Jaguars Should Hire BELICHICK (Hour 1)

Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to what is a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and as always, streaming live on YouTube. 855-212-4227 is the number to jump on in.

855-212-4227. And as always, get at me on Instagram, we're on Straight Flex, or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter X, at Zach Gelb, that is Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We got a awesome Thursday night football game tonight to kick off week 10 of the NFL season, as we do have the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens, a little Joe Burrow, a little Lamar Jackson, Ravens are 6-3, Bengals are 4-5, and this is an enormous test tonight for the Cincinnati Bengals. Where not only can Joe Burrow and the Bengals say, okay, we have survived this rough stretch to start off the year and get back into the mix at 5-5, this would by far and away be their biggest win of the season, when you look at the four opponents and the four dreadful opponents that they have defeated. But you could also maybe start to see the campaign for Joe Burrow to win the MVP, as he is top 5 in passing touchdowns, top 5 in QBR, and also top 5 in passing yards this year. So if Burrow wins tonight, I know the MVP right now is Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson it feels like, and I slightly still lean with Josh Allen, but maybe, just maybe, this could be the jumpstart of a Joe Burrow MVP run. But we'll have a whole lot of time to get into that matchup throughout the next three hours. Shane Beamer, the head football coach at South Carolina, after his team's enormous victory up against A&M, he's going to stop by 58 minutes from now, to be precise, at the top of the hour.

I've got to start the show though today on just really a rotten note. We're going to talk about three football teams, that their seasons are already over, and now it's like, what do you do with your quarterbacks? So the Jacksonville Jaguars are 2-7. They have been maybe the most disappointing team in the NFL so far. You also then take a look at the Dallas Cowboys. They are 3-5. And the Miami Dolphins have their quarterback back in Tua-Tunga-Viloa, but they've lost their last two games, and the Miami Dolphins are now 2-6, since Tua-Tunga-Viloa has come on back. So there is no optimism, even though there's been a lot of sloppy football this year, there is no optimism or anything that I could say, where maybe if you squint really hard, you could envision a team potentially get in one of those final wildcard spots in the AFC or in the NFC to go make a crazy second half of the season type of run, and then you just get in and anything could happen. You know, I'm going to tell you when you're good, I'm going to tell you when you're bad.

I'm a very fair radio host, if I may say so myself. But when I look at those three teams, here's what's fascinating, and I'll push aside the Dolphins for just a second. But right now, you have Tua-Tunga-Viloa with Miami, and they're struggling. So we'll get into their coaching and GMing quarterback conversation in just a second. But you look at Trevor Lawrence, and you look at Dak Prescott, we don't know when those two guys are going to play next. Remember yesterday when I told you it wasn't fair for James Jones, who I happen to like to say that Dak Prescott quit on the team over a hamstring injury? Because we didn't know the extent of the hamstring injury, and also, we don't even know if he's going on IR yet. We just know he's not going to be playing this upcoming weekend, Sunday 4.25 PM Eastern Time game, up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

So yesterday after the show, like right when we got off the air, Jane Slater, who does a tremendous job covering the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Network, and also on 105.3, the fan, she had put out this tweet. As the Cowboys weigh in on Dak Prescott's IR status, sources tell me the initial diagnosis is a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon, which is partially torn off the bone. I'm told it typically takes more than a four-week recovery.

In some cases, they let it scar over, repair, and then strengthen. With that being said, Prescott is seeking other options, which is why there is currently a reluctance to place him on IR or make any determinations about a timeline for return. So the easy thing to do, even though we were ahead of it, is to just trash James Jones today, right?

That would be the easy thing. Like, James, you're an idiot. Oh, you're a moron.

You're a dope. He's already apologized. Like, he has apologized too much by now. He sent out a tweet. He sent out multiple tweets.

They led the show today with it on his show, The Facility on FS1. So James Jones has already profusely apologized. So I'm not going to sit here and just slam James Jones. We already basically, I didn't slam him yesterday, but I just thought what he said was ridiculous. But when you look back at it, here you have a guy in Dak Prescott whose hamstring is partially torn off the bone. The team stinks.

Heck, he even mouthed on the sideline, we bleep and suck right now. And this is a guy that's trying to get every opinion possible to delay having some sort of surgery or delay basically him having to go on bare minimum IR, which would knock him out for four games when he's already missing the game this week. Like if Dak Prescott has an intention of coming back this season. You need to figure it out if you're going to go on IR by Sunday because you're going to miss Sunday either way. You would want for it to account for one of those games that you have to sit out for the four games if you go on IR. But let's just be realistic. And I'm not a doctor. I'm not going to pretend to be a genius on this matter.

But if I were to assume just assume and you know what happens when you assume sometimes you make an asset of you and me. I would assume that Dak Prescott has played his final game for the Cowboys for this season because in all likelihood, Dak is fighting to try to avoid going on IR with that report that we just read from Jane Slater. I think it's going to be tough for him to skip going on IR. So bare minimum, he's going to be out four games. The team is three and five. And here are their next four games.

The Eagles, the Texans, the commanders and the Giants. So you look at those next four games like you could win the giant game and maybe you could find a way to go two and two in that four game stretch. But in all likelihood, with the Eagles, Texans and commanders staring you in the face and then the Giants, you're going to be going one and three in that stretch. So if you go and I'll do some quick mental math on the air. If you go two and two in that stretch, you will be sitting there when you come on back at five and seven.

If you go one and three, you will be sitting there at four and eight. Either way, I know you may not be mathematically eliminated at that point, but it feels like your season is already over, especially with how many holes this roster has. When you lose these next three games or even if you lose two out of these next three games, the chances of Dak Prescott coming on back with something to play for is really slim to none. And I know Cowboys fans could say, well, he already got his money, so when he's healthy, go play him. But you got to protect your franchise quarterback. Like if he didn't have his contract, there would be no chance to be playing another snap this season. But since he already has his contract and also with how gloomy and just ominous this injury sounds like, I just ask any Cowboy fan this that wants to see Dak Prescott again this year.

What's the point? So the future of the Cowboys is going to be a fascinating conversation, which I will get to in just a second. But I also look at the Jacksonville Jaguars and here is the latest in the Jaguars. Jay Gruden.

Yes, not John Jay Gruden, the former coach of the commanders. He tweeted out today, sources say surgery for Trevor. Damn.

Get well, man. Hope sources were wrong. So Jay Gruden puts that out on the on the Internet. Ian Rappaport responds, no surgery schedule, Jay.

There are several options immediate and down the road. That's one of them. He's considered day to day with the left shoulder. But as he considers these options, Trevor Lawrence will likely not play Sunday. Mac Jones is the backup. And then Pete Prisco, who is a very erudite football mind, he tweeted out the smartest thing Trevor Lawrence can do is shut it down and wait for Ben Johnson.

The offense and staff has impacted that kid in a big way. Shut it down. Who is he? John Taffer. I'm going to shut it down.

I'm going in. That's what Pete Prisco sounds like. So I look at the Cowboys and I look at the Jaguars. I think their quarterbacks obvious statement of the day. They want to play. But if I am Jerry Jones, if I am shot con, I am pulling my quarterback into a meeting room and I'm saying this or even into my office.

Guys, for the Cowboys were three and five for the Jaguars were two and seven. We want to look out for the best interest of you. So we're going to shut you down. We won't say we're going to shut you down for the rest of the season.

But we're both going to put you on IR if you're good with that. And both quarterbacks should say yes. And both quarterbacks shouldn't play another down this year. And both quarterbacks should then ask, well, who's going to be coaching me next year?

And what are you going to do to improve the roster? And when I asked that question, I think for both Jerry Jones and shot con, the answer is going to be the same. My first target is going to be Bill Belichick. I think that will be a true statement for Jerry Jones. I think Jerry Jones is going to do everything in his power. He basically already gave you the answer to the test before the season started when he just randomly said, hey, I think I would work really well with Bill Belichick. And then for the Jaguars, I have said for a while I thought Bill Belichick could be a dark horse candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But if it's not Bill, then where do you go? And I have not allowed it to enter my mind yet about Ben Johnson, because I have assumed that Ben Johnson is going to be the coach of the Bears. But Adam Schefter kind of pushed back on that notion. And, you know, we'll play that audio in just a second.

Actually, Stu, let's play it right now, because I think it could factor in and tie into this conversation. This is Adam Schefter on the ESPN earlier this morning. Is Ben Johnson destined for the Bears? Ben Johnson is going to be very, very selective about the place that he chooses to go if he decides even to leave Detroit.

He's going to be very careful. I don't know that he desires to leave that division, to head in the division, to go to a place that you're talking about the dysfunction that has existed within that organization. And let's just say eight teams have him on their wish list doesn't mean he's going to be interviewing with eight teams. I think if Ben Johnson is interviewing with anybody this year, he's interviewing with the intent that he's going to take that job.

Let me just say this about Ben Johnson. He has done an unbelievable job in Detroit. But last year, it was bizarre how everyone thought he was going to the commanders. And then he basically passed on the job, pulled himself out of the running for any job, and said he's going back to Detroit. And now he has a legitimate chance to win a Super Bowl. But you're an offensive coordinator. And look what you ended up passing up with the commanders, where Adam Peters is there. They have a new owner in Josh Harris, and then they have the second overall pick in the draft, and they have Jayden Daniels.

And that's now a happening destination. So I'm starting to wonder, is Ben Johnson just getting too selective? Like, don't get me wrong, brilliant offensive line. But how many times have we heard, up-and-coming head coach, brilliant offensive coordinator, got to revolutionize football, you know, one of the greatest minds we've ever seen, he's unbelievable, he's outstanding. And then the coach gets to be a head coach and goes from OC to head coach, and it's a disaster.

I'm not saying that's going to happen. But there's starting to be, like, some minor speed bumps that are getting me in the way to be an all-in on Ben Johnson like everybody else is. So when Pete Prisco throws out Ben Johnson, you know, maybe that is a spot.

Because I think every spot is on the table. And it's ultimately going to be, in the brain of Ben Johnson, what makes him say, yeah, I want to leave Detroit and go to that destination. And I think Ben Johnson is starting to be a guy that, you know, someone could tell you two plus two equals four, and he'll be like, no, no, no, no. Two plus two actually equals five, Zach.

And I have an explanation for that. So I have no clue where Ben Johnson's going to go. I thought it was going to be the Bears. You know, you put a gun to my head, I'll still say the Bears.

But the way that Schefter said that, I didn't love it. And hey, if you're Jacksonville, you could go with the legend like Belichick. You could go with someone like Mike Vrabel. You could go with the defensive-minded head coach like a Brian Flores.

You don't need to hire an offensive-minded coach. But if Ben Johnson looks at Trevor Lawrence and says, man, this guy's just got terrible coaching. You know, Urban Meyer was a disaster.

You know, Doug Peterson, I know he's won a Super Bowl. But him and Pres Taylor haven't been able to do a good job consistently with Trevor Lawrence. And some of it's on Trevor, and some of it's on the coaching staff. But Ben Johnson could look at Trevor Lawrence and say, the league messed him up.

And he could think that he could fix him and could have maybe a top five quarterback in the league, even though right now Trevor Lawrence isn't a top ten quarterback in the league. So I do think all options are on the table for the Jaguars. If you made me guess right now, I think Bill should go to Philadelphia, and I think the Eagles should move on from Sirianni, but I don't know if they would. So I do believe Bill is going to land with the Dallas Cowboys. And then you get to the Miami Dolphins. Because we talked about, right, Trevor, we talked about Dak as well, and it seems like, or just feels like today that their seasons are going to be over with their injuries, or they're going to put them on IR and neither are going to return this year, even though none of that's official, that's just me assuming.

But then you get to Miami, and I was on 560 WQAM in South Florida yesterday, and I was having a pretty, I don't want to say it was a heated, but it was a passionate discussion with Channing Crowder and Mark Hochman. And Channing's like, they can't just run this back next year. He's like, something's got to change with Tua Tungavailoa, Chris Greer, and Mike McDaniel. And I said to Channing, hey, you're not going to get rid of Tua, you just paid him. And I thought it was a mistake, and I said this at the time, to pay Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and also Tua, and rush to pay all three, and look at the conversation we're having now.

None of those three are even going to come close to sniffing the playoffs this year. The only way they should have paid Dak the Cowboys is if it was before free agency, and we talked about why many times on this show, so I'm not going to rehash that again. But when you look at the Dolphins, I think the most pressure should be on Chris Greer, because Chris Greer has been there for a long time, and he basically laughed at the notion of getting a good backup quarterback in there, and did laugh at the notion of the current state of the offensive line, laughed and basically spat in the fan's faces. So I would say Chris Greer should be out.

But with that being said, I did raise this point. If you get rid of Chris Greer, don't you have to get kind of rid of Mike McDaniel, because it doesn't feel like what the season of the Dolphins had, that Mike McDaniel should get more power. He either gets to pick the GM, or, you know, the GM approves of Mike McDaniel, then it's like a shotgun relationship, which usually does not work. So I don't think they will get rid of Greer. I don't think they will get rid of McDaniel, because I could see Stephen Ross just saying, hey, you know, I'm going to run it back and just blame this year on the four games that Tua missed, or however many games Tua missed, because of the concussion. That's what I think the Dolphins will end up doing.

But Stephen Ross getting up there in age, Stephen Ross not afraid to swing and try to go reel in, no pun intended, well I guess pun intended, the big fish. You know, maybe he would move on from Greer and McDaniel. And I think McDaniel deserves another year. Greer doesn't, but I don't like usually firing the GM, keeping the head coach, or vice versa. But if they do move on from the GM and the coach, then Belichick becomes a fascinating potential destination and a potential coach. Because then you'll need a GM and a coach, Belichick could do both. But then you could also bring in Belichick and one of Belichick's lackeys or friends to basically be the general manager. And imagine Bill in the AFC East, where he can't stand Robert Kraft right now, and you have Belichick trying to bring the Dolphins back to the playoffs, and I think Bill instantly would walk into Miami and make him a playoff team next year. So the Cowboys, the Dolphins, and the Jaguars. The Cowboys will definitely have a new coach next year. The Dallas Cowboys and the Jaguars will both definitely have new head coaches. But then I look at the Dolphins, I lean more that the coach and GM will stay the same, but there's a chance Stephen Ross says, I've seen enough, I'm getting up there in age, I want to win, we got a core right now that should be good enough where we shouldn't have an underwhelming season with or without the quarterback that we've seen this past year. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. Do you have a name for the Cowboys, the Jaguars, to potentially be their next head coach?

And also, do you think the Dolphins should get rid of Chris Greer and Mike McDaniel? 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. It is a Thursday, we will do a little paper shredder Thursday when we come on back in five minutes. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. I got my paper shredder here, we'll shred some more teams and eliminate them from the postseason field in just a second.

8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. Let's start things off with our buddy Adrian in Maryland. Yo Adrian, what's shaking my man?

Yo Zach, what's going on there buddy? Hey, I'm a Cowboys fan and I like Bravo coming in here. But the problem is Jerry Jones has this thing so broke, he needs to basically fire himself at being a GM. Because whoever he brings in, he's going to have a say in what they can do and what they can't do.

That's what's happened in the past. He's hired his own OCs and all that other stuff. So if a coach comes in, he's got to have not full support, but he's basically got to be able to hire his own coaches without Jerry Jones' meddling into this.

Yeah, and I know Will McClay and also Stephen Jones have a huge role in the construction of the roster. But Jerry's obviously the face and he's obviously an owner that meddles and wants to be making the decisions and wants all the spotlight on him. The only thing is, the only coach I could see Jerry stepping aside and letting him do his thing is really Bill Belichick. Like what he kind of did with Bill Parcells all those years ago.

But you know that has an expiration because Jerry just can't help himself. So that's why I think if it's not Bill, I'm not going to say there won't be a respect level, but there won't be a level of feel from Jerry that he thinks he needs to get out of the way. Because the guy in his mind, he's a Hall of Famer, he views himself as one of the greatest owners ever, even though he has not found the way to be in a Super Bowl and NFC title game since the 1995 season. So if it's not Bill, then the question of who's coaching the Cowboys is fascinating.

Because I don't know if there's going to be a lot of the hot commodity kind of candidates that would want to go to Jerry's world. The only problem, I understand bringing in Bill Belichick. I know that's what Jerry Jones is saying. He's bringing them in just so Bill can get that record, all the spotlight can be on Dallas, he can sell all these tickets and all this other stuff. He's a drama for Jerry Jones. We know that. He does what's best for drama. Yeah, it's going to be another circus. Let me get on to, can I say something about Trevor Lawrence real quick?

Yeah, go ahead. Remember Trevor Lawrence, everybody said, oh, Urban Meyer broke him. And then the first time when Peterson got him, his first year he did well and everybody said he was back. But I actually think it's Trevor Lawrence. I don't think the coach is going to be able to fix this guy.

I think he's gone. That game against the Eagles, all he had to do was lay it up. They would have won that game. He threw a straight line to the receiver. It was a linebacker covering. Yeah, the Kobe D. So if you lob it up, you give them a chance to make that catch and score the touchdown and they win the game. But I think he's just basically broke.

Yeah, no, it's a fair point. And I could argue it after right Urban Meyer, where I was like, hey, it was Urban Meyer was a bleep show. You got to give him a legit coach, an offensive minded coach to kind of get him back to the quarterback that we all think he could be.

I know Doug Peterson for some reason doesn't resonate with a lot of people. The guy won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, won a Super Bowl without his starting quarterback, made Nick Foles look great and also made Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz looked great.

Carson Wentz was going to be the MVP of the league before suffering that injury. And I don't think Pres Taylor is right for for Trevor Lawrence. But once you brought in the right head coach and it hasn't worked, I can't sit here and say Trevor will definitely be great in this league. I don't know if he can now.

So you could still see some things that you go, OK. He's had to deal with some injuries, but there's also been a lot of bad decisions by Trevor Lawrence. I don't think he is fully broken.

I think you could salvage him. I still think he could be a good quarterback, but I can't sit here and expect that it will definitely happen because now this has been one bad regime and a second regime that you could have some gripes with. But now it's been OK. Doug was supposed to be the guy. Everyone loved that hire. And now we're all talking about who's going to be the next guy that comes on in. So this is it for Trevor. He just got paid and he's not going anywhere anytime soon, even though those relationships could deteriorate very quickly. However, with that being said, it's one of those scenarios where it feels like that career is on life support, even though he's still going to be kicking and he's still going to be playing.

And we'll see if the next coach could salvage the deal. Alrighty. Let me get my construction workers cap on these. I'm always skeptical with these because it's a little loosey goosey. So I think it fit on the cabeza this week.

I look a little bit like Jimmy Neutron or who's the guy? The great Kazoo, I believe it was. So the teams that we have already eliminated so far from playoff contention on Paper Shredder Thursday, the Jets out. Not going to make the playoffs.

I don't care that they won one lousy game against the Texans. The Patriots out. The Giants out. The Sean Watson and the Cleveland Browns out.

Will Levis, Mason Rudolph, you know, whoever you want to throw out there with Tennessee out. Jacksonville out. Panthers out. Saints, we were ahead of the game with them.

They just fired their coach Dennis Allen out. And then last week, Stu gave up his Raiders fandom by shredding the logo of the Las Vegas Raiders so the Raiders out. The only division that we have not shredded one team from is the NFC West 49ers, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks. We have not shredded them from getting eliminated from playoff contention.

So now I have one, two, three, four, five, six logos in front of me. First up, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In a weird way, I don't think the Bucs are a great team, but I like watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play because of the toughness that Baker Mayfield does display.

Now it would be nice if the energy and the toughness that Baker Mayfield brings that Todd Bowles would match that. Now their season, it's getting a little dicey because they've already lost two games to the Falcons. The Falcons are six and three. We see one team getting on in from the NFC South and Tampa Bay is four and five. But for now, I'm going to hold off on shredding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So we will keep them safe for another week or two. Miami has the Dolphins. They are not the greatest football team. They don't move the ball from goal to goal.

And right now they don't go marching one, two, three. And when we're talking Miami, we're not talking Super Bowl right now. I know Tua has been back. They've lost both games that Tua has been back in to the Cardinals and to the Bills in heartbreaking fashion. Maybe they could have saved the season if they would have won one of those games. But this is a two and six football team. And I've already seen enough eight games into the season.

We will now see if Mike McDaniel and Chris Greer will be back next year. But the Miami Dolphins, they are getting shredded. Next up, the Bears. Now, here's the crazy part about the Bears. The Bears are right in the mix of the NFC wild card hunt. I got to be very careful when I say that because one legendary sports talk show host may have said that a little bit too quickly.

And he said a word that if you say that word to a woman, she has every right to smack you across the face. But I've seen enough with the Bears. I picked the Bears to be a playoff team before the season started. I know they're 500.

I know they're right there at four and four. But right now they have an enormous, and I mean an enormous coaching problem. And how they lost those games the last two weeks, right? You lose in heartbreaking fashion up against the commanders on the Hail Mary where you have Stevenson celebrating.

And even when you tried to give him some repercussions, he tried to dictate really what the punishments were going to be. But now you follow that up getting blown out by the Cardinals. I know they play the Patriots this week. I know they could win that game. But even if they win that game, their next three are up against the Packers, Vikings, Lions. And then even if they survive that stretch, they end the season 49ers, Vikings, Lions, Seahawks, and the Packers. I'm just not trusting this coaching staff. So with that being said, this may be premature, may be premature. We may have to reverse, reverse shred in a few weeks from now and try to have the Bears come back up.

But I don't think that's going to happen because Eberfluss is Eberlouze. And they lose a lot of games with the Bears head coach. So throw the Bears in the paper shredder. Alrighty, we got a few more teams to get to right here. The next team on my list, the Indianapolis Colts. I don't believe in the Indianapolis Colts. They are four and five, but their division is problematic. And the Houston Texans, I know that they're going to win this division.

They're six and three. But what happens if an injury occurs? Then like Indianapolis is right alive. So I take a look at Indianapolis. They probably lose to the Bills this week and that's probably it for their season. Joe Flacco didn't give them that boost that they thought they were going to because Brian Flores is an aggressive defensive coordinator and Joe Flacco has no mobility. I'm thinking about putting the Colts in the paper shredder. But I want to see what they could do the next two weeks against the Bills and the Jets. So for now, I will not shred the Indianapolis Colts. Alrighty, let's get to the Denver Broncos. This is a team that before the season started, I could never see them making the playoffs. I wasn't a believer in the quarterback and I also am not a believer in Sean Payton as an NFL head coach in the year of 2024.

Sean's showing this year that he's still a damn good coach. Botanics, they got blown out by the Ravens, but that was like a dud moment for them after the touchdown catch, it just went all the way down the drain. They're 5-4. I think Denver's going to start to go on a little bit of a stretch where it's like they start to not play as well as they've been. Like they play the Chiefs, they play the Falcons, they probably should lose these next two games. You know, they could beat the Raiders and they should beat the Browns. So this team's going to be back and forth. I think they're going to be, I know you can't beat 500, but I think they'll be like either 8 or 9 or 9 and 8. So that to me as a team, if they go 9 and 8, they could still be in it. So I will not shred the Denver Broncos.

Alrighty, we got one more team. The Drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys. And when we look at the Drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys, this is a football team that they're 3 and 5. And in all likelihood, even though it's not official, Dak Prescott has probably played his final snap of the season. And the Dallas Cowboys this week, even with Cooper Rush at quarterback, and I know Cooper Rush was great a few years ago when he had to play for an injured Dak Prescott, I think the Eagles are going to spank him.

And you look at the next three games for the Dallas Cowboys, they play the Eagles, they play the Texans, and they play the commanders. So, the Dallas Cowboys are going in the paper shredder. Alrighty, that's paper shredded Thursday on the Zach Gelb show. Standing by with the latest Infinity Sports Network Sports Flash.

Here he is, the act man, Rich Ackerman. You know, I've been getting some tweets about paper shredder Thursday, and also some YouTube comments as well. Bella B says, this is oddly satisfying. Hashtag Thursday vibes.

She was in her car getting her car washed, and you hear the paper shredder, and then you hear the sound effects from the car wash as well. So, I thought that was funny. Gary Thomas says, I enjoy paper shredder Thursday, but how about doing some coaches that could use the shredder as well. It's actually not a bad idea.

We could throw some coaches in the paper shredder as well. And then also, I did see in the YouTube chat that John Elliott says, where's the yellow safety vest? That's actually not a bad idea. Now, if engineering would lend a helping hand to us from time to time, and they do with the big construction worker's hat, but I asked them for like some safety goggles, they said they didn't have it.

You know, we're not a wardrobe center. Also, you know, maybe I'll go buy, I could purchase some safety goggles, and then maybe we go get a yellow vest. But here's the dilemma that I'm realizing with paper shredder Thursday, if I'm just being honest. And I like the segment, right, you know, it's a good idea. Originally, we were going to do shredding teams for the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl. And then it was Stu's idea, maybe we just do playoffs.

And I go, okay, that's fine, you know, I'm all good for hearing an idea. Here is the thing, though, we are getting to a point where we have shredded enough teams now. The Dolphins, the Jets, the Pats, the Cowboys, the Giants, the Browns, the Bears, the Jaguars, the Titans, the Panthers, the Saints, and the Raiders. So we've shredded 12 teams, not half the league, but close to half the teams in the league. Like the next few weeks, we may not have paper shredder Thursday.

We may not have paper shredder Thursday until Thanksgiving, or maybe even the week after Thanksgiving. Because I can't see anything happening in the next two weeks where I'm shredding the Bills, where I'm shredding the Commanders, where I'm shredding the Eagles, where I'm shredding the Bengals, where I'm shredding the Ravens, the Steelers, maybe the Bengals, potentially the Bengals. Lions, no. Packers, no. Vikings, no. Texans, no. Colts, yes.

Bucks, potentially. Falcons, no. Chargers, no. Chiefs, no. Broncos, no.

49ers, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks, no. So maybe we will find something in between to shred. And we could do multiple things, like terrible Thanksgiving food items, turkey. We could shred turkey on the show. And we could just advocate why my family and us being a smart family are all in on lasagna for Thanksgiving. And we're having a big, and I mean a big, Gelb family Thanksgiving this year in honor of my grandmother. And I have taken the captaincy of leading this whole charge for Thanksgiving, and we got a kick-ass menu. And we do Thanksgiving early because we did it for my grandma and my grandpa, like, early. They always want to do it early. And my grandpa, fortunately, is still around. So we will be doing it early once again. So when you do, like, Thanksgiving at 1 o'clock, by 3.34, I know what it's like to be old because I have a slumber.

Or like a toddler. I'm having a little nap on the couch. Not only a nap, like a coma. I remember there was one year a few years ago, I forget who the Cowboys were playing on Thanksgiving Day.

It may have been the commanders, and they lost. And I thought I had to give, like, an instant reaction video. And at the time, like, later that night, I was going out with, at my time, a girlfriend. And I was doing, like, a take on a Thursday night after already going through my Thanksgiving feast, knowing I had to go out to someone else's Thanksgiving, going out, you know, somewhere else afterwards.

And I had, like, a blanket over my head just still stuffed because I was in a food coma. So you know what? This year, I'm not going to say I'm going to eliminate Thanksgiving content for my social media feeds, because I won't do that. You know, I will post my food, I will post my glorious lasagna and cookie cake, which is an icebox cake.

I will post all of that. But in terms of sports takes, I'm not saying I'm definitely going to do this. But I may take one day off from giving any sports take on social media.

But here's the problem. You watch, like, football during Thanksgiving. That's why I love Thanksgiving.

It's my favorite holiday. Because it's food, it's family, and it's football. Those are the three foundations, the three principles of my life. Food, family, football.

Now, how do you order those? That's the question. Stu, I'm going to ask you. You seem like a nice family member. Food, family, football. One, two, three. One being the most important, three being the least important.

What would you do? I would say family, oh, this is tough. Family, I'll say food, football, but it's close. If I'm going to be honest, and my mom is listening right now because she just texted me that she is in the car driving home from the airport.

She was in Florida visiting her mother. So I got to be very careful and I got to tiptoe a line here. So, Stu, what was the question? One, two, and three. Food, family, football.

How do I order it? Food, family, football. Yes. Food, football, family. I'm serious. You know, family could annoy you. Food doesn't annoy you.

Football can annoy you. But you know what you're signing up for. Family, you don't always know what you're signing up for. Oh, my God. There's not even a delay wherever my mom's listening to right now.

I kid you not. I just got a text from my mother from Mama Gil. Family comes first. So I guess I am in like the family doghouse, but I'm being honest. You know, I've never had a piece of lasagna talk back to me. I've had football players talk back to me, but I've enjoyed those conversations. There's some family members that let's be real.

You know, they could be a pain in the ass and they know they're being a pain in the ass. It's I don't know where my mom is. She must be listening on Sirius because she's like getting the feed right away. Or maybe she's listening on a local affiliate.

My mom just texted me good point of the family stuff. So, yeah, I would rank it. And I don't think I'm being crazy in this.

If you want my honest opinion, that's why you listen to this show. There is no doubt about it. It is food.

It is football. And then it's family. OK, I think I'm out of the doghouse with my mother because she just wrote, you're the best part of our family. I'm Switzerland in this family. Everyone likes me. I'm right in the middle.

I just try to make everyone feel good in in our family. All righty. Tonight, we do got the Bengals and we do got the Ravens. But first, I got to tell you about the dependable player of the week.

It's something I brought the paper shredder out as I'm flipping through these these pages once again and hit my computer charging cord. The dependable player of the week is sponsored by depend. And the prostate cancer foundation remind you that health is a long game and screening for prostate cancer is easier than ever.

Learn more at depend dot com. This week's player is Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Lamar is currently third in the NFL passing yards and has 20 passing touchdowns to just two interceptions on the season.

So Lamar Jackson is a dependable player of the week. Tonight, Bengals, Ravens, they're like the pressure to me is all on Cincinnati tonight. Cincinnati has not had a moment this year where they have showed us in terms of proving it on the field, not just reputation, not just what people expect, that they look like a bona fide Super Bowl contender or even a playoff team. Like their best moment of the season was a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, where they lost by one. Like you look and examine their four wins. They beat the Panthers. So what you beat the Giants. So what you beat the Browns.

So what? And you beat the Raiders. If you can't beat the Raiders, I would say you stink, but the Ravens lost to the Raiders. So if you can't beat the Raiders, it's either you stink or you did something wrong that allowed the Raiders to win, which is what the Ravens did.

The Ravens snatched the feet from the jaws of victory when they choked that game away up against the Las Vegas Raiders. But tonight, this is the last moment that I will give the Cincinnati Bengals. If you want me to believe in you, then you've got to prove it and you've got to get to five and five, because if this team gets to four and six after tonight and you look at their schedule the rest of the way, Chargers, Steelers, Cowboys, Titans, Browns, Broncos, Steelers, not an impossible schedule for being honest. But if they get to four and six, I just can't believe that this team is going to go where people think they're going to go. But if they win tonight and they get to five and five, you look at that schedule once again, Chargers, tough, Steelers, tough, Cowboys, you know, who even knows who's going to be their quarterback, Titans stink, Browns stink, Broncos, you know, solid, Steelers, you know, a tough team, but you don't fear their offense. It's like one of those spots where you win tonight, then I start to give you the benefit of the doubt again and start to buy back in and start to say, OK, now I'm putting the Bengals back in the hopper of teams that I could anticipate getting into the postseason. And if the Bengals just get into the postseason, no one is going to want to face Cincinnati, because even though Henderson leads the league in sacks, their defense has been problematic and not a good way. But offensively, you got Burrow, went healthy, you got Chase and you got Higgins. And you look at that squad, we know Burrow has been the only quarterback outside of Tom Brady, so only active quarterback right now, that has been able to get the job done when it matters up against Patrick Mahomes. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a break. When we come on back in five minutes, joining us, the head football coach at South Carolina, friend of the program, Shane Beamer, off his big program-changing victory, in my opinion, up against A&M, where they blanked him in the second half, 24 to zip. We'll talk about that game and also their upcoming game with coach Shane Beamer, next.