NFL Intrigue (Hour 4)

We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. So Dan Campbell was talking about Jared Goff. And Dan Campbell said that Jared Goff is a better quarterback now than when he was a quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams.

And I think that is a fascinating comment. I think a lot of people at first are going to say, well now hold on he was a quarterback that got to a Super Bowl. When he was with the Rams, let's pump the brakes a little bit, but I can't say that he's wrong.

Because you look at the Rams, there was a lot of inconsistencies. It started off poorly, then McVeigh comes in, he plays well, and then by the end it was okay. We don't need him.

We need someone else to go win. He goes to Detroit, everyone thinks he's going to be this placeholder, and he still may be. Remember they did draft tendon hooker this year. And then year one he was fine. And then year two, he played pretty damn well. You know it's not the highest passing yard he's ever had in his career.

But you look at his numbers, 65% completion percentage, 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns, 7 interceptions. And then off that year, there's now belief that maybe, no one's saying he is the guy, but maybe he could be the guy in Detroit. This is one of the first few positions this year for the Detroit Lions where people expect them to make the playoffs. People expect them to win the division. And actually Hickey, I think the Detroit Lions are one of the more interesting teams to me heading into this NFL season.

I know you had a bunch of guys get suspended because of the gambling stuff, which you can't criticize. Because one of your players Hickey did that the other day, which we did find out with the Indianapolis Colts. but you look at Detroit, it wouldn't surprise me, clearly if they win the division, but it also wouldn't surprise me, Hickey, if they don't meet the hype and then they flat out miss the playoffs.

Because Detroit's very similar this year to maybe what Cleveland has been the last few years, where whenever you expect them to have big expectations, they don't find a way to put it together. Now, I like Campbell. Amara St. Brown is a heck of a player. I don't like the draft pick of Jameer Gibbs, but he's a solid running back.

And I do think he'd be a really good running back in the NFL, he's the second best running back in this draft class, Bijan Robinson being one. And you look around the rest of the roster, I liked some of the names they have in the defensive side of the ball, especially with Aiden Hutchinson and Malcolm Rodriguez. But this is a team where nothing would really surprise me, Hickey. Like if you tell me Detroit goes eight and nine, nine and eight and miss the playoffs, wouldn't be surprised. You tell me they go 11 and six and win the division, that wouldn't surprise me as well. That's what makes them such an intriguing team is that I could see this going south, but I could also see this being pretty successful for Detroit this year.

I would be surprised if they missed the playoffs. I do think what they're building is legit. I do think Jared Goff, especially in the second half last year, took steps that were legitimate. Like not like a flash in the pan or not like one of those where he can't replicate that again.

He didn't do anything crazy in the sense that I don't think it's not repeatable. And I do think there's a good amount of talent there where, I mean, honestly, the biggest question I have and maybe I should not have as much faith as I do having this question, the biggest question I do have is in Dan Campbell, to be honest with you. Like I do trust this roster for it to be good enough to absolutely make the playoffs and win the division. I just hope that Dan Campbell doesn't hold them back in terms of game management and not having them in the right position to succeed. Which is interesting to me because going into last year, I said, I don't know what Dan Campbell is as a coach. Like everyone loves Dan Campbell cause he's fun, right? He has his quirks and all that stuff with the biting off the kneecaps and the 9,000 cups of coffee a day. And he's a macho man.

So he's fun. But I didn't know what he was as a football coach. Last year he showed you he could be a good football coach in this league. Cause if I would've told you before last season, the Lions would go nine and eight.

You would be like, okay, Zach, pump the brakes a little bit. But now since they did go nine and eight, there's expectations on them. It just usually, doesn't it always feel the team that everyone always pump up and everyone loves, ends up not being as good as what people think they could be. I'm not saying anyone's picking Detroit to go to the Super Bowl. I'm not saying anyone expects Detroit to be great this year.

But I do think you're right that most people are going to pick Detroit when they had their seven teams in the playoffs in the NFC to be one of those seven teams. I just wonder, are we rooting for Detroit? They have a good situation. They have a good roster. There's optimism for the first time in a while.

I'm not denying any of those things. But do we think Detroit's gonna be a little bit better than what they are just because they're a fun story. And if you tell me like right now, if I told you this, Hickey, Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, you got to pick someone from the NFC South. So we'll just give you one team, whoever.

San Francisco, Seattle. Those six teams get in the playoffs. Is it that crazy to then say, you know the Giants are the commanders getting it over Detroit? Now, maybe Jordan Love pops off and has a great year one.

I don't think they're a lock to make the playoffs. And I'm just fascinated to see how we're talking about Detroit at the end of the season. Because right now, for the first time in a while, no one really has anything negative to say about the Detroit Lions.

And that's where my concern with Dan Campbell comes in because you're right. This is a team right now that seemingly is everyone's dark horse. I think the Lions in a random tangent are almost like Keenan Allen. You know, everyone says Keenan Allen's the most underrated wide receiver. So if everyone is saying, are you really underrated? I think everyone's like, oh, the Lions are my dark horse pick to make a deep run. I don't think the Lions are underrated at all this year. And it's like, they are like, people are expecting, I think a lot of people would say they are the third or fourth best team in the NFC.

Which I don't. So there are expectations there of bare minimum to make the playoffs. Wouldn't the division, wildcard bare minimum. And it's like- What makes them that much better? Because if we're talking about the top four teams in the NFC, one is Philadelphia, no question. Two is San Francisco.

Right. If you're gonna look at the three spot, what definitely makes them better than Dallas? What definitely makes them better than Seattle? What even makes them definitely better in their own division than Minnesota? Say what you want about Minnesota, Fluke, right?

You don't trust Kirk Cousins in a big spot. They did go 13 and four last year. Now I do think they'll regress, but is Detroit really gonna improve that much from nine and eight? And is Minnesota really gonna regress that much from 13 and four, where it's even a lot that Detroit, Leaps Frogs, Minnesota, their own division. I think they're close. I think they're very close, but they're not a lot to win their division this year.

A lot, no. I mean, I would pick them as my favorite. I think a lot of people picking them as their favorite in part because you look at Minnesota, at their defenses and shambles, and usually in the NFL luck, if it goes your way and it went the Vikings way, almost every time in the regular season last year, usually it evens out any other way. A lot of those one score games, which I believe they're undefeated in, I think they're like 11 and 0 in one score games.

That's unheard of. You're gonna lose a lot of those now going forward. So it's like, if you can win a lot of these games or get lucky, all of a sudden that 13 and four record is gonna be closer to nine and eight, or maybe even eight and nine. And last, like you said, first place schedule.

So now your schedule increases. So it's just one of those things where I kind of look at Detroit as... So is Detroit a top 14, in your opinion, in the NFC this year?

Yes, they are for me. Are they three or four? Cause you just said they're not one or two. I would probably, I would give Dallas the edge at three. So I would say Detroit's four. So why not Seattle? Because I think Seattle's roster is better.

And I look at just that wide receiving room. I know Amara, Sam Brown is a stud, but you have DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jackson Smith and Jigba. What makes Detroit, who was not in the post season last year now, Detroit and Seattle both did the same record of nine and eight. Seattle got in over Detroit. What makes Detroit, in your mind, better than Seattle heading into the season? Quarterback.

I don't trust you no Smith. I don't think he's replicating what he did last year. Okay, but how much of a drop-off do you see then coming?

Decent one, a decent slide. I think Jared Goff's also going to improve from that. Like I think he's going to pick up where he left off.

Kind of what, with what Dan Campbell was saying. I think like he's, to me, he's on the ascent. I think Geno's just on the decline.

Interesting. Cause I kind of view them as the same player where they both had good years last year. Let's see what they do. And I could, you know, I think Geno had a better year than Jared Goff last year, but heading into this year, I kind of view them both neck and neck right now.

So, all right, we'll agree to disagree there. But when we talk about intriguing teams heading into this season. Now, you know the Bills are going to make the playoffs. You know the Bengals are going to make the playoffs. You know the Eagles, the 49ers, Kansas City are going to make the playoffs. When I go division by division, just give me the team right away that you think isn't the best, but it's the most intriguing entering this year. AFC East, tip of the tongue, who is it? Dolphins. Not the Jets.

No. I should make a prediction here. I'm starting to believe in Miami. I'm starting to believe that Tuatunga Vailoa is going to get to the season healthy. I don't know why, but when everyone, and I know the concussions are such a big deal.

And that was so scary last year, what we saw multiple times. But when everyone's saying, he's not going to make it through a season healthy. He's not going to make it through a season healthy. Isn't that usually when a player then makes it through a season healthy when everyone's saying one thing? I thought that the other day when talking about the Dolphins. I mean, I'm definitely one of those people that's saying he's not going to make it healthy, but part of the intrigue is can you stay healthy?

And if so, there's a lot of explosiveness here. I think Tuatunga can pick off from where he left off last year and have this Dolphins team as one of the more exciting, fun offenses in the league. Once again, not the best, but most intriguing team, AFC North. Cleveland Browns.

Okay. I'm going to actually say Baltimore Ravens. You found the way to add Odell Beckham Jr. Maybe you get to Andre Hopkins.

Can Lamar Jackson stay healthy? AFC South. This is not a homer pick.

Oh, stop. I'm going to go with the Colts. You know what you're getting with the Jaguars. I'm intrigued to see what Anthony Richardson is. Is he going to be good? Is he going to be bad? Somewhere in the middle?

I have no idea. I want to see. It's actually the Jaguars for me. Where I know the Jaguars are the best team, but they're still the most intriguing team because can they go to that next step? Where we know they're really good, can they go be a Super Bowl contender? AFC West. Broncos.

Yeah, I can't disagree with you there. The only other team, well, you could talk about the Raiders because they're a hot mess, but the Chargers are intriguing to me as well because Kansas City is the best team in that division, but can the Chargers have a loaded roster? Can they start to close that gap inside the division? NFC East. Not the best, but the most intriguing team.

I'll go Cowboys. Mike McCarthy, especially calling plays, has me intrigued this year. I actually think it's the Giants because the Giants had such a great coaching job by Brian Deball last year. I know they added Jalen Hyde at the draft, but, and they added Darren Waller in a trade. Is there regression this year for the Giants?

That's intriguing to me. NFC North. I'm gonna go to the Bears. I want to see what Justin Fields is. They gave him weapons. They committed to him. I want to see if he's now able to have his play turn into wins.

For me, it's by far and away the Green Bay Packers. We've talked three years about Jordan Love. Most of us have not even seen this guy play. I know he played a quarter up against Philadelphia.

He got in that game where you had Rogers out from COVID two years ago. I just want to see what Jordan Love is. And I'm really pulling for Jordan Love because I thought it was admirable how he's handled the last few years. NFC South, most intriguing team. I'll go Panthers.

Excited to see what Bryce Young is. If I had to make a prediction today, you know I'm picking to win the NFC South? You're going to say Carolina? No. Saints? Nope. Falcons?

Yep. I don't trust their quarterback position, but in a division that stinks, and a division you only need eight wins to get there, I like the offensive pieces, and I like the speed in Atlanta right now. Now don't hold me to that. We'll see if it's still that way in September, but I don't know. I feel like you want to spice things up in the NFC South. That's the division to do with it. NFC West? I'm going to say the 49ers, just because I feel like there's going to be two or maybe even three, probably three quarterbacks playing at this year, some point this year.

It's definitely intriguing storyline. Seattle, clearly. Can they take that next step? But I'm really intrigued by Arizona.

Now, there's no expectations for them. They're going to stink. But when does Kyler Murray come back, and where is their draft pick going to be having two of them, their own, and then their Texans pick, and does that lead them to Kyler Williams?

That's what I'm intrigued about. Coming on back, Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Another day is in the books, and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down. Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell.

Only on the Zach Gelb show. Yep, Jonathan Marchessault continues to just be nasty in a good way. If you're a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights, they take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup final as this series is now moving to Sunrise, Florida. Marchessault did score two goals in the game last night and had an assist. Let's hear him get this one in the net to make it 5-1 in the third period. Let's listen up to the Golden Knights on our radio network. Eichel to Marchessault, all alone, he scores! Welcome back, Jack. Marchessault makes it 5-1, two minutes into the third period. Give a stock up to Jonathan Marchessault. The Defense Play of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the armed forces, DOD, veterans, and their families. Their members are the mission.

Learn more at navyfederal.org. How about, once again, in the hockey world, Vegas Golden Knights goalie Aiden Hill. He was fantastic in game two, stopping 29 Florida Panthers shots en route to a 7-2 victory on Monday night. Hill has made 66 saves through two games as Vegas is up 2-0 with game three in Florida on Thursday, and he's out playing Sergei Bobrovsky, who I thought was gonna be a major key for Florida to win this series up against the Golden Knights. So, nice job there by Aiden Hill.

Give him a stock up. Ooh! So, this is Samantha Rivera. She's a reporter in Florida, and she's in Vegas. She's giving a report, and a fan tried to interrupt her, and listen to how this did go down. It's a very loud crowd here at T-Mobile Arena.

Obviously, Vegas fans enjoy the less than ideal night for the Panthers after falling to the nights. Oh, no! Oh, no!

That's not how this game really wanna be, all right? Let's get into the highlights here. Now, you can't see it because we're on the radio, but you hear the, no, no, no, no, no. When that's going on, she was like Derrick Henry up against the Indianapolis Colts.

If I just had to pick a random team. She threw a stiff arm, and she was protecting her live shot. That was awesome. That was an impressive stiff arm, too.

I think that's a better stiff arm than you'd be able to deliver. And you barely even heard her break stride. She's still talking, like, no problem.

And the other arm, she's just shoving the guy out of the camera. Like, that's the thing. If I was in that position, I think I would shove the person, but it would throw me off the report, and I wouldn't be able to recover that quickly. And I think I would try to fight the guy.

That's probably what I would do if I was in that situation. So I give her a lot of credit. And she said, let's get to the highlights, and the show kept going without any hits or interruption. Give a stock up to Samantha Rivera.

Let's go! Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and I'm sure there's others, but those three guys took a lot of criticism for joining live golf. Well, they got their money, and now we have the news today. We have the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour, and then also live golf merging together. So now they're laughing to the bank once again, and they'll eventually get their tour cards back.

So give a stock up to those golfers. Let's listen up. This is Jacob DeGrom. He reacts, this is gonna be the second time in his career to having to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Remember, he got that big contract from the Rangers this off season, and now at the age of 34, in year one of this new contract with the Texas Rangers, he's gonna have to undergo Tommy John surgery. It's tough, so, but I went through this before, and I didn't know what it takes to get back home. So that's the goal, go out there, rehab the best I can, and be around to help any way I can. Well, first off, give a stock down to the reporter in the background whose phone is going off. Here you have a guy who is crying, wearing his emotions on his sleeve, distraught about having to undergo Tommy John surgery again, and then you have to not have your phone silence in that spot. So whoever that reporter was, give a stock down.

So whoever that reporter was, give a stock down. But this just stinks for Jacob deGrom, Hickey. Yeah, I know that we didn't love him when he left the Mets organization. The Mets didn't want it.

They ended up making a good decision. He didn't give the Mets one last chance to make a final offer, all that stuff. But this dude, when he's on the mound, is such a great pitcher, a dominant pitcher. The problem is the guy is just never healthy.

And I know, right, even though it's second Tommy John surgery, that's tough. He still has some years left in that arm with how late he got his career started. And right, there's not a lot of innings on that arm. But it's so unfortunate when you look at Jacob deGrom that the guy is never healthy. And it feels like it's one of those careers that we just get robbed of, where we should have seen a lot more of Jacob deGrom. And then when he's on the mound, he's just so dominant. But I have no expectations for the rest of the career of Jacob deGrom, other than unfortunately he's probably gonna keep on beating these situations where he gets hurt. So I wish him nothing but the best of this long road to recovery, but give Jacob deGrom this unfortunate news, a stock down.

Jay Monahan, you made a big stink, big issue. Live golf, terrible, awful, miserable. Don't take the money. You're using the victim's families of 9-11 as why people should have joined live golf. And the moment the money was offered your way, you take it. You take the money.

And everyone has a price. I get it, it's business. But when you tell golfers to stay in the PGA Tour and not take the money, you impacted their paycheck. You impacted their earnings. Like it's one thing if you just go, like Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Dustin Johnson. But what Jay Monahan did was the worst. He told people don't take the money and then he ends up taking the money. So give a stock down to the commissioner of the PGA in Jay Monahan.

Yeah! Also rough for Rory McIlroy. Yeah, he's eventually gonna get his. And he definitely knew something in some capacity because his tune has really changed the last few months. But you were waving this flag for the PGA Tour and you were carrying the flag and I respected the heck out of Rory McIlroy. And now it's like, what do you have to show for it?

It was worth nothing because Jay Monahan ended up stabbing you guys in the back. So give a stock down for Rory McIlroy. And also hickey, Greg Norman, where he promised all these live golfers, people had joined him, all these things. He ended up coming through and then he was left in the dark about this. So he looks good because he stuck it to the PGA Tour and promised all these golfers things and he delivered on everything. But now they want nothing to do with him.

So it's a bizarre situation where he wasn't wrong, but now don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. So give a stock down to one Greg Norman. And finally, the Florida Panthers. Man, I was really believing in them. And that series is far from over. Remember they came back from down three, one, but you dropped the first two and they were in ugly fashion. Ugly third period in game one and then just an ugly game in game two. Give the Florida Panthers a stock down.