QBs In New Places (Hour 4)

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Well, Rocket can. So we just got a call during the break where someone calls the hotline and goes, hey, tell Zach that I saw a concert like 40 years ago at the Silver Dome. And it only cost 17 bucks to get in because I was discussing how Bruce Springsteen has a Saturday night, April 1st, I think it is, show at Madison Square Garden. And right now on one of the second market ticket prices, the cheapest ticket to get in is like $480, $490. Picky, I would love to live in a world where you could go to a concert, a great concert, too, for only $17 or any event. I don't even think you get to a movie now for $17. It's easily cost you 20 bucks when you walk in to go to the movie theater now. You know what the scary part is? We may be living in a world where 40 years from now we're saying, man, I saw Bruce Springsteen at MSG for $500.

Did you believe that deal? Man, to be back in 2022 again. It's crazy because I just look at it. I went to the Super Bowl, Giants and Patriots, the second one back in, I think that was 2012. And when I went to that game, the face value on the ticket and I was in the 200 section behind the end zone was $750. This past year to go to the Super Bowl to sit upper deck, 30 yard line in the second to last row in the stadium, it was almost $1,300 to get in. So you're talking about almost double for 10 years.

You're right. In 20 years from now, if I'm still doing this, you know, back in my day, I saw Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden for $500. And whatever the big artist is then, they'll be charging like $1,200 to get in. It's just not affordable anymore. It really isn't to go to any concert or any sporting event.

It's ridiculous. How much is it costing you to go to the Auburn game this weekend? Our tickets secondary market in the end zone is about, I think it was like $225 each. $225 to see a crappy Auburn team go up against a Penn State team that just got into the top 25.

22. And we bought these tickets before the San Jose State game happened where it was a little hairy at halftime. Maybe we should have waited. It was taken like a rock. But yes, crazy. Well, and that's for a football game, rabid fan bases, you know? And that's where there's so many seats at a football game.

I think Jordan Hare is 86, if I'm not mistaken, 1,000. And how many people are you going with? Eight.

We got two rows of four. All college buddies? Yes. You tailgating before the game? Oh, of course. Are you guys buying a disposable grill or anything like that that you're going to get and then cook down there or no?

So, I think no. I think we're just going to be bar hopping, I believe. Because how I understand they do tailgating in Auburn is they basically have this huge tent rental company. You buy the tent, they set it up for you, but it's just like all across the lots in the stadium. It's pretty expensive, I will say. How much? It's like, I'm trying to think, it's like probably four or five hundred bucks just to get a space. Each? Total, but that's just to get the spot.

Yeah, you got eight dudes. I think you pay that at that point. You got to have a good tail. See, the best part about going to a football game is the tailgating experience. It's the food beforehand, the drinks beforehand, having things on the grill. I know you're on the road, but I would go pay the four or five hund- I know we're talking if it's funny. It costs so much to go to a game.

At that point, just add on the tab. It's a guy's trip. Eight of you?

You know what? You need better planners on this trip. You really needed me to attend Penn State so I could plan out your tailgate because I don't know if I trust the hickey and hickey friend group to deliver a good tailgate.

Well, I'll say this. I know all of us are in the same boat in this sense. We don't really care about the tailgate food. We are there to drink. Oh, we are there to get banged up. OK, so when you're drinking, you don't think you're going to be hungry?

Oh, yeah, but sure. Imagine if you had like a charcuterie board and you had shrimp on the grill. You had fillets also on the grill, maybe some strip steaks to some meatballs, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages. That's like, for example, I have two more off days left this year outside of like holidays and company days. I have two more off days left until January 1st of the year.

Then it resets. One of my off days I'm taking for Thursday Night Football in December to go see the Patriots play the Bills at Foxborough. And I already have the tailgate crew assembled. We got a TV in the parking lot. Not that we really need it. It's a Thursday Night Football game.

So it's an isolated game. But we always have the TV. We have a little heater. We got a tent. We got the grill. We got the chief.

Bill, who his family's in the restaurant business and they have all the food, chicken wings, pizzas, sausages, dogs, burgers. Got all the beer, hard stuff. That's how you tailgate meatballs.

You got to tailgate that way. You're almost not getting the full experience. You guys are just going to bar hop. Is that what you're telling me? I think. I don't know. Maybe walk around the field.

I honestly have no idea. It's got to be a mess going from bar to bar. So many people. You can't move. You can't get a drink.

I don't know what to expect. If you're on one of our affiliates in the south and you're going to the Auburn game, give Hickey a call. 855-212-4CBS. 855-212-4227.

And please, please help my guy out. We'll bring the beer. What happens if they say you can't wear that Penn State crap? We'll bring you to a great, the best tailgate experience you get, but you can't wear any Penn State gear.

Not going. I think I'm going to take my shirt off. Yeah, I think you take the shirt off. Then when you go into the stadium, then you put the shirt on. I'm just going to tuck into my shirt and my shorts, but sure. Oh, now hold on. You're wearing a college shirt, right?

Yeah. Dry fit though. It doesn't get wrinkled. Don't tuck in the shirt. No, no, no, no, no, no. I meant like take the shirt off, but tuck it in like, you know, some of the, what the cool guys do.

You tuck it either in the front or the back, just like drag it out. No, no, no. That's not what the cool guys do. If they, if they forced me to take my shirt off, that's what I would do.

If you have... But no, I'm not tucking the polo. Are you kidding me?

Were you tuck in the polo and have the shorts go up to your nipples? No, no. You will, you're ass going to get your ass kicked. I would hope Penn Staters would beat me up for looking like that. Alright, so I'm excited for you this weekend. I don't know if you're set up to succeed. You're kind of like Aaron Rodgers right now.

You don't have the tools necessary. But maybe you have greatness inside of you to go make this a great weekend. I will admit, a little disheveled on terms of the planning. We just bought the tickets like last week, so it's not exactly... We've had the shirt planned for like five years, or thought about it for five years.

And then, so it's not like exactly we've had, you know... When did you buy the airfare though? A few months ago. Okay, but you didn't pull the trigger on the tickets until now?

Yes. The numbers have fluctuated slightly, so that's also been a tough part. Yeah, so it's going to sound weird, because I just ranted about how much the Springsteen tickets are. If I am buying tickets or something, once I buy the tickets, I don't look at the secondary market again. Because I don't want to know if the ticket price went up, if the ticket price went down. Because then you're sitting there and you're like, oh, it could have saved 40 bucks. At that point, just, you're going on the trip. Just spend the money. I did that for the Big Ten Shaver Trip game and regretted it big time. Here's what you need to do.

2016. You need to take matter into your own hands. You need to get in this texting group with your seven other friends and go, guys, this is the only time we're going to Auburn's campus. Let's ball out this weekend. Let's have a luxurious weekend. Thank you. You're picking up your phone as you speak.

Fire off the text. It is being demanded that we go buy the $400, $500 tailgate spot. Let's go. Let's not be lame tailgaters where we're bar hopping and we're sticking out like a sore thumb. Let's go back to the college days this weekend and really just have a great food spread.

Because here's what I fear about you, Hickey. If you guys are just drinking so much, you don't have good food. I'm concerned if you guys even find a way to get into the stadium.

No, no, there's no need to worry about that. Or after the first quarter, you're in the bathroom. I have found my groove for sure. I found the perfect level where we'll be yelling in the stadium, but not reckless. And I'll know where I am the whole time.

OK. Don't you worry. How long do you think it's going to take for your first Ben Sean Clifford chant to emerge? Oh, God, as soon as the first pick is thrown. Me and my friends all last week texted about Aller. We're ready.

Yeah, you got to start to play the kid. All right, new quarterbacks in the NFL. Let's evaluate how they did after week one and what our expectations are for the future. Matt Ryan.

Hickey, I'll start off with you. Matt Ryan ties the Houston Texans. It was 20 to 3. They were trailing.

So they did come on back. Taylor's an absolute stud. But when I evaluate this football team, I'm not going to kill Matt Ryan for the performance because his wide receivers stink. Outside of Michael Pittman. These wide receivers for the Indianapolis Colts this year are horrible.

And Jack Doyle's no longer there. Molly Cox, who's a nice like number two tight end, is now your number one tight end. Matt Ryan, he needs some some receivers around him.

And that's just not the way that the Colts roster was constructed. So if you look at Matt Ryan after week one, how did you evaluate his performance this past weekend? I thought he was OK. He was a little shaky, but he got let down. He had two touch on passes that were dropped.

So, you know, you can only do so much. I still think the Colts are going to win this division. But it's not because I think the Colts are that good. I just think this division stinks. Jacoby Bressett.

I think it's a tale of two halves. The Browns are more prepared to win that game when, you know, from the start in the second half, it looked like the Panthers are the better team. Jacoby Bressett's not going to be the reason why they win or lose games this year. He's a serviceable backup. I know he has to play for 11 games because Deshaun Watson is suspended. That team is going to be based off in the first 11 games how far Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt take him. Mitch Trubisky. You know, I'm not a fan of Mitch Trubisky. They won that game primarily because of Minka Fitzpatrick. But Trubisky didn't mess it up. Joe Burrow, offensive line, failed to protect him. I know the Steelers don't have a good offensive line.

Burrow threw four or five interceptions. Am I a believer in Mitch long-term? No. But I'm fair.

I'm a man of principle. I didn't think Mitch was horrible this past weekend. The Jets. Joe Flacco. Why are the Jets starting Joe Flacco this week? I know that Zach Wilson's injured. I heard he was back in practice. So maybe he'll be back before week four.

I know that they said he was going to be out the first three weeks of the season. Shouldn't they be starting Mike White at this point? The Jets stink. But if you were Robert Salah, who keeps all these receipts, don't you just have to- Hickey, don't they have to start Mike White at this point?

It makes no sense. You're going up against the Browns. They're starting Jacoby Brissett. Joe Flacco, this is not 2010 Joe Flacco. This guy stinks now. He's horrible.

A few people have floated this theory, and I'm buying it. I think the Jets are afraid Mike White will succeed. Well, if that's the case, and they're concerned about how Zach Wilson would handle that, then Zach Wilson shouldn't have been the second overall pick.

Totally agree. Then you shouldn't have drafted the guy if he's that weak. Just like Trey Lance and Jimmy G. I totally agree. If that's the reason why they're not starting Mike White, who I don't think is great, let me be clear. But he's got to give you- he has more upside than Joe Flacco. He's played better in the NFL recently than Joe Flacco.

He played really good in the, what, 2, 3, 4 games he played last year before getting hurt against the Colts? Yeah. Gave him life. Did he get some bangles right? Yeah, beat the bangles. Who went to the Super Bowl? Trey Lance.

Oof. Tough to evaluate him because it was in a monsoon, but that's probably the worst start to the year that you could have just because you lost to the Bears. Even with the weather, you have to find a way to beat the Bears.

Because you could have weathered this storm for at least a week. Now, the Seattle Seahawks coming off a victory against the Denver Broncos, which no one expected. They then go up now against the 49ers this weekend. There's a lot of pressure, Ryan, on Trey Lance, where if you lose this game and you start the year off 0-2, I don't think Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch will pull the plug that early.

But you know what some fans are going to start to turn if they haven't already. And then you wonder if there's some players in the locker room that go, yeah, this guy's not ready. We just lost to Justin Fields and Geno Smith. And Jimmy G, even though he's not great, he's been to a Super Bowl.

He's been to another NFC title game. This is a huge week for Trey Lance. You know, we'll talk about coaches or teams that need to have players in positions to succeed. This is an example of Trey Lance has to put himself in a position to succeed.

You're right. If you lose this game, you're 0-2. You are doing yourself zero favors and really giving Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, and the fans almost no choice but to at least reconsider.

So just do it for your own self. Win the game, take care of the Texans, and just at least give yourself a little bit of breathing room moving forward. Yeah, he has to win this week. You can't lose. You can't lose.

What do the Texans have to do with this? Sorry, did I say that? Sorry. I mean, Texan in the brain from last week. I apologize. I got the opponent wrong.

You're still in my head. Take care of the Seahawks. Seahawks, I'm sorry. The Texans. Who would have thought after week one that the Texans would own real estate in your cabeza?

Jeez. I don't know where that came from. You said the Texans. I go, am I saying the wrong thing? What are we talking about?

What world do we live in? Geno Smith, tremendous first half. Surgical first half. He got punched in the jaw the last time he was named the starting quarterback. He was punching the Broncos in their mouth.

This was unbelievable. I still have no confidence in Geno Smith. Zero. Second half tells you all you need to know. They get three completions in the second half. They didn't score a point. Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams going to hang on to a football. A nice moment for Geno Smith, but come on. Hey, they wrote him off, but he didn't write back.

That is true. Marcus Mariota and the Atlanta Falcons. I didn't think I'd be criticizing Atlanta after week one. I really didn't because I didn't think it was going to be a blowout. I didn't think they were going to win. I thought they would put up a fight. I did not like that number of five and a half points. That's why I stayed away from it. But to be up 26 to 10 and then choke is just embarrassing. It is. Now, Mariota does what he does.

You know, he's multi-dimensional. And he had 72 yards in the ground, 215 yards through the air. That's a tough way to start out the season, though, for the Falcons. Because if you would have just lost by a point, no one's killing you. But to be up 26 to 10 and then you lose the game, 27 to 26, that's brutal.

I think the Falcons, Arthur Smith, another coach that tries to tell us how stupid we are and how he's going to prove us all wrong. But Mariota didn't play poorly. Let me be clear. But this team is not good. And eventually you're going to have to see Desmond Ritter.

Not now, but eventually you have to see Desmond Ritter. This game gave you no real reason to believe otherwise. I'd agree. Yeah.

Right. Like it's nice first half. All it does, the Falcons choke. They love getting past the hump. You know, over the hump.

Georgia football got over the tough mountain. Arthur Blank, you're not seeing a Super Bowl in your lifetime. You're just not. He's just not.

He's not. Sorry, Arthur. It's a ruin the rest of your life. I just don't believe it.

Baker Mayfield. Good ending. Horrible finish.

Because of the horrible finish. I can't praise you whatsoever for what you did in the second half. That's a game.

You have a lot of energy, a lot of life. You needed to mother bleep your old team and you didn't do so. That's the bottom line. Too little, too late. And at the end, you got to put the ball in the end zone, not settle for a field goal.

Sorry. And now this is a must win for the Panthers. I'll say this. I bet the Panthers last week. I'll probably bet the Panthers again this week. Because the Giants are two and a half point favorite. If the Carolina Panthers lose this week, you surprised the Giants are two and a half point favorite? The game's at MetLife Stadium.

I am. The Giants are not very good. I know they beat the Titans.

Yeah, but they're one and all. The other team's all in one. Panthers, they've been bad the last three years. But if the Panthers lose this week, I will not bet them for the rest of the season.

You can't fool me twice to start off the year. You got to go win this. It's a must win. You got to have it.

Can't lose whatever you want to say. You have to win this game if you're Carolina. And Carson Wentz, yes, the stats are good. Yes, him and Jahan Donson, a nice little special connection.

I'm a big fan of Jahan Donson. The turnovers, though, are going to eventually kill him. If that wasn't the Jaguars, he doesn't come back and win that game.

Because those two interceptions were brutal, absolutely brutal. But because you're going up against an incompetent team and you have a good roster, you're able to pull the rabbit out of your hat. So I'm not, that schedule's not tough. So you should be, you know, you could make the playoffs this year. But am I a believer in Carson Wentz?

Absolutely not. Well, come on back. We'll replay you some of our interview with KJ Wright, some interesting things that we want to delve back into. And this is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. But now you're fading it because you don't have that much time left in the song? Well, because the song's about to run out. So instead of resetting it right in between the lyrics, I just figured, all right, the song's over. It's only a minute long.

OK, gotcha. You got a good playlist for tomorrow, by the way? So you're flying to Atlanta as you're going to the Penn State Auburn game on Saturday. And then you're going from Atlanta to Auburn, which is what, like a 90-minute drive, you said?

Yes. Got a good playlist? I don't know what we're going to do tomorrow. I'm going to say I'm flight. I'm not going to get a lot of sleep, so I'm debating if I just sleep on the plane, right? So maybe download a movie or so. I don't know what I'm going to do in the car, be with three other guys, maybe just talk it up, you know, guy chat and see them in a while. I think you blast music on the 90-minute drive, and then you save all the conversation. You're there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Well, not really Sunday. You got to save some conversation time. Sunday will be zombies by that point.

Yeah, that's true. I'm not worried about that. Also, I mean, you know me, I'm not really one to pick the tunes. I'm a radio guy, so listen, if you want to do it, I'll do it. I'll play the hits. But you are a passenger.

You're a bus rider, not a bus driver. I don't mind. I'm not picky. So if you want to play a lot of rock and roll, or they're into older school music, fine. I'll roll with it. Yeah, old school music.

They're old souls at heart. Gotcha. That's fine. I love all types of music. I'm all over the place.

Float around, you know? 855-212-4CBS. Let's go to Scott in Buffalo next up on the Zach Gelb show. Scotty! Good evening, gentlemen. Hello from Buffalo. I love Buffalo. I could go for some wings right now. Oh, you got to love Buffalo. I can't wait. I can go for some wings right now, man.

Yeah, they're awesome. Can't wait for you to come tailgate, but you forgot one item on your list. That is? You're going to need a white cable to jump through when you get here. Well, I'm not going to Buffalo. I went to Buffalo last year for the playoff game. I'm going to the game in Foxborough. Well, that's even better. Go there and do it right in their face. We beat them by 60.

You probably will destroy them this year, but I'm a Patriot fan, so why would I jump through a table? Well, I did not know that, Mr. X. Sorry about that. Can I give you one prediction, though? Yeah. Give me your prediction. Go ahead.

Which, by the way, it's weird. I don't hate the Bills because I'm a huge fan of Deion Dawkins and Tyler Metikevich for the team from Temple Youth Days, but yeah. You guys got a good football team. If you don't win the Super Bowl this year, it's a disaster. You better believe it.

You better believe it. But what I'm looking forward to most is December 17th when we roll into Miami 13-0 to look at all the old-timers from Miami that come to make sure we don't go undefeated crying on the sidelines when we go 14-0 in Miami. Are you going to predict that the Buffalo Bills this year are going to go undefeated, Scott? Undefeated. Undefeated. Undefeated? You're positive about that? I heard a little hesitation there.

I'm pretty positive. There's only one game that really scares me, and that's coming up Monday night. For some reason, Tennessee has our number.

Come on. I know you guys lost to them last year. But if you lose to Ryan Pannehill, who just lost to the Giants, geez, that would be brutal. It's tough for you to say you guys are going to go undefeated, and in the next breath tell me that you're scared about Monday night. Can I get some confidence? I'm not scared.

I'm not scared. But Henry just runs all over us. Every time we play him. Yeah, that's true.

He does that for most of the teams in the NFL as well. Scott, appreciate the phone call. Always love to find folks in Buffalo.

Now I'm craving some bar bill wings. There's no doubt about that. Undefeated for the Bills. Now, I don't think I've heard anyone talk about anyone being undefeated yet.

That usually was a Patriot conversation when Brady would start wanting to know, are the Pats going undefeated? What do you think that conversation will commence about Buffalo maybe going undefeated? I would say week 8. If they get through 8 weeks, coming off a bye week, and then week 8 they have the Packers. I can't, now, here's their schedule, Tennessee, at Miami, at Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and at Kansas City. Oh wait, they play at Miami?

Yes, in week 3. Call me to see that they're going down to Miami in week 13. You know what?

So that ruins it actually. So that guy calls in and says, you gotta bring a table to Buffalo, and I tell him, well I'm going to Foxborough. Oh for one. And then this loyal, that's a great point you just bring up, this loyal Buffalo Bills fan says, I can't wait to go to Miami at the end of the year and basically flip off all the 72 Dolphins. Well, the game in Miami is in two weeks. They do have a game up against Miami, but that's in Buffalo in week 15 on December 18th. And they're not going to be going to Buffalo.

Jeez. Thought you were a Bills fan, 0 for 2, thought the game was in Miami, 0 for 3. As much as I think the Bills are going to be great this year, they gotta lose one game between Baltimore, Kansas City, and Green Bay.

You would think. Agreed. Now, you hate the 72 Dolphins, and you hate their celebration of the undefeated. Yeah, I can't stand them.

It's annoying. Would you root for the Bills who are undefeated if they're like, I don't know, 14-0? No. No.

Okay. It'd be good for the show. You know, we get Deion on, undefeated, it'd be great, you know, Bills and Super Bowl, whatever, but I don't want to see them go undefeated. So your hate for the 72 Dolphins is not that extreme. I don't hate for what the Dolphins did in 72.

I wasn't even a thought yet. Right. Just a celebration. Yeah.

I just don't like how every single time a team loses, it's like, all right, we got victory cigars, pop champagne. Mercury Morris. Mercury Morris.

That's just a guy that's annoying. Yeah. Okay. Who do you hate more, the Bills or Mercury Morris?

Let's see. Like everyone else that's still alive on that team doesn't annoy me. It's Mercury Morris. It's the only time you hear from that guy is whenever a team loses in the NFL that's undefeated. Stop.

It's just obnoxious at this point. And then the rest of the Bills schedule, the Jets, Minnesota, Cleveland, Detroit, New England, the Jets, the Dolphins, the Bears, Bengals, and Buffalo. If they get through the first eight weeks undefeated, not all the games you look in the second half and go, yikes.

Because that Cleveland game's week 11, so Watson's still suspended. Vikings would be a good game. We'll see what Miami becomes. And the bank, like that's not a murderous row if you're able to get through the first eight weeks undefeated.

You're right. If they get through the eighth week of the season and they beat Green Bay undefeated, you will start to have the undefeated talk commence with the Buffalo Bills. Imagine Maggie. Maggie is already hating that everyone's picking them to go to win the Super Bowl. Imagine that if we start week eight, Bills undefeated talk. I can hear the sports minute right now. Stop picking my football team.

I'm Maggie Gray. Imagine they go undefeated going to the playoffs. That's a lot of pressure.

And you live through it. That's a lot of pressure. If she's nervous now since everyone's picking them, and then if you are undefeated going into the playoffs, it's unlikely, now there'll be people rooting against the Bills to go undefeated, but it's unlikely that there's going to be a lot of people then, if so many people are picking now, that if they're undefeated going to the playoffs, that people then all of a sudden are going to say, oh yeah, we're going to slow down the intensity of picking the Buffalo Bills. I actually feel a little bit bad for Maggie. Oh, what?

Why? Just from the sense of like- Because she has a good football team? I don't think she's enjoying it.

Like if she's already nervous, she's definitely enjoying it. If she's already like, people stop picking the Bills before the season even starts and they're sitting there like week 14 undefeated, I don't know how she's going to like, I think each week it's going to mount and each week she's going to get more miserable if that makes sense because it's just like all extra pressure for the Bills. Did you see what Jamar Chase did to Minka Fitzpatrick with the flip into the birds?

Two finger salute. Yeah. That's what Maggie should just do to every other football fan base. Who cares what other people are picking? Does it matter that Ryan is picking the Bills to win the Super Bowl or Marco's picking the Bills to win the Super Bowl or that 98% of the analysts are picking the Bills to win the Super Bowl? Does it impact what that team actually does? But to her, it does.

Come on. I just hope she enjoys the season. It's just the Bills fan mentality that they've been tortured for so many years that you just expect even when you have such a great team that something's going to go wrong.

I agree, which doesn't allow you to enjoy some of the good teams. She needs to hang out with that last caller who was just making up where the games are going to be played and telling us to jump into tables on road locations, you'd be flipping off people when the Bills are actually at home and not on the road the week that he thought it was on the road. She needs to hang out with that guy. Scott sounds like a good time. I think Maggie's enjoying it, though.

I see with all the videos, she makes the Buffalo wings, which look delicious, by the way, and then she's watching the games. It's part of being a football fan. If you have no anxiety when watching a football game, football wouldn't be fun.

I'm just saying the Bills, it's the sky high expectations. The games you have eight heart attacks and then find a way to win are some of the more better games. Agreed.

It's like a rush like no other. Marco Balletti is here. By the way, Marco, I didn't get a chance to bring this up yesterday because I ran out of time.

Okay. How about his Nathaniel Hackett pick? It's looking great for coach of the year after one week.

Which is why we were saying Maggie should be worried about what everybody else is picking. Hickey's pickies, I'd be a little concerned about if he gets on the Bills bandwagon. That's three and two last week in Hickey's pickies, calm down. That's what we call on the books your winning week.

After one and four the first week. Well, I can't say I did any better because Mraz and I talked so much crap in our picks on the DA show. Mraz 0-3, yours truly. 0-3. We were like the cults of the Texans in week one. We tied each other.

Jeez. But this is, again, the PSA said not go nuts before the season starts. I mean you couldn't be worse than Nathaniel Hackett in week one.

He had no idea what the hell he wanted to do. That to me, I mean incompetence from the top down. You cannot have, and this is also on Russell Wilson, you can't be sitting there at fourth and five, a minute ten left on the clock and you're all looking at each other going, what the hell do we do? And then you call timeout only because the play clock is running down and then you change everything and then afterwards you say, yeah, I probably should have went for it. Oh, but by the way, I didn't realize it would be fourth and five. Seven yards on third down was just incomprehensible to you. You had no concept that you would get seven. Stop.

Well, here's the thing to me and you bring up a point that I've been echoing for the last two days. Someone's talking about Hackett. This is Russell Wilson's team. Russell Wilson just got paid $240 something million. Russell Wilson, you watch the Manning broadcast, Peyton Manning called time out, no joke, 62 times he did a timeout signal until they call it. How does Russell Wilson, a veteran quarterback, that's his team, not call timeout and look over the coach and say, we need to discuss this? Again, unless the coach is calling him off in that regard, but, but again, it's, it's going to the official time I'm taking a timeout.

You're right. And that's why I'm putting on Wilson too. I can't absolve you from this because your coach is an idiot. You should have known better. You've been in the league 10 years.

You should have known you needed a timeout in that spot and to be able to try to figure something out. And then for Hackett on top of it, you're just screaming to your club in week one. I don't trust any of you, including Russell Wilson. All I trust is Brandon McManus.

Awful, awful look awful. I'm with you. But that's the hot take Hickey, the Hickey mush. He says that Daniel Hackett is going to be a top three coach this year. Which is again, why you got to at least let him play a few weeks. Let's get into the season a little bit before we go.

Thank you, Mark. We're not jumping to conclusions in week one. Look, I'm not saying the guy should be fired yet, yet is the operative word though. This was an awful look, awful. I would have called Sean Payton after the game and see if he wanted to coach that team.

This is where come week two, week three, like you almost have to sit your team down at this point and go, guys, look, I know I screwed up really bad. Not going to happen again. My mistake. This one's on me.

The rest of it. And you better start getting aggressive because that was awful. This was Richard Sherman on the volume saying that Russell Wilson didn't have the power to call the time out on fourth down.

Listen up. They didn't even give him the cheers that I thought they would give the Mitch. They pulled him from the beginning, but he still threw for 340. He was moving the ball, but fourth and five game on the line in Seattle.

Hey, they could have put it in his hands and then who you got to blame. But the time out, there was the Monday night telecast and you can see Peyton Manning saying time out. Time out. You know, the difference between Russell and Peyton Manning, Russell does not have the power to call that time out without the sideline Peyton Manning can call that time out without the sideline. He's the coach on the field.

He has that kind of respect. Peyton, time out. We need to talk about this. Drew Brees, time out. We need to talk about this.

I can keep my holes. Time out. We need to talk about this.

The list is going on. Certain quarterbacks, you blame the coach, certain quarterbacks. You blame the quarterback. Right.

But the point was any of those guys, you're not talking about the coach you're talking about. Why didn't Peyton just call time out right now? I know Richard Sherman hates Russell Wilson. Right. I got to think Russell Wilson, if he wanted to call the time out, could have called the time out in that spot.

Yeah, he could have. But again, but that's also just taking charge because Peyton Manning's not looking to the sideline to ask. He's not asking your permission coach and Tony Dungy. Right. Drew Brees is not asking your permission. He's right.

In that regard, Russell Wilson is always kind of looking for what do we want to do? Sometimes, look, man, you've been in the 10 years. Stop looking around for help. You know what you need to do.

Go do it. And also, you had that situation in Seattle where that theory was that Pete was kind of holding his hand a little bit early on. Now you're the guy. This is why you went to Denver.

You got to take matters into your own hand there and call the time out. That's the bottom line. It's an awful look for both of them. It really is. I mean, you couldn't start any worse in Denver than those two guys.

Unless if you're Hickey making predictions, that's the only way you could start worse. All righty. This is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Play you some audio from our interview with KJ Wright when we come on back. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

All righty. This is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So yesterday we had KJ Wright on, the former Seattle Seahawks linebacker. And I asked KJ Wright if he was surprised that the Seahawks fans before the game started booed Russell Wilson. This is what he had to say. Not at all.

Not at all. He said that this narrative got out that Russell wanted to leave Seattle. And the fans were like, hey, Russell, what are you thinking?

We've been loyal to you for 10 years. We, you know, you was our quarterback and why would you, how would you even think about leaving us? And so they were upset. They were upset.

And they let it be known. They booed that man from warmups all the way to the last play. And so he said it didn't bother him. He said in the post game interview it didn't bother him. But I know that when you give your heart to this city and they come back and they boo you. But that's, that's very, that's very hurtful. And so the fans let it be known where they stood.

You know what, Hickey? We were both like Nelson Aguilar. We dropped the ball in this one. I really thought he was going to get a standing ovation before the game and was going to get a tribute video. Now when you think about it even more, and I get it hindsight's 20, 20, the dude wanted out. The dude didn't want to be a part of the Seahawks anymore. And even though they released that nice thank you note on the day that he got traded, Pete was, Pete's, Pete's pissed. Those for a lot of those former players are pissed. And maybe they think it's some validation from some of the inner fighting that did go on with those teams, you know, with that team. But geez, that fan base listened to their head coach and took direction from the head coach. I'm sure someone had to applaud him in the stadium, but you didn't hear any applause. It was a lot of boos. KJ Wright, on if he was upset that Russell Wilson left the Seahawks.

This, this is how I looked at it. I looked at it as like, if you and Coach Carroll cannot get on the same page, if you truly believe that you could take a franchise and be the man and just take it to the next level, you should want to leave. And so Coach Carroll, he had his own philosophy and where he just wanted to just play really good defense, we want to run the ball 25 plus times, manage the game, Russell outgrew that philosophy.

That was fine when he was a rookie, he just handed the ball off to beast mode, but the man is a very elite quarterback. And so if he wants the ball in his hands, he wants to lead a franchise to a Super Bowl, by all means, I feel like he should have left. So do you at all fault then Pete Carroll for not finding a way to give Russ what he wanted to keep him in Seattle?

That's another thing. Coach Carroll with his philosophy, sometimes you got to adjust your philosophy, especially when you have a hall of fame quarterback, you got to get out your way. And if you look back at 2020, go back and look at 20 Russell was putting up MVP numbers, right? Well, what's happening on the other side of the ball on defense, we couldn't, we couldn't hang because quarterbacks was putting up MVP numbers against us as well. And so Coach Carroll, for him being a defensive guy, that was hard for him to fathom. You know, people putting up 30 plus points on it, we were winning, but it was putting up a lot of points on it, he's like, Hey, guys, let's change his game plan, let's run the ball, let's manage the clock a little better. And you saw Russell's numbers dropped. And so it's just unfortunate that those two guys couldn't get on the same page, because they definitely had a special thing where Russell was there for those 10 years. All right, shouldn't Pete been able to figure out the defense? You know, like, like, that's part of it. Now, I get the philosophy why you want to run the football. But to me, I kind of listened back to that, you know, my takeaway is, we know how much Pete Carroll used to rock with Russell Wilson, and he was his biggest supporter when a lot of people did it. He thinks he could only be great to a certain extent. Pete Carroll thinks, and maybe it's just philosophy, maybe it's not an indictment on the quarterback, but he thinks if he has to throw the football 40 times a game, Russell Wilson, they would not have won much. And that's why I guess he was so dug in on doing it the way that he wanted to do it.

That's the only way that I, those are the only two things that I can think of. Which doesn't make sense, because in 2020, I think they were six and three to start the year or six and two. But he had a lot of turnovers. He did, but they were winning games.

Yeah, I just I don't think it was sustainable. I think I do think Pete was right, just maybe not to the level that he wanted and Russ should have given a little bit as well. Both guys had to give a little bit. And finally, I asked KJ Wright, you know, it seems like a lot of your former teammates are mad at Russ for leaving. Do they understand it's a business or are they actually still really mad and can't understand that it's a business and Russ got to do what he thinks is best for himself?

They understand it's a business. And I said this a while ago, I felt like, unfortunately, during my tenure in Seattle, we let the media divide us as a team. We knew that Marshawn and the defense had a lot of success in our wins, but nobody was, a lot of attention went to Russell. And it just became something that was unnecessary drama in the locker room.

I don't know why that happened. But Russell is good. The Legion of Boom was good.

Marshawn Lynch was good. So he really cares where the attention goes. And so that's just something that we had to overcome in Seattle. But the end of the day, it's all love. But I just wish that when we were there, that we can let that media attention divide us as a locker room.

Oh, let's be real. With how that Super Bowl ended up against the Patriots, unfortunately, that was the end for that run in Seattle. That was it, right? That was it.

That was it. We knew that once that moment happened, this is over. We can no longer look at each other the same. A lot of trust issues are going on in this building. Why didn't you check the call to a run? Why did you call a pass?

There's so many questions that were unanswered. And we knew that it was over after that. Now I'm not saying the Legion of Boom shouldn't have been upset for allowing, for them throwing the football in that spot. The right call is to run the ball in that spot in that Super Bowl.

We've been over that numerous times. They also shouldn't have blown a 10-point lead. I know they're going up against Tom Brady. But I pretty much thought for those teams, Ryan, the perception was how great Marshall was, how great the defense was, and Russ was good, just not great at the time. I think the Legion of Boom, who were so confident, they got in their heads a little bit towards the end.

Ego was the final thing that kind of drove this team apart and ruined the dynasty, ruined the team. Alrighty, that's the Zach Gelb show on a Wednesday. Thank you for listening and tuning in.

Big thank you to Chris Myrick for stopping by, Ahmon Green as well. Enjoy your trip to Auburn. We will hopefully hear from you, hopefully you get back safely, and we will talk to you on Monday. I'll be back tomorrow and Friday, and then obviously ION football coming up on Sunday for eight hours. So talk tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Be safe, everybody. The Zach Gelb show is out. Bye-bye. immerg