Zach Gelb Hour 3

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. Alrighty, this is Zach Yelb's show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. Hour number 3 of our radio program. The coach of the Oregon Ducks, Stan Lanning, gonna stop by 20 minutes from now. Pac-12 championship game tomorrow.

Oregon and Washington. Can't wait for that. And I gotta get some good sandwiches tomorrow I think after the show. I was thinking of maybe doing big time sandwiches on Saturday. Maybe I should probably still do that because it's the entire slate of games on Saturday and it's just one big game on Friday. But I gotta order, I gotta cook up something good on Friday evening because I can't wait for Oregon and Washington. I'm thinking about some of the better football games of the season. Michigan, Ohio State clearly won. Washington and Oregon was a sensational game.

Red River between Texas and Oklahoma was a big time football game. But you look at that Washington-Oregon game, that's the best college football game that I've seen this season. And the Pac-12, I know they beat up on one another, but you still have Washington and Oregon remaining I would think. Washington wins are definitely the college football playoff. I have a tough time believing a one loss Pac-12 champ in Oregon whose only loss was Washington would be left out of the college football playoff.

But I guess we've seen crazier things happen in this world. But with all that being said, that game was just flat out ridiculous. And I love the storylines with Kalen DeBoer, whether it's Sioux Falls or Fresno State, wherever he did go, he has won and won it at a ridiculous level. And two years in as the head football coach of Washington, he's only lost two games and I think it's both of those games were about eight points or less.

So Kalen DeBoer's phenomenal. And you look at his quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. You know, the way that we're talking about Michael Penix Jr. is a little similar to the way people are talking about the Eagles and they're talking about Jalen Hurts. Where last year the stats were just so eye popping and a lot of people were making a case just like they were for Jalen Hurts and Michael Penix Jr. to win the MVP or for Michael Penix Jr. to win the Heisman Trophy.

And a lot of people were annoyed that Michael Penix Jr. did not receive an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy. Now, we know the Eagles had more individual team success last year than Washington. But this year, especially ever since that victory up against Oregon, some of the games for Washington haven't been the prettiest. And it's drawing comparisons to the Eagles being 10 and 1 and each and every week people are saying, oh, the Eagles are 10 and 1, but they're the most overrated 9 and 1, 8 and 1, 10 and 1 team that we've ever seen.

I'm like, what are you guys talking about? Sean Merriman, who joined us earlier, made a great point. When people aren't expecting you to be great and you end up being great, like the Eagles were last year and Washington was last year, you could still be great the next season. But both of those teams, like when you look at Philadelphia, I don't want to say they've taken a step back and Washington is now undefeated, so you can't say they've taken a step back, but the product is not going to be perfect because you put tape for others to see on the field and all these teams, their coaches, they get paid to adjust and they get paid to adapt.

So even though the Eagles aren't blowing teams out at the rate that they were last year and Washington down the stretch has struggled even though they haven't lost the game, even when they're not at their apex and the level of greatness that maybe they were at times last year, it's still better than what most of the other teams have in the sport. So I look at this matchup, Washington and Oregon, the reason why I'm so excited for this is if the kicker for Oregon just makes the kick at the end, that game goes to overtime. And you see Dabor and Pennix, tremendous two year story, and then you have Dan Lanning, who I say this all the time when Dan joins us, I love a football coach that has some psycho in him. And this dude, he wakes up in the morning, like I wake up, I have coffee, Dan Lanning wakes up, his coffee is coaching football. And you just saw that look in his eye, you know, in his eyes, when he was, he was given the speech before the Colorado game. And he was like, you talk with your helmet, you talk with your helmet, and you just saw like the emotion and the passion for what this guy does. It's good to have a coach that's got a little football psycho in him. You know, not real life psycho, just football psycho.

It's pretty damn good. And you get his quarterback Bo Nix, who comes over from Auburn, where he was disappointing outside of like that first drive of his career. He won that big game as the quarterback of Auburn with War Eagle.

And the last two years, he was sensational last year. And right now, you know, I think he should be the favorite to win the Heisman. Like I look at the Heisman right now. And I had to be careful here because I am a voter. And I'm not saying how I'm voting.

I'm just telling you the way I'm assessing the field right now, because I agree with Yogi Roth who joined us early in the week. You do not, or you should not, but I got my ballot on Monday. The way it works is you get three votes for the Heisman Trophy, you get a first place vote, a second place vote, third place vote, and that's it. So you could cast your vote on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, this week, all the way up until Monday afternoon I think deadlines like four or 5pm Eastern.

Anyone that has already casted their vote. What are you doing. You got to see how this weekend plays out. And I know the kid at LSU Daniels is having a phenomenal season. He's having a great season. But I can't cast the vote for the Heisman Trophy until I see what Michael Pennix Jr. and Bo Nix do up against one another.

Now I'm just gonna get on a limb here. I don't think that's going to be a 13 to 10 game. If it's a 13 to 10 game. Yeah, Daniels of LSU is going to win the Heisman, most likely. But Michael Pennix wins that game and beats Oregon twice, and let's say he throws for four or five touchdown passes.

How does he not get your first place vote. And Bo Nix who right now, I think is the pick for the Heisman. Bo Nix goes and avenges the one loss that he had this year, where it wasn't his fault. And he throws four or five touchdown passes in that game, and wins the Pac-12 championship game, you're not gonna vote him for the Heisman Trophy. I thought Marvin Harrison Jr. had a case to made to be made but Ohio State didn't get to the Big Ten championship game. But overall, it's like, the way I look at it, whoever wins this Pac-12 championship game, assuming that there's some offense in it, and I believe there will be offense in it. That should be the winner of the Heisman Trophy in my opinion. Now I say that going in, and there's a lot of times I say things going into games, and they don't play out the way that I think they are, or right after the game ends, I have a different take. That's why you should not vote for the Heisman Trophy until Conference Championship Weekend is over. Today's Memorable Moment is sponsored by Prevagen.

Prevagen is the most recommended memory support brand by pharmacists. The most memorable moment between the Seahawks and Cowboys came in their 2006 NFC wildcard game matchup. Seattle was up 21-20 as they were about to kick an extra point, or a game winning field goal excuse me, it was a 19 yard field goal. However, acting as the holder was Tony Romo, he botched a snap and was tackled just before reaching the end zone.

I'll never forget that game. I remember watching my old man, Bill Parcells was the coach of the Cowboys, was it Quincy Carter? Was that his name? Was that the quarterback? I think for the Dallas Cowboys, I want to say that's who the quarterback was. But Tony Romo is on there, and he has the ball snapped to him, and he fumbles it, and he picks it up and just comes up short of the end zone, and Seattle ends up winning the game. That game, and then also, was it Blair Walsh of the Vikings? I think it was Blair Walsh who was the kicker who missed the kick outside. That was when they had to, when Minnesota was building a new stadium, they had to play at the Golden Gopher Stadium. And for Minnesota, you had that kick up against Seattle where he missed it, and it was like a chip shot field goal.

I'm pretty sure it was Blair Walsh. It's crazy how the Seahawks are in both those games, where it comes down to a kick, and the kick isn't good. There's just some teams, like usually we think about it, oh there's teams that always find a way to lose a game. Like Minnesota's one of those teams historically, Atlanta's one of those teams historically, you get in a big game, and you come up short. I know Seattle, right, they got in the big game, you have the whole Malcolm Butler interception scenario that didn't go their way.

But there is directly two kicks that they benefited from to advance further in the playoffs. So for tonight's game, it's weird. I think in terms of the way that we talk about things nationally, I think there's more pressure on the Dallas Cowboys. Because the Cowboys lose this game tonight, what is everyone in the country going to be saying tomorrow? Well, Dallas is going up against a good team, not even a great team, and they couldn't beat a good team. Because Dallas so far this season, they have not beat a team that's above.500. Dallas this season, they have beat up on a lot of bad teams, and they have smothered these bad teams, so give them credit for taking care and just dominating an inferior opponent. But in their two biggest games of the season, up against San Francisco and up against the Eagles, I know Cowboys fans want to parade around like they got a victory up against the Eagles, you did lose the game. Your offense played well, but football isn't about giving out moral victories, and you didn't even show up against the 49ers.

So in terms of, it's weird to say, in terms of coverage, I do think the coverage pressure is more so on Dallas because then tomorrow everyone's going to slam them if they lose this game to Seattle. But if you look at the records, the Cowboys are 8-3, the Seahawks are 6-5. Now, the NFC, they have some good teams this year, but there's more depth in the AFC.

Like I actually think the NFC has better teams at the top than the AFC, but when you go from the chase to be one of these seven seeds in the playoff picture, it's going to be tougher to make the playoffs in the AFC compared to the NFC. But for Seattle, you lose this game tonight, you're then sitting there at 6-6 on the season, and also 6-6 Minnesota. You have the Falcons who are 5-6, but right now they would be their division champ. You have the Green Bay Packers at 5-6, the Rams at 5-6, the Saints at 5-6 as well. And then basically all those teams are out of it, like a 4-1 Tampa Bay team, a 4-1 Giants team, a 4-1 Bears team. So it's not that Seattle fans should be freaking out that they're going to miss the playoffs, but then you get thrown in this category of, okay, like you look around, Dallas is going to be a wildcard spot. Because the Eagles are going to win their division, so that's one.

There's only two wildcard spots remaining. You've got to find a way to prevail over teams like Minnesota, teams like Green Bay, even Los Angeles, the Saints down the stretch, which it's not impossible. But it does make things a little bit hairy, where if you win this game tonight and you improve to 7-5, you know, you only got to win probably two more games the rest of the year. Not that you want to finish the year 9-8, but this Seattle team, they get to win tonight. They have seven wins of the season. They do have a tough schedule. They put the 49ers again, the Eagles, Tennessee, the Steelers, and the Cardinals.

You only got to win two more games, and 9-8 should make the playoffs in the NFC. I think this could be a good game tonight. I do believe the Cowboys are going to win the game. I think the Cowboys are going to win the game. I know the spread is like 9-9.5 points.

It's been moving back and forth there. I do believe Vegas is begging us all to plus the points with the Seahawks, and sometimes Vegas does that, and most of the times you look like a fool if you take the easy bait. I'm going to plus the points tonight.

I actually got it up to 10-10.5, and I did that in a parlay. It was Seahawks plus 10.5 and a CD Lamb any time touchdown. Get some good odds right there.

I think it was plus like 275 or something like that. Now the score I'm going to give you, you're just saying, Zach, you probably should have just taken the number on where the number was, but I do fear that this could be like a 30-20 game, but I do think it's going to be a little bit closer than that. I feel as if this could be a 27-23 game that Dallas is going to take care of business up against the Seattle Seahawks.

8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. Let's go to Laura in Arizona next up on CBS Sports Radio. Laura, what's happening?

How are you today? It's so nice to hear from you guys and listen to you again. You made a comment about my Cowboys losing to, we lost under.500 to a few games. I'm a realistic Cowboy fan, major realistic Cowboy fan.

I don't think every year they're going to go to the Super Bowl. I don't like Dak Prescott. Why do you not like Dak Prescott, just wondering?

I'm sorry, because he hasn't proven anything. Only in the last few games he has been. About the Tony Romo thing, do you remember when they were playing Green Bay and Dez Bryant dropped that ball? That drove me crazy, that ball. I was like, no, he caught it! I thought he caught it too, and that's a long time good debate, Dez caught it. That is something that I will, I don't usually see eye-to-eye with Cowboy fans. Laura, you actually seem like a sane Cowboy fan, but I do agree with you that Dez Bryant caught that football.

Right, right, and don't forget we lost to the Cardinals this year too, and that was a team we were like, what? And Dak was driving towards the end of the game trying to get you back in it, and he was inside the 15-20 yard line and threw an interception. So you think you win the game tonight? You feel confident? I feel like it's not going to be a blowout like it has been. I think it's going to be maybe a few points ahead of the Seahawks. But when we play the Seahawks it's always a good game, always.

Yeah, and I got to think, and thanks for the phone call Laura, I always appreciate it when you call and listen to the show. I got to think this is a close game tonight because you got to remember the other side. Seattle got embarrassed, like emasculated last week, up against the 49ers. Last two weeks, their quarterback, Geno Smith, has not been 100% healthy. With who their coach is in Pete Carroll, with the roster that they have assembled, where there's a lot of talent on that team, I got to think that they at least have some pride tonight and make this a game. I don't think they're going to win. I think the Cowboys are the better team.

I agree with Laura's analysis that it's going to be by a few points. And actually, I think this is the first time I ever talked to a Cowboy fan and I thought they were realistic. It's crazy, because she's right. Most Cowboys are like, I love Dak Prescott. She's like, I don't like Dak Prescott that much. Because he's like the definition of a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. And yeah, it's nice when you dress up all these stats and you beat up on these inferior teams, you take care of business and you dominate. But, in the two biggest moments of the year, you didn't win the game. And now for the Cowboys, in a year we're sure, it's the Eagles and 49ers, those are the two best teams in the NFC. But you got to be the third best team in the NFC. Because all it takes is one of those teams to go down in the divisional round, you win the wildcard, maybe take down that team in the divisional round, and the next thing you know, you're somewhere where you haven't been since the 1995 season, that's in an NFC title game. And you're 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl. The Cowboys have a really good team.

Really good. But I just don't think they're a great team. But they lose tonight. Seattle wins tonight, I don't think a lot of people are talking about the Seahawks tomorrow.

I think they're saying out there, good team, but I think we all know Seattle has limitations. But Dallas loses this game tomorrow. Everyone's saying, see, that's Dallas. Look at Dallas. All those fans, you know, chirping in my mentions, all those fans saying to me, oh Zach, you got to be nervous about the Cowboys?

You got to get the Cowboys a little bit more love. Oh, they beat the snot out of the Panthers. Oh, they crushed the Giants twice.

Oh, they destroyed the Commanders 45 to 10. Yeah, it's nice to keep it up those bad teams. But then let's look at the losses. Lost to the Cardinals, bad team. You lost to the 49ers, great team. You lost to the Eagles, great team. Got a chance to avenge it next week. You lose to Seattle, that's like the next best team that you played. And that'd be, three losses would be, three out of the four losses, three of them would be the three best teams you played on your schedule this season. So that's why, even though from a record standpoint, there is probably more pressure on Seattle, but in terms of the coverage of it, man, it would be a long day for a Cowboy fan tomorrow if they lose this game tonight.

Also being at home too, where no one can beat the Cowboys at home, that's what the stats say these days. Take a break, come on back. The head football coach of Oregon is Dan Lanning. He plays for a Pac-12 championship tomorrow. We'll go out to Eugene and he'll join us next.

The importance of talking to a human being on the phone, and most importantly, the power of a box of that. Listen on the Odyssey, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. We continue to Zach Geld show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. The best college football game I've seen this season was Oregon up against Washington. We'll do it again on Friday for the Pac-12 championship game.

And the winner will most likely go to the college football playoff. And now joining us is the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. Always enjoy when he joins us on CBS Sports Radio.

And that's Coach Dan Lanning. Coach, appreciate the time. How you been?

Doing great. Yeah, thanks for having me. So last time we had you on, I talked about how when you get on the football field during your sanctuary and you're just wired a certain way.

And that's your fix. Like I drink coffee in the morning. That gets me going. You coach football.

That gets you going. I'm just wondering, how do you handle this week where the stakes are bigger? There's the natural excitement of the game. And then also you have to diligently prepare this team. Like, are you at the point where you just want it to be Friday already? Yeah, it's hard, you know, because you want it to be Friday, you know, probably four weeks ago.

But at the same note, you enjoy the preparation and the product. And I'm just really proud of the way our players have worked this week. And I know they're anxious to get on the field, but we want to use every minute, every second we have to continue to prepare for this game. And I know that you try to treat it like it's every other game, but it's not. How do you kind of just make this be sort of a normal week and not go too far away from what you guys are usually doing? I think the one thing that we do here is we live in a reality when we know this isn't a normal game. This isn't just another game now. It's going to require normal preparation.

It's going to require, you know, normal execution, but it isn't just a normal game. So I think you recognize the elephant in the room early on, communicate that with your players and then say, okay, what are we going to do about it? And like I said, our guys have responded really well this week. They've had a great week of practice and hopefully that translates to the field.

Dan Lanning here with us. What do you take from that loss up against Washington in that game a few weeks ago? Well, a lot of times adversity makes a man, adversity makes a team. And I think I see a team that's responded extremely well to that they've learned and they've grown from that moment. And I see a team that's gotten better every single week since then. And that's special when you're talking about a group of men that put everything they have into this game and you know what they want to be elite.

They want to go out there and operate a really high level. We played a really good team and away game. There was a really hostile environment and we came close, but didn't pull it off. Now we get an opportunity to play them again. So great, great for us.

Excited about the work our guys have done and ready to see it show up on Friday. And that's why it's been such a joy to watch your team over the last month or two, because after having that loss, sometimes that could break a team. Sometimes that could make a team go down a path where it takes them a few weeks to get back into full gear. You guys have got into full gear and everyone that steps on the field, you guys have been dominating. Why was that, that once you had the loss against Washington, your team didn't break and it didn't let you define your season that way? Well, we're a team that's built with a lot of leaders, some guys that are competitors that realize how unique the opportunity is to get to play at Oregon and how unique the opportunity it is to get to play in the settings that we get to play in right now and what lies ahead of us.

And you can go your entire career, you can play your entire career and never get to be a part of games like this. So I think our guys appreciate that moment and appreciate the opportunity in front of them. I saw the finalists for the Blitnikov Award did come out. Terry Franklin wasn't on it, has 77 receptions this year, nearly 1,400 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. I know you're focused on the Pac-12 championship game, but did you kind of just chuckle when that happened when he wasn't a finalist?

Yeah, somebody made a mistake there, obviously. And, you know, hopefully Troy has something to say about it on Friday. How about the jump that he's taken this year? Yeah, he's a special player. He works really hard.

He's extremely intelligent. We're moving around the field and put him in a lot of different positions. In big moments, he shows up.

So really proud of the way he's performed and I know he's proud of the people around him that made that possible. And let me stay in that wide receiving room and get to Tez Johnson. Here's what's unique nationally about this Pac-12 championship game. You know what Tez's story, you know what he's all about. And if you followed Oregon football, you know the story. But this year with more people tuning in in this game, everyone now gets to find out about the story about Tez Johnson.

Just what do you want people to know about his story? And it's really a cool one getting adopted by Bo Nix's family, starting at Troy now with your program having a monster second half of the season. Yeah, you know, Tez is a guy that grew up wearing Oregon gear and didn't come to Oregon initially. So getting the opportunity to come here because of, you know, big in part because of his brother, Bo. And us finding out that we have a diamond in the rough in Tez and how hard he works. You know, he's a guy that loves the game and he's the ultimate competitor. When he steps on the practice field, it doesn't matter if it's a Monday or if it's a Saturday game, he wants to go compete.

So I think those same traits are showing up for him and he's been able to perform at a high level for us. Take me behind the scenes how he got to Oregon. Was it just as simple as Bo one day came into the room and said, guys, I have a pretty good hidden secret in Tez Johnson?

Yeah, pretty much. You know, he entered the portal and, you know, the minute that happened, you know, Bo came into my office and said, coach, you need to take a look at this guy. And we watched this film. We said, OK, yeah, this is a guy that can help us. I don't know if anybody, any of us realized how much he would help us at the time. And he's done a great job, really, really pleased with his performance.

When did it click? When did you realize, man, Bo wasn't lying when he said this guy would really help us? Well, even this spring, you know, we have moments this spring where, you know, his speed and athleticism showed up. And then you just love a guy that has the energy and enthusiasm to go out there and play at a really high level. And like I said, when he steps on the field, he competes. And that's that to me is the most important trait of any football player. Are you an ultimate competitor?

And he has that trait. Oregon coach Dan Lanning joining us a few days away from the Pac-12 championship game. His Ducks will go up against Washington. We've talked before about your quarterback, Bo Nix, and you believed in him when you had to go up against him, when you were at Georgia and he was at Auburn. For you guys to grow together the last two years, just how do you put it into words, that relationship and to see him playing at this elite level right now and what it means to you? I can't put it into words.

You know, I can certainly attempt to, but I can't. You know, I feel like I have another guy that I'm coaching with. You know, I have somebody that I'm really proud of to see their growth and the moments of adversity.

But also just their energy and enthusiasm to get better every single day. He makes me want to be better every day. You talk about the Heisman that's coming up and it's supposed to be for the best player in college football. It's hard for me to imagine anybody being better than Bo Nix and how much he's grown, how much he's improved. He's thrown from more yards than anybody else in college football.

This guy's throwing two interceptions and one of those bounced off a wide receiver's chest. You know, so he's playing at a really high level. He operates our offense extremely well. I'm talking about gets us in and out of plays.

But to see him, you know, see the fruits of his labor and how hard he works, I'm really proud of him. And you look at the quarterback matchup for this one. Just a great story with Bo Nix and then also Michael Pennix, Jr., both utilizing the transfer portal and playing their best ball in their final two seasons in college. It's really something special with this quarterback matchup on Friday night. Yeah, it's going to be a great one. You know, obviously Mike's been playing unbelievable this season. The last two seasons he's been really good. Two talented wide receiver groups, two offensive lines that do a good job of protecting their quarterback. And they've really come on in the run game here over the last few weeks as well. So this is going to be a fun matchup. Talking about really two really good teams playing each other with some elite play that's going to take place. I know you touched on the Heisman just there for a second. It feels like, at least to me, the winner of this game will also get the Heisman Trophy coming up next week. Well, I think the one thing that's great about this is you go out there and you take care of business and you perform at a level you want as a team.

A lot of individual awards will kind of take care of themselves. And there's certainly a great stage around this game. Our players have earned that opportunity with how hard they've worked. This will be one that we hope we can capitalize on. Dan Lanning, before we let you run, you've had an extremely successful start your first two years at Oregon. Same could be said for Kaelin DeBoer at Washington, you just being in this business, being in this conference. How do you kind of look at the job that Kaelin DeBoer has done at Washington through his journey? Yeah, he's been remarkable. He has a history of being a really successful coach for a long time. Not just here at Washington, but as a small ball coach as well, at Sioux Falls or Fresno.

I appreciate his journey and how he's climbed up the ladder, but to have the consistency and success he's had for a long time, obviously he's doing something special. Everyone talks about your quarterback. Everyone talks about you. Everyone talks about your wide receivers. Just wondering, while we'll have you here, what's one part of your football team that maybe doesn't get talked about enough that you want to highlight here? I can pick a lot.

I can pick a lot. I think the biggest thing that I recognize is the improvement our team has made since the beginning of the season. I think coming into the year, everyone questioned, okay, what's that offensive line going to look like? You guys are replacing a bunch of starters. I think we have the best offensive line in college football right now the way those guys are performing. Our running game with our tailbacks has been extremely impressive.

Our defense has improved in every single category across the board. They're flying to the ball. They're creating takeaways.

I think we've had five takeaways in the last five weeks. So you're talking about a team that's just playing better. And when you talk about improvement, guys owning their role, that exists right now at Oregon. So really proud of that. I know experiences make someone in different stops helps you become the football coach that you are today. When you were at Georgia, you guys lost to Alabama, then got your revenge. Do you use anything from that time that you maybe implement this week in the preparation? Or is that a little bit made up and you kind of throw that out the window?

It exists. I think the biggest thing you do is you say, okay, what did you learn from the first time you played Alabama? And what did you change when you went into the second time? And I think that's the same thought is don't expect to go out there and do the exact same thing and get a different result. So we've learned, you know, from our last performance, we're a different team than our last performance.

So we decided to get out there and see our guys operate on Friday and see where it goes. I can't wait for your pregame speech. I hope they broadcast it because I still go back to that Colorado pregame speech. One of the best speeches I've seen this year, coach. Well, I appreciate it. Our guys do a great job getting motivated, go out there and play and I'm hoping it's not broadcasted. So we'll go from there. Well, you know what?

Have someone record it. I got to see it after the game, but we do appreciate the time. Really do. Thank you for joining us.

What is the busy week? And thanks for coming all throughout the season. You bet.

Thanks for having me on. There he is. Dan Lanning joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Pac-12 championship game tomorrow up against Washington.

Can't wait for that one. Just a quick note here. According to Tim Graham, who covers the Buffalo Bills, the Bills will not fire head coach Sean McDermott after the season. That's what sources tell Tim Graham. Dov Kleiman aggregated this from the report, asked if there was any chance Pagula would fire McDermott.

Two sources replied zero. The other two sources said they would be shocked if Pagula made such a move. All four sources have intimate knowledge of the Pagula McDermott relationship. Clearly not the biggest story with the Bills today.

We are all cognizant of the allegations in the arrest warrant that is out there for Von Miller with a dispute that he had with his pregnant girlfriend. But when it comes to the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott's future, I just don't get why you would say that now. Why you would have three or four sources now come out and say there's a zero percent chance that they would not get rid of Sean McDermott at the end of the season.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of Sean McDermott. But I think his impact in that ship has kind of sailed in Buffalo. And he's gotten the Bills as far as he can. And that doesn't mean he was a failure.

Like he did a really damn good job. That was a team in Buffalo that didn't make the playoffs from 2000 to 2016. And then McDermott comes in. They make the playoffs with Terod Taylor as quarterback. We all remember that god-awful game wildcard weekend against the Jaguars. Then they missed the playoffs.

That's Josh Allen's first year, 6-10. Then they make, make, make, and make four straight years the postseason. And they got as far as the conference championship game. That conference championship game was 2020 where they were up early against the Chiefs and they lost the game. Then 2021, you had that classic divisional round game up against Kansas City where they blew it with 13 seconds remaining. And they lose in overtime.

Kelsey dancing, moving and grooving in the end zone after the game. And ever since then, they've regressed. Now this team last year, I know they made the second round of the playoffs, but they barely beat Skyler Thompson and the Dolphins.

The following weekend, they just got emasculated by the Cincinnati Bengals. And then this year, this team that's 6-6, and I said it on Monday, I'll say it again, they gotta go 4-1 down the stretch to make the playoffs, I think. And even if you go 4-1, and you get to 10, and you get to 10-7, and I don't believe they'll be 4-1 because they're too inconsistent this year. You're not locked to make the playoffs. Now, you go get 10 wins, I don't think the coach is gonna get fired. But I don't think they're gonna get there.

I think this is gonna be ugly. I think they're gonna miss the playoffs. And they missed the playoffs. Don't you gotta bring someone else in to get that ball over the goal line, and get that ball in the end zone. Because this team still has a chance to do something, but maybe it's time to regroup and retool.

And it could be similar. Remember, they made the playoffs with Tarod Tell, and they got Josh Allen, and they had to take a step back. This is the year they take the step back. Now, next year, I would have a new head football coach. If McDermott gets hired somewhere else, it'll be like 10 jobs open up. He'll get a job somewhere else.

But to continue to run it back with him after what has transpired the last three years, that would be nonsensical to me. Alrighty, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Come on back with the News Brief.

We'll update you to some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. Here is Tommy Brady on the Let's Go podcast, says the NFL coaching has gone in the wrong direction. Coaches aren't really trusting the quarterbacks much. They're trying to control the game from the sideline. When you try to control the game from the sideline, the coach doesn't have every answer for what's happening on the field. Ultimately, I always felt as a quarterback, I had all the things at my disposal to get us into a good play. The pro game is reflecting more of what the college game is, as opposed to the college game reflecting what the pro game is. We're asking now pro players to play college football, and that's the biggest difference I see.

This is way more checkers now than it is chess. Interesting analysis from Tom Brady. You also got to remember he came from a place where he had a legendary defensive-minded coach, and they would have these hour meetings where Belichick would tell Brady what the other defense is going to try to do to him, and he thought he had all the answers to solve it because of that relationship with Bill Belichick, but it has become a different game now.

I don't know about you, Stu. Brady in the last few weeks has been extremely critical of the NFL. Now, it's a partnership with Fox and the NFL. I'm sure the NFL's not thrilled that Brady's crushing the product, crushing the coaches, and also calling the game now mediocre, but I kind of like this version of Brady, where Brady is now being honest, and I know it's a little premature to be like, back in my day where you were just playing last football season, but now for TB12, I didn't think he would be this critical. I thought he would just kind of smack everybody on the behind and be like, oh, I like this player, I like this player, so I think this is good for the Brady analysis role that will happen next year on Fox. No, when he was with the Patriots, he was very Belichickian in some of his, you know, when he talked to the media, so I know a lot of people were kind of worried, like, ah, is this guy going to be opinionated when he goes to Fox?

And at least it seems like he's not afraid to share his opinions. And then he played for Bruce Arians, and he was starting to drink him whenever BA was drinking, and he started giving a lot of honest answers. Here is Tuatunga Vailoa in the state of his arm following a chunk coming out of it on Friday. During that game on Black Friday, oh, that was just a vile sight to see.

Here is Tuatunga Vailoa. It's good. Yeah, I was told by my wife that, like, she didn't see it, but then she got text messages from, you know, people about what it looked like, and they said it was disgusting while they were eating their leftover meals.

And I guess, sorry, I couldn't help you there. I didn't know it, like, it happened until I came to the sideline, and then Mike White sort of pointed it out. I guess it was just from the adrenaline. But it was a nice chunk that came off, so someone can find that piece.

That's yours. It is amazing how when you're watching that, I don't know, because I think it's a different mentality when you're a player. You've got to be, like, dragged off the field, and Tuatunga has gone through a lot worse. But if that was me, I'd be so concerned about that cut getting infected. You had a full chunk of skin come off. You're playing, you know, in a dirty environment on a field.

I would be like, yep, get the peroxide out, clean it up, bandage it up. But Tuatunga is like, nope, I'm going to keep on playing. Let's go to Kyle Shanahan on being favored over the Philadelphia Eagles, because in Philadelphia, the Eagles have the better record. I mean, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I don't really know how that stuff works, so I don't really know why.

But it is random. That's amazing, because he's got to think he has the better team. You're the coach of that team, but then it's, okay, I can't really comment on the gambling too much, and you're asking me to comment on the gambling. But then I think that's a message, Stu, that he's sending to his team, like just kind of actual motivation, the game inside the game of, yeah, it doesn't really make sense to me.

He's not saying that he thinks the Eagles should be favored, but he's saying it doesn't make sense, and we know that's him saying, yeah, Philadelphia should be favored. And you send a little message to your guys, get them a little extra, fire it up. Not that they should need that.

Flight fire at their rear ends. Yeah. Bill Belichick was asked who's going to be the starting QB this week. Before we play it, I'm going to assume it's going to be, you know, we're going to have a full week of practice, and whoever we think is the best quarterback and earns the starting role, like we do with all positions, we'll get the call up against Los Angeles.

Let's listen up to the hoodie. I'm not going to make any announcements on our lineup at any position then, so it doesn't matter what the position is. We're going to see how practice goes and see if everybody's ready to go, hope everybody's ready to go, see what the injury situation is, and we'll go for what we think is best on Sunday.

And I read some things on the internet today that Bailey Zappi is actually expected to start. We'll see what happens there. Real excited. Go Chargers. Tank, tank, tank, tank, tank.

Lose every game possible. Here is Tyree Kill in the RG3 and 1's on why he left the Kansas City. How about those cheese? I had Kelsey and I was kind of jealous. I was hurt. You ain't never invited me over to your house like you did Kelsey. You always invited Kelsey.

That's why we here where we at now. It was almost one and two, and with Tua, you are for sure one. I've never been anybody's side chick before. Never. Always. My whole life. High school, middle school, all the quarterbacks main chick. I go to KC. Now I'm the side chick.

I'm like, oh, what the hell with that? You taking me to Joe's Barbecue. No, I don't want no barbecue. I want to go to the fancy restaurants. You want to go to Nobu?

I want to go to Nobu. That's gold. I feel as if he's like partially kidding.

And then there's a part of, no, no, no, no, no. You had someone else and they got to go to all the fancy restaurants. And I was just going to solid restaurants. Let's go to Matt Rule on the transfer portal QB market just being wild. Make no mistake that a good quarterback in the portal costs, you know, a million to million, five to $2 million right now. So just, just, just want the same page.

Right? So let's make sure we all understand what's happening. So, you know, there's some teams that have six, six or $7 million players playing for them. So, you know, we're, we're, we're, we just kind of believe in, we just kind of believe in doing things like the old school way, the hard way, building. But that doesn't mean we won't look at people in the portal. It doesn't mean that just we did it last year. Right? It just means they have to be clearly an impact player for us if they're like a one-year player or they have to be someone that has multiple years to get in our program and develop.

Here's the bottom line. You got to get some quarterback play at Nebraska. I watched a lot of Nebraska football this year. That defense was awesome. That offense though was one of the worst offenses I've ever seen.

The offense was offensive. All right. Good show today. I'd like to thank Rod Moore. I'd like to thank Sean Merriman and Dan Lanning as well.

Each and every one of you. We'll do it again tomorrow on a big football Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. We out. Bye-bye. We'll be right back.