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Now. On with the show. Defense, Dominate 03, Pick Traff! Devin Lloyd. What a year!
This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles, today's guests. Host of the Green Light Podcast, Chris Long. ESPN senior NFL writer Jeremy Fowler. Actor Tom Pelfrey.
And now, it's Rich Isen.
Well, hey, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. We are live here on Disney Plus on the ESPN app Everywhere and ESPN Radio, presented by a Progressive Insurance Serious XM Channel 80. We say hello to all of you, those who are listening to us on our podcast, all three hours at your right to do so. Also, listen to our Overreaction Monday podcast and no contest wrestling podcast. Those are all fresh, those are all recorded in the last day.
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So, lots of a reason for us to be happy to be here today. And then there's you, as I mentioned, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Chris Long, he's going to join us. He's first up. He's always got some fresh takes on what's just happened in the National Football League and a lot happened in week five.
Jeremy Fowler has all the information, certainly on what's going on in Baltimore, sitting there at 1-4. One of the big stories of this season unfolding that's been a surprise hour and Number three, the actor Tom Pelfrey stops by. He and Mark Ruffalo are crushing it in this wonderful. uh show that's on HBO Max right now called Task. Um it's uh a seven episode series and it's one and done and it's Pretty amazing.
And Tom's going to join us. And the only thing, I guess, sadder than his character, and that is his beloved New York Giants losing to the Saints this past week.
So lots to talk about with Tom. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? Hey, Rich, I'm great, man. What's up?
TJ Mikey Dean. Good to see you. TJ Jefferson, the candle's lit over there. Good to see you, sir. What's up, fellas?
How's everybody? We're great. Let's just jump into it. Listen, we always know the way things work in our. In our uh Media industry.
And that is when a team That has Super Bowl aspirations, or let's just say has been to the last three Super Bowls. begins to struggle in a way. That uh gives one pause that they're gonna continue to be Super Bowl worthy. And they lose a football game, you talk about that team and not the team that's won. Um that's the way you normally start.
Mm-hmm. Uh but I am uh well aware. of the people of Duval County and Their sensitivities. When it comes to all that. Certainly, when every single time when I used to be on Twitter, I would look down.
while hosting an NFL draft and see massive complaints. That we're always going to a break when the Jaguars are on the clock. Move on. There's a lot of sensitivities down there. And I understand.
I get it.
So I'm going to start this program. Talking about the team that won on Monday night football, despite the fact everyone's wondering what in the heck is happening with the two and three Kansas City Chiefs. with 13 penalties. And a Pick Six by Patrick Mahomes.
Well, one team was playing well enough on defense and on special teams and on offense to create those thirteen penalties to be thrown. whether they were all valid or not. And one did come up with a pick six, Patrick Mahomes, 99 yards, to say the least, with Devin Lloyd and four of his interceptions leading the league right now. Because These Jacksonville Jaguars are taking the football away. in scoring points and in back-to-back weeks.
go out to Santa Clara, California, and beat the San Francisco forty niners. Hand in their first loss of the season and then come back. And tell the Kansas City Chiefs, who are up 14-0 in this game, you haven't turned the corner just yet, have you? Yeah. And that's the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are at 4-1 tied with the Indianapolis Colts through five weeks atop the AFC South that everybody thought.
The Jaguars would be in the bottom half of... with the Tennessee Titans. Let's get them all. Let's hit them all now while we got the hospital. And what they have is muscle.
I understand Trevor Lawrence scored twice with his legs last night, including a mind-boggling. one yard run to finish it, which we'll get to in a second. But the Jacksonville Jaguars defense is lights out. And what they are is the best in the National Football League. at taking the football away.
14. Takeaways through five weeks. That's 14 takeaways. That's... Two touchdowns and an extra point worth of takeaways, including that 99-yard pick six.
The longest Pick six by a linebacker. In the history of National Football League regular season action. Notice I had to parse it with regular season. Yeah, I was just about to say. I was waiting.
Our Wednesday guest and my colleague with whom I'll be calling the next two London games, Kurt Warner. Every single time he thinks he's out. James Harrison pulls him back in. See Kerr had nothing to do with this. He had nothing to do with Devin Lloyd stepping in front of that pass that Patrick Mahomes was intending for a touchdown to cap off a long drive of his own.
to Juju Smith Schuster. And oh Devin Lloyd steps in front and takes it 99 yards. The distance. In a matrix-type run where you thought he's going to get caught, he's definitely not that fast. He's definitely not getting the end zone.
Oh, wait a minute, just like James Harrison did to Kurt. Super Bowl 43. Kurt catching streets. I don't know. I think Kurt was calling the game for Westwood One.
I'm not aware. I'll ask him when he's on his usual Wednesday spot on Wednesday's show. Flashback. The only team to have more takeaways through five games in franchise history was the famed 2017 Saxonville Jaguars. Remember that?
Oh, yeah. Four games with three or more takeaways in 2024 already. By the way, four games with three or more takeaways in 2024. Um and uh They're pretty great. This year, pardon me, not 2024.
Um They're great on defense.
So far, we'll see if they can sustain it. Same thing with Trevor Lawrence. He played one of his best. He played his best game this season. And he wasn't perfect.
He was not perfect. One interception, though, shouldn't have happened. There was a defensive pass interference call, not called on the Chiefs. Don't say anything, Chris. You can give voice to everybody out there.
Cooper was screaming and yelling about that one. 'Cause he thinks the Chiefs Have the refs in their back pocket. Just like many other people, I don't know why I'm raising a conspiracy theorist in our household. I don't know how that happened. I don't know how that happened.
But Trevor Lawrence last night, 18 of 25, 221 pass yards, a pass touchdown. Um that interception and you know ups and downs. But at the end of the game, in the fourth quarter. with the game on the line. And the Chiefs haven't just scored the go-ahead touchdown.
To make it a game in which the Jaguars had to score a touchdown themselves in order to win field goal, no good.
So you couldn't have Cam Little setting up from Brandon Aubrey range to try and win this thing. And he marches down the field a 33-yard. Dot To Brian Thomas Jr. on the sideline on third and seven with a minute one to go is as good as it gets. Maybe his best throw ever.
Well, and then he followed up with a Diamond Brown ball as you know, an outround. That was remarkable as well. And then the one that we'll all be talking about. This is going to be one of those. when we see at NFL Honors at the Super Bowl a montage of plays of the season.
We'll see this one where Trevor Lawrence goes down. No timeouts left. 38 seconds to go. His guard steps on his foot. He's on the ground.
He's stumbling around. Like he's Yeah. Had too much to drink, looking for his keys on the ground, and he finally writes himself and then runs in the end zone. Whoa, whoa. and gives the Jaguars that touchdown they needed to Take the lead on the Chiefs.
We just 20 some odd seconds to go. And in so doing, by the way. Joins Only One other player with two or more rushing touchdowns on a Monday night football game on his birthday. I know that's a very interesting subset. 'Cause it was his twenty sixth birthday.
He sixteen turned twenty six last night. The only other player. to have two rushing touchdowns or more. in a Monday night game on his birthday. Wait for it.
His name Bo Jackson. Oh, wow. That's what Trevor Lawrence did. Yes, sir. Blown out the candles.
So that's Pretty sick. Cue Trevor Lawrence talking about that play after the game in victory. Yeah, you know, we had a good a good goal line play that we liked. off of will play action and um But never got to see it because I was going down as I came out of the center.
So, I mean, I'm just panicked, honestly, because I was trying to get up. I was just hoping like no one was near me when I got up at that point because I needed a second to get up and just throw the ball away. Like, I couldn't stay down because we didn't have timeouts.
So, You know, whatever I could do to just get up as fast as possible, and I ended up tripping again.
So that was great. I'm sure it looks pretty funny on the tape.
So, but. Yeah, I mean, what a crazy, crazy finish. It makes sense because the rest of America was tripping watching it. That's for sure. That was wild.
Yeah. I might have said holy ass he scored. You can ask Susie when she's sitting in this chair hosting the show on Thursday. I believe that's what I said in a direct quote. Cooper in the room and everybody else.
Listen. The question is: how sustainable is this moving forward? 4-1, you are what you are, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are tied for first. in the AFC South. And their next game is against Seattle at home.
And then I see them calling a game against the Rams in Wembley Stadium, their home stadium, if you will, in London before a bye week. And then they start getting into the meat of their Um They're Division lineup, including a massive game week 10 at Houston. They could sweep the Texans and really do some damage for them. And the Indianapolis Colts games don't start until week fourteen, week seventeen.
So there's a lot of games down the road that they're going to have to win, including the ones to set them up for success to even win their division, if not conference. If not conference, Don't forget, they were set up to win the conference a couple years ago when Trevor Lawrence turned his ankle and then everything started to change on a Monday night against Cincinnati. And Jake Browning, by the way, that started going south. Doug Peterson no longer there. I mean, it really went south from that moment where all they had to do was win, and they'd be in a position to win the conference a couple of years ago.
But they're talented, man. They are talented. They've got defensive players buzzing everywhere. Travis Hunter made two circus catches. Last night.
One just leaping as a 50-50 ball, and then another one with yards after the catch looking like he was in the Matrix. And in winning close games, this is what Liam Cohen, the head coach, was pointing out. At the podium. Break what, three tackles or whatever it was, two tackles, and shed some dude off and go running in the I mean, that's an unbelievable individual effort. Yeah, we'd love it to be cleaner.
It's a goofy finish, but what a tough moment for him to be able to say like he just he wasn't going to lose. And that's kind of really what it comes down to. He wasn't going to lose. And he made an unbelievable individual effort that hopefully can continue to springboard us. Yeah.
That's the sort of stuff. And then winning close games. against the Chiefs team that used to do that. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the resiliency is really what I think this team has and has continued to show. There was really no flinch or blink when you're down 14, nothing.
Huge win, huge win for us, especially with the one-score game thing. That team has historically won. the majority of their one-score games.
Something that obviously was a struggle for this team last year and proud of the guys.
So Jacksonville wins that game, and they should feel proud about themselves. As I said, let's see how sustainable it is moving forward. But you are what you are, which is a team that is dominant in taking away the football on defense. Without much of a pass rush that we saw last night. and um opportunistic on offense if Trevor Lawrence Is playing like that.
If you told me that Travis Etienne would be struggling. And um You know. And Mahomes would not have much of a pass rush in his face, and they would double, they would score like. As many points as they did. With almost 500 yards of offense, I'd say Jacksonville's in trouble, but The great equalizer is taking the ball away.
opportunistic and then having um big moments from your quarterback.
So let's take a break. We'll come back and we'll get. Chris Long's thoughts on all this. And then on the back end, I'll talk about the Chiefs who you know used to be dominant themselves in. Um one score games.
So We'll take a break and we'll come back, talk to Chris Long, talk about the Chiefs, get Jeremy Fowler, his two cents, and then Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. Work in your phone calls as well. That's the roadmap on the Rich Eisen Show on this Tuesday. As many of you know, supporting pediatric cancer research is something I care deeply about. That's why I'm proud to share what Hyundai is doing through Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
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Visit Progressive. All right. We haven't had him on in a few weeks.
So he's back here on The Rich Eisen Show, one of our favorites to break down everything we just saw in week number five, especially. last night, ladies and gentlemen, the host of Green Light. With Chris Long Podcast. Chris Long back on the show. Good to see you, Christopher.
How are you? Rich, what's up, man? I'm pretty good. How are you? I am.
I'm missing you. I'm thrilled that you are back on this program. Good to see you. Good to be missed. Good to be missed.
It is good to be missed. It's better to be missed than people being like, man, every week with this guy, you know? You know what? You're talking to a guy that's on the air three hours. A day every day.
So I'm becoming rich eisen over at my network. Ladies and gentlemen, more is more with Chris Long back here on the program. All right, let's just jump into it. The Kansas City Chiefs, we always enjoy having a level of concern conversation with you right around this time of year. What are you concerned about, unconcerned about, after we saw what happened in Jacksonville on Monday night?
Chris.
Well, uh I suppose it depends on what your aspirations for the team are. I think if you think they're a Super Bowl contender, there are some concerns I would have. I mean, like defensively, you said that coming into the year. I don't know that they're the team that they've been in the past defensively. I think a lot of people got real panicky about the offense in the form that it was.
Like in the form that it was in, like, the first month of the season, where you didn't have anybody outside. You can see how much Xavier Worthy helps being back on the field. I think you're going to see more too high. You see people playing off a little bit more where you can run the football. The run game was improved last night.
I think one thing that. Probably gets lost in this shuffle is that this offensive line, by the end of the year, I would think, is going to be the best group that he's thrown behind. In a couple of years, because the Simmons at left tackle, and Kingsley at Guards doing a better job, and in the run game, he's a force. I think the offense is going to be fine. You see, the screen game opens up everything, and it will be even more so when Rashi Rice gets back.
But the defense, I think, like the lack of pass rush. To me, it is a problem outside of Chris Jones. You know, I know Spags can manufacture pressure with the best of them. And I know that they are working some things out in the back end. And Spaggs is the guy who tinkers with the lineup throughout the season.
So I don't think we'll see the final product until late in the season. But I think the level of concern would be more on the defensive side of the football for me. I think the offense is going to look really dangerous by the end of the year, especially when they get Rashid Rice back. Look how much the zones expand when you play a team like Jacksonville, who's down Trayvon Walker. and can't really get a pass rush.
Um you know as the down goes on Patrick Mahomes has options. That's not going to be a problem as the year goes on. That said, they're now two and a half games behind the Jacksonville Jaguars. And and so The Colts at 4-1, the Bills at 4-1, and the Steelers are coming off of a bye week at 3-1. There's enough time in the remaining parts of the season for the Chiefs to catch up to them, if not overtake them.
Um but You're seeing the penalties, 13 penalties on Monday night. You're seeing the little things like holding penalties. Uh, on the same guy on two kickoff returns. That's kind of like you know, the runny nose of a team that's not. A Super Bowl team.
That you're seeing the Chiefs have that you haven't that I haven't seen in the past So I go back and forth. I mean, I just let the show kind of going back and forth where you're, I'm wondering, because I did choose the Chiefs to win it all this year. Um me. You're looking at him. I know I said ooh, not who.
Oh, I said, okay, cool. I sound like ooh, yeah, yeah. Oh, ooh, okay. You know, I don't see it. I just don't see it.
I mean, like. Certainly, it could happen. I just, they look like more of a team that has joined the pack. And I don't mean the, you know, the. You know, the league at large, but I mean, like, the elite teams in the NFL, like this year, the great thing that I guess all the good teams have going for them is the parody.
Like, I don't see. a far and away best team in the league. You know, I just don't see that. I think Detroit. the way that they're kind of They've steadily just you know, retooled and improved every week.
with their reputation, they gotta feel like they're in that mix. You know, we can go down the list, but I think the NFC is deep. You talk about the Bucs, you talk about the Eagles, even with their problems. The Packers, I'm sure I'm forgetting teams. The Commanders looked really good the other day.
And in the AFC, it feels like The good thing that the Kansas City Chiefs have gone for them is there's less teams. That are traditional powers playing their best football, like the Ravens being one of those teams that might be one and five at the end of this week. You know, that's a big deal.
Now you look at the newcomers like the Jags and the Colts and we'll see if that stuff holds true. Um I think the Chiefs are... I think the Chiefs are a really good football team that is not immune to making dumb mistakes and that's what's gone on at different points over the last couple of years with this team, like whether it was the drops or the issues up front, pre snap penalties, And you know, last night it's another thing. And for the love of you know who. Can we stop taking kickoffs out?
Under 30 seconds at the end of a ball game, especially if you have a quarterback that can probably get you 50 yards in two plays. We saw it two prime time games in a row. It's a pet peeve of mine. I don't know why you take the kickoff out. Only bad things happen.
Take the ball to the 20, take a couple shots and get it over midfield. Chris Long here on the Rich Eisen Show. Is Jacksonville part of the elite now? Could you say that? At four and one, I mean, Trevor McLawrence made some great throws and.
Devin Lloyd's out of his skull and headlining a group that is uh suddenly the king of takeaways. On defense, Chris. What do you think? Yeah, I think they're earning their way into that group. It's a pretty small sample size to be like, yeah, that's an elite team in the AFC, but boy, do they look really good early in the season?
The thing I love about the defense is how opportunistic they are. You know, you can tell they have a defensive coordinator. Who Who empowers them to go try to make plays? And I love the look down there in the red zone. Like, I hadn't really seen that look from them this year.
I had seen them, you know, mugged up in the low red, but that was a look that I hadn't exactly seen, and they saved it for a big time in the ball game. And Devin Lloyd is like a perfect example. of the ascension of this defense. He was a guy that a lot of people were questioning throughout his young career. Like, hey, was he worth the pick?
Are we going to re him up? That sort of thing. This is a big year for him. He's going to absolutely get paid. He looks re-energized.
And, you know. The perfect guy to make a play on the football last night. He was going to be a guy that had to play well. You know, backers have to play well when you play Kansas City. And I thought he looked great generally last night and then making that huge play.
Now it was like a James Harrison pick six, kind of. Like it was crazy. I don't want to put it on that level. But I thought for sure he was going to run out of gas at some point. Thornton If you watch him.
On a sideline tape, like he starts at the pylon and almost catches him. That's the effort that you need if you're the Kansas City Chiefs. I think a lot of people are making... A big deal out of the Chris Jones thing at the end of the game. You know, that's part of it.
Like, you know, when you see things like that happening, you're like, well, is this. Are these the chiefs that we're used to seeing? Like, you know, the effort, the execution. Um, you know, some of the finger pointing. I mean, like, I think what happened at the end of the Chargers game was pretty run of the mill.
Like, a guy took an inside move, and the linebacker is yelling at the defensive end. Um, and in that case, it was Chris Jones. But, like, this stuff is popping up a lot with this Chiefs' team. And for Trevor Lawrence, man. You know.
I'll admit, I haven't been totally sold on Trevor Lawrence. And, you know, I think there's reasonably a lot of. Um Evidence of why you might not be sure of the guy. I thought last night. That drive at the end of the game is what you got to do if you want to prove that you're one of those guys.
And, you know, the drop in the bucket on the right sideline was gorgeous. The throw to Diami Brown was awesome. And then in the most Trevor Lawrence. fashion like winning the game with his legs like Tripping and falling and getting up. Unbelievable.
I mean, it was crazy.
So, that game was absolutely cinema. And, you know, the Jags look like a good football team. Are they one of the best teams in the league? Let's give it some time. I don't know who the best teams in the league are, really.
I named a few earlier, but a lot of those are traditional powerhouses that have proven it before. This team last year was, I mean, this team was tied rich with. I think two other teams for the worst record in the NFL since December of 23.
So, this is a wild turnaround, and it speaks to how much a good coaching staff can elevate a group. And Liam Cohen's doing a great job with the run game as well, which is something that Trevor's never had. Chris Long here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before we move on, though, to another subject matter. Mm-hmm.
What do you think of when you see Chris Long? But essentially Take that last play off, it looked like. I have no idea. He could have been gassed. Didn't he?
Well, Chris Long would never take Chris Long. I'm sorry. Chris Jones. I mean, Chris Jones. What do you think?
I wish that was Chris Jones. What does Chris Long think of Chris Jones? I mean, a lot has been made of that last play from Chris Jones last night. Yeah, well, at first I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. You know, because...
You wondered if they were trying to let him score. Like, I don't know if that was part of the calculus for that team. I mean, we saw, I think, Houston in the Houston-Tampa Bay game. Um I believe, uh, I think the Bucs let the Texans score. You know, I'm like, these games are running together, but uh.
Yeah. Once I saw that other guy, like when you see Trevor slipping and falling, they got no timeouts at that point. There's 20-something seconds in the game. Like, you got to get on your horse, even if that's the case.
So I don't think there's any excuse for it. I'm certainly don't clip me here and, you know, turn me into the anti-Chris Jones guy, but like. Because he's made a million more plays than I ever did, but like You gotta make the you gotta make the effort, man. Like, I I just I know guys are gassed, but that's just not a great look. Chris Long here on The Rich Eisen Show.
Your level of concern for the Philadelphia Eagles at 4-1. You know what it's going to be like in Philadelphia this week in the short week before the Giants game. Coming off that loss to the Broncos. What do you have for it? Relatively high.
I mean, like... you know, I guess defined concern like It's the same thing. It's the same thing as the Chiefs. You know what the standard is with these teams. Am I shocked here?
No, I'm not shocked. I'm not shocked with the Chiefs. I'm not shocked with the Eagles. Like, You know, both teams are defending Super Bowl runs, you know, where the Chiefs were in the big dance and the Eagles won it last year. And, you know, I always talk about like 2018, we started four and six after our 2017 season.
It's a hard thing to do. I think coming into the season, I had concerns about the offensive line, as crazy as that sounds, not the tackles. But the interior, the health of Cam Jugens, the health of Landon Dickerson, the replacing of Makai Bechton, who everybody says, you know, well, he's just a. You know, he's just a, you know, a part of the machine. He wasn't anything special.
Like, we made Makai Bechton. No, that's not the case. Makai Bechton's a good football player, and he happened to be playing on a great unit. that he made better. And you can see the the issues they've had running the football.
Um you know, I think the last couple weeks. We've seen in the second half of games, I thought Todd Bowles did a great job of mixing in some simulated pressures, Rich, which would be, you know, when it looks like a blitz to the naked eye, but you're dropping the defensive lineman out and adding a rusher off the ball. And so it's just another way to kind of trick the quarterback's eyes. And we saw this week there was kind of a repetition of that theme, and more zone played behind everything in the second half. And Jalen had a lot of trouble with it.
And you've got two guys outside. Who are not getting the ball enough. One of them is making a bigger deal about it. And you got your all-world running back who sitting in the backfield saying it doesn't really matter who gets the ball. Um It's about winning football games.
And I think that's got to be the attitude. I think it is going to be uphill. For this offense for most of the year, like, especially if you don't have a dynamic play caller, and Kevin Petullo hasn't proven to be that thus far. I think Jalen's a tremendous player. But like most quarterbacks, the scheme Can elevate him or make him look worse than he is.
And, um, I think what you see is a lot of kind of oscillating between Those two extremes because this guy has had to learn a bunch of new systems from new coordinators over his young career. And so, you know, the defense, Vic Fangio, he keeps the floor high. Um yeah, I think he does a great job. And when you when you hit on two of You know, those corners that you did last year in the draft, you're always going to look good, but coming into the season, we worried about pass rush. You know, on the edges, they have had a hard time getting home, and then we worry about that third corner.
And, you know, two weeks ago, they played Tampa Bay Buccaneers and. You know, Grizzard, he targets, I think, Quinyon and Cooper 18 times. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, if I'm a Bucs fan, like, what are we doing? Keely Ringo's out there. Sean Payton wasn't going to make that same mistake.
And so early and often they went there. I just think the Eagles are more human this year, and that's okay. Like most teams in the NFL, every year it's not going to be like 2024 Eagles. Like 2024 Eagles, one of the best teams this century, in my opinion.
So it's not going to be like that every year. And so am I concerned about them? Sure. Like, are they a playoff team? Absolutely.
Is it a foregone conclusion they represent the NFC in the Super Bowl? If you're an Eagles fan and you think you just deserve that because we were there last year. The first five weeks are an indication that, you know, it's really hard to be that team last year. It's not going to be that way every year.
So. What do I think they need to do? I think when the Dolphins let Mike McDaniel go, they need to call Mike McDaniel and say, Hey, you want to come up here and sit in our offensive meeting rooms and tell us how the hell we figured this thing out? You know, and I think maybe you got to get creative, turn to things like RPOs more. We saw that in the game last week.
You know, people are saying, Where's the run game? Maybe there's other ways to get to it. But they have to play better because this. While you're 4-1, it is not going to land you in the Super Bowl. You have to win three, four games in a row to play in the Super Bowl, and the consistency has been a killer.
Chris Long here on the Rich Eisen Show. So I'll ask you this in a sports talk radio term. type of question, Chris. 4-1 Detroit, 4-1 Tampa, 4-1 Niners. You got to put your marker on one of 'em.
Right now, through five weeks, you put the marker on who? I put the Bucs in the Super Bowl before the season. And I'm not going to do the thing where, although that is like throwing darts, you know, like I, as you, as y'all know in sports media, like, sure. You know, trust my picks against the spread week 16 way more than my pick for who's going to the Super Bowl because we haven't seen the teams play. But the feeling I had about the Bucs this year going in, and certainly all three of those teams are very good, and we should throw the Packers in that mix as well.
Maybe even the Rams with a good kicking game. The Rams. And I didn't mention them earlier. That's why I think the NFC is so deep this year, which is another reason why it's really hard to just put the Eagles back in the Super Bowl. Um I think the Bucs are...
I think the Bucs haven't even rounded into form yet. And they have won all four of their games in crunch time, leading game-winning or game-tying drives like under a minute to go. And a lot of them on the road so far, I thought they played really poorly in the Eagles game in the first half and came, you know, charging back in the second, but. This is a very good football team. They haven't had Mike Evans, Abuka.
Um as Gronk would call him i ig Big Boo, who's what Kronk called him. And then who's a Who's a stud? I just think they do such a great job. They haven't had him and Godwin and Evans on the field at the same time all year long. Bucky Irving's hurt right now.
They've had Charlie Heck playing tackle. They've had like multiple offensive linemen down. And I know that that's going on everywhere. But to go to Seattle like that and win in that. And I think Seattle is a very good team.
I think maybe at the end of the season, we can include Seattle in that group of like the NFC.
So it's just a deep, fun conference. I certainly respect what the Niners are doing. If the season ended right now, I'd probably say Shanahan gets coach of the year. I just think he does such an amazing job. And certainly, you could throw Shane Steichen in that conversation.
But yeah, they're great. And the Lions, Lions fans are going to be the first to remind you that, hey, you forgot about us. Nobody forgot about the Lions. The Lions are the team that, you know, despite everybody's. Signaling that they were going to get a lot worse this year have not gotten a lot worse.
They actually look pretty good. And, you know, it goes to show it's a players league. Schemes matter, they can help. But they've got a lot of great players there, and that persists. All right, so let's do the same on the AFC side before I let you go, Chris.
You got the Steelers at three and one. The Broncos at 3-2. And also the Chargers at 3-2, and lo and behold. You are three in two, New England Patriots. Which one do you think is the most dangerous?
Out of all four, knowing their current predicaments, if you will, for the Chargers being banged up. The Steelers are coming off of a three-in-one start and a buy, but there's a lot of wait and see still for them. We just saw what the Patriots did and the Broncos just did. Chris? What do you got for me?
So, if the Chargers had both their tackles and all the people that they came into the season with, I'd say it's the Chargers. I mean, like, but they're on tackles four and five and running back three and four right now. It's crazy. And they've got no pass rush. They play zone behind it.
So, you know, they're up, you know, what's creek without a paddle. And so you've got that, and then you've got. Um You mentioned the Broncos. Here's my take on the Broncos. They're such a well-coached football team.
Sean Payton does such a great job. The quarterback has to just make the throws when they're there. If the quarterback makes the throws when they're there, they might be 5-0. And of course you are. you know, including in that assessment um you know, the the Colts game where there's that leveraging penalty from triple.
Fans would say, oh my, we should have won that game. And you could certainly argue that fact. But I guess the point I'm making is like, it's the game the other day. which was such a big deal for the Broncos. is a microcosm of everything.
In the first half, Sean Payton's scheming up shots and plays to the point where, like, if Bo Nicks hits them, they're winning that game at the half. There's zero shock that they won that game for me, even being down. Because in the second half, you could see. You know, the Sean Payton effect, the run game, getting the ball in the perimeter. Um, you know, you had an Evan Ingram drive, you had a, you know, Cortland Sutton drive, and, and, um, I just think when you pair that with the defense and being able to go into Philadelphia and beat that team that has a very unique advantage over you, where the tackles can handle the edges.
And now I know Benito had two and a half sacks. But two of them Jalen Hurts has the ball. for six and a half seconds each time. It's like. You know, it's it's like um You can watch The Godfather, seriously, in one of the dropback passes that Benito.
So it's like, bro, like, I. I don't think people put enough stock in that. Like going to Philly, and two of your best players are just not going to be huge factors in the game, and they can handle them with their tackles, and we still find a way to win that game. I say all that to say, like, I would have said the Chargers, but the Broncos in the state they're in are the most dangerous out of the teams you just mentioned. I need to see a bigger sample size of the Patriots.
The thing I love about the Patriots, though. And people are talking about, hey, it's about Drake May and Drake May and Josh Allen and Division. All that. Um It's really more about like Josh Allen has to contend with Mike Vrabel's teams and like the personality of those teams and the way it bleeds into the way the defense haunts him and the the physicality with which they play. Like there was a drive in the third quarter.
Where they were hitting Josh, and I was like, man, he hasn't looked. Remember, he played Houston last year and got really dinged. He actually had a concussion, I think, that game, and they put him back in the game, which is a shame. Um but he was getting beat up. And, you know, it's one of those things now where, like, every time he plays New England.
he's going to know that those hits are coming. Does that take him out of his game? I think the other night looked like a vintage Rabel spot, and I love the way Josh calls a game, like early in the game. We're going to dink and dunk. You know, we're going to take what's there.
We're not going to put too much on the quarterback, but when it's time to make the big throws, he did. And I think Drake's fabulous.
So, but. Of fun. Let me give you the non-answer. No, no, no. You gave me an answer.
You said the Broncos. You actually gave the Broncos an answer. And the Patriots, again, the fact that McDaniels can dial it up with Drake May towards the end of a game and he can go. 13 of 14 in the second half. And make the throws and get out.
I mean, he's the one who looked more like Josh Allen than Josh Allen on Sunday night. He really did. I mean, that getting out of Daquan Jones' grasp to make a 12-yard gain to start a drive to win it. Yes. I mean, that's.
You need more out of your offense. If you're the Bills, you have to score 30 points in that game. Like, I know that the Patriots have a good defense, but the Bills will tell you, like, They didn't execute. They turned the ball over. That's very uncharacteristic of them.
The next time they play, they're going to try to turn that thing into a shootout. And that's what they should do. And, you know, so I think the Pats are here to stay as far as like they're going to be a pain in Buffalo's ass for a long time, especially with Varabel's personality and everything. All right, Chris, who's on your pod? This week, what do we got?
Who do we have? Bro, nobody, man. We're just dudes talking ball. It's just in-house dudes talking ball. It'd be like if you and your outfit just didn't have any guests on.
That's kind of what we are. How's that for?
Well, you know, I'm always here for you, Chris. If you're, you know, in case of emergency, just call me. You know what I mean? I'll be there for you. You know that.
I appreciate it. You know, I appreciate it. All right. And by the way, you're right. When Gronk mispronounces a name so bad that Terry Bradshaw is the one to correct him properly, you know it's bad.
A big boo. A big boo. Chris Long. And by the way, I shouldn't talk. I called you.
I called Chris Jones. No, that's the best compliment I ever got. I was like, oh, that's cool.
Okay. Good to see you, Chris. You're the man. All right. See y'all.
Green light with Chris Long Podcast. Chris Long here on the Rich Rising Show. All right. Let's beat it. Let's take a break.
We still have to talk about the Chiefs. We've got Jeremy Fowler. We've got your phone calls. We've got Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday, the actor Tom Pelfrey. Got a lot to unpack.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Oh, no.
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Sonos, they look as good as they sound. Aiden in New York, what's up, Aiden? Hey, Rich, thank you for taking my call. You got it. Uh I want to talk about Probably the most talked about non-quarterback leading up to a draft I can remember, Travis Hunter.
Feels like Nobody's talked about him since the draft. I understand that going to Jacksonville has that effect on players. Boom. Are you I don't wanna d Start throwing the word bust around. Oh, but I think we need to ask listen, listen, listen, no bust.
Zero. Zero bus talk. But They traded A fifth overall pick. And next year's first For a player that they knew wouldn't play both sides of the ball the whole game. Yes.
And they could have had Tet just sitting there and, you know, draft a corner next Next year, Aiden, let me jump in here. I think it's fair to evaluate. Value. of that pick now. That's it.
That's what I'm saying.
Well, no, listen, listen. No, and I know we're in a stats-driven world. Certainly, when we're talking fantasy football, and Travis Hunter has yet to have some sort of monster game on offense. And you know, we haven't seen an interception from him on defense. What about the fact that if Travis Hunter's out there locking it down on an island and it allows somebody to get home for a sack?
What if that's possible? You know what I mean? Like, there is stuff when you play defensive back that doesn't show up on the stat sheet. It doesn't show up, well, it does for yourself. Uh uh It's just five games.
And I think, you know, Dion keeps saying, load him up more, he'll get better. Um and I kind of tend to agree. I think there's a learning curve that we're not fully aware of. either in the NFL, but I think he's ready for it. Jacksonville's 4-1.
They're bringing him along. I think the dream of defensive and offensive rookie of the year is gone. Offensive rookie of the year has been won by somebody else in the state of Florida. Um, and that's Emeka Buka. He's he is 100% your offensive rookie of the year now that O'Marion Hampton is going to be out.
For at least a month, you know, who else could even be in that category? Right. I mean, obviously, Macmillan could be at some point entering a chat, but not like Abuka. And thanks for the call, Aiden. I understand that.
you know. Um Travis Hunter is yet to Emerge is an unstoppable player. He made some incredible catches last year and some incredible individual plays. The offense, clearly, in Jacksonville, is not as fully developed and is behind. The Maturation process, if you will, than the defense.
The defense is way ahead of things. They're four in one. I will just counsel again. Aiden was like, I don't mean, I'm not throwing the word bust around. But You know?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand that you move up from five to two and give up the first in a next year's draft for somebody who is. A quarterback, not a wide receiver slash cornerback. Let's see how it plays out. Let's see how many snaps he's going to get on both sides of the ball.
Let's see how a game might dictate his usage on defense or on offense. But for the moment... For the moment, they are 4-1, and Travis Hunter is a reason why. And even though it's not he's not showing up in the stat sheet. And you could sit here and say that that is not worth the draft capital.
But if the Jaguars win the division or make the playoffs, and Travis Sunder is part of the reason why. It won't matter until obviously The Browns are on the clock in Pittsburgh in 2026. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
