Matt Schaub, Former NFL Quarterback

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We do have Wild Card Weekend, and a big matchup kicks things off on Saturday. The Cleveland Browns at the Houston Texans, and now joining us is former Texans quarterback, Matt Schaub. Kind enough to join us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Matt, appreciate the time. As always, how you been, my friend? Good, Zach. Thanks for having me on.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So, how about this year for the Texans with D'Amico Ryan, someone you know, getting the head coaching job, then making those two picks at two and three with C.J. Strad and Will Anderson. No one saw playoffs coming when the season started, but this has been one miraculous turnaround.

Yeah, it really is. Couldn't be more happy for D'Amico and the job he's done. You know, the writing was on the wall as a player that if he wanted to get into coaching, that he was going to be successful and rise the ranks fairly quickly. And the most impressive thing, honestly, is the development of C.J.

Strad. I mean, the maturity that he shows, the ability to throw under duress, and his mechanics, and being able to see the field and not limit his mistakes. It's just been very impressive to watch. You know, we played them.

I was with the Atlanta Falcons this season on their staff, and we played them earlier in the season. But you could just see that the kid just plays, you know, above his level as a rookie. And it's just been impressive to watch. You need a special person and you need to have a special personality to change that franchise around so quickly.

That's the other thing. It's like the leadership skills that he has to walk into that locker room with grown men and really be their leader, not just because you're the quarterback, but you're the actual leader of the team. It really is impressive from afar.

It is. You listen to how he talks and how he handles himself in front of the media. Just the way he plays, the calm demeanor.

Doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. And he just goes about his business. You know, he's played in a ton of big football games going back to his days at Ohio State.

But obviously this stage is a lot bigger. But, you know, he's grounded in his beliefs and how he plays. And it just shows, and it's just impressive to watch. Now on the other side, Matt Schaub, how about Joe Flacco right off the couch? And then he has the Cleveland Browns in the postseason. And not only does he get them to the postseason, you know, some may say elite Joe Flacco is back. This has just been surreal to see what he's been able to do. Yeah, it's been awesome to see that from Joe. You know, I had spent some time on the Baltimore Ravens roster with him and just played him a bunch of times. He's always been super talented and can throw the ball. Really jumps off his hands. And he's just, again, he's another calm, just cool and collected character. But for him to go into Cleveland with that defense, their running game, their weapons, and just go out and function right off the couch in a new system that he didn't know really anything about, just couldn't be happier for Joe and, you know, him getting that opportunity to revitalize his career.

Because that's always been there. You go back to his Super Bowl run in the playoffs, the playoff run that he had, you know, I mean, there's no reason to think he can't do that again. And you also look at it from a coaching angle. We talked about D'Amico Ryan's Matt Schaub, who joins us right now on CBS Sports Radio. Kevin Stefanski already has won one coach of the year. He may have another one coming at the end of this season.

You know, I think the conversation is D'Amico or Kevin Stefanski. But you know this, it's tough to keep on winning when your entire roster basically gets gutted with injuries. You've seen it, they lose their quarterback, they lose Nick Chubb, they lost both tackles this season. And to keep on finding a way to get this Browns team to the playoffs, I can't say enough about the coaching job of Kevin Stefanski.

Absolutely, we all know that, you know, the war of attrition is the number one thing in the NFL that you got to battle when you talk about 17-game scheduling. To be able to weather that storm and have players on your roster that you develop, you know, some of that's behind the scenes. But those guys are able to step in and be productive and to make the decision to, you know, call Joe and, you know, have him come in because the situation they were in at quarterback, which way do we go, we know our roster is built to make the playoffs and to go and find him and be able to develop him and get him ready within weeks.

You know, it just shows the coaching job that he's done and his staff to just get the next man up ready to go and ready to form. So what do you think this game comes down to between the Browns and the Texans? What ultimately decides, in your opinion? Well, I think it comes down, like all games, really.

Turnovers, being able to protect the football and score in the red zone. If you can do those two things, you know, like whoever wins those battles. But, you know, it's going to be fun to watch. I think the defenses will play well. Who can get after the quarterback and affect the other guy and make them make a decision that maybe they don't want to make or hurry them.

And I think that that's going to be what it comes down to. Does experience matter in this game? Like, for the Texans, they have such a young roster, right? Will Anderson, Jr., he's been in big games at Alabama, but not an NFL playoff game because it's his first year. Same with C.J.

Stroud. D'Amico Ryans has coached in big games but never as a head coach. Like, how much is the experience factor, a player in this one, on Saturday? You know, sometimes ignorance is bliss. Sometimes when you don't know any better and you just go out and throw a caution to the wind and you just play your game and understand that once you get between the white lines or put the headset on, it's a football game.

You know, obviously the stakes are a little bit higher and you know that. But it helps you to just have some tunnel vision. And sometimes those things can help you. Sometimes it can be used as a crutch when things don't go your way. But, you know, I think you can underestimate also Joe's experience as a quarterback in the playoff situations and understanding, okay, I don't need to force a ball here, I can throw it away. You know, we can punt, let our defense go out there. So I think there's reasons to argue for both sides. Obviously experience does help.

But also sometimes inexperience isn't a bad thing. Wrap it up with Matt Schaub who joins us right now. Later tomorrow evening, it's supposed to be like frigid cold temperatures, record cold temperatures in Kansas City. I'm sure you played in a cold game or two.

I know you were in a dome for a while. But you look at Miami and Kansas City from an offensive perspective. How do you think that weather is going to impact the game for both of these teams? I think it's definitely going to impact. I think it's going to and also depending on, you know, what's the wind doing?

You know, is it strong? You know, it's going to affect the passing game, but it's going to come down to defense. And you look at Kansas City's defense this year and how they played and how they've gotten after opposing teams quarterbacks. You know, I think that's going to be the key aspect to this game. Kansas City is fairly used to playing in this environment in the cold weather. They'll be at home. We'll see how Miami handles it with their scheme. Obviously, they do like to run the ball in a quick passing game and then take their shots when they're there.

But I think Kansas City's defense is going to be the key factor in this one. So Matt, as you mentioned, wrapping up with Matt Schaub, you were an offensive analyst this past year on the Atlanta Falcons staff. Just how do you kind of look back at the experience? I know you guys didn't accomplish what you set out to achieve this year, but how do you kind of look back at that experience? Yeah, it was a great, great opportunity for me to get back in the game and use some of the knowledge that I've accumulated over my playing career and just be part of a great staff and a great team.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out how we wanted to. But for me, just the game management aspect, some of the situational football things that come up, being able to study those things and lend a hand where I could was very, very valuable to me and what I'm possibly going to do as I go forward. Yeah, what do you hope to keep on doing with the coaching career, just wondering?

I know you're not still on the Falcons staff, but what's the dream for one Matt Schaub when you look at the rest of the coaching career? Well, I definitely want to stay connected to the game in some form or fashion. We'll see what happens right now just to get back and join some family time. But we'll see how things shake up here over the next few weeks or month. Yeah, and there's a big rumor in Atlanta that Bill Belichick could potentially be their next head coach.

I'm sure you've seen that. We'll see how it plays out. What would your reaction be knowing the guys in that locker room if the hoodie finds his way to the ATL? I think you look at the results that he's put up over the last two decades, three decades as a head coach. I mean, it's hard to argue with that and what he's been able to do, putting football teams together.

But I think anyone that has a head coaching vacancy, those rumors are probably spreading throughout those cities that he might be going to their staff. So we'll see how, time will tell. We'll see what happens. Last thing I'll ask you, I know they don't play until Monday, but the Eagles look like they have a team chemistry problem right now. Jalen Hurts is also dealing with the finger injury.

And I was reading he hasn't even been able to throw the football yet this week, but he's still expected to play in the game. Does it feel like this is just the wrong storm for Philadelphia and Tampa Bay at home has a good opportunity to take them down a Monday? Well, yeah, I mean, it's definitely been an interesting past month, month and a half for the Eagles when you're really watching from the outside. I can't speak to anything that's been going on inside the locker room or in the building, but you can tell that something's just off and they're not clicking and things aren't happening for them that in the past few years has been happening. And so their defense is still solid up front on the defensive line. They can still cause problems and they're tough to block and they can still run the football. So we'll see on Monday night and Tampa, they've had their ups and downs as well and we'll see what happens when they kick off. But one thing Tampa has been able to run the football as of late over the last few weeks and we'll see Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, they're always tough to handle on the outside. So we'll see how it pans out. They definitely can tell the Eagles had some things that they need to address and identify over the last couple weeks before they make a run in the playoffs.

He's Matt Schaub. Matt, always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. You'll be well. Enjoy the weekend. All right, Zach. Thanks a lot.