NFL Too Dominated By Analytics? (Hour 2)

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Download the Odyssey app today. We continue, our number two of our radio program. It is the Zach Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're coming to you live from The Rock, live from The Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home-owned solutions that fit your life. Yes, your life. Rocket can. Mike DeVito, formerly of the Chiefs and Jets.

Going to swing by 20 minutes from now. We'll get all into this roughing the passer nonsense that benefited Tom Brady. And then also Derek Carr.

And I don't know what else Grady Jarrett nor one Chris Jones are supposed to do. So we will talk a little bit about that with Mike DeVito and also get lay in the lands of the entire National Football League. I want to get to the game last night and there's so many different angles that we could unpack that game. The Raiders choking away a lead after being up 17 to nothing.

An unbelievable comeback again by Kansas City. All the back and forth mayhem. The roughing the passer call that adds on to what we saw on Sunday.

Then carry over into Monday. But I want to break down a few specific decisions. Because analytics right now in the NFL, I'm not opposed to them.

I understand that numbers and information and data and all the resources should be applied. When you are paid so much money and you're trying to find an edge or an advantage to get your team a victory. Sometimes, though, and it's not just when it comes to the NFL. This is baseball too. Pretty much all sports where the analytics get driven home so much that the coaches become robotic.

And don't have a pulse of the situation and don't understand or use their head or use their gut which got them there. OK, the numbers say one thing, but my feel of the game of how much years I've seen football tells me I should do something. So I want to go through a few scenarios last night and really break down the analytics on the decision and maybe some of the inconsistencies too. Because I did think there was one moment in the game last night where I would not usually advocate going for it in that spot.

But when you don't go for it and you went for it earlier, it makes me raise an eyebrow and I would like to see some consistencies. I get each decision is different, but there's no flow really and there's nothing I could expect as a fan. And I really was frustrated with the final 10, 15 minutes of that game because there are so many moments I go, why the heck is that team doing this?

Why is that coach doing this? Now, I'll say this about Brandon Staley, Ryan. I'll say this when I look at Brandon Staley. Not that I agree with Brandon Staley.

I killed Brandon Staley the other day. And there's a lot of times that he just lives and dies by the analytics and he doesn't use his brain. He doesn't use his gut. Just aggressive, aggressive, aggressive. And there's a difference in using information, being aggressive and then just being stupid. And Brandon Staley last year was stupid down the stretch. And this year, there's been times where he's been stupid and sometimes his stupidity has not cost his team and sometimes it has. But at least with Brandon Staley, you know what you're getting.

At least with Brandon Staley, you know for the most part that if it's fourth and two, fourth and three, fourth and one, fourth and an inch, it doesn't matter if you're on your own 24-yard line or the other team's 24-yard line, 9.99999 times out of 10, he's going for it. And all of his players know that that's going to happen. We've talked to Austin Eckler. We've talked to Josh Kelly.

And most of them go, and even Austin Eckler said it to me in the summer, yeah, last year there was a few times you raised an eyebrow, you didn't get it. But now we know coach has the full support and the full belief in the offense. And he's going to go, go, go because he believes in this offense so much with all the talent. Well, you can still have belief in your offense.

You can still have trust in your offense and not go for it every time and make some uneducated, boneheaded decisions. And you even saw that Keenan Allen, because there's sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment, right? Like if I'm a competitor and it's fourth and two and my coach says go for it, I'm like, yeah, let's go for it. I'm in the huddle, this guy believes in me.

All right, the adrenaline takes over, we got to go get it. But when you're like Keenan Allen, who was not playing, was hurt, and is watching the game, and he's watching the game from home between the Browns and the Chargers, I think Keenan Allen, for the first time, right, the light bulb went off in his head of wow, our coach makes some bad decisions. Because there were tweets live in the moment, and he could spin it however he wants, but it's clearly talking about the decision making, where Brandon Staley went for it, in a situation and a spot that it didn't make sense to go for it. But I will say that at least Brandon Staley, even though I don't agree with him most of the time, he's at least consistent where he lives and dies by the analytics.

And maybe, Ryan, that's just the case now in 2022. Maybe the new, young, innovative coach is just going to live and die with the analytics, and it could frustrate the heck out of me, but at least I know what I'm getting with Brandon Staley. Last night with Josh McDaniels and Andy Reid, and we'll get into their specific decisions, I didn't really get a lot of their decisions. And you don't usually have the same tone or the same feelings in the past, and you know Andy Reid's a Hall of Famer, Josh McDaniels, it's not looking all too good for him with the Raiders, but I watched Josh McDaniels coach for 10 years, there was a lot of spots, and maybe this was just being in New England and Belichick didn't give it the okay, where you wouldn't see some decisions like what you saw last night from Josh McDaniels. So it makes it frustrating and tough as a fan to really try to figure out what to expect from these coaches, because everything I used to think, what I knew about football and what made football sense, now I have no clue what to expect anymore. And I thought last night, we'll get into those specific decisions that I'm referring to and alluding to in a moment, but last night was really, I threw my hands up in the air and I go, I don't get this.

I don't get this whatsoever. It's almost like now you have to learn a new math equation. You know, usually it's, oh, you're up, I don't know, you're up by five. Let's go for two to make it seven. You're up by one. Hey, the game, let's go for two to make it three. Now it's like you're learning math all over again. We're up by, we're down by one hand. We're going to go for two with, you know, not just a second left, we're going to go for two earlier in the game. You're confusing me with all these numbers.

I'm not good with numbers. It's a new math equation that's coming into the NFL, new math is here. Just like new media is here with Draymond Green, new math is here with these young NFL coaches.

So let's go through these decisions. Is this analytics or is there something else? So the Chiefs, they have Matthew Wright, Harrison Bucher not playing once again. Matthew Wright in the game last night, one and two, kick in the field goal. There was also a weird defensive holding penalty. Have you, first of all, before we get into the analytics, there was a defensive holding penalty on a field goal attempt that Matthew Wright missed. Now that's not the one out of two that he missed, but he missed it and there was a defensive holding on a field goal and it ended up giving him a first down because it's an automatic first down. I've never seen defensive holding on a field goal.

That, I still don't get that one. And I saw the replay didn't look like defensive holding to me. I'll take it.

I would agree. And again, you know how we're always used to hearing, you know, seeing certain things when it comes to the score and oh, you do this. You were used to also hearing things, special teams holding on a field goal.

Oh, OK. Offense, offensive holding. You're never used to a concept saying holding the defense on a field goal.

I literally thought they just messed up. Like they said the wrong side of an accident. No, not even that, that there was a penalty.

And then the communication. Oh, there was a penalty on the defense side of the ball on the field goal team. And and they just said holding. But it wasn't actually like maybe it was like illegal hands.

Like, I don't know what it could have been, but I go, it can't be holding. I've I've watched football. And I know that I'm not an old man, decrepit old man, but I watch football for now over two decades. I've never seen defensive holding on a on a on the on the field goal return team.

I've never seen on the defense team. That made no sense to me. But anyway, the Chiefs, they get it. They get a touchdown that puts them up 30 to 23. Now, this also impacts the gambling world, because if you may or may not have recalled, there may have been a talk show host on the station last night in this time slot that said they laid the seven points with Kansas City. Now, there's still a lot of time left in the game. But with 7.25 to go, they get the seven. I'm thinking, OK, I got the Chiefs lay in seven. My bets have been horrible this year. Maybe I'll actually win one after looking like I was going to lose one. You take the extra point, you go up by eight.

They did not go. For the extra point, they went for two and they didn't get it. Now, the risk is if you go up by nine, it's two scores. I think that's the reward. But the risk is if you don't get the two, then it's a seven-point game. All the other team needs to do is just get a touchdown and a PAT and you're tied up.

So maybe there was some sprinkles, some of the things that were sprinkled in here was a lack of confidence in the kicker. Now, the kicker did drill, what was it, like a 58-yard field goal, whatever it was, right before the end of the first half? 59, I believe.

59? And he made all the extra points last night. So I don't get in that spot, unless there was an injury or there was no confidence in the kicker, but if the numbers there said they should go for it to go up by nine, from a football sense, that makes no sense because I want to score the touchdown, which you did, kick the extra point, you go up by eight, and then the team that you're playing not only has to get a touchdown, they also get a two-point conversion. So that made no sense to me last night.

Decision number one right there. I think it was, I will go with, because I was looking for an explanation, I couldn't find one, I will go with the lack of confidence in the kicker, because let's just not forget, he did go one of two, but they missed the field goal and they're holding that, should have been a miss, he should have been one for three. And also, with Harrison Buckner out, the Chiefs have already gone through a kicker. Matt Amendola used to, now he's missed the field goal for the Cardinals. Don't tell Justin Pugh that. It's not his fault.

We all take accountability here. He was very, yes, you're right, he had his kickers back. Andy Reid did not have the kickers back, because he said, screw it, this guy's out of here, I'm cutting him. And they tried a fake field goal against the Colts, because they didn't trust him. So I wonder if that's just PTSD of just kickers missing kicks, he goes, screw it, I got Patrick Holmes, we're just going to go forward and just take it out. I get it, but it's also a kicker that, you know, they're up and down, it's a big kick, and also he missed one like the last time they kicked it.

Okay, so even if he misses that, I would still rather attempt the PAT, which is a 32-33 yard field goal, to go up by eight than to run a two-point play. I get it's Mahomes and he's unbelievable, but that just doesn't make sense to me. Well, let's say if you're Andy Reid and you think, okay, I got a kicker that I don't trust that's going to be out of here as soon as Harrison Buckner is back, Are you defending this? Or I have Patrick Mahomes. Are you really defending this? I am.

Ugh. If you don't have confidence in your kicker, Then he shouldn't even be playing. Mahomes.

Then he shouldn't be playing. You can't trust this guy to make an extra point when he already made three prior to put you up by eight. Go find another kicker. Well, they're trying. They wait for Harrison Buckner to help you.

They've already gone through. Well, don't get disposal on the field if you don't think that he can make the extra point. Well, you know, we talked about the Panthers head coaching or some of the other head coaching jobs. Who are you going to hire? Who are you going to sign? What kicker is out there to sign? There's no Adam Vinatieri sitting out there waiting to be signed. You know what? Dicker the kicker, the Eagles got him. There's guys out there.

Yeah, they're out there because they're not very good. It's an extra point. You want a Regal Blanketship from the Colts? He got cut. It's an extra point. I don't care if your kicker, well, if his leg fell off during the game. Maybe that's a little bit different.

I would say, yeah, I would probably not have him out there if he had one leg. Now, I'm fearing this is going to get a bit contentious because I saw you tweet about this. I thought maybe you had a few drinks.

Then, Ryan Lee. It was 10 minutes after the show. What do you think I'm doing?

Running right to the bar and getting an IV? You did bring up to my attention that there was a large bottle of vodka in this studio last week sitting there. And it disappeared. Not again.

Not in my possession. Into your locker and hickey after the show, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. It's a Monday. I am now a responsible person. A Monday after the Mets loss, your football team sucks.

It wouldn't shock me if you had a few shots after the show. But you're really believing, and thank God Ryan Leaf, who you have this relationship with, clapped right back at you and said you're an idiot, a moron, and a dope. A lot of respect to Ryan Leaf. Love Ryan Leaf. With 4 minutes and 27 seconds to go, the Raiders go and get a touchdown.

Devontae Adams, 48-yard reception from Derek Carr. It brings them within one. With 427 to go. Now, if there is a minute left, I can understand trying to go win the game there. But with 427 to go, you got to take the extra point and tie up the game because even if you get it, all Kansas City needs to do with four and a half to play, and I know they may not trust their kicker, but is march down the field, get in field goal range, and then you lose. Now, I know you can say the other way, oh, well, if you tie up the game, they march down the field and they tie up the game.

But if you don't get the two, and I can't trust that Raiders offense, you're then down by one. So I don't get it for the life of me. And you could give me whatever analytic response you want or whatever response you want, and we don't need to go at each other's throats here, but that did not make sense to me. And it just, it kills momentum there. When you could have and should have tied up the game, but Daniel Carlson was having a great game. So I did not get that one. Give me your explanation here.

Here's why I liked it. Flow of the game. This is a game where we saw the chief score on five straight possessions, touchdowns, field goals. They were red hot after going down 17, nothing. If you're Joshua Daniels, you see that lead evaporate and you see now Patrick Holmes and Travis Kelce being unguardable and doing their thing.

You now score touch. Like I said, four and a half minutes ago, you got to think to yourself, this defense is not very good anyway. Do I trust them to hold Patrick Holmes and Co out of the end zone, which they were out of field goal range, but at the time, can you feel good about when they scored five in a row?

No, but they did. And then your offense didn't come alive. And all you would need to do is just get in field goal range instead. And they turn the ball. I know they turned it over on downs, but they ended up losing the game. But here's the thing that if you have faith in your defense, they also think of it this way. You score two and they were inches away. Let's just, it was a good call. They didn't get it.

Okay. If they got it, you're up 31 30. You get the stop. Then I can't say like they get, you can just run the ball. You can run the ball up because Josh Jacobs had a tremendous game.

They could not tackle me to over 150 yards on the ground. You feel confident thinking we get one stop. We can run this clock out and win the game. When you lose, when you lose by one though, when you lose by one though, it's an awful luck and I would have just taken the extra point there.

That's just me. But you do bring up a good point with their run game. What the heck are they doing on third and one and fourth and one when you're down by one and you don't run the football one time there with Josh Jacobs on third or fourth down. Now they took a deep shot to Devonta Adams and one foot was out of bounds, but then on fourth and one, you know, personally I would run the football, but it's a pass happy league. So teams like to pass in that spot. Why are you taking a deep shot there back to back plays when you just need one yard and all you have to do agree or disagree on the decision to go for the extra point or not, it's just getting field goal range and you win. I agree with you on the run of the ball.

I would have done it. I mean the Devonta Adams pass is inches away. So you could say, you know what, that was a good play call.

They're fine. If you want to throw the ball on fourth down, like I said, it's passing league. You have Devonta Adams fine, but do not, like you said, be throwing up a 30 yard prayer and running a route where you guys are running into each other and they didn't have a timeout to be fair.

They were at a timeouts Las Vegas. So maybe that's why they didn't run the football, but you could run the football, get up and call another. You could call two plays.

And like you said, also usually feel great. You don't even touch that. So you only need to go another 15, 20 yards, not another 50 yards. Now I know we got to get to Mike Devita, but real quickly, because you're Mr. Analytics and it's all about right. Ending the game. Right?

I'm not Mr. Analytics. I like the aggressiveness. About trying to end the game. Trying to win the game. Do you trust, do you trust that chief's defense? Not really. Okay. So did you have a problem then with Andy Reid with 236 to go fourth and three at the Raiders 46 up by one punting the football instead of putting the ball in Patrick Mahone's hands and going to win the game there, which he didn't do.

He punted the football. I have a problem with that. I like the pun. Don't give a gimme. I'm shocked because if he's trying to end the game there and go up by nine up by one, you could have ended the game, but with not directly a first down, but you then get a few more first downs and you could just bleed out the clock.

Wow. Did the Astros just hit a walk off three run Homer Jordan Alvarez three run blast deep to right. Oh, what a miserable loss for the mariner. What are they up like seven, three at one point in this game, seven, three, seven, two, something like that. Not good. I think seven, three. You're right. And six. Wow.

The Astros are going to be, we all know they're going to be a tough out. You know what? Can I say it? Let's go shows. I'm okay with the shows.

Get in the world. So I'm rooting for them to win. Yeah. I know him with the Yankees. I know him by the Phillies, the Braves.

I'm not usually anti Yankee, but there's a few Yankee fans that decided to dance on the Mets grave. So anyway, Mike DeVito will join us next. So this is Zach Galb's show on CBS Sports. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows, follow your favorite stations and come back again and again, get real time updates on everything you care about.

Mr show, jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football live and on demand wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free download the Odyssey app today. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows, follow your favorite stations and come back again and again, get real time updates on everything you care about. Mr show, jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football live and on demand wherever you are, whenever you want.

And did we mention it's all free download the Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Galb show, a lot of surprises so far through the first five weeks of the season. To no surprise, we still don't know how to hit the quarterback anymore. So let's bring in a former defensive lineman.

He did of course play for the jets and the Kansas city chiefs. And that is Mike DeVito. Mike, always appreciate the time. How you been? Zach, man, it's great to be on.

Thank you, brother. Listen, I know, uh, I was a former D lineman, but I didn't do much hitting the quarterback. So you had five and a half career sacks for nine years. So it's a half a sack of season, not bad, but you are a fan of the game. So when you watch Chris Jones, you watch also Grady Jarrett, I don't know how you hit the quarterback anymore.

Cause they did nothing wrong. You know, you know, what's so funny too, Zach is I'm thinking about it back from when I played. Right. So I played from 07 to 2000.

I retired 2016. Like the game has gotten exponentially faster since then. I mean, it just, every year it seems to get faster and faster and faster. Like I'm thinking back to when, you know, it, you know, it was much more run and, but the game was still fast. But even then, when I think of these rules, uh, it's just, you're the a hundred miles an hour. So if you're talking about a defensive lineman getting past their offensive line, they're already two or three yards in the backfield, hit a good move, and now you have to bend in or bend out and make your way to the quarterback. And now you have the added elements of not only, you know, tagging the quarterback, getting around your guy, doing all that stuff, the techniques and everything, but now aiming for what seems to be shrinking target on this quarterback from, you know, what is legal to what is illegal.

And it's just, and you have a split second to make that, that, uh, uh, transition your, you know, change your, where, how, you know, how you're going in there, your aim and your, your point of attack. And, and it's just, it's nearly impossible to do. And so you take a guy like Chris Jones yesterday, I mean, there's just, I don't, and that was, that was as clean as it gets, uh, uh, that was a beautiful sack. In fact, if there's going to be a play, it's going to be that he didn't hit him harder. I know back when I was playing him, uh, if you would have, you know, if you would have lightly put them down the way Chris did, the coaches would have given you a minus, you know, they were like, what the hell? You know, pound them.

You finally get a chance. Uh, so it's just, it's incredibly weird, Zach. And to just to finish up this rant, I don't, I don't, you know, as crazy as it is, I don't think I see it changing. Um, because when you look at the NFL and the way the league is, uh, the NFL is first and foremost about making money. That's what the owners care about.

That's the most important thing. And what's going to hurt your, you know, what's going to stop people from watching, uh, football and getting, you know, invested in the game. It's going to be, if you're starting quarterback, it gets hurt.

It's not going to be if you're throwing personal penalty flags on the defensive line. And so I'm sure the NFL is looking at this and saying, great, you know, let's, let's keep that guy healthy. Cause that's the guy that's bringing in the views.

That's the guy that people want to see. And that's the guy that's putting up all the points and you know, when a backup quarterback gets in there, these teams go to crap. Usually, I mean, that's the key, the key in the NFL is that, is that starting quarterback. So that again, that's the moneymaker and uh, I just don't, I don't see the NFL being too upset about how these flags have been thrown given, you know, what's most important. I love what Chris Jones said after the game last night, Mike DeVito, because a lot of times people would just blast the league, but they don't offer a solution to kind of fix the problem. He thinks that it should be reviewable roughing the passer. Do you agree with that?

That's an interesting point. Why not? Certainly. I mean, especially if it's getting to this point where what, you know, what is the sack and what is the roughing the passer, uh, is becoming, you know, it's becoming really hard to tell the boundaries there.

Sure. You don't certainly make it, uh, make it reviewable. Um, and you know, that's going to clear up a lot of stuff because when you look at that play from last night on film, it is obvious to anybody who sees it. Now, I think that ref doubled down, but still when you look at it, uh, on the replay, it's just, it's obvious that that wasn't a roughing, you know, that, that just clearly wasn't a roughing the passer. And so if you have an opportunity to review that on film, obviously you get things straight and these can be big game changing, uh, plays, especially down the stretch.

Um, some of these facts are incredibly important. And so, yeah, no, I liked that idea. I didn't hear Chris say that, but that's, that's good.

That's really good. I just wonder though, how effective that would be, because if you remember the whole saints game and then the next year or two years later, they had, um, past interference reviewed, we didn't really see many of those calls change. It was kind of like the league saying, we're only going to do it if it's in a big time spot because we don't want to kill the officials too much. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, there was that tension, but I guess I would, I guess I'd rather have the option. Yeah. Let it be, yeah. Let them have the options.

Let them have the option to do it again. If, especially if this is going to be, you know, uh, a hard play to diagnose. I mean, it seems like, uh, what is considered an actual sack compared to what is roughing the passer is becoming less and less clear. And so, yeah, I think that's a really, I think that's a really good idea.

How much is this Mike DeVito? Cause you brought it up protecting the quarterback. Um, not that they could have avoided it to a situation on the field, but they just allowed him back on the field. I know roughing the pastors down this year, but this past week you then see all of a sudden two crazy calls. Is that the NFL behind the scenes telling the officials to maybe keep an eye out on protecting the quarterbacks even more now? That's really interesting that I didn't, I didn't put those two things together, but that, that's certainly, I mean, if that was the case, I wouldn't be surprised, uh, again in it, it makes sense for the NFL to work out losing that, that guy, I mean, look at Miami now, Miami looks like, you know, the Miami of old, that would see those two quarterbacks down. Um, uh, it's just not the same team. And if they continue to do that weekend and week out, what was looking like a promising season is now, you know, could turn out to be really bad for them. And now you've got people that are watching the dolphins fans aren't into it.

Uh, those games don't sell as much and you lose money. And so, uh, so, and I'm sure there's a, like, listen, I'm sure that there is a player safety element to this as well. Uh, but you know, ultimately the quarterback, again, it's the, that's the moneymaking position. That's good. That's the position that's going to win the game. Uh, that's, that's the guy that's going to make the difference on Sundays.

And so, uh, I, this is what gives me some sort of a more of a pessimistic outlook on this, but I just, uh, I don't see it changing for those reasons. You say player safety, let's just call it how it is. And you even alluded to it. It's really quarterback safety. I don't think the NFL cares about player safety. They just care about quarterback safety. Yeah. Well, no, I mean, yeah, that's certainly right.

And I was talking to somebody today and I want to get your thoughts. I mean, did it seem like prior to these rules, quarterbacks, and maybe I was, maybe I just missed it, but it didn't seem like quarterbacks were getting injured more frequently before these rules were put into place. And now, now all of a sudden they're getting less injured. I mean, I don't know, I don't know the stats or how that actually, you know, if that's true or not.

It doesn't seem to me like it's even, it's made that much of a difference. No, because here's the thing. You can't avoid an ACL tear and you can't avoid getting a concussion. You could put rules in place where yes, you put the quarterback in less of a spot to get hit and you don't want people diving at the knees or slap in their head. But most of the times you see these injuries, a quarterback tears an ACL, there's nothing you could do about it. Exactly.

No, that's exactly right. I mean, I just, it doesn't seem, again, it seems to be a rule that doesn't have much effect outside of these really bad calls that, well, you saw, I mean the Tampa gay game that changed that, that changed the game, you know, that, that call. So I think, and my friend Jeff Allen, the offensive line for the Chiefs brought this up to me today, he said, I think that was good for the Chiefs because they got fired up after that. You saw Andy Reed after that, you saw my homes, they were fired up. Yeah.

And that kind of, I mean, I, I've never seen Andy Reed that mad. And so I think that that sort of kicked them out of the slump they were in and then they got going and just put, you know, put it to it, but put the, put the pedal to the floor there. But, uh, so in their, in their case, I think it worked in their favor. I think that's a good point that Jeff brought up, but you're right.

It could change games and, and it doesn't seem to be, you know, I, at least from an outsider's perspective, I don't know the stats, but it doesn't seem to make that big of a difference as far as player safety is concerned. Mike DeVito here with us. Does it surprise you that the Chiefs are once again rolling? Cause a lot of people were doubting them this off season. And right now it's either them or Buffalo as, as the best team in the AFC again.

I guess I, I, it's, this seems to be the case all the time. I feel like every year we go into the season, especially in this Pat Mahomes era and people doubt the Chiefs. I always see them put second, third, fourth in the AFC West for finishing, you know, predictive predictions. Um, I don't understand why, I mean, you know, you lost Tyreke Hill, do you lose your, you know, one of your big studs going into the season, but they have a ton of players and Andy Reid's track record for being able to focus in on the talents of his guys and maximize those talents, especially on offense, get guys in the positions to utilize what makes them good and to, to take advantage of a defense. I mean, there's no better than Andy Reid and so, uh, I'm not sure why I didn't think that at all that going into the season, like, Oh no, this could be, this could be a problem. I mean, you have the number one, you have the number one offensive line in the NFL. You have some, you know, you have Frank Clark, you're Chris Jones on the, I mean, you have all these studs on defense. Um, I, you know, and you brought in a lot of good players at wide receiver and, and I, so I, I'm not sure why all the hate, but I'm, I'm not surprised that can't, in fact, what I am surprised about Kansas city is that they lost to Indy, such a tough time with the Raiders.

That's more surprising to me than where they're at right now. Mike DeVito, wrap it up with him. Everyone can't wait for this game already on Sunday. We know how it ended last year, chiefs and the bills that are going to meet up again in arrowhead this weekend. What do you think decides that game is just who has the ball last? I think that that that's, you know, if you, that that's exactly right. I think that that that's a fair bet to say, whoever has the ball last in this game, that's the, that's the team that's going to win. And my, again, my buddy Jeff brought this up and I think it's a good point to, to remember this really is a playoff game because these are the two teams that for all intents and purposes are going to be fighting for that one and two spots. Exactly.

And for Buffalo, like we know Kansas city go win anywhere and I bet Buffalo can too, but imagine a home AFC championship game for the bills. Like I can't even begin to think what that would be like. Oh my, it's not like saying that almost sounds like you can't put those words in that sentence. But uh, but no, I know it's incredible.

And so, and now you, and you also got to remember there's only one bi-week, right? So that number one position is important. And if it's going to come down to a tie breaker, you know, it's probably going to be between these two teams. So the winner of this game really puts themselves in good place going into the playoffs. And so, uh, I'm glad it's at arrowhead and not in Buffalo.

I think that that's the sort of, uh, one of those deciding factors that's in, you know, in Kansas city's favorite that's at home and arrowheads hard to play at. Uh, but this is going to be an incredible game, uh, just absolutely incredible. Give me your thoughts on the jets. They're three and two. What do you kind of think of what Joe Douglas and then also Robert Salah are doing?

Oh, I love what those guys are doing. Listen, if you're going to do well in New York, you've got to have a tough GM. You've got to have a top head coach and you've got to have a tough quarterback and you've got those two guys in GM and head coach.

Definitely. I love Salah. Salah is a guy that I like a Rex Ryan. You want to play for that guy. I think Wilson is looking good.

Looking the parts. Um, he's, you know, I've come back from injuries doing, you know, he's doing what he needs to do. I'm fired up to that fan base.

I love New York. I, they deserve it. I'm so glad that the jets are back on track and, uh, and, uh, and again, I like the prospect of the direction that they're going, given the people that they have in charge.

Yeah. They have a ton of young talent and it feels like you just wonder where are they going to be next year? Cause my expectations this year and you know, you could go get big victories like they've had early on, you know, with the way they took care of Miami. But I feel this is a big foundation year to set up next year. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt.

But you know what? Do you remember the first year the Rex Ryan came in in 2009? Yeah. That's what we were thinking.

And then all of a sudden the tips fall a certain way and here you are going into the AFC championship game. So, but I'm with you. I'm with you. And I think that you're right.

The young talent that they have and you couple that with the momentum, uh, that's dangerous. Mike DeVito. Always great to catch up with you. Thanks so much.

Thanks, Zach. Appreciate you brother. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience.

Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

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You know what I find kind of funny here, how I take Kiki? And don't get me wrong, we probably have done this before, but I think there's a way that you present it. So someone from CBS Sports today, I did not see who it was. I just remember seeing the graphic throughout five potential destinations for Christian McCaffrey, if the Panthers elect to trade Christian McCaffrey. So then so many other people in the media that react off this stuff go, oh, the Eagles, let's just say, right?

Philly was one of the teams. The Eagles are being linked to Christian McCaffrey. If it's just someone's opinion, like, hey, I'm so-and-so from, like, let's say if I gave an opinion on the radio, hey, I think the Eagles, the Bills, the Broncos, the Colts and I don't know, the Patriots should trade for Christian McCaffrey. And then someone goes, oh, the Patriots are being linked to Christian McCaffrey per Zach Elton.

No, I'm just giving you my opinion. And it wasn't reported by CBS Sports that, oh, these teams are definitely interested by Christian McCaffrey. It's just possible trade scenarios. So I don't get this really from the sports media world.

I guess always trying to find some sort of new angle or new content to kind of, you know, satisfy the fan, so it's, hey, here's CBS, hey, it's more of an opinion than reporting, but they're being linked. And I guess the word linked is also very interesting because it's technically not wrong. Well, no, but it makes it seem like he's available, which he may be. And this team already had a conversation with the Panthers about it, but you don't know if it is.

It's just some guy giving his opinion. I guess technically, if you say linked, that could just be in the same sentence like you just did it. Oh, the Patriots and Chris McCaffrey are linked.

Just you say it in the same sentence. I think that technically means linked. But to your point, we interpret that any time you hear the word X team and this player are linked in a conversation, it's some sort of trade talk, like you said, where you would expect at least a conversation made or there's some interest on both sides of getting a trade done, not just a list. So it makes sense to me if let's just say, and I don't know who wrote the article or who posted it, so I'll look it up and I'll find out. But one thing, if it was like Jonathan Jones, who's an NFL CBS insider, if it was Pete Prisco, like guys that break news, that would be different.

But I'm assuming, cause we've seen these posts all the time when we talked about it, right? Like Cody Benjamin, that's one of the guys that we've had on. He gives his top 10 coaches in the NFL. I would assume that this is like one of those guys, which they're NFL writers, but they're never breaking news. Writers, content creators, discussion starters, not, hey, this is actually happening and calls have been made. And there's a lot of times, for example, remember a few months ago, I got on the air and I said, oh, I want to see the Vikings go trade for Lamar Jackson and get Lamar Jackson.

And I just threw that out there. There was websites that wrote articles and there was people that tweeted me, oh, what do you know about Lamar Jackson possibly joining the Vikings? I'm like, what?

I go, I just sat there. If he was to leave the Baltimore Ravens, cause the contract situation does seem very contentious or very murky, that that would be one team that I would want to see him go, because we talked about how it's a video game type of offense with Jefferson Thielen, Cook, KJ Osborne, you know, Alexander, all those guys they have, if you added in a player like Lamar Jackson. So I always love when that stuff happens. But during the break, I saw some guys saying, oh, like the Eagles are interested in Christian McCaffrey. Based off what? What is it based off of? The CBS graphic that was put out there, five potential destinations or five teams that could make sense if Christian McCaffrey gets traded.

That doesn't, unless, unless I am totally, totally, totally, totally missing the report here. Tomorrow. Eagles trade for Christian McCaffrey. No.

And it can still happen. No, you're not wrong. I don't get why it would be Philly. Because they have Miles Sanders and you got Jaylen Hertz. That's enough.

You don't need to go trade for Christian McCaffrey, but you never put anything past Howie Roseman. But just because a writer who does not break news puts out five potential destinations or five teams that make sense, doesn't mean like, oh man, that team city should get their hopes up. And now all of a sudden we're going to react to it as if it is actually concrete news. And you even saw yesterday, right? One reporter said the bills already made a phone call. And then another reporter said, no, the bills haven't made a phone call yet.

They have no clue what happens anymore. You really don't. You've got to be very careful on Twitter, double and triple check. For me, I always like to do a quick retweet, quick reaction. It's dangerous for people like me.

I love you. Too much hickey on Twitter. Too much?

Yeah. What do you mean too much? I feel like you feel, and I used to do this too, that you give an opinion on everything that's happening. And I know you watch a ton of sports, but you don't always have to give those opinions on Twitter 24 seven. And when you get frustrated about one of your teams, it's tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet. I think you should condense that a little bit, but I had to give you some social media advice.

Interesting. I think I don't feel like I don't tweet enough to be honest at times. I think too much.

I will say during the Colts game specifically, maybe a little much. Well, I don't see your tweets during the Colts game otherwise, because you know, I'm on football, I don't do that, I mean, Mets road trip in Oakland in the middle of June at one forty five. I am. I'll be there.

People need to see the reaction. Let's go. Let's go. And also, I'll give my finger to Starling Marte if he needs a finger. No, you're not. If you if surgery was available nowadays where I could take my finger, give it to me, it would be like brand new. But here's why you wouldn't. It didn't even take one hundred grand or what was it, five hundred thousand dollars to drink using a hot dog as a straw for I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the guy known as that guy, by the way. It was Cody Benjamin. Cody's a nice guy.

He's been on the show. No, I like you're right. He's a content creator, but he's not a news breaker.

No. And to be fair, the headline is Christian McCaffrey trade rumors. Bills Broncos among six logical landing spots for Panthers star running back.

Well, here's where I'll get on either Cody or the editor. Trade rumors is a little misleading. Well, there were trade rumors the other day that the Bills made a phone call. But now if we have rumors of teams or you put a headline where trade rumors, it says Christian McCaffrey trade rumors, semicolon, Bills Broncos among six logical landing spots for Panthers star running back. I read that as this trade rumors. And then he's giving his opinion of six logical landing spots for the running back. But are there trade rumors that the Panthers are not pick up the phone and or no one says there was. And then you said another report shot that down. Now he said, with this in mind, here are six logical landing spots for the former pro ball for the former Pro Baller in the event the Panthers are willing to shop.

So in this case, he covered up his tracks. Yes. You want to hear the six teams?

Sure. It was not five, six commanders. Why?

There were one in four Eagles. You mentioned before. Why?

Oh, yeah. Because Cody Benjamin loves the Eagles. 400 running. I had another one. Forty Niners.

Okay. That makes sense. Running back you Broncos. Any shot of life they can get sure Rams.

Why the hell not? And then the Buffalo Bills. That makes the most sense.

That does make a ton of sense. Zach Gil show CBS Sports Radio. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today.

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