January 10, 2025 4:06 pm
Notre Dame beats Penn State I Deshaun Watson tears Achilles again I Andrew Whitworth, Amazon Prime NFL Analyst
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Live from the play show you're 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 into what is a fabulous and I mean a fabulous Friday edition of the Zach Gelb show and nobody and I mean nobody can intercept how I feel right now. Oh this is going to be wonderful.
We are here all the way up until 6 p.m eastern 3 p.m pacific time today. We'll be joined by some friends along the way Andrew Whitworth who I think is the best dressed big fella I've ever seen and he does it in such a casual way. He's going to join us coming up 40 minutes from now at 3 40 p.m eastern time in the second hour of the extravaganza. Former Packers kicker Mason Crosby is going to join us at 4 20 p.m eastern time and coming up in studio at 5 20 p.m eastern time for us to dance on his grave is Ryan Hot Take Hickey. So let's get the party started.
You could always give me a follow on the good old cesspool of twitter or on instagram where I'm always straight flexing at Zach Gelb that is z a c h g e l b and you could always give me a call at eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Last night was awesome if I'm just going to be honest as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have put a stop to the run of participation state university with the Penn State Nittany Lions. I thought I was not going to be able to use that shtick if I'm being honest for like a year because I go okay if Penn State gets to the championship game and they lose but they beat Notre Dame that would have been their best quality win of the season but when you look back at Penn State they are the definition of participation state university where they win a lot of games right they make you feel good about yourself just for showing on up but in the big spots and the big moments they crumble and they fold like a cheap suit that's what they do you look at this year they're three biggest games they are oh and three they lost to Ohio State they lost in the big 10 championship game oh we'll pat you on the head for not getting blown out by Oregon and then last night they had a game where in the first half and let's have some honest conversations here in the first half I was very disappointed with Stu Kovacs now don't get me wrong Stu and I were going back and forth exchanging some texts during the game and I'm rooting for Notre Dame I want to see my guy Stuart Kovacs happy happy until January 20th and let's hope that he has a party on January 20th and Notre Dame wins it all but I wanted to see Stu get the moment of elation for beating Penn State because I know Stu is a passionate Notre Dame fan and I work with him on a daily basis and Stu sent me a text when Notre Dame was getting the ball back right before the end of the first half and he said to me this is a disaster this game feels like it's over and quite frankly if we're calling a spade a spade I don't fault Stu for sending that text but it was only 10 nothing and it felt as if that game should have been a lot worse at the end of the first half I'm watching the game Penn State is beating the snot out of out of Notre Dame inside the trenches their offensive line was mall in the Penn State defense uh the uh the Notre Dame defense and then also the Penn State defense Abdul Carter looked like he wasn't even injured if we're being honest and Riley Leonard had some bad moments in that first half and I'm sitting there when Stu sent me that text and I go it's not the time to admit defeat right now because all you need to do is get a score on this drive and momentum will shift it will be a one score game and even though Notre Dame with their backup quarterback because Riley Leonard got hurt was matriculating the ball down the field it stalled and they got a field goal now that's not a huge momentum shift but it's a significant enough momentum shift because it made it a one score game and then right out of half here come the Irish Notre Dame punches Penn State in the mouth and boom we got a tie game at 10 apiece and it was a brand new ball game and who would have then thought Notre Dame would get the ball back score another touchdown and we're all tied up at seven or you know Notre Dame takes a 17 to 10 lead they score 17 unanswered so Notre Dame takes a 17 to 10 lead Penn State ties it up at 17 17 and even when they tie it up I'm sitting there saying I can't wait to see how this finishes and I truly didn't know who was going to win the game and Penn State they're moving the ball you're thinking they're going to get in the end zone Drew Allard throws an interception and let's be real I've even had Penn State fans text me on the side we got bailed out by the officials on that interception so they call pass interference I didn't like it they were letting the guys play all throughout the game I didn't think it was egregious I just want consistency for my officials and they didn't give it there and they set Penn State up with the gift Penn State scores a touchdown and when it was 24 to 17 I am sitting there and I'm saying oh they tease you like that Notre Dame right and I'm thinking to myself okay I'm gonna have to dress up as a Penn State Nittany Lion and Hickey's not gonna have to dress up as a leprechaun that's what I'm thinking but then immediately after that Great House takes it to the house and it's 24 24 and then it's 24 and what happened after that is just complete and utter chaos so Drew Allard who let me be clear here I'm gonna say this right out of the gate you guys know me I don't know if there's a coach in college football it's either James Franklin or Ryan Day but James Franklin's been at the top of that list for many years there's not a coach that I despise more in college football James Franklin and this is like Christmas for me in January you know whatever holiday and 4th of July in January you know Super Bowl Sunday in January this is what today is for me because usually the Zach Gale playbook here is to just completely undress eviscerate and destroy and I mean verbally destroy James Franklin because he's arrogant he's insufferable and he tries to present like he is an elite coach when he's not because he could never win the big game now with all that being said I can't crush James Franklin for last night if I'm being honest Penn State did not lose that game because of James Franklin they lost the game because of Drew Allard and Drew Allard got bailed out by the officials on the second interception that was taken off the board the first one I was fine with but then he gets the ball back at 24-24 opportunity number one to go score a touchdown or get a field goal couldn't do it then Notre Dame gets the football and this is the only criticism I love Marcus Freeman all right but this is the only criticism I have of Marcus Freeman what the heck were they doing on that drive they could have ran the ball they had timeouts the strength of your team is either running the ball with Riley Leonard or more so running the ball with your running backs and I know Jeremiah Love's not 100% but when he's hurtling someone in the second half he's good to go at that point not 100% but nobody's 100% at this season and I you know Sully texted me when Notre Dame got the ball back and he said what do you think's gonna happen I go game winning 53 yard field goal Notre Dame and it was looking like it was heading there and then Notre Dame just decided to get so pass heavy so I was annoyed there that Notre Dame didn't get the job done but then Penn State gets the ball back Penn State you have a decision to make under a minute left there's like 40 seconds left do you just run the ball take it take a knee and go into overtime or do you go for it and I'll give credit to James Franklin and Andy Kolenicki it's the right decision there to go for it you just got to get into field goal range and when you have a veteran quarterback even though I don't love Drew Aller you would think even though he was jittery all night even though he made mistakes all night you would think he'd be mature and smart enough to not make one of the dumbest throws I've ever seen and that's what Drew Aller did Drew Aller made a terrible mistake pressure was coming he panicked honestly the best thing in that situation is to just hold on to the ball with two hands take a sack and boom you hold on to the football you go to overtime instead I heard him say after the game he was trying to throw the ball at the feet of the wide receiver into the ground and you had a great play made by the Notre Dame defensive back he picks it off and then a jitter jitter shows up in January when usually a jitter shows up in October or even November and kicks the game-winning field goal and then Notre Dame had a trickery play right throw the ball around or Penn State excuse me had a tricky play throw the ball around and Drew Aller was fitting that it ended with him being the one to lateral it all the way out of bounds but in that moment last night and I watched this game you could say Penn State was the better team you could say Penn State was the more talented team and you could say Penn State should have won the game and I can't sit here and tell you that you're wrong right Penn State was the more talented team with Tyler Warren with Abdul Carter with the two running backs that you have at Penn State Penn State for most of the game looked like they were the better team but the two things that I look back at in this game is Penn State could have issued a kill shot in the first half and they did it and you kind of saw that up against Boise State too and I know Boise State even though Ashton Gente is incredible doesn't have the same talent as Notre Dame has but you left that game open and Boise State just wasn't able to take advantage of it up against Notre Dame you should have been up at least 17 zip at halftime and it was only 10-3 so that's one in the first half Notre Dame could have been dead at halftime with the way that that mauling was by Penn State by the Nittany Lions in the first half and Penn State just couldn't get the job done and deliver a big knockout punch and in the second half when you get to the back and forth and the pendulum is swinging and the seesaw is going back and forth tug of war between Penn State and Notre Dame back and forth back and forth back and forth both teams had an ample amount of opportunities at the end of the game and Drew Aller had two opportunities to put his team up and to go put his team in position to win the game and he couldn't do either and on the second one he threw an abysmal and I mean an abysmal pass that cost his team the game so yes normally people would be sitting here tuning in to me and I got a lot of tweets last night I can't wait for 3 p.m eastern time tomorrow I can't wait for you to poke fun at James Franklin I can't sit here and tell you that James Franklin's the reason they lost the game last night can you nitpick can you say a few things you didn't like that he did sure you could do that with any coach I can I can nitpick a few things I didn't like for Marcus Freeman last night but when you look back and you have the first name that comes to mind as to why Penn State didn't win the game and who was the biggest difference in this game it's Drew Aller even back in the first half which okay you get in the play call and not run the ball but they have a running back wide open and Drew Aller under threw him when he was a few yards away he was off the mark on on the pass and then in the second half at the end of that game you just can't throw that interception you just can't do it and Drew Aller is someone that a lot of quarterbacks get anointed and tabbed as the guy and all I've heard from my Penn State friends for the last few years oh Drew Aller's the best oh just wait till Drew Aller gets on the field oh Sean Clifford I don't want to see anymore Sean Clifford Drew Aller's coming and last year Drew Aller was pathetic up against Ohio State and this year with the spot in the national championship game on the line right that's tangible you could almost taste it it was so close but yet so far because your veteran experienced quarterback lost you the game now here's something that I created last night and if you listen to me when I was on the 6 to 10 pm eastern time slot there was a thing that we would do call the hickey hex now hickey's gonna join us in studio at 5 20 pm eastern time don't tell him folks I got him green and white donuts by the way and on the box of the donuts and on the box of the donuts it says we are going home so I wrote that in sharpie and I'm also going to play this audio clip which is about two minutes for hickey upon arrival to when he sits down to my right and joins us for a segment so I hope hickey's not listening right now right I hope he's like in the shower doing one of those hot take videos that he does he brushes his teeth in the shower by the way too which is just absolutely disgusting but when hickey joins us in studio we're gonna play this for him it's the hickey hex I don't know how notary moves the ball offensively I really don't I've tried to look at it Jeremiah loves injured he's gimping around in practice if he can't run I think Penn State showed you with how they're able to contain Ashton Gente they get up any rushing attack and then if Riley Leonard has to throw the ball he ain't beating anybody he ain't beating anybody he ain't beating anybody he ain't beating anybody second and eight for Leonard takes the shotgun snap looking right gonna throw wide open he's got great house catching through the 30 cuts back in the 20 Jaden Greathouse is gonna walk in to tie the game what a throwing catch 54 yards Leonard to Greathouse and Notre Dame strikes back with 4 38 to go in the orange bowl I think they went by double digits you think they're winning by double I do I feel really good dangerously good actually how many points are you going by you say double digits that's I think like 11 I say 27 16 quick snap for Aller looking left can't get it out now pressure coming Aller throws blue spot intercepted Christian Gray picks it off at the 42 yard line Notre Dame will get the ball back with 33 seconds left in the game what a big time pick from Christian Gray is this the day finally James Franklin breaks through wins a big game I think it is Mitch Jeter lines it up he's ready the orange ball is on Mitch Jeter's leg good snap good hold kick on its way and the kick is good Mitch Jeter with seven seconds left gives the Irish a lead 27 24 Notre Dame is on the precipice I feel really good dangerously good actually dangerously good actually dangerously good actually dangerously good actually dangerously good actually hot take hickey strikes again I have never seen stew if you're watching on youtube smile more than that stew how you doing incredible I can't believe I still can't believe it but wow yeah wow he came up on the team right before halftime listen I was not alone and giving up on them to be fair no you weren't it but I'm glad they got a ton you know who's really upset too Pat Boyle Pat Boyle's a Notre Dame fan he goes I gave up on the team after northern Illinois I go Pat everyone did yep he goes I never thought that he goes you know me I always think my team's gonna get there he goes I didn't think they were gonna get there I'm like Pat smile no one cares who cares if you're wrong yeah you could be right there's been times I thought my team was gonna lose and when you get to the championship game and you're 60 minutes away from winning it all who gives a bleep so here come the Irish and they're gonna be in Atlanta for the national championship game it is the Zach Gelb show on the infinity sports network who's the biggest person that you blame last night for the Penn State loss for me it's Drew Aller I'm not criticizing James Franklin tonight who would have ever thought I would have said that eight five five two one two 42 27 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 here we go again with the Cleveland Browns what are they going to do as Deshaun Watson has once again ruptured his achilles we get into their answer for quarterback for 2025 next what a wonderful and I mean a wonderful Friday edition of the Zach Gelb show right here on the infinity sports network Penn State lost Notre Dame won so Notre Dame is going to join me in Atlanta as I'll be there doing the show that Monday from the national championship game and then also we will see who wins tonight between Texas and Ohio State and it seems like Texas has no shot in this game according to all the experts all the experts are saying Texas got no shot Ohio State's gonna blow them out and we shall see I'll give you my opinion on that game coming up later on in the program you know still I wonder this I don't know what can happen but our boss David Mayor Nick a few weeks ago put in for two credentials to the national championship game he put in a credential for me I went last year and then he also put in a credential on behalf of Hickey thinking that maybe Penn State was going to get there now I feel two types of way about this number one I understand why Dave did it right nice gesture Hickey saying Penn State go national championship game and you put in the credential for Ryan but why the heck did David Mayor Nick not think about who I love David Mayor Nick right he is one of our bosses he stole my chips uh last week earlier in the week whenever it was and he took the barbecue chips which I was not happy about when a nice listener Greg sent me about 15 big bags of potato chips and he takes the barbecue chips so okay fine Dave that's fine but now you're sliding our guys too the fact that he didn't think about Stu's team Notre Dame going to the national championship when I don't know his afternoon drive east coast national radio host predicted Notre Dame to go to the championship and he doesn't think oh maybe one of Zach's producers who happens to be a Notre Dame fan would want to go you got to feel some type of way with the bosses here and management here that they said Hickey Penn State they could get there we'll put a credential in for him but they never thought about you that's that's disappointing when I heard that I mean clearly I should just take the place of Hickey I think that's an easy switch so that's what I would think right and I don't know we got to talk to Hickey because I think he was planning on going anyway but I know the way I know Hickey he said to me I think I'm gonna go either way now that Penn State loss that's a tough ask it's almost as if your girlfriend breaks up with you four years five years and then you sit there and you gotta go to a restaurant two weeks later and she's already moved on she's got a new boy toy there and she's sitting there at the table with the new boy and you gotta watch them have a good time so I can understand why Hickey wouldn't want to go but then the credential I would think opens up and Stu could slide in however I went in the fine print last night because this was on my mind it was I went in the fine print last night and it said if you have any questions about the credentials if you can't go reach out to so and so with the college football playoff committee blah blah blah but it said all after that it said all credential requests are final so I don't know like if Hickey doesn't want to go could Dave Mayernik instead of just taking our barbecue chips and not looking after Stu Kovacs could he potentially say you could tell Zach Gelb just finished his contract negotiations and we're secured for another year if this is a month ago I don't know if I'm saying these things but could our boss maybe send an email hey like lie a little bit you know not that we fired him but he can't go we still want to send someone can Stu go I think that's something we should at least explore and I'm going there that Monday morning touching down like I think 10 a.m eastern time and then going to do our show from I believe we're doing it from one of the broadcast centers there if not we're going to do from local affiliate like we did last year in Houston but I think we have a set up there and then going right to the game and I'm getting up the next morning like 6 a.m flight flying back to get back here to do the show from our New York City studios but I would imagine if Hickey doesn't want to go still because it right it is his credential that we should explore like you would explore wanting that credential correct Amundo sure I wouldn't be opposed to that right it's a free into the building swimming flights aren't like six hundred dollars so I got my flight three months ago that's three months ago it's 150 bucks round trip three months ago so cha-ching and I got a hotel hotel like for four hours that I'm gonna be there near the airport for like 90 bucks so I think it's a possibility still now I don't want to get your hopes up because I know what the fine print said but you first got to see if Hickey is willing to say no if Hickey still wants to go I think you're screwed but then I would say maybe there's like a 20 chance they could change your credential so I it would be fun to go to the game with you especially if it's a national championship game I would agree with that that'd be a great time and right your team has a chance to win that national championship and Hickey's does not no they're they're done they got eliminated last night oh wow that was nasty the way that you just said that like it's expected out of me I didn't expect that out of you I'm trying to get the credential from him yeah that's true have to make a case here maybe just punch him in the face when he walks in today put him on the shelf for a few weeks or just get a few people around here that like to talk a lot just to talk to him for an hour and just drive him insane about the whole thing you can do that as well if you would like so will you I guess we'll have to monitor the stew credential so we'll see what ends up happening on that front now I was also reading earlier today and by the way before I get to the Sean Watson stuff one down one more to go okay like we have one down in terms of Penn State being out I now need either Texas to beat Ohio State tonight to wave goodbye to Ryan Day or Stu we're going to really need the best effort of Notre Dame's program history up against Ohio State a few weeks from now if Ohio State does advance the national championship tonight and they go up against Notre Dame coming up on January 20th but before we get to the national championship game and then we turn our attention to the NFL you would think today on a football friday wildcard weekend that we would be the first NFL segment talking about one of the playoff teams I saw a report this morning that the Sean Watson ruptured his achilles again he ruptured it again and Ian Rapoport said he could miss all of 2025 now Adam Schefter since then said they're optimistic it's only going to be a seven month recovery which would open up a chance for him to return for next season either way Deshaun Watson is done I thought Deshaun Watson was done before we found out he ruptured his achilles again and I thought Cleveland should have moved on from him or Cleveland just should have made him his start the starting quarterback for next year he's got two years left in the contract you're paying him the money either way he's just not good anymore he was at one point a top seven quarterback in the league trending towards the elite category I know it's tough to separate off the field but if he was balling out on the field we would have had a situation where people would have just said hey even though this is terrible to say because it's disgusting what he's accused of off the field but this is just how the NFL world works people would have ignored what happened off the field like the Browns did because they gave him a fully guaranteed contract and traded all that money and he would still be the Browns quarterback because people do a lot of wrong things off the field as long as you're not in a jail cell and you could score touchdowns that's what a lot of fans only care about right or wrong you know from a morality standpoint that's different and a moral standpoint but in terms of just how the the game of the NFL works that's just a that's just a fact so Deshaun Watson hasn't played at a great level since 2020 2021 didn't play at all 2022 suspended 2023 got hurt 2024 got hurt but even when he was healthy and playing he was a bad quarterback so I would have moved on anyway if I was Cleveland and would not have made him my starter for this upcoming season now we don't even know when he's going to potentially return but you ask yourself what will the Browns do now they have a decision to make they can get on a rookie contract a brand new quarterback they got the second overall pick in the draft so you could get either Chador Sanders or Cam Ward but you got to love the quarterback to take the quarterback and if you don't love the quarterback whether it's Chador Sanders or Cam Ward then you have other options to think about and those other options to think about are three veterans one is Aaron Rodgers if Aaron Rodgers wants to continue to play in a one year deal does a team like the Cleveland Browns take a chance because I don't think if Rodgers wants to come back I don't I right now I lean the Jets won't bring him back I'm gonna think they don't bring him back but if Rodgers then still wants to play and go elsewhere there's not a great options there so like I don't think Roger in a position to really dictate where he wants to go if he definitely wants to play now the other two options Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold and you could maybe even go Justin Fields if the Steelers say hey they want to keep Russell Wilson you know if you want to take a one-year flyer on Justin Fields but Sam Darnold you're gonna have to commit a long-term contract to and I don't know if the Browns are gonna want to commit a long-term contract to Sam Darnold well they still have to pay two more years of Deshaun Watson and Sam Darnold's fine but he's not someone that's an elite quarterback now could it be Kirk Cousins with the Stefanski connection and maybe Kirk right who got that monster deal from Atlanta if he gets released and says hey I'm not going to take a trade and and you got to release me could you see Kirk Cousins do what Russell Wilson did this past year and since he made all that money on that contract that's all his years left on it and you take like a league minimum a veteran league minimum one and a half two million dollars yeah I guess you could do that as well so those are the options that are out there you have to explore the draft first but if not the draft and I know free agency happens before the draft if you don't love someone by the time free agency opens up you know Sam Darnold's there and Rogers there and then we'll see what ends up happening with Kirk Cousins I know Terry Fontenot said the other day oh we're fine with him being a backup and it's easy to say now because why would you say anything else you want someone to trade him I don't think anyone's going to trade though for Kirk Cousins so those are the options for the Cleveland Browns but I would never play Deshaun Watson ever again all right we'll take a time out Andrew Whitworth will join us on the other side we'll go around wild card weekend and also get his thoughts on some other football happenings as well update time first here's the act man Rich Ackerman and it's time to ask the pros for you to listen or get to ask us a question it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts simply tweet your question at inf sports that are at Zach Gelb using the hashtag ask the pros be listening later in the show we might answer your question think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts O'Reilly Auto Parts and also fans can catch the NFL wild card game between the Ravens and the Steelers this Saturday January 11th on prime video with coverage beginning at 7 30 p.m eastern and a man that is a part of that broadcast team is Andrew Whitworth who played in the NFL from 2006 to 2021 with the Bengals and the Rams is a Super Bowl champion the Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner in 2021 but I think more importantly for all big fellas now he is a fashion icon I love what this dude wears on prime video with the sports jacket and then casually wearing the sweatshirt as well and he's kind enough to join us right now big whit what's going on my man what's going on baby I appreciate that love you know a fashionista I don't know if I ever thought I'd be known for anything that had to do with clothing but other than it maybe being too small for me so it's good days being in retirement that's for sure and you're also a man's man like you don't need to wear the gloves when you're on the road because I know Tony Gonzalez you guys give him a lot of crap whenever he wears those mittens right yeah you know offensive lineman we get a lot of grief you know for for our body types but one thing we can handle well is the cold weather so I you know but I will say this I'm getting softer in retirement I've gotten much colder over the last couple years than I used to you know I used to be wearing athletic wear out there in these conditions and now I'm bundled up a little bit and I gotta I gotta increase my toughness level that's for sure well I'll just say this so Tony came on the show before the start of the season and one of my producers was calling him out for wearing the gloves when it's really not that cold and he said I'm gonna continue to wear the gloves my analytics show that he did not wear the gloves at all this year so I think we're getting to him I think everyone's getting to Tony we're in his head he's been working man he's been he's been toughing himself up I think he I don't remember him you know complaining that much about the cold this year so you know what I think it's it's it's working everybody's put a little pressure on him and he's rising to the challenge I mean look the guy's good at everything so we at least had coldness to pick on him about but now we're losing that Andrew Whitworth here with us all righty so your game Steelers and Ravens let me start you off with the Steelers right Russell Wilson has been fine this year but I don't know if I'm committing a long-term contract to him Justin Fields he was okay to start the season then they benched him do you expect either these guys to be the starting quarterback next year for the Steelers or that maybe they go elsewhere this offseason well I think it'll be an interesting offseason for them to make a decision there because you really look at it either way they've got to make some commitments but I think you know when you look at this season and really how it's gone you know I don't know that either one's been really the better one I know people but you know just because Russell had a little hot streak there when he came in and played and there was a little elevation of the offense you know really the long term you know what you've seen out of this offense is they've almost got six games under 20 points like it hasn't been some great offense either way and so I think when you really look at some of the things they've struggled with it was one of the reasons I was a little hesitant on moving to Russell is like the red zone I mean this team was going to be built on playing great defense running the football ball possession like hey we're gonna we're gonna possess the ball all game we're gonna play great defense and when we get down the red zone you're gonna have to defend Justin Fields just like you do everybody else that's a running quarterback and and so we're gonna be able to do different things to put you in a tough position defensively all 11 are gonna have to be accounted for um and then they've struggled I mean there's Russell's been able to throw the ball and yes had some success with the deep ball at times this season but when they get to the red zone they've really struggled and so to me I wouldn't be surprised to see if Mike Tomlin does it to us again and it adds a wrinkle do we see more of Justin Fields in this game and some of those situations and have some packages in now that he's healthy just to add an element that gives them some boost in on offense yeah I'm just curious here just to throw out two names that could be available this off season if let's say things don't go well for Monday night with Sam Darnold and the Vikings want to go to JJ McCarthy and then Aaron Rodgers if he wants to play next year but if the Jets don't want him back do you think Rodgers or Darnold would it all be intrigued playing for the Steelers I think so I mean you look at Arthur Smith and really how this offense is built I mean better run the football builds and play actions off of it um you know Jordan Pickens being a great deep ball guy I mean Aaron Rodgers would obviously love that um so I think that they definitely have an ability that hey I don't know why a quarterback wouldn't want to come here that feels like they can go play at a high level because they've got some pieces you know to be able to run the football they got some good young offensive linemen in the interior obviously the tackles have struggled and they got to improve there but defensively they're also built to stop teams and to play really well even though you would argue that hey people are saying oh man defensively the last few weeks it's not been as good well they've been under stress for a whole season that they've got to hold people to a certain clip or they're not they don't have a chance of winning and when you continue to do that eventually you're going to leak some and so there's been too much pressure on this defense all season long so offensively they got to get more production and be able to you know really put up some more points give this defense a chance to play from ahead every now and then and so I think when you look at it if I was a quarterback and I believe in myself I can go and have an impact I would see Pittsburgh is a great spot to go do that Andrew Whitworth here with us where's the confidence in the AFC the Chiefs are the standard everyone then is going to say if you have to find a way to have someone take them out it's either going to be Lamar Jackson or it's going to be Josh Allen do you have more confidence in Lamar, Josh Allen or is it kind of the same? You know I think both of those guys are incredibly talented I think when you really look at them I don't think there's any less confidence in one or the other I think both of them are a ton of fun to watch and entertaining guys you know from every aspect of the game the things they can pull off are just unbelievable but I think when I look at the football teams really what this Ravens team's got is really piqued my most interest because of what they've been able to do this second half of the season on defense I mean that complete turnaround you know all season long they've been great against the run but in the passing game they were one of the worst the first you know 10 weeks of the season and really since that point they've been one of the best and so to have that kind of turnaround and now say all right we got Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry all these weapons and personnel packages we can play with and then we have a defense that backs it up to me they're kind of rounding themselves into the most complete one of the most complete teams in the league and so I really look at them as a team that if they can perform the exact way they have in the regular season offensively and defensively in this second half they to me could be the team that represents the AFC because they look capable of being able to go into Kansas City put up points and then on the other side of it play real well on defense because Kansas City at times this season has shown us that offensively they're not the team of old. Who's the team Andrew Whitworth that you trust the most in the NFC enter in this postseason? You know I think to me if you look throughout the season I think if you said the team you trust the most is the Detroit Lions do I think they'll represent the Super Bowl I mean they they are my pick with the Eagles that I've said all year long I've gone back and forth on which one I thought it'd be every week I feel like they changed my mind but what I think has really been the most impressive is we can talk about injuries for Detroit we can talk about all these things they've lost but each and every week you know what shows you what is a great football team is whoever you put out there how do they go out and perform and every week they are able to put together a plan go out and execute it and you keep telling yourself well they've lost this guy and that guy but where does it show up and you keep trying to make sure you're finding a spot where it shows up because all they do is go out and win and play well I think that has been really impressive to watch where I think it could show up to me as you look at this ability of your Eagles team built in the trenches just like the Detroit Lions the o-line and the d-line are really special football players and if those two teams match up in the NFC championship that's where it could show up to me because then you're going to be talking about all right you don't have an Aiden Hutchison you don't have some of these guys and you got one of the best offensive lines in football and a team that's got Saquon Barkley they have all the weapons on the outside just like you do and so in some version of hey these two offenses are built almost the exact same in the sense of what they're capable of now it's going to come down to who has who and the Philadelphia Eagles are healthier they've got a better front when you talk about the guys they have available to them and to me that could be the moment that's going to be defining to them do we start to see some of these things show up because now they're going to be playing a team that's built exactly like them and has the capability they have and then they have the added part of Jalen Hurts and what he's able to do with his legs I want to ask you about your alma mater LSU I know you won a national championship there Brian Kelly left Notre Dame to go to LSU because he didn't think he could win a national championship at Notre Dame and we know three head football coaches have done so since the early 2000s now Notre Dame is one win away from winning it all LSU is not even in the postseason when you look at a 12-team college football playoff three years in where's the confidence level now with Brian Kelly moving forward yeah I mean you look at it I think this landscape has changed so much I mean I was just telling somebody today you know college football has obviously been forever changed but a lot of things going on but you know even more so now I think you're going to start to see that because of some of that stuff much less all the craziness that's going on the money and everything else it's going to be hard to load up teams like we saw the SEC be able to do to where they were the spot for everybody to go and all the talent wanted to go there and try to win and compete against the best and we were going to be better than everybody else and you have in the insane run they had to win a national championships now I feel like that talent's going to be spread all across the country and so it's going to be a much more challenging thing to just sit there and say all right because of where I'm at my proximity of and where I'm coaching everything else I'm going to nationally just get players I don't think that's the case anymore so I think the challenge really for Brian Kelly and LSU much like a lot of teams are feeling is it's a lot harder to keep players and win than it ever has been in the SEC now and so you know hats off to these teams that represent I love the playoff format I think it's been awesome I know people are going to always complain about who should be in who should be out there's always an issue but to me it's gotten more similar to NFL in the sense that right now we're sitting here with these seven teams in each conference that have a chance to go win a Super Bowl and anything can happen in these three-hour windows in these games just like now in college football with this playoff anything can happen a team you might not have thought in the past could win a national championship has that opportunity if they can go put together a stretch of games of playing at their best so to me college football's at a great place with that part of it I just think it's gonna be more challenging in the SEC to just sit there and say because I'm an SEC school and I got a lot of money and it's a great place to go play football we're gonna win it's a lot more challenging than ever and last thing I'll bring up to Andrew with before we let you run Vikings and Rams obviously got moved because of the wildfires and I know that you live in LA you're you're in Baltimore for the game this weekend but just hope everything's okay obviously with you and your family and all the people obviously out in LA um is it's a scary time right now yeah we are okay it's been a very scary week it's been a tough one it's been a few years now we've been dealing with fires even when I was playing for the Rams and you know it's just unfortunate this week has been you know probably one of the worst in in the history and a lot of homes lost a lot of things lost by a lot of people and and so your heart goes out to them and at the same time you're in all and just grateful for our first responders and the people that were able to you know keep the human beings the people safe we might have lost a lot of structures but our people are safe and uh we believe a lot in our LA community and and the strong you know proud people they are and so uh we will step by step do our best to be a part of the solution and helping this community build back and it will take time but right now we have heavy hearts for all those that have lost something and just our prayers and thoughts are with them well said always appreciate you coming on and thanks so much and good luck appreciate you doing this I appreciate you there is Andrew Whitworth fans once again catch the NFL wild card game between the Ravens and the Steelers this Saturday January 11th on prime video with coverage beginning at 7 30 p.m eastern time and this is Zach Gelb show right here infinity sports network
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-10 18:23:40 / 2025-01-10 18:41:02 / 17