Sean McDermott on Hot Seat (Hour 3)

JamesAllen.com is the online destination to easily design a customized engagement ring, and save up to 50% compared to traditional stores. You pick a diamond. Whether it's lab-created or earth-created, James Allen has over 200,000 conflict-free stones.

Then you pick your ring setting and metal. And if you need some help, they have real-time diamond consultations available, where an expert can walk you through it all. Get 25% off your order at JamesAllen.com Code Podcast. That's JamesAllen.com Code Podcast.

A new year is full of surprises, but one thing is always predictable. Postage costs go up. Stamps.com gives you crazy discounts of up to 89% off USPS and UPS services. So when postage goes up, your business will barely notice the change. Stamps.com is like your own personal post office, wherever you are. You can even take care of orders on the go with the mobile app.

No lines, no traffic, no waiting. Schedule package pickups, automatically find the cheapest and fastest shipping options, and seamlessly connect with every major marketplace and shopping cart. There's even a supply store where you can stock up on mailing supplies, labels, even printers. Stamps.com has been indispensable for over 1 million businesses, just like yours.

All you need is a computer or phone and printer. Take a chunk out of your mailing and shipping costs this year with stamps.com. Sign up with promo code program for a special offer that includes a four-week trial, plus free postage and a free digital scale.

No long-term commitments or contracts. That's stamps.com code program. All righty, our number three, we're already a program. It is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. So we're recapping all the four games from over the weekend. We have the AFC and NFC title game set, which will come your way on Sunday. First game is going to kick off at three, as you do have the Baltimore Ravens, as they will be hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. And then the second game, the Nightcap, is going to be over in Santa Clara with the San Francisco 49ers welcoming in America's team. And Dan Campbell, bite off your kneecaps with the Detroit Lions.

But let's get back in to what's been the biggest story of the day. And it's another disappointing showing in the postseason or not being able to get the job done by the Buffalo Bills in a game where they had Kansas City. They had an opportunity to beat Kansas City. And even though they've been able to show the last few years they could beat Kansas City in the regular season, they just can't find a way to get the job done in the postseason, whether it was losing to them in the AFC title game four years ago, which you can't kill them for. They weren't the better team on paper. They weren't expected to win that game. The 13 second game will always be a game that haunts them. But this time what makes it different is that you're at home.

You're in your building, your home crowd. You have a Chiefs team that is considered to be vulnerable. This is not a strong Kansas City team.

As in years past, they're always dangerous because until someone takes out number 15, they will always be a tough out in the postseason. But this was a game that was there for the taking in the Buffalo Bills, where even when it looked like the Chiefs were going to go into halftime with a lead and a half that they were not the better team, Allen answers back. He makes the big plays. He gets a touchdown to give him the lead going into halftime. And to start the second half, it was touchdown Kansas City, touchdown Buffalo, touchdown Kansas City. And that was the last touchdown of the game. And you get the ball back with eight minutes left.

You're slowly bleeding that clock. You're trying to get into the end zone. You know, in your back pocket, you could settle for a field goal, but don't want to feel good about settling for a field goal because all it would do would be tying the game and you would give the ball back to Mahomes. And if you couldn't find a way to stop Mahomes when he had 13 seconds, what makes you think you're going to be able to stop him when there was probably in all likelihood at least 90 seconds, if not two minutes, that would have been remaining. And everything on that drive, you know, I know that Allen threw a masterful ball to Diggs and Diggs dropped it, but they were recovering.

They were surviving. They were making the plays. They were matriculating the ball down the field. And then second and nine, he went for the home run pass.

Now Sal Capaccio brings up a good point who joined us earlier. He had the pass. It could have been a touchdown and Chris Jones just did a good job penetrating his guy and getting him to make Josh Allen not be able to step up and fire off that football. But with all that being said, I look back at that second and nine play and I say this all the time in the clutch moments, keep it simple, silly.

You got to keep it simple. Now I don't know if Diggs would have got the first down, but you had Diggs wide open. You had Diggs for a while. You didn't have to go for the kill shot there. Continue to bleed the clock and then find a way to get the ball in the end zone.

But they weren't able to do that. And then on third down he had Kekade. I don't know if Dalton Kekade would have got the first down, but it could have been a play where he eventually got the act and got the first down. Then you tried out Tyler Bass there who's been struggling and we all know how it ended wide right 44 yard miss field goal wide right again, where you have a new kicker, right?

All those years go by and it's wide right again for the Buffalo Bills. So I think now, right, you live in a world where a team loses and it's like, okay, who are we calling up the radio? Who are we watching on TV that's going to tell us someone's going to get fired? And sometimes those conversations are fair and sometimes it happens. And sometimes it happens.

Sometimes those conversations are unfair, but something still does happen. Like last week on Monday and Tuesday, we sat here and we said Mike McCarthy's got to go and Nick Sirianni's got to go. Mike McCarthy didn't get fired. Now he's going to be a lame duck coach this year. He's coaching without a contract extension. So he's on the final year of his deal and it looks like Nick Sirianni is going to be brought back as the Eagles coach with the press conference that we're waiting on Wednesday with Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni. But today I think there's two questions or two topics that get brought up from the Bills game.

One I think is just unfair and the other I think is very fair and it's fair to ask it. The unfair part is Josh Allen. And I said this earlier, I'll say it again. You could criticize Josh Allen. Josh Allen was the best player in the field yesterday for the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen was the only reason why the Bills were in the game. Josh Allen has to find the way to get the ball in the end zone at the end of the game, but I'm not going to sit here and say that Josh Allen stinks and Josh Allen is overrated. Everyone knows that he's still a top five quarterback in the sport. And as I said this earlier, I'll say it again, entering next year, the lowest you could rate him, if you're being fair about this and I'm fair about this, is the fourth best quarterback in the sport.

That's the absolute lowest that you could rate Josh Allen. So push aside the Josh Allen part of it and now let's get to the Sean McDermott conversation. I thought very early on this year Sean McDermott was in danger of losing his job.

And then you had those disgraceful comments come to light on the analogy that he used with 9-11 and you heard me just lose my mind about it. This team though was 6-6 and this team looked like they were heading to miss in the playoffs. They found a way to make the playoffs. So you know how I said to you earlier with the Green Bay Packers, how you have to separate how you view that game up against the Niners where they could have won and they should have won, compared to how you look at the totality of the conversation. With the Bills though, it was, or with the Packers, it was no expectations than having expectations. With the Bills it was having expectations to not having expectations then to bind back into this team before the playoffs did commence. So when I look at Buffalo, I do think you could realize and acknowledge that the Bills made changes down the stretch and they played better football. But still, I don't understand how you walk away from this Bills season and say it's anything other than being a failure of a season.

Because a few years ago they built a foundation. A few years ago they got to an AFC title game and then the following year they got to the division round against Kansas City again and you had the 13-second choke job. Since then, the Bills have not played to the level that they're capable of when it matters the most. Last year in the playoffs you had Mike McDaniel allegedly hitting a vape pen on the sideline and you barely beat him in your own building when Skylar Thompson and the Dolphins had him at quarterback and they were down to their third string quarterback. The following week, the Bengals went into your home, they ate your food, they drank your beer, and they slept with your wife.

That's what they did, the Bengals, last year to the Buffalo Bills. And then this offseason, this past offseason for Buffalo, it was chaotic because something happened with Josh Allen and Staphon Diggs and Sean McDermott and we were told that it was a big deal and then once the blow-up happened we were told it wasn't a big deal and it was all the media's fault. And I get it, Staphon Diggs is 30 years old right now.

You look at his numbers statistically, it's like okay he had good numbers, but as Bill Belichick would say, stats are for losers. Because Staphon Diggs hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game since week six, hasn't had a touchdown since week 12. And in the big moment yesterday, Staphon Diggs dropped the ball that he should have caught, which was a great throw by Allen, and then Allen didn't throw the ball to Diggs late in the game. So something's off between those two and I do believe that Staphon Diggs is in the start of his decline and I'll be curious if maybe the Bills, and I know there's a contract and finances that are tough to move around, but will they try to move off of Staphon Diggs this year and try to bring in somebody else? Because the Bills need a little more firepower on the offensive side of the ball. Like you got Allen, you got James Cook, you got Dalton Kincaid, it's like you need a, maybe it's time to move on from Diggs and get a number one wide receiver. Because I don't think Diggs is playing elite football for the foreseeable future, heck he wasn't elite this year. And I'm not saying Diggs is a bad teammate, but there's always that thought because the ominous cloud that's been hanging over this organization, fair or not, went with the way that the season started. But now you look at Buffalo and you can't say that this season was a success, even though at the end of the year, they found the way to put lipstick on a pig. But you put lipstick on a pig, guess what?

It's still a pig down to its roots. And for Buffalo, you know you're not moving on from the quarterback when you have a top five quarterback in the sport who's young. But I look at Sean McDermott, who's been a good coach in this league. And Buffalo didn't make the playoffs for nearly 20 years, and all this guy does is win the AFC East and make the postseason.

But you've been stuck on this window of going from the AFC title game to then three straight years losing in the divisional round. And I believe that this is a question of what will happen and what should happen. What will happen is Sean McDermott's going to be brought back as the Buffalo Bills head coach. But what should happen is the Bills should move on from Sean McDermott.

And sometimes the guy that tears down your house and builds it back up isn't the guy that ends up putting the roof on top of the house. And I think that Sean McDermott has done everything that he has in his power and everything that he could in Buffalo. And this is one of those off-seasons where sometimes you say fire a coach and you go, hold on, who's the coach that's better? Who's the coach that you're going to bring in?

And it's a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum and a hum. You don't have an answer. Don't do what Dallas did. Don't do what Philadelphia did and say, well, just keep it status quo and hope that Nick Sirianni or Mike McCarthy find a way to get the job done. You have a guy in Bill Belichick that's available. You have a guy in Pete Carroll that's available. You have a guy in Jim Harbaugh that's available. And if you want to tell me no one Vrabel, I think Vrabel's a better coach than McDermott, but he doesn't have a ring, but he's never had a roster as good as Buffalo. So you could even argue Mike Vrabel should be coaching this team next year.

You have four rock star candidates that are proven in this league. And I don't think a change of voice would be a bad thing for the Buffalo Bills. So today, and I've heard it on TV shows, I've heard it on radio shows, Josh Allen will get a ton of criticism. I don't know how fair and I don't think that conversation is that fair, but I get it because you're the quarterback and we dumb this down. We do everything quarterback coach. It's all in the quarterback coach, coaching quarterback.

That's what it's always on. But Josh Allen's not going anywhere and the Bills, you can't even make a case with a straight face to say that the, the Bills should move on from Josh Allen. That's just like the definition of just being an idiot and just being a moron and just being a dope. But I look at McDermott and you got to ask yourself this question. Can you envision, do you believe that Sean McDermott's going to be able to fight through this adversity and have it result in the Buffalo Bills? Would in their first ever championship?

And I can't sit here and tell you that's a yes. And there have been moments in history. There have been moments in times in sports where a guy has done a great job laying a foundation and telling you how to build this team the right way and having a lot of success that doesn't result in a championship or an appearance in a Super Bowl or in a World Series, an NBA Finals, a Stanley Cup Final, whatever the sport it is. Because sometimes the guy that does the dirty work and sometimes the guys that really built up the way that the Bills are doesn't get to see their best days. It just happens. And in this case with Sean McDermott, I don't see him having any moment that ends up with confetti falling. And that's winning an AFC or that's winning the last one, which ends up being the Super Bowl.

And you're going to have to retool. You're going to have to make some changes, especially on the offensive side of the ball to continue to have this window open with Josh Allen. But for Sean McDermott, I just think it's time. I think it's time to move on.

We're both could be true. You could say that Sean McDermott has done a wonderful job in Buffalo. But then you could also follow up and saying it's time to move on from Sean McDermott. And you got Belichick available. You know, Belichick needs more talent. Buffalo needs a winner. I know that those two, you know, the Bills fans, they hated Belichick for all those years, but Belichick brings a Super Bowl to Buffalo. They'll all be saying, all hail Bill Belichick. Pete Carroll's won in this league.

Got the two Super Bowls, won a Super Bowl. Imagine Pete and Buffalo with that personality, that would be awesome. And Jim Harbaugh has won in college, has won in the NFL, and he's like quirky and he's all about football and family. Hello, that's Buffalo. So you got those three options out there that would be sensational options for the Bills. Heck, Mike Vrabel even fits Buffalo. He said he would cut off his you-know-what to win a Super Bowl.

That's like the level of craziness in a good way that the Bills fans are. And McDermott is a good football coach. He has exceeded expectations in Buffalo from when he got there. But now it's one of the expectations in the future.

And the expectations of the future, whether you have been able to get the job done or not recently, is to win it all. And I don't think Sean McDermott, as someone that wanted Sean McDermott to get a head coaching job years before he actually did, I don't think Sean McDermott, unfortunately, is going to be able to win a Super Bowl in Buffalo. If there were no great candidates out there that were experienced, I wouldn't be sitting here and saying this. But I can't sit here and say that I believe that he's going to win them a Super Bowl, and there aren't better options out there this year. There are better options out there this year. But whether I say it or not, I know what the Bills are going to do. Like, I would be floored, absolutely shocked if we get an announcement this week that the Bills are moving on from Sean McDermott, because the Bagula family is comfortable where they are right now. And they're afraid to see what it would be like without Sean McDermott. And we know Brandon Bean has a great relationship with Sean McDermott going back to their days together with the Carolina Panthers.

Do you think the Bills should move on from Sean McDermott? 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. When something happens to your car, you might say, But what you really need to say is something that can actually help. And just like that, State Farm is there to help you file your claim right on the State Farm mobile app. So just remember, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

State Farm, Bloomington, Illinois. Alrighty, Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio. We'll get to a news brief in just a second. Coming off what was a very busy divisional round weekend in the National Football League.

But first up, 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Dave in Miami wants to get in on the Sean McDermott conversation. Dave, what's happening? What's going on, Zach? Doing great.

What do you got? I wanted to talk about the coaching situation. I think he should go because just remember Marv Levy. So I got for you.

Thanks. Well, Marv Levy at least got to the Super Bowls, right? And they just couldn't find a way to get the job done. And Marv Levy is a Hall of Fame coach.

So I don't really see the aha moment there with Sean McDermott. It would be one thing if you kept on getting to the Super Bowl and losing, but the Bills can't even find the way to get to the Super Bowl. And they have now regressed from being a AFC Championship team, a team that got to the AFC Championship game. They didn't raise a banner like the Colts in all those years ago.

Participants in the AFC Championship game, AFC finalists. But since then, they've been in the division around three straight years. And it was embarrassing performance up against the Chiefs where they couldn't get the job done in a game they should have won.

And since then, the team just has never recovered. So I don't think you say, oh, well, because the Bills lost four straight Super Bowls in a row and you saw what happened there with Marv Levy that it's going to repeat itself. The Bills would love to get to a Super Bowl. The Bills would love to get to the final game of the season, but they haven't been able to get over that hump in the last three years.

They haven't been able to get out of the division around. So I don't think you use Marv Levy to make your argument for Sean McDermott. I think you use just the facts that Sean McDermott has probably done all that he could in Buffalo. And sometimes a voice gets stale.

Sometimes a voice gets old. And when a guy's had this much success into Buffalo standards, you need to do something else to get the success in everybody's else's standards, which is win a Super Bowl. Because when you have a top five quarterback and that's without a doubt, Allen is a top five quarterback in the sport. When you have a top five quarterback, you got to find a way in that window to get the job done. Peyton Manning came up short for a while, then got the job done. Big Ben, he won a Super Bowl early in his career.

Rogers won one. Eli Manning was, I don't know if he was ever, he was never a top five quarterback in the sport, but he's won two Super Bowls. We know what Brady ended up doing.

It's like Drew Brees won a Super Bowl. We've had top five quarterbacks, a lot of them in the last 20 years. Brady, Manning, Rogers, Brees, right?

Obviously Holmes now. And Allen is one of those guys where each and every year the Bills know they go into the season with a top five quarterback. They know as long as he's healthy, as long as everything's healthy, they go into a season with top five quarterback. And that defense let them down three years ago. The coach also let them down three years ago, not doing a squib kick.

The last two years, Allen showed up yesterday until the end. It's a problem, but that defense was decimated with injuries. I do believe McDermott will be back because they'll go back and they'll say, hey, you know, his team was about to sink.

It was six and six and he found a way to get us back moving in the right direction. I think the Bills are operating out of fear. The Bills are operating in fear of the unknown and why they won't get rid of McDermott. But here's the thing.

The unknown is not really that much unknown. It's because you've been comfortable with the Bills have been at with McDermott. At least they're in the conversation.

They're better options out there. I don't think you use Marv Levy to make the case why Sean McDermott should be fired. You should use the case of, I don't know, mention the name Bill Belichick, mention the name Pete Carroll, mention the name Jim Harbaugh.

That's why you get rid of Sean McDermott, not because of things that happened well over 20 years ago. It's up to each of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. Here comes the news brief. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. So Carlson, the kicker for the Packers, has struggled this year and the broadcast was saying that Matt Lafleur says that he just prays every time his kicker gets called upon.

Here is Matt Lafleur today on the broadcast saying he prays when Carlson kicks. That was extremely disappointing that that's how that message got portrayed. You know, I've been doing this for, been a part of production meetings for ever since I became a coordinator and I've never had an experience like that. But it is what it is.

I talk to hunters about it. You know, I think anytime something's out of your control, you know, kind of saying it in jest and having fun with it. But it got portrayed that way and, you know, it's a learning lesson for me. So this is not a Karissa Thompson situation where the sideline reporter just made it up. This was Matt Lafleur thinking he made a joke that I guess did not get hit as a joke with the sideline reporter and the sideline reporter took it literally. But here's the thing. I don't think as an NFL coach, you make a joke or you say something in jest and leave that up to for someone to interpret if it's a joke or not.

Because like also, Sam, and you've been around this a long time doing this stuff. There's been issues with the kicker. So let's say in the production meeting, Matt Lafleur is like laughing and he goes, I just hope that, you know, he and prays that he ends up making the kicks.

But what's been so like wrongly reported there? You did say it. Now you thought you were joking, but does anyone actually believe that Matt Lafleur was actually joking about that?

Sounds pretty spot on to me. What's a joke? You can say something in a joking manner, but if there's truth behind the joke, you're maybe just hiding the truth by, you know, laughing about it. Like, oh, I just pray. When secretly he's thinking like, yeah, I don't really trust this guy.

He hasn't been that great this year. So you say it, whether it's in a joking manner or not. Now, could they have provided context in the report?

Sure. You know, oh, well, you know, Matt Lafleur is joking. He laughed it off and said, I pray every time he goes out there. But I don't think it really changes though, the roots of what he was saying.

He meant what he said, whether he wants to now say it's joking or not. The reality of the whole situation is they use a six round pick in 2023, this past draft on a rookie kicker Anders Karlsson, and they know he's still going to be on the roster next year. So now you're trying to restore his confidence when you got kind of caught with your pants down, making fun of your kicker and the whole world now knows that. So I like Matt Lafleur when he was able to do this year.

But I thought that was pretty lame in hearing what he just said to the media today. Here is Jordan Love on his costly game ending interception. You know, looking back on it, yeah, throw it away. I don't know if I had an opportunity to be able to run, maybe get out of bounds, but, you know, force it across the middle late, which is a mortal sin. And, you know, Acosta.

So some I'll look at, but, you know, there's, that's an area right there where I'll be able to look at, grow from and get better in the future. That is the ultimate like no, no, no play that when they teach you what not to do as a quarterback, they teach you don't roll out, get on the run, and then stop on a dime and throw the ball across your body. That is, that is the definition of just a dumb play QB 101 what not to do when you are a quarterback. With all that being said, though, Jordan Love is basically a rookie. Now I know that he's been in league the last few years.

This is his first year as a starter. You're going to have mistakes like that. It was a bad decision. It was a bad throw.

Live to see another day. Get the ball in field goal range to go get Carlson with a chance for redemption and get the game into overtime. Sometimes the best throws that you make are the ones that you just throw away. That's, that's sometimes your best throws.

And in that spot, you got to throw the ball away, live to see another day and try to get that ball into field goal range. Love had an incredible season. Love was really good down the stretch. He shows, he showed that he can be the franchise guy for the Green Bay Packers. Good season, but a bad way for it to end in a game where most people didn't think you had a shot. And you ended up not only having a shot control in that game, and you ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, especially when your kicker changed the momentum of the game when he missed it and you still had an opportunity to go tie the football game.

Here is Baker Mayfield, someone that had a really good season, exceeded expectations for the Buccaneers on the divisional round loss, though, to the Detroit Lions. It sucks. I feel like my heart just got ripped out, but it's, football's a complex game, but it's also simple. It comes down to taking care of the ball. And in two minute drives like that, when you know you're going to have four downs to use, just a bad, bad mistake by me.

And it sucks. Yeah, this, this one's going to weigh on me for a while. Now I had the Lions laying six. A lot of people had it at six and a half, seven. There was that stretch where they scored the touchdown to make it from 14 to seven. And then they end up going for our 14 to eight. And then they end up going for two or no, it was, it was, yeah, no, cause you would have kicked the extra point.

It would have made it a seven point game. They end up making it going for two to try to make it a six point game, which I know what the analytics say. And people tell me analytics, this analytics, that also these analytics ever tell you not to go for it. The analytics ever tell you to, to, to punt the football. Every time you see an analytics, it says, go for it, go for it, go for it. When you're trying to get back into a game, I understand what the analytical people will tell me, but just take the PAT and make it a seven point game.

And I get it. If you make the conversion and then you get the ball back, a touchdown and a PAT wins the game. But I thought that decision in the moment, you knew it was coming and it drove me bonkers, but still, even when they got the ball back and they were down by eight, did anyone think Baker Mayfield was marching down the field? Like when love was marching down the field late in that game, I thought even with how great the Niners defense was, he was going to go get the field goal. No one thought Baker was coming through in that moment and Baker played a good game. Canals did a good job within this year and Mike Evans should be brought back in Tampa Bay.

We'll see if that happens. Here is a Sean McDermott. This was maybe one of the all time worst decisions I've ever seen.

It's not the worst decision, but it's one of those decisions that you always remember, man, it was really ugly. And here's the thing. McDermott had an out from the TV broadcast because Tony Romo pointed it out right away on that fake punt. Oh, maybe Hamlin called an audible because the Chiefs only had 10 guys on the field. Maybe this is McDermott protecting his players. But McDermott said, no, the plan from the start was to fake that punt and he was just being aggressive in that moment. Sean, what went into the decision on the fake punts? Yeah, I just just felt like we were having a hard time stopping them and they were up three at the time, I believe it was and wanted to be aggressive. You only get one chance. And so I wanted to be aggressive, obviously didn't work.

But it's a decision I made and you live with it. Keeping the offense out and for the sake of being aggressive, why, I guess, choose the special teams option instead of the offense? Yeah, just again, hadn't done it. The element of surprise, maybe a little bit there, you know, felt we felt good about the look going into the week. So I understand what you're saying about keeping Josh out there. Just where we were on the field in relation to the element of surprise in that situation. Yeah, there's a difference been in between being aggressive and then just being stupid.

I agree with the reporter. And I said this in the moment, you're going to go for it in that spot. You only need five yards. You've got to have Josh Allen on the field. I'd rather have Josh Allen on the field with 11 Chiefs defenders than running a fake punt with Damar Hamlin with only 10 Chiefs defenders, which is a bad decision.

With all that being said, though, they survived the fake punt because then that drive Nicole Harmon fumbled the ball out of the end zone and still the Bills couldn't capitalize even off that fumble. Here is Josh Allen losing to the Kansas City Chiefs again. Sucks. Losing sucks. Losing to them, losing anybody at home sucks.

Here, there, it doesn't matter. Losing sucks. I don't know what else to say. Yeah, I always get those postgame press conferences are bizarre when the player loses. I never loved the how do you feel question, though?

Like, maybe you got to go, like, describe the emotions or something like that. But hey, Josh, how do you feel? Yeah, this sucks. Losing to them sucks.

Losing to anybody sucks. So I got no problem with the Josh Allen answer. And it's one of those things that, you know, you got to speak to the media. I respect, you know, guys that do speak to the media after tough losses. It's good to do that.

I think it's healthy as well. But what else is he going to say in a moment like that? Here is Patrick Mahomes with Tracy Wilson to CBS getting ready to face Lamar Jackson, the Ravens in the AFC title game. Your early thoughts of Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens?

Yeah, there's no weakness there. It's gonna take our best effort. Defense, offense, best teams, they do it all.

It's always a great challenge and that stadium is gonna be rocking, so we're excited for the challenge. And the Ravens are better on offense. The Ravens are better on defense.

All right? Like, they're a better football team. Now, Lamar Jackson's having another MVP season. The better quarterback is still Patrick Mahomes. He's the best quarterback in football. The Chiefs defense is underrated. It's still not better, though, than the Ravens defense. Harbaugh is a really good coach.

He's not a better coach than Andy Reid. So, yeah, you still have the better coach and quarterback. But when you look at the overall of the team and the 11 guys that they line up on defense, 11 guys they line up on offense, the advantage this weekend does go to the Baltimore Ravens. But with that being said, the Chiefs are always going to be a tough out. And this is a year where they're vulnerable. Last year, right, they're vulnerable, too, without Tyreek Hill.

And they found a way to get the job done. And we are 60 minutes away from seeing the Chiefs go back to another Super Bowl. So Mahomes said that the Ravens have no weaknesses. If you were to have to pinpoint a weakness, what would be the quote-unquote weakest link of this Baltimore Ravens team? That this group hasn't done it. It's the experience that the Chiefs have.

That's what it is to me. Because I look at this team, they could run the ball, they could throw the ball. They may be getting Marc Andrews back. Isaiah Likley has been an anytime touchdown machine. Made me some money this weekend. Likley and Kittle parlayed together.

Your boy was very happy about that. And their defense is just great with Roquan Smith. And you just see this team. There's not flaws, you know, injuries, you know, throughout a game and how they play out. But the Dolphins didn't have a healthy defense. The Bills didn't have a healthy defense. The Ravens do have a healthy defense going into this one. So I would say it's the, and it's not like the Ravens don't have experience in the playoffs. They've been in the playoffs. But getting the Super Bowl done with this core, they haven't done that. And the Chiefs have. But I like the Ravens early on to win this game. And finally, here's Nelson Aguilar of the Ravens who scored the first touchdown of the game. He has big praise for Lamar Jackson.

We are as he goes, like, you know what I'm saying? Like his personality, he is the Baltimore Ravens. You know, he leads the right. It's said, and then he executes.

He does, you know, you didn't just talk, talk, talk, and then go out there and not do nothing. He says what needs to be said and goes out there and executes. And Lamar is a phenomenal leader. I don't think we praise the leadership skills of Lamar Jackson enough. And I know some people will say, oh, well, he got hurt last year. And then did he abandon the team and all that nonsense? Listen to the way that the guys talk about Lamar Jackson.

That tells me all I need to know about his leadership skills. They are outstanding. And that's never been a team when Lamar's been there on offense, that they've had this, these weapons that you look at and you're like, ooh, and an ah and over. You know, they don't have a top five receiver. They don't have a top 10 receiver right now, and they're still finding their way to get the job done. And Lamar is having his, you know, a great season where it's not only great individual success, but great team success.

And we've seen the way that they have not only beat teams this year, but just annihilated teams this year. But I can't wait for that game. You know, Ravens and Chiefs, I'm more excited for than 49ers and Lions. And I think Ravens and Chiefs will be close, but ultimately the Ravens will find a way to win the game by at least a touchdown.

All right. That's the news brief. Zach, Yelp show, CBS Sports Radio will come on back. The Cowboys didn't play this past weekend, but their players and their family members, they can't stop talking. Now there has been some serious stuff for some of the family members of the Dallas Cowboys. We'll get into all that nastiness to end up the show when we return after these short messages. Update time first.

Here's the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. Shall I take your order or do you need a minute? Yes, I'll be ready. Just buying a car on Caravana. What? It's super convenient. I already got pre-qualified in two minutes.

All I had to do was answer a few questions. What? That's handy. Yeah. Now I'm customizing my down and monthly payments. What? That's an exquisite deal. And just like that, Caravana is delivering my car in a couple of days. What? Oh yeah.

Sorry. I'll have the burrito. Visit Caravana.com to finance your next car. Financing subject to credit approval.

Delivery fees may apply. It's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day. And it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Andy in Ohio says, Zach, what was your favorite part of Divisional Round weekend? 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. You can 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. I actually have two moments. Number one was the Ravens second half. I really do enjoy the Lamar Jackson story. And I said this before the season started that the way that people talk about Lamar is very similar to the way that people talked about Giannis Antetokounmpo before he won a championship, because Lamar has accomplished so much at such an early age. And the same with Giannis, where they've done everything in the regular season. The only thing left to do was to win a championship. So then when you don't have the championship, people start to say, oh, you can't do this. And not that you throw a parade after beating the Texans, who were a good story this year. And C.J. Shroud is going to be a phenomenal quarterback for years and years to come.

You know, the job isn't done yet. But the way that you saw people at half criticized Lamar and then to give the second half effort that he did, I did thoroughly enjoy that. And then the obvious one is just the last home game of the year for the Detroit Lions and that crowd and everything those fans have been through to now have a team that has punched their ticket to an NFC title game and to get that moment at home before they go out to Santa Clara and do battle with the 49ers 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl. It's impossible outside of you being a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. It is impossible to not feel really damn good for the Detroit Lions. Anyway, we have not talked about the Cowboys really outside of those like two dopey Cowboy fans earlier in the show that were like, oh, you're going to crush the bills today like you crushed the Cowboys. Try to make Cowboys fans feel better.

But I do got to talk about the Cowboys now because I was working out over the weekend and I saw these tweets from Dak Prescott's brother. Now, I've always said this and I'm not comparing myself to an NFL player, but I've told my family before that whenever someone criticizes me or any time someone says something publicly about me, whether they like the show or not, and especially when they don't like the show, and especially when they don't like me, do not defend me. Do not get in the conflict. Do not get in the battle because nine times out of 10, the people that crush you are either doing it to troll or they want a response. And I can't tell you how many times I have had someone DM me or have tweeted me just like disgusting, nasty things. And then the times I do respond, they go, oh, I was just trying to get under your skin.

I listen to the show all the time. Love you. You know, you do a great job, but I made that clear to my family. You never respond.

Never, ever, ever, especially when it's negative. And it's amazing to me that Dak, Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb, they don't have that same rule or that same idea when talking to their loved ones. Because Dak Prescott's brother getting on social media and saying Cowboys fans that continue to DM me, trust me, if I could get Dak to leave Dallas, I would. I too want him out of Dallas. The city and organization have been great to, to me and my family, but done with drama and the so-called fans, but he loves this team and wants to bring rings. Why even put that out there?

Why even put it out there that you would love to get Dak out of the Dallas Cowboys and players and players families need to realize this. And I understand social media, if you get really nasty and when it's, when, when you're dealing with a loved one, your responses are, you view your response responses as you're defending and you're speaking up for a family member that just getting pummeled on social media. So I understand that, but you responding only exacerbates the situation and it doesn't make you look good.

You never win fighting fans, especially when the fans are anonymous, sliding into your DMs with an egg face profile picture on social media. But it didn't just stop there. Like Micah Parsons had to apologize for things that his brother said.

And he's like, Hey, well, my brother said, doesn't reflect what I view. And then how about CD Lamb's mother who put on Facebook Dak, isn't it like, what are you doing? You know, the football season may have ended, but the drama Dallas choking Cowboys, their super bowl is just getting started. Their post season now is just getting started. Cause that's what these guys and gals do. They lose. They should shut up. You don't hear from them, right? Teams should just go away, but you can't even give it a week. You can't even enjoy the off season when you have the star wide receivers, mother slam in the quarterback, the quarterbacks, brother slamming the fans, and then the star pass rushers, brother slamming the fans as well.

It's like, what are you doing? And I get it. It's your family member.

You want to protect your family. I understand it, but you got to think we live in a gotcha society. Now, what did you think? You're just going to put this and only your audience is going to see this. And all it does is it creates more crap for the quarterback, the wide receiver and the pass rusher like Michael Parsons to start his off season, responding about things that his brother said, you don't think CD Lamb and Dak Prescott will eventually and inevitably be asked about what your mother and what your brother said. It's it's amazing to me how this like social media is not new. Social media has been around for a long time. We are now in the social media era. And even if it's rooted in a good place, it's not going to end up playing out well. It's only going to cause headaches for the people that you're trying to defend because going after fans and I'm not saying fans treat you right all the time, but going after fans, you don't win these battle with the fans and notice how it's not Michael Parsons.

It's not CD Lamb. It's not Dak Prescott that are the ones that are going after the fans. It's their families. It's just stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid behavior, really stupid. And all it does when you're cooking up the Dallas Cowboys pot, you just keep on adding that drama.

You know, you like you like to season meat or you like to put some spices on your food. The Cowboys, they just like to funnel in the drama. And I really do believe Jerry Jones is happy with all this. He's like the more drama we have, the better, because I don't think Jerry Jones actually cares about wins and losses. All he cares about is drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, and oh, yeah, more drama with the drama, Dallas Choking Cowboys.

Dak will definitely get a new contract now. But after what his brother had to say, Jerry's like, yeah, more drama, the better. All right. That is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Fun Monday show.

We'll be back tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. Would like to thank my producer extraordinaire, Moist Mike. Also, Stuart Kovacs for helping us put together this three hour fun of show. And Sal Cappaccio for joining us as well.

The Bills sideline reporter, as Sal, of course, had to say that I can't definitely say that's the fun things. We'll be back next year with the Buffalo. I just can't wait for dinner on Wednesday. Oh, yeah, we are going to dinner Wednesday where Samter owed me a steak. And then since his chiefs, the one bet I lost this weekend won. And I say his chiefs in air quotes.

Now, Samter does not have to go Andy Reid mustache with all the stews not coming off of it. And he doesn't have to pay me the dinner. So now everyone's on her own.

We're split in three ways that dinner. The wife is upset that the chiefs won because she was looking forward to me shaving the beard. Oh, really? Oh, yeah.

Oh, so that was that was a bet that was misleading. You wanted me to do your dirty work. I don't want to shave it. The wife wanted it. Yeah, well, we know. I love the beard. Your wife's going to get what she wants. Right. Happy, happy wife. Happy life. So Santa will be a clean shaven about this time next week. We'll talk to you tomorrow, everybody. We out. Bye bye. Peace.