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This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere.
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Now. On with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studios in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Touchdown, the front face with 46 short today's gas.
Podcast host and journalist Pablo Torre. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. And your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three, our final hour of our two-day residency here in Brazil.
The final hour of our first two days of being a multi-hemisphere program is on the air. And there's some activity going on in the field behind me in Arena Corinthian Stadium here in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the Chiefs and the Chargers are going to be kicking off in about six hours from now on YouTube. I'll be in the booth a few steps away from where I'm sitting alongside Kurt Warner for that. international global broadcast. It's going to be Pretty wild here, and so there's some activity of some folks getting ready.
For the pregame festivities on the field, we have already heard from Dan Orlovsky of ESPN. You at 844-204-RICH. We played What's More Likely, a Friday Staple. Coming up, I'll give you my top five other games that I'm looking forward to seeing once this game is finished here in Brazil and I hop a flight to be on NFL Game Day morning for week number one in my usual Sunday post at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on NFL Network, my NFL Network Compadre, who is a Friday regular on this program.
We welcome for the first time to our Disney Plus ESPN and ESPN radio presented by Progressive Insurance Live dual stream to the program. Our boy. Tommy P. Tom Pro Cheryl. Good to see you, Tom.
How are you, sir? What's up, Rich in Sao Paulo? What's up to the boys in the studio back there? Nice to Gundo. Tommy P.
Tomovic. Tommy P. I thought I had been a lot of places, but this is my Disney Plus debut. Thank you for pointing that out. I'm going to add that one to the bio moving forward.
Yeah.
Well, with your new taller hair, you are now officially tall enough to ride this ride, Tom.
So we're pleased. To have you here on the program. First order of business: let's start with last night's game and the fact that Jalen Carter got ejected and did not play a single snap of the Thursday opener. The league looking into this, is it possible a suspension is coming? What.
are you hearing here on this Friday? At this point, Rich, what I would tell you is the NFL is reviewing the entire spinning situation. That's standard. Anytime a player gets ejected from a game, they take a look at that to see whether. additional type of discipline is warranted, whether that's a fine or a suspension.
Basically, it's important to remember: if you alle Carter served a one-game suspension last night, he might be the first player in NFL history to get onto the field and get ejected prior to playing a single snap. On the field.
So that's usually taken into account. It's rare, not unprecedented for players to get suspended after being ejected from the game. The fact that he missed the entire game probably would point you toward this is not going to be a suspension, which by the way, week two is against. It's a Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs team that you are going to see tonight. You know, additionally, beyond that, you know, there's been spinning incidents in the past.
You remember Sean Taylor in a playoff game years ago? There was Bill Romanowski famously involved. Usually those have been handled by fines and not suspensions. Jalen Carter does not have a long disciplinary history in the NFL. These are all reasons to think that he's not going to get suspended.
But again, the NFL's got extra time because the Eagles don't play again for another, what, nine days here. And so they can fully evaluate this. I imagine that we've got some type of word here in the next day or so on what his status is. And then with regard to the Roger McDowell in all this, Rich, the second spitter, Dak Prescott, there's no equivalency here. Rule against somebody spitting in the general direction of another player who is several yards away from them.
What you can't do is walk directly up and spit on a guy's chest point blank. I would be surprised if there's any discipline for Dak Prescott. But again, they'll review the entirety of the situation and come to those determinations probably in the next 24 hours or so. Yeah, general direction was a very Monty Python way of putting that, Tom. I appreciate that.
As for this game, to say that, Ceciliano texted me that this morning as well, because I used the same phrasing on Good Morning Football. I actually went back and looked at that scene, Rich. And later on, the line that comes like three lines later is. I will come down there and taunt you a second time, which Pauntine Twice would also get you ejected from an NFL game. No, I thought that was Nolan Smith who got flagged for taunting while we're continuing the theme.
As for the game here tonight, again, you're probably hearing some music that's going down on the field here at Arena Corinthians. Makai Bechton has suddenly shown up. On the injury report with an illness. Is this going to be an issue from what you're hearing potentially for tonight's game, Chargers and Chiefs, sir? I have checked on it.
There's no firm word at this point of whether he just did something I've done before and over at a Fogo to Chow. I'm sure there's something better than that actually in Huntville, or whether this is something that's significantly going to keep him out for the game. We've still got, what, six hours or so until kickoff here? There's no firm word on that. The fact he's added anytime anybody's dealing with an illness during the day, you have to add him onto the report.
If you don't, it can be a problem down the line. But certainly that would be something significant because you remember there are already. Reconstructing this offensive line after losing Rashawn Slater, Joel Alt's gonna be flipping over to left tackle. If you took Beckton out, that would be pretty significant when you're dealing with Chris Jones inside as well. And so certainly something to keep an eye on, but no firm word on that just yet.
Tom Pellisero here on the Rich Eisen Show. I am inside Arena Corinthian Stadium. There's already some musical acts. You could already tell, it's not an act. They're going through the national anthem of the United States of America that's being played tonight, so excuse me.
For conducting the business of this show while that song is being played behind me, Tom Pellicero joining me on the Rich Isand Show. Christian McCaffrey showed up on an injury report, Tom. Out of the blue, it appears on Thursday. Is there any cause for alarm? Because last year that happened, and all of a sudden, his 2025 went south.
Well, and that's where I would caution anybody to make firm judgments off this. What I would tell you is, from my conversations last night after this came out of the injury report, because nobody knew about it prior to that. The feedback I got was. Don't sound the alarm bells just yet. This is not a DEF CON one type of a situation.
If there's any player you're going to take precautions with, if you feel something weird, it's going to be your best player. And a guy who's had three seasons essentially in his career ruined by injuries here, it would make sense if he felt anything in that cap to pull him off. Having said that, you're right. We didn't know until, what, an hour before inactives last year that Christian McCaffrey was not going to play in week one, and then he didn't end up returning until like November. Obviously, played a little bit, wasn't quite himself, and then suffered another injury, a knee injury that took him out.
Calves can be tricky. Cavs can be precursors to Achilles injuries. McCaffrey had issues with both his Achilles last year. There's a lot of reasons to be cautious about saying anything at this stage. He was undergoing tests today.
They're on the field in 90 minutes or so. You know, the real question, at least short term, is. Even if it is something that's a precaution, even if they think it's minor, do they risk running them out there in week one and suffering the type of setback that could take them out for a month? All those questions will start to get answered this afternoon. Again, from my understanding, I do not believe that this is the full alert, the alarms going off on Christian McCaffrey, but definitely something to keep an eye on.
Tom Pellisero here on the Rich Eisen Show. When the Texans take on the Rams, obviously we're going to be looking to see any twinge, any moment where Matthew Stafford has a back injury that crops back up again. What's the status? Going into this game, cautious optimism that he won't have an issue, or he's practicing like it's no big deal? He's not on the injury report, Rich, which by rule means that he's not receiving.
regular treatment on his back at this point. Back injuries can be Extremely complicated. I can say that as somebody who tweaked my back again yesterday, I'm currently sitting on a heating pad, have a heavy dose of steroids and muscle relaxers. I would categorize myself as questionable for Sunday, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting on that plane tomorrow to do the Patriots and Greaters game. You just don't know.
But everything, all the stuff in terms of how the Rams have approached this over the last week or so, the word has been positive coming out of there. You know, it's a minor thing they picked up his option yesterday for the 27 through 30 seasons. It doesn't actually mean anything. It just keeps status quo in terms of the cap considerations. But there's nothing that would tell you they think that this is going to be an issue.
But it's a back and it's something that could be, especially for an older player. You know, we've seen Stephen take a ton of hits, Rich, through the course of his career. There's plenty of times he's gotten blindsided because he just stands in there and is willing to take those hits. He plays through a lot. If he starts having back spasms, obviously, or something related to that disc issue that he has in his back, then potentially.
It could become an issue down the road. It'll be interesting to see, to me, Rich, because again, I don't think there's any question right now. Matthew Stafford is starting on Sunday against the Texans, but do we see Sean McVay, maybe even more than he already does, lean a little bit more toward the rhythm-passing game, get the ball out of his hand, just try to do things to limit the number of hits just until they see, okay. 70 snaps in the game. How does he function?
Make sure that he's getting into this, not getting blasted on the first third down they see. And he's going against the defense, though. It may not matter how quickly you get rid of the ball. The Texans, as we all know, are pretty darn good on that side of the football. And then offensively, Joe Mixon is out for at least the first four games.
Can you tell me about his injury, when he's expected back, and how the split of carries with Nick Chubb and obviously Damian Pierce is a name that Texans fans are familiar with when he was the bell cow a couple years ago. Any sense of the Texans run game going into this Los Angeles Rams visit? for them to open the season. At this point, there's no timeline for Joe Mixon to return. He's out a minimum of four games, but there's no one I've spoken to who says, hey, after those four games, he's definitely going to be back.
And so that's very much an unknown as the Texans proceed into this season. You know, but they did sign insurance with Nick Chubb. I would say, and again, game flow can dictate these things sometimes, but it seems like Nick Chubb is going to be the bell cow back, at least going into the season. Damian Pierce played. Played extensively in the preseason finale, which is usually something reserved for guys that you don't even know if they're going to make the team, or maybe you're trying to showcase in a potential trade.
So I would anticipate. Remember, I've heard Nick Chubb looks great down there. He's had obviously a lot of injuries. He's an older player. That stuff's added up going all the way back to the injury he had in college, but he looks really good right now.
It seems like he's going to be the guy with Damian Pierce spelling him. And, you know, maybe that even extends here out beyond four weeks because there's just not certainty on when we see Joe Mixon back on the field. And then, in terms of Micah Parsons, man, I mean, I'm reading from yesterday's press conference with Matt LaFleur talking about that. They're hopeful, no guarantees. that Micah's going to be out there against the Detroit Lions.
Um today, you know, the coach said That Micah, quote unquote, looks limited when he's out there on the field. I'll be honest with you, man. I thought that was just posturing. With the Cowboys to basically say, I'm injured, I can't get out there. How serious is his back injury?
Tom? I saw that quote from Matt LaFleur, and I would just say, knowing Matt, if he's asked, if he says Micah was limited, because that's what the report says, then someone says, well, how does he look? Matt's probably going to reply, he looked limited. In other words, I'm not giving you one additional ounce of information publicly on exactly what this guy's going to do. It's a real injury.
It's an L4, L5 facet joint sprain. We're talking a lot about backs, which is making mine feel great right now. But with Micah, I would be surprised. I'd be really surprised if he's not out there. You don't give a guy a four-year, $186 million contract extension if you don't think he's going to be able to play in the early going.
Now, do they manage him to some degree? I think you would do that regardless of the injury just because he missed so much time on the field. You know, the conditioning may not be exactly where you want it to be. It might be asking a lot for a guy to go from not practicing all of camp to 10 days later playing 70 snaps. Full go in a regular season game against the super physical Lions team.
They'll probably pick their spots a little bit with Micah Parsons. But whether he ends up getting some type of an injection or not, again, I would be really surprised if we don't see Micah out there and see him quite a bit on Sunday. All right. And is there anybody that could maybe sign some big fat contract between now and Sunday? That always seems to happen this time of year where it's a last minute.
Obviously, we're expecting Dak to get his new deal last year. But is there anybody out there that there's still something lingering that could be handled before a game gets played Sunday, Tom? The only really big one would be Lamar Jackson. And I can tell you there have been negotiations. They have been, you know, they've talked extensively about what a deal might look like for Lamar Jackson, but he's in a unique spot here.
Obviously, Eric DaCosta, the GM, has said publicly they want to get something done with Lamar sooner than later, which makes sense. He's a two-time NFL MVP who's somehow still only 28 years old. And the sooner you can lock in a deal, the more cost certainty you have in terms of how you build your roster for years to come. But Lamar is due, I think it's like $42 million this year and $52 million in each of the next two years. In other words, from a Cash earning perspective, sometimes you get in the late years of a contract and those numbers go down.
Lamar is still one of the top cash earning players over the next several years. And so there's really no reason for Lamar to rush and take a deal, you know, because he is making that type of money. Also, because we've seen in the past, Lamar just doesn't think about money the way that a lot of us do. You know, he played out his four after winning an MVP, played out the fourth year on his contract for like $2.3 million. Then he played on the fifth year option.
Then he allowed himself to get franchise tagged. I mean, he went a long way further than he would have if he had an agent. No agent would have told him to go out there and play for a couple million bucks after winning an NFL MVP. But in this case, you know, he is financially secure. Once the season starts, he said to himself yesterday, you know, his focus is going to be on football.
And it seems like that's where it is. But you have a team that would like to do a deal sooner than later. And you have a player that the deal's out there for him. The only question is, based upon how much money he's still earning right now, Rich, do you take a deal that locks you in for years to come? To come at a time the salary cap continues to rise, or do you sit back for a year or even two and go?
CJ Stroud's going to get paid. Bryce Young might get paid. Jaden Daniels in a couple of years is going to get paid. I can let all those guys reset the top of the market and all leapfrog them as I get a little bit later on in my deal. That's kind of the give and take in that situation.
But that's really the only one, Rich, that I think would be headline news on game day morning on Sunday. At this point, I'd lean that it doesn't happen. But we'll see. Anybody from the Cowboys organization reach out to you today to sort of spike a little bit of a football? I know that they didn't win.
But Kenny Clark played a really good game, man. In terms of yards per carry, last night it was four yards better. For the Dallas defense, in terms of giving up yards per carry with Kenny Clark on the field than off it. Saquon Holder only 60 yards rushing. I know Jalen had the day, but anybody from the Cowboys reach out to you to say, I told you so.
We're going to be okay. Anybody? I think they were mainly focused on getting back. I think they probably got back to the facility at like 7 a.m. today in zombie mode after the lightning delay that delayed the whole thing.
No, but I would tell you this, because I talked to a lot of people after the mic get trade, and there was still confidence in that building. I mean, you might say that's false confidence. And, you know, listen, all 32 teams have something to be optimistic about. But really, when I talked to people, there was no like, oh my God, we just punted on the season. There's a lot of positive energy around that place right now.
They feel like they've got weapons offensively. Javante Williams, which I remember I was talking about this a couple of months ago. What are they going to do in the backfield? And I was hearing back in May and June, like Javante looks like finally he's that guy who was gashing people before he suffered the knee injury a few years ago.
Well, you saw that last night. He's moving the pile. He's a really physical runner. You know, that part is positive. George Pickens didn't have a big night in terms of receiving the football, but CD.
Lamb certainly got a ton of opportunities. And when you have to account for Pickens, that opens some things up for CD. You just hope that he holds on to the ball. And if CD makes even one or two of those, you know, three, four balls that hit him in the hands, the Cowboys might come out of there with a win. last night.
Dak looks, he looks really lean. He looked like he was in the flow of it and was moving around really well coming off of that hamstring injury. They've obviously got an offensive line. The question is still just going to be all the way through, do they have enough pass rush? Can they get home?
And when you saw how many plays in those first couple of drives where it's four, five, six seconds of Jalen in the pocket, and then you can get escapes and runs. And those are the things that you worry about with that team. But absolutely, you saw a team last night in Dallas that looked like what everybody there claimed they were going to be, even post-Micah, which is a team that's together. Maybe there's a little bit of a message it sends to your locker room of like, oh, crap, like if they can trade Micah, they can trade anybody. In here, you know, there are environmental things that shift a little bit when you're training one of your most outspoken.
Best and what would have been one of your most highly paid types of players. They came out with some fire. They were really good offensively in the first half, just didn't quite have it in the second half. But again, if CD makes catches that we'll see him make nine times out of 10, Rich, they might upset the Eagles, which bodes well for the Cowboys' chances of competing with basically anybody else in the NFL. Last one for you, Tom.
Last one for you. What have I not asked you? Open the book. What should we know about in week one that you know that you're willing to share right now? For all of us.
What do you got? Yeah.
I mean, the only other thing that's kind of hanging out there is what's going on with Cam Hayward in Pittsburgh. He got a veteran rest day yesterday that wasn't contract related, but he's continued to, you know, kind of try to raise the hair on people's necks a little bit by talking about his contract. Is he going to actually not play in the game if they don't sign him to a contract? I don't foresee that, but certainly, you know, he did this last year too. They gave him an extension without really giving him new money.
Then he comes back a year later. Teams don't like to redo deals a year later. The 49ers just found their solve with Jawan Jennings. They gave him $3 million in playtime incentives because you don't want to say, All right, we're going to give you a huge raise because then everybody else, after one good year, is going to come back and ask for raises. That's the only other thing that's kind of hanging out there.
You know, but it's also a matter of as we get past this first week of games, you very quickly. Start to see, and as much as week one can be a liar, you start to see some of those things that you heard in the offseason, like, okay. That might have been true about this player struggling or this team, this particular part of the coaching staff isn't doing very well. You find out, hey, maybe that was overblown or, oh, no, that does look like some of those things you were hearing behind the scenes.
So I'm sure by the start of next week, we'll be talking about some things in terms of what coaches could be on the hot seat and what quarterbacks could be in danger of getting benched. For now, it's nothing but smooth sailing, Rich. Everybody's got something to be. positive about across the NFL. I'll be interested to see the game I'm doing, and I'll be talking with you for four hours on Sunday morning.
The Raiders and the Patriots, there's so much new on both sides of that thing for Mike Vrable and Pete Carroll. As the new head coaches, obviously, Geno Smith taking over as the Raiders' quarterback, Stephon Diggs making his debut. For all the speculation about Diggs Rich in this offseason, I'm fully anticipating, based on every conversation I have, to see Stephon Diggs, the way that we've known him, going out there and being able to make plays in that game. I think that that's, you know, we got some of the young stars in that game, Ashton Genty, Traybion Henderson on the other side. It's not a game that a lot of people are going to be talking about.
It's in that 1 p.m. Eastern window, but I think it's going to be a fun one out there in Foxborough. Oh, no doubt about it, man. Pete Carroll's back on a sideline and it's back where he once belonged, obviously, for a cup of coffee before Belichick took over there for 20-plus years. He's back with the Raiders on the East Coast.
It's Vrabel's return to the fold there in New England. I'm with you, man. That's going to be a good one. Thanks, Tom. More ibuprofen, sir.
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Can't be questionable. What you got to do? I'll be watching you tonight flat on my back. See you later.
All right, Tommy. That's Tommy P, everybody. Chris, you got to like that, huh? Diggs looking like the Diggs of old, giving a big-time weapon to Drake May with a new left tackle in front of him, a new running back behind him. The OC is Josh McDaniels who knows exactly how to cook it up, you know.
I know that they try to drum up some uh some uh rivalry sort of uh type of revenge game, because this is the team that bounced Josh McDaniels. I don't know, man. He's just back as the OC dialing it up. You got to be fired up with this. Possibilities are endless right now.
Yeah, yeah. Optimism is about as high as it's been in the last few years. We've seen flashes of what Drake May could be last year, you know, just surround him with a more competent offensive line, more competent skilled players around him. And I think, you know, they did a good job. Bolstering both of those units this offseason.
A little shaky on defense. Vrabel just announced Christian Gonzalez is out. You know, he missed basically the entire preseason with that hamstring injury.
So that's obviously a huge bummer. Was excited to see him maybe lock down Brock Bowers or maybe take out Jacoby Myers.
So we'll see what the Raider passing game is able to do tomorrow, but or on Sunday. But I am excited for this Patriots season, and I'm excited for Sunday. I think it's going to be a really exciting game. And the Raiders have reason for optimism, too, in a similar way. I love this week one matchup, man.
And when the Chargers are done here in Brazil, they're flying off to Vegas for next Monday night football on ESPN and its family of networks.
So the Chargers have the Raiders next as they play the first three games of their season in division. And then the Chiefs go home to take on the Eagles, who are already on the board with a victory in 2025. Let's take a break from here in Brazil when we come back. My top five games that I'm looking forward to seeing for the rest of week. Number one, your phone calls and more.
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As you can hear, they're rehearsing On the field, this is the Brazilian national anthem. Again, I don't mean to be disrespectful, we don't know when. They're gonna be um Yes. Doing anything on the field right now. We're just doing our thing, they're doing their thing.
As you can see, if you're watching on Disney Plus right now, The American flag is out there behind me. They just rehearsed the American National Anthem going through. The pregame festivities for the kickoff of the International Series. of the 2025 National Football League season tonight. The game will be on YouTube worldwide.
It'll be me and Kurt Warner bringing you the action. Stacey Dales and Destroying will be on the field. All six million of his YouTube subscribers as well. tuning in on that. 844-204-Rich.
is the number to dial right here on this program. Week number one, as we all know. Week number one, as we all know. kicked off last night in Philadelphia. There's this big game that's going on.
Tonight here in Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And then once that's done, the rest of week one plays out in bulk Sunday and Sunday night and Monday night. And here are My top five other games that I'm looking forward to seeing in the rest of week number one presented by Hyundai Hit It. High five. One, two, three, four, and five.
Riches, top five. All right, here's my top five other games that I'm looking forward to seeing presented by Hyundai. And I'm going to start with home, sweet home for all of us in Los Angeles. I am looking forward to seeing the Houston Texans coming off of two highly successful campaigns in a row, finishing in the final four of the American Football Conference two years in a row, coming off of last year's finish, taking on the Los Angeles Rams, another team that made it as far as Divisional Playoff Weekend last year before losing on the road. Matthew Stafford, at the, as we all know, back nine of his career.
How much is his back going to be a problem against the Texans defense that eliminated the Rams co-tenants last year? The Los Angeles Chargers, who are playing their first game since losing wild card weekend to Houston last January. A flurry of interceptions, four of them by Justin Herbert. What will this defense do? With Matthew Stafford.
And then, obviously, what will CJ Stroud and this offense look like behind an offensive line that is now a different one with Laramie Tunsell traded away to Washington? What will this run game look like? How big of a beast can Nico Collins be? When will Tank Dell eventually come back? Christian Kirk is apparently not going to play in this game.
So, how will the Texans score points against a Rams defense that can make things really difficult? That's number five on the list. Number four: if the Buccaneers don't win the NFC South for a fifth straight year, it will most likely be because the Atlanta Falcons win the division. And if they win the division, it will be most likely because they took care of business on their home field in a division game. And that's how these two teams face one another to kick off the season.
The Buccaneers against the Falcons in week number one. Michael Pennix Jr. did not throw a pass in the preseason. We shall see if that means a darn thing or not. Bajon Robinson.
Now, with Raheem Morris in year number two, for those two together, Michael Pennix in his first full season as a starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, and the Bucs have a ton of Super Bowl hype around them. We shall see if they fare better against the Falcons than last year. They got swept by Atlanta, and if Atlanta didn't fall completely apart, well, one. Atlanta would have won the division. And two, Michael Pennix Jr.
wouldn't have had the cup of coffee at the end of last year that might be a little bit of wind beneath the Falcons' wings in his first week one start of his career. I'm looking forward to that big-time NFC South game.
Meanwhile, We all know the Steelers and the Jets are playing one another in week number one because we all know the schedule makers sensed that Aaron Rodgers was going to come back and be the starting quarterback. For the Pittsburgh Steelers. And at that point in time, we had already known that the Jets had gone into the Steelers. Quarterback room from last year and taken Justin Fields from there and giving him a two-year, $20 million per year contract to say, okay, kid, here's one more shot for you to be in a starting quarterback. And we've got our own new Aaron in town.
His name is Glenn. He's the new HC. Of the Jets, who once upon a time apparently told Aaron Rodgers, Why don't you come across the country so I can tell you to your face something I could have told you on FaceTime? That we're done here. The Steelers, as we all know, turning to Rodgers to try and break a streak of six straight seasons with a playoff loss, six straight seasons with nothing but a one and done for Mike Tomlinson, Pittsburgh Steelers.
That's the longest streak of playoff losses in a row suffered by a Super Bowl-winning head coach ever. Can that end this year where the Steelers make it back? And do more than just say, hey, we finished above 500. At least we made the playoffs and won a playoff game this time. Can they do that or go even deeper?
What a big-time game this is between the Steelers and the Jets to kick things off. And then there's the Lions and the Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The NFC North having the two top teams from last year that we all thought going in would wind up, unless the Vikings would suddenly surprise as they did. The Lions and Packers starting together in Lambeau Field. Micah Parsons, we assume, is going to be healthy enough to try and make Jared Goff.
minus Ben Johnson, a nightmare day for Detroit to send them to an 0-1 start and serve notice that this is now the Packers time to not only win this division, but potentially go even deeper than that. Back to the Super Bowl, if not win it. Two Super Bowl contending teams in the same division. One game, one big afternoon on CBS. Romo and Nance will be there for that one.
Can't wait to see Lions and Packers. And then, of course, there's the Sunday night football game. Ravens at Bills. These two teams faced one another. We know the Bills ended the Ravens season last year.
We all understand, again, the Chiefs, their logos right behind me, right behind my right shoulder. It's been the Ravens, the Chiefs, and the Bills finishing in the top four of the AFC. And it's just been a revolving door from who from the AFC South can break through. A few years ago, it was Jacksonville. Last two years, it was Houston.
Who is going to potentially be the one seed in the AFC? Could it be the winner of this game? Welcoming the Chiefs into their house at some point and finally ending the Chiefs' reign and then potentially go on to the Super Bowl and win it for Baltimore or win it for Western New York. A lot on the line on Sunday night, certainly with it being the opener of the final season of Highmark Stadium. The Bills will be wearing a commemorative patch for the stadium that they will be leaving behind and hopefully for them finishing up with a win in the AFC Championship game that they're hosting because potentially they've won this game just to see the Ravens back in Buffalo, New York to try and And avenge a loss.
This is going to be an outstanding game on Sunday Night Football on our friends at NBC. And my number one game atop my top five list of games that I can't wait to see coming up. I just there it is. It's my boy. Cooper saying one more.
And I know I did not include the Monday night game on my top five. I was going with just Sunday games here on out. Clearly, I want to see the Bears and the Vikings play one another with Caleb Williams, the top overall pick from last year's draft, going against J.J. McCarthy and a 14-win team from last year in Minnesota, starting J.J. McCarthy for the first time in his young career to see what they're doing.
I'm just going Sunday games here, and that's why I'm choosing the 49ers at the Seahawks as my one more game. Can't wait to see what San Francisco looks like in Brock Purdy's first start as a Pizzade quarterback in the National Football League. Will Christian McCaffrey play in this game? I cannot believe we're talking about him being limited in practice, going into a week one game out of the blue with a calf issue, just like last year. And then there's the Seahawks.
You want to talk about a completely revamped team from one year to the other. There's a new offensive coordinator, there's a new New quarterback in Sam Darnold. DK Metcalf is out. Jackson Smith and Jigba is in. Cooper Cup is now a member of the Seattle Seahawks.
This is a big time NFC West game just to start things off. It's a late window game on Fox, and that wraps up my top five week one matchups I most want to see presented by Hyundai. You guys have the floor in the studio. Did I miss anything in your estimation? I don't think so, man.
This week one, every matchup is appealing and exciting and has potential for fireworks. And I just cannot wait for the games to get started. You're on top of all of it. TJ, what What do you think, sir? I'm not saying that just to be agreed with, but go for it.
I mean, I agree with Chris. You know me, man. The pressure's off me this week, because varsity already played. You know, Vercy played yesterday, so. This guy, man.
I can't believe I'm asking you that, and that's your answer. It's easy for me to sit and just enjoy what's coming, you know. I'm sorry, go ahead, Richard. You know, now I was looking at, I was looking, no, I was looking at Giants at Washington as well, but that's not as compelling to me as the other ones that I had mentioned. Obviously, I can't wait to see what Cam Ward looks like for Tennessee.
They're in Denver, which, as we know, has got a ton of hype around it. Vegas and New England is a compelling Cincinnati and Cleveland is another one that's always interesting when they play one another, but nothing else leapt out at me. Than these games. And I just didn't want to include the Monday night, or I just wanted to go Sunday. But maybe I'll open it up to more possibilities as we move forward.
One more segment left here from Brazil, and then. We got a football game here tonight in the fourth largest city of planet Earth, Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is the Rich Eisen Show live from the southern hemisphere. Back to wrap up this Friday's show in a moment. The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University helps you go from I Know the Way to I've Arrived with our top ten ranked online MBA.
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Yeah.
So you can lose more sweat and raise your game. Gatorade. Is it in you? The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio community with my Disney Plus and ESPN app everywhere live stream along with the ESPN radio audience.
Getting ready for some football tonight. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial. Once again, you guys want to choose a phone caller? Let's take a phone call and then turn it to you, Christopher Brockman, for some steek games. Let's go pick.
Let's go. To wrap up our Friday show. Fella, you pick and you have to say the name and the place where they're from. Let's go. Pop them on.
Helen in Austin, Texas. Hey, you're right. Kellen in Austin, Texas. You're on the Rich Islands. What's going on, Kellen?
How are you? I'm doing really great. I'm a Cowboys fan. Total transparency. Got to get you out of the way.
TJ, we're feeling good, huh? Not too bad, Cal. Not too bad today, right? Not too bad today. I mean, we got a loss, but you know, there's things to hang our heads.
It's a loss to feel good about. I think we saw a lot of good stuff.
So here's my question for y'all.
Now that we've got to see the Cowboys in action and they were a little bit more Well coached, the roster was better rounded than I think a lot of people were expecting. What? I'm thinking There are probably two players out there. that the Cowboys could trade two of maybe four first round picks that they're sitting on. That could make our roster look really complete.
Who do you think those two players might be? Should have been Micah Parsons. Other than the obvious. But pathways are on the list. And that's the whole point, Callan.
That's the whole point. I mean, I think Troy Aikman said it in our first guest of the week: is that the draft choices that they come back, the player that they're going to be looking for in the draft is the next Micah Parsons. That's what they're going to be like needing to. Rush the passer.
Now, Eberfloos did a really good job last night, man, of bringing pressure from places that you didn't see coming. And they're going to have to game it up like that if their front four isn't going to just provide the pressure on its own.
Now, that said, I can't identify players for you right now that might be available. You know, it depends on how other teams start. It depends on other teams' injury problems, including Dallas's. But I mean TJ, you know what I mean? Like, they're not going to trade for a running back, and they're not going to trade for, maybe they trade for another wide receiver, but not those ones.
And I know Jerry was throwing out there, and thanks for the call, Kellen. I know Jerry was throwing out there in the press conference after they traded Micah, like, hey, these ones, we might trade for somebody in the middle of the season. But you trade those ones on a draft where you're trading up for someone that you know you're going to get, which is why you trade Micah Parsons if you're going to do it before this year's draft so you could make a move like that. Before the draft.
Well, I guess so. I guess so, but if you were i if there was anything out there that caused you to give you Somewhat of a pause about keeping Micah. Um You know, if you traded him before the draft, I mean, you could keep Tank Lawrence and then trade him, and then you know who you're going to get in the upcoming draft and choose another pass rusher. But again, that's in the past now, and you got to move forward. And the Cowboys looked much better than I thought they would be.
And you're not going to, I mean, again, the trade deadline's not for another two months. I know Cowboys fans are thinking maybe they could get somebody, but for a first-round selection, that... That seems to be a silly use because usually somebody who's worthy of a first-round selection isn't made available in the middle of a season. That's kind of rare. There you go.
All right, Christopher, you ready to make some people some hard-earned American dollars based on the American dollars they're actually going to put on the line based on your advice? Of course. All right, it's called Sneaky Good Games. Hit it. Here's Chris Brockman with Sneaky Good Games.
Contests likely to surprise you with their heretofore undisclosed competitive value. It's so great to hear Tom Brockman. It's very rare, Christopher. Yeah, it's so rare that NBC News Emeritus would be involved with Sneaky Good Games, but that's. That's just the standard you set, Christopher.
Hey, you're on the floor. Sneaky Good Games is back. We're going to throw a little five-piece at you right now. And first, I'm going to Jacksonville, Rich. I love the Jaguars.
Minus three and a half this week. They're welcoming in Carolina. We don't know what the Panthers are going to look like. Got a little bit of an injury bug in their wide receiver room. Bryce Young ascending, yes, but I love what Liam Cohen's going to do.
I think Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas, Travis Atien, Travis Hunter. I love what's going to go on there. I like the Jaguars to win by at least a touchdown, lay the points there. Let's do a couple of totals here. Bucks Atlanta.
I feel like this is going to be a shootout. Two of the best offenses in the league. You hear what Darren Olofsky said. He likes the weapons that Atlanta has around Michael Pennix. Total here over 47.5.
I think there's going to be at least seven touchdowns in this game. Feel comfortable here in a shootout. Another total. Gonna go the other way. Detroit, Green Bay, NFC North.
Gonna be tough. Gonna be bold. Hard hitting, TJ. I love it. I'm going under 47 and a half.
Division game where it's gonna be tight. We know they're both battling to win the North. Let's go under. Let's zag when everyone's zigging under 47 and a half in Green Bay.
Now, another division game, TJ. You don't like either of these teams. Washington and the Giants. Give me the points. In a division game, we just saw it last night.
Dallas covered the spread. When it's this high, five and a half. I think the Giants are going to surprise a bunch of people. I'm taking the points, taking five and a half with the G-Men. Lastly, Rich.
The only college football slate game on Saturday between two ranked teams, Michigan. Oklahoma. Normally, I wouldn't even go in this direction, Rich, because you've kind of turned me off to the Wolverines in the last decade with how obnoxious you've been. But I like what I saw out of Bryce Underwood, and I think they're going to go into Norman and surprise some people. Give me the Wolverines plus five.
He's coming around, Richard. Adam Richard already. Come to the Yeah, come around. Come to Papa. Plus, because I met him, he was a super nice kid.
I really liked the cut of his jib. See, here's the thing, I love it. We've met the last two Michigan quarterbacks, and I don't like it. I love it. Jim's in the building.
You're in my heart with Michigan and Sneaky Good Games. It's awesome. It's awesome. Let's go. Well done, sir.
I hope we don't disappoint you. That would be great if we just. That would be. That would be great if we just win outright. That's the phrase, right?
Did I use that phrase correct? Win outright. Win outright. Okay, we all know what these words are. Barking dogs.
Let's go. I don't understand what you mean when you say pluses and minuses. Overs and mines. No's. I'm an NFL employee.
Rich, the company. And Riv has their own sports book. I think we're good. Listen, Chris. I love it.
I love it. Tonight I'm a YouTube contractor. Yeah, buddy. Hey, have a great cast, man. You know what I mean?
Good luck tonight, Joe. Rich, since the weather got cold, did Kurt bring the jacket? Oh. Uh Kurt did not bring the jacket. It's not that culture.
It's not that culture. It's not like the. It's not like the traveling pants, brother. It's not like the traveling pants. I love it.
All right, we're going to wrap up the show on Disney Plus in a second, but for our radio audience, chat Monday. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
