Unfair To Call Dak Prescott A Game Manager (Hour 1)

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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 a packed house today, Big Mike CBS, Moist Mike is back in the building, Stuart Kovacs as well, Dion Dawkins from the Buffalo Bills, going to join us 59 minutes from now at the top of the hour, and we're rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. And don't ever tell me that Michael Samter is not a generous, benevolent producer, and that he does not care about the well-being of his talk show hosts, because I know we had a little incident last week, but this is what the good producers do. We had a little incident where I had to lay a few rules, like when there's food in the newsroom, or if there's food right outside of the hallways, and Samter sees some, you know, just be a team player, bring some for Stu, bring some for me, if you see it.

And we could sample, at least inform us that the food is there. Well, today, Samter comes right into the studio two minutes before the start of the show, and he gifts me a chocolate chip cookie that they are giving out in the kitchen of our CBS Sports Radio Studios. So, a very nice job, I like chocolate chip cookies a lot, I like chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, Vienna Fingers are very good, and man, I can't remember the name of the cookies.

They were just sent to the studio last week, something stripes with the cookies, they were absolutely phenomenal. But yeah, those are some of my favorite cookies, so I appreciate that. And in a business sometimes where people don't get thanked, I just want to acknowledge two minutes into the show, right out of the gate, a big heartfelt thank you to Michael Samter. Welcome back, hope you're a baby girl who turned a year old, had a wonderful birthday celebration, and I appreciate you thinking about me trying to make my day better by giving me a chocolate chip cookie.

Don't ever say that I don't do anything for you, because I will always and forever get you delicious chocolate chip cookies when I can find them. And Stu, notice, I've noticed this about Samter, he could get a little sensitive. You know, we made a comment in jest, how dare he not be a team player, how dare he not give us food, and there was a little like, you know, condescending comment that he made to me, right as he gave me the cookie, don't you ever say I don't do anything for you.

So Samter thinks he's like this big tough guy, but we could tear him down day by day and just kill him with kindness, and eventually we see the kind soul that is one Michael Samter. Alrighty, let's start the show off with some not so nice things being said about Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Tuatunga Vailoa, and Jared Goff. And it comes from Cam Newton, who still believes he is a top 32 quarterback in the NFL. Little news flash for Cam, who I'm a big fan of, and I have a Cam t-shirt, and I always thought Cam was treated unfairly because he would celebrate and when he would score touchdowns he would give footballs to children.

But for some reason, Dopes had problems with that. But here is Cam, who is bitter, who is jealous, and he is annoyed that he's no longer playing in the NFL, especially in the year, it's gotta be humbling for him, even though he won't portray this. When we've had like every quarterback go down from Aaron Rodgers to now Justin Herbert to Joe Burrow to Kirk Cousins, the list just goes on and on and on of quarterbacks that have got injured this season.

And no one has brought in Cam for a workout. No one has said this team should bring in Cam because the fact of the matter is, Cam ever since leaving Carolina, there were signs of decline the first time he left Carolina, his career is over. And the guy was a force on the field when he played. The guy won an MVP, he had a 15-1 season, got to a Super Bowl, but his body broke down right in front of him. And when he got to New England, outside of the game against Seattle, he fumbled away too many games and his arm wasn't good enough.

And then he goes back to Carolina and outside of that first game back, even when he wasn't the starter, up against the Cardinals, he was not good anymore. And I thought the biggest reflection of Cam and the biggest realization that Cam was done is that Ron Rivera, who won a lot with him and trust him the most, all those times he's been the commander's coach and they've needed a quarterback, they have never brought Cam in and they never gave Cam a one-year contract. But here is Cam on his podcast, 4th and 1, talking about Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Tua Tunga Vailoa, and Jared Goff. Brock Purdy, like, they're not winning because of him. He's managing the game. And if we were to put that in its own right as game managers, Brock Purdy, Tua Tunga Vailoa, Jared Goff. And really, Dak Prescott.

These are game managers. They're not difference makers. So I think the person who says this is very important. If this is just an analyst or a talk show host that says this, I don't think it has this big viral reaction because we've had conversations about Jared Goff and Tua and Brock and Dak and acknowledging, you know, they're good quarterbacks, but I wouldn't call them elite and I wouldn't call them great. So when it comes from Cam, especially when just two weeks ago, Cam is on the Dan Patrick show saying that he's a Hall of Fame quarterback. Without question, he's a Hall of Fame quarterback. When we all know there is not a good chance that Cam is going to make the Hall of Fame and I don't believe Cam is a Hall of Famer. He had like two or three Hall of Fame seasons, but not enough to have a Hall of Fame career.

It just kind of makes me laugh on who the source is of this. Because in one breath, you think so highly of yourself and like you could forget about Brock. You could forget about Tua and Jared Goff. But then someone like Dak Prescott, who I have admitted before in this show, I don't think he's great. I don't think he's elite, but Dak has had a good career. Dak has consistently been a really good quarterback in this league. Now, he can't win the big game on third downs, late driving against a great team in the playoffs. I don't trust him, but it doesn't mean I would throw him in the category of being a game manager because also, even though the Cowboys have a good team, it's not like San Francisco where you have a Deebo Samuel, you have a Christian McCaffrey, you have Trent Williams, like Brandon Iuke. The weapons in Dallas are good.

C.D. Lane is the top ten wide receiver in the sport. But other than that, Michael Gallup is a solid wide receiver. Brandon Cooks unfortunately has been able to stay healthy, but he's a good second or third piece. Tony Pollard is a fine running back. I don't know what his long term future is with the Dallas Cowboys, but it's not as if Dak Prescott is just benefiting from the situation that is around him.

Like everyone needs a good situation to win. You could even look at Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs have five losses right now. It's not because all of a sudden Patrick Mahomes woke up and forgot how to play football. It's because he's throwing to Rishi Rice, Marquis Valdes-Scantling, and a few other, like Watson, like a few other guys that are not named Kelsey and Pacheco.

So when you're not in a great situation, it's very tough to win. Now, the items in Dallas are not bare. The players in Dallas are good. But I just don't think the timing right now to call Dak a game manager is fair. Because Dak, whether you believe they'll get to the promised land or not, whether you believe they'll get to an NFC championship game or not, Dak's having a really good season. And I don't look at Dak this year and saying, he's just a game manager for the Dallas Cowboys. And where I think this is complicated is we don't know how to really evaluate quarterbacks. Where we're now in a world where you have quarterbacks like Dak who are good quarterbacks, but they get paid like they're game changers. They get paid like they're elite quarterbacks, great quarterbacks.

And that makes people overly critical of the good quarterback. I really think there's four tiers of quarterbacks and the tiers would be labeled as this elite slash great, then good, then average and then bad. That's the way that I would rank quarterbacks on those four scales. And I guess if you want to throw in a game manager scale, it would be the average quarterback.

Because you would say, oh, it's the average quarterback that looks better than what he is because of the environment and the situation that he's in. And when you go through those four quarterbacks, you know, I would say Goff is a game manager. I would say Goff is probably the closest out of those four to a game manager. Tua is a good quarterback. But without Tyreek Hill the other night, man, that offense looked absolutely horrible. Brock Purdy, I said before the start of the season, I think he is more of a product of the system than a great quarterback.

So that would indicate a game manager. But with the way that Brock is playing, sure, it helps when you have Kittle. It helps when you have Deebo Samuel. It helps when you have Christian McCaffrey.

He is throwing the ball deep down the field. Now, it does help when you have the environment and the situation that you're in. So if you want to call Brock Purdy a game manager, I guess you could do that. But with that being said, it's tough to be a game manager and be dominating and smothering every opponent that you play. So I don't think the overall point is this. I don't think that Cam is like this absurd with this take. But it's more so the way that the term game manager has this negative connotation that you're getting dragged and you're getting carried by your team.

So that's the way that we kind of look at it. I would not call Dak a game manager. Brock, I guess you would lean more game manager to a... After Monday, you may have to call him a game manager. And then Jared Goff, I think he's more so of a game manager. So Cam is not terribly wrong in what he said, but where it's coming from, and I usually defend Cam, that's where I kind of roll my eyes and just say that this is marinated in jealousy. And it was an unnecessary comment because even though Cam did not have much around him on the offensive side of the ball in Carolina, and he did sensational things, and I'm not calling Cam a game manager, I don't look at Cam in the same light that he looks at himself as an all-time great quarterback.

Maybe like one all-time great season, but not an all-time great quarterback. So that's what I would do if I had Cam on the show. I would say, Cam, you recently said on your podcast, 4th and 1, that Dak, Brock, Purdy, Tua and Jared Goff are game managers. If that's the case, I'm just wondering, how do you view yourself? And I'm not saying Cam's a game manager.

I'll be clear about that. But I just wonder how delirious is Cam? Because if he says he's one of the best to ever do it in the NFL, then he doesn't even know how to evaluate himself properly. So why should I give a rat's ass on how he evaluates the other four quarterbacks that he did name? Sam, let me ask you this.

What stood out to you about those comments that Cam made when he's saying that those four quarterbacks, once again, Dak, what was he calling him? Brack Purdy? I think instead of Brock Purdy, Tua, Tunga, Vailoa, and Jared Goff are game managers. I'm going to be honest.

I didn't care about three of the four, right? But Tua, we'll see. He's still got to prove himself. He still has to prove himself. I don't think that he's a game manager, but we'll see.

I think he could be elite, but we'll see, right? Goff, don't care about him. Brock, don't care about him. At least not yet. What stood out to me was Dak.

Well, hold on real quickly. You may have to start caring about Brock because right now, if the 49ers don't win a Super Bowl, that's going to be bad. It's not that I don't care about Brock.

It's just that it's his second year in the league as a seventh round draft pick. It's way too early to discuss what... To label. To label Brock Purdy anything. Right now, that team is what that team is.

We're not going to learn anything about Brock until he actually does it. So for now, like... In the playoffs. Because to your point, the Niners have showed the last few years they have been this really, really, really good team. And you could even say a great team, but their quarterback has not been able to get them over the hump.

And now there's new life because this is the new flavor of the month. This is the new guy that's up with the San Francisco 49ers ever since the Jimmy G injury and all that stuff. And he has taken the baton and he hasn't lost many games.

Right, so again, I guess my point is, moving on from those three. What stood out to me was Dak. Because Dak, to me, I think before this week where he dominated against the Eagles and looked great.

Before this week, if we put out a poll, is Dak a game manager? It would have been 50-50. 52-48, 55-45. It would have been close. It would have been a tight poll. Now I think it's a little bit skewed.

You mentioned this before the show. Because he played so well against the Eagles. But I think a lot of people look at Dak as a guy who puts up big numbers against bad teams.

But shrinks in the big moments. So he's not an elite level quarterback who can lead a team to a Super Bowl. He could be a Super Bowl quarterback if his defense carries him. But a lot of people don't think he is the guy to lead a team. So when I hear Cam calling Dak a game manager, it really makes you start to wonder. Are the Cowboys great because of Dak, in spite of Dak, or does he just kind of help keep their head above water? And I think it's such an interesting conversation because to me, I think if Dak were on half of the other teams in the NFL, he would still be very good.

And he would still be able to bring... So you don't think he's a game manager? I think he's well more than a game manager. I wouldn't call him a game manager either. No, I think he's way more than a game manager.

I think he's good. But I also think he's a guy who shrinks in big moments. You can still be a very good, high caliber quarterback who shrinks under pressure, who chokes in the big games. You know who I compare Dak to?

And I've said this for a while. Dak and Kirk Cousins remind me a lot like one another. Right, and Kirk is not a game manager.

That guy is a good passer. And look at the Vikings now. Without Kirk Cousins, they go from Josh Dobbs up, he's looking okay, then we got to bench him, and now they're going to Nick Mullins. And a lot of people thought when Kirk unfortunately had the Achilles injury up, that was it for him with the Vikings. But then you start to see life without Kirk and it's like, hmm, maybe we bring him back on a one or two year deal or do a three year extension to make it favorable from a salary cap standpoint.

Because sometimes the person you have, you don't appreciate that person until you no longer have them. And I don't think when you're with the Kirk Cousins or when you're with the Dak Prescott, you're like, wow, we have a Hall of Fame elite great quarterback because neither of those guys are Hall of Fame elite great quarterbacks. But they're good quarterbacks. Kirk maybe not, but his numbers are going to be Hall of Fame level numbers.

Whether he gets in is a different story. Dak? Dak's not a Hall of Famer. The only reason Dak would get into the Hall of Fame is because he plays for the Cowboys and we talk about him so much.

Like if Dak Prescott, perfect example, Dak Prescott plays for the Minnesota Vikings, there is no way you're saying that Dak Prescott is a Hall of Famer. Now all the stats, it's kind of like the reverse way of baseball. We're in baseball now, the standard for a Hall of Fame pitcher used to be 300 wins. Starters don't go that much longer anymore. Wins, even though it's stupid, has been devalued.

And pitchers don't play as long as they used to and they're not these workhorses like they once were. Now with quarterbacks, since it's such a heavily offensive inflated league, like Phillip Rivers right now is top 10 all time in passing yards and passing touchdowns. There's a good contingency of people that don't believe Phillip Rivers is a Hall of Fame quarterback and personally I'd rather have Phillip Rivers than Dak Prescott if you just looked at them and they played let's say at the same time and they started their career at the same time. That's interesting.

Like that's a question, right? Like Phillip Rivers, you talk about the talent that Dak has around him in Dallas. And both are similar. Phillip Rivers had maybe some of the best rosters in the NFL at the time. You look at those Chargers teams with LT. Yeah, but it wasn't as long as you thought. Sean Merriman and Antonio Gates, he had monsters all over the field. But Gates and LT with Rivers was not as long as you thought.

I've done this before. I've said it before, trying to find reasons why Phillip Rivers isn't a Hall of Fame quarterback. And then you go through the numbers and yeah, the secondary had Keenen Allen who was one of the more underrated wide receivers in the league. Melvin Gordon had some good seasons as well. But yeah, I think that Phillip Rivers is someone that was an underappreciated quarterback because for quarterbacks all we do is look at wins and losses. And for Dak, I think right now people are starting to warm up to Dak.

They're like, he's having an MVP season. But that doesn't mean just because you have this MVP season that I view you now as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. So here's a question. I'm going to put out a poll to our followers at CBS Portfolio. Would you rather have Phillip Rivers or Dak Prescott?

No, so I was going to go with either. We could try that too. So now we have three. Let's vote on the poll. Let's put a poll out for the poll. Should the poll be Rivers or Dak? Should the poll be, is Dak a game manager? Or should the poll be, will Dak be a Hall of Famer? I mean all three, I could put up three polls and just go boom, boom, boom. No, no, no. That's too many polls.

That's too many polls. I've heard that before. What about, I don't know what you're doing when you get away from here. Go to the legs and eggs buffet. That's what I hear, Santh.

There's a frequent patron too. What about this? Who would you rather have? Dak, Kirk or Phillip Rivers? Do you like that? Sure, let's do it. Or do you want to go as Dak Prescott, a Hall of Famer?

I like all of them. I think it's just too early to, like, I don't think Dak is a Hall of Famer right now, but Dak's gonna go play for another, what, six, seven years bare minimum? I mean, he's 30. He's won 65% of his games. He throws three touchdowns to every pick. Plays for the Cowboys. Plays, and so that says something. What's his Hall of Fame moment though?

That's the thing. He hasn't had it yet, for sure. Like he hasn't had a moment, but he has. Because in the playoffs the last two years, he's let them down against the Dodgers. But he has Hall of Fame stories, right?

The fact that he took over. Not enough though. Not yet, but he's still 30.

I mean, think about it. Some of these quarterbacks play till they're 40 or longer. He has a good eight, nine years left depending on his health. Which he's been injured a decent amount. Between coming back from the injuries. Between playing hurt all the time. Between coming in and taking over Tony Romo in that incredible rookie year. For playing for the Cowboys and being that... You know what? There's been a lot of, not moments, but a lot of storylines around Dak. Do this. Do you think Dak Prescott will be a Hall of Famer?

How about this? Dak or Romo? Better Cowboys quarterback. Dak or Romo.

I was going to say, who has a better chance of making the Hall of Fame? Dak or Cam? And really stick it to Cam. Get Cam out of the conversation. Go is Dak Prescott a Hall of Famer? Put that out on CBS Sports Radio. This is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a time out.

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Get started at Stamps.com today with code PROGRAM for a four-week trial, free postage and a digital scale. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We opened up the show asking the question, how do you view Dak Prescott as a quarterback based off Cam's comments that Dak, Brock Purdy, Tuatunga Vailoa and Jared Goff are game managers. I view Dak as a good quarterback. Even though he's having a great season, I would not say through the entirety of his career, he has been a great quarterback in this league.

But I'm also very strict in terms of using that word great. And Samter wanted to ask the question, do you believe that Dak Prescott will eventually be a Hall of Famer? And you could chime in on that poll question at CBS Sports Radio at Zach Gelb. I do not think Dak Prescott with what I've seen so far during his career is worthy enough of being a Hall of Famer.

But he could still have anywhere from what, six to eight more years of his NFL career. So it's a little bit of a premature question. But we want to see where people are at right now in their classification of how they view Dak Prescott as a quarterback. 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Let's go to Big Dave in Kentucky next up on CBS Sports Radio. Big Dave, how you been, my man? Good, what's happening, man? You doing all right? Yeah, I'm doing fantastic, Big Dave. How are you?

Doing good. Let me tell you what chaps my ass when it comes to people like Cam Newton. Create this narrative that you're either Patrick Mahomes or you're a system quarterback like there's no in-between. Dak, right now, the last two games, well, really more than that, but pretty much for the entirety of the season. I don't think anyone will argue that Dak is playing his best football. I think he's playing, he's obviously the consideration for the MVP award.

For the first time in his career, really, well since Amari Cooper left, he's got a true number one. I think the West Coast offense suits his game to a T. I think Mike McCarthy's play calling has been exceptional, and it's aided in Dak's success. And, you know, I just, I think Cam Newton's full of crap, so.

Well, that's fine, Big Dave. I appreciate the phone call, and it's tough to really debate much of what you just said. Now, I'm not sitting here with my pom-poms going nuts for Dak Prescott, telling you that he's this great quarterback, but he's having a really good season, and he's been a good quarterback. I feel when you say the word game manager, it is a slap in the face. Like, everyone can acknowledge you need talent around you to win. You don't win on your own when it is a 53-man roster sport, and you need a lot of other players and a lot of things to go your way to win. But when you say game manager, it's basically saying, I don't really believe in the quarterback. I more so believe in the team around him. And as I said earlier, I'll say it again. You want to look at the Niners and say you could plug anybody in there.

It's more so the product of the system. And just don't turn the ball over later. Don't overthrow someone in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl like Jimmy Garoppolo did.

That's fine. But Dallas has a good team. They don't have these weapons, though, that everyone's like, wow, look at this offense. The quarterback just needs to be, eh, to go win. Like, Lamb, phenomenal. Top 10 wide receiver. But outside of that, you know, Tony Pollard's fine. He's good. You know, Brandon Cook's solid. Michael Gallup, in and out of the lineup, he's solid. But it pales in comparison to the weapons that the Niners have.

George Kittle's elite. Deebo Samuel is elite. Christian McCaffrey is the best running back in football. So that's why when you just group in Dak with also Brock Purdy and Jared Goff. And then also who's the other one?

Tua Tunga-Viloa. I don't think that's apples to apples necessarily. I don't think it's a fair comparison to compare Dak to all those other guys. And also, he's been doing it. I know Goff's been around the block for a bit, but two different teams. He's been doing it for a while now, Dak Prescott. Through different coaches and different regimes. And at least with Tua, you can make a more apples to apples connection.

Tua, at times, has looked elite. He's thrown for significant amounts of yardage. I mean, they had 700 yards of offense.

Not a large enough sample size, though. You don't do that with a game manager. You just don't do that. Yeah, but notice once Tyreek Hill gets taken out of the game the other night or gets banged up. Man.

And you can have the argument whether Tua is that guy, but what I'm saying is... They didn't score a touchdown unless if it was gifted to them. They had a pick-six that was gifted to them. They muffed the punt. They took over inside the 20.

Was gifted to them. And then Tennessee also fumbled the ball away and was gifted to them. Listen, every good quarterback can have bad games. I'm not saying that Dak is elite and he is a great quarterback. I'm just saying that the conversation about Tua is very similar to the conversation about Dak. I think that you can have a very similar conversation...

I can't go there yet. Because at times they both look elite. Like at no point does Jared Goff look elite.

No. At no point does Brock Purdy look elite. He looks like he has potential maybe one day becoming elite, but he doesn't look elite. Tua and Dak, at times, look like elite top-tier level quarterbacks.

And then at times, they look like they can't tie their own shoe. So for Tua and Brock, I think they're more similar. I still don't know what the ceiling is for both of those quarterbacks.

Now Brock's having an incredible season. Tua's having a good season. But they also have a ridiculous amount of talent around them. So that's why I think those two guys are similar.

And we'll see through more time and also through good health, which Tua has not had, where you can really take it. I know what Dak is. Dak is not a game manager.

There's a lot of other teams in this league. I'm not saying that you would be bowing down to Dak Prescott to get him to your team. But you would be fine with the production that Dak Prescott has given your team, because the guy is a good quarterback. And for Jared Goff, he to me is someone that at times looks like he was worth being the number one overall pick.

But for most of it, he kind of just gives you the vibes of a second- or third-round quarterback that you could win games with, you could look really good. But I don't think anyone is feeling as if Jared Goff in a big game in a big moment is going to win it for you. And really for all four of those guys, there are questions about what they're going to do in the big game. You know, for Jared Goff, he got to the big game, the Super Bowl. He crapped his you-know-what up against the Patriots. For Tua Tunga-Viloa, we haven't seen him in a big playoff game yet.

For Brock Purdy, he had two victories. But now you've got to go get the team to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl this year. And for Dak, the conversation about Dak through the last two years has been he's good, he could get you double-digit wins, he could get you to the playoffs.

But come playoff time, he will find a way to mess it up. So now that we've kind of all- the two of us at least have agreed that we think that Dak is somewhere between- He's good. He's in between elite and game manager. He's not a game manager, but he's not necessarily elite either. He's good. Do you think he's closer to elite, or do you think he's closer to game manager?

That's a great question. I would say closer to elite, but that is not me saying he's anywhere close to being an elite quarterback. I think I would agree with you, too. But when you say game manager, that means, like, for example, you throw him on, I don't know, give me like a- you throw him on the commanders. You put him on the commanders, who Terry McLaurin's a good wide receiver, you have Jahan Donson. But it's not a better situation than what he has in Dallas.

I think you would see a vast improvement with the commanders from where they are right now with Sam Howell. That's not someone that's a game manager. And that's why I would say he's closer to elite than just being a game manager.

But I'm not saying that, like, he needs to put a jacket on because the- he's got a little bit, you know, the fire is not really working. He's nowhere close to get into that fire level of being an elite quarterback. Let's go to Adrian and Marilyn next up on CBS Sports Radio. Adrian, go ahead.

Hey Zach, thanks for taking my call. See, we're crossing hairs here because last year, everybody, when Dak was throwing all the interceptions, they would say he needs to manage the game a little bit more. And that's more- I think that's more of the elite being aggressive of throwing the picks because they think they can do that.

As far as Kim Newen, I think he's just salty because he can't get a job. He couldn't throw the ball five yards when he played for New England. So now he's just got to come back and call everybody, game managers and things like that. Game managers are guys that manage the game throughout and probably can't win the game in the last two minutes for you. Dak has done that. Granted, for the last two years against San Francisco, he wasn't able to do that in the last two games.

But look, how many teams have done it against the 49ers? It's a fair point that you bring up, Adrian. Appreciate you making the phone call.

855-212-4CBS. We'll take a break. When we come on back, we'll do a little Take 5 Wednesday. I'll give you my top five teams in the NFL.

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Think O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Let's get to a little Take 5 Wednesday right here on the Zach Gelb Show. As the dust settles from last week's games, it's time to look at which teams are rising and which are falling.

Zach ranks his top five NFL teams on this week's edition of Take 5 only on the Zach Gelb Show. I alluded to it yesterday. Now I put my money where my mouth is. I placed the future last night at 10 21 p.m. Eastern on the Buffalo Bills at plus a thousand to go to the Super Bowl this year.

I'm going to be ahead of the game here. I told you last week, Bills were going to beat the Chiefs. I do believe the Bills beat the Cowboys this week.

It's a letdown spot for both teams because both teams are coming off great wins. But I'm going to say that the Bills are going to start to let Josh Allen cook because that's what they need this year. And Buffalo win this game. They'll start to get hot in December and you look at the AFC and it's like Ravens are really good. Chiefs should be good, but they don't have a great record. So I'm buying stock in Buffalo and I think Buffalo is starting to get hot and they're starting to survive the first 13 weeks, which was very up and down and ugly football. So Buffalo in at number five.

Number four. There were signs against really great teams that maybe the Eagles aren't as great as we thought they were, but they were still winning all these games the last two weeks. This Eagles defense has taken a step back and offensively there were some uncharacteristic things done the last two weeks, not finding a way to put the ball in the end zone up against the 49ers. We had a chance to really make a statement in that first quarter when you had to settle for two field goals. And last week seemed like every big player on the Eagles did fumble the football. With all that being said, though, they're still 10 and 3. They had experience of going to a Super Bowl last year and Philadelphia bad two games against the Niners and the Cowboys, but they're in at number four.

Number three. How about them Cowboys? Maybe I have to stop calling them the Drama Dallas Choking Cowboys for now.

That will pop up eventually. You know, maybe the divisional round, maybe even conference championship weekend. Yes, I don't believe this team's going to Super Bowl, but that was their first big boy win of the season up against Philly. Up until that point, they did not have a great win attached to their name, and the Dallas Cowboys find a way to not only beat the Eagles, but dominate the Eagles, smother the Eagles, and control the entirety of that game.

So Dallas is in at three. Number two, as long as the great eight is healthy, the Ravens are going to be a problem. They're going to implement that with a heck of a coach in John Harbaugh, and then also a really good defense as well. And the Ravens just find a way to win games, and they do it in all three phases. It wasn't the greatest defensive performance for the Ravens. The offense carried their weight, and then you saw Tyler Wallace in overtime, had the 76, I believe it was, yard walk-off punt return for the Ravens. And then in at number one, outside of a three-week stretcher, they were without Trent Williams and Deebo Samuel, the 49ers, have been the best team in the league. They were dominant the first few weeks, and then after surviving that stretch of losing three games in a row where people were panicking, the sky is falling, blah, blah, blah, and I warned people, I said, guys, calm down. You know, it's coming from me, and I'm not the biggest 49ers fan, but calm down in the criticism, because when they get healthy, Brock will go back to looking like he's this phenomenal sensational quarterback, and look at what has happened, and not only has that happened, they didn't really need to, you know, the game was fine.

It was a fine effort up against the Seahawks. They never broke a sweat where even if it was close early, you never thought they were going to lose, but they have blown out the Cowboys, they have blown out the Eagles, and those are two of the top five teams in the sport, so I put the 49ers in at one. So at five, Buffalo, four, the Eagles, three, the Cowboys, two, the Ravens, and one, the San Francisco 49ers. Michael Sampter, you're shaking your head, I don't know why.

Speak now or forever hold your peace. I mean, Zach, you know I love you and everything, but the Bills at number five, they're seven and six, they're two games back in the Dolphins. How do you have the Dolphins, who lead the AFC East, ahead of the Buffalo Bills, who are seven and six, they're a game above 500.

Two reasons. When the Bills played the Dolphins, and that was early in the season, the Bills beat them by 18 points. Number two, the Dolphins are good. I don't think this is a team that, let's say you had Buffalo Miami meet up in the playoffs, people would be picking the Dolphins to beat the Bills in the playoffs, because people trust Josh Allen more than they trust Tuatunga Vailoa, and Josh Allen is a better quarterback than Tua.

Now you have concerns about the health of Tyreek Hill, you would think he'd be fine, probably should bench him this week and sit him down and rest him, make sure he's A-OK up against the Jets, but Miami, they have not beat a team above 500 this year that's currently above 100 besides one, and that was the Denver Broncos who were god-awful when they played them. So I think the Dolphins are a good team, but people are trying to make them out to be this phenomenal sensational team, and I don't believe they're actually that. Now this team I don't think belongs in the top five, especially after losing to the Bears, but the question really is about the Lions. At times we think, man, this team is finally going to make a run for the Super Bowl, they're going to get to the playoffs, they're going to win some playoff games, they might even have a home game in the playoffs by winning the division, and then the next week they lose to the Packers or the Bears, no one that they've beaten has impressed us, right? They beat the Chargers, they beat the Raiders, they beat the fucking Ravens, they beat the Panthers, they beat the Falcons. Outside of the Chiefs in week one they don't beat anybody, so I guess my question is not necessarily do they belong in this top five, because I don't think they do, but what really is their ceiling? I think they are a team that could win a playoff game for the first time since 1991. Do I think they're a team where it looked like when they were 8-2 that they could be a Super Bowl team?

No, they've shown that the last three weeks twice. Right now, they could win you back up against Dallas, because in one of the final few days of the year, I believe that's a Saturday night game, you have the Lions up against the Cowboys late in the season, and that's a game where Dallas is playing well, that would be a big boy win for the Detroit Lions. I think the Lions are a good team, they could win a playoff game this year, but anything more than that I think is asking way too much. And right now, if the season were to end today, the Vikings at home in the first round, so that's a very winnable playoff game right there.

Now the other team, obviously you know I'm going to stomp for them, but I don't think I have to stomp too hard. They have had some issues, and they do look vulnerable, but it is Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. You doubt them and doubt them and doubt them, America doubts them and doubts them and doubts them. My Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl again, there's no doubt in my mind, they're going to run right through the AFC, it's no question.

Doubting them? First off, they just lost to the Bills, the Bills are my fifth team, and it was tough to find the fifth team. You can't put Kansas City in them.

Mahomes is frustrated, he's crying about the officials who made the right call, because down deep Patrick Mahomes knows his team has some serious problems because they don't have weapons. With that being said, if you ask me three teams to get to the Super Bowl in the AFC, Kansas City is still on that list. So let's pipe down on the doubting, but also since you're kind of a Fugazi Chiefs fan, you don't know what it's like, because I experienced what the Chiefs are trying to experience for 20 years. Whenever you lose and whenever you have an eh regular season, people say you're done, you're finished, we still all know when 1587 and Andy Reid walk into a playoff game, Homer on the road, no one's going to be happy to see them. But they got something to prove. Well here's the other question, we were talking about game managers, I mean I don't think anyone's calling Patrick Mahomes a game manager.

I would hope not. But, He's the best quarterback in the league. But, when you talk about the elite of the elite quarterbacks, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, they did it with or without elite talent. Finally, for the first time in a long time, Patrick Mahomes doesn't have elite talent.

That's not true. And they're struggling. He did it last year. But last year they at least had, they did have some levels of talent. Just Travis Kelce. Outside of that, what, because they lose Juju Smith Schuster?

That's a big blow? The guy's done nothing. The guy's done Jack in New England. And Juju's a nice complimentary piece. He's not a, a number one. I wouldn't even call him really a number two.

If I'm being honest these days. Because his body's breaking down. So, let's not forget, I know we get caught up in the moment, but let's not forget, we just did the same song and dance last year with Kansas City. We were vulnerable, they don't have enough weapons, they missed Tyreek and they still found the way to get the job done. But this is a power rankings for this week where we currently sit after 14 weeks going to week 15. And I can't put Kansas City right now in the top five. They have five losses. Who would have thought the Chiefs would have had five losses in the entirety of this season when the season did commence.

And we're not even at the end of the road yet. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break. When we do come on back, this team is surging.

I'm buying into this team. They have a massive game this weekend up against the Dallas Cowboys. Deion Dawkins is a two-time Pro Bowler, two-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.

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