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Now. On with the show. Hmm.
Well, I give a damn about the back. God, I love that guy. This is The Rich Eisen Show with guest host, Tom Pellicera, live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Hajis grounds it back to Kirkery. He can't find it.
He throws home! It's one. Earlier on the show. Jason McCordy. Coming up.
College football analyst Ross Dellinger. Giants linebacker Brian Byrne. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Tom Pellisero. Welcome back to the Rich Eyes and Show. Tom Pellicero in for Rich today here on Disney Plus, the ESPN app and ESPN radio, presented by Progressive Insurance.
We were, I think, in this room all surprised enough by the result of last night's game. We didn't even have time in that steady cam shot. We booked it so late. Brian Burns is also going to join the show, coming off of the biggest win, probably for the New York Football Giants in about. Three years.
We'll also get to the phones. 844-204-RICH is the phone number. 10 a.m. here in Los Angeles, 6 p.m. in London, where the host of this show, kind enough now, to check in ahead of what I am sure is a fabulous dinner plan that he will be documenting through his Instagram stories.
Rich as in November, wow. Tom, I had no idea it was B-Y-O-M for the guest hosts. I didn't know it's a bring your own mouse situation. Is that a computer mouse that's on my desk at the top? Is that what I'm seeing?
What is that? What did they say? What are my computers? No, I know Susie brings her own computer. You got the NFL Plus one?
Did you snag it? From the NFL? Is that your computer? This is my computer. I try to keep it off-screen.
I don't want to run agrindron. Why are you? Why are you, and don't be embarrassed that you brought your own mouse, Tom. I do that. I like a good mouse.
I don't like the touchpads they use. I feel like they're so off this house, like literally, I think. Good one. Does that computer also have a floppy disk in it? Is it a floppy disk in it?
You said when you said BYOM. When you said B-Y-O-M, I thought you were going to say bring your own mullet, commenting that the hair thrown out. That's it. Just the last time I was here. I thought it was bring your own moose because no one here uses it.
There you go. A little bit of. CJ, you're on fire. I was pretty quiet the first hour, so I'm going to get it out. He walked in full of energy after watching the Eagles get dismantled by the Giants last night.
I assume that's a good thing. Jake, you know, Kat, the Bella twins, my boy Dave. Oh, no, because I'm better than that. But you're really. Do you want Kat's number?
Do you need Kat's number? I don't know. He's awful close. I don't know. I can do it.
I can hook you guys up. I kind of need that. Because he's awful quiet. Yeah. He's awful quiet.
He sent me roses and stuff last year. We. got that this year his team's not that strong not yet Not yet, not yet.
So yeah, that was quite a That was quite an impressive win. I mean, I was on yesterday's show with Suze and the guys and Talking about how the Eagles need to take advantage of what appears to be a get-right game. And it who knew it was for the Giants to get right game? I mean how That's just the latest example of you never know with this league, man. You know, last week, week five, they lose to the Saints, who get their first win in week five.
And the Giants turn it over in five straight possessions like Sesame Street. That game is brought to you by the number five. And Last night it was brought to you by Dart and Scataboo. And I know you got Brian Burns on as a third-hour guest. Number zero bagged himself some Jalen Hurts quite a bit.
And Wandell Robinson is making plays without Malik neighbors. You know, and Dayball's feeling it. He starts barking at doctors and things like that. And you know, I mean, it was wild. It was wild in New Jersey last night.
And the Giants taking a 13-3 advantage and then. Um Watching the Eagles come back on them, and they dominated the second half. And, you know, now Philadelphia's got Saquon Barkley working blue at his locker, saying they got to just. You know, come correct. Like, everyone knew last, like, he doesn't want to hear this business that their offense is too predictable because last year everyone knew it was coming and they couldn't stop Saquon.
And now he's only had one game. He had only one game last year where he was held to less than 60 yards. And four of his first five games this year have been exactly that. And so now here we go, where the Eagles are 4-2, two losses in five days, and the same night the Phillies get bounced, and everybody in. In Philadelphia, is looking for the Sixers to bail him out.
We all know, TJ, that's not going to happen, right?
So, you didn't hear what Charles Berkeley said yesterday, did you? Yeah, I and Sue's knocked that out of the park with that interview. And listen, I'm still not in any way, shape, or form. Going to give up on the Eagles being the team in the NFC that. could be there at the end.
They may not be the team to beat anymore. That might look like the Lions. Um but there's still enough time for the Eagles to get right. Between now and the end of the regular season, Jalen Carter was out. last night, which makes obviously a big difference when there's a rookie.
Coming off of a multiple turnover game in New Orleans. You look at the schedule. Their next game is at Minnesota. That looks like a Carson Wentz revenge game. They get the Giants to come back in their house before there's a buy.
They can get right pretty darn quick before that. Foray through the NFC North's toughest part of the schedule, along with a uh a visit uh to Dallas so There's still some room for improvement in the short term. And in the long term, I'm not ready to cast them off and say that they're a beatable team. Although, last night did not look good. And it's going to be a long week and a half.
I can only imagine what Sports Talk Radio in Philadelphia was like today. You are, of course, in London calling the Broncos Jets game Sunday, Rich? Bright and early. Can confirm. Over here on NFL Network.
Tell me what you've gotten into, what you've learned so far since getting over there.
Well, we zoomed with the Jets today. We zoomed with Aaron Glenn and a handful of players, including Justin Fields. And look, what they're hanging their hat on right now is nobody's given up, which obviously is not what you want to hang your hat on usually five weeks into a season. But Aaron Glenn keeps talking about how he's not giving up on the players, that there's a certain belief. that everyone has in him and he and them and that it's unshakable.
And he said it looks like deja vu, exactly the same as when it started for him as the defensive coordinator in Detroit for Dan Campbell, who we talked about the other day, guys, was started 0-10-1, as you pointed out, Chris. And the thing that Aaron Glenn brought up as well that I forgot is they started 1-6 the year after that. And things began to turn. And he says the things look the same on the record side, as well as the side of everybody in the building buying into a culture that eventually will stick. And how this team lost at a 60-yard field goal in week one, in week three with their backup quarterback, almost beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, put a massive scare in them, and had a lead towards the end.
And Justin Fields, as I'm going through everything here, here's a stat that jumped out at me. His passer rating is 100.1. And the last Jets quarterback to have that passer rating through five weeks of a season was Brett Favre in 08. He hasn't thrown an interception. He's got four.
Yeah, he's got four touchdowns in the air, three on the ground. Brees Hall is doing his thing. Garrett Wilson is off the hook. And they just keep turning it over and committing penalties, and if they clean that up, they'll have a chance. Like that's literally what they're hanging their hats on.
Right now, along with the fact that they do have some talented players on both sides of the ball.
So we'll see. The problem is that the Broncos are coming in with the reigning defensive player of the year. in Pat Sertan the second to stick on Um On Garrett Wilson, and the only other guy on the team. In That's been at the wide receiver position, that's been targeted more than five times this year, is Josh Reynolds.
So it's Mason Taylor, who I believe both of you have picked up in fantasy leagues. They really dig him quite a bit. And that's the reason why his production has been boosted over the last couple of weeks, is that they feel like he's come along and they're really going to try to target him. But again, the issue is Sertan can be right there on Garrett Wilson. And then That's the reigning defensive player of the year, and you can make the case significantly so.
Through five weeks, the Current leader for Defensive Player of the Year is playing for the Denver Broncos right in front of Sertan and Nick Benito. Who had two and a half sacks of Jalen Hurts just five days ago or six days ago now? And man, is he just on fire? This is another stat that leapt out at me here. I have it right here in front of me because, again, I'm a professional.
Let me put on my glasses here. Uh The Broncos have 84 sacks since the beginning of last season, which is 22 more sacks than any other team. Wow. And they have 21 total sacks, including six last week. That's five more than anybody else in the NFL.
So they're feeling it on defense and Knicks. And this offense just had their best quarter of the season, having 18 points unanswered in Philadelphia, and they're feeling it. Sean Payton going. for that two-point conversion is everybody Energized, we're zooming with the Broncos tomorrow.
So that's what I can give you in terms of a preview of that game. for Sunday morning in the States. All right. We appreciate the thoroughness of the breakdown. We also appreciate the.
I'm a pro. And the thing is, the crazy thing is, I looked all of this up on my computer without the need of a mouse. I'm telling you, man, there's something to be said for just that beautiful, soft scrolling. It's actually therapeutic. For me, you know what else is therapeutic for me?
What's more likely? Brockman, let's do this. Oh, what a move! What a move!
Well, I'm moved. Let's go. What? What's more likely? Never say never, but never.
Guys, happy Friday. Great to see you. What up, Chris? Everybody good, Rich. Great to see you.
What time is it over there? Is it like 6? 6.11. 6.11? Yeah, it is.
It is. It's 6'11. It's beginning to get dark behind me. That's the London landscape. It's getting dark for a couple of teams in the NFL, guys, especially ones that played.
Last year in the big game, more likely Super Bowl 59 participant you're most concerned about the rest of the season: Chiefs or Eagles? Hmm.
Look at you. Look at you. This is really not a what's more likely. You're just putting me in a box for a question.
So you're saying what's more likely to not make the playoffs, or you're just saying, the more likely team that you're most concerned about the rest of the year.
Well, I mean, I could tell you how I'm feeling right now, not like how I'm down the road, like what's likely. I'm just trying to. Tap dance here to poke holes in you not really asking me a question about the likelihood of something, but long story short. is I will say I'm more concerned about I'll go the Eagles right here. Yeah, you are.
Maybe it's recency bias. Maybe it's recency bias because they've lost twice in five days. And I just think the Chiefs, even though when they fall to two and four, Um I just believe in them. And I don't know, man. This is...
Part of the reason why Andy Reid is sitting in Kansas City, Philadelphia will just eat up and spit you out. when there's some potential blood in the water and a massive iceberg underneath the water as well.
So I'll just go Eagles just for recency bias right now. All right, well, let's move on. More likely, how about this scenario based on last night's game? Is it more likely that the Giants make the playoffs or the Eagles miss the playoffs? Uh I'll say it's more likely Look at you keep boxing in here.
I'll just go. It's not going to be easy, Rich Ivan. Come on now. No, it's just because it's two and they're the Giants are two and four. Yeah, but they look like the much better team last night.
And in the last night, I know that. No, I get it. Look at that. What team are you on the root for, Rich? The wackos on the left?
Oh, we're doing it. Or this guy on the right who looks like he wants to be somewhere else. Jalen Hurts is one to root for, and you know that. How dare you? But the j Talk about recency bias.
I mean, that and this is why I'm counseling you to pump the brakes more than you care to about your patriots.
Well, that's just because you've got No, it's when you've got a young team you go up and down. That's how you can get the results that you saw in weeks five and six for the Giants. Or they went to the same place. And you know, and then listen, man. Again, I will just go with the Eagles missing the playoffs because I don't know if the Giants make it.
And I think the Eagles still make the playoffs.
So to hell with you and your topic bar.
So aggressive, Tom. With all due respect. Oh, you're supposed to say that first. Hey, big one in Florida on Sunday, guys. Couple 4-1 teams, locking horns.
Is it more likely that Mac Jones remains unbeaten this year or Baker Mayfield leads yet another one-score Bucks win? I think it's w more than likely that the uh the Baker Mayfield leads the Bucs to another one-score win. It really is amazing what he's doing. No question about it. And listen, this has got nothing to do about Mac Jones.
Um but I will just go with the guy. who is the guy. Um, leaving the box at home. coming off of yet another win. This one in Seattle.
This one where he's, you know, barking at fans for not coming correct, apparently, in the way that you're supposed to. troll him from the stands, I guess. I don't know if you heard the the uh The backstory is that the reason why he was going at that fan in Seattle is he didn't like the fans. Um You know, it was just basic. For him, he wants to be more, he wants somebody to be more inventive.
Betrayed him, I get that. Yeah, he wants somebody to show some creativity rather than just use the basic curse words if they're going to try and heckle him from the stands. I'll go with Baker. It's really, we're rent payers in his world right now, despite what Mac Jones has done. For the 49ers.
Could be a fun one in Carolina. It could be high scoring in Carolina. Wide receiver more likely to go off for over 100 yards in a touchdown. George Pickens, or do we finally get to Tet McMillan game? I'll go with Tet Macmillan.
I'll go with Tet Macmillan right now. The Panthers, as you know, have been playing much better at home than they have on the road. And I'll say maybe it's time for the rookie to do that. Although Pickens, as we all know, had an outstanding game against the Jets. And Dak is the MVP candidate from Dallas right now.
And if Dallas had maybe beaten the Packers instead of being 2-2 and 1 and being, you know, what would that make them 4-1 right now? Then we would be talking about him 100% as an MVP of the league. But Um I'll go with Tech McMillan. at present. A couple of one in four teams have the chance to get their season on the right track here with a win.
Rookie most likely to boost their offensive player of the year stock. Cam Ward, Ashton Genty. Oh. Man, I'll go with Gentie. Did you hear, well first of all, as we know, with Kurt Warner on Wednesday saying Abuka should be offensive player of the year did you candidate.
Not just the rookie, but put him with the whole league, veterans and rookies. Um But I will say Genti, did you you heard Pete Carroll talk about the play calling and needing to see more runs and that they want Genti to run the ball more and you know Chip Kelly saying we're balanced. I just think Pete's going to start taking the ball out of Geno's hands and wanted to put it in Genti's hands. And Genti has improved since they just let him, since they let him stand any darn way he wants before the snap.
So I think I'll go with Genti right now. Love it. On that front. Rich, this could be an interesting game here. How about this one?
Browns, quarterback, more likely to throw more touchdown passes on Sunday. Their new one or their old one. Yeah, the new guy or the old guy. Dylan Gabriel. Oh.
Man, one's in Pittsburgh for Career Start 2, and the other one is in Green Bay for his first start for the Bengals on. Uh five days in their playbook. And Jamar Chase is sick and now questionable. And now and him basically living out of a suitcase. Um so I will go, I will go, I will go with, um, I'll go with Dylan Gabriel.
How about that? I'll go with Dylan. I'll go with rookie and career start two in Pittsburgh, slinging it around. I believe in Dylan Gabriel. Let's go.
All right, Rich, last one, and I'll leave you on your good London night. How about this one? More likely, Super Bowl-winning, September General head coach who most wishes they had stayed retired. Pete Carroll or Bill Belichick. Pete Carroll or Bill Bill Belichick, right now.
No, no, no. Pete. Pete is as sunny a disposition as ever. And you know, he wakes up every day saying, Where's my chewing gum? Let me chomp on it.
Let me chomp on it. Let me turn this thing around. I believe. I've got my locker room believing. And Belichick is probably on occasion staring at Into space, wondering when he can get back on his boat.
I will go 100%. Bill over Pete in this situation. I think Pete's sunny disposition is going to help the Raiders turn things around. How about them apples? You know how I feel about both of these guys.
Of course, of course. There you go, Jake Fellows. We love both guys. It's not going to be a good idea. Are you starting Rico Dowdle this week?
Hey, Tom. Tom, can Jay Felly start Rico Dowdle this week? What's Chuba Hubbard's? Seems like a pretty safe bet that Rico Dowdle is going to be the man once again for Carolina this week.
So good news for Jay Felly. I was planning on that.
Well, you have to, as host, remind him that he's on the team. On his fantasy team, okay? Otherwise, you won't know. It was one time. It was one time.
Dude, one time. You had him on the bench last week? No, he didn't. He didn't let me know, so I put him in, thankfully. I mean to let me know.
No, I said during that, no, when you, Tom, reported that Chuba Hubbard was likely to be out in the commercial break, I looked to see Rico Dowdle, who has him, and it's Jay, and I mentioned it on the air: like, guess who has Rico Dowdle? Jay doesn't. He goes, I do. Like, that's the guy you're playing in fantasy that infuriates you. Look at that.
You know what I mean?
Somehow, that's the guy who inevitably is going to go on a run to the championship game. That's right. And I am still transatlantic. I'm transatlantically infuriated, by the way. Great.
That's a bad van. Is that a band? Is that a cover band? Yeah. Or is that like what?
That's it. Is that a deep purple album? Yes. There you go, there you go. Very good.
All right. I know you got an ex-guest. I got a dinner to go to, and um. Enjoy. We'll look for the photos later on, Rich.
Thank you very much. We'll see you bright and early Sunday morning football on NFL. How about you know what? I'll let you know when the photos are up so you can click on it. Wow.
With your mouse. Appreciate you, Rich. Thank you very much. All right. All right, buddy.
Ross Dellinger, college football writer for Yahoo, going to join us next. Maybe he can tell us how much Bill Belichick's regretting this. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eyes and Lists, Rich Eyes and Show. Tom Pellicero in for Rich on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, and of course, ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance.
You did not dream that. Last night, even if he might have dozed off at some point in the third, fourth quarter, Giants routed the Eagles. Our next guest. was there. He is a Super Bowl champ.
He's a 13 times 13 year. NFL veteran, now CBS analyst. You can see basically Jason McCordy. Everywhere. I once, I think most famously, what he's best known for was releasing a single with me on the acoustic guitar and him singing back during his Good Morning Football Days.
I'm not going to ask you, Jason, to sing today mainly because of how that segment went, but I got to say, in my weird memories of nine years at NFL Network, that one is really high up on the list. Give you credit because you actually have musical talent. Myself, I expose myself to everybody to show how bad of singing, but I got to show how much of a team player I bought into the segment and it was absolutely brutal. But I appreciate you for playing along. You absolutely went for it, which I appreciated.
But the moment you opened your mouth, I was like, oh boy, there's no rhythm, there's no pitch, nothing here. But appreciate you being here today, man. You were at the game. Last night, MetLife Stadium, I saw the photo on social media. You and your son, when you walk through the doors of that stadium, What are the chances in your mind you're going to watch the Giants salting that game away in the fourth quarter?
My son wanted to wear his Jalen Hurts jersey to the game because at this age, he's nine. He just wants to be associated with the winner. He didn't care really which team is going to be, but he was so sure that the Eagles are going to win. I'm like, buddy, like New Jersey, Northeast, like rolling up with a Jalen Hurts jersey. I don't want to have to fight anybody.
So let's just go neutral, put on just an NFL jacket. But I didn't expect this. The Giants team we saw a week ago with five straight turnovers with so many young guys playing in their game. And then the Eagles on the other side coming off of a loss to the Denver Broncos where they had a lead in the fourth quarter and kind of gave the game away. You expected the Eagles to be fired up that they didn't have to wait an entire week to play again.
And I expected him to win that game and win it kind of big. And a lot of credit goes to Brian Dable. He's been able to get this team going, even coming off that loss on the roll to come back home. The game plan centered around Jackson Dart and how it was able to kind of show. itself throughout the course of that game.
They end up going down and continue to fight and really put a butt whooping on the Philadelphia Eagles. And I think it puts them in a spot where at 4-2, yes, you still feel good if you're an Eagles fan that you are where you are. But it's kind of that teetering point where is this going to be the 2023 Eagles where they were 10-1 and then absolutely collapsed? Or is it going to be more like last year where early on in the season, Hearst had turnovers, they were struggling. They went into their bye week.
They came up with some answers and they went on a terrific run to obviously win the Super Bowl. A lot of question marks surrounding the Eagles right now.
So if you look at this Eagles offense, Jason, you spent a long time in your career, obviously game planning against and trying to pick things apart. What's going on? They're pretty close to full strength. It's not like they got injuries all over the place. Why, outside of the tush push?
The tush push, we're calling the tush push fourth and inches. Besides the tush push, why does it seem like nothing else is on time, on tempo, the way that we expect? I think part of it is When you're a really good football team and really good offense, like they were a year ago, each and every year you have to kind of recreate yourself and go back and look at it, what you did well, and how you have to adjust and adapt to whatever the new pieces are on your football team. Last year, they decided after the bye week, you know what? The best attribute of our offense is our line and our running back and Saquon Barkley.
And we're going to fully commit to it because he's picking up three yards before he's even getting touched by a defender. And then he's able to do the rest. You come into this season, they haven't been able to do that. They've tried to line up in the shotgun like they always do and just run the ball at people. And Saquon is getting hit in the backfield damn near every single time.
So you don't have the team to just bully people the way you did last year. We've seen him over the last two weeks try to rely on the passing game a lot more and put the ball in Jalen Hurts' hands. It's too vanilla. And I don't know if when you're looking at the Eagles, if they feel as though, hey, we're doing what Jalen Hurts likes and we're doing the things that work to the best of what his abilities are, or if they just feel like he can't handle more with their offense, more emotion, more movement, different things with the wide receivers. You're not seeing that.
A lot of times they're just lining up and they're saying, we're going to beat you one-on-one. And they don't have the ability to do that this year.
So I think when you watch them, to your point, outside of the tush push and the variations that they've done off of the tush push, they're struggling. And you're seeing it on first and second down, which has led to them. We haven't even seen that many tush pushes the last two weeks because they're always in third and six plus because they're not able to pick up the necessary yards on first and second down. This is an offense that has completely lost their identity and it's going to, they have a 10-day break now.
So somewhere along the lines, they have to figure out exactly who they are. Flip side of this, I also was struck by how the Eagles didn't seem to have a whole lot of answer. For the things Jackson Dart was doing particularly off schedule, there's kind of this looseness in his game. He's coming out of the pocket. It looks like a lot of times, I want to call it, you know, not full backyard football.
I'm sure they have rules to the scramble drills, but like a lot of their big plays are coming from him either running or just getting outside. If you're scheming this up against him, you watched that tape last night and you're figuring out: okay, how do we not let Cam Scataboo gash us and not let the quarterback run around and make things happen? What do you do against him? I mean, the first thing is you talked about him scrambling in. You would hate as a defense.
The one thing you go into the game, you're saying, Hey, rush lanes. And I promise you, everybody on the Eagles' defensive front probably talked about it going into the game. Guys, we got to stay in our rush lanes. And then his first touchdown, it just parts like the Red Sea. And he's gone up the middle.
Now it's one-on-one with Zach Bond, and he had no shot. And now it ends up in a touchdown.
So you go in with these rules, and now you have to be disciplined when the lights turn on. I'll also say this for the Eagles' defense: when you don't have Jalen Carter in the front, when Quinyon Mitchell ends up with a hamstring injury and you don't have him on the outside, those are two of your very best players on the defensive side of the ball. And every team loses good players. But when you don't have guys behind it, it fully exposes you. It was one thing when Kenya Mitchell was in there and they were attacking Keely Ringo.
When he exited the game, now you have two corners in a Dori Jackson and Keely Ringo. Guys aren't pressed up the way Kenya Mitchell does.
Now they're playing off.
Now it's easy access throws for Jackson Dart to be able to get the ball on the outside. With no Jayla Carter in the middle, now you're running Cam Scatterbool in the first half where it really wasn't making much hay in the run game. But that's the thing. They continued to run the ball and it started to break open in the second half and it became a Scatterboo second half where it was a dark first half and they just continued to pound the Eagles. And I think if you're watching that game as an Eagles fan, you're seeing your all-pro linebacker Zach Bond get ran over by Scatterbool.
You're seeing him getting made a fool of in the middle of the field by Jackson Dart. You don't know where else to turn on a defense when your offense is struggling as well. There was nothing really clicking for the Eagles last night. Jason McCordy breaking it all down here on the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellisero in for Rich.
You got a trip to Miami. Coming up this weekend, Jason Chargers at Donald. Dolphins. The Chargers, you talk about teams losing people. I mean, they're gutted.
The Dolphins are beat up at this point. If you look at LA, where they've been over these last couple of weeks, where we were talking about them the first few weeks of the season, this might be the team to beat in the AFC West, if not the AFC. What do you see and how do they get things going back the right direction? A lot of it is, you just said beat up. A lot of it is the injuries on the offensive line.
I mean, the first three weeks, Justin Herbert was just balling, being able to get the ball out, putting it wherever he wanted. We saw him creating plays with his legs, doing so much for this offense. already we knew slater was gone for the season then you lose joel alt in the giants game early on and now you're playing with essentially your third and fourth offensive tackle then makai bechton is banged up on the inside bolzman at the center has really struggled as well so justin herbert went in the first three weeks where i think it was he was averaging like eight yards per attempt to now the last two weeks it's been five yards per attempt so he doesn't have the time that he had in those first three weeks to be able to get the ball down the field and get it in his playmakers hands so now he's under pressure constantly and the amount of hits that he has taken in the last few weeks is not sustainable for this offense so they have to try to figure out a way Amidst all of the injuries, and now losing the running back in Amarna Hampton, who kind of has taken off in the last few weeks. How do you still continue to generate explosive plays when you don't have a ton of time? Do you take people out of the routes and leave more guys in the block to give Herbert more time?
How are you going to be able to run the ball now with Haskins and Videl in the backfield when you don't have the high traffic and Najee Harris is also on IR? That's going to be the struggle for this offense to figure out Greg Roman, their coordinator, how he can generate and still be able to do some things so they can put points on the board. The Dolphins lost, I believe, three-fifths of their offensive line by week one. That's created a challenge for a team that already, I've always said Mike McDaniel has one of the hardest jobs in football because every week he's got to come up with a game plan for the quarterback to not get hit because bad things happen when Tua Tonga Valoa gets hit. But when you look at the numbers on Tua, he's not taking a great deal of sacks, but he's one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL.
The first three years with McDaniel.
Now, suddenly, he's down near the bottom. What do you see? And when you're talking to people, what do you hear about what's going on with Tuo right now?
Well, it's both sides of the line for them. Defensively, they can't stop the run because they're struggling up front in the way they're fitting a lot of their run plays. And then offensively, they from the first game of the season, they were excited that they had James Daniels who brought over from Pittsburgh. Austin Jackson was going to be the blind side of their offensive line, Tua on the right side. Both of those guys end up injured in week one.
So now you're playing with two backups.
Now Cole Strange is playing right guard for them, someone they picked up off of the Browns practice squad.
So they've gone through so many injuries. And then the right guard, Jonas Abanea, he's a rookie. He's still learning on the job.
So for Tua, a lot of it is you got to get the ball out so fast and make a play. And that brings down the efficiency. And yes, he's not getting hit as much, but the offense isn't able to operate the way that we saw it operate in 2022. And now you couple all of that with the fact that Tyreek Hill isn't going to be out there for the remainder of the season for them. Jalen Waddle had one hell of a Game.
So did Darren Waller in the first half, being able to do all of his damage. But now for them, is how do you adjust as the game goes on, as the season goes on? How do you get the run game going to be able to take some of that pressure off of Tua and get Achan in space to do some of the things? But for them, very similar to the Chargers on the other side of the ball, this offensive line is so banged up that they're trying to find out ways, McDaniel is to still get the offense going and getting the ball out of Tua's hands and their playmakers. But you have to do it so fast and do it so efficiently.
You course spent a lot of your career with the Tennessee Titans. You won a Super Bowl with the Patriots. Two teams that they're at different points in the young quarterback development. But what we saw last week, Drake May with kind of a breakthrough type of performance against Buffalo, Cam Ward, albeit with a lot of help from weird stuff happening in Arizona, but he was throwing dots down the stretch in that game to keep him in it. When you look at those two young quarterbacks, what do you see?
Yeah. It's a beautiful thing when you can feel like in your locker room, you have the guy that can lead you. And I think last Sunday night when we watched Drake May and we watched the New England Patriots, you saw a team that really believes they have the guy that can lead them to the promised land that at some point could be hoisting a Lombardi trophy in his career, making clutch plays in the fourth quarter, the moment not being too big. And I remember being out there in the summer and getting a chance to talk to Josh McDaniels, their offensive coordinator, and he just had a big old smile on his face when he talked about Drake May. And it wasn't just the physical tools, but it was also the mental approach.
How when they got there, Drake wanted to learn everything about the offense from the foundation on up, setting protections, knowing where the hots are, all of those things. He wanted to challenge himself to learn them, and he has. And we've seen from weeks one through week six, week five, the improvement of how he's understanding the offense. And then obviously the chemistry that he's being able. able to build with Stefan Diggs.
I think on the other side, what we're seeing from Cam Ward is we're seeing a young guy being able to thrive through the chaos. For the Tennessee Titans, their roster starting out this season wasn't going to be a great one that surrounded him. And even early on, drops from a lot of his receivers, including Calvin Ridley. And he's continued, even from the preseason, he's continued to put it all on his shoulders. The leadership qualities that he possesses at such a young age, man, it's exciting to watch.
And even in the midst of last week, where you see him going off in the presser, you have a guy that genuinely cares about this team, about the people around him. You just want to see them start to figure it out and move forward. And to your point, Cam Ward, I think, played awesome a week ago and things had to go in their favor. The ball had to bounce their way, as we like to say, to be able to win that game. I don't know if that's going to continue to happen, but you want to see Cam Ward continue to get better for that offense.
I'm glad you brought that up, the press conference the week before. That's where he was asked about the offense. He said, we ask. That was his answer. I love the honesty.
I love the bluntness. And it fits with what I see. And I didn't play in the NFL, but even watching the way that Cam Ward commands the huddle, when they were down a couple touchdowns the week before, and it's the fourth quarter.
Some guys would come out there, their shoulders are down, they're sulking into the huddle. Cam Ward is coming out there and like letting guys know, like, we are getting this thing going. I imagine there's a unique dynamic anytime you've got a rookie coming in and doing that. But I also would imagine if the guy is playing like Cam Ward played down the stretch last week, you're like, hell yeah, come and lead us. Yeah, you need that at that position.
And that's the one thing that he has shown since he got there in training camp. He got into a tussle with Jeffrey Simmons on the other side of the ball. Your quarterback is out there nose to nose with one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL.
So that just shows you what he has and what he's made of on the inside. I think watching that press conference for me is as frustrating because you have this young guy and I don't know Cam Ward personally, but whenever you watched him since he's come into the NFL, even all of the interviews and different things leading up to him being drafted, he's one of those guys that when you watch him, he always says something wise beyond his years. He always has the right answer to say. He always seemed so calm and collected whenever he's in front of a camera.
So when you saw him. Say those things and show that level of frustration, it was even magnified more in my brain because I'm like, damn, it has to be that bad in Nashville right now for him to respond this way because we haven't seen that side of him. But I think, to your point, there's an appreciation in Nashville for him saying that and him calling out. The guys in the locker room, the coaching staff, the organization, when your quarterback, the guy you drafted first overall is showing that level of frustration that early in the season, I feel like it puts everybody on notice. Because if I'm ownership and I'm Amy Adam Strong and I'm watching that, I'm like, well, what the hell is going on there?
Like, why is this guy that frustrated after a game? Like, who is doing him a disservice? Because I have to figure this out and get it corrected. You can see him on the call for Chargers Dolphins Sunday on CBS. Nobody better.
One of my favorite people in the business. Jace McCordy, thanks for being here, man. I can't wait to get on a guitar unit and we knock down a place again. Good to see you, Tom. I'll put together a riff or something.
I'll send it to you. You add the vocals, man. We'll collaborate. Keep this thing rolling. Great to see you, buddy.
We'll do this again soon. Dude, he's phenomenal in terms of breaking it down. I thought it was really interesting, too, the way that he was talking about some of the challenges the Eagles have on both sides of the ball. When you hear from somebody who's seen as much ball and is as smart as Jason McCordy, Eagles have no identity on offense. And that defensively they last night at least, don't have the depth to combat it.
Those are things that, if I'm Howie Rosman, who is as active as any GM, on the phones, wants to be in every deal, is always going to be looking to push the envelope and improve the roster. If I'm thinking the same thing, And I'm Holly Roseman. I'm probably looking at: okay, what, if anything, don't make a trade, don't sign somebody just to make a trade or just to sign somebody, but there may be some things we need to address. To make sure this thing gets going in the right direction. I know Jalen Carter was out last night, but the thing that stuck out for me most was the Eagles just got pushed around.
On the front and on the line. And you don't haven't seen that an Eagles team get pushed around like that in the last, what? Two, three years, it seems like. And, you know, that kind of stuck out with me. And then you saw it with.
The way Scataboo was getting through. Even on the goal-line carries, he was just kind of getting through and they were pushing him into the end zone. You don't see an Eagles team get manhandled like that. The Eagles have been the bully. Right.
Since Nick Siriani got there, the Eagles have been the bully. They were the bully in the Super Bowl last year. Last night they got bullied. And we'll find out 10 days from now exactly how they respond. A lot more to come on this show.
We got injury updates, including for a certain quarterback getting back on the field today. We'll discuss that right on the other side of this break. It's the Rich Eisen Show with Tom Pellicero. Tonight, turn down the noise of the day and focus on the rest with AGZ. The nightly drink for winding down and resting up.
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The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. To the Rich Eisen Show, Tom Pellicero in for Rich, who is going to join us shortly. From London. Site of Broncos Jets on Sunday. Rich will be on the call for that game.
Early, early Sunday morning on NFL Network. I say early because I'm in makeup at 3:30 a.m. Look at you. Prior to the 4 a.m. Pacific time.
Pregame show. It'll be uh It'll be later in London. We are on ESPN Radio. ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. See why over 43 million drivers trust Progressive to stay protected on the road.
See for yourself at progressive.com. A few injury updates with NFL head coaches meeting with the media this morning. The most substantial one. Tyler Murray is going to be back on the field today. Kyler Murray had a foot, some type of an issue.
In the game, he briefly went to the locker room, then he came back out, finished off the game, didn't practice the last two days. Jonathan Gannon told reporters Kyler is going to be out there today, which you would think. Would put him trending toward playing on Sunday. I mean, quite frankly, it's a must-win type of a game against a Colts team that has been. the best positive story maybe in the entire NFL this season.
No team in NFL history. Had ever lost three consecutive games on a last-second walk-off field goal. Until the Cardinals. And anecdotally speaking, I'm pretty sure. No team in NFL history has ever lost any game.
The way the Cardinals did last week. With dropping a ball before crossing a goal line, with an interception turn, fumble turn, touchdown. Those are two plays I've seen separately. I have never seen them in the same game. Much less one that would have been a blowout win for Arizona, if not for that sequence of events transpiring.
Bucks not getting a whole lot of help. No Chris Godwin on the field for practice today. Todd Bolson said he'd need to practice to play. Still dealing with that fibula injury. Leftover from last year hasn't entirely been, it seems, himself so far this season.
Not on the practice field today. They haven't released the injury report. which sounds like no Chris Godwin, still no Mike Evans. Still has been no problem to this point for the Buccaneers who find ways to put up points, regardless who's out there, as long as it meets Buka. is out there.
They have found ways to put a point so far this season, but no help coming for the wide receiver front. Of course, Bucky Irving remains sideline as well, so probably another week. of Rashad White. And here's one. We will be tracking throughout this show.
No Jamar Chase. On the field. Oh. Zach Taylor, literally seconds ago. Telling reporters Jamar Chase got sick last night.
questionable The play against the Packers. Got sick. With an illness. You'd say it's probably a lot better than 50-50 that he's going to play. Not a lot of 72-hour illnesses, but possibly.
He was watching that Joe Flacco Browns tape. Is this thing on, sorry? Yeah, no, no, we got it. I mean, you would probably have those suspicions a little bit more if you were still watching Jake Browning the last three weeks. And that's nothing against Jake Browning.
I don't think that anybody expects. Certainly, Jake Browning didn't expect to play as badly as he has.
so far this season. What what struck me watching the game live last week was There's just simple throws that Jake Browning is off on. Forget some of the decision-making things. It's like, how many times is Javar Chase going to run an outbreaking route and Jake Browning throws it on the inside shoulder for a pick? Those are the things that just happen over and over.
We'll talk more about Flacco. Getting another start against the Packers later on in the show. But my biggest question is just going to be. How quickly Can you microwave the rhythm and timing and tempo on which NFL passing offenses function? As good as Jamar Chase is.
As good as T. Higgins is. As experienced as Joe Flacco is, and he's played in variations of this system multiple times. There are many stops now. In the NFL, including going all the way back to Denver with Rich Gangarello, with the Jets when he was with Mike LaFleur.
It's all part of that Shanahan-McVay tree. But you still got to have reps with players on the field.
Now Jamar Chase is sick.
So you lose a Friday. Maybe he's out there for the walkthrough tomorrow, but just in terms of getting that rhythm against a really good Packers defense, the coming off the bye. Certainly has gone through, I'm sure, and adjusted certain things. They're really talented. They're going to be healthier.
Micah Parsons is going to be all over the field. I wouldn't think that you're feeling really comfortable with Joe Flacco just standing in there. And going through his progressions. A lot of it's going to have to be: hey, we're on the same page. I am getting the ball out of my hand to you as quickly as possible.
What's that going to look like on Sunday if, in fact, Jamar Chase, who again, questionable because of an illness for that game. What exactly What is that going to look like right out of the gates? You're trying to keep your season alive at this point. If you're the Bengals, you're two and three. I know.
The team you're looking up at in the division, it's not the Ravens. No, but we're not writing the Ravens off at 1-4, even though they might have to go into another game without Lamar. They probably should be writing the Ravens off. If anybody is capable of going on a run, they got the buy next week. They face the Rams on Sunday.
We'll find out. I believe they're on the practice field a little bit here. We'll see if Lamar is doing anything, if not. I mean, at this point, it's already fairly obvious, it seems, that we're not going to have Lamar this week. Right.
But take a look at that. You got the buy, then you got Chicago and Miami. And if you're back healthier, besides Lamar, the fact that basically your whole defense isn't on the field right now. There's a lot of different factors in what's going on with Baltimore. Ronnie Stanley, the Has been practicing more.
Should be okay to play this week. We're going to play what's more likely with Rich coming up here soon. But what percentage would you put the AFC North? at getting two playoff teams at. Based on where they are right now, not a particularly high percentage.
Right. But if anybody's going to make a run, it's going to be Baltimore. And if you're the Bengals, you're just hoping we need to do enough. There's enough pressure on their defense already. We all know that's an offense-driven team.
When you pump all your money into the offense, you have to score points. Can they score enough that the defense doesn't get exposed to the degree they have so far? We will find that out. Starting in a must-watch type of a game. on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
