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We'd appreciate that, a follow, or whatever the kids call it these days. Tom Pellicero back here on The Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you. Tom EP, how are you, sir? Good to see you.
Doing fantastic, Rich. Good to see you. What's up to my boys in the studio? Tommy Dean, Tommy. Tommy Dee.
What up, kid? That's the enthusiasm I like on a Friday right there. Rich, what up to Tom? Hair on point. He's going to put this on his Instagram, you know.
Gosh, you're still. I just said hi. I mean, for this video. And then he says hello back to me, and then to everybody in the studio, yada, yada, yada. That's one injury update we're not going to get now.
You know what I mean? Hi, Tom. Hi, guys. All right.
So, I sure. Believe Joe Burrows starting. Full practices. T. Higgins says he looks great.
I mean, the season's on the line. They're 3-7. They got to get going, man. What do you know, Tom? What do you think?
Let's start at where this began, which was Joe Burrow suffering that injury back in week two. At that time, it was a 12 to 14 week timeline. We are about 10 weeks out from that injury. He is clearly ahead of schedule to the extent that he could be taking some limited reps last week, full reps in 11 on 11 Wednesday and Thursday this week. You also had Zach Taylor today say it officially he is questionable and that he was limited in practice today.
Limited can mean a couple of different things. It can mean you are splitting first team reps. It could mean that you are taking scout team reps. Joe Flacco remembers. Joe Flacco dealing with a right shoulder injury, couldn't take the reps Wednesday and Thursday.
Obviously got some of the reps today.
So keep an eye on the participation report today, which might give you a little signal of where Joe Burrow's at for this weekend. They do have to make a roster move if they're going to activate him by Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
So we will know within a little over 24 hours here if Joe Burrow is going to be in uniform. And if he's in uniform. I feel like this is a few good men, okay? Like you think I can't handle the truth and I want answers, okay? Like this is it.
You're on the stand. I want answers. I can handle the truth. Come on now. What are we?
At least give me a trend. Are we trending? Trending, he was he went from full on Wednesday and Thursday to limited in practice today. If you're looking for a trend, you would say that might be a signal that they are not going to put Joe Burrow out there this week. Which, listen, and I don't know for certain that that's the way it's going.
I would certainly imagine Joe Burrow at this point is raring to go. But remember, a couple of different factors here, Rich. First off, is that timeline, the fact that he is still a couple weeks shy of where the target point was when this began. And as we saw, you know, when Brock Purdy came back in week four, his injury was different. It was to a different part of the foot.
It was not surgical where Burrow needed surgery. But the way the turf toe happens, a lot of the time, it's one of the mechanisms is you plant, you get tackled, and the foot goes like this.
Well, you're not getting tackled in practice. Joe Burrow is not at risk of being dragged down from behind and having that foot flexion. When he's out there wearing a no-contact jersey in practice, you get that within the game.
So there could be potentially a point to err on the side of caution. The other part of this is that Joe Burrow member has not played in over two months. They got a quick turnaround to a Thursday night game against the Ravens. And yes, every game is important. I'm not going to do the whole, what was it, the pit coach recently who said that he doesn't care about this week's game.
The other ones, those are the ones that really matter. I'm not going full Pat and Arduzi here, but I would say you got two games. In a two-week span against the Ravens, who even though they're not on top of the division, they are based on all the next-gen stats, the analytics, the favorites to win the division. In between that, you got a game against the Bills. Yes, this is a huge game this week.
against a really good Patriots team. But even if you were to lose this game, that next three-week span could determine: do you have a shot to sneak into this? Because you get two head-to-head matchups against the Ravens team that right now the belief is they might be the team to beat in the AFC North. All of which is a long-winded way to say, Rich, I don't have a direct answer for you. But again, to the trend lines, full practice Wednesday and Thursday, which means you got all the first team reps.
Friday limited, which means at minimum, he was not taking all the first team reps, which means there's at least some level of uncertainty. Or it could also mean they've already determined that yes, this work was great for Joe and it's all to ramp up because next week, remember, there is no full week of practice. They might have like a light practice on Tuesday. That's all what they would get. Maybe this is a way to give him a full week of work over a 10-day span to get him ready for a Thanksgiving return against the Ravens.
Well, I mean, season's on the line, and if he doesn't go, okay, is that an indication that Zach Taylor is not coaching for his job? You know what I mean? That that that he he knows He's got one year left on his deal. Mike Brown's not going to fire him because of that. Reason alone, or legitimately, he's not coaching for his job and has been told that.
Otherwise, if he's coaching for his job, he's got to get Borrow out there ASAP immediately. It is a medical decision, though. And it's a matter of the doctors along with Joe, along with the coaches collectively making the decision. I mean, listen, it's an oversimplification, but would you rather win Sunday against the Patriots or would you rather win Thursday night against the Ravens? Not that you can't potentially do both, but which is the more important game?
I would say the intra-division game against the team that is favored based on the advanced stats to win the division is probably more important. With regard to Zach Taylor, you're right. He has one year left on his contract. He has been one of the lower paid coaches in the NFL throughout his time. Mike Brown has never wanted to pay top dollar for his head coach.
And on multiple occasions, Marvin Lewis coached out a contract year.
So there's no reason to believe that there's not a scenario here where Zach Taylor simply comes back as a Duck coach in 2026 that he gets the grace of, hey, you didn't have your quarterback the entire season. Oh, by the way, the The two pass rushers you were counting on, who weren't there in the spring in Shamar Stewart's case, who weren't there through camp in Trey Hendrickson's case. Neither one has really made much of an impact. They've both been hurt. Stewart's on IR.
Hendrickson hasn't played in the last several weeks here. There have been a lot of different circumstances. Zach is. A successful NFL coach. He has been to a Super Bowl.
He has been to the playoffs with this team. He clearly knows the passing game, and they've got a lot of really good weapons here. They've not gotten things right on defense. You know, obviously, they moved on from Luan Arumo, who was quite frankly ready to move on from Cincinnati as well in last offseason. They brought in Al Golden.
That hasn't fixed some of the things that they lack from a personnel perspective, and the injuries have been part of that. You know, we'll see where the season ends up going. Again, they've got a lot out in front of them. They've got those division games. They've got the Ravens twice.
But if you're judging by the history of the Bengals and what Mike Brown thinks of Zach Taylor, I would certainly say that if you had to lean, you would lean towards Zach Taylor one way or another, still be the Bengals coach in 2026. Tom Pellisero here on The Rich Eisen Show. Man, I'll give you the choice where you want to go next, man. We could talk about the Philadelphia Eagles, what is really happening inside that building. There's also what happened last year.
There's a lot more weird AFC North quarterback stuff. How about that with Aaron Rodgers? This is a. Yeah, what's going on with him? How about that?
So last week on Sunday He goes to the locker room in the second quarter after he's grabbing his wrist, right? It's his non-throwing wrist. They list him as questionable. They never ruled him out in that game. And my understanding is part of the reason the Steelers did not simply rule him out, which they usually do, was because Aaron Rodgers was in the locker room telling the doctors, I'm going back into this game.
And they're saying, no, you're not. And he's going, no, I'm going back on the field. It was a lot of back and forth. That's now continuing into the practice week here, where he has a small fracture in that left wrist. Right now, it's not something that would prevent him from being able to play.
Mike Tomlin talked about at the start of the week: that you can protect it, you can put some type of padding, something to stabilize it here. The risk you have of Aaron Rodgers going on the field is if he takes the wrong type of hit. And lands on that wrist, you could end up with something that's a displace fracture, where right now he doesn't need surgery. Then he might need surgery. He doesn't, it might heal on its own right now.
Then if you displace it, it's not going to heal it on its own. That's the risk factor that the Steelers are dealing with right now. Aaron Rodgers, from the time the injury happened, again, in the locker room at halftime of that game, he was pushing to play. My understanding is he has been pushing behind the scenes to play this week against the team that he, of course, is part owner of in Chicago. But it is going to come down to a medical decision.
Aaron practiced on a limited basis on Thursday. I was told he looked really good on the field. Aaron's acknowledged that, you know, it might be something where maybe there's more shotgun and pistol snaps as opposed to being under center just because of how the ball hits your hands when it's being snapped from under center. But I would tell you this, Rich, the simplest way I put it is if it's up to Aaron Rodgers, he is 100% starting on Sunday against the Bears. But there are other voices, including the doctors, who are well aware of the risks.
And that's why he was held out of the game last Sunday. We'll find out probably in the next 24 hours or so here whether or not they are going to allow Rodgers to play. He's 41. He knows he doesn't have many more opportunities like this. He wants to be on the field, but there are times where teams have to protect players from themselves.
We'll see whether or not that ends up being the case here leading up to Sunday. All right.
And then there's Shador Sanders' first start. What's going on behind the scenes in Cleveland here, do you think? Yeah, there's so much conversation about, you know, certainly on On um I guess the family of networks that includes this program with Cam Newton talking about sabotaging. the uh the the young uh S Sanders and and so on and so forth. This is a week, though, where he is the starting quarterback of this team.
All the other stuff is gone, as far as I'm concerned. Unless it does actually filter in. to the preparation process, Tom. Give me something. What do you have?
The starting point I would have on this, and I also keep one eye on that family of networks when I'm on the stationary bike in the morning. And there was a topic bar yesterday, I believe, that said. If Shaddour plays well on Sunday, should he be the starter for the rest of the season? And that is such a drastic oversimplification regardless of how this plays out. What I would recommend to people wherever you fall on the Shadur spectrum.
Whether you think that he's great, whether you think he's terrible, whether you think that he's being, to quote apparently Cam Newton, sabotaged, whether you believe that this is just how it works for backup quarterbacks in the NFL. There is going to be an overreaction to what happens on Sunday. I know a program that has a whole segment about that every Monday. What I would caution people here. is to not overreact because if you are in the category that Shadur one game should prove he's the guy.
You also have to be prepared to take that one game as seriously and say, well, if he doesn't play well, he's not the guy. I'm sure if that were the case, then it would be more talk about sabotage and everything else. But this is one start. For a player on a team that has not been good offensively through the course of this season. They have a, I would say, a relatively favorable matchup because of some of the Raiders' struggles.
Although Patrick Graham's really smart with defense, he'll throw some different things at him. But it's not a team, the Raiders, and their offense, where you think, all right, going in, we got to score 35 points, so we're going to lose this game. The Raiders' offense has not played well this season either.
So they see a lot of zone on the early downs that allows you to strip things down and hopefully get some early confidence built. Just easy reads, easy throws, get him in the groove, the same stuff you would do for any other young quarterback. But this is still a challenge for Shadour, just like any other young quarterback stepping in. I'd surveyed. For current and former offensive coordinators Rich at the start of the week, because there was so much discussion and had been even prior to that game last week when he ends up in, because Dylan Gabriel gets a concussion about he never had any first team reps, he's never had any.
And I ask people, number one, how many reps are there? In a practice week, how many actual reps? This is not training camp where you've at times got two fields going and you're rolling the ones and the twos and the threes and all the reps are split. That's not it. There are maybe 70 to 80 live reps.
In a whole practice week, there's three days of practice.
Some teams don't even go hard for two of those days, but there's maybe 70 to 80 at the most. The starting quarterback is going to take. Most, if not all, of those reps. Dylan Gabriel got a small number of first-team reps in practice, in part because Joe Flacco is a million years old. He needed to take some wear and tear off his arm.
He didn't need all those reps. It's totally different. Once your door is backing up, Dylan Gabriel, because Dylan Gabriel needed to get all those reps to try to get him ready to play on Sunday. But I go back to a conversation I had early in the season and talking about just how the room was structured. This is when Flacco was still the starter on the team.
A lot of the work that Shadur was getting, because again, Dylan Gabriel was getting a lot of the scout reps like your normal two quarterback does, they would keep guys on the field after practice and would be running some of the same plays and running with the young receivers. That is commonplace. He is, again, no matter what you think. Of Shadur and how good he can be. And I'm as fascinated as anyone to see what plays out starting on Sunday.
The reality is, as a rookie, fifth-round pick, Third string quarterback, Shadur has been treated like any other rookie. Third string, fifth round quarterback, which is, it's a tough position to be in. Brian Hoyer wrote an entire column at the Athletic today talking about the times where, you know, what the life of the backup quarterback is and how Tom Brady would basically tell him to bleep off if he ever came in the huddle and tried to get one rep during the week. That's part of the deal, you have to go in there. Without that preparation, well, now Shador Sanders, he hasn't had 500 reps, he's had probably 70 to 80 reps.
He's going to be more prepared. There's going to be a game plan that is tailored to him. But good, bad, or ugly on Sunday. This one game is not going to tell you to put the guy in the Hall of Fame or to cut him and move on. It's going to be one data point as the Browns gather a lot of data points to inform their decisions, whatever those are, about where they go from here in the quarterback room.
Tom Pellicero of NFL Network, who knows where Cam Newton works and what show he's on, right here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's talk about the Vikings situation, sir. Um where Kevin O'Connell talks about how the cement that they poured around JJ during the summer needs to start drying, and JJ uses a wine analogy that he's going to uncork. He feels like he's about to uncork something. And here we are now, Vikings in Green Bay seasoned on the line, pretty much, for them to try and make the playoffs.
with J.J. McCarthy and his first full year starter, or at least first year. starting for the team. What's going on behind the scenes there? We'll start with that game on Sunday.
It's critical for the Vikings. I'll be there for game day morning on NFL Network and talk to Kevin O'Connell before the game. We'll be able to hear directly from him on the show. The sense that I get and following this: listen, I was at the game a couple weeks ago in Detroit where JJ only throws for 150 odd yards, but he made a bunch of really high-level throws and he was very accurate with the football. And when Kevin O'Connell entrusted him, whether it was to pull it on a designed run play and throw a touchdown to Justin Jefferson or third-down game on the line, instead of running it, they go, you got a one-on-one to Jalen Naylor, throw it.
And he puts it on a dime to what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, which is just. A lot of ups and downs. You know, that Chicago game got off to such a bad start last week because Kevin O'Connell is very smart. when it comes to getting quarterbacks in rhythm. He did the same stuff with Sam Darnold last year, which is he never was asking Sam Darnold, hey, make 15 high level throws, elite small, you know, tiny window throws.
It was, we're gonna need you to be above the line five times a game. Beyond that, we're handing it off, we're booting you, we're getting you easy completions, feel yourself in the rhythm of the game, then be prepared for those times where we gotta take a shot. I need you to make it. And Darnold, right up until week 18, and to a lesser degree in the wild card game, Sam Darnold answered the bell more often than not. With J.J.
McCarthy last week, and I know it's been the past couple of weeks because there was the Baltimore game as well. He just has not been able to find that rhythm. And there were easy throws and out to Justin Jefferson that he airmails over his head. And there was another incompletion, I think, on a third down where JJ was very frustrated. He was coming off the field, basically sprinting off and hitting himself in the helmet.
You know, you can see the frustration with J.J. McCarthy in this thing. But what happens? It kind of felt like the week one game where town the stretch, for whatever reason, JJ, whether it was the energy, kind of wore down a little bit, but he played better. And they're, you know, a long kick return and a field goal away from.
You know, the storyline being: well, JJ didn't play great, but he made plays at the end again and they won. Instead of JJ didn't play well enough, they lost. And now here they are on the precipice of essentially being eliminated from playoff contention. What I would say is this. The Vikings knew From the start.
That this was going to be a ride with J.J. McCarthy in 2025. And that's before they even knew that he would miss a month or so of the season because of a legit high ankle sprain that cost a guy reps after he missed an entire year of reps with the meniscus surgery last year, who couldn't afford that time to not be on the field. If you want to be an optimist, About J.J. McCarthy, it's this.
We have seen the good with J.J. McCarthy. You look at the Detroit game, you look at down the stretch in both Chicago games, it's in there. He's not a guy who is just scatter shot. All over the place.
It's not Christian Hackenberg who can't hit anything. It's just that the, it's hard to go deep into Jet Sloor for that one, Rich, but it's not a guy who simply can't throw a football. It's that you're seeing the good is really good. The bad is really bad. And what they've got to do is not make J.J.
McCarthy into a perfect quarterback in a short period of time. They got seven games left in the season. You're going to continue to have some ups and downs, but what they've got to do is keep those downs from being so far down. You can't. Miss Justin Jefferson wide open at the sideline.
And honestly, I commend Justin Jefferson for being the rare elite receiver and is still, in my mind, the best receiver in the NFL. For not flipping out, for not screaming at the quarterback, for not making a public issue. We're watching that happen, Rich, all over the NFL. It happens every year. Justin Jefferson, as those elite guys go, has been very good and has continued to throw his public support behind J.J.
McCarthy. But you can see, and anybody would be, there's frustration. I'm winning on my route, I'm not getting the football. They got to do a better job with that. Jeff Hafley is one of the top defensive coordinators in the league.
He's going to throw a ton at J.J. McCarthy this week. What they've got to do is just make sure. Keep the bad stuff for me and the catastrophic stuff. Don't let the Downs get so down.
We saw JJ play really well in a hostile environment in Detroit a few weeks ago. He's going to see it in Lambeau Field where they're chomping at the bit to actually win a game at home after a couple of rough weeks before they beat the Giants. All right, and it's a couple minutes to have left. The team that your sources or anybody who's interested in texting with you, whether you're on your treadmill. Or not, what's the team everybody's curious about?
Have we already talked about them? Blown you up? Anything like that? I would say one thing that we have not talked about a whole lot, Rich, and this is broader than one team. But it's the series of post-trade deadline cuts that take place of veterans, and in some cases, high-profile veterans who end up getting released because they were shopped, they couldn't be traded.
After the trade deadline, all vested veterans are subject to waivers, which means, all right, you're a veteran. Hey, we're not good. We're going to let you go to a contending team.
Well, you run the risk. that someone who's not a contender or someone who just wants to block your path to a team they don't want you to go to can claim you you remember the ravens did this last year amidst the the journey of deonta johnson through the season they actually claimed deonta johnson during the playoffs solely to stash him the ravens had already been eliminated but they claimed him in their case to get a comp pick but it prevented a guy from potentially hooking on with a team that was still in contention Brandon Cook's The Saints, it was reported a couple days ago. The Saints announced it was being released. Brandon Cooks has not yet appeared on the transaction wire, meaning he has not yet had a chance to cross through waivers and then become a free agent and sign wherever he wants. My understanding of the situation is it's because to facilitate the release, Brandon Cooks agreed to take a roughly $2 million pay cut.
basically give back that money that saves the Saints cash and cap space so that if he ends up on another team, that team doesn't just pay on the minimum and the Saints are paid on the bulk of that money to play for somebody else. The problem is they also The and it seems that the NFLPA was involved. Obviously, Cooks agent was involved. There's a clause that they put in the revised contract that, in essence, would make it punitive for any team that claims him. That if Cooks gets claimed, they owe him all the money.
Well, you're not allowed to do that. That's a manipulation of the waiver rules.
So the contract got rejected by the NFL Management Council. They're now trying to figure out some other type of workaround. It was, I mean, an interesting gambit. I would anticipate they'll find another restructured deal that omits that language and it'll go through. But this is kind of this weird horse trading that exists at this time of year.
The entire rest of the NFL calendar, you get cut. You're just a free agent as a vested veteran. Anybody with four years of service, you can sign wherever you want.
Now that guys are subject to waivers, there are a lot of times where if it's agents calling around and saying, do not claim my guy, he won't report, or whether in this case, it's teams trying to work and find a way that, hey, We're going to try to get it so he does not get claimed. It ends up in this bizarre situation where Brandon Cooks right now is still a New Orleans Saint, and it's not 100% clear exactly when he'll actually be waived. And in turn, What team he might end up landing on? Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Policero with the tale of the fine print. Ladies and gentlemen, I will see you on Game Day Morning, sir.
See you soon. Yeah, wait. Here goes Tom Policera for you. Tommy. Say it.
I didn't mean to go all Tom Cruise on him. You know, I demand answers, but I wanted answers. Let's take a break. 844-204-Rich. Number to dial.
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Back here on the Rich Island show. We're live back here on the ESPN radio feed, if you will. ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance from Disney Plus, streaming live every day between 12 and 3 Eastern Time. Um we'll go to the phone lines in a second. Houston, Texans are um back in the mix.
They are in the mix. They are six and five. They've won their last three games since C.J. Stroud went out with a concussion. Davis Mills, just like Mac Jones in San Francisco.
Who? From where. D'Amiko Ryan's hails as a coach. He's Kept this season afloat. He has single-handedly With his Defense.
I guess that's not single-handedly, but he has in his starts at 3-0. Erased the Owen three deficit. And The Houston Texans are 6-5. And right now. Sitting there.
With Six games to go. and an opportunity. To win the division. and make the playoffs. And I said win the division.
Because next up for them is... in Indianapolis. Which they haven't played yet. And that's the team that they're two games behind. And they can ask Kansas City for a favor.
And then return it in kind by going into Arrowhead and beating them. And if they do that Then the Chiefs would have another massive problem in trying to make the playoffs. Because they will have lost to the Bills, they will have lost to Jacksonville, they will have lost. to Houston. That would be massive.
And Houston can deliver it. And once they're done with that two-game road trip that will either make or break their season. Arizona at home, Vegas at home. They visit the Chargers and have a shot. And again The AFC South.
against Indianapolis. The team that they have to go and track down, they have yet to play. They play them twice, and they trail them right now by three losses. Potentially only two. Kansas City again does them a favor.
To go 6-5. That would make a massive week 13 Thanksgiving Sunday game between two. Perennial division winners at six and five, right? Ravens should be 6-5 as well because They take on the Jets at home this weekend. And what the Texans have is a championship defense.
that can change the fate of a quarterback's Night and potentially season. You know? Woody Marks. And chub. Not a bad 1-2 combination running a football.
An offensive line that is Improved, wouldn't you say? I mean, the offensive line, it's not like C.J. Stroud was standing back there and he was sacked eight times, and that's the reason why he was concussed. He was hit, runnin', sliding, hit late. Bad news.
And D'Mico Rhines is like: let's start Davis Mills again. Let's start the Stanford kid. Or guy one more time Let's get CJ Stroud back for those two big games on the road. And Use the mini buy to our benefit. They said on the broadcast last night.
that uh had the game played been played on Sunday, He'd have made it, right. But too soon to get out of the concussion protocol for this one, and it worked out. I don't think I'm overstating the fact that the Texans can make the playoffs and win their division. They could do it. Yeah, I don't think so either.
I think we're now in a situation where the AFC South is going to get two playoff teams at least. Whereas most of the year, first half of the year, it was like, oh, the Colts and everybody else, that's cute. But I think they're real contenders.
Well, the Colts can single-handle Us when higher registered. The Colts just, you know, again, the Jaguars are the team that's better positioned to be that second team right now. Sure. And man, this Texans win streak. This Texans' win streak started with that comeback on the Jaguars.
Jaguars had a chance to sweep the season series from Houston and basically bury them, and Houston came back. Massive comeback. took care of business in Tennessee in a hard-fought slug fest. Short week comeback beat the Bills because they just inundated Josh Allen. One after another after another.
Overcame a kickoff being hit for return for a touchdown.
So they're resilient. I guess not just in the games against Jacksonville and Buffalo, but also on the season writ large. They went from 0-3 to being above 500, man. And um Give it up. To D'Amico Rhines keeping the ship afloat.
Davis Mills 3-0. And he's already tied his career high for quarterback wins in his season when he went 3-10-1 in 2022. Chris, this is what it's supposed to work. Christian Kirk is supposed to be healthy and scoring touchdowns. Yep.
Oh, that looks like they hit on Jaden Higgins. They did. Right. He looks like he can make some plays. What do you mark?
And Eco Collins has really had an off year. He has to be able to do it. You know, if you drafted him in fantasy in the second round where most of everyone who has Nico Collins, you're waiting for that big game. Yep. Well, it can come.
It's got to come in the next two weeks then. I mean, going into Indianapolis, into Kansas City, those two teams play each other this week. Houston would like Kansas City to beat Indianapolis. Maybe Indianapolis beat Kansas City up enough.
So they tenderize him. Houston coming off the mini buy going to Arrowhead. And it's a big two-week stretch for Kansas City. And we're going to talk about two-week stretches for those. Thanksgiving team's coming up in a moment.
844-204-RICH, number to dial. Let's take a phone call here. Um let's go to Chad in Sacramento, California. What's up, Chad? Hey, Rich, how's it going?
What's going on, sir? Need some help from RES Consulting.
Okay. Since you're coming from Sacramento, should RES Consulting light the beam? Should we light the beam for you, Chad? Should we do that? We shouldn't like the beam, yeah, because it definitely hasn't been lit for my Raiders for the past several decades.
Okay. And my wife and I are expecting a baby boy, and I don't want him to. turn out to be like that guy that said, I hate this team from the Jet.
Okay. Okay. So I'm wondering if you think if the if Shador Beats the Raiders this weekend, should I just sign the certificate to be a Brownspin? No. Just signed a certificate to get.
Whatever. Maybe the Patriots to decommit from the game. I thought the game was going to decide who you were rooting to.
Well, as you know, they decommitted from Northern California.
So but Don't do that, man. I don't think you're allowed to leave Raider anymore. Yeah, it's a little different, that fan base. You can't just, I don't think that's a fan base you can just up and leave. Yeah, the violator is going to drive up to Sacramento and refuse to notarize that document, Chad.
To be honest, I think that could be a dangerous situation, Chad. I know it's not feeling good because they changed. You know, the whole system. But Brady's first year, he chose spy tech. He chose.
You know, uh Pete. Just trust the system. It looks ugly right now. It always will. If you can't protect a quarterback, and run the ball with your seventh draft overall drafted running back.
It's just never going to look good.
So just give it another year, Chad. But call back before then. Thanks again. That's Chad in Sacramento here. Thank you.
844-2041. Number to dial. Well, I just hung up. From him.
Well, I don't think he could. Oh, turn that hold on his phone, is what you're saying. No, just hold on, just hold on to the stay safe. To the raider. It's like the mob.
You can't just get out of Raider Nation. You got to meet in a parking lot. Yeah. What do you know about the mob over there? I think I've seen a movie.
Okay, got it. All right, when I come, when we come back, pardon me. I have my top five matchups for the rest of week 12. This is going to be great. That's next.
And then the entire third hour is just for us. Let's go. What's more likely, Beckens?
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It comes standard. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Week 12 got underway last night in Houston. Bills at Texans in the books leaves the rest of week dozen. I have my top five list of the other matchups I'm looking forward to seeing the most presented by Hyundai.
Hit it. High five. One, two, three, four, and five. Riches, top five. All right, and it starts in the NFC North, everybody.
My top five other matchups of week 12: Vikings at Packers. Here we go. Packers 6-3-1. Is Josh Jacobs going to play? Possibly.
Don't know yet. And the Vikings Which Quarterback is going to show up. J.J. McCarthy on the road in division, J.J. McCarthy, or pretty much the rest of the J.J.
McCarthy that we've seen this year? And the cement is drying, as Kevin O'Connell is saying, and the cork's uncorking, as JJ is saying. He's got to do it one more time. On the road in division. to give him three of those.
to keep the Vikings season alive. He had a chance to sweep the Bears. This past week, and he had them winning. I understand he looked like he was throwing with his feet for much of the game. But when it came down to it, he gave his team the lead, which is all you want from the quarterback in the fourth quarter.
They just couldn't hold on to it. Imagine they're five and five having swept the Bears, what it would look like for their prospects. Four and six isn't out of it yet. Four and seven. I think would be.
6-3-1 for Green Bay with the Bears taking on the Steelers at home and the Lions taking on the Giants at home. They have to hold, serve. They got to win. They've got to show up and show out. To go to 7-3-1.
Can't wait for this one. It's one o'clock eastern Window type stuff on Fox. Number four, the aforementioned Steelers at the Bears. As of this very moment, Mike Tomlin called. Aaron Rodgers, questionable to play in this game.
We heard it from Tom Pellisero earlier in this hour. That Rogers was never officially ruled out of the game in which he injured his left wrist. Last week, Because he was busy in the locker room arguing, apparently, with the medical staff about being let back in this game. And if that's the way he is. in the moment with his wrists probably throbbing.
How do you think he's acting this week behind the scenes with him feeling better and getting a cast and getting used to it and thinking he can protect himself because he wants to play in Chicago one last time? Here, Coach. I think Aron is going to start. At the end of the day, And then the bears. Are they who we have seen they can be?
How's that one? I don't know if that's as good as it doesn't really. That line, it's not going to be next after that line. It's not a beer commercial.
So. This is a team that takes the ball away. and then takes your breath away in the fourth quarter on offense with Caleb Williams pulling stuff out of the hat. Can they do that against the Steelers?
Well, they have to do that against the Steelers. There's a Steelers team that. Knocked around Daniel Jones and turned over the Colts a couple of weeks ago. The team that just beat the Bengals last week. Is that the defense that's going to show up?
Because that's two very opportunistic defenses. And that's the way that both of these teams have gotten above 500 records in leading their respective divisions. This is a battle of. The North Division leaders entering week 12. Steelers in pairs.
Oh my. Number three on the list is the Sunday Nighter. Baker Mayfield coming back to the scene of his comeback. It started when he was released by the Carolina Panthers, and the Rams said, We'll take you and we just need you in like two days. Here's the playbook.
And he won that game. It's truly one of the more impressive wins of this decade. And I don't think I'm overstating it. And now he comes back, quarterbacking a Buccaneers team that may get Godwin back, but Bucky Irving is still up in the air, man. I don't know if.
What the hell is happening here? Todd Bull says he's out and trending towards a week 13 return.
Well, the Rams, as I've mentioned in the last two power rankings, is the best team in football. And this is a big one. This is also another battle of division winners, leaders, pardon me. Matthew Stafford trying to keep that MVP campaign moving down the tracks. Rams at 8-2.
They will already know if Seattle's pulled off the win against Tennessee. That's earlier in the day. And then, of course, the Niners taking on Carolina on Monday night. This is a big one for the whole country to see on in. BC.
Whose house? Number two. It's the Eagles and Cowboys. Number two. You bet it is.
You bet it is. Absolutely. Number two. 8-2. Listen, the reason why it's not number one, if that's what you're saying, is because the Cowboys are 4-5- and 1.
And what is the team that's in the number one game?
Okay. We can do their half game better.
Okay. But I am just saying this has got a lot going for it. Yeah. For many reasons. The Eagles.
are Seemingly hating on each other. I love it. Until it's time to hate on the opponent and then they're successful. And then the Cowboys coming off of their best offensive performance of the year. And that's saying a lot.
We saw what they did against the Giants. We saw what they did against Green Bay. But last week, I guess their best overall performance, you could say. Trying to get back to 500 here. I think George is going to stay out every night.
And so, by the way, that's kind of crazy that CeeDee Lamb at this stage of his career would do that in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's just, listen, I know Vegas is not on the strip, by the way. I mean, it doesn't matter. Come on, man. What are we doing here?
You like a late dinner, right?
Okay. Come on, early morning, dinner? And then you go out and comment. And here's what I would do: do you know when you go to the dentist's office? And they put that tube in your mouth.
Horrible feelings. They should hook that up to Jalen Carter pregame. No. Yeah. And that could be the difference maker in this one because, as we know, he wasn't allowed, I wasn't around in the first game between these two in game one of the season.
Number one is Colts and Chiefs, man. It is. It absolutely is. It's the Chiefs. At a crossroads, man.
At a crossroads. And with all due respect to Dallas, which is at a crossroads, the Chiefs. A threat to make a championship weekend and also a championship podium run, and then the Colts. This is their measuring stick. This is it guys.
Yeah, are they real or not? I think they're real, but the question is are they real enough to go into Arrowhead? And do this. And Jonathan Taylor, and they're coming off a buy. Can't wait for it.
Early window once. Maybe I guess. One more. We have one more. I did not know that.
That's my boy. And I'll go with the game that he will be watching. Patriot Spangles. I think Burrow's coming back, man. Burrow versus May.
Let's go. And if it's not. I'll be sorely disappointed. The line moved back up to seven.
Well, because he's limited reps today.
Well, I'm just saying Vegas always knows stuff. I don't know. I just can't imagine they're three and seven. Like, what's what are we doing here? The guy rehabbed his ass off.
He looks great. Pull a ripcord. Let's go. But again, it's not my toe and it's not my franchise quarterback. But I hope that would just make this game so much more.
Amazing. No doubt. I was thinking of putting San Francisco and Carolina here as well. That is a sneaky good game on Monday. Not very sneaky.
It is good. And McCaffrey back. I think it's his first game against Carolina since the trade. I believe. Wow, but um, at any rate, that's my top five, and again, um.
Just go to a dentist's office in the Metroplex, get one of those things, you know.
Okay. That's not a good meme for me, I think, in the long run. That's good. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
