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Now, on with the show. I need a set. All day, let's go all day, all day, all day. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Into the end zone!
That's two for Trayvion Henderson. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Trayvion Henderson, a hat trick. Earlier on the show. Seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Subs.
Coming up. NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero. Actor Tracy Lentz. And now. Rich Eisen.
Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Terrell Suggs, T. Sizzle, just left our studio. Good times with him in hour number one. The actor Tracy Letz, who is just absolutely phenomenal in everything he does.
A House of Dynamite is in Netflix. And just want to make sure, just watch that. In the afternoon. Don't watch it and then try to go to sleep. I don't know when you watched it, Chris.
I did watch it late at night in the evening and with a half a bottle of wine. Oh, so actually I started drinking in the movie. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's pretty intense, and he's going to join us in hour number three.
And we'll have a great conversation with Ford. He's so great in Ford versus Ferrari. He plays Henry Ford II. Where he starts crying hysterically and beh you know, and sitting shotgun is while Matt Damage is zipping him around. The big short as well, where he demands his money back.
From Michael Burry. By the way, ripped straight from today's headlines. Anyway, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the program. Tom Pellicero joining us now here at Top of Hour Number Two in his usual Friday spot. What's up, Tommy P, how are you?
Doing wonderful, Rich. What's up to you and the boys in the studio? Hey, Tom. That wasn't. TJ's not there today.
Oh, he is there. I was going to say, that was the least excited entrance I've had.
Well, we'll get yelled at. We get too old at. No, no, no. I was a little fired up in the first hour. That made it worse.
Now you just made it an awkward, like, I'm expecting a warm reception, and you didn't give me anything. Let's just do it again. Let's do it over. Tom Pelliser is. Hey, Tommy Tommy.
What up, kid? There we go. That's much better. That's terrible. All right.
Can you walk us through again? I I I know we didn't uh I wasn't planning on talking about this with you, but I will. The just watch the the Patriots being built. And now they're 9-2, and they've won eight in a row. Do you have any insights on all of this from the draft, from last year?
Anything that you want to kind of shed light on? Because this is exactly what teams that choose top five in the draft a couple years in a row, hoping that it hits with a quarterback. This is the sort of ascension quick skyrocket, you know, rocket ship type stuff that everyone's looking for. Tom. Listen, the biggest thing that the Patriots got right in 2024 was Drake May.
And I know that that's now the obvious answer, but you go back to draft night and they were still fielding calls. They had multiple offers. The Giants had showed interest. The Vikings made an offer to go up and get him. I know that Kevin O'Connell was a big fan of Drake May.
Obviously, Josh McCown had a pre-existing relationship with Drake May. And it wasn't until about two, three hours before the draft that I reported that the Patriots are going to stand pat and make the pick. They wanted to see, do they get the type of godfather offer that would allow them to move? But it always seemed like they really had a high-level belief in Drake May, who is not, by the way, Rich, a slam dunk in the scouting process. Yes, he had all these traits and he's a big physical guy with a big arm and he can make plays, but he was the youngest.
He was arguably of the six quarterbacks that went in the top 12. The least ready in terms of the experience level. He was younger than these guys. A lot of them, you know, not everybody's Bo Nicks playing six years of college football, but Michael Pennix played six years of college football. Obviously, Caleb had played a ton all the way through his career.
Jaden Daniels had an extended college career at multiple schools.
So there were a bunch of different flavors. It was not as if, boy, Drake May is clearly going to be the MVP candidate. He was the third quarterback to come off the board. But regardless of what else happened in that draft, They got the quarterback right. And then, you know, fast forward to January of 2025, they had to make a difficult decision on paper, which was moving on from their hand-picked successor in Gerard Mayo.
But they had a very clear plan, and they moved within a week to hire Mike Vrabel. They believed, and they knew him very well, that he could lead an instantaneous turnaround. I think that if you even rewind to week one of the season, I was at that game against the Raiders. It did not look like it was going to be a quick flip. That was the best, the second half of that game was the best football Geno Smith has played this entire season.
They lost to the Raiders in week one. I believe the Patriots started one and two. They did. But then you saw them begin to start gathering momentum. Mike Vrabel has always had.
A really good eye for talent, not just in terms of players, but also in terms of his coaching staff. Josh McDaniels, who was kind of an open secret that he was going to be the offensive coordinator. But for instance, Mike Vrabel interviews Thomas Brown for the OC job. He was going to go with Josh, but he's like, this guy's really impressive. All right.
Hey, man, I can't give you the OC job, but do you want to be the tight ends coach? And Thomas Brown, who's held a bunch of different roles and has always been, you know, he's been a head coaching candidate in the past. He's worked with Sean McVay. He's a great fit. Todd Downey, who had been the OC in Tennessee, he's now the wide receivers coach.
Obviously, you know, the defensive coordinator, that's been a tough situation with not having him in the building here recently. But you know, we had Zach Kerr, who's kind of like when Shane Bowen was the play caller in Tennessee, where it was Mike Vrabel entrusted a guy that most people in the league had never even heard of, but had been with Mike going back to Ohio State. That, all right, you know, Terrell Williams is not going to be able to be the guy. Zach, you're stepping in. You're now calling this defense.
And maybe the most impressive thing, Rich, to me. Is just when you watch Mike Vrabel interact with his coaches, interact with his players, interact with the officials. He is in. Complete control of everything surrounding the team. He's not going to cave to public pressure.
Why are you not playing Trayvion Henderson early? Because we don't think he's ready. Then all of a sudden, around week seven, week eight, all right, he's ready now. And he goes off for three touchdowns last night. Stephon Diggs, what was the whole talk in the offseason?
Are they going to cut him before his, you know, his bonus money is due? Or is he never going to pass a physical? And Vrabel just kind of shrugged off everything in the offseason. And now Diggs looks like the best bargain in free agency. It's a long-winded way of saying, Rich, they made a lot of wise decisions along the way.
Getting the quarterback a year before Vrabel even got there, and that decision, which was the Crafts and it was Elliott Wolf, those guys got that right. And that's a huge piece of what they're building right now. And I guess it's a perfect way to segue to the Giants, Tom, because the way you just described the Patriots getting the quarterback right before hiring the coach that is the perfect fit for what's needed, and then to surround the new quarterback with talent. Um It does kind of set up for the Giants to be next year's Patriots, just as a. A way of making an analogy because Dart's there.
They're going to get Scataboo and Malik neighbors back. Defensively, they've got studs all over the place. Right. I mean, the question is, is who's the right guy? And I give you the floor on what the Giants are thinking as to who the right guy could be.
Well, first of all, Rich, you make a great point because people have asked me, you know, do you think this is a good job? It's absolutely a good job. I mean, think about the patience that ownership exhibited with Brian Dayll even over the past few years. Yes, you know, they got into the playoffs that first season. They won a playoff game.
They overachieved. But his firing this week was the culmination of a lot of different things. This is the third straight year that the Giants started. two and eight. And they did that with blowing four double-digit leads on the road.
If they can get a stop in the eight seconds left in week two against the Cowboys, maybe the season is different. If they can not blow an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Broncos, maybe this plays out differently. Even the Bears game, you know, they've got that game seemingly in hand and somehow it gets away from them. It's that repeat inability to finish games that brought us to that point that they felt like they needed to make a change right now. But if you are a coach on either side of the ball, You're looking at this and saying, This is not a bear cabinet.
We've got building blocks. It's not just Jackson Dart. You've got two running backs. Obviously, Cam Scatabue right now is out for the season, but Cam Scatabue, if I'm not mistaken, had more yards from scrimmage than Saquon Barkley at the time that he suffered that injury. They've got Tyrone Tracy.
Malik Neighbors is out for the season, but he should be fully healthy coming off of the torn ACL for 2026. They've got a left tackle in Andrew Thomas. They've got, I believe, three of their starting offensive linemen who are under contract. And then defensively, you know, you look at those guys, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeau, and Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence on the interior, even on the back end, you've got Javon Holland and Paulson Adebo. You're walking into a situation where you can convince yourself: hey, if we get the right people in place, this should not take long to get this thing going in the right direction.
So, who is the right coach for that situation? My understanding in talking to people involved. Yeah. It's not a linear, hey, we got to have an offensive coach, even though you look at the Giants' history going back essentially since Bill Parcells, they've hired a series of offensive-minded coaches. Joe Judge was a little bit different, he was predominantly a special teams guy, but had trained on offense.
But, you know, Ben McAdoo and Pat Shermer and Brian Dable, that's not going to be necessarily a prerequisite, even though getting Jackson Dart going and developed the right way is certainly a big part of it. You know, in terms of the defensive coaches, if you're thinking, all right, I'm coming in and I've got a pass rush and I've got at least some parts on the back end to work with, you know, this could be an attractive job to a variety of different coaches. I know this. This week, they play the Packers. Jeff Hafley, who is from New Jersey, this would be his dream job, a team he grew up rooting for.
He's got one of the best defenses in the NFL and he's got head coaching experience at Boston College. I would think a guy like that would be in the mix. I would think that Steve Spagnolo, even Antonio Pierce, who have histories with the Giants, would. Potentially be under consideration. And then you've got this broad swath of all these young coaches around the league.
I should mention Matt Nagy in the experienced bucket as well. But there's not a Mike Vrabel, all right? There's not a slam dunk. This guy's definitely getting a job this year, nor is there a Ben Johnson, a guy who is a young, up-and-coming offensive mind who's got such a track record and has had so much interest in head coaching interviews in the past. You're like, okay, if Ben wants to take one, he is going to get one this year.
You know, the closest thing is probably Joe Brady, but Sean McDermott is having to fend off questions this week about is he going to fire Joe Brady as his offensive coordinator. I do think Joe Brady's name is going to be hot. It's just not quite on par with Ben Johnson.
So I would anticipate this being a methodical process for the Giants. They've now got a jumpstart on that. Joe Shane is going to. Lead the search process. He is not going to be the one making the final call.
That's going to go up to layers of ownership here. But this is a good job, and a lot of it does start with the organizational belief. And you would think the belief among the coaches watching the tape that Jackson Dart, he's not a fully developed product. He's got to learn how to take some contact off his body, not take all those hits. But he's got upside that is going to intrigue a lot of people, especially Rich, when you remember this 2026 quarterback draft class is not shaping up to be one where you want to need a quarterback.
Tom Palisero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Injuries this weekend. Um is uh oh by the way, nice, did you guys see that? You just flashed a Los Pollos Hermanos mug right there. My wife was in Albuquerque on a business trip last year.
This was a solid five. Yeah, that's right. I'm sure it's the wife's business trip mug. It's not like you're not you don't have some sort of lab going back there, Tom, underneath. Like, what is this?
Okay. We're not making the blue stuff. That's not ours. All right, breaking Tom here on the Rich Eyes and Joe. That's just news.
All right. So I'm sorry, you flashed the Pollo Sermano smug. It threw me off. All right, so Purdy's back, right? Purdy's back, and Pearsall's back.
So where's Ayuk? How close are we to fully constituted San Francisco's offense, because wouldn't that be the irony? Is the defense loses so many big players, but the offense gets everybody back and carries the day?
Well, they're going to have to, Rich, because it really is a bunch of rookies playing over there. Robert Saul is doing his best to scheme it up, but there's only so much you can scheme around when you lose Nick Bosa and Fred Warner and you're just kind of playing guys, you know, maybe before they're ready. Offensively, you know, in terms of Brandon Ayuk, we were talking about this, Rich, I think on this show, going all the way back to the end of last season in January and February, when there were various rumors where they trade Brandon Ayuk, and what I said then remains true, which was November was kind of the optimistic timeline. He suffered a really bad injury. This was not just a straight ACL.
There was real uncertainty about what the timeline would be. And even John Lynch, I believe speaking on local radio yesterday, said, Yeah, we were still trying to get him back this season, but there's no absolutes in terms of that.
So we'll see. Brandon Ayuk still has not even been designated to return to practice, opening up a 21-day window.
So now all of a sudden we're talking about December, most likely at the soonest for Ayuk. But Ricky Pearsall, another guy who they thought They'd get back sooner. They didn't put him on injured reserve, but he's got a PCL injury. Those are really tricky. They've had a few of those out there in San Francisco.
It took a while for that knee to really regain the stability, but he's going to be good to go. And then, in terms of Brock Purdy, you know, the wild thing when you think about it, Rich, was we had two turf toe injuries in the opening couple weeks of the season. Joe Burrows was the one that was clinically significantly worse to the extent that it required surgery. Yet, here we are in the second week of November. Joe Burrow is back on the practice field at the same time that we're finally seeing Brock Purdy be back into the starting lineup.
He did try to return in week four. That was the only other time he played after getting hurt in the opener. And it was a lot of them just trying to make sure that this was not something that lingered, that he didn't have. Another setback that could you know sideline him for four or five six weeks or potentially hamper him all the way into January. And they still hope February here.
It was never something where surgery was on the table for Brock Purdy. It was a different injury than what Joe Burrow had. You know, the issue, and where you can have a setback with even a less severe level of that injury, is if you bend that foot and it gets torqued and you get that flexion, just like how Joe Burrow went down, the same thing happened when Purdy came back in week four. It's some bad luck that he's outside the pocket and that thing got bent at a bad angle again. They wanted to be really cautious.
It helped that Mac Jones was playing at a high level. They are still in the mix. They got their work cut out. Of course, we got a great Seahawks Rams showdown coming up this weekend for the top of the NFC West. But the 49ers are very much in the mix in the division as well as in the wild card race.
Purdy is still their guy. There's never been any doubt about that. Mac Jones gave him the best he could. And we'll be talking about Mac Jones, I'm sure, Rich, in come February and March. Would they trade him?
Do they need him to stay on as the NFL's, you know, certainly one of the NFL's top backups? But right now, it is Brock Purdy's time again. And I know that Purdy has been raring to go and remind everybody why they were willing to give him upwards of $50 million a year when they re-signed him back in May. Let's talk about a couple running backs here in the few minutes that we have left. Bucky Irving, he wasn't IR'd either, and he's out there again.
We're wondering what's up with him. And then there's J.K. Dobbins. Where there's worry about he could go on IR, but then there's nothing, and then we're hardly hearing anything out of Denver on this front. What can you tell us about these two guys?
Two big games here: Bucs, Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, who are also without. Pacheco as well.
So I guess let's throw him in that mix for the running back conversation here, Tom. The good news on Bucky Irving is that he was at least spotted on the practice field. How much he actually did, you know, is a matter of debate because he's limited in practice. That can mean he took a lot or a little. He was back out there, but he's not going to play this week.
So they're going to continue to roll on with Rashad White and try to put that thing together the way that they have. I mean, the Bucks have overcome so much this season. When you talk about the receivers being decimated, the offensive line being decimated, everybody forgets they haven't had their starting running back for the bulk of the season, yet they're still in control right now of the NFC South. With J.K. Dobbins, you know, when he posted something that we can't exactly say some of the words on the show about the hip-drop tackle, the way that he was injured in that game, what I was told was, you know, this was a potentially significant foot injury.
He was getting a second opinion. I know they've been going through a process this week. They've not yet made a roster move with J.K. Dobbins, but it certainly seems like it's going to be RJ Harvey for at least the near term here in Denver. And then as for Kansas City, Isaiah Pacheco still not.
I have not seen whether or not they've started practice reviews out there today. It's an MCL sprain. Those can be anywhere two to four weeks usually for the type of MCL that he's got. Seems like it's tracking toward being more cream hunt. This week, but they are optimistic that in the next week or two here, Isaiah Pacheco will be back in the running this week.
All right. Yeah, I mean, Tom Pellisero here on The Rich Eisen Show. He's hip dropped time. I mean, Scataboo, too, man. What happens with this?
There's no flags? Is there a fine? Because I know the league has really been hepped up about this issue, and rightfully so, because. This this is a significant danger. that we could see.
And I know we're protecting quarterbacks, but This is significant. And Giants fans are pissed. Broncos fans are pissed. Gobbins is pissed. What happens here after the plays?
Haven't.
Well, here's the thing. The bar is really high on what is a hip drop tackle, and it needs to meet all the different criteria in terms of the graph. It's like a catch. We can see what it is. I mean, we could see it.
But here's what I'm telling you, though, Rich. The Zach Bond tackle on Cam Scatabu, there was no fine. The tackle on J.K. Dobbins, nothing firm. We'll find out for sure tomorrow, but I am not anticipating a fine in that either.
A lot of the tackles that we look at and go, oh, that's the hip drop. That's the one they're trying to get out. They've created this criteria that is really difficult to meet. That's why you don't see very many flags in the game is because it's hard for the officials to see. The fact that they're not even finding guys in a lot of categories shows you that there's not a lot of these tackles that actually meet the criteria.
I would imagine they will go back and look at that in the offseason, see whether or not they need to strengthen that. We know Frankie Louvu got suspended for one, but they ended up walking that back and making that into a $100,000 fine instead. It's certainly an ongoing issue. Offensive players hate it. Defensive players are really nervous about what that would mean in terms of the technique that's allowed in the games, but there was no fine for the Scatabu hit.
I don't think there's going to be a fine for the Dobbins hit. We'll see more of these that everybody's going. That guy should have been thrown out of the game. And the league is essentially saying under the language. Of the rule right now, that's not even a foul.
I got to be on the competition committee. I mean, enough's enough. If you change the language, then we can see that it's a foul. Enough's enough. I've had enough of it.
Yeah. I've got more issues with the catcher rule at this point.
Some of the plays we're seeing overturned in terms of, you know, there's very minute things now where it's, you know, did the ball move and what does that constitute? With getting back into that world where I thought they fixed the catch rule. And I still think so. But listen, before I let you go, got a couple minutes left here. The team that everybody's hitting you up about around the league, your sources are saying, what about this team?
Is it the Packers and all the conversation about LaFleur? Where there really is no conversation about that? That's crazy town to me, that whole thing. But I shouldn't. I shouldn't lead the jury here.
Which team is. Are people blowing you up about Tom?
Well, certainly there's been discussion about the Packers just based upon some of the things that have been said and written and Matt LaFleur being asked about his job status after the game on Monday night. Listen, I was there. I was at Lambeau Field. It was not a good performance, but there were so many factors that go into why Green Bay struggled beyond, hey, it's the head coach. It's the play callers' fault.
They did not have Tucker Kraft, who's been their best player on their offense outside of maybe Josh Jacobs this season. He's out for the year with a torn ACL. They haven't had Jaden Reed. They didn't have Matthew Golden that night. Then Romeo Dobbs gets knocked out of the game.
I mean, think about this, Rich. If you're talking about why the Packers are where they are, Bo Melton. Who's a wide receiver by trade, who got converted to corner in camp, which there's usually a reason you convert a guy from receiver to camp. Because he couldn't catch. Not only is he the number four corner for Green Bay right now, because Nate Hobbs is out and they've got injuries at that position.
If somebody had gotten hurt, he would have been out there as the third corner in that game, but because of all the injuries, He also, Bo Melton, became the third receiver in that game.
So it's like, oh man, how can, why is Matt LaFleur going forward on fourth and sixth?
Well, Jordan Love puts the ball in the guy's chest. It's dropped by who? Bo Melton. They got a big play later in the game. It's a shot, I think, to Christian Watson down the field, gets called back for illegal formation.
Oh, how could they take that penalty? Because it's Bo Melton who's in a legal formation, hadn't probably practiced that play at all because he's literally playing defense when they're in practice. These are not excuses. Listen, everybody's got injuries. Everybody's got things they need to overcome.
We talked about San Francisco and Tampa. Those teams have overcome a lot. The Vikings have been fighting it all year. But we got to take the context into account here. There were certain things happening within that game against, by the way, a really good defense.
If the Packers defense plays the way that they did against the Eagles, they're going to be just fine in the big picture. There are fair questions about how the Packers proceed beyond this season because Matt LaFleur and Brian Goudicut's contracts are up after 20. 2026. Ed Paulsey is a new president and CEO. He has said on the record that they weren't going to address those contracts until after this season.
I'm not big, Rich. Into speculation mode. I'm not going to make predictions about what the Packers do. I would say I think there is a far better chance of Matt LaFleur and us talking about him being in the playoffs and getting an extension next offseason than him somehow being out of a job in Green Bay. And, oh, by the way, instantly becoming the hottest head coaching name on the market, which is one more reason I just don't see a scenario where Green Bay is letting him go.
I'm with you. Tom Pelicero, thank you for the time. I think you're late for your chemistry class that you're teaching.
So there you go. You think this is water in this mode. Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Pellisero heading off to the insiders on NFL Network and NFL Plus right here on the Richard Shadow. There he goes. All right, let's take a break.
844-204-Richard.
So, what's more likely Friday? That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Arzen here for Sonos, the speakers that bring every game to life in my own house. With studio quality sound, Sonos makes you feel like you're right there in the stadium.
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He played Jack McKinney in winning time on HBO. He got nominated for an Emmy for his role. I can't wait to talk about what he learned about that character. The most forgotten. Least known and potentially most important figure of the Showtime Lakers.
Because it was his offense that he. He was the one who had magic as a rookie. And then he had a bike accident and and um never returned as Lakers' head coach. Terzo in Iowa here on The Rich Isaac Show. What's up, Terzo?
What's up, Rich? What's up, fella? Before I get to my 49er stat that I have for you, I got to go back to the controversy with TJ not responding to the text chain during a fantasy showdown. Yes, sir. TJ, man, I get that you don't want to be a part of it, but bro, that's one of the best parts about fantasy: the back and forth with your buddy.
Listen to your lawyer. Listen, TJ. It's not, again, it's not that I don't want to be a part of it. Yes, you do.
Sometimes you look at a lot of the conversations and it's just so. He's above it, Terzo. It's not even I'm above it. It's just like, what are we talking about here? How else are we supposed to take it?
That you're above it? No, no, no. I don't mind it. But you do. Just admit it.
I don't like it. I don't want to be part of it. And I'm above it. Just say it, because that's what your silence is, in fact, implying. That's not how I'm.
Look, if you guys don't get my stance, Terzo, I don't know what to say. What's the crap story? TJ, I'm in three different leagues. Obviously, my Farl's one is the most important. Yeah, that's important.
There's not a lot of trash talk that goes back and forth over the because we see each other. We just see each other at the bar and talk. There. Oh, so we're a lower tier. Oh, I'm sorry, Terzo.
So, TJ, we're a lower tier fantasy. League. Oh, absolutely. Oh, well, you always say your poker league is the one you care about. I mean, we all have main leagues.
Yeah, correct. I am a commissioner. That's my main league. This is my 25th year. But who was on the text chain?
I was on. Were you on the text chain? Right. Is this your main league? Were you on the text chain?
I was on it. I was on the street. Yeah, I was on it. Jay, were you on it? This is the one I want to win the most.
I want to be professionals. Not my true friends. Terzo, TJ and I want to split a team for your Carls League next year. Can we do it? Can we get in?
I will do my best to make that happen, fellas. The answer is no. That's very polite. That's a no. No.
That's polite. That's a no. That's a no. Listen, Terzo. No, that is.
Not a no. I'm a co-commissioner.
Okay. You got to choose. We'll make sure that we try and do this because we're at 12 teams. We usually have somebody that drops out.
So if somebody drops out, you guys have first dip. Review our application. That's all. You know what? I think just happened there is we forgot.
Terzo is from the nation's heartland where people are nicer. Here, we're in Los Angeles, where that is 100% a no. That's a no, yeah, okay. Where that's a nice no, in New York, the answer would be like, There's no chance. In Los Angeles, it's like, oh, let's see if it can happen.
You know what we should do? Let's have lunch, we'll hang out, we'll talk about it, and then it's and then we'll never hear from you again.
So, sorry, Terzo. I'm not even posting you, and I'm not, I'm not, I'm not super nice. And so, I'm from the Midwest, I just live here. Ladies and gentlemen, Terzo and Iowa. Thanks for the call, Terzo.
Appreciate it, buddy. There goes Terzo. Off he goes. It's a Friday. It's time for what's more likely, and it's time for Chris Brockman to take center stage.
Hit it, hit it. What? What's more likely? Never say never, but never. All right, Christopher, what do you have over there?
Hey, guys, but I don't want to say hi to you today, but I do want to say hi to my mom. Today's her birthday, so very happy birthday. Thank you so much. And I hope you're celebrating. Her sister's visiting her in Maine, so hopefully they're enjoying a great weekend.
Okay. Guys, what's more likely? You could have said hello to us, too. I mean, there's enough room.
Well, that was the end of the message. Hey, guys, I don't want to say hi to you.
So that was. I was making it about my mom. She should have. Happy birthday, Mary. What's up?
Guys, more likely beloved backup quarterback to throw for 300 yards and three tutties in an upset win. Joe Flacco. Jameis Winston. Oh my god. I love Jameis so much.
I believe him. That's a Hamilton reference. Oh my god. Voting Hamilton this week? Who's going to do it?
Oh, I saw it. Who's going to do it this week? Great question, Chris. I'm just gonna go with Jameis because it's just so... Although Flacco threw for 400 and 350 plus against the Jets against the Steelers, and it was 400 against the Jets.
Yeah. Oh man. All right, I'll go Flacco. I just talked myself into it. But there's still just the Eaton W's factor that's still out there.
I believed him. I'm ready for anything from the Jameis. I know that. I'll just go Flacco because we've seen it against the Steelers team. But.
I'm Shrugger Mojing. I think the Packers are. Are pissed. Yeah. What else, Chris?
Maybe the game of the day and so fi this weekend. A few of the guys are absolutely balling. Jackson Smith and Jigba, absolutely on fire. Maybe the wide receiver won this season, obviously Matthew Stafford.
So is it more likely JSN goes for 125-plus receiving yards? That's what he's averaging in the last five weeks. Or Matthew Stafford. Throws four tutties again. I'll go with JSN.
Both are very difficult to continue to streak them on, but I mean, quarterbacks. There's a reason why he's the first to ever throw 14 in a three-game spam with no interceptions. It's the first. First time we've seen that. God is so excited for this game.
So, um,. Me too. I'll just go JSN because it's easier for a receiver. I can't believe I'm saying this, to get 125 yards receiving, even against a Rams defense playing the way it is. Then a quarterback to Do it again to the tune of four straight games with four or more touchdowns.
That is insane. That's just more rarefied air. I'll just say that. Even though I don't know the last time somebody went for 125 yards on average for a six-game stretch, I just don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
So I'll just go JSN. What else, Chris? Devontae Adams is healthy, planning to go on six. Yes, indeed. He's been on fire as well.
This is also a great game. A couple of 6-3 teams. More likely, skidding 6-3 team. You'll have more concerns about after Sunday bills. Um I'll go Bills.
I'll go Bills, because the Bucs, at least you have more concern about them. Um, injury-wise, not winning the division-wise. Bills lose this one, pal. Bills, even if they win it, let's say they win it, they're still a game and a half behind the hottest team in the AFC and the National Football League as well, having already lost to him. I I I'm I'm not worried about the Bucs winning their division.
I am about the Bills. If the Bills lose, will you be concerned about them missing the playoffs entirely? Mm. Put up the AFC standings if you don't mind. Mike Hoskins, even though he probably doesn't want to know the answer to this question, is the Diehard Bills fan of the Rich Eisen show, or one of the most Diehard Bills fan I know.
Um No, they still have a win over the Chiefs and then the Texans and Ray Road. Yeah, no, I'm not worried about them. They play the Texans a week after that, and I do believe they still have a game against Pittsburgh still to come, correct? Let me see. Yep, that is right.
That has already been confirmed. Yeah, those are the next two opponents for the Bills. Yeah, I'm not worried no, I'm not worried about missing the playoffs entirely. Winning the division, you bet. But I know this is about coming after Sunday.
Yeah, after Sunday, you're going to be like, hmm, I will still go bills because my concern about the Bucs is injuries. preventing them from going um deep into the playoffs. Not about winning the division. What else, Chris? These next two things are two of the most troublesome things that I could think of off the top of my head, to be honest.
More likely to be the higher total. A Tyler Algier vulture touchdowns. Or consecutive days of Los Angeles rain this weekend. Oh, I will go Los Angeles rain this weekend. Apparently, it's supposed to rain the rest of today, Saturday.
Supposed to stop a little bit Sunday and then all day Monday. It's raining sideways.
So, would you like the traffic as well? Sure. I'll go rain in Los Angeles. We'll come back on Monday and we'll talk about two days of rain. I think they're giving the ball to your guy, Bijan Sau.
I have no idea. He's going to make a great feature back in Atlanta one day. One day, one day. Yeah. By the way, and I will say this, the uh uh what we talked about Yesterday?
uh Penix said and whether he has actual Coaches in his ear, he was being asked a question about people outside the building. And it was taken completely out of context. And I will just say that about the Falcons: that they are. They're on it with Penix. They need a win.
But um That was taken out of context. Yeah. Put that into uh the ether. in a segment that hopefully will be Heard as much as yesterday's segment on Penix. Same intensity.
Michael Irvin is a dear friend of mine, as you know. What's up, Chris? As we heard from Tom, Brock Purdy's back from San Francisco. That's huge. Pleasure.
More likely to be the bigger number. Brock Purdy passing yards on Sunday, or Mac Jones' average as the starter. Mac Jones averaged 269 nice damage. That's a very large number. I'll go glass FO.
I'll say Purdy's coming back and he's going to look terrific. Helps to have Pierce All back too, man. That does help tremendously. Um. And and Kittle.
Having a few games under his belt as well. I'm bullish on this Niners offense.
So I'll go Purdy. And you know how I feel about, come on, this is a layout for me. Mac Jones has been balling. I just know that. And this is nothing against Mac Jones, but he was great.
You know my belief in Purdy. Five and threes is Okay, yeah, I'll go. I think Purdy's gonna have a better day than the average. Of Mac Jones. What else?
Huge game in Denver. Is it more likely the Broncos trail for most of the game and then play amazing in the fourth quarter to win it, or the Chiefs cruise to a double-digit triumph? I'll go the latter. I don't think the Chiefs are cruising at all. against this team.
No. Mm not at all. Who's the last team to cruise against uh Denver anyway? I mean, the first three quarters of the Philadelphia Eagles? They were cruising against Denver.
That's true. And Denver lost at Indianapolis. Indianapolis wasn't cruising in that one. Giants were cruising. Yeah, until the fourth quarter.
So, are you taking the Broncos here? I'm going to take the. In the game, I'm just saying, in terms of here, I don't think that they. I would say it's more likely that they trail and play amazing in the fourth quarter to win than the Chiefs cruise to a double-digit win. And I'm expecting R.J.
Harvey to have a big game. Pal. For sure. What else, Chris? All right, two more.
This is a callback. Is it more likely the Lions stop the Eagles' tush-push or run one themselves? I'm gonna say both. Did you take this from our conversation the other day? I did.
I literally wrote it word for word as we said it. Because we were talking about it. And you said both, didn't you, TJ? The other day when this was brought up. Because, you know, Dan Campbell's saying, you know, he's now calling the plays and he's like, let's keep the tush push in the game.
That they come up with one themselves and they stop one on top of it. Yeah, I did say they'd stop at least one. Remember. I think they run one themselves. Car coordinator showing up and saying, We've got one.
Here's Sam Lapora. You stop us. That would be kind of fun. That would be really fun. Or.
But it would have to be single. It would have to be. What if they put Aiden Hutchins back there and like? Oh, I don't think he's going to do anything but what he does. Yeah.
Yeah, come on. Oh, like, but. But what if they put knuckles back there to push? It would have to be knuckles, right? I think he's the one you want to have the push.
I think I'd want him having the ball being pushed. No, I want the big man. I want Laporta. I want Laporta having it, and I want him being pushed. That's what I want.
With Montgomery, he's smaller, so he can get down lower. I guess he's powerful. I'll go both, man. That's what's more but what's more likely is that the Lions stop it. I really hope that's because I mean, we haven't seen them run a tush-push yet.
I'd like to see both of these things happen. You got one more of them? Last one, a couple of monster college football games on. Saturday. Hopefully, you get to see them.
Big-time college matchup more likely to involve a future playoff Final Four team. Texas, Georgia, or Oklahoma, Alabama. Oh, I'll go Texas, Georgia. Come on now. Yeah, I'll go Texas, Georgia.
Good one. These big games. I can't wait for it, but I'll go Texas, Georgia, even though this will take a. A good three weeks to find out what it is. By the way, Michigan plays Northwestern this weekend.
You know why I'm mentioning it, it's big noon on Fox, but why I'm mentioning it, it's in Wrigley Field. Oh, nice. Give a little gander to see what something like that looks like. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial right here on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. We'll be back.
Tracy Letts making his way to our studio. Don't you dare move. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. The sono speakers in my house, if you want incredible sound, we live it every day. Kids listen to music in separate rooms because you could zone things up.
It's so great. It's so awesome. And then watching games with the Sono sound bar attached to the television. It's awesome. It feels like you're at the game.
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Sonos, they look as good as they sound. 844-204 Rich number Don will take your calls in a moment.
So, I mentioned on overreaction Monday the pod, you could still get it, even though it's just a couple days old. It ages well, it's like a fine wine. Because the takes are still hot and we're still overreacting to them. And, you know, in the case of Talking Mountain Friday, you can have a perspective of a game at least. That's advanced our subject matters.
But the reason why I bring it up is in that pod, I mentioned how Dan Campbell calling plays. The concept was if Dan Campbell keeps calling plays, the Lions are going to wind up the one seed because it looked as good as it possibly could in his first shot at calling the plays. I'm like, the one seed is a tall order to just say right now they're going to get because there's still so many other teams that have a shot at it, including the team they're playing on on Sunday night. But I said that if he calls the plays and it works out as well as it could, One seed might not be there, but coach of the year would be in reach for somebody like Dan Campbell. And Part of the reason why is we didn't hear about it.
And he also, there's no drama involved in it. No drama involved. It's not like he's on the hot seat, and it's not like the person who he. Saturday. from the play calling duties.
is feeling left out. And Johnny Morton spoke to the media. Other teams that might have the offensive coordinator no longer have calling plays, they would not let him speak. But he did, and just listen to how healthy the whole situation sounds. I'm not going to say exactly how it went down, because that's private.
But I fully support it. Listen, man, I you know, I've been doing this for a while. I've been with Head coaches, they're offensive guys, play callers.
So I'm used to that. You know, I feel very prideful of the things that I was doing. There's some things that I got to learn. No no doubt, just like everybody else. But uh Listen, I want to do whatever it takes to win.
I mean, as soon as you said, I'm like, all right, let's go. What do we got to do? That's the way I've always been in this business. I've been cut six times, I've been fired. Man, you just march on.
Okay, because it's always about the team. It always is. It ain't about me. and goals and this and that. No, the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl.
So I didn't even blink twice because I know my role here. And the only thing that's changed is he's calling it on game day. I'm doing everything, everything else is still the same.
So I don't blink twice when things happen in this business. Man, do I love that, right? That's really healthy. Yeah. It sounds like it's a healthy environment in that building.
Yeah. And that resonates to the field. Everybody. It always does. It always does.
It resonates. To the field. And because the players Are able to focus on the execution. Knowing that there's no drama behind the scenes that could seep into their spot. Are you a Dan Campbell guy?
Or are you a Johnny Morton guy? None of that. Because it's all just your Lions, guys, you know? Seems like the opposite of what's going on with the Eagles, right?
Well, but. It's kind of... Fascinating you bring that up, but as you know, I always think that the Eagles, it's their oxygen. Yeah, I'm not saying it's a negative for them, but right. Look who's playing each other Sunday night.
The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
