Ravens Ruining Another Late Lead (Hour 1)

Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one house of the dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon writers.

I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control. Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one house of the dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon writers.

I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control. Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the police show yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the tenth floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a big time Monday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates. Sirius XM channel 158 and that free Odyssey app 855-212-4CBS I'm going to jump on in 855-212-4227 you can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We are coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Well Rocket can. A whole lot to react to from over the weekend. Down goes Alabama, down goes USC, down goes Oklahoma State and in the NFL it was a crazy week six and our sixth Sunday of the year as there's a whole lot of teams that we thought were so good who are not that hot and a lot of teams that we thought were going to be really crappy this year that are now exceeding expectations and changing the expectations that you had before the year did commence and I have to start off with one game don't you worry we will talk about Bill's Chiefs we'll talk about the Philadelphia Eagles as the only lone undefeated team remaining but I have to start the show today with the Baltimore Ravens losing to the New York football Giants.

So I got two thoughts on this. Number one the Giants are now locked to make the playoffs and number two the Baltimore Ravens they can't find a way to close the game to save their life right now. This is a team that they probably should be six and 0 and they're three and three and you have a lot of teams in the NFL that have at least three losses already and we're only six weeks into the season. Depending on what happens tonight you're looking at 16 teams right now that have at least three losses in the NFL season but you look at what transpired between the Giants and the Ravens. It's once again the Giants being resilient and the Giants having a heck of a coach who right now would win the coach of the year in Brian Dable and anytime the Giants look down and out with the roster that is not all that talented they find a way to create a spark. They did so against the Titans in week one down 13 at halftime. They did so last week down 17 to 3 20 to 10 at two different stages of the contest up against the Green Bay Packers and yesterday they go up against the Baltimore Ravens and it was a back and forth game.

But when the Ravens go up 20 to 10 in the fourth quarter you're thinking it and I'm thinking it turn out the lights the party's over. But once again this Giants team and the Wink Martindale revenge game they find a way to get it done. And it's not like I could put my finger on one thing and tell you the Giants are a sexy team the Giants have a bevy of players that you feel great about leading into the future.

And sure Kayvon Thibodeau's a stud Evan Neil's a stud Andrew Thomas the offense alignment is really good but you don't know what the long term future is of Daniel Jones or Saquon Barkley. But it just shows you when you have an adult in a room what he could do for a football team and the Giants lost their way the last five six years and it was ugly. A once proud franchise was not only knocked down but they were dragged around the ring and they were embarrassed. They were a national laughingstock the New York Giants the New York Giants when you had McAdoo whose suit was too big. You had Pat Shermer who was a bozo and was like the fifth choice to become the head coach and they were like oh yeah we love Pat Shermer. And then you had Joe Judge toughness character.

He just said all the buzzwords but you never saw it actually be reflected on the field. And you bring in Brian Deball who along with Joe Shane have continuity. They have respect and they actually know what to do in building a football team. This is year number one for the Giants on this new regime. This is a Giants regime that there was no pressure there was no expectations. Year number one is a wash. And if you would have told me before the year that six weeks in I would have thought that the Giants would be a lock to make the playoffs.

I would say what the bleep are you smoking. There was no way I would have thought before the year we would ever have a legit playoff conversation about the Giants. But I said this yesterday on ION Football that if they just win like three out of their last five next five games. They're going to be sitting there with eight or nine wins by Thanksgiving. And yesterday they stun everyone once again and beat the Baltimore Ravens. So now this team is five and one and their next four games Jacksonville Seattle Houston and the Lions. You take three out of four.

You're eight and two at Thanksgiving. And this is not a strong NFC. This is not a dominant NFC. We saw last year the Philadelphia Eagles just go nine and eight and they made the playoffs. You get to nine wins. You'll be in the postseason.

And I don't see a way right now with the way that this team competes and fights for their head coach. How the Giants are going to miss the playoffs. I thought this Giants team would maybe win five wins at most this year.

Six if everything goes right. They're already five and one through the first six weeks of the season. And it's not a hot take.

It's not an overreaction. But coaching in this league matters. And they have a newfound energy, a newfound look and a newfound life. And the New York Giants, they're not winning a Super Bowl this year. They're not going to win the division. Philadelphia is the best team in the division. Dallas is better than them when they have their quarterback Dak Prescott.

And we could end that stupid quarterback controversy with the way that Cooper Rush played last night. But the Giants will be a playoff team. Because even if they drop one or two of these next four, they're still going to be in great position by Thanksgiving. Even if they go two and two in these next four games with the Jaguars, the Seahawks, the Texans and the Lions, that puts them at seven wins.

Seven by Thanksgiving. And you still have two games left against the crappy commanders. You have the Eagles in the last week of the season. Who knows what that game is going to mean for Philadelphia. You play the Colts. They're not that good of a football team. So this Giants team will be in the playoffs. And I know we could all look at the roster.

I know it was trending on Twitter yesterday. Worst five and one team ever. And no one's saying they're a great team. But they're a team that finds a way to be in every game.

And even when they look like they're about to get knocked out, they then start to throw counter punches and you have no response. So that's what I'll say about the Giants. Heck of an effort by the Giants.

The Giants are going to the playoffs this year. Now, on the other side, if I'm a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, I'm sick to my stomach. Because Baltimore has teased you all year. This team should be one of the better teams in the NFL. This team should be a Super Bowl contender. When you have Lamar Jackson, who is a great football player. But don't you think that defense misses their old defensive coordinator in Wink Martindale? Because I don't know what the heck has happened to this defense. It's inconceivable to me for this Baltimore Ravens team six weeks into the season.

Not to just be three and three. But to blow three big leads. Not one you couldn't find the way to finish.

Not one you couldn't find the way to get back in the football game and overcome a little bit of adversity. This team is up 35 to 14 in the fourth quarter against Miami. Dolphins won 42 to 38. The Ravens then were up 20 to 3 in the second quarter against the Bills, the best team in the league. And Buffalo comes back 23 to 20. You couldn't get another touchdown, a field goal, just to get that game into overtime? And then yesterday, 20 to 10 in the fourth quarter up against the Giants.

The Giants ends up winning 24 to 20. John Harbaugh right now, you better fix this and you got to fix it quickly. Because if you missed the playoffs back to back years with Lamar Jackson, that would be an embarrassment. But what in the world got into that defense?

They're spotting you huge leads and you can't finish. I'll make the argument. This Baltimore Ravens team, they should be undefeated. The way that we're talking about the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills, that's how we should be talking about Baltimore.

But we're not. Because that defense with the game on the line or that defense with the lead turns into Swiss cheese. That defense couldn't stop a nosebleed with the lead right now.

It's crazy. It is unbelievable how bad that defense becomes when they get a lead. And I don't know if they just shut down and get complacent and think the game is over. Or if there's maybe a mental block with what's happened in their first two losses where all of a sudden you get a lead.

And it's then, uh-oh, now we got to keep up that intensity. And we lost that game up against the Dolphins. We lost that game up against Buffalo. And then they panic and just make mistakes.

But that is bonkers. And out of this world that the Ravens are 3-3. And if I would have told you they would have been up 35-14, 20-3, 20-10 in those three losses, you would have never thought in a million years they would have lost all three of those games.

But here we are. You look at this NFL season so far, it's wacky and it's crazy. The Jets are 4-2. Jets fans are actually confident right now. You got the Packers struggling.

You got the Rams. They win yesterday and it felt like a loss. Tom Brady, he's at Robert Kraft's wedding on Friday night.

He was a no-show to the game yesterday. That Buccaneers offense has not found the rhythm with Brady, the Tom Brady at a single point this season through the first six games. We're talking about teams. And remember the beginning of the year, the NFC? Only three teams could get to the Super Bowl. Packers, Buccaneers, and Rams. We have to have legitimate conversations about those teams maybe missing the playoffs. So right now, here's the poll question today at Zach Guild.

Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B, you could also find it at CBS Sports Radio. Between these four teams, who are you most concerned about? Ravens, Packers, Bucks, or Rams?

Early returns. 10.3% say the Ravens. 12.8% say the Rams. 16.7% go with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And then running away with this, and you don't want to run away with this poll question. 60.3% say the Green Bay Packers, who when the Packers made that deficit that they had to 17-10 yesterday. I thought okay, it'd be same old Jets. I know the Jets are a young roster with a lot of talent. The Packers would come back and win at legendary Lambeau Field.

No. They lost yesterday. And the Jets dominated them. So the Packers get two L's from the Giants and the Jets in back-to-back weeks. You look around at these four teams, there's a difference, one big difference, if you group together the Ravens, the Bucks, and the Rams, and then you isolate the Green Bay Packers. The Baltimore Ravens should still probably win their division. You look at Baltimore, no one else really intimidates you in that AFC North. Steelers are 2-4.

Congratulations, they beat Tampa yesterday. The Browns' defense is horrible. And the Bengals had to come from behind up against the Saints. When the Saints are without Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, and Jarvis Landry. Now we got a call from Dennis Allen before the game to ask Hickey to be wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints. And the Bengals need to come from behind. Their line's horrible. Trey Hendrickson made a boneheaded play, a terrible roughing the passer after the Saints had back-to-back-to-back penalties.

Third and 25, the ball is thrown for 10 yards and then you clobber the quarterback. So I'm not trusting that Bengals team anymore. Baltimore should still win the division. Then you look at the NFC South. Panthers suck. Saints stink. Falcons, they fight their 3-3. Are the Falcons going to get to 9-10 wins?

No. So the Bucks will win that division. Ravens will still win their division.

The Bucks will still win their division. Then you get into the NFC West and the NFC North. And those two teams, one of them are going to be my answer on who I'm most concerned about. Is it the Rams or is it the Packers? I do think the 49ers are going to win the NFC West. But they just lost yesterday to the Atlanta Falcons.

I don't care if you're missing nine defenders. You lost to the Falcons and now you're going to go up against next week a P.O. Kansas City team. I know that game's in Santa Clara, but Kansas City coming off a loss? I love Kansas City this upcoming weekend. Yeah, the Rams offense looks horrible.

Yeah, the line stinks. You would think Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and Cooper Cupp are going to get the 49ers a run for their money. But in the NFC North, the Vikings, whether you think they're as great as the record says they are or not, they're 5-1. And that offense can put up points with Justin Jefferson, with Dalvin Cook, you have Adam Thielen, Kirk Cousins will win you enough games. Like I legitimately think six weeks into the season, I would not have said this before the start of the year, that the Vikings are going to win that division. So you're going to have the Green Bay Packers having to battle and fight it out for a wildcard spot this year. And their line stinks right now. Rodgers has no chemistry with these wide receivers.

You wonder how invested Rodgers is. And that Green Bay defense that we thought turned the corner the last two years is now starting to take a step back and they look like they missed Z'Darius Smith. So I'm concerned about Green Bay and the Rams missing the playoffs, but if I had to pick between one, I think there's a better shot that the Rams make the playoffs because they'll win their division. Compared to at this point, Green Bay finding a way to improve and then take down the Vikings who already have a good head start at 5-1. Who are you most concerned about between these four teams? Ravens, Packers, Bucks, Rams. 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS.

8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. It is the Zach Yelp Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, maybe the biggest offseason acquisition of the year came up in a big way yesterday. We talk about it next. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13th and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. And you can think of 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. I think one thing is clear through the first six weeks of the NFL season. The three best teams in the NFL in no order.

The Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills, and even though they lost yesterday, it's still the Kansas City Chiefs. But that Buffalo team, it wasn't a revenge game yesterday. And I said that on Friday and I'll say it again. A lot of people go, oh, revenge game. You got to win that game. And then it will wipe away what happened in the AFC divisional round last year.

No nonsense. Because we said the same thing last year after they lost in the AFC championship game two years ago, heading into that regular season matchup. Revenge game, revenge game, revenge game for the Bills.

And the Bills embarrassed the Chiefs and Arrowhead 38 to 20. Then in the postseason, you all know what happened. They had the lead, 13 seconds to go.

No squib kick. Mahomes right down the field, field goal. Coin toss, Kansas City wins. Then Kansas City gets Travis Kelce in the end zone and they win. So you didn't really get any revenge from that playoff loss because you lost again in the postseason.

But yesterday's game was important for one reason and one reason only. Because right now when it's clear that the two best teams in the AFC are Buffalo and Kansas City. If they tie at the end of the year with the same record, the road to Glendale, Arizona for the Super Bowl, Super Bowl 57 will travel through Orchard Park and through Buffalo. So you're going to have to go into Buffalo where the fans are spraying ketchup and mustard and wing sauce and jumping through tables and it being a raucous atmosphere to then go to the Super Bowl. And I do believe the Bills will be the number one seed. I do think that the Bills are the best team in football.

No disrespect to Philadelphia, no disrespect to Kansas City. But I said this in the offseason, I said it to Brandon Beam when he joined us on the show, that Von Miller going to Buffalo probably was going to be the biggest offseason acquisition. The two that I were considering, and everyone was talking about Devonta Adams, everyone was talking about Tyreek Hill, everyone was talking about Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson. The two that I were looking at was the Bengals three offensive linemen they brought in, Karras, Capa, Collins.

They have not performed well, but you need to protect Joe Burrow. And the other was Von Miller because Von Miller is the missing piece for the Buffalo Bills to win a Super Bowl. And the reason I say that is because he has Super Bowl experience.

He's won two rings and he has a MVP, a Super Bowl MVP. And you look last year in that playoff game, the Buffalo Bills with having a lead and the game was over with 13 seconds to go, ran around like a bunch of chickens that just had their heads cut off. There was no voice of reason.

There was no calm presence. And there was no person on that defense for a number one rated defense in a league that stepped up and made the play when necessary. Von Miller was brought in to be that missing piece to win the Super Bowl. And you saw it yesterday because everyone gets caught up with the Teron Johnson interception at the end of the game. And Mahomes panicked. He threw the ball away too quickly and he made an ill-advised throw. The reason why he did that was because Von Miller was breathing right down his neck.

And he had to panic and throw the ball away. That's why you give Von Miller all those years. That's why you give Von Miller all that money.

And in a huge game, the biggest game of the season so far up until this point in the entire NFL, Von Miller not only showed up, but he balled out and he balled out with the game on the line to secure the victory. And you saw yesterday what the Bills were missing last year. Now you have to still find a way to get to the Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl because as I told Brandon Bean, and I know he won't say it, this is Super Bowl or Bust.

And I'm not talking about just getting there. Bringing home the Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo this year, it is Super Bowl or Bust. And there's a lot of uncertainty in the NFL.

The most complete roster in the NFL is the Buffalo Bills. They have maybe the best quarterback in the league. You have a top five wide receiver in the league. Give Stefan Diggs his praise and his credit. Gabe Davis is starting to become a superstar. That is how good Gabe Davis is.

He could be a number one wide receiver on a whole lot of other teams. Dawson Knox comes up with the big clutch play. That offensive line is good anchored by Deion Dawkins. The defense is so well rounded.

The only concern that you have is are you asking Josh Allen to do too much? Now when we had Deion Dawkins on the show on Friday, he goes, that's the game plan. That's the way we designed it up. It's all intentional.

Don't be concerned by it. That's why I was pressing him. Maybe Buffalo should go on out there and get Christian McCaffrey. Can James Cook, Motor Singletary, Zach Moss step up and deliver when you need to at the end of the year to run the football?

That I don't know. But that's their only flaw right now through the first six weeks of the season is you're asking Josh Allen right now to be your leading rusher. Buffalo didn't even play their best game yesterday. There were a lot of mistakes. That game was lower scoring than I thought it was going to be and both teams made mistakes. Early on, Allen fumbled the ball away, my home-story interception.

There were mistakes to be made. And Kansas City right before the end of the half did what they did in the AFC Divisional game. Went right down the field and got a field goal. And in that moment when it was 10-10, you're wondering which way it was going to go and Buffalo in a back and forth game at the end got the lead, scored a touchdown. There was a lot of time left and Von Miller stepped up and made a play. Hickey, if I'm a Bills fan, I know it's only six weeks in.

I know this is an organization that they've been dead for the last two decades. They've been teased, though, in that run where they went to back-to-back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls with Jim Kelly and lost all four of them. You've got to be on Cloud 9 if you're a Buffalo team today and you're a Buffalo fan today. Not only just because you won the game up against Kansas City, it's the way that you won. And we have to start giving Brandon Bean more credit because the roster that he's assembled in Buffalo and you have Sean McDermott there who's a tremendous coach in this league and waited years and years and years for his opportunity.

The coaching and the development of these players and how many players are now starting to ball out and play at an elite level at the right time. It's just the perfect storm for Buffalo to finally deliver those passionate, loyal, amazing fans their first ever Lombardi Trophy. And you said it, the way they won I think is even more important than the win itself. You get obviously the interception to close it out, but you hold Patrick Mahomes down to one of the worst games of the season. Even without a tired kill, we've seen this offense no matter who it is, running backs, receivers, tight ends, make contributions, make big plays so far this year. So it's nice that the defense after last year obviously doesn't make it any better, doesn't ease any of the pain you feel from last January.

But the style makes you believe that okay, we are one step closer to kind of righting that wrong from last year. And also too, you mentioned it, they desperately I think need to get more home playoff games, especially when you're playing against the Chiefs. So Mahomes has never played in a road playoff game in his career.

You need him coming to Buffalo this year and that win gets you one step closer to making that a reality. I went to a Bills playoff game last year, it was the Patriots-Bills game. That atmosphere, a negative two degrees, I've never seen anything like it and I lived in Philadelphia when the Eagles won the Super Bowl and I lived two blocks from the art museum where the parade was. Those Bills fans, Bills and Eagles fans, if that's a Super Bowl this year, that may be the craziest atmosphere between Eagles fans and Bills fans that the NFL has ever seen.

Because they're kind of the same breed of fans. And you saw the atmosphere last night in Philadelphia, it was unbelievable. But being at a Bills playoff game, that was right before the game they bring out Thurman Thomas and they bring out Jim Kelly and I looked at my buddy Ray and we're there as Patriot fans and I go, uh oh, we're screwed. Just with the roar of the crowd right from the jump when you bring out those two Bills legends.

And if you have to go to negative two degree Buffalo or five degree Buffalo, even if you get a nice little weather day, depending on what team comes in, right off the bat, that's a huge advantage. Like if the Los Angeles Chargers have to go to a divisional round game up against the Buffalo Bills, I love Justin Herbert, I love Austin Eckler, I love Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Are those guys going to be as high octane of an offense as they can be in Buffalo?

Nope. And those fans will just make that place so loud. I'm following on Instagram last night, the Bills players go back to the airport, this is week six, week six. And you have thousands of fans at the airport lined up chanting MVP, MVP, MVP for Josh Allen and watching all the players get off the plane to their cars and then doing the Let's Go Buffalo chant. That was enormous because the only team that could potentially tie you record wise in the AFC this year is the Chiefs and now you have the tiebreaker. And I look at the AFC right now, you could only really feel good about two teams, the Bills and the Chiefs, like the Jets are a nice story at four and two. The Dolphins are starting to slow down, I know they get two back, they're three and three. Bailey Zappi's a nice little run, but the Patriots aren't a damn good team this year.

The Chargers, whenever you expect them to do something positive, they charge her. The Broncos stink, the Raiders stink, the Ravens can't close out a game and protect the lead to save their life. The Bengals offensive line is in a horrible state. Now you don't trust anyone in the AFC South, like let's just line up the AFC Championship game right now unless you have some crazy upset happen in the postseason, which always happens.

But I would be pretty stunned if we don't get Bills and Chiefs in the AFC title game and the Bills will be the one seed and Kansas City is going to win the AFC West and they'll be a two seed. And for the first time yesterday, Ryan, and I don't want to overreact too much here, but you did see the importance of one Tyreek Hill to Kansas City and with him not being there. If they have Tyreek, they may win that game yesterday. And now Tyreek Hill is on pace to break the most yards receiving in a single season. And on pace to have more yards than Calvin Johnson. And who's he been playing with that quarterback?

Tawatunga Vailoa and Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson? I thought yesterday they missed Tyreek Hill and I know that could be reactionary. I know that could be in the moment because for most of the season they haven't missed Tyreek Hill and they'll be able to survive and flourish without him. I thought though, against a great team like Buffalo, your real rival, the one team that's standing in your way, they could have used Tyreek Hill yesterday, I thought. And especially just having that threat alone of him going deep, taking the top off the defense that we saw open up other opportunities. Right. There was no real reason to be scared if you're Buffalo that someone's going to go deep and take the top off. And that's how you can play more aggressive and kind of abuse the receivers closer to line of scrimmage.

Easier said than done. And we know Mahomes could run around and Mahomes can turn garbage into gold over and over and over again. If you're going up against Kansas City, your defense, their number one emphasis should just be Travis Kelce.

As much respect as I have to Patrick Mahomes and he could probably hit those other guys. If you get beat by the other wide receivers, I could live and die by that. You just can't allow Travis Kelce to beat you. And we saw the Raiders, right?

He only had seven catches, had four touchdowns on what, 25 yards receiving? You just can't allow Kelce to take over the game. And if you do that, you'll be able, if you have a high octane offense and somewhat of a good defense, be able to beat Kansas City this year. So, man, if you're a Buffalo Bills fan, you're jumping up and down like a fat kid in a candy store today.

And this is that Yelp show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, what a weekend in college football. Down goes Alabama. Tennessee wins. Typical Pac-12. Down goes USC. Utah wins. Oklahoma State, a choke job up against TCU. TCU, the Horned Frogs, undefeated with their head football coach, Sonny Dykes. When we look to the race of four teams remaining, how is this going to play out the rest of the way? Who's going to be in the college football playoff this year?

We'll examine that on the other side. And Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum. You know me.

I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13th and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. Indochino makes it easy to craft a look that suits you perfectly. Suits start at just $449 and fitted shirts start at just $89.

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You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. What a weekend of college football. That was the first great, and I don't use that word often, but great weekend we had this year of college football.

We're from noon to the final game. It was must-see TV, big time teams, college football playoff aspirations on the line, and there was no game that was ever over. It looked like Tennessee was going to run Alabama out of the building, then Alabama looks like they're going to win the game. They missed the field goal, and the next thing you know with 15 seconds, Hendon Hooker, are you kidding me? Gets that team in field goal range, and I don't know about you, Hickey. I thought that Tennessee was going to miss the field goal.

I still can't believe how that kick wasn't blocked or how that kick went past the crossbar. It was a knuckleball kick, and it was not a short kick, so that game was wild. Unfortunately, thoughts and prayers, Hickey's Penn State Nittany Lions did not show up, and man, that defense just got carved up by that Michigan rushing attack. And then you look at the other two big games. I told you I was most excited for Oklahoma State TCU, and I guarantee that that game was going to be close. I thought Oklahoma State was going to win, and for a while it looked like Oklahoma State was going to be the superior team. And then the next thing you know, that game's in overtime, and I know TCU scores first. Oklahoma State didn't have a touchdown in the second half, which is inconceivable to me, and had to settle for so many field goals. Every time you looked up, you thought you were seeing a field goal attempt. But for Oklahoma State, I thought, and I'm not usually Mr. Analytics, I'm usually, okay, take the extra point. You're on the road in overtime, your offense hasn't been clicking in the second half. I thought Gundy was going to go for two and try to win the game right there.

He doesn't. They then go back on offense. They get the field goal, and TCU gets the game-winning touchdown, and a heck of a job by Sonny Dykes in his first year at TCU.

I know he's been around four other, three other times as a head coach in college football. But to be undefeated and take down Oklahoma State, that was just magnificent. And then you take a look at the USC-Utah game, great atmosphere in Utah. But USC, I thought they were going to once again just embarrass, not going into the game, I thought it'd be a good game, but USC would win. But it looked like USC was going to blow out Utah, and they probably should have. And Utah's such a frustrating team because on paper before the year, they were almost everybody's pick in the Pac-12.

People were saying, legit college football playoff contender. You lose right at the goal line to start off the year up against Florida where Cam Rising throws the football to the other team. And you take a glance at, they had one other loss as well. And I'm thinking, man, going into this game, yes, I do believe USC should win, but it would be typical Pac-12.

If you get Utah, who is on paper the better team going into the year already with two losses, finding a way to win the game. And they did find a way to win the game. And it was all because of one player and one player only, and that was Cam Rising.

He was sensational with the touchdown, the two-point conversion. He took matters into his own hands, and they get the victory 43 to 42. And I loved, loved, loved, loved, and I thought it was the right call where you're going up against USC. You already have two losses on the year. You get the touchdown, and then you go for two and you go for the win.

You had nothing to lose. Because even if you lose that game, yeah, I know that you're still trying to get to a Pac-12 championship and all that, but your college football aspirations are already shot and out the window. I thought it was a great job by Kyle Whittingham to go for two. And I was surprised in the other game that Mike Gundy didn't go for two. Your thoughts, Hickey, on both those scenarios? I guess I'd be disingenuous to say that I liked Utah going for two and I didn't mind Oklahoma State not going for two.

So with that said, I guess I'd have to walk back or reevaluate my thinking because you are right. The way that game is going in the second half down there with TCU, it was one of those both teams rather, the losing teams, Oklahoma State and USC, how they lost that game. Because not only do you race out to an early lead. Especially with the plays their quarterback were making. Spencer Sanders and Caleb Williams, I tweeted this out. He was a cheat code with the way he was running around, stopping on a dime, throwing the ball across body 30 yards down the field. He was a cheat code and they lost the game. Making some huge throws and felt like any time either Utah or TCU got some momentum and made a big play to kind of get back in the game.

Boom. There's Spencer Sanders, there's Caleb Williams making a big throw, a big run. And they just kept pulling momentum away. And then the next thing you know, it was just tie game. You go to overtime, you know, with TCU and Oklahoma State. Still, honestly, to this day, 40 hours later, I don't know how Oklahoma State lost.

And I still can't believe USC lost. Oklahoma State was up 24 to 13 at halftime. First drive out of the half, they get a field goal, 27 to 13. TCU answers back with a field goal to make it 27 to 16. Then they get a field goal. When they're up 30 to 16 with, you were in the fourth quarter because then you had a punt to punt. And that TCU touchdown didn't come until 922 left.

It's 30 to 23, so you could see a comeback. Then Sanders throws a pick, you punt again, you punt again. The fact that that game gets into overtime, you lost all momentum offensively. And in that spot, TCU gets a touchdown. You then answer back knowing that if you take the PAT, you go right back on offense. I would just say, let's line up. We had a game last year in the Big 12 championship game, lose right at the goal line.

I would have just said, let's go for the two. But Gundy didn't do that. Then his team gets a field goal, TCU walks it off with the touchdown. Especially when you're on the road two and you lost momentum. I couldn't believe in the moment. And this is not me second guessing it. In the moment when I'm watching that game, I'm saying, go for two, go for two, go for two.

And I'm usually against it. But it was just the field. And they didn't go for two and I thought it ended up costing them.

I put the bunch of other things. But in that decision, you could have got all the momentum back and won the game right there in one shot. I would have done it. And then you see, Whittingham on the reverse side of it. That game was looking like that USC was going to blow them out. Especially when it's 28-14.

Then that game gets good. Back and forth in a crazy second half. Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. Utah, Rising put the team on his back.

And you basically just rode your big horse all throughout. That had 415 yards passing. Two touchdowns through the air. And then on the ground had 60 yards rushing and three rushing touchdowns. He had five touchdowns in the game. I know Dalton Kincaid, the tight end, did a nice job and he got hurt late.

16 receptions, 234 yards and a touchdown. But that game was won because Ham Rising said, I'm not letting us lose another close one. I'm not letting us lose another heartbreak. Like the way that we lost to Florida. The way that UCLA beat us by 10 points. I thought Whittingham, the aggressiveness was the perfect moment for the game and Cam Rising stepped up in a big way.

Now, you get into the tricky part of this conversation. What happens here on out in the college football playoff? First off, what we saw over this weekend saw, what you saw over the weekend in college football, I want to make this point. When you have big time games, I love when they're actually on a school's campus. Because imagine if Alabama, Tennessee was at a neutral site. Imagine if USC and Utah was at a neutral site. Again, it's conference games, so usually those conference games are at the home school. But when you get a big game like that, the atmosphere this weekend at Knoxville was insane.

The atmosphere in Utah, insane. It was just great college crowds. But now, you look at the college football playoff picture, here are my thoughts. One Big Ten team is getting in. Michigan is going to be undefeated at the end of the year.

Ohio State is going to be undefeated at the end of the year. Whoever wins the game is going to get into the college football playoff. Two SEC teams are still going to get in.

And the two you could pluck from, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama. Now, Tennessee still plays Georgia. Let's just say Tennessee loses.

If you're a Tennessee football fan, you're then rooting for Georgia to win the SEC title game. Assuming Alabama doesn't drop another game, and Bama's in that SEC title game. For Bama, you've got to win out.

But you will get two teams in, one way or another, out of a combination of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. And I guess you could even throw Ole Miss into the conversation and see how crazy we're going to get with Ole Miss and the job that Jackson Dart and Lane Kiffin are doing. And then that final spot, I don't think Clemson, in terms of resume, is deserving. But they're going to go undefeated and they're going to win the ACC.

And then Clemson probably does get in. But you look at the way the Big 12 has played and the Pac-12 has played this year. You're going to need one team in the Pac-12 or the Big 12 to go undefeated.

And you already have teams that have had hiccups and have stumbled. But the Pac-12 and the Big 12 are by far and away better than the ACC this year. However, if Clemson goes undefeated, they're probably maybe not ranked number four because you've got to see what happens where they rank the SEC team and where that goes.

But they're probably going to be that fourth team in, in terms of, if you tell me, two SEC teams are getting in and also a Big 10 team is going to get in, Ron. I'm fascinated to see the discussion between Clemson and if you can get, whether it's an undefeated UCLA. Well, if it's an undefeated UCLA, I'd give the edge to UCLA. TCU. Give the edge to TCU, they'll have better quality wins. And if you have a one-loss champ. If you know how that works, those conferences just beat up on one another. Whenever you ride the momentum wave with one of those schools in the Big 12 or the Pac-12, they end up losing a game that they shouldn't lose. So could there be a debate, one-loss Big 12 champ, one-loss Pac-12 champ against an undefeated Clemson? You know what the committee's going to go.

Oh, the eye test. Oh, we get Dabo and Diju on the lay-in. They'll put them in. So what, you know what we need? We need Clemson to lose a game. That's what we need.

We need Clemson to lose a game because I do think the Big 12 teams and the Pac-12 teams this year are just better than what the ACC has to offer. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. News Brief next. Explore more at imlistening.org. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Luke Combs. I am somebody who has struggled with anxiety a lot. A couple ways or tools, I guess you would say, to maintain my mental health is making myself aware to the things that I know I'm prone to.

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