Lions Are Team To Beat In NFC (Hour 2)

Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network, hour number two of our radio program. So, when I look at the NFL schedule this weekend, the game that jumps out to me the most is obviously a classic NFC North showdown between the Detroit Lions and the Go Pack Go with the Green Bay Packers, 4.25 p.m. Eastern Time on Fox. You know, your four o'clock window this weekend, Jags at the Eagles, Bears at the Cardinals, Lions at the Packers, Rams at the Seahawks. That Lions-Packers game I think is gonna be really damn fun. Now, full disclosure, I do think the Lions are gonna beat the Packers. The Packers a few weeks ago had a big win at home up against the Texans. You know, they bottled up CJ Stroud. They held him to under 100 passing yards in the game. I just can't fade or can't pick against the Detroit Lions right now.

You know, I was thinking about this before the show started today. Like if you said gun to your head, Stu, and I'll have you answer this question. One team, just one team to win the Super Bowl this year. AFC, NFC, doesn't matter. What's the first team that comes to mind to win the Super Bowl this year? Chiefs. Right?

Yes. Most people would say Kansas City. But when you look at Kansas City compared to Detroit, with what you've seen so far, even though the Lions have lost the game and Kansas City hasn't, shouldn't we be more confident in the Lions than the Chiefs?

And I get it. People are gonna be like, yeah, but it's Detroit. Like, hey, they had a great season last year. They got to an NFC title game. They were kicking the snot out of the 49ers, but they lost that game. And I always get when you have a team like the Detroit Lions, which the franchise has been such an embarrassment, even with some of the all time great players that they've had.

However, this time right now in Detroit, they're rocking, they're rolling right now. So when I look at the Lions, in terms of what I've seen this year with my two eyes, the Lions look like a better team than Kansas City. Kansas City's offense has been more bad than good. Kansas City's defense has been sensational.

And the Lions have lost Aiden Hutchinson, which is an enormous loss. But their offense is just so much better right now, whether it's Jameer Gibbs or Saint Brown or La Porta or Montgomery, they've just been firing all cylinders, led by Jared Goff. So when I thought about that today, I go, yeah, on Take 5 Wednesday, of course, I have the Kansas City Chiefs, the number one team in the league. But in terms of just thinking who's gonna get to the Super Bowl, I am so much more confident right now that the Lions are the team that I have the most confidence in right now to get to the Super Bowl. And part of that is like, hey, you look at the NFC, Eagles just started to get back on track.

Niners, they haven't been good this year, but they got a win last week up against the Cowboys. There's no one in the NFC South that's going to the Super Bowl. Like, I just look around with the Lions offense, and also the way that Dan Campbell is just taking no prisoners and kicking everybody's ass. I kind of feel like the Lions are going to be in the Super Bowl this year. If you put Lions up against Chiefs, am I going to pick against Kansas City in a big game?

Yeah, it's definitely a great question. But right now, I just feel like I have like a, Stu, it's almost like I have a dangerous amount of confidence right now in the Detroit Lions, where I just feel like, even though it's the first day of November, with what I've seen through the first half of the season, and sometimes you don't want to peak in the first half of the season because it's tough to do this the entire way, the Lions are the team. When you look at all the teams with the high expectations this year, the Lions are one of those teams out of all the teams in the NFL that have had the highest expectations and have also appeared to look like where those expectations should be. Like the Chiefs, we know what their goal is.

It's to go three-peat. It's going to win a Super Bowl. And quite frankly, no one should freak out about Kansas City in the regular season because a lot of us freaked out about Kansas City last year in the regular season. Oh, they're vulnerable. They're able to get got. And they didn't really play any great games offensively in the postseason.

And it was still better than everybody else. So I'm not saying I'm panicking on Kansas City. Kansas City still hasn't lost yet. So it's like, I know what I'm saying.

It sounds stupid, right? Hey, out of all the teams that have high expectations, which team has looked the best? Well, how don't you say Kansas City, Zach? And this is how great the Chiefs are. We still haven't seen Patrick Mahomes play a great game this year, and they're still undefeated.

But I look at the Lions. They've actually been more impressive to me this year than the Kansas City Chiefs. So where I'm getting at is that they're the Lions of the team to me, Stu, that I've been the most impressed by in the NFL, considering, hey, not like one of these teams that have come out of nowhere, like the commanders, right?

The commanders have been so impressive. The Broncos have been impressive. The Steelers being six and two are impressive.

But I'm talking about the expectations are all the way up here, the expectations are all the way up here, and they're playing all the way up here. The Lions have done that outside of one game this year. So I look at Detroit and they play Green Bay this week, and Green Bay has been a tough team. It has not been easy for Green Bay. They've had a few games without Jordan Love and give credit to Matt Lafleur, who's in the running for coach of the year. He has found a way to get those backup quarterbacks to produce. But I just think the offensive firepower on Detroit, even though you got Love, and I'd rather have Love over Goff, right?

You have Josh Jacobs. He's really damn good with Green Bay. But I think the collective unit for the Lions on offense, even with how impressive Lafleur is and Love is, and like the wide receivers, no one's great, but they're good.

It's like a really good unit. I just think the Lions right now, if this is going to be a game that it's a high octane offensive type of the game, and this is how the Lions are going to win these games, let's get into shootouts. Let's get into battles. Like even last week, it wasn't like they got off to an incredible startup against Tennessee, and I know it's Tennessee, they stink, but they boat raced them, right? They just destroyed them. So if you're going to try to go blow for blow with the Lions in terms of we're going to outscore you, even though Goff is not the sensational quarterback, he's not a Hall of Fame quarterback, he's not an elite quarterback in this league, he's not a great quarterback in this league, he's good, he's very good. But the Lions to me, Stu, are that team that I'm just like, if you want to try to get into a a punch for punch type of fight, I just think they have more ammunition.

I really think they have more ammunition with the way that their offense is designed with Ben Johnson to outscore any team in the NFL right now. Like I'm in love with this Lions story, and I hope it continues, and I hope they get a Lombardi trophy, because right, doesn't that give you a little hope, Stu? Like, you have been beaten down as a football fan. Your football team is an embarrassment. It is a disgrace in the Las Vegas Raiders. And if the Lions win a Super Bowl, I'm not saying you fully expect your team to win a Super Bowl one day, but it does give you that kind of a little bit of hope in your even in your darkest day. You could go, hey, if the Lions did it, maybe we could do it again one day.

Yeah, definitely. I think from the 2000s, it's really been the Raiders, Lions and Browns is kind of like the three laughingstock, if you will, organizations. Jets, too. Yeah, Jets, too. I mean, they've been to two AFC Championship games. So Slim Pickens, I guess, when we're talking about those four teams.

Yeah, really is. So, yeah, I definitely it would be an amazing story. And they really like I know they drafted Aiden to Hutchinson High, but they haven't really had like, OK, they didn't draft and drafted staff for number one.

Sure. But like for this iteration, like they haven't had like the quarterback that they drafted in the top five or a bunch of players from like these are a lot of guys they found in the draft or in the golf case they traded for, like they just built it right with a good head coach as well. And Jameer Gibbs was like a 12th overall pick.

But at the time, I remember doing the draft show. People are like, what are the Lions doing? Taking a running back at 12. And he has been great.

He has been absolutely great for them. I got to play this audio. Mike Tannenbaum on the ESPN. Can I just call out Mike Tannenbaum for a second? I like Mike. I know Mike. I respect Mike. But Mike has even admitted this.

I forget what it was. He goes, I'm paid to give an opinion. Right. He said something like, like, I'm paid to give hot takes. But there's a difference in giving an opinion and a hot take and then actually giving something that is still like presentable. Like if you just get on the radio and you go, hey, the Raiders are going to win the Super Bowl. I'm just giving a hot take to give a hot take.

Well, then you're a clown. Right. But if you like, say, before the season started, like a 50-50 team, for example, if you kind of looked at. Let's say. You know, a team like Seattle, right?

That's like a good team, a fine team. There's no case to be made really for Seattle going to Super Bowl. But you go, hey, the three headed attack at wide receiver. Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet, I think the Niners are going to be down.

The defense is going to take a step with Mike McDonald. Like there's ways to have a hot take. And at least makes it presentable where someone could go, hey, I think you're crazy. I think you got 5000 heads, but. You made a decent case. So the take that Mike Tannenbaum gave earlier this morning on ESPN. If he would have just said one half of the take. I think it's fine.

I do. But when you take the entire take. I hate to be this guy because I hate when former NFL GMs, even guys that have had success, like when Thomas Dimitrov joins us and said he should give two first round picks, the the the Lions for Max Crosby, people like that's why he's a former NFL G. I'm like, hey, Bozo, he did win an NFC championship.

All right. Like it's not like he's some bum. It's not like this is a guy. It's not like Mike Lombardi coming on and basically saying, hey, you know, I'm this great GM and you were lousy with the Browns, right? So it's like a guy like Tannenbaum. He's had success, has been the greatest, but he hasn't been the worst. He's had success. He was the GM on those two jet teams that got to AC championship games. But it's just so crystal clear what Tannenbaum's doing. He is now understanding he's not going to be a GM again.

And now his career, his calling is to basically be a hot take artist. So I guess this was on a get up on ESPN earlier this day. Here is the Mike Tannenbaum trade proposal for the Detroit Lions.

Listen up. The Detroit Lions are going to acquire Miles Garrett for three first round picks, Jameer Gibbs and a second round pick. Detroit are going to win the Super Bowl. They are throwing. They're going to throw in the Joe Lewis fist. They're going to throw the GM building.

Like what else? The bridge that big bridge to Canada. Everybody said no. Three.

Yeah. The Hertha Walker trade. Why wouldn't they win the Super Bowl with Miles Garrett with the way that you got listed without him? You got the right team. You got the right team. Your own player.

Go give them that much area. Smith and keep your pick. The man gives their home run hitter. The Darrius Smith will be just fine. You get him for a box of Kool-Aid.

You can get him for a box of Kool-Aid. That's a good job by Bart Scott. So Mike Tannenbaum. Mr. T. If you would have just said on the ESPN three first round picks, it would have been a big take, right? Like I had Lions fans that were in sense when we put out the Dimitrov clip about two first round picks for Max Crosby. Talking about Max bleeping Crosby.

We're talking about Miles bleeping Garrett. Like if you won a great player, you got to give up something great. I don't think two first round picks is crazy. Three is a little crazy, but. It's not like if your goal is to be a hot take artist, it's a hot take that's at least presentable. When you say three first round picks and Jameer Gibbs, who was a first round pick top 15 pick 12th overall, you're basically saying four first round picks and a second for Miles Garrett.

Huh? Quarterbacks. People think star quarterbacks go less.

For that. So that's just a Tannenbaum take. That is idiotic. Like if you wanted to just say three first round picks, period, stop fine. Three first round picks, six Jameer Gibbs and a second Mike Tannenbaum hate to say it. That's why you're a former NFL GM. So do a little exercise here.

Oh yeah. Top five teams in the NFC right now. I'll give one. Then you give one. Okay.

Ready? I think the best team in the NFC Detroit Lions and I'll go with the Packers as a second. I would agree with you. I think the Packers are the second best team in the NFC. I think the lines are one. The Packers are two. I will then go next.

Nice, nice. Second half performance last week. Still got to see more. You still need to go win a Super Bowl this year. It's still Super Bowl or bus for Nick Sirianni.

I don't trust the coach, but there's a lot of talent on that team. I would then say the Eagles are the third best team in the NFC. So Lions off the board, Packers, Eagles, who's your fourth? Yeah, this is where it gets very, very, very tricky. Quite frankly, I think it's tricky after one and two.

It is. I think I'll go 49ers still, even though they're injured and injury prone and all that. I still would trust them more than a lot of these other teams. So the 49ers off the board at four. And then you look at it, it's like you got the Falcons who are five and three. You got the Vikings who are five and two. You got the Rams three and four. You know what? Yeah, six and two.

I'll ride the hot hand. Yeah. Dan Quinn, coach of the year. Jayden Daniels, young star player. They're the Texans of what the Texans were last year. So ranking the top five NFC teams right now.

And how we think it will be towards the end of the year, too. Lions one, Packers two. I take Lions, Stu takes the Packers. I take the Eagles.

Then in F4 Stu goes to 49ers. Then I go with the commanders in F5. Would you have gone 49ers four or someone else?

Would you have gone commanders? Oh, yeah. I still think you look at the NFC right now, Lions, Packers one, two. I think that's pretty clear for that third spot. I do think both could eventually get in the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong. The Eagles in the 49ers. But I do think one of them will get back in our good graces, looking like a Super Bowl contender.

And the other will be good. Like, maybe a team you don't want to play come postseason time. But I don't know if it's a way you're going to be shaking in your boots about them like you've been in previous years. One of those teams, and they've fallen off, you know, I know five and two and four and four.

But I do think one of those teams heading into the postseason, you will see an entire season where it's been like, yeah, don't really love it. All right. It is Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. Come on back.

Who was more pressure on them this weekend? Is it James Franklin or is it Ryan Day? All right.

It is a Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Stu, I'm in a little bit of a predicament here. And I need your help because you're a very nice guy.

And usually know how to sometimes I don't want to say deceive people. But, you know, try to make people think what they want you to do, you'll actually do if you get what I'm saying. So I told you I'm going to the Rangers game tonight with Carlos with a K. Yes. So I was supposed to go to my dad.

My dad has to go to Halloween party tonight with my mom. So he's like, I can't get out of it. She goes, but he goes, she's making me go.

I go, OK, no worries. So I hit up Carlos with a K. I know he's becoming a big Rangers fan. I'm like, oh, you want to go to the game? So going game tonight.

And then Carlos told me, you know, I don't think I'm going to be able to find coverage. So, you know, we're not that far from Madison. We're not that far from Madison Square Garden. So he'll just make sure he gets back in time. I guess he found that coverage. So he found someone to fill in for him tonight. OK, so he texted me. I don't think that's a bad move.

Me saying that on the air, right? Like he got someone to cover. He's entitled to do that. Take a day, whatever. We have days off. Yeah. So he goes, yeah. So he goes, not working tonight.

Let's meet around MSG. We're drinking. Now, he sets the expectation like we're drinking. Now, I usually like to have a good time. But as I've gotten older, I sound like Joel Embiid here. Think about what I've done for this effin city. But I am not a back to back drinking guy anymore, unless if I have to like, hey, Michael Jordan can still find the fountain of youth when I needed to at my friend's wedding rehearsal, dinner, trash, wedding night trash.

But. It's like on a regular Friday night and I have plans tomorrow where I know I'm going to be going out, I don't want to get like slosh tonight and have to drink like all this beer because then like tomorrow I got to get up early. Got to do the show at the fan. Then I want to come back.

I want to get a workout in before Penn State, Ohio State. So I don't want to like sound weak and soft here when texting Carlos, but he texted me. He goes, not working tonight. Let's meet around MSG. We drinking. I go, oh, cool. Who covered you? He goes, Alex's arms, a good job out of his arms.

Stock is rising. And I go, nice. And then. He went for it again.

Carlos with the K, all capital letters. Yeah, he wants beer night. And then he goes, ask Rogers if he wants to come through and do some. Oh, boy.

So I wrote, OK, like not committing to anything that he just said. OK, I'll try to get there by six fifteen. I'll leave the office at five fifty five. He goes, no rush. I had you waiting last time we went to a game lol. So like I have a beer tonight. But if he's expecting me to have multiple beers and you know, Carlos is going to do, I got the first one, you got the second one. And like, I think I'm going to rush rush first. I got the first drink.

I got the first drink. And then if he goes, oh, do you want another? Right.

Because then it's his money. I am going to be like, no, I'm good. Yeah. You know, I got a lot to do tomorrow.

That's the right play. But like, I'm kind of in this mood where it's like you have an out. You have a show in the morning. I know.

But like, Zach, you have a show in the morning. Yeah. That's all you have to say. I just like.

Drinking six beers at a hockey game. Right. I just don't want to do it because then tomorrow I'm going to feel like, you know, like I got a 10 pound, not a 50 pound weight on my back. I just don't need to do it.

I just don't have the desire. Like a 22 year old Zach. Let's go. We're having 50 tall boys at the game. Old Zach now.

Old man Zach. I'm just like. Of one.

For a regular season hockey game. You know, it's like I'm in a suite. If it's sweet. Yeah. Okay.

Free booze. I'm getting slosh. Just it's not appealing to me. I'm actually, I'm regretting. I'm regretting inviting Carlos with the K now because I know Carlos is convincing man. Carlos is fun, man. I had some good nights out in the past with Carlos with K good dude, hardworking guy.

But with Carlos, there's no middle ground. It's either zero or a hundred. And he's always at a hundred. And like, I feel like I'm going to be in the army to be like, come on, make sure you drink this beer. Let's go. Let's go. And I just hope it doesn't turn into one of those situations tonight.

That's all. So, Oh, you know, I'm hoping by bringing this up in the air that Carlos was listening right now. And then like, he at least knows, Hey, you know, Zach's not all the way up here. Like he's all the way up here. Like, Hey, be my guest.

If Carlos was okay. You want to be puking your guts at Madison square garden, be my guests. I guess I'm just not going to be all the way up there with you tonight.

Alrighty. When we get to this game, talking about puking out your guts, Ryan James Franklin in a big spot, they usually puke out the guts. Just absolutely disgusting. So I know a lot of times in this business, like there'll be radio hosts that will be like, Oh, this was said on the other network. And they don't ever mention who said one of the other network. Cause like, there's this bizarre thing that like, we all have to be enemies. And like, you can't mention other networks. Like I never got the point of that.

I feel like we should just be honest. I saw a take this morning from someone who I know and someone who I respect, but it's a dumb take. I got really dumb take. So Chris Carlin, who used to work in this building, Chris Carlin now works for the ESPN. I think he shows from 12 to three on ESPN radio. He said today that there is more pressure on James Franklin in this game because if Penn state loses, there's no chance they make the playoffs. Now, big fella, Chris Carlin, I know, you know, college football, you are the voice of the Rucker Scarlet Knights. So even though they got no chance to make the college football playoff, so going from four to 12, doesn't really appease to you. You still know that they went to 12 teams in a 14 format.

You may have a case, but I could guarantee you this. If Penn state loses this game to Ohio state, that's the only loss that they suffer this season. A one loss Penn state team will absolutely, positively make the college football playoff. There is no argument that could be crafted up when you are in a 12, not a four, a 12 team playoff team playoff that you could say to me, Penn state doesn't get in with one loss being to Ohio state. And that's coming from someone who does not like Penn state, but I'm fair. So I don't understand how you could be a talk show host covering college football.

And you could say on the radio, and we all have bad takes. It happens that this game is more important for Penn state because if Penn state loses, they are out without a doubt out of the college football playoff. It's just not true. I don't think Penn state loses another game in the regular season.

I think they lose this weekend, but after that, I don't think they lose another game in the regular season. So I just don't understand that take. And from afar, here's what happens sometimes. You have the take going in, and then when something plays out the way that you didn't expect it to play out, you're stubborn and you keep that take. I don't know if that's how Chris operated this, but that's how I kind of feel what happened here. Because like before the season, if you said to me, Ryan Day against James Franklin, who's there more pressure on to win that game?

I'd be like, oh, James Franklin, right? You know, I don't want a big game. I know Ryan Day don't want a big game either, but at least he's he's defeated Penn state before. So I would think on the surface, yeah, it's a bigger game. But as this season has progressed and Penn state right now is undefeated and I know they're at home and Ohio state has one loss.

It's not even a question to me. There is more pressure on Ryan Day this Saturday to win than James Franklin for the simple fact of in a 12 team playoff, if you get to two losses, you have no more wiggle room in terms of any other game that you play the rest of the way. If you want to go make the college football playoff, because that's the line in a 12 team format, you get the two losses, you could still get in, but anything after two losses, there's probably a better chance that you don't make the playoffs than you do make the playoffs. So that's why I really do believe that there's more pressure on Ryan Day this weekend than there is on James Franklin. It's kind of crazy that Ohio state's already at that point because what did we say about Ryan Day before the year? You better beat Michigan and then it's championship robust for Ohio state.

They already lost the game because terrible quarterback awareness and terrible coaching acumen by Ryan Day and Will Howard up against Oregon. So yeah, like I don't even see why this has been such a big debate. I don't even see why this has been this crazy and why this has been something that it's like, it's been on every show on our network, on other networks, who's there more pressure on?

Is it Ryan Day or James Franklin? If you're telling me, if you're concocting the argument of who is this bigger for in terms of making the playoff? Yeah, there's more pressure on Ryan Day cause they already lost the game. Now you could like, I could spin it the other way. Like if I was making the argument Chris was making where he just said, oh, it's more on James Franklin as they lose this game, they'll make the plus.

No, that's not right. If you're going to say there's more pressure on James Franklin, here's the argument. You could put your stamp on your program that Penn State is actually for the first time under James Franklin, a serious national championship contender. And also you could start to put the body of Ohio State in the casket, even though you're not slamming it shut, the body's in the casket cause now they have two losses. But if your argument is, hey, it's Penn State, there's more pressure on James Franklin cause they lose this game, they're not gonna make the playoffs. They could lose this game and still make the college football playoff. You lose this game, you only have one loss. You will still make the college football playoff. So that's why I think there's more pressure on Ryan Day this weekend than there is James Franklin and a matchup of two coaches that it's like, my emotions on Saturday at noon, it's going to be tough watching these two coaches.

Cause these two coaches, I just absolutely despise. All right, we'll take a time out. We'll come on back update.

So the biggest story is the world of sports. Actually, excuse me, we'll do it on-site off-site. So Sue's got some questions for me. I got some answers. We'll do that on the other side. Update time first.

Here he is, Crystal Prince. Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside defense number 69.

It's onsides offsides with Zach Gelb. This portion of the show is brought to you by Sleeper. Just download the Sleeper app today and use code SCORE when signing up.

Must be present in certain states. Visit Sleeper.com for details, sponsored by Sleeper, a blitz product. All righty, Stu, let's shake it. All right, Rams wide receiver Puka Nakua just returned from a knee injury that sidelined him since week one, catching nine balls for over a hundred yards in their week seven win over the Vikings. Now yesterday, Puka left practice with a knee injury to the same knee. Reports say the injury doesn't appear serious, but his status is still uncertain for Sunday. So onsides offsides, the Rams need both Cooper Cup and Nakua to be healthy if they hope to make a playoff run.

Onsides, for them to be a serious playoff team and a team that can make the playoffs, and I think they have a road now, get into three and four, they need both those guys to be awesome. We've seen one play and one haven't played. We've seen both missed games this year when they are together like they were the other night.

That's a tough offense to stop. And you got Kyron Williams when you got Cooper Cup, you got Puka Nakua with Matthew Stafford throwing the football. By the way, did you see Matthew Stafford's Halloween costume? Did not. Matthew Stafford and his wife were Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift.

And their daughters, I think, were also Taylor Swift as well. Just wondering. This was broached to me if I would do the same thing and I denied that request. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Denied. Angie wanted you to be Travis Kelsey? Offensive, I know.

Why is that offensive? Oh, Chiefs Raiders. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

I'd be Jason Kelsey. That's fine. I'm not putting a Chiefs jersey on.

No shot. Do you have to wear a Chiefs, could you just put on like a red 87? No, she wanted you to go all out for that? Yeah, probably. We wound up not doing anything, but that was what originally was broached to me, you know, a month or two ago. Is that really, it's Halloween though.

I can't do it. I did see Angie last night. I was scrolling through my stories and when she told you about this, I'm scrolling through my stories and I just see me with stew. And your girlfriend wrote something along the lines of like, what a cute Ted lasso that is. And I responded, what a hunk that lasso is. I'm like, just scroll through the trade and I go, who storied me with stew?

And I'm like, Oh, I go, it's Angie. But so on side off side, if you're an NFL player that is not in the Kansas City Chiefs, it's fair game to go as Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift for Halloween. If you don't have a rivalry with them, I think it's fine. So I think that's on sides.

So Rams, Chiefs, you're good with that. Yeah. Okay. Next question.

All right. So the Jets last night, they scored 21 points in their win over the Texans, but that score could have been even more in the second quarter. Gangrene lost a touchdown when rookie Malachi Corley made the all too common boneheaded move of dropping the ball before crossing the goal line, leading to a touchback. When the ball rolled out of bounds on sides, all sides dropping the ball before the goal line is the dumbest gap you can make in football. I'm trying to think of other dumb situations. You mess up the coin toss, you get like a big play and then you get injured celebrating.

Those are probably pretty much it. You run out of the end zone when you're a quarterback. Dan Orlovsky is a friend. There have been others, huh? You know what?

I think so. I'm going to say on sides here because like you could be backing up. I'm not defending Orlovsky, but you could be backing up and like you're, you're running away from an elite pass rusher like he was. And you just lose track of where you are. You have your first career touchdown about to happen. I heard Anthony Beck say this after the game. That ball, you're taking it to the sideline to basically go in some trunk so some equipment manager gives it to you after the game.

Like that ball's never leaving your hands. So why would you drop it before you score? It's just lazy. It's stupid and lazy and I don't like stupid and lazy. So yes, dropping the ball before the goal line is the dumbest gap you can make in football.

I will go on sides because it's stupid and it's lazy. If you want to talk to a college quarterback during a game, you may have a chance. Now ESPN learned that helmet comps between coaches and quarterbacks are set on non-encrypted frequencies mean that anyone could potentially hack the system and talk down the line. Texas Tech brought up this concern and the Big 12 announced that there so far have been no hacks to it. So onsides, offsides, the college football playoff committee must fix this issue before the playoffs start.

So you're telling me if I have access to the line, I could hear like, I don't know. Let's say Ohio State's playing Penn State this weekend. I'll take this as I'm trying to hack. Let's say I'm Penn State, I'm trying to hack Ohio State. Crying Day's going to hire private investigators, his brother. Imagine if like you hear, all right, we're going to run the Spider 2 wide banana.

And then you have the hack and then you just start blasted in music like, shout it, shout it, shout it out loud. Or like, waiting, waiting on a sunny day. Come on. That would be awesome. That would be great. That's what I would do. You're expecting a play call and you just start to hear, wasn't me.

That's what I would do. But onsides or offsides, the college football playoff committee must fix this issue before the playoffs like. No, it's like, this is on the teams. Don't get hacked.

They have the right communication system. So I'm going to go offside on this one. I think this is, you know, it's a fun story, but I guess it doesn't become an issue until stallions. It's the boogeyman. That's what I'm Penn State. I'm hacking Ohio State. It's Connor Stallions. It's the boogeyman.

That's what I would do. But when you ask you this question, I don't think it's on the college football playoff committee. So offside. That's wild, though.

It is. Now, Florida, they've won three of their last four after starting the season one and two and hearing calls for Billy Napier to be fired. Now, the Gators host number two Georgia this weekend before taking on number six Texas number 16 LSU and number 19 Ole Miss the next three weeks.

So onsides, all sides. Billy Napier can still save his job and return to Gainesville next season. Yes, because of the quarterback. And I think if it's presentable and the quarterback DJ Lagway likes him, I think there's a road for him to come back for another year.

I don't think that's smart business, but I get what you would do with the power of the transfer portal, because once I think you're out on a coach, even if you feel like you're getting back in, it usually doesn't work out well. Like look at Neil Brown at West Virginia. Everyone was out.

Then everyone got back in this past year, and now everyone's out once again. This is not going to be a long career for Billy Napier at Florida, but yes, it can get another season. So Billy Napier can save his job and return to Gainesville next year. I do believe that's a possibility onsides. All right, the Milwaukee Bucks are in a free-for-all, losing four straight, dropping the one and four on the season after last night's 23-point loss to the Grizzlies. We've heard Giannis' frustrations already and of course discussed Bill Reiter's report about the Greek Freak possibly could demand a trade at some point, possibly more in the next hour.

Onsides, all sides. Doc Rivers will be fired before the end of this season. The Bucks are free falling right now. Yeah, I'm free, free falling.

Um, they are. And I heard Bill Reiter this morning because I thought I was getting dragged into the radio beef that I was starting. Because you know what happens? You present something on the radio, and when you present something, people think it's your opinion, and sometimes they lose context. All I was saying yesterday is knowing Bart the way that I do, Bart's gonna get very defensive about this Bill Reiter report, he will take a shot at the report, and then Bill is gonna go after Bart, and then the two of them will be fighting, and I'll be sitting with a bowl of popcorn, I'll be loving it. That's all I said yesterday when I was stirring that pot, stirring that pot in a big way. So someone tweeted me and Bill this morning like Zach Gelb is running his mouth about you Bill Reiter. It wasn't me running my mouth at Bill, it's just saying I think Bill and Bart are going to get into a fight. So Bill thought I was taking a shot at him, and Bill threw one of these lines like, you know, I know Gelb would be down for a fight, but I don't think he wants that smoke. Like, Bill, I like Bill, Bill's a friend, I'm not looking to fight Bill, but you know, if it did take, you know, a little fight, I think Bill could get dirty, I think I could get dirty, and it'd be on like it's Donkey Kong.

All right, you understand that? But like sometimes the listener misconstrues things. So I was like, all right, now I gotta listen back to what Bill said, and it led me to that. And why I'm bringing this up right now is Bill talked about what a source told him, a source that actually knows Doc Rivers. The Doc Rivers playbook is to blame everybody else, but take no accountability and start to leak stories to the media, because he's very media friendly. So on the surface, because he just got there, the contract that he got, which was ridiculous, and everyone knew it at the time, you would think, oh no, he's not going to get fired. But if you start leaking things about Giannis, if you start being overly critical of Dame, Doc, bye-bye. And if I'm going to trust Bill, because of Bill's basketball acumen, like I said yesterday, number one basketball guy at the network.

When you say Doc Rivers will be fired before the end of the season, I'm going to say yes on this one on sides. All right, last but not least, Juan Soto is set to be a free agent after yet another spectacular season and playoff run with the Yankees. While many assume no player would approach the 10-year $700 million deal that Joey Otani got last offseason, some reports now say that the 26-year-old Soto is also seeking 700 million over 14 years and is almost assured of at least $600 million. So on sides, all sides, it would be a mistake to give Soto $700 million. Is it my money?

No. Why are fans so attached to the money? Like I get there's a luxury tax in Major League Baseball, but it's not like the NFL. It's not like the NBA where you're operating or NHL under a salary cap. So if Steve Cohen, spend Stevie spend, wants to spend like a drunken sailor and goes, Juan Soto, I want a World Series photo.

Here is $700 million. I don't care. Do whatever it takes. And this is my fan opinion on Juan Soto when it comes to my team, the Mets.

Do whatever it takes. I got an owner who spent $150 million on some stupid statue. That's a very famous statue, by the way.

Very famous painting too. So am I going to care if a rich guy wants to spend his money and just kind of brag about how rich he is? Nope. Don't matter to me. So when you say to me, it'd be a mistake to give Soto $700 million, $700 million.

Oh, geez. That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. I don't know if you should do it. No, I don't care. It's not my money.

So if an owner wants to get that, to go try to get a championship, I respect it. So I don't think it's a mistake. Offside.

Alrighty. That is Onside Offside on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We're supposed to have someone who I will not name. That was going to join us for NFL picks and they had to cancel for some reason. I don't really know what happened. So, Sampter, who do we have for picks off the cancellation?

Just wondering. Let me get Stu. Stu, who do we get on this?

Yeah, Mr. Bart Winkler. Oh. It's almost like we're stirring things up here. We're stirring things up. A little cancellation. Sampter and Stu put their brains together.

And now we have Bart Winkler coming up at 5.20 p.m. Eastern time for picks. I won't ask about the box stuff, right?