But I had Mark Andrews anytime touchdown hurt, Lamar Jackson anytime touchdown.

He gets hurt in the game and then returns. And then I also had Jamar Chase, who did not find the end zone. So when you go through those three bets, they did not hit. But the one bet that I did also make in addition to that was laying three and a half points, or excuse me, the Jamar Chase touchdown did hit at the end of the game.

I forgot he scored that touchdown right at the end. So one of those three bets hit, and then laying the three and a half points with Baltimore, you just looked at that line. I thought they were begging you, absolutely begging you to plus the three and a half with the Bengals.

That's what I thought they were begging to do. And once I saw that, I said, man, the Ravens are going to win the game, and the Ravens end up winning the game by 14 points. So you take a glance when you lose your quarterback, and you not only lose your quarterback, but you're already dug so deep into a hole, it's very tough to climb out of it. And that's what the Bengals have. Where it feels like right now, and I can't expect Jake Browning to do anything, even though he looked fine in the game last night, it does appear like the Bengals season is over. And even if they find a way to make the playoffs, what damage are you going to do come postseason time? Because the Bengals are one of the few teams in the NFL where they have Super Bowl or bust expectations.

So just making the playoffs is not good enough for the Cincinnati Bengals. Now if they make the playoffs with Jake Browning as their quarterback, it would be a big accomplishment. And we'll see how great of a coach Zach Taylor is. We'll see how the rest of the team responds.

But I do believe this team checks out because mentally you go from, okay, we're just getting back into it, okay, we're just starting to move in the right direction, and then boom. In a snap of a finger, your quarterback is done for the season. Not only your quarterback, the team's heartbeat, the team's pulse, and the team's leader. And their schedule the rest of the way, you still got to play the Steelers, which we know the Steelers have a great defense, no offense. You still got to play Jacksonville, who's a good team, not a great team. You got to play the Colts, eh. Play the Vikings, trending in the right direction, Steelers again. Then you have Kansas City and the Browns to wrap up the season.

That's a tough schedule, especially with that division. So I just don't see the path now, I just don't see the road for the Bengals to make the playoffs. And you look at it right now, Chiefs, Ravens, Jaguars, Dolphins, Steelers, Browns, Texans will be your seven playoff teams. And when you look at the rest of everybody, Colts are five and five, Raiders are five and five, Bengals are five and five, Bills are five and five. And you still give life to the Chargers, Jets, and Broncos somehow, who are all four and five. So you have a mixture of teams that you're really splitting hairs for that final wildcard spot, let's say, and now you take the Bengals most important player off the field. And circling back to injuries, it was impossible last night when you see the aftermath of the borough situation and now you look at it that way. In addition to, you see Lamar Jackson, and Lamar Jackson is having an MVP quality season.

Lamar Jackson, if the award was given out tomorrow, will either be him or CJ Stroud winning the league's most valuable player. But the Ravens as a team, in addition to Lamar, are playing kick-ass football. And it does still feel like they could be better. That defense is dominant. But offensively, Mitchell's playing well.

Gus Edwards finds the end zone. It stinks that Mark Andrews is now done for the season because he is a big-time imperative role to that team. But as of late, Zay Flowers, who's having a solid rookie season. You see Odell Beckham Jr. starting to come alive the last few weeks. This is a team that I still think there's another level, and with all that being said, they're 8-3.

And they could still get better. But with all that being said, just like as we've seen with Joe Burrow, that could end rather quickly. And last night, unfortunately, when I'm watching the Ravens dominate, when I'm watching the Ravens kick ass against the Cincinnati Bengals, and I see Lamar Jackson suffer that ankle injury, I panic right away.

I look up at the screen and I say, man, this just sucks. Because past history does matter. Look at the past history with Joe Burrow. Look at the past history with Lamar Jackson as well.

We know Burrow's done for the season. Lamar Jackson says he's fine, and this ankle injury is no big deal. But it could change in the NFL off one play, one hit, or one kind of turf monster situation popping up. Because as great as the Ravens are right now, and as awesome of a team that they are, the last two years, Lamar Jackson has not been able to be on the field. And I just hope that history doesn't repeat itself, because if the great eight is healthy in Lamar Jackson, this team can accomplish anything this year. Because there's a short list of Super Bowl contenders. What you are seeing right now is there's a lot of good teams in the NFL, but not a lot of great teams. And in the AFC, the only two teams that I can envision right now getting to the Super Bowl are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. And in the NFC, I think that list is three. It's the Eagles, it's the Lions, and it's the 49ers. So that's a total through ten weeks of the season and the start of week 11, I only think there are five teams that you can make a legitimate argument for and feel great about in making a Super Bowl. Eagles, Lions, 49ers, Chiefs, and the Baltimore Ravens.

So that does turn our attention to the poll question today, which you can find on Twitter at Zach Yellbat CBS Sports Radio. Who represents the AFC in the Super Bowl this year? Ravens, Chiefs, I threw the Dolphins in there as the third option, and then other. Right now the Chiefs are at 39.4%, Ravens are at 30.3%, other at 16.7%, and Dolphins at 13.6%.

I think this is a two-team race. I still give the edge to Kansas City, even though I would have no doubt and no concern about the Ravens going into Kansas City or hosting the Kansas City Chiefs and being able to beat them as we've seen in years past. The reason why I lean more Kansas City is we haven't even seen their offense, just like Baltimore, play their best game and the Chiefs defense is playing really well. But mainly I just look at Lamar Jackson as much of a Lamar supporter and fan that I am and as much as I want to see Lamar Jackson in the Super Bowl because I think would be great for the sport. And I think it would be a lot like Giannis Antetokounmpo of a few years ago where people were like, oh, Lamar just puts up great numbers. Oh, Lamar's just an MVP, but he can't win in the postseason.

And then Giannis gave everybody the middle finger when he won the NBA Finals MVP and then ordered Chick-fil-A after, which was awesome and got all those chicken nuggets, which I loved the next day following him on Instagram Live. But until Lamar makes it to the finish line, and I'm not talking about the Super Bowl, I'm not talking about can he win, but until he gets to the end of the season and is healthy, I just fear after seeing a little bit of it last night, and I hate to predict injuries and I hope that he does not get hurt, that this pops up where it has a similar ending the last two years in a year where quarterbacks are dropping like flies and unfortunately, Lamar gets hurt once again. So I'll have to trust my homes in a year where the AFC is so wide open and how everyone's saying the Chiefs are vulnerable. We had the same song and dance last year, and Kansas City still found a way to get to the Super Bowl. So right now, I would give the slight edge to Kansas City over the Baltimore Ravens. What say you 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27? Who represents the AFC in the Super Bowl this year?

Ravens, Chiefs, Dolphins, or is there another team that you buy into in the AFC? Let's take a break. Courtland Sutton wants people to apologize to Russell Wilson. We'll discuss that when we return. And also, who is an NFL team or a person in the NFL that you need to apologize to? We'll be back.

Yelp shows off and running on a very busy Football Friday. We'll be back in five. What I used to call his fans, Beliebers?

I think so. I like Justin Bieber. And I have, I guess, somewhat of a hot take regarding Justin Bieber. If you are a man and you hate Justin Bieber, it's just because you're jealous of Justin Bieber. There was a time where every girl in America wanted to sleep with Justin Bieber. And I think everyone got jealous of Justin Bieber. Yes, there were some times that he did not conduct himself the right way, and let's not look over that.

But if you're talking about just the ability that he was gifted with considering his voice and then also his looks, yeah, there's a whole lot to be jealous about with Justin Bieber. And if I had to come back in a second life, and some people say, Zach, you have a good voice. Some people say, Zach, your voice is absolutely sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Or have you ever been to a really fancy schmancy restaurant? And then they bring out, I don't know what the device is called, but they clean up the table and they sweep the table at one of like a fancy steakhouse.

I just I can't stand when that machine or that device is used on the tablecloth. It drives me bonkers. But if I would ever come back in a second life and I was reincarnated, I would want to be a singer. I think it would be so awesome to go into like a stadium, 50,000 people, 100,000 people of everybody singing your name and chanting your name.

And you just get to go on stage and perform like that. And also the fun lifestyle that becomes with being as popular and as good looking and as great as Justin Bieber. So I'm always a big fan of Justin Bieber. Now, Stu, I know you are a big fan of Taylor Swift. Are you a fan of Justin Bieber?

Yes or no? I'm not like a fan. Like I adore his music, but I'm not a hater.

Like I'm not like, oh, this is terrible. Like I have probably a few Justin Bieber songs on my music. Now I could just tell by Santa. I'm going to assume, you know, one of those jealous people that I talk about with Justin Bieber about two seconds ago. Santa's going to say he's annoying, he's whiny, he's obnoxious. But down deep, Santa would just love to be Justin Bieber.

I'm going to assume, you don't happen to make an ass out of you and me when you assume. I'm going to assume that one Michael Sander is not a fan of Justin Bieber for those reasons. Who wouldn't want to be a multimillionaire who could be dating women? But I do find him to be insufferable. I think he's awful. I think his music is disgusting. It's not fun.

It's not interesting. I think he is just a scumbag. We don't need to use that word. He is. He's not. He's great. He's a great singer.

I'm a big fan of Justin Bieber. You know, he's a great singer, but he's got a terrible personality. He's an absolutely entitled little punk. I can't stand the guy. Now, you want to call it jealousy?

It's not about jealousy. There are plenty of successful, good-looking guys out there who date wonderful women and have a lot of money that I adore. Justin Timberlake, love him. Austin Kutcher, whatever his name is. I think he's great.

There's a lot of guys. Zac Gelb, love him, right? That was the next name you were going to say? I'm talking about successful, handsome people.

What are we doing here? Are you talking about me? No, the opposite.

So there's plenty. He's just not one of them. He's just one of those guys who I find to be insufferable because of how he behaves, how he acts, and that mustache. Do you remember there was a time where paparazzi caught Justin Bieber walking around his mansion or outside his mansion right by his pool? He may have been on vacation or it's where he lives and he was absolutely fully naked. Do you remember at all the viral quote from this?

No. Well, let's just say his male body part went viral and people were talking about how large that male body part is. So he was asked about in an interview and he goes, I was freaking out when it first was getting put out there and people like I saw the headline. Oh, look at Justin Bieber's you know what? And he goes, I was really concerned what it looked like because, you know, out in the sun, you just get out of the pool. Maybe the pool's a little bit cold.

You get a little shrinkage. And then he looks right into the camera and he goes and everyone was talking about how enormous this thing was. And he goes, I actually thought it was going to look bigger. And I thought that was a very good line by Justin Bieber.

And it was very creative. And I'm sure you just love Bieber because of that. I've never heard about that.

I've never seen the video or even heard the video existed. I don't care about that. Knowing Bieber, I'm assuming it was a publicity stunt.

He was intentionally walking around naked, invited the paparazzi to sneak in and he put some prosthetic on to begin with. I don't even care, though. I don't care about that.

I don't even know about that. His piece of deal was the size of you. All the other stuff I know about him. He just he just comes off as just an insufferable fool. And it's just I can't stand him. It's just like Justin Timberlake.

I want he could be my best friend. OK. Right.

So there's no jealousy about good looking, successful, handsome men who date beautiful women. It's just him particularly. You need to be careful in the music world here. And here's why. Because the guitarist for Avril Lavigne, as I told you, is a big fan of this show. Dave, he listens all the time. He's my favorite guitarist in the world.

Well, music circles are very close. So I have not asked him his relationship, if he does have any, with Justin Bieber. Now, he promised me for your next big birthday, he will get Avril Lavigne to do a little shout out.

Happy birthday to Moist Mike, all that stuff. That's the only time you'd like to hear the name Moist Mike if it's come from Avril Lavigne. And if you are being disrespectful to one of their own in the music world, I just don't know how that's going to work in the music world circle. So I would just tread very lightly. You know, Avril Lavigne is a princess.

Be careful here. Avril Lavigne is wonderful. Avril Lavigne is everything that music is supposed to be. And there's no doubt in my mind that Avril Lavigne will look down on certain behaviors of said Justin Bieber. So I'm sure the guitarist shares those views and Avril understands where I'm coming from. Sounds like a lawyer here. Yeah.

You know, listen, when you have the talent that she has and when you have the aura that she has, you know, she understands. Gotcha. Alrighty. Well, anyway, is it too late now to say sorry is how we bounce back from break. Courtland Sutton posted an Russell Wilson apology for him on his Instagram. This thing is funny. Russell Wilson apology for him. Reason for behavior. The media convinced me that Russ was the problem, not Nathaniel Hackett.

That's actually pretty good. I didn't actually watch the games last season. These are the checkboxes. I'm a Seahawks fan and I'm a Geno Smith supporter.

I only looked at advanced statistics and analytics. I don't know Jack bleep about football. Your apology to Russell Wilson should be louder than the disrespect you gave him last year. Let me comment on this here. Is Russell Wilson having a good season individually?

Yeah. Right now, he's just under 2000 yards passing. He has 18 touchdowns, the four interceptions. Russell Wilson has improved from last season. Russell Wilson has not fallen off a cliff, which the way it was looking like it was going to be and trending towards after last season. But Russell Wilson is still not an elite great quarterback that right now. We're all shaking in our boots. If you were going up against the Denver Broncos and just adding further point to this.

We don't hand out participation trophies on this show. So just because Russell Wilson is playing well and he's playing better and he's playing good football, doesn't mean we need to apologize to Russell Wilson. Last time I checked, the Broncos are four and five. Last time I checked, Russell Wilson is still not a top five quarterback in this league. And when you traded all those draft picks and gave him the extension and the lucrative extension, you don't just get a pat on the head and let me say, oh, I need to say sorry to Russell Wilson because the team is four and five and he's playing competent football.

So let's pump the brakes a little bit. Courtland Sutton on demanding that people issue an apology to one Russell Wilson. Now, with that being said, who is someone who is a team in the NFL that through the first 10, 11 weeks of the season, you need to issue an apology to? I will start with Stu. Who is the team or who is the player, person, whatever you want to say, coach, GM, executive that you need to apologize to in the NFL? Definitely not Josh McDaniels. I will go with the Houston Texans.

Ooh. They made that draft. They trade to get up for Will Anderson with the third pick with the Cardinals. They traded this year's first round pick as well as the third round pick. And I was like, oh, I don't know about this rookie quarterback kind of a rebuild. This feels like this could be a team that's in the bottom five. See how CJ Stroud would progress. Well, CJ Stroud's amazing. They look good.

They're five and four. They have a good shot at the playoffs right now. Pretty easy division minus the Jaguars. So you had a Texans or team that I didn't think were going to be anywhere near a playoff team and there at least have a chance to make the playoffs. And I'm not saying we shouldn't have taken the Texans seriously a week ago after the two wins that they just had with what CJ Stroud did up against the Bucks with the 470 yards and the five touchdowns. And then what he did the following week in that great game up against the Bengals. But it's like, OK, they're five and four.

It's like, where are you going? But then in just the span of this week, the team that you just beat the following week, the week earlier, they just lost their quarterback for the season in Joe Burrow. And also the Browns in your conference just lost to Sean Watson for the season. So even though there is a grouping of teams with similar records are right close in the mix, now the Texans where we were in the beginning of the week, where it's like, OK, so I have some skepticism about them making the playoffs, even though we all acknowledge they're moving in the right direction. Now, it does feel a lot more realistic. And also, the Jaguars have come back down to earth, too, where they showed they could just be good teams and not great teams.

So maybe they're alive for the division. So that's a good one. A little mea culpa from Stuart Kovacs. All right.

Moist Mike, what do you got, Santer? Well, within my own division, a team that I've hated my entire life since I was a kid, the Miami Dolphins. I have to apologize for two or two to a tongue of Aloha because I have been anti to just saying that you're not a part of the two and on. Well, I am now.

I know. But first off, man, trash. Justin Bieber is the guy you trust.

You just trash Justin Bieber and then you weren't a fan of to a tongue of Aloha. I'm surprised when you walk out of the studio every day, there's not a group of people waiting to just kick your ass. Oh, every other day. That's why I have this black guy right here. No, I like to.

Yeah, I got one every other day. I get why I just get beat up all day, every day. No, but like, I think you're joking when you say that. But I look at the camera. No, I don't have a black eye. Your eye does look a little bit darker when I look at the camera.

Maybe it's the lighting. That was from Stu, I think. What, Stu just elbowed you during the break?

All the time. He puts you in a Draymond green charcoal. He comes off as this nice guy, but Stu is just vicious.

He's a violent, vicious human being. For all the Raider jokes. I mean, you guys beat my jet, so I guess I can't. Oh, fraud alert.

Fraud alert. We all know you're still a jet fan. Stop with the shnick.

Never. But no, I thought Tua was a good quarterback, but I never thought that he was going to be in the elite level quality starting quarterback that I thought. I thought he was going to be injury prone. I thought this whole I'm practicing judo was going to be nonsense. He was going to be hurt by week two.

It's different. Tua is a top five quarterback. He is top five, top ten.

I can't go top five, top five, top six. Well, maybe after all these injuries, potentially in the top five. Rogers done for the year. Burrow done for the year.

Yeah. Quarterbacks are dropping like flies. I don't think I'm putting Josh Allen above Tua. When he's healthy, is as good of a quarterback in the NFL as there is. Better than Mahomes?

Outside of Mahomes. Better than Burrow? On the same plane as Burrow. Jalen Hurts?

On the same plane as Hurts. When he's healthy, the numbers he's good. How accurate. He's really good.

And listen, I get it. Tyreek Hill makes people better. Makes quarterbacks better. Tyreek Hill is legit. But that offense and Tua, like not everybody can run that offense. I picked the Dolphins to win the AFCs before the start of the season. So you can't say I don't believe in the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins though are the definition right now this year. Good team, not great team.

I don't agree with you. Against in their three biggest games of the season, they lost to the Bills. They got embarrassed by the Bills. They lost to the Chiefs and they lost to the Eagles and what was damaging to Tua, who's having a remarkable season, if it wasn't for DeMar Hamlin, he would be the comeback player of the year.

There's no doubt about that. But in that game against the Chiefs in Germany, he's driving with the game on the line trying to tie it up. Maybe they get the touchdown, go for two.

He had one of the worst underthrows I've ever seen and then the next play fumbles the snap. That, to me, still says Tua took a big step this year. But to go into the top five, to go into the elite category, he still has some work to do and the Dolphins as a team still have work to do.

We'll see at the end of the year. I'm a believer in Tua, I'm a believer in that team and I'm a believer in Mike McDaniel. I think that they're going to be a force in the AFC and the NFL for the next half decade or more.

Alrighty, here's my mea culpa and the team I need to say sorry to. It's the Detroit Lions. I don't know, maybe just because naturally everyone in America was hyping up the Lions before the start of the season. And I said I would not be shocked if they missed the playoffs. I thought they would just be a wildcard team if they make the playoffs. But through the first 10 weeks of the season, and I know the Vikings are getting hot, but I still think the Lions will win their first division title since 1993.

And not only do I think they'll win their first playoff game since 1991, I could see them winning multiple playoff games. Dan Campbell is a stud. Dan Campbell is a great coach and I don't use that word very freely and very often. Alex Anzalone has been phenomenal on the defensive side of the ball. Aiden Hutchinson should have been the number one overall pick. I do not know what the Jaguars are doing with Trayvon Walker. And then you look at the offensive side of the ball, Jared Goff is looking like a franchise quarterback.

Amara St. Brown continues to be one of the more underappreciated players in the sport when it comes to the wide receiving position. Jameer Gibbs is just starting to get hot. David Montgomery survived the injury scare. This team has everything right in front of them. And they're a team I need to apologize because I did not think they were going to make the playoffs.

I thought they would have a good season and then just come up short because everyone was picking them to win that division and to make the playoffs this year. So I say sorry to the Detroit Lions. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Take a break. We'll come on back. We'll update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. But first up standing by with the latest CBS Sports Radio update. Here he is. The act man.

Rich Ackerman. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

Let's start it off. This is from a few moments ago, Joe Burrow did address reporters. This is following the announcement that Joe Burrow is out for the season with a torn ligament in his right wrist. This was Joe Burrow being asked if the injury that he suffered had anything to do with why he was wearing the brace that was kind of caught on camera that was released by the Bengals and wasn't intentionally doing so to get out there to the public in terms of, oh, he's wearing something on his right wrist. But does this injury have anything to do with that photo that we saw and why you had a brace on your right hand?

This is a completely different, different thing. You know, it's not uncommon for guys to wear compression sleeves on playing because when you go up to that altitude, you know, things can swell up. You know, football, you have a lot of bumps and bruises. This is a completely new injury. Now, none of us are world-class athletes.

I think that's the easiest thing that I've ever had to say on CBS Sports Radio, judging by myself, Samter and Stu. Speak for yourself. Have you ever gone on a plane though and said, oh, I'm fearful of my wrist or my hands swelling up so I'm going to use some device? No, not my hands, but I have actually worn a compression sleeve on my leg one time. Really? Yes.

What for? Someone had mentioned something about how the altitude could actually cause swelling. So I wore compression. I mean, everything's fine, but I was warned ahead of time.

So I do know that to be somewhat reality. So first and foremost, all the best to Joe Burrow. Hope he heals very quickly. I'm one of the biggest Joe Burrow fans that there is.

I love Joe Burrow. But what you just said, the reason why you did that was because there's a pre-existing injury. The reason why you put that sleeve on is because there was some existing injury that you were fearful of when you got on the plane, correct? It wasn't like an acute injury, but it was like something was bothering me. So there was still something wrong with Joe Burrow, why he would put that on and therefore why wasn't he on the injury report? And that's like still part of this where there's going to be that investigation. So he could say this is nothing to do with it, something totally different, unless you're just wearing that for the sake of wearing it.

And he could just be like a few bumps and bruises naturally the course of the season. But if something is needed for you to wear that, fair minimum, you should be on the injury report, no? Yes. But again, with that kind of situation, again, with a quarterback where your hand is the most important thing, I don't know, maybe quarterbacks do that frequently whenever they fly long distances or something like that.

I don't know. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a significant acute injury that like right now I have this injury to my wrist and therefore I'll wear this. It could just be a thing. Sometimes people fly and some people are more prone to getting swelling than others. So maybe he's just one of those people who when he flies, that's what he wears. Yeah. But let's go track the history of him flying to other destinations this year.

I'm sure the internet trolls will be having a field day with this. If he never wears it ever and this is the only time he's done it, then that's something fishing to me. Let's go to Dan Campbell. He was asked about the reports that his alma mater A&M, he's the dream candidate. Does he have any interest in the A&M job at the Aggies? Unofficially, officially, did Texas A&M approach you? Maybe, but you know, that's all good, you know, and certainly I know some people there and I love my school, you know, that's my, you know, alma mater and I want to do anything I can to help them, but coach for them, so, and I'll do that.

Yeah, you're going to be a helping hand to the university now. I don't know how much of an involvement he's going to have in the search, but you'd be foolish to leave the NFL where it's easier to coach the NFL than it is college and there's fewer responsibilities and also you have a team right now in what is usually a dreadful organization that is absolutely rolling, you'd be the dumbest person on the planet. You go from like the most well liked guy to being the dumbest person on the planet if you left the NFL right now for the A&M job.

Let's go to Julian Edelman, he was on the Colin Coward and he says he doesn't defend Mac Jones. This is a production business, okay, and everyone keeps on wanting to say, oh, he's had three offensive coordinators, he's had the, so is Lamar Jackson, so is Lamar Jackson and he's really only had two offensive coordinators. I had Billy O'Brien and Josh McDaniels and that's the same scheme, that's the same, there's a couple wrinkles here and there, but you're fundamentally doing the same things. It's just been tough for Mac to execute in the high pressure situations and it comes down to his confidence, he's lost his confidence. Mac Jones has not been put in the best position to succeed, but we could also acknowledge Mac Jones has made some terrible throws and some terrible decisions, which you don't just give him a pass, like the stupidity last year of having those two bozos in Joe Judge and Matt Patricia run the offense is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in the history of football.

And then this year you get an actual offensive coordinator, but you don't have the great weapons around him. Still, when you're driving late in the game and you have already got through 56, 57 minutes of football, that shouldn't be the reason why you make a hellacious throw and throw a pick to the other team. So yes, Mac has not been put in a position to succeed, but it does not exonerate Mac from his own individual decision making as well. Stefan Diggs on his brother saying he wants out of Buffalo in a series of tweets that we talked about earlier in the week. I'm not responsible for how other people feel, anybody in this room for this matter, a reporter, a player, even my own brother, you know what I'm saying, like I love my brother and the space that my brother's coming from is my family, you know what I'm saying, so you want to know how he feels, you got to take it up with him.

The only thing I'll say though, if let's just say my sister was tweeting things out about me, and I had a problem with her tweeting those things out, I would say stop tweeting those things out. So since Stefan Diggs is like, oh, this is my brother, he's entitled to his own opinions, but does he have those beliefs on his own, or have you guys in what was a tumultuous off season talked about maybe how you want to try to get on up out of Buffalo? And is that Trayvon Diggs doing your dirty work? That's the question that still remains unknown to me, even with Stefan Diggs record for the start of the season saying he loves Buffalo and how much he wants to still remain a Buffalo Bill, there was a big problem this past offseason, the toothpaste came shooting out of the tube, all of it.

And then Sean McDermott didn't help putting the toothpaste back in the tube and then Diggs did that right at minicamper training camp where he tried to put all the toothpaste back in the tube and that's just a disaster. And now finally, here is Saquon Barkley on loyalty. Do you hope that you see that as loyalty or commitment? Loyalty, there's nothing.

No matter how loyal, no matter how committed you are, it's something that I've learned. He loves New York. I think he's done with the Giants though. He wants a contract extension. They I guess got close this offseason, but yet so far, I guess they could franchise tag him again, but if he hits the open market this year, I don't think he returns to the New York Giants.

I don't think he would be as good as gone if he gets to the open market. And that's why I thought the Giants should have traded him at the deadline because this giant team was going nowhere. And even though you have a regime that's been together for two years, it's gonna be a big offseason for the Giants, but it does feel as if when they made a big step last year, now they've taken a big step back that you don't have a ton of pieces that you really move forward with. And I don't think Shane nor Dayball get fired at the end of this year and you're technically not starting over, but it does feel as if this team is starting right over because Daniel Jones isn't the answer.

And I don't think they get a long term deal done with Saquon Barkley and it would be kind of stupid to give a running back long term money when this team is still very far away. Take a break. We'll come on back.

We'll discuss the Buffalo Bills and one thing they need to do this weekend up against the Jets Ew, gotta 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. Only Rinse and Refresh removes more odor in one wash than the leading value detergent in three washes. Find it wherever you buy laundry products.