Texans NOT Super Bowl Contender (Hour 3)

Alrighty, our number three of our radio programs at Gelb Show Football Friday, Infinity Sports Network. Last night I was at MetLife Stadium and the Jets finally had a pulse, finally showed a pulse on this football season, taking care of business of the Houston Texans.

I gave you the Jet reaction to open up the show. I'm not saying the Jets are back, the Jets are a 3-6 football team. The fact that they finally put together a good half, not even a good game, just a good half, does not elicit me to say the Jets are back. But in their next five games, which are winnable games, win four out of five, right? You go win three in a row, get back to 500, and once you get back to 500, then we could have a big boy conversation about the JTS, Jets, Jets, Jets. But until then, I'm not giving the benefit of the doubt and I'm not believing that the Jets have all of a sudden are about to go on some magical ride into the postseason.

So that's number one. But I think there's a conversation about this game and it has to go the other way with the Houston Texans. I want to be careful in how I say this because the opening statement, people are going to be like, well, that's ridiculous. I'm out of the Houston Texans. That's the opening statement. I'm not saying they're not going to win the division. I'm not saying they're not going to make the playoffs. The Texans are going to win the division. The Texans are going to have a wild card weekend game. But with that being said, I thought the Texans were going to be a team that could take the next step. I thought the Texans were going to be a team that could be in the AFC championship game this year and be kind of, I don't know if Dark Horse Super Bowl contender is the right word because people had high expectations for the Texans before the year.

But be a team that's in the Super Bowl mix. And even with how open football is this year, and there's not a lot of strong teams like I have a lot of confidence in the Lions. I have a lot of confidence in the Chiefs.

Everybody else. It's like, OK, you can't say that you're fully confident. Like I'm confident in the Bills. I'm confident in the Ravens. But I'm not ready to tell you that those are right teams that will definitely be in a Super Bowl. And in the NFC, like I'm confident in the Packers. But I look at a team like the Eagles and the Niners, like I don't have a lot of confidence in them, but can they get to the Super Bowl? Of course they could both get to the Super Bowl. They've been in the last two. So really, the two teams in the NFL that I'm confident in, she's in the AFC.

Mahomes hasn't played his best game yet, and they're still undefeated. And the Lions, they look like they're just ready to go destroy every team that they play. But when I look at the Texans, here are my concerns. Here is why I'm out on the Texans in terms of not just going from here. To up here, like I think that they could still say here, but they're not going to take that next step. They're not going to elevate up the list and go from really good story last year. A team that was in the playoffs, you know, in the second round.

I don't think they're going to find a way to progress to the next step this year. And here's why. Number one. We could have so many analytics. We could have so many people tell us how to watch football and how we need to evaluate football. Folks, you do not need a Ph.D. in football to say what I'm about to say. And this is the meathead football answer.

This is something that Zach Gelb just loves. And it's my favorite cliche and not only the NFL, but in all sports. The game of football is one in the trenches.

It's the battle of the trenches. Here's the problem with the Texans. Their offensive line is problematic. Now you've got a big injury and their offensive line was mauled, mauled.

Like it was a piece of red meat thrown into a forest and you had a pack of wolves that haven't had anything to eat in a week. That is what happened to the Texans offensive line last night. The Jets defensive line was hungry. The Jets needed to eat a W, Jamis Winston style. And they saw a Texans offensive line that was red meat. And the Jets sacked C.J. Stroud last night eight times.

And I don't think it's an indictment on C.J. Stroud. Like I do believe there is part of me and I like Stroud a lot. I said going into this year, Stroud is a top five quarterback in the NFL. I thought he was the fifth best quarterback in football entering this season. But I think the hype after one year with C.J.

Stroud, which it was magnificent, it was real and it was spectacular. I'm not saying it got to his head because he's so respectful and he usually conducts himself the right way. But I think in C.J. Stroud's mind, he thinks he's like an eight year pro already.

Like this still rubs me the wrong way. When you're talking to Drake May, you're talking to Caleb Williams, like guys that are I know that you're accomplished already as an NFL starter. They're both going through their first rookie seasons, you know, their rookie seasons, I should say. But you're talking to them as if it's Aaron Rodgers pulling aside Jayden Daniels after a contest between the two. Like there's a big age gap. One's a hall of fame or the other player, Jayden Daniels, just like in his first eight games or so of his career.

So like for C.J. Stroud, I don't think you need to be worried. And I know it's coming from a good place. I think you need to be worried about giving advice to other younger quarterbacks. You still have to carve out your path. You still have to walk down a road of not just being, oh, a guy that had maybe one of the greatest regular seasons we've ever seen from a rookie quarterback. We now expect you to advance that and matriculate the ball down the field the rest of your career and you have brought so much joy to that Texans franchise. So I think for Stroud, I still believe in him. I still think he's going to be great.

But I don't think you need to be worried about everybody else, like worry about your environment, worry about your situation. And I don't even blame. There's one throw I blame last night on Stroud. The play towards the end of you know, they made the field goal. Then they had the stupid Jets penalty where they went after the center on the on the field goal and they end up missing what was like a chip shot on that drive.

He had, if memory serves me right, met you open and he just misfired like that's the one moment I latch onto from the game and I go, OK, that's on Stroud. But for the other parts, I'm looking at the Texans. No, Nico Collins in the game last night. Stefan Diggs now out for the year and you had an offensive line. You could have put prime Tom Brady and you guys know I think of Tom Brady, the GOAT.

Thank you, Tom. You could have put Tom Brady at his best, whether it was the 50 passing touchdown season, whether what he's done later in his career, like whatever you thought was the best season of Tom Brady, you could put that Tom Brady on the Texans last night. And they probably don't beat the Jets. And the reason why is if you don't have a good offensive line, if you have an offensive line that's just getting mauled and just getting slammed over and over and over and over and over again. I don't care what quarterback you are, you could be Brady, you could be Mahomes, you could be Montana, you could be Unitas, you could be Staubach, you could be Elway. You could be Peyton Manning.

This is nothing new. Even the quarterbacks that like in a weird way, they laugh and they go, go keep on hitting me, keep on hitting me. No quarterback likes to get hit.

I don't care if you're in the 60s, I don't care if you're in 2024. Quarterbacks do not like to get hit. And that's when quarterbacks get rattled, even the best of them.

So last night, I didn't walk away from the game saying this loss was on CJ shroud. But I looked at the environment and I looked at the situation and I just don't think with what has already transpired that this is the Texans' year to take that next step. I think they could get into the playoffs. They will. They will win that division. They'll have a home game wild card weekend, probably Saturday, 4.30, right? Back to where Texans football has been at its best.

But you will have eight, it could be Monday night actually, but you have the Texans playing a wild card game. I think they could win a playoff game. But do I see this team going to a conference title game?

I don't. And I know they beat the Bills this year. You know, I know that the Texans are still a really good team, but I just walked away from that game last night saying, hmm, they lost my trust.

As someone that was in on the Texans, I'm now out on the Texans where I do not think they will be playing in a conference championship game this year. Dig's now done for the season. Nico Collins trying to work his way back, should be back next week.

The offensive line to me is the biggest problem. And now Nick Casario's got to make some moves from today. That's a good thing about playing on Thursday before the trade deadline on Tuesday. You now have Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, no games.

You could really hone in and go get some guys and go bring guys over to your football team. But that was a bad performance last night by the Texans. So you may say, well, Zach, you sound pretty negative. Like you sound as if you don't trust a lot of teams in the NFL this year.

I don't. It's not being negative. It's just being realistic. There's a lot of sloppy football this year. There's a lot of ugly football this year. And maybe teams can earn my trust. Maybe we will develop more trust with teams.

And this list should exponentially grow. But right now in the NFC, just the NFC, the two teams that I really do believe in trusting are the Lions and the Packers. You know, Eagles I still have trust issues with. 49ers still have trust issues with. Falcons I still have trust issues with. Rams I still have trust issues with. Even the commanders to some extent I have trust issues with. Cowboys, I don't trust them.

Why would you? But in the AFC, I trust Kansas City. And if you're making me pick two more teams and it is like pulling teeth here because I was in on the Ravens and the Ravens lost to the Browns. But let me try to justify a loss. It's never good to justify a loss. It's never good to justify a loss. Divisional game.

Emotional boost. Watson-Dunso. Winston in. That team thrives when Deshaun Watson isn't the quarterback. Divisional games happen.

Like Stu, you know this. The Raiders beat the Chiefs last year. Doesn't mean that the Chiefs stink and the Chiefs suck. Divisional games. The inferior team has a very good chance still of beating the superior team.

You throw everything out the window. So even though it was discouraging that the Ravens lost to the Browns and that the Ravens have lost to the Raiders this year where they gagged that game away. In a year where you don't have to be great to get to the Super Bowl out of the AFC, I trust Lamar Jackson. I trust Derek Henry. I trust Derek Henry with Lamar Jackson.

And you got safe flowers. You just added Deontay Johnson too. And I like Harbaugh. So I will put the Ravens on my short list of teams in the AFC that I could see getting to the Super Bowl. Chiefs, Ravens, and it's the Bills. And I know the Bills have been up and down.

I know it's a roller coaster ride. They have the second best quarterback in football in my opinion in Josh Allen. You know, maybe third depending on on how you view some quarterbacks.

But he's no worse than the third best quarterback in football. That offense is starting to come together. You've seen Keon Coleman since the addition of Amari Cooper have two good games. Amari Cooper won good game. One game where he was underwhelming. But even when he's underwhelming, he's still someone that you have to keep tabs on. And then it opens up the football field for other people.

James Cook is good. Ray Davis has been solid when he needs to step up and play. Kincaid got in the end zone last week and that defense shut down Seattle. I get Seattle's not this wonderful offense and not the greatest offense ever, but they are a capable offense. And that builds defense with all the patchwork they've been doing.

It did take a big step in the right direction last week. So I understand there's trust issues with McDermott and the names of the defense, but still, if you said Zach, five teams right now that you could see in the Super Bowl, five teams breakdown will be two, three, two in the NFC, Lions, Packers, AFC. It would be Kansas City. It would be Baltimore.

And then it would be Buffalo. So I'm out on having the Texans in that mix, in that mode. They've been sloppy. They've been sloppy. And they lost the game to the Jets where their offensive line was horrendous. And these injuries are really starting to pile up.

It's a shame. Now, long time I still think, I still think they're in a good spot with D'Amico, with CJ, but they went for it this year. And with what I've seen right now for them through nine weeks, I don't look at them and say, okay, that's a team that's going to take the next step.

I think they're either staying the same playoff team, maybe win a playoff game, and that's it. You're back in the same spot where you were last year. All right. This is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network, 855-212-4227, 855-212-4227. You can always interact on social media, Twitter, Instagram, X, whatever you want to call it, at Zach Gelb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B.

Well, come on back. Bart Winkler will join us for NFL picks. All righty, my main man, Bart Winkler is joining us right now on the Zach Gelb show. You can hear Bart weekdays right here on the Infinity Sports Network on the Bart Winkler show, Monday through Fridays from 10 PM to 2 AM Eastern time. Bart, how you been, my friend? Zach Gelb asking Aaron Rodgers questions, getting down and dirty in the media. What a guy.

He's not just one of these hosts that don't go and put in the work. No, he gets down and dirty in the press room. So Rodgers last night basically looked into my soul when I was asking that question.

And I kind of went into it where I think it's a fair question, right? Winner loss last night. You're either going to be two or seven, three or six. Obviously, they lose.

They're three and six. There's no guarantees they're going to make the playoffs. He turns 41 in a month.

There's eight games left. You know, Rodgers is a deep thinker. He even admits that as he at least thought about the possibility that this could be it for him in these final two months. And I love the smirk that he gave me, if I'm being honest, because he was basically like, I took it as, who the bleep is this guy? And you know, I respect you asking the question, but I'm not giving you anything.

And then he just said, no, I haven't. Down deep, do you think Rodgers coming on back next year? Because you know what, I'll give you credit. You have been right every step of the way with Aaron Rodgers. You were early to the party that the Packers should get rid of him. You said love was going to be good. You said last year, the Packers would be better than the Jets. And this year you said the Jets were going to be underwhelming from what the national perception was about.

So give me a thought or two on the Jets and Aaron Rodgers right now. I don't know that he knows the answer to that. I will say, I don't know that he knows the answer to that, but I do know that he is going to make everyone go through that entire process with him.

Day in and day out when he was 90% retired before he went to that darkness retreat, like Rodgers just likes it when you talk about him and he, you know, he shows the work in a bad way. Like he, he will give you the paper at the end, but it's also like, all right, and here's all this scribblings, here's all my rough drafts. Like, I just want to read the book, man. Don't, don't give me all this stuff. I don't need your every single thought when you wake up, what you're saying, what you're thinking this week, what you're thinking today. I don't know if he knows the answer.

I think the way that he was playing, it looked like it was probably going to be the last year, but then they get this win last night and everyone's excited. There's still three and six. Okay.

There's still three and six. So I don't, I don't know if he knows. I don't think he wants to retire.

He may have done it by now. He attached himself to this situation just to keep going. He played now rehab to get back here. I think if he wanted to be retired, if he was thinking that he wants to retire next year, I think he would be retired already. Tom Brady didn't want to retire. Yeah. That's why he kept playing. It ended his marriage.

And you see, Giselle's already pregnant with the jiu-jitsu instructor. Did you see that? Sadly, I did. Yeah. Okay. Crazy. Oh, hey. You know, you're allowed to move on from a marriage and continue to have a happy life, but that's the whole wild story. The Packers.

I said this before you came on, Bart Winkler. Lions and Packers are the two best teams in the NFC. They're the teams that I have the most confidence in to make the Super Bowl out of the NFC. Where do you lie on that statement?

Fact or fiction? I feel like that's pretty good for what we've seen right now. Minnesota is looking that way, and I'm eager to see how they look this weekend. I think Philly could still bounce back. I think some of these teams, their coach is a hindrance to them.

I think that's the case in Philadelphia, but they are very talented. So we'll see how far that can take them. I still think the Lions are more likely to make the Super Bowl than the Packers are. Super Bowl prediction beginning of the year was Chiefs over Lions, and I think the Chiefs are going to three-peat.

I still think that, but I think the Lions have the best chance to get out of the NFC. The Packers have been kind of like, there's a lot where they've been playing well, but they've also been kind of getting away with it a little bit. This has really been the LaFleur season for them.

Last year in the second half, I walked away saying, wow, they have their quarterback in love. I'm not saying, there were questions about LaFleur post-Rogers. LaFleur had a good showing last year, but to be able to win two games or basically three games without love is pretty damn impressive for Matt LaFleur and shows how good of a coach he actually is. Yeah, and any discourse around Jordan Love, like the last eight games he had last year were MVP level stuff, and I don't think he's been at that point, but I think he's also been banged up, like every part of his body's been hurt.

I don't know that he's recovered from everything in Brazil. The first game he came back against Minnesota, he was very inaccurate. He's throwing balls down the field that should not be thrown. My line I like to say is, Jordan Love, he's so good because he will never throw to a receiver in double coverage. He'll throw to a guy in single coverage or triple coverage, but never double coverage because some of these throws, but he's got the touchdowns. It's kind of so people are like, oh, it's like when Brett Favre played here, and then they're kind of right because he's taking more chances, but he's also getting results. And with Malik Willis coming in, LaFleur has done such a good job of making sure they get the best out of him, but then every time that Malik's been in, there has been a play where he's been there has been a play like, okay, if this guy sucks, we're not going to win this game. He has to make this throw and he's stepped up every time he's been asked.

So it's been a really weird year, but they're six and two and they got a big showdown this weekend. All right, we'll get to picks in just a second Bart Winkler, but I got to be honest, I got to be fully transparent. You led our 5 p.m. Eastern Time Hour yesterday because I saw a report from our pal Bill Rider does a great job here on the network about Giannis Antetokounmpo. And I know me knowing you the way I do, anytime someone tries to report that Giannis is going to be on the verge of leaving Milwaukee or is going elsewhere, this sets you off like no other. So I predicted the moment Bart gives his opinion about Bill Rider's report, this is going to be like World War 8 between Bart and Bill Rider, because then Bill's going to be like, you're questioning my report and Bart's going to be like, I'm defending my guy in Milwaukee.

How dare you try to drag him out? This happens each and every year. So I have to ask you, because I'd be a fraud if I didn't. What was your thoughts on the great Bill Rider's report yesterday about Giannis Antetokounmpo? So I love Bill. I talked about this last night, but I don't question any reporting that Bill is doing. I did read some of the quotes where Western Conference source thinks this or high level executive thinks this. It helped his story, but I would wonder aloud as I did, like if you're a Western Conference executive, let's say, or a rival executive and Bill Rider or any other journalist calls you and says, hey, what do you think about the Bucks? Do you think there could be some dissension there in anything with Giannis? Should I just say, yeah, we'll mess them up.

Should I say, yeah, I could see something happening. Sure. So I don't really like the validity of that stuff.

Also, he wrote an article and then Kevin O'Connor, does he come on your show? No. He's terrible. Really, really just not a good book.

Why? Oh, he's just a man. He's just a mean guy.

He sucks. Okay. Yeah. And you're talking about Kevin, not Bill, correct? Bill's great.

Okay, good. Kevin not. So as soon as Bill puts out, Kevin's like, oh, I can do five paragraphs on this.

Can we just have one season? Can we have one season where you don't try to get Giannis out? And I'm going to tell you this, and I say this, I see his family often. His kids do similar activities as my kids.

Do you know how unbothered they are? Nobody comes up to them or they might say hi or text their friends, either Giannis is here. There is no scenario on earth where Giannis is going to ask to be traded in the middle of a school year. Okay. He's not uprooting his family.

He's not doing it. Maybe someday Giannis wants a new challenge. We're all fine with that.

I just don't understand why eight, nine years now, every year, so they're one and three. And then thankfully for the narrative they lost last night, bad. What if they were 4-0? Would the article have come out? What if they were two and two?

Would it have been, oh, there are signs? Because the narrative is, and you asked the question, so you're getting the answer. The narrative is the Bucks are in trouble. Here's why.

I promise you that if they would have been 4-0, there still would have been articles. Yeah, things seem to be going well now, but there might be something under the surface. It's just every year we got to do this with Giannis and he's still here. Now, let me just ask you this as Bart Winkler is here with us.

So I have to ask you, because I was listening to Bart, I was listening to Bill this morning. When things don't go well for Doc Rivers, Doc blames everybody but himself. Is there a fear, just wondering, even with what you just said, that Doc starts to maybe throw Giannis or Dame under the bus and leaks it to his friends in the media, where then that is what elicits Giannis saying, you know what?

I'm just done with this. I don't think that Doc will go after their character, their willingness or ability to play, but Doc's already kind of said everything that you would say in private. He said, I don't wish this job on anyone. He said, why did I take this job? He said those things already.

So I don't know. They have enough talent. They'll figure it out. Giannis and Dame, they'll figure it out. They're playing poorly right now. There's no excusing it. It's also like, it's early. I think some of these guys are preoccupied with other stuff.

Doc's out canvassing or whatever the hell he's doing. So we'll be fine. You know what? I thought you were going to just be a lot more intense. Like I know this is a soft spot for you. This gets you going, but I just gave you an intense answer. I saw you being like, God, when's he going to shut up?

No, no. But what I'm saying here is I really thought when you heard this report, like you were going to come out swinging and maybe unintentionally offend Bill Ryder. I think with what you just said, it's not going to get to that point where then Bill's like, oh, bleep this guy. And I was kind of hoping to just be stirring a pot and having you two throw haymakers at one another when I'm sitting with like a big bowl of popcorn, trying to get the butter off my hands.

That's what I thought was going to happen, if I'm being honest. I gave you Kevin O'Connor is a despicable human being. That's fine. But, you know, I don't I'm saying with the Bill part, I don't think you and Bill are going to fight over this is what I'm saying.

I think Bill was very excited to have a reason to once again criticize Doc Rivers. OK, gotcha. All right, let's do this. We got to get to picks here.

And then why, man? Yeah, this is such a fugazi pick segment. When we had someone cancel on us, I'm like, hey, hit up Bart. I got to ask him about this Bill Ryder report. We've been talking about it. So let's just try to put the facade up there like we're going to do picks at the music.

Hit the music. Let's get to it. It's time for NFL picks on the Zach Gelb show. All right, we'll go pick for pick. You go first.

What's the first game that you want to pick against the spread, Bart Winkler? All right. So we are talking about the Green Bay Packers a little bit, and I am going to take the Green Bay Packers home in the week. No, I didn't. I was not going to. I think Detroit's I think I was not going to.

I'm doing it for one reason. It's going to rain. I don't trust Jared Goff in the rain. So I'm taking the Packers, I think, plus three. Yes. So you have the Packers plus three. I also hear that the Green Bay Packers in the locker room before the game are going to get a speech how we need to start putting some respect on the state of Wisconsin and how that Bill Ryder guy is trying to drag.

Yeah, it's not a kumpo out of Milwaukee. So this is going to be the game. Yeah.

All right. My first pick, I'm going to ride with the hot hand here. There's just something magical about this team. The Washington commanders. I know the last time the commanders put the Giants was sloppy game. The commanders ended up winning by three points. I think the commander is going to win this game going away. Give me the Washington commanders just to add a just to outscore the Giants by at least four and a half points. So five points, I should say, because I'm taking the commanders lay in the four points.

So give me the Washington commanders lay in for your next pick, sir. My longtime co-host, Chuck Freeman, would never take a game like this where a home team is an underdog by anywhere from one to three points in a divisional matchup. And I'm disgracing his name by doing this, but I'm going to take the Rams who are a one point favorite in Seattle. I think Seattle got their win last week.

I don't know how good they are. I think they're about a 500 team, so they'll float around there. The Rams, I think, have a decent shot at putting something together. It sounds like Pukka might go, but either way, I like the Rams in Seattle. My next pick, I am going to take the Patriots plus three and a half.

I don't know if Drake May is going to play. I think it's 50-50 right now. It has nothing to do, though, with me thinking the Patriots are any good after a victory up against the Jets. The Patriots can't block. They can't catch.

They got a multitude of problems. You give me Tennessee being a three and a half point favorite, there is no way Tennessee, I don't even care if they win this game by 20. They should not be going into a game of three and a half point favorite against any team in the NFL. So since the Titans are a three and a half point favorite, I will take the Pats, get in three and a half points. So give me New England plus three and a half.

Your final pick, sir? It'll be Ravens over the Broncos. The spread is nine and a half, but when I first made that pick, I thought it was five and a half, but I'm just going to stick with it anyway. So I'm taking the Ravens by nine and a half.

How did you see a nine as a five, just wondering? Because I had a look ahead line, Ravens are five and a half over the Bengals. So I didn't even know who the Ravens were playing this week. So I like, I really like Ravens next week, five and a half over the Bengals.

And I sort of like Ravens nine and a half over the Broncos. Can I assume something? I think I know why you don't like Aaron Rogers.

Because I see myself in him? No, because I think someone on ayahuasca would see a nine for a five. I think maybe Rogers screwed you on an ayahuasca deal back in the day, and that's why you don't like him. Do you like his new bit now with the Cayman pepper? Can he ever just like eat something that he didn't personally watch grow out of soil?

Can you just open a box of processed food like the rest of us and eat it? How did you pronounce that? I don't want to say it again. Okay. CeeLo sitting here to my left. He's like, what did he say? Anyway, final pick for me.

This is awesome. Cold Lake, Minnesota. Give me the Minnesota Vikings laying five points. Everyone's going to be like, oh, the Colts. They got Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco is elite. I get that Minnesota has a heck of a defense where maybe the more mobile quarterback would help them out.

Even though I do believe Flacco gives them a better chance to win games this year than Anthony Richardson. Tough week for the Colts. Vikings need to get back into the win column.

They are home. I like the Minnesota Vikings laying the five points, so the picks this week and I made sure that the Lions were right this week. Ricky Ricardo joined this last week, and he would say the pick right, and then at the end he would get the spread wrong, so it was all over the place.

Commanders lay in four. Pats plus three and a half. Vikings laying five for me. Bart's picks are the pack plus three, the Rams minus one, and then the Ravens laying nine and a half that Bart thought was five and a half. He's not buying it down all those points. He's keeping it at nine and a half. All good, Bart?

Colts benching Richardson is the biggest mistake of the season. Okay, how about that? The big take from Bart Winkler, who is not going to be feuding with Bill Ryder, but it would actually be funny. I don't want to see Giannis get traded, but if he did get traded to see how you would know if Ryder wants to trade time slots, I'd be down for that. You have to call his agent at his team. There he is. Bart Winkler. Make sure you listen to him tonight at a big football Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern, and he takes you all the way up until 2 a.m. Eastern time. Standing by with the latest sports update. Here he is.

Cee Lo, Chris LaPresti. All right, it's time to answer Ask the Pro's question of the day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. CJ in Wisconsin says, Zach, who do you like this weekend between the Lions and the Packers?

You could submit a question by tweeting out INS Sports editor at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pro's. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts where all your car care needs get guaranteed. Low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. I like the Lions this weekend. I like the Lions.

I just think they're going to continue to just dominate on the offensive side of the ball, and if that's a high-scoring game, sure, the Packers have a really good offense. I just think the Lions are better right now, so I will take Detroit. All right, time to update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports without some audio. With some audio, let's get to a news brief. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. All right, let's keep it moving here. Let's go to Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs. This is on the Edge podcast with Micah Parsons. They were talking about, is Jayden Daniels a top five quarterback?

Listen up to this and tell me what stands out to you. Where would you rank him among quarterbacks right now? I would say he's definitely top 10. He's higher. You think he's top five?

For sure. Who else you gonna put in there? Give us your top five right now. I'm gonna go with him. I'm gonna go with my own. Got to have Mark.

Yeah. Lamar, Josh Allen. Jaylen playing pretty good right now too. Jared Goff is a top five quarterback right now. And Matthew Stafford. Bro, I love how Matthew Stafford played a quarterback position. Like Sam Darnold playing, could be in the top five conversation right now.

Yeah, Sam Darnold looking pretty good. Those are a lot of quarterbacks right now. I got eight fingers up. That's eight names. Who didn't I hear? I sound like the Harbaugh family.

Who's got it better than us? Whose name did I not hear? Dak? Prescott. Prescott. Prescott. Prescott. These two dopes, Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs. Like seriously, like even if you don't think your own guy is a top 10 quarterback, how do you not say your own guy?

It's not like you're saying Bryce Young, right? Dak is the highest paid quarterback. And they didn't say Dak Prescott. That's juicy. Here is Cam Newton.

He calls out the Cowboys coverage on the ESPN, this courtesy of first take myself. We don't know. I just really want to tell you my feelings.

Can I really tell you my real feelings? Why are we talking about the irrelevant Dallas Cowboys? Oh, that's a good point. You're making a point that Micah Parsons, yes, he's succeeding with podcasts, with content.

That's the thing. We all have podcasts, but that's not the only player that's actively playing with the podcast. You want to talk about podcasts.

I remember where I think Brian has a podcast. We're not talking about him. Every time I've been on first take, this is my fourth time, by the way, Molly, we always talk about the Cowboys. Cam, because the Cowboys say stupid things. If the Cowboys were just bad and silent, we wouldn't talk about them, but they're bad and they say stupid things.

That's what elicits a response. Let's hear one more for Cam. This is on his fourth and one podcast. He goes off on Anthony Richardson. You're in the big leagues now guy is the big leagues.

You think you're in the big leagues you think you're just going to do what Lamar Jackson do? No, bro. No, no, it's not. This ain't easy. This game is not easy, bro. Oh, what the you can't do that. You took the easy route when you tapped your head and said, damn, bro, I'm tired.

What the you're a professional. You don't get this. Say that that's the easy way you don't get to say that you don't get to say playing the NFL is easy. You doing that like that. Your inexperience has shown and now you've been held to that and now you're on the bench. So, Stu, that is cam basically getting on Anthony Richardson for quitting.

Yes. A little bit ironic when there was a Super Bowl and the cams at MVP, but the ball was right there in the Super Bowl and you didn't die for it. You quit on the play. So I think that's just an interesting source.

No, I like I understand what I'm saying. I agree with Cam saying, but it doesn't look good when you quit in the Super Bowl, not some regular season game. Joel Embiid. This is from an hour or two ago. He goes off of the narrative that he doesn't want to play. I broke my face twice. I came back early with the risk of losing my vision, have broken fingers. I still came back, you know, when I, you know, see people saying doesn't want to play. I've been way too much. I've done way too much, you know, for the city, putting myself at risk, you know, for people to be saying that. So I do think he's, he's like, I do. He's not here.

Marcus, whatever his name is. I've done way too much for the city to be treated like this. So don't worry much. But like I said, I wish I was as lucky as other ones, but that doesn't mean that I'm not trying and, you know, I'm not doing whatever it takes to be out there, which I'm going to be here pretty soon. I actually have no problem with what Joel Embiid just said.

Zero problem. I see him getting dragged on social media. It's one of those times I'm like on an island. I don't agree with what everyone says on social media. Now you could say, what have you done for the city? You won an MVP. You haven't won a championship. You haven't even got to a conference finals, but it's not good that Embiid's not playing, but I'm okay with him fighting back a little bit.

The only thing you could say though is, does it really eliminate a distraction? Like you doing this is only going to continue the conversation. You better get your ass back on the court then really soon. So, you know, it is what it is. Embiid tries to be that tough guy on the court, but you saw in that Knicks series a little bit how like that tough guy is kind of an act. You know, I get it. He comes off a little sensitive there, but I'm okay with an athlete showing emotion like that.

I'm not going to crush Embiid for that. Alrighty, that will do for the Zach Gelb show on a Friday. I'll be on WFAN in New York City tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 9 30 a.m. Eastern Time. Then Sunday morning football right here on the Infinity Sports Network, 10 a.m. to noon Eastern Time.

We'll recap all the college mayhem and then get you set on the NFL for a week. 9, Stu, Samter, thank you. CeeLo, thank you as well. Each and every one of you, thank you. And we'll be back on Monday right at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific Time. Have a wonderful, and I mean a splendid, I mean a sensational, I mean a fantastic weekend. I will talk to you next time, everybody. I'm Zach Gelb. I'm out. Bye-bye. Peace.