Rams Need More Respect (Hour 3)

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get pre-qualified today. Alrighty, hour number three of our radio program. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Last night, Derek Carr was Derek Carr.

P.U. And the Saints laid an egg for the first three quarters. Basically did nothing out of one touchdown pass by Derek Carr, and then he puffed up those stats in the fourth quarter. Making it a game, which was never really a game, but cutting it down to eight points with two fourth quarter touchdown passes.

You know, it's funny. Like last night when I gave you the prediction on the air, I looked at the spread and I was like, oh, it's four and a half points. They're basically begging you to plus it with the Saints. So I'll lay it with the four and a half on the rands, but I didn't feel great about it.

And then after a few drinks with our crew after the show last night and some good pasta and some good charcuterie board and some pepperoni wings that they had at this restaurant and some rice balls and then some rigatoni ala vodka and some cacio pepe and whatever sandwich was having last night, which looked really delicious. And I got back to my apartment right at eight fifteen, right when the game started. And I said, all right, I got to hammer, hammer the Rams, because for two reasons. One, the Rams are a better team than the Saints. And then number two, I do thoroughly enjoy rooting against Derek Carr. I don't know why, like Derek Carr shouldn't be polarizing to me, but he is polarizing. And maybe it's because all the excuses that people make for Derek Carr, it really just grinds my gears. And not only that, I think it's more so his brother, David Carr, who I've never met.

I've never had a conversation with. And I guess you do want someone being loyal and defending your brother. But David Carr has no problem criticizing all these other quarterbacks around the league.

But then when it comes to his brother, he treats him as if he's the greatest thing ever. And, OK, you want to make excuses for what transpired with the Raiders. There's a lot of crap that the Raiders put Derek Carr through.

That was not fair. I'll be the first one to admit it. But this thought when Derek Carr was available this offseason, that, oh, you're getting a great quarterback, huh?

Like, what are we talking about? And it shows you how blah and how slightly above average Derek Carr is when you don't even need to be great. You don't even need to be very, very good to win the NFC South this year.

And you're blowing this opportunity. And look who's out playing him. Baker Frickin Mayfield is out playing Derek Carr. Like you say for the next four or five years, would you rather have Zach Baker Mayfield or Derek Carr? I'd rather have Baker Mayfield. Because I know what Derek Carr is. At least Baker Mayfield will fool you here and there two years ago and had that great season in 2020. And then he gets hurt and then we're trying to figure out, is it the injury or is it more him just not being that good? And then he went to a bad situation in Carolina. But this year he's got the respect of a locker room that followed by the GOAT Tom Brady for the last two, three years, and they knew what Brady did to that locker room and Baker has come in. And yeah, we all know, right? Brady's better than Baker.

Come on. Like, I'm not saying that. But Brady, after leaving, I thought there was going to be a big drop off for the Bucks. And in a division where you don't even have to be that good, like Baker's playing good football.

And guys like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and Lavonte David, they respect on both sides of the ball what Baker Mayfield brings to this team. So Derek Carr is having a brutal year and I know he's had some injuries. But like last night, you're playing, throwing short of the sticks on fourth down, turnover on downs, an interception that was brutal.

And you dug yourself in a deep hole and yeah, you climbed out of it a little bit. But you know, it was going to be too little too late to actually come on back and win that game. So I think there's two takeaways from last night. Takeaway number one, stop telling me that Derek Carr is a sensational quarterback. Stop telling me that he's even a good quarterback and stop saying that Derek Carr can be something that he's not. And then the other takeaway, how about these Rams? I am thoroughly impressed with the LA Rams. The LA Rams before the start of the season, I thought they were trending in the wrong direction. Super Bowl champions two years ago, last year Blee pit the fan, but what concerned me with the Rams is that Sean McVay, I know he got an extension, one foot in, one foot out with the retirement talk. Aaron Donald, one foot in, one foot out with the retirement talk. Matthew Stafford's wife basically making it sound like he couldn't connect with the younger teammates, one foot in, one foot out with the retirement talk. Bobby Wagner wanted out of the Rams to go back to Seattle because Bobby Wagner had to think that this ship was about to sink with the LA Rams.

Think about that. And the Rams started off the year three and six. They looked like they were headed to failure, to just disaster, and with this ship about to be like capsized. That's what it looked like with the LA Rams. And now they've won five out of their last six games.

And not only have they won five out of their last six games, Puka Nakua is an emerging star in this league. Cooper Cupp, back, healthy. Aaron Donald, still great. Sean McVay, boy wonder on the offensive side of the ball. And let's give credit to Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford is playing some good football the last month or two. And not only that, Matthew Stafford displayed some mobility last night. There was a throw where that if Patrick Mahomes made that throw and had that escape, and then fired the ball down the field for a big conversion, we would all be like, oh my God, what a throw by Mahomes. Oh, Mahomes this, and I love Mahomes. But Matthew Stafford displayed some athleticism last night that I didn't think he had that in him.

I didn't think he had that dog and that mobility in him, but he did. And now the Rams, in an NFC that's solid. Like the 49ers are great, but we've changed our tune on the Eagles. The Cowboys we know are not great.

The Lions we know are not great. You know, I thought the NFC wildcard teams are going to be like, hey, like, all righty. Not much to really think about, but either the Eagles or the Cowboys are going to be a wildcard team.

You know, the Vikings just don't have a quarterback, so it's tough to take them seriously. We'll see if the Seahawks get in, but how Buffalo is the team that's ascending at the right time in the AFC. That's what the Rams are doing in the NFC. And here's why I like the Rams a lot. It's because they know how to win, and they're not going to fear anyone.

Like if you have a young team that struggled early, then got hot late, they're taking steps and complacency will sink in. But this Rams team with their veteran leadership, Stafford, Donald, Kupp, they know what it's like to get to the top of the mountain in this sport. They know what it's like to climb that mountain and get up on the top of that mountain and like your Johnny Drama scream out, victory!

They know what that's like. And right now, they got to be feeling pretty good about themselves. I actually think right now, they're the second most dangerous team in the NFC. Philadelphia, I don't like where they're at.

Three game losing streak, locker room turning on Jalen Hurts, people talking anonymously to Jeff McLean. The Cowboys can't win a big game to save their life and no Cowboys fans just beating the 49ers. I mean, just beating the Buccaneers last year in the playoffs. That's not a big game. The Lions, they're a good team.

I like Detroit. They're going to win their first divisional title since 1993. They could win their first playoff game since 1991, but I don't think they're going to the Super Bowl. And I don't think they're going to an NFC title game and they're a different team on the road. So you look at the NFC, everyone's hunting, just like the rest of the NFL is.

Everyone is hunting the San Francisco 49ers. And here are the LA Rams. And the LA Rams, man, they're going to get a win up against the Giants.

They'll go to nine and seven. And then the final week of the season, they play the 49ers, they'll be in the playoffs. You know, they could lose that game to the 49ers. I don't know what that game is going to mean for San Francisco. And then you, assuming San Francisco has the bye, they already have it locked up then, are you going to arrest your guys two weeks in a row? I don't know.

I don't. But the Rams are getting hot at the right time of the year. And this year in the NFL, and I said this with the Bills, so I'll say with the Rams, we've seen teams before not be good before Thanksgiving.

And then they get it as a wild card. And the next thing you know, they're holding the Lombardi Trophy. I don't envision, don't get this wrong, I do not envision the Rams holding up the Lombardi Trophy.

But they are a team with that coach, that quarterback, those two wide receivers, and that stud of a defensive lineman in Aaron Donald that you won't want to face them. Right now, take the 49ers out of it. Take the Ravens out of it. The best team in the AFC, the best team in the NFC, the two best teams in the NFL. Now, after that, tell me there are two teams that you would rather pass on and not have to play right now than the Buffalo Bills and the LA Rams.

And I don't think you could do it. Because let's go through the AFC. Dolphins, they haven't been a great team all year. All right, maybe you want to see Kansas City with Mahomes and the Chiefs.

I could give you that one. But their offense has problems. Their offense, their receivers, they couldn't catch a cold right now. You know, the AFC South, you have Trevor Lawrence hurt.

You got C.J. Stroud hurt. Colts are a solid team, but they're not going to contend this year. Bengals don't have Joe Burrow, now Jamar Chase is hurt. It's like, you go through this, if you take the Ravens and the 49ers out of it, Buffalo is dangerous. Josh Allen is a top three quarterback in the league.

He's either two or three and Burrow's hurt right now, so he's going to be two. We know Mahomes is still one. That offensive line mauled the Cowboys last week. James Cook was off and he was running. It was like he was shot out of a cannon. He was explosive.

It was awesome. And even though Sean McDermott was a dope for what he said years ago, using the terrorists of 9-11 to try to motivate his team and say, oh, we need to work together in a weird way, with the beating that was well-deserved that Sean McDermott took nationally and locally, that team has kind of rallied behind their coach. Buffalo's dangerous. And the LA Rams, if I'm the 49ers, especially with Sean McVay being that coach, and a team that knows how to win, and a team that has defeated them before in the past, it's like I would fear them more. I'm not saying the 49ers fear anybody, but I would fear them more than the Cowboys, the Lions, or even the Eagles. And the Eagles the last three weeks, their stock has plummeted. And I've been as vocal of a supporter nationally as anybody with this Eagles team before the season did start. And even when they were 10-1 defending them, when there were some signs that this team wasn't as good as what some and what I thought they were.

You know, they were. But right now you kick aside the 49ers and the Ravens. You tell me, Zach, San Francisco is going to go down and the Ravens are going to go down. Who gets there to the Super Bowl? I believe in the Bills. And I believe in the LA Rams because they have the quarterbacks. They have won enough games, Rams more than the Bills because the Rams have been to a Super Bowl. But the Bills have been in the spotlight. You're in and you're out. And both those teams are getting hot at the right time. And in a year where there's not many great teams, you get hot at the right time. Who knows what could happen from there?

We've seen it done before. It is the Zach Guilf show on CBS Sports Radio. It is a football Friday, 40 minutes still left to play. When we come on back, Ryan Horvat will join us from BET MGM tonight via VECQL. He'll give us three picks from the bowl games this week.

And it also will go head to head. Horvat's getting hot, man. I think he's got three straight winning weeks. He's been really damn good picking NFL games. We'll get his NFL picks when we return in five minutes right here on CBS Sports Radio. You could also stream us.

YouTube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. It is the Zach Guilf show. Discover, this is Daniella.

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Alrighty. This portion of the show is brought to you by NHTSA. Whether you get pulled over or get into a crash, drinking and driving will change your whole world.

Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by NHTSA. And now joining us. One of our elves will lend a helping hand here. Joining the Samter and Stew party is Ryan Horvat from BetMGM tonight via BeckQL. Horvat is wearing an ugly Christmas sweater right now. I can't tell. Is that a Cubs? Oh, it is a Cubs sweater. I thought for a second it was a Cleveland Guardian sweater. And I'm like, why the heck would Horvat be wearing a Guardians sweater? Because I thought that you were a Cubs fan, right?

Yeah. So I come on the show tonight to beg my organization. I come to beg Tom Ricketts to spend some money and act like a big market team, because kind of like your Mets, Zach.

I see you with that Mets stocking cap on. I want them to act like a big market team. They've spent no money in free agency, and I'm baffled why you would spend $40 million on a manager and not spend any money here in free agency. I feel bad for Craig Council, who leaves a smaller market, and now he's going to have to manage a team that's built like a smaller market team in the Cubs. I honestly think that this opening day lineup will be worse than what they put on the field last season. It seems like they're putting all their eggs in the Cody Bellinger basket, but that's enough baseball, I guess.

Yes. So don't get me wrong. Steve Cohen has not done as great of a job as I thought he would do, but he offered $325 million to Yamamoto. I think it's ridiculous that there are Mets fans dragging Steve Cohen today, but Ricketts, I can't stand going back to the pandemic started. He was crying poverty. Like you're a billionaire owner. Like you want to cry poverty? Give me a break.

There are actual people that would love to have like 2%, 1% of what you're made out of. So I've always had a problem with Ricketts and I think he's a big fat joke, Corvette. Merry Christmas, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean like Jed Hoyer, Tom Ricketts, they hand a manager $40 million and then they leave early for Christmas vacation. But at least you guys are making offers.

Exactly. At least the Mets are throwing some money out there. I go to Wrigley Field. I spent $16 on a bear.

There's a sports book in Wrigley Field now. So I just thought they would spend some money. But anyway, yeah.

Merry Christmas. Like at least we're trying to take a swing at the 10. We're trying to bring the 10 home.

But when we're four or five, it's sometimes money doesn't always get the 10 to come home with you. That's the way that I would describe Steve Cohen and the Mets right now. Alrighty, let's get to some college football. You got three bowl games that you really liked this weekend. Troy and Duke is one of them that will come your way tomorrow at noon Eastern on ABC.

Troy is a seven point favorite. Remember, Mike Elko is the coach of Duke and now he's the coach of the Aggies at A&M. Yeah, and you know, I love this Duke program, but now Elko leaves.

So I have to wait and see what Duke's going to look like here the next couple of seasons, because he really turned that thing around. But they lose Mike Elko. They also lose their starting quarterback to the transfer portal. They lose their leading rusher. They lose their best offensive lineman who right now is projected to go in the first round. They lose their second leading wide receiver and then six starters on the defensive side of the ball for Duke. And Troy, I mean, they lose their head coach. They're only going to be without one player. Everybody opted in for this bowl game.

And that's really what you're looking at, right? You're looking at injury information. You're looking at who's going to play in these games, who's going to opt out, who's going to be coaching in these games. And they're going to be missing Jaden McDonald, who is their leading tackler.

But I mean, they're on fire right now. You know, Duke's kind of limped the finish line. They've had a bunch of injuries while Troy's won 10 straight games, including in the Sunbelt championship game. They won by 26 points.

So I think there's a reason why this is a seven-point spread. I actually like Troy here quite a bit. Texas A&M, Oklahoma State. A&M is a two-point favorite. Every time I see Oklahoma State this year, I just think to myself, man, what a bad decision Spencer Sanders made, leaving Oklahoma State where he was a solid starter, you know, for a two, three-week stretch, was making a Heisman push early last season, goes to Ole Miss.

I know he probably got a ton of money, but he was the backup all throughout the year for Jackson Dart, and now his college career has come to a close. A&M, Oklahoma State. A&M, a two-point favorite.

What do you got on Wednesday? I'm glad that you brought that up because, like, I went under on Oklahoma State's win total for the first time ever. I'm a big Mike Gundy guy, like, as far as, you know, against the spread season win total. He always finds a way to win eight to 10 games. The concern was Spencer Sanders, like you said, he leaves the program and he was about to break, like, every single school record, and he leaves to go back up Jackson Dart at Ole Miss.

And I didn't think he was ever going to win that job, so sure, maybe he got a bunch of money, but didn't make a whole lot of sense. Some guys were transferring out, but all of a sudden, man, they're on a roll as well, and it's because of Ollie Gordon. Like, they've completely changed that offense, and I think they're going to have a lot of success against Texas A&M, who really struggles to defend the run.

They lose a bunch of guys who are going to opt out in this game. They also, obviously, Jimbo Fisher's gone now, and you got Mike Gundy, who is going to have some motivation here. He lost this same game, the Texas Bowl, back in 2019. Two Texas A&M, and Mike Gundy is one of the best bets in bowl games. He's 11-6 against the spread, so they always take these games seriously.

I really like them in this one. Alrighty, I think this guy right now is my second, least favorite coach in the country. Number one would be Davos Sweeney. Number two, I think it's Lincoln Riley, because he's just so overrated, and everyone talks about him as if he's the greatest thing to ever happen to college football. He won't have Caleb Williams in this bowl game, but Caleb Williams was his quarterback the last two years. He loses a Pac-12 championship game when Caleb Williams gets hurt, and you can never defeat Utah, because Kyle Whittingham is his daddy anyway. And then this year, they had five losses with Caleb Williams as the quarterback, and didn't even come close to sniffing a spot in the Pac-12 championship game. You have Louisville, where Jeff Baum did an incredible job in year number one. I know it got away from them a little bit towards the end of the season, but they were 10-3. No one thought they'd be a 10-3 team, and they're going up against USC 8 p.m. Eastern in the Holiday Bowl.

I believe this is on Wednesday. Louisville is a 7.5-point favorite. Yeah, yeah. I also like Northwestern this weekend, but I didn't want to really break that game down, but you could grab the points with them. So here, I wanted to talk about this one, because the other night, I said, Louisville has the coaching advantage here with Baum over Lincoln Riley, and people were laughing. And Lincoln Riley this season, I used to be a big Lincoln Riley guy, and I think he's a great play caller.

But now, I think there's some distractions. I mean, we're hearing possibly Lincoln Riley to the Chargers, which, like you said, that doesn't make any sense. He hasn't really done anything at USC.

Alex Grinch got fired a couple weeks back. The defense, pretty much outside the top 100 in every statistical category. They can't really tackle.

Everyone in America Horvath knew that Grinch could not be their DC before the season started. And Lincoln Riley, because he's arrogant and he's stubborn, it just really ruined their season. Because I know Williams did not play well up against Notre Dame. So that one was on the offense. But that defense was putrid this year, and everyone saw it coming from a mile away. Yeah, and Caleb Williams was the reason. And I mean, the numbers weren't great this season. And also, like with Lincoln Riley, the play calling was kind of lazy this season. It was just Caleb Williams being great. The moments where they looked good, it was all backyard football stuff. That's why Caleb's numbers went down.

He struggled a little bit under pressure. So yeah, I like Louisville in this spot. I think they're going to get up for this game. I think they win this game by double digits. So I grabbed them at seven, seven and a half. Anything under 10 points.

I really like them here. Alrighty, let's cue the NFL music. Por favor, Stuart Kovacs, because Ryan Horvath, he's got a little smile to him. He's got a nice fade cut here for the holiday with Christmas coming up on Monday. And Horvath, usually when it's getting cold this time of the year, he is red hot the last three weeks on this show. Back to back to back winning weeks.

I think he even had an undefeated week as well. So he's been giving you some winners. If you're listening to Horvath, he's going to win you some money. And I'm being so nice to him because I'm trying to jinx him. I'm trying to mush him and I'm trying to change this good luck streak for Ryan Horvath because I think we need to humble him a little bit.

He's been too cocky from what sources tell me inside the Odyssey family, Horvath. Oh, never, never, Zach. You're the one with the big new promotion, the new time slot, which I've been on here for 10 minutes. Congratulations, by the way.

You, my guy, Bart Winkler, JR. I'm so excited for all you guys. And the best part about it is I could pick all you guys up. So if I'm driving into work, if I'm driving home, I got you guys.

And obviously I check out the podcast all the time. Now I'm trying to humble you a little bit because I think I have a feeling we might go head to head on one of these because I'm going back to a team that I bet last week, pretty big. And now I'm going to fade them. I'm going to take actually the Minnesota Vikings. I grabbed the three and a half. It's down to three, obviously tough place to play.

I see you doing it skull. I hate the chant. I'm a Packers guy, but I like Minnesota in this spot. It doesn't really matter who the quarterback is. Last week, you know, they put up great offensive numbers and the defense all of a sudden this season, which I can't believe under Brian Flores, year one, they're a top 10 defense, Detroit, Jared Goff. I love when they're at home in the dome. Now he's on the road. I think he's going to be under pressure in this game.

And look at the numbers. Brian Flores against Jared Goff. Goff really struggles against his type of defense. So I like Minnesota. Their season's pretty much on the line. Everybody's buying Detroit now after that blowout victory. I really liked them in that spot against Denver. I don't like this spot though. I like Minnesota plus three and a half or plus three, whatever number you could get available right now. I love when I have a take before anyone else in the world has this take.

And then I see all the folks in the media slowly, one by one, jump on the Zach-El bandwagon. Two weeks ago, I was all over the Buffalo Bills at plus a thousand to get to the Super Bowl out of the AFC. Not win it, but just get to the Super Bowl. That number after victories against Kansas City and also the drama Dallas Choking Cowboys is now down to plus 600 plus 650, depending on where you make your bets. I'm going back with Buffalo this week. The only thing that scares me is that Brandon Staley got fired. And like, I know that team hated Brandon Staley, but still you're starting Easton stick and you have all these players injured for the Chargers and they've checked out in the season at five and nine. I think there's going to be a lot of people for the Chargers making business decisions. The Bills will beat them by two touchdowns, lay the number with Buffalo minus 12 and a half.

All right, all right. And a little bonus pick on that one. I like the over in the game. I can't take the side in that game.

It just scares me a little bit, but then maybe the numbers a little inflated. Well, you gotta be uncomfortable to win money. Everyone gets scared by a 12 and a half point spread. Horvat, you know that. You're the betting expert.

Come on. Love the Bills pick. Love the Bills futures right now with that run game, man. James Cook really got going. Josh Allen didn't have to do a whole lot last week. All right, I'll take an ugly dog because the number just flipped here. I'll take the Steelers. They just moved from two and a half to three point dogs at home.

This was my only loss last week. And it's because, you know, Mike Tomlin's kind of. He's calling out his team.

He's got his back against the wall. I listened to some local radio in Pittsburgh and a lot of people upset with Mike Tomlin. Some people want Mike Tomlin gone. I'll take Mike Tomlin any day of the week. I still think he's a solid head coach.

I just don't really like this team. But Mitchell Trubisky proved last week, man. Mitchell Trubisky's regressed every single year since his rookie year in Chicago.

He's not the guy. He stinks. He stinks. Not that Mason Rudolph's an all pro quarterback, but I actually think he's serviceable in this spot right here. Cincinnati, everybody's buying into the Bengals right now. Jake Browning has been great. I think, man, I mean, the coaching staff, the entire coaching staff has done a great job. Taylor and Lou.

But yeah, no Jamar Chase, no Horvat on this one. Give me the Steelers plus three. I think they win this game outright actually and moved to eight and seven this season. This could be the ugliest game of the weekend. Commanders and Jets. Oh yeah. And this time of the year, you know, I'm okay with having to support an ugly matchup.

I like the commanders. The Jets burned me two weeks ago in my survivor pool. I was down to the final two, took the Texans, lost, then the person that beat me, Kelly, who works in our office, a great person, she and her husband picked. It was the Ravens in that Rams Ravens game. So I was staring eye on football, screaming for the Rams to win. And they came up just short with that 76 yard punt return at overtime.

I need to get some payback on the Jets. The Jets don't have a quarterback. Now Zach Wilson is out. Two weeks ago, he played fine.

Last week, he was horrible. So what, they're going back to Trevor Simeon. I like the commanders plus the three points. Ron Rivera will get one final victory before he gets fired as the head coach of the commanders. And they play the 49ers and the Cowboys the next two weeks. So it's going to come this week up against the Jets.

Commanders are a dog, give me them plus three points. They'll win the game outright. I'm with you on that one.

I like the commanders this weekend as well. All right, I'm going to go to the biggest game, maybe the biggest game of the year, maybe a possible Super Bowl preview. And everybody likes San Francisco, which is why this numbers went from four and a half to five and a half. We all know Lamar's great against the spread.

This is the second biggest dog Lamar's ever been outside of his first start. And you look at the Ravens this season and their top three, I mean the first three quarters, I should say, they're number one in a point differential. Their issue, we talk about this every week, the fourth quarter, they're outside the top 20.

They struggled to close teams out. I like them on the defensive side of the ball. I love the offensive side of the ball with Todd Monk and Collin plays. So I got a bonus pick here.

I like Lamar plus 600, a little flyer on him to win MVP. And I like the Ravens plus five and a half here to maybe shock the world against San Francisco. The Ravens are a few plays away, man, from being 14 and 0 this season.

I like the way that they're trending right now. And if you look at it, the offense is really starting to click finally. I know Lamar's numbers aren't great. I mean, they're fine, but they're not compared to Brock Purdie's and Dak Prescott's. But if you look at the rushing yards and you got to figure in, okay, new offensive system, you lose Mark Andrews, your number one target for the season.

Odell Beckham Jr., he hadn't played football in a whole year. Now he's finally looking to like Odell again. And man, I really like the Ravens right now. So I like their futures. I like Lamar futures and I like them in this game catching five and a half on the road.

See, we're not cowards on this show. There's a lot of shows that they just pick games that are easy, that are layups. I like when we pick the big games. So Horvat picks a big game with the Ravens and the 49ers. So that means I need to pick a big game. Packers and Panthers. Oh, wait, no.

That would be me being a hypocrite. I can't pick that game. I'm going to the Cowboys and the Dolphins. Last week, the Buffalo Bills ran the crap out of the football and their offensive line beat the snot out of that Cowboys defense. I like Davon Achan this week.

I like Raheem Mostert this week. I don't trust really either quarterback in the fourth quarter. And these teams are very similar, both 10 and 4.

Both good, but not great. Both haven't really beat a lot of great teams this year. The Dolphins get their biggest win of the season. I like the Dolphins laying a point and a half in this one, Horvat.

So do I, man. I like the Dolphins in this spot, too. I feel like the Cowboys. Faded, everybody. Go Cowboys.

No, no, no. Cowboys can't win a game on the road, Zach. We all know that. The only concern is, man, the offensive line, the injuries. You lose your starting center. But I mean, we saw it.

We saw it on hard knocks. Mike McDaniel had the perfect game plan. And that was against the Jets. I thought they were going to match because of the Jets defensive line.

And they weren't. So I'm with you on Miami. And I like Miami futures. You know, the Phillips injury really stinks because the defensive side of the ball.

I think when it's all said and done, I think they're going to have the best defense. He was the Eagles Hassan Reddick. Like what Hassan Reddick did for the Eagles last year.

That's what the Dolphins eat at Jalen Phillips would be this year. Absolutely. But I like the way that they're trending right now, man. I think they're about to go on a roll here.

All righty. So I take the Bills laying 12 and a half, the commanders plus three, and the Dolphins minus a point and a half. Horvat, if I got this right, you have three underdogs.

I just realized that. Vikings plus three, Steelers plus three, and the Ravens plus five and a half. You know what, Horvat? I'm riding with Ryan this week. Forget about what I said and wanting to see him lose all these games. Three underdogs?

How don't I parlay all three of those together and just see what happens? Let's do it, man. The favorites have been on a roll. I mean, you saw it the other night. Last night, even. We had another favorite come home. Man, did the Saints.

They looked terrible in that game. Oh, Derek Carr is such an overrated quarterback. I'm sick of him. I'm glad that everybody's finally coming around on that.

I was talking about that all summer long. I didn't like that pickup. But yeah, done with the Saints. And we'll take a shot with the dogs this weekend, with the underdogs.

Hungry dogs run faster. That's what the legendary Jason Kelce once said. He is Ryan Horvat from VetMGM tonight via VetQL. Ryan, always a pleasure. Happy holiday season to you and your family. Happy holidays.

Enjoy the time with your family. There you go. Ryan Horvat joining us from VetMGM tonight via VetQL.

I'm dressed up as Santa Claus. If you want to see it, that's at Gelb on Twitter and Instagram. Also, you can watch us live on YouTube.

YouTube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, we'll do the cheesy radio segment since I'm dressed up like the big fella. Jolly old Saint Nick. I'll give out five Christmas gifts to five NFL teams when we return.

Update time first. When I think of the holiday season and I think of joy and I think of holiday spirit, I think of one person. And one person only.

And that is El Capitan. The always positive. The always great. A guy that I consider to be like a father figure to me here at CBS Sports Radio.

And my father works for the company. But I love this man. Here he is.

El Capitan, Marco Valletti. Decent save. Santa was going to get his ass kicked in about 30 seconds.

All right, Zach. Emergency Board of Trustees meeting for Florida State. You better not be naughty this season.

Yeah, Santa's... Ho, ho, ho, ho. The boot's going to go somewhere. Produced a unanimous vote to sue the ACC. Challenging the legality of the... This update anger out of too much eggnog right now. Legality of the grant of rights and their $130 million withdrawal fee.

No school's ever challenged a grant of rights in court. Florida State, of course, looking to leave the ACC. Steelers-Bengals kicking off a weekend slate on Saturday. Both teams trying to make a playoff push. Steelers 7 and 7 have a drop three straight. Now they're in the hands of Mason Rudolph, who gets to start over Mitchell Trubisky after the Kenny Pickett being ruled out again. All right, it's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day. And it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Markin Boca says, Earlier in the show, Zach Channing Crowder called Tua a top five quarterback.

Do you agree with Channing? You could submit a question by tweeting at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb. Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B.

Using the hashtag Ask the Pros. And you could think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

O-O-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. No, I think Tua is a very good quarterback. I cannot call him a top five quarterback. Just for starters, Mahomes. I know Burrow's injured, but when healthy, Joe Burrow. Josh Allen. I would even still say I know he struggled as of late. Jalen Hurts. And when you look at the fifth one, how is it Lamar Jackson not considered a top five guy? Like that just off the top of my head, there may be a few others that we could have a debate and enter the conversation.

But just off the top of my head, I would take those five quarterbacks just for starters over to Atunga Vailoa. Alrighty, I am dressed up as Santa Claus today as we get ready for Christmas. Just a programming note, we'll do some housekeeping here on CBS Sports Radio. I will not be here Monday, but I don't want to ruin your Christmas. I will be here Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, next week.

A lot of people not working next week. Now, I'm not going to criticize people for using their off time. You are allowed to have your off time.

I think that's something lame that we do in radio. Oh, this person's off, let's just trash them when they're off for a week or two of vacation. You know, Stu, I want to know who Stu's agent is. Stu is off all of next week. I think you're back for one day, is that correct? That's right, one day, the Tuesday after New Year's. So January 2nd, and then he's off all that week as well.

I am jealous, jealous of Stu. I mean, why come back for a day? Yeah, why are you coming back for that day? I actually thought about that. I didn't want to take two straight weeks.

Can I give you some advice? What? I know what you're going to say. That Tuesday? Hey, there it is. I got the old Kovacs cold. Pop, I got the black lung. Pop, pop, pop, pop, I got the black lung.

That's what you need to do from the movie Zoolander after he goes into the coal mine. Yeah, you should call out on Tuesday. Come on, call out on Tuesday. Well, actually, depending on who we get to fill in for you.

That's true. You know, there's like three or four people that we get them and you call out. Oh, that's a big time problem, because when we get someone that's not capable of doing your job when you call out, it's a it's a disservice to me. But then Santa takes it way too personal. And then, like, Santa's head looks like he's about to explode because he's the seasoned veteran around here running around, cursing, screaming, slamming stuff on computers against the wall.

It's just not good. It's not in the holiday spirit. Like, you know, Santa just wants someone to do the job in a competent level.

It's not like Santa asked for much. So I think you like 50 50 on on calling out on that Tuesday. I don't know. You feel like you're not someone that just calls out sick. I'm not.

I have to be actually genuinely be sick. So if you want to take like a hot towel and just, you know, make sure that the base is warm enough. So you put the thermometer up, you could read like a hundred, take a picture of it, send it to our bosses. Yeah, maybe you do something like that already real quickly before we get on out of here.

Youtube.com slash CBS Sports Radio. You can see me dressed up as Santa Claus right now. Santa, I want to give out five gifts to some teams for the rest of the way with the NFL season. Oh, I didn't know we're going to do music here. Okay. Rocking around the Christmas tree, right?

That's the song. Okay. See, I'm like I'm like the biggest advocate for Christmas and I'm Jewish. Um, Chargers fans.

I'm giving you the gift of someone that often gets confused with being the Grinch. It's Bill Belichick. You need a good NFL head coach. Bill Belichick is still a great NFL head coach. Even the last few years has not been unbelievable, but Bill needs talent.

You need an adult in the room and you need a good coach to steer you into the right direction. Chargers fans, I gift you Bill Belichick. We're on to Kansas City. We're on to Kansas City.

We're on to Kansas City. Alrighty, Falcons fans. You gave me a great gift.

One of the greatest gifts I've ever received. I was at that Super Bowl in person as a Patriot fan. You were up 28 to 3 and you guys just choked it up. So I want to turn around the Atlanta Falcons franchise. Jim Harbaugh. He knows how to use running backs. Unlike Arthur Smith, Jim Harbaugh knows how to use Bijan Robinson, will know how to use Tyler Algier. And you will slowly find your quarterback of the future. Falcons fans, I give you Jim Harbaugh. 49ers fans. You know, we had a rocky start to the year. Deebo Samuel, your star wide receiver, hung up the phone on me after I asked him a few questions. But now I want to lend a helping hand to the 49ers.

I want to be benevolent and I want to be a good person. And even though you 40 whiners fans bitch and complain and say nasty things to me. And still to this day, slide into my DMs. And trust me, I want other people sliding into my DMs, not 40 whiners fans.

And you say some not so nice things that are very offensive and mean. I want to give the 49ers good health in this new year. And good health, because that's the only thing that could derail your football team.

Maybe Deebo was right. All you need is good health. Because if Trent Williams stays healthy, Christian McCaffrey stays healthy. Brock Purdy looking pretty awesome. Rocking out with this Brock out.

Ayuk, Deebo, those guys stay healthy. You are going to win the Super Bowl. Bills fans, I want to gift you a playoff berth.

Because I really do believe just as long as you make the playoffs, you're going to the Super Bowl out of the AFC. And finally, Moist Mike, even though it's very fugazi that you are no longer a Jets fan and now you're rooting for the Kansas City how about those Chiefs. I want to give a gift to your friend, Kadarius Toney.

So the Chiefs could actually get back to a Super Bowl. And you know what gift Kadarius Toney needs, Samter? He needs some stick-em.

He needs those hands to be sticky. You ever see the movie, The Replacement, when they tell Clifford Franklin to go, how can I say this, massage a pisha deal of a elephant? That's what they said to Clifford Franklin. Clifford Franklin, they said some term that I can't say on the radio.

Pete, the body of a lot. He just texted us. He's saying, Stu, get that finger on the dump button. But Kadarius Toney needs some stick-em. Because somehow, some way they keep on throwing the football to Kadarius Toney. He can't catch the football.

And then the ball either goes into the hands of another team or it's just a crucial drop or he lines up offsides. So those are my five gifts this year. Chargers fans, you get the hoodie, Bill Belichick. Falcons fans, you get Jim Harbaugh. 49ers fans, love you, hello. I give you good health. Bills fans, a playoff berth. And Kadarius Toney, some stick-em for those hands. You don't want to give the Jets fans Aaron Rodgers?

I don't know. Jets fans, I'm not giving any gifts to Jets fans. Already, death taxes, never given any gifts to Jets fans. That's my motto.

That's the way that I rock and roll. Alrighty, I will talk to you on Sunday for ION Football for eight hours, starting at noon p.m. Eastern, noon Eastern, and 9 a.m. Pacific. And I'll be back on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific, for the Zach Elb Show right here on CBS Sports Radio. Happy holidays to all. Hope you have a great, fun, safe time with your family. Remember, if you are drinking this holiday season, do not get in a car and drive.

Call an Uber, call a taxi, get someone sober to drive you, because unfortunately, there's too many incidents of drinking and driving in this country, and there is never a good outcome when you drink and drive. So have a wonderful holiday season, have a great Christmas, and we'll talk to you on ION Football on Sunday, and then right back here on CBS Sports Radio for the Zach Elb Show on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. We out. Bye-bye, thank you, peace. Bye.