1 Improvement For Each Wild Card Loser (Hour 2)

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. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio Wildcard Weekend in the books as it did conclude last night with the Dallas Cowboys taking it and blowing out the Buccaneers. And now let's go down to Dallas and welcome in the co-host of Sean and RJ on 105.3, the fan in Dallas.

And that of course is RJ Choppy, always kind enough to join us on the Zach Gelb show. RJ, how you been? I'm doing well, man. Could be better today. How are you?

I'm doing fantastic. So was last night and the way that the game did play out, especially Brady being in his career 7-0 before last night against the Cowboys. Was that surprising to you or did you kind of look at the Bucs as a team that was a game below.500 and you expected it to be lopsided?

Yes, both. I mean, honestly, that's kind of how we felt going in. There was always a little bit of intrigue just because it was Tom Brady.

The mystique, the aura, whatever you want to call it. But at the end of it, it's like, okay, they had 17 games to prove who they were. And generally I feel that what you are over 17 games is a pretty accurate representation of what you're going to be in the post. There's exceptions to that and everything, but when you struggle in that division, the NFC style, it's not very good. It isn't like the AFC West or anything. It made us wonder, okay, look, they're favored on the road.

They probably should win. I know the last game of the year stunk for the Cowboys, but when you get right down to it, they should have won that football game going in. And they played exactly like it. Now, I didn't think Dak was going to play that way. He played as good of a game as you possibly could play in a playoff. But man, that was a really impressive performance.

I'll preface my next comment by saying, even though I refer to the Cowboys as the drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys on the air, you're right. I was impressed with Dak last night because I think Dak sometimes gets overly criticized and the criticism is too extreme. I'm not saying he's a great quarterback, he's a Super Bowl winning quarterback. I think he's a very good quarterback. But coming off that performance, RJ against the commanders, I didn't think he would be flawless like he was last night. Yeah, no, I mean, he is inconsistent at times. I mean, you could flip a coin and wonder what he's going to be in that game.

But I do think he's unfairly criticized. I think that comes with the territory of being the quarterback of the Cowboys. Our show ends at 10 o'clock Central Time, so first take and all them are getting on in our final hour. And we kind of joke, it's like, man, what kind of Cowboy Top are they going to bring today? It's really all they talk about.

It's like, guys, there's more things out there. But you definitely get more scrutiny. And on the flip side, you'll get more praise by being a member of the Cowboys. I don't think Michael Gallup's a household name if he plays for Jacksonville.

But everybody knows who Michael Gallup is, or what football fans do. And Dak's going to get unfairly criticized. Romo got unfairly criticized.

And I think that's just the nature of the position and the team he plays for. What did you learn about the Cowboys last night? Well, I learned that we kind of overstated the finish of the season for them.

We looked at it with two fine tooth of a comb. This is a good football team. You don't win 12 games on accident very often in the NFL.

I think the Vikings did. But in general, you don't win 12 games on accident. This is a really good team. And to do that in back-to-back years, I think we overlooked them coming into the postseason thinking, same old Cowboys, same old this, same old that. They'll find a way to blow it. And they didn't. They found a way to blow a team out.

That's the interesting thing. In the 21 years that I've done radio here at DFW, that's probably the best playoff win out, maybe including the 0-9 win over Philadelphia, which was a blowout too. This was an impressive game.

RJ Choppy here with us. Is McCarthy definitely back next year? Does this weekend's result matter in terms of him potentially getting fired? Oh no, he's back. I never bought into the fact that he was going to be gone if they lost anyway, even this past week.

You win the 12 games back-to-back years, the players like him. Jerry doesn't have the quick trigger that everybody thinks. Everybody thinks that he's George Steinbrenner or Al Davis.

That's really not him. He did it one time with Chan Gailey. Other than that, he's never had that. Wade Phillips got four-plus years. Jason Garrett got a full decade. Even Dave Campbell got three straight 5-11 years. I just don't see him doing that.

I don't think that's who he really is. And quite frankly, he's got the same guy that he used to be. There's other people in charge here, not in charge, but have a voice, including Will McQuay, including Stephen Jones, and Mike McCarthy to an extent.

Those other two guys just wouldn't go down that road. We talked about some of the criticism directed to Dak at times being unfair. Do you feel that same way with Mike McCarthy? Because it seems for a guy that won a Super Bowl that for the last few years it's just been, when is he getting fired? Well, I think it's the whole coaching staff. When do you ever hear about an offensive coordinator? All you hear about, honestly, like today, I just found out the Chargers' OC was Joe Lombardi. All I ever heard about was Brandon Staley, right? But here with the Cowboys, it's like, oh, Kevin Moore stinks, or Dan Quinn is the next big thing.

He's the godsend. We forget. So many people either call into our show or text into our show talking about, we want Dan Quinn. He went to a Super Bowl. I'm like, guys, Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl. We're forgetting that. Yeah, I think that the same thing applies to him.

I mean, he could be overly praised or overly criticized, and I just think that comes with the territory. So when you guys have, and you guys have Jerry Jones on each and every week, when you had him on last week and you guys asked about McCarthy, R.J. Choppy, I thought that was a very ambiguous response because you could take the no as, okay, yeah, we're not going to fire him, or it was more so I don't even want to go there. You interpreted that no from Jerry Jones as he would definitely be back?

I assumed he would be back based on that response, but I do understand it was kind of ambiguous, right? I just didn't think that he would actually pull the trigger. Jerry likes to, at times, kind of scare people. He likes to scare you into thinking maybe you work harder or maybe you do more things. He kind of likes to have people on edge. He loves to be in the news. He's got this philosophy that there's no such thing as bad publicity, and he loves having, like when he sees those headlines on TV, I think he's sitting there rubbing his hands together like the dude in the yellow suit behind a tree, that meme. I think that's what he's doing. He absolutely loves it.

It's a great comparison. R.J. Choppy here with us. So confidence now coming off the big win, the euphoria of last night, heading into this matchup coming up on Sunday against the Niners.

I'm in the minority at the station. I think that this is an okay matchup for them, not because they match up well with San Francisco, but because they've got the quarterback advantage. I know Brock Bertie's played well, but I'll take that over Brock Bertie any day.

The one I did not want to go to Philadelphia. If Jalen Hurts is healthy, that's a really bad matchup for the Cowboys. I hate when the Cowboys have to face a quarterback that can move, and Jalen Hurts can certainly move.

Jalen Jones can move too, but I just don't think the Giants are as good as Philadelphia. I think they have a chance in San Fran. I know San Fran number 2 through 53 on the roster is much better than the Cowboys.

There's no doubt about that. But if Dak plays the way, let's just say he plays 90% of what he did last night, then they're a tough team to beat. They're going to be a really tough out in the NFC. When you look back at last year's game, the two things that stood out to me from that wildcard round performance was them just not being ready, and then late, obviously, the debacle at the end. How do you think that team is different from last year to this year when they go up against the Niners this time around? One of the big things they wanted to do in the offseason was get tougher. I don't know that they necessarily needed to get tougher, but I don't think they were prepared to get punched in the mouth the way San Fran did. When they showed up to that game and San Fran hit them in the face, man, I do not think they were ready for that. Deebo's got to be a nightmare to tackle.

I can only imagine what a nightmare he is to try to tackle. I think the difference is that they're prepared for San Fran in terms of they know that this team is physical and they will punch you. I don't think they were ready for that last year. I don't think they expected it.

I thought they saw, you know what, they got Jimmy G over there. They're not going to be good. They're not going to be—they're stuck into the playoffs.

We can sleepwalk through this game. I don't think they're going to fall in that same trap this year. By the way, it was kind of forgotten about because I guess he just wasn't healthy, and then you had also the airplane video as well much later on. Was Odell and the Cowboys ever close, or was that just Jerry trying to stir up some drama?

That's a great question. I thought they were very close. I don't know what happened. I know Jerry loves to stir up and be in the news, but I think they really wanted him. I know Jerry did. I don't know if everybody else in the organization was on board, and I do think that that is the one misnomer, that Jerry just does what he wants. He doesn't. Stephen and Wilma Clay have got a big voice.

Whoever the coach is at the time is always going to have a big voice. I think Jerry did want him. He was intrigued by the idea.

He loves stars. He loves names, and I think they were kind of close. I don't know what happened. I'm dying to know what happened.

Maybe it was the plane incident, but something happened to make that. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that Jerry was like, we need you this year. This year is super important, and I don't think Odell can commit to that. What's your biggest concern going into this Niners game?

Oh, man. The Cowboys have not, outside of the Tampa game, they have not been a great road team this year. They do score on the road well, but they have not been a great road team. Honestly, I think that it's the matchups on how you're going to deal with Devo, how you're going to deal with the Caffrey, and the Niners' toughness. They are a punch-you-in-the-mouth kind of team, and if the Cowboys can kind of stand up to that and be resilient with it, then they've got a chance.

If not, they can easily get beat. On the way out with R.J. Chappie from the fan in Dallas at Gilb Show CBS Sports Radio, is there some concern from the Cowboys' fan base in the immediate aftermath, as great as last night was, it would be very Cowboy-like the following week to just not really show up against the Niners. Is there that concern, or does last night kind of wash it away from the Cowboy fan? It's funny, we did a poll last week on will the Cowboys beat Tampa, and on Monday it was no, Tampa's going to win the game. By Friday it was Cowboys overwhelmingly on the poll. We did a new poll every day. Today we did one, who's going to win the Cowboy game? Samper and the Cowboys.

Cowboys had 70% of the vote. By the end of the week, I think it's going to be a little bit different. I think fans in general are worst-case scenario, and when you haven't won in advance in 25 years, it really becomes like, okay, we're just waiting.

We're waiting for something bad to happen. I think some of that was gone last night. That was a performance that we haven't seen from this team in two and a half decades. So I think it's still there.

I think it's the, okay, we're waiting for you to let us down. But a little bit of that is gone. I'll tell you, and you should be celebrating a win like that, but I saw a lot of positivity last night from Cowboys fans that I've never heard from in years, just starting to chirp at me on Twitter last night and basically tell me how great this team was. So I'm not surprised with the positivity, especially after last night. Chefs were out.

The chess was out, right? People are walking into work just happy if they even went in. They may not have even gone into work today or so. Well, the Cowboys fans thought they ended Brady's career last night. I don't think Brady's making his decision off a loss to the Cowboys. No, I don't think so either.

I don't think they are either, or he is. But yeah, I mean, it was one of those wins. I'll tell you, it felt like this morning that this team advanced to the Super Bowl. I'm like, wait a second.

Yeah, right? This is like two wins to go here. But even Jerry this morning was going, oh, it feels so good, it tastes so good to win that game.

And I'm like, man, guys, we got like two more wins here. Did he get that McRib sandwich this morning from McDonald's with like a ton of salt? Oh, man, I would say he was a McGriddle guy, right?

Oh, McGriddle guy. I don't know what that was. That was the highlight of that crappy hard knocks with the Cowboys. Anyway, RJ Choppy, enjoy the rest of the week. Enjoy the game coming up this weekend.

Oh, one more before we let you go. Is there actually, you'd rather be playing than not playing clearly, but are the Cowboys really perturbed that the 49ers got a little bit extra rest for this game? So the fact that the, not that they got extra rest, but I don't think the Cowboys liked playing on Monday. Teams that are playing on five days rest for seven days rest of the playoffs are nine and 24. They don't like the fact that they had to play a Monday game and travel.

That was it. But look, they do have a good record this year on short rest. They're undefeated on short rest this year. But yeah, they didn't like the fact that they're going to have to fly from Tampa to Dallas, then VFW over to San Francisco in five days. They didn't like that. They get it. They understand why ESPN wants that game on Monday Night Football and national TV in a primetime slot.

But I don't think they like the idea of having a shorter week than everybody else. Good deal, RJ. Appreciate the time.

Thank you. 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, 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, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Who's the fourth best quarterback that's left in the postseason when you look at the options of Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, Daniel Jones, Jalen Hurts, or Brock Purdy? Who's the guy that you have the most confidence in?

That's the way that I'll ask it moving forward the rest of the postseason, Hickey. This is tough. This is tough. I have to say it. It has to be Brock Purdy.

Wow. Has to be Brock Purdy. He's not had a bad game. Part of that is also over Jalen Hurts, who's playing MVP ball, because I don't think Jalen Hurts is healthy. Oh, he's not on the injury report now. Well, right, but I mean, Nick Sirani was basically talking about how much pain he was in after the week 18 game against the Giants.

That tells you right then and there. He's nowhere. He's not close to 100%. I gave him credit for tougher now and he's very tough kid. He is not near 100%.

That is concerning. And again, Brock Purdy, small sample size. Part of it's him. Also, part of it's his skill set around him and also part of it's Cal Shannon doing a great job scheming up and calling great plays.

It's all equal right now to Brock Purdy having basically a really good to great game every single week. Now I'm going to argue this in a second. I'll give you my answer in just a second, but I'm laughing at one thing that you just said, and I want to know your ruling on this. You just referred to Jalen Hurts as a kid. You're 28 years old. Are you allowed to refer as a guy that's 24 as a kid? Are you too young still to be calling anyone that's in their 20s a kid? No, I'm probably definitely too young. I'd say I have to reach 40 or it has to be someone that isn't like high schooler or younger for you to refer to that under 13.

Yeah, maybe 16. Like you don't refer to, for example, I can't say Stetson Bennett. You might be older than me at this point. I don't know, like JJ McCarthy or CJ Stroud. Could you refer to them as a kid?

I think it's high schooler or below for our age bracket. I would probably agree with that. So he's a tough guy. I'm sorry. Jalen Hurts is a tough dude.

How about that? Can you say dude? Man. Man. He is a man. I'm a man.

I'm 24. Come on, Hickey. I'm going to go with Jalen Hurts and I get it.

All right. You could have concern about all these quarterbacks and the only concern you could have with Jalen Hurts is the health. That's a big one. But when healthy and there's a difference between you being injured and then you being hurt as well. And I'm looking at that.

I don't know what the percentage is. He's not 100 percent. But with what he's been able to do, the team around him, I will go hurts. I look at Daniel Jones. I think Dave Jones had a remarkable season. I don't know how far he could take the Giants this year. Dak Prescott, there's been inconsistencies even the last night.

He was wonderful. Trevor Lawrence, I don't think he's going to have another game where he throws four interceptions in the first half. But I don't know if there's going to be this weekend he's thrown four touchdown passes against Kansas City. Then for Brock Purdy, he's playing great. But it's still a little premature for me to say that he's the fourth best quarterback remaining in the postseason. Even though the team around him is great and he's playing his ass off. And you saw some jitters in the first few drives and then he knocked that jitters right out of his system and they dominated the Seahawks. But I got to see a little more from Purdy on the big stage before I put him in front of a guy or think about putting him in front of a guy that was right in the MVP conversation up until he got hurt. So I would say right now hurts is the fourth best quarterback remaining in the playoffs.

But that's a different. I'm going to ask that with every guest that we have on the rest of the week. I'm going to ask that question. Outside of Mahomes, Burrow and Allen, who's the quarterback that you think you have the most confidence in out of the other guys that are remaining, the other five guys that are remaining in the NFL postseason? Okay. The teams that lost this past weekend. Let's go back and forth here. Team that lost what they need to do in the immediate future. For the Chargers, I guess the first thing I turn to is now who's going to be the offensive coordinator? Because Brandon Staley in the NFL has been a defensive oriented guy. And the offense, even though, right, there's been moments like last year against the Raiders where that wasn't the reason why they lost. And this year they played a great first half, then did nothing in the second half.

But then you can make the case. Oh, what do the offense really have to do in that game? And they got gifted great field position with all the interceptions that they were forcing off of Trevor Lawrence. But for Brandon Staley, and it's difficult because there's a lot of times that a coach is on the hot seat and let's say they're bringing in a coordinator.

It's not that attractive. But with the potential of Herbert, I think that job is very attractive. And I think you can get into the offensive coordinating job because if you have success with Herbert, who knows, maybe you're the head coach next year in L.A. Or you could kind of parlay that into a job somewhere else as a head coach if you have aspirations to be a head coach. Like you look at the Jets offensive coordinating position and the Chargers offensive coordinating position as they fired Joe Lombardi today.

And we know Michael Furr's not coming back. The Jets don't have a lot of upside, even though the roster's good, in terms of wanting someone to be the offensive coordinator there. I don't think you get a retread guy or not a desirable guy, just kind of like how McAdoo had to go to the Panthers because what other job are you getting this year? Because you don't have a quarterback. And if this is one of your last opportunities to get a job in the NFL and get a coordinating job, are you really going to hit your wagon to the Jets if you are a top offensive coordinating name?

I would say no. You look at the Chargers, you have Mike Williams, you have Keenan Allen, you have Austin Eckler. Obviously you have the quarterback in Justin Herbert.

I would look at that job as a very attractive offensive coordinating job if I'm looking to eventually become a head coach when they compare it to some of the other jobs that are open if you're not ready to become a head coach now and looking to be an offensive coordinator. So for the Chargers, I need a strong offensive coordinator in there where you could allow Brandon Staley to basically just focus on the defense. I know he's still going to delegate, but bring in someone that's respected and has a pass in this league. Let him do the play calling.

And even though a coach always dips his toes right in the water, do we go for it or not? But take some of that burden off the play to Brandon Staley because I'll say this about Brandon Staley, last year too aggressive. This year at times, Hickey, it felt like he let that outside noise get to him and just, I don't know if the numbers back this up, but just the feel, he wasn't aggressive enough.

It seemed like he catered too much to the mob. Don't be that aggressive, don't be that aggressive, which you can't be that aggressive, but it seemed like he totally put the reins on this offseason and halted the aggressiveness of Brandon Staley. So I would allow most of those decisions next year to be made by whoever you bring in as this new offensive coordinator.

That's my thought on the Chargers. Here's a name for it really quick. Frank Reich. Not bad.

Aggressive. Now, I've said this before about Frank Reich. I think he's a really good coordinator. I didn't love him as a head coach. His teams were never really prepared this past year, but he's never had outside of luck. But luck retired, walked away, injured, all that. He's never had a quarterback like Justin Herbert that you look at and you say, wow, this is a guy that he could be a guy for years and years to come because luck was that guy. But unfortunately, we knew the injuries played a role and then he retired out of nowhere. And you got Philip Burves, you know that was going to be one year. Carson Wentz, I know that was his guy, but I knew that was going to be disaster. Matt Ryan, not not a lot of shelf life left in him.

Yeah, I think Frank Reich actually, Hickey, would be a really damn good choice. And he has history with the Chargers organization before, too. Right. Going back, I guess, couldn't even say back home because he was in San Diego by that point.

So maybe not back home, we'll say, but go back to his former team. I'll go establish a run game because part of the reason why they lost the 27-0 lead, they cannot run the ball. They are two pass happy. You have 25 pass plays called after you're up 27-0 compared to eight runs. They cannot run the ball when you know you're running the ball and that's part of the success for playoff teams. All throughout the league is when teams know you're running it, trying to salt away the clock late in the game.

You have to be able to run it. The Chargers absolutely cannot do that. You got to be able to implement a physical run game going forward. So then what would you kind of, because obviously, Austin Eckler is your best running back. And he's a touchdown machine and he had over 100 catches this year and almost 1,000 yards running the football. You're just saying they need to bring in another running back.

Is that what you're saying? A little bit more of a physical running back? Well that and more of a different identity on offense. That's more physical even on the offense line.

Maybe change it up on the interior and try to get some maulers down. It's all levels of play calling on your offense line and your running backs and that all adds to an identity. Well just to remember, you had a rookie right guard in there in Zion Johnson, I thought did a good job this year. Corey Lindsey still a very good center in this league. You got Rashawn Slater back.

I don't think that was highlighted enough. The loss of their left tackle this year in Rashawn Slater because he is an unbelievable young football player. Alrighty, let's go to Seattle. I need to know what the contract length is this offseason on Geno Smith. I don't think they're going to franchise tag him.

Maybe they will, but I would say right now, no. I think ideally if you are committed to bringing Geno Smith back, which it seems they are, it's got to be probably, because he's looking for multiple years, I would only be willing to go three years. Like that's the max for me, three years for Geno Smith.

Unless there is a very easy out for the fourth year, because you got to give yourself some insurance. Because even though Geno played really well on Wild Card Weekend and historically has the most passing yards in a single season by a Seahawks quarterback. I just don't know how sustainable that is. Now he sent a big message up until that fumble in the game and then everything unraveled this past week up against the Niners. But I need to know the years on that contract to see how long Geno really is quote unquote the guy for the Seattle Seahawks.

And I think the years in that contract would be telling I would go no more than three years. Development. That's the word for me for the Seahawks and what they got to do. Because you look at their team to Pete Carroll, John Schneider's credit, they do have a lot of building blocks and possible cornerstone players that are so young in years one and two. All throughout this team on the offensive line, on their defense. You continue to develop.

This team in a year or two is going to be really damn good. Whoa. Hold on. Sorry.

My headphones fell off there. Is that you singing the praises of the Seattle Seahawks now all of a sudden? That's right.

Yep. They've done a better job than I could ever anticipate. And a lot of it's been on players they have gotten in the last year or two ago. I'll give them credit.

Credit where credit is due. Because you really and I'm not going to lie to you like, yeah, obviously we all thought the Broncos won that trade and everyone was wrong on that. But you really took it to Pete Carroll as if after this year he was going to be fired, he was going to be done, he was going to have to retire. You have now done a 180 on the Seattle Seahawks, a complete 180. I would have fired him last year and I didn't give him this year.

So there you go. It shows you why you're not a general manager and owner of an NFL team. A lot of other reasons, too, but we won't need to get into those. Dolphins. I need to know how much after this offseason they really love Tua. Because they say they love Tua. I think they would pick up his fifth year option. They got to make that decision because he just wrapped up year number three. I think they should maybe learn from the Giants, where I do believe the Dolphins had more of a belief in Tua right now than, let's say, the Giants did in Daniel Jones last year when the Giants declined this option. But there really is no risk in terms of what the potential pay would be if Tua does play well this year or this next year in picking up that fifth year option. So I want to know if they do that.

I also want to know if they explore other places. Because the last two years they've said, Tua's the guy, Tua's the guy, we've all rolled our eyes because they flirted with Deshaun Watson. They flirted with Tom Brady. They had their hands in the cookie jar when it came to a bunch of different quarterbacks. And they kept on saying, because they didn't get those quarterbacks, that Tua's their guy, Tua's their guy. Now, there could be a question on how good Tua is, and Tua had a good season, but he also did get hurt. And that is a major concern when you suffer multiple concussions.

One more hit and his career could be over. So I want to see this offseason if they actually do believe Tua is the guy and it's answered in two ways. Do they pick up the fifth year option?

And then also, do they elect to explore other avenues to bring in someone that is either better than Tua or one day can replace Tua Tonga by low? That's what I need to see from the Dolphins. I need to see them address the pass rush situation. Part of the reason why their defense is not very good is they don't really generate a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Yeah, Jalen Phillips is a really good year so far. Or this year, not so far.

It's over. And Christian Wilkins is solid on the inside. But it's like that Bradley Chubb trade, for the most part, big swing and a miss to not work out whatsoever.

Very disappointing. And when you're giving guys like Josh Allen all the time in the world, they're going to pick your part. And that's part of the reason why we've seen it, whether it's the Chargers game, whether it was the 49ers game, whether it was just past weekend in Buffalo as well, they cannot get pressure on the quarterback and they get picked apart, especially when they play good teams. Vikings. Simple. Prevent the defense.

No further explanation. That team is not going to go to the level that Viking fans want them to until they fix that defense. The offense was not the problem this year. I know we could all get on Kirk Cousins for throwing short of the sticks. But he played well enough to go win that game up against the Giants on Sunday. That defense could not stop a nosebleed.

They were absolutely horrible. And you look at some of those pieces, they're getting old on defense, the people that you thought were the known commodities there. I agree. I mean, whether it's free agency, cap space, whether it's draft, whether it's making a trade, you've got to put almost all your resources this offseason into beefing up that defense on all three levels because they were hot garbage. Ravens.

Simple. You're going to get Lamar Jackson's contract done. I need to know that at the end of this offseason, because if you don't, I don't think you're ever getting that deal done long term with Lamar. And if you franchise tag him twice, you're not going to run the risk of having him walk the second time.

So I would look at Lamar this offseason. And if you can't get the deal done, I think you go one or two ways. You could then trade in this offseason or you could then trade in the next offseason because they don't get that Lamar Jackson deal done this offseason. And it's three years in a row where they don't get the deal done. I don't think they'll ever get the deal done if they don't get it done this offseason.

They've got to get back on the same page. Whether it's last offseason with the owner and the GM calling Lamar out for not wanting to contract or talk and then Lamar says no, I'll talk. Whether it's this year, how they handled Lamar's injury and there's not a lot of communication of when he's coming back, if he's coming back.

JK Dobbins speaking out about his role now. This has been a dysfunctional organization all year long. It's been one of the most well-run teams in the last decade by far, at least since Sean Arbo has been there. So they've gone off the rails. They've got to get back.

Got to get back on. So for the Bucks, I'm going to say they're now entering what you would think is a rebuild. And I got to know if they're definitely going to be rebuilding because if Brady comes back, which I don't think is likely, I'm not saying it's impossible, but I don't think it's likely. I do think Tampa that won a Super Bowl three years ago starts to enter that rebuild mode with some of these players that are getting older.

So I got to know this offseason. Is Tampa going through a rebuild or is it just a year where you reassess, retool and kind of fine tune your team to get them back to being a Super Bowl contending team? I think they're moving closer to a rebuild in Tampa than it is to winning another Super Bowl again because I think Brady's walking right out the door. You got to fire Todd Bowles. That's my resolution for you. He's not a very good coach.

I think this is an attractive job if it's open. I think this is a team that is, for me, not close to rebuilding. They're closer to the playoffs next year than they are a rebuild. I think this is an attractive place if Tom Brady does leave. If you want to get a guy like Derek Carthy, you can make the playoffs for the quarterback of that caliber. But it all starts with a head coach. Todd Bowles is not a good head coach. He's a great defensive coordinator, cannot lead your team.

You got to move on. You actually got to bring someone in there that you could go through the process with and not have the job handed to him and actually bring a head coach that can get the most out of this team, which Todd Bowles clearly cannot do. I know you predicted earlier and I disagreed with this prediction that Sean Payton and Tom Brady would be a tandem and a duo together in Tampa Bay. Let's just say that does not happen with Sean. Is Todd Bowles back? Not should he be back? Will he be back? Let's just say your prediction comes to be wrong. If Tom Brady is gone, I will say yes.

If Tom Brady returns to Tampa, I will say even if it's not Sean Payton, I'll still say no. But didn't Tom Brady want Bruce Arians out and Todd Bowles in? How did that go for him? It didn't work well. I get that.

But... If he's going to return to the Bucs next year, and again, Sean Payton's not going to be there, I don't think he's signing up to go back to the Bucs to run it back with the same group of guys. Well, Byron Luswich will be out.

That's what one report says. He's already out. I think you would, whether it's another offensive mind, whether it's just someone who's a CEO role, I think Tom would push some buttons and we've seen him get what he wants before. I think he would try to make some magic happen. Well, I think that would be more likely as reports are, and we'll see if this actually gets confirmed in the Bucs making an announcement or not. It looks like Byron Luswich is out, so if Tom's going to be back, you could still have Todd Bowles be the head coach. He's basically the de facto defensive coordinator, and then Tom Brady's basically running the offense, and whoever he brings in, aka it would just be Tom Brady and whoever Brady wants being the offensive coordinator there. I would think right now, barring Brady saying he has to get fired, Todd Bowles, which I don't think he would do, I do think Todd Bowles is going to be back as the coach of the Bucs next year.

And don't get me wrong, that's a major mistake, because Todd Bowles, as you said it, you said it perfectly, phenomenal defensive coordinator, horrible head coach. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. All right, we do got some breaking news, so we'll do overreaction, proper reaction later. According to Tom Pellicero from the NFL Network, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has informed interested teams he's staying in Detroit per sources. Johnson was slated to travel Wednesday to interview with the Panthers, but he feels Detroit is building something special and wants to see it through. Should be a hot head coaching name once again next year.

Now, a few things. Number one shows you how vastly improved the culture is of the Detroit Lions. Someone wants to stay in Detroit and we know that they started off the year poorly and they finished red hot and they ended up nine and eight.

And if the Seahawks would have just lost that game up against the Rams, which was possible, they would have gone to the postseason because they did beat the Green Bay Packers. But really, I think it's telling about what it says about these jobs because Ben Johnson, according to reports, and who knows what's true or not, he was the leading candidate in Carolina. Now, maybe Ben Johnson heard some things about how it's not all that pleasant to maybe work for David Tepper. Or maybe he looks at the Panthers job as not that attractive.

And that's what I'm really going to go out here. These five jobs that are available, I don't think they're that attractive. There's not a must have job. I know it's so rare. I know they're all coveted. There's only 32 of them.

And you never know when you're going to get a job. But that Indianapolis job, they don't have a quarterback. I know they have a good draft pick, but it doesn't mean that it's always going to work. Look at the Cardinals job.

Is Kyler Murray great or is he just good? And you got money tied up to him and he's not going to be available most likely next year. The Broncos, you're in a division with the Chiefs. Say what you want about the Chargers, but the Chargers are better. And I don't know what Russell Wilson's going to be moving forward.

The Texans, they've been a dumpster fire. So you go around the league and you look at these jobs that are available. It makes you wonder if maybe some of these candidates that are some of the bigger names out there, Ben Johnson has been a name that's been extremely hot as of late NFL circles.

If they're just saying, Hickey, where you look around and you see the lay of the land with Denver and you see the lay of the land with Indianapolis and Houston. And you look at the other two jobs that are available as well, Arizona and the Panthers. Maybe a lot of these candidates are saying, if I'm a big name now and I'm near the top of the list, maybe I'm going to wait until next year.

And I think that is a major thing to watch. Like Jim Harbaugh didn't take a job. Is it because he was trying to negotiate things or was there maybe not as much interest as he thought? I don't know, but it's starting to seem like he's just keep on trying to get more and more in the contract.

And who knows what, if there even is a new agreement, what those details are going to be because they haven't come out yet. For Sean Payton, one day you hear he wants a Cardinals job, then the Cardinals, they do go out there and they hire Monti Austin for it to be the GM. One report says he doesn't have to do much. There's another report that says now that the Sean Payton camp is annoyed.

McVay, one day he's going to retire, the next day he's not. Like, I just wonder, A, how attractive these jobs are, which I don't think they are. And B, if some of the bigger names are saying, yeah, I'll wait next year, where we had 10 jobs open up a year ago, now only five.

And I don't know if that number is even going to increase more than five. I'd probably say right now, probably not. Like, I think McCarthy's safe in Dallas. I look at the Bucks job, I don't think that's opening up. You know Dennis Allen's now going to be back with the Saints. Is there always a chance that Sean goes back to New Orleans?

I guess. But, Hickey, it seems like these jobs by some candidates, they're basically saying, yeah, I'll wait and I'll stick where I am. I'm going to be patient instead of taking a job in my first opportunity. You may only get one opportunity to be a coach in this league instead of going to a place that I know is not a desirable destination or thinking I could be better in a better spot if the market resets itself a year from now. And another thing coaches are realizing, too, is that patience is impossible to have no matter where you are, no matter what owner says and promises in the interview process.

Patience is not a thing anymore. So you have now two years, three years to make the playoffs, get things turned around, and you're coaching for your job. So if you look at a job like the Panthers or the Colts and you're saying, hmm, can I get to the playoffs with this team in two years?

And the answer is no, you probably shouldn't take the job. Because, again, even though the owner can give you a seven-year deal like we saw David Tepper give Matt Ruhle, or the owner can preach patience and, oh, this is a rebuild and we're going to talk about how long it is to take to turn this roster around, the reality is in a year or two, everyone gets a patient, the fans turn on you, and then you're out of a job, then you're labeled as a bad head coach, even though maybe it's not your fault because the roster's not very good. Now there's no reason to take a bad job if, again, just because it's a job, more and more people are wising up and realizing it's playoffs now or bust.

If you don't think it's a playoff caliber team soon, don't bother taking it. So five days ago I put out my coaching predictions. I had the Panthers keeping Steve Walks, the Broncos hiring Jim Harbaugh, but then I wrote I keep on vacillating between it being Harbaugh or Dan Quinn.

I then had the Cardinals trading for Sean Payton, the Colts landing D'Amico Ryans, and the Texans hiring Jonathan Gannon. Now let me ask you something. Have the Colts even requested an interview yet with D'Amico Ryans? Yes.

They have, but they have not interviewed him yet, or did they interview him? No, today would be the first day you could do so. Oh, okay.

I think it's later in this week, I believe. Gotcha. So I'm going to stay now with Ben Johnson, who's rumored to be the front-runner in Carolina. I'm going to stay with my prediction that the Panthers keep Steve Walks. Now Harbaugh's out of an NFL job staying at Michigan. I'm going to then say that Dan Quinn's going to get the Broncos' job. Until we get a little bit more clarity in the Monty Osenford stuff, I will still say the Cardinals trade for Sean Payton, because I don't know if Sean could sit out another year. I think he's really itching to take a job. And then I went with the Texans hiring Jonathan Gannon.

I'll stick with that. The Colts one is where I may reverse that. Now they interviewed Eric Bienemey. They interviewed Raheem Morris, just to name a few. I'm starting to think, and I don't know, like D'Amico Ryan should absolutely get a job. And maybe I'm just getting caught up in the moment of who they've already interviewed.

I'm starting to think Bienemey. I'm starting to think Raheem Morris maybe for that job. But in a weird way, expect the unexpected with the Colts. I would have said I'd be stunned, stunned, if Jeff Saturday's back.

If you tell me at this point, as we're talking about a lot of these people maybe turning down the job, or a lot of these people saying, well, wait a year, the head coaching candidates would not shock me if Ursae brings back Saturday. I'm not saying it's likely, but at this rate, Hickey, it would not shock me. I would be shocked. I would feel bad for you. Floored. I would be floored. That's for sure. There's no way it's happening.

I don't know. The fact that he's even getting considered does scare me a little bit. I would just tell him outright, no, you're lucky we just gave you the job. Go back to ESPN.

So that's where I'm at right now. I'll stick with the Panthers keeping Steve Volk, as between Harbaugh and Quinn, I will go now to Quinn. I'll stick with the Cardinals trading for Sean, the Texans with Jonathan Geddon, the Colts.

I think that's the least desirable job maybe. And even Sean Paden, like they didn't even request an interview with Sean Paden. All the other teams did. So I don't know who the heck's going to get the Colts job, or it's tough to guess. I went with D'Amico Ryan, you've told me it's Raheem Morris, you've told me it's Eric Bienemey.

If they both interviewed already, maybe that's more likely. 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, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.