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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. I know him. Rich Eisen. I know him.
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Are you kidding me, JJ? How many weeks do you give JJ? I'm surprised with the struggles, Robert. The Rich Eisen Show.
Earlier on the show. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Corner. Coming up. NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero. Actor Jared Harris.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Can't confirm it. Hour number two, the Rich Hudson Show is on the air the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We've got a what's more likely for the Thanksgiving. Day triple header, the John Madden celebration.
Um, and we just chatted with Kurt Warner in our number one. Uh, Kurt and I, along with the rest of the NFL game day crew, will be uh covering the day for you uh on Thanksgiving Day, 10 a.m. Eastern Time on NFL Network, 7 a.m. out here. Um so there's that.
And uh, some great games. We previewed that for you. I've got my power rankings, which we'll get to in a second. Chris is where he is, Mike Del Tufo. Why are you looking up at the ceiling?
I thought there was a piece of dust that flew picks. All right, good to know that you're focused. See dust, yes, Mike Del Tufo not only working the faders, seeing dust. A spider's falling on me here, Rich. What's up?
TJ Jefferson, how are you? His defense: there was one time I did see a spider, like, yeah, so maybe I don't know. You can't think of it. Are you afraid of spiders? I hate spiders.
Okay. And I killed a black widow, I think, in my house. What? Yeah. which was not fun.
Wait a second. Don't let that lie. No, I'm not going to let it lie. I was not. It was not fun.
Literally, when? It's either a black widow or a brown widow.
Okay, not a tarantula, right? No, no, but it was good to know. By the way, there's eight more. Spiders are silence. Silence.
Hmm. Good to know. Silence. What was so not fun? You take a shoe and you hit it.
God, I didn't know because it got, it ran. I got tried to ran. It ran. Yeah, it ran. It took off a lot.
This thing was like ran on him. This was a runner.
Okay, it was a runner. It was like a seat. I'm like seeing it. I'm like, where'd it go? This is what I'm thankful for.
Two spiders run. This is one of those things. Like, what do you think? Disney would rather us talk about this or have Jim Gaffigan come back drinking on the air talking about Bill Belichick's romantic life. Start drinking.
Okay. I'm not going to worry about that. Listen. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Let's see if Derek and Missouri give one more shot.
Get off. Come on, Derek. Hey guys, how many picks? Hey, what happened last hour, Derek? What happened?
What happened? What? What happened? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were taking my call.
I was actually getting my bugs ready. That's why I uh missed you, apparently.
Sorry about that. You're getting your bugs ready? Like w like you're just No, my my lunch. Derek's making lunch, guys. What's on your mind?
What's on the menu?
Well, first off, I just want to say, uh, you know, how about this? Right. Um Out. For this just for you guys. How about Name the five teams you believe will make a run will quick to play off the spot first.
Well, I mean, the first playoff spot. How about this? I'll just give you one, Derek. But later on, number.
Well, no, I can't say that. Um because th their their division is so tight. You gotta look for somebody who's leading a division by a significant margin. That's why the Bills, if you remember last year, they clinched so soon. It's not because they had that, it was week 13 they clinched last year because the rest of the division was so brutal.
Um And so you can't choose the south, can't choose the in either division. Either conference. You can't choose the north in either division. You have to look at Philadelphia potentially. Uh because they're eight and three in Dallas is five, five, and one in the second place spot.
Or you could go New England. I know I went a little higher register a day early, but thanks for the call, Derek. I appreciate it. Have a good lunch. Um Interesting food for thought.
First to clinch. I mean, New England is up. They have 10-2. The Bills are 7-4, and they've beaten Buffalo, and Buffalo's got to come to New England next. In the second game.
If the Bills lose this weekend and the Patriots win. On Monday night, Patriots playing the Giants, and the Bills are in Pittsburgh. I wonder how the math works.
Well, we have not gotten a clinching scenario. From the NFL front office. But yeah, I would choose because again, the AFC North is. Two teams have the same record: AFC South. Colts play the Texans for the first of two times.
The Jaguars are playing Tennessee. The Jaguars are game behind the Colts. The Texans are. Two games behind the Colts, and the Jaguars have yet to play the Colts either, so that division's open. You could look at the AFC West, but the Chargers are two games behind the Broncos.
The Chargers have beaten Denver. They're one of Denver's two losses.
So you can't say that, especially when the Chiefs are in this mix too. But three games back, three and a half. Um And I don't know. I would choose New England right now and and Philadelphia and the NFC. No matter how well the Rams are playing.
And I'll get to my power rankings in a second. They're only one in front of Seattle, even though they're one and a half up. And they're two in front of the Niners, or one and a half on the Niners. Um And um they split.
So But the Eagles are eight and three and their second place team is five five and one Dallas. Would you agree with those assessments? Yes? No? That sounds about right.
T.J. Jefferson? Yeah. Okay. I like consensus.
Well, you know, you break things down sometimes, and it's hard to argue. Thank you. Appreciate that. I like consensus.
I don't like argument. Which brings me to my power rankings. Oh, there we go. What did you say to it? Power rankings presented by Sonos.
Hit it. Grab the Kendall's.
However. Colorado's. Maybe you liked it, but this one is my power ranking. Power rankings presented by Sonos Week 13. This is going into Thanksgiving week, and as you know, Bill Parcels always said.
The season begins. on Thanksgiving Day. Because that's When things really get dicey rubber, meet and road, weather gets colder, let's go. You heard that phrase about broken clocks, right? Yeah.
Yeah, twice a day or something. Eventually they're going to be right. Yeah, right. Yep. Twice a day.
Number 10 on my power rankings list. How many times has this man turned to me in a joking manner? Saying the Dallas Cowboys are on the list. Today is a day of the broken clock. You just make the list!
Oh wait, are you serious? One. 100%. Let's go. Here we go.
Kurt Warner, Pro Football Hall of Famer, all 22 extraordinaire. Said the Dallas Cowboys have the best offense in the National Football League. I heard of it. And that includes Los Angeles. He was playing on Thursday.
I said playing on Thursday, and then he expanded it. to what he has seen throughout the season. The Dallas Cowboys, right now, over the last two weeks. have played Spectacular football. Sure, you're right.
And on both sides, they are way better. Way better over the last two weeks, roster-wise and also execution-wise. I understand they fell from 21. points Down to win against the Philadelphia Ghosts and they were down 21. I don't know what's going to happen against the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Cowboys are coming in with an ability to outscore them.
and potentially get Mahomes off the spot. Oof. They got their hands full coming into Dallas in a way I did not think would be possible. And I gotta give it up. The Dallas Cowboys, right now, they are playing like a top third team in the National Football League, and that's the way I'm looking at power racks.
I'm a little low on the list, but I'd like the Chiefs. Hey, come on, now. I just put a five, five, and one team on, and I think the Chiefs, and I might take the Chiefs at the end of the day, but I have to give it up the way that they're playing right now. Is there a red bucket in here somewhere? No, no, no, no.
I'm not charitable. I'm not giving you. This is not a. This is not that. All right, we're not ringing bells out in front of a storefront here.
By the way, real quick, pretty much guaranteed George Pickens is going to jump into the bell if he didn't. You think so? He'll do whatever it takes to get fined. He is here to get fined. He's literally here to get fined.
The converse of Marshawn Lynch's favorite five Salvation Army. Number nine on the list is up one spot. They did get it done. It didn't look pretty. I will not quit them yet.
And I may get off them to win the NFC when I have my mulligan on NFL game day morning on Thanksgiving morning, but I'm putting the Lions here defensively. I am genuinely concerned that they got diced up by Gunnar Olszewski at one point. That was a trick. And that was a tricky play. They're giving up yak to Jameis.
He's an athlete, though. But, you know, Aiden Hutchinson did call game at the end of the day. And the Lions have Jameer Gibbs. My God, do they have Jameer Gibbs? I'm sorry, I mispronounced his name.
Jameer Fregan Gibbs.
So I'm putting the Lions here ninth. Even though they've lost to the Packers or 7th, 3-1, I think they just. They have a better offense than Green Bay right now. Maybe not the better defense, but I can't wait for this game on Thanksgiving Day because the Packers are not on my list. Down two spots of the Colts.
I'm not going to knock them off the list. They were up 20 to 9 in Kansas City, and they looked really good, man. You know, like the fourth quarter was. I'm sorry that he's catching some shrapnel wherever he is right now. The fourth quarter in Kansas City was like.
and overtime. Where they only had what, like 14 total yards and getting outscored, 14-0. It was rough. It was a quarter and a half. Edition of A.D.
Mitchell flipping the ball too soon. Because they looked incredible against the Chargers. I mean, against the Rams, pardon me, until they lost that one, right? True. It was against the Rams that that happened.
You were there in the Rams. They looked like they were going to beat the Rams, and they looked physically like they were beating up the Rams. And the same thing with Kansas City, but then they just disappeared. They still have some terrific players. Obviously.
But they're down two spots. They're eighth on the list. I don't care about the pushback you're about to give me on this. The Ravens are seven. And I think I had the Ravens on this list sooner than you thought.
They were two games under 500.
Now they're above 500. Woo! They are playing terrific football defensively, which is why. You might be looking at me sideways because the defense is a large reason why they were one and five. Not anymore.
The Ravens are better than you on most. Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays right now. And they are in first place. and the Ravens are seventh on my power rankings up one spot. But behind the highest, they've been all season long, up three spots.
I'm putting the Bears right here. I'm putting them right here. I said I wanted to see something for a full game. and against an opponent that was leading the division. which the Steelers no longer are.
Cause the bears keep winning. Caleb's slinging it, man. The ball just flies out of his hands, too. Saw a good stat against the Blitz this year. Nine touchdowns, zero picks.
Hey, man. I still hear Bears fans kind of complaining about his accuracies. I'm just like 59%. He's not that accurate. But really, that's the only complaint I'm here.
Sure, but are we on an upward trajectory in a way that last year was not? I mean, we're not worried about who's in his ear anymore or if anybody's in his ear or if anybody's helping him watch film or if he really wants to be in Chicago and DJ Moore, who is like rolling his eyes about the offense when I saw them in London, which was prior to this year, Caleb Williams' best game, four touchdown passes, the end of the height of the Matt Eberflus era, and DJ Moore, you could see was like rolling his eyes about everything going on. That's gone. That's gone. And the Bears are going into Philadelphia with a why not us attitude?
You know, and I said I wanted to see it from start to finish because they kept on having to win it at the last second from behind. They played with the lead and held onto it. Bears are six. Seahawks, no change. They stay like before.
They're a top-five team. They're eight and three. I believe they're about to go nine and three with Max Brosmer, the undrafted free agent rookie coming in with the Vikings. Max Brosmer. I mean, is that the offensive player of the year on our screen, Jackson Smith and Jigma?
He's certainly in line for it right now.
So good.
So good.
Great defensively. High flying, one of the best offensive players in the National Football League. A run game to support it all. Number four on the list, down two spots of putting the Eagles right here. Ooh.
I'm not knocking them down out of the top. There's still a top five team in the NFL. I just found it interesting. Kurt Warner's like: if you throw it better, then you run it. Then throw it.
And get Saquon the ball that way. Put him in space like the Lions do with Jameer Gibbs. You know? Let's see. I still believe they're one of the top five teams in the NFL.
Number three, no change. Coming off the bye because the Broncos did beat the Eagles. I'm putting him here at three. That defense is unreal, man. That defense is on.
real. And they're coming off of a buy. And they're at the commanders. Let's see if they start. Doing what the Patriots have done, to be very honest with you, which is beat teams are supposed to beat and beat them up and not have them, and not, and not, you know.
not look like they're struggling half the time on offense. Relying on that defense. Let's see if we can put something together, but they're three. And up two spots are your Patriots, Chris. They are the top-ranked AFC team right now.
10 wins, the only 10-win team in the NFL. Um and and you know, I don't care what your record is, right? The Vrabel soundbite? Doesn't really matter what the stats of the record are. Don't mean S.
I mean, I believe right now Drake May on your left is an MVP finalist. And I believe Venture Coach of the Year on a ride right now. I think so, yeah. Feels like it. And Mike Brable.
And um So that's two. And number one, the Rams are staying like puppets. Like a puppy. Three weeks in a row. Like it.
The Rams have led my power rankings, and there's no reason to think anything else right now. They are doing it in every possible phase. The Bills are off the list. The Cowboys are on it for the moment. My Power Rankings are brought to you by Sonos.
Explore soundbars, speakers, and more at Sonos.com.
Sonos products. Look. As good as they sound. Who should be on it that isn't? As I'm telling you about my Power rankings presented by Sonos.
Again, I don't know how I've become the biggest defender of this team, but I think the Chiefs should probably be on this list. Yeah. Instead of Dallas, to be honest.
Well, let's see if I I don't know. I think Dallas has played better football than the Chiefs over the last couple of weeks. How does that sound? Listen, we're choosing them critical. It's your list.
Yeah, this list looks tremendous to me. All right, nice. I mean, the first time. We've forgotten about the Chargers a little bit. I mean, the Chargers were on a bye.
The Chargers are banged up at both tackle spots offensively. The Chargers got their. Butts whipped by Jackson the last we saw him. I can't put a seven. I just ignore the records right now.
And I'm like, who plays whom? Who would win? I don't know if I can't, as you know, I don't think I can quit the Chiefs on Thursday when I have to. reconfigure who makes the Super Bowl or not. Um and I'm toying about sticking with the Lions.
But the Rams are playing two two Well, you should bail on both. But in terms of this list, I mean, I would have Green Bay probably 10, maybe Casey 9. Green Bay offensively has not done jack. Significantly. Yeah, but they're finding ways to win.
And that goes with what you're talking about with the Ravens. Their power rankings. The Cowboys have played powerful football over the last two weeks. They have. Are you on Jerry's payroll now?
I am not happening. I have a pair of eyes, sir. You know, I can't believe I'm going to say this. Uh The fact that this team has had to deal with so many injuries. and so much doubt.
And they keep on winning. Bang, bang, Niner gang. Oh, yeah. Yeah, then where are the Niners? Yeah, but I mean with everyone that they've lost, all the there's only 10 of them.
I can only put 10 on the list. I mean, you put the right 10, number 10, especially. Oh, I think the Niners beat the Cowboys, Lions, and Colts. Yeah, this guy. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, he's Mr.
Brock Purdy right over there.
Okay. This guy, all of a sudden, charter member of the Brock Purdy fan clubs that he has established in week 13 of the 2025 season. After I was on Purdy now. At the beginning of the season.
Okay. What? Mr. Brock. I took him in every fan of the show.
All right. Let's take a break here on the Richards Joe. Tom Pellisero when we come back. Come back to me. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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Hey, looking great, man. You're the best. Great scene. All right, everybody. It's the number one holiday when Tom's on.
No, I'm not waving hello to a video you're recording on your camera to send. This is going to be on Tom's Instagram. Ricky and Graham. Hey, Ricky or Graham. Yeah, Tom King.
Are the Vikings really re-evaluating J.J. McCarthy already? I mean, so many rumors abound. that there's remorse already. that they've already that they've evaluated enough from him already.
What are you hearing there in Minnesota about what's happening at the quarterback spot now that it's obviously laser focused with them visiting Sam Darnold this weekend? I would definitely not categorize it as remorse regarding J.J. McCarthy. He still. And everything I'm about to say is not making excuses for J.J.
McCarthy or saying that he's played better than he actually has. He's made six NFL starts. He is a guy who missed every rep in his first year. He missed the bulk of the first half of his second year with an injury, and now he's sidelined in all likelihood a third time. And we'll see an undrafted rookie Max Brosmer starting against the Seahawks on Sunday.
You know, after the season, I have no doubt that between Kevin O'Connell, Quesi Adofo Mensa, and others, and they probably already thought through some of these things. You'll do an autopsy of sorts on the 2025 season. The biggest question, it's never been why didn't they try to retain those guys? They made an offer to Sam Darnold. They just weren't willing to do the type of multi-year commitment because they wanted J.J.
McCarthy to be able to step in. They tried on Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones ultimately decided his better chance to earn a long-term starting job was Indy Indianapolis. They at least thought about when Aaron Rodgers brought up the idea of coming. But again, bringing in an Aaron Rodgers, even on a one-year deal.
You're effectively saying we're never going to bench him, meaning J.J. McCarthy's opportunity is being pushed further out. And when you're doing the calculus in terms of your resource management, in terms of your cap allocation, you want to utilize that rookie quarterback window sooner than later. And you look at the moves that they made in this offseason. You go and you sign two defensive tackles and you sign two interior offensive linemen.
You wanted to get tougher on both fronts. If you give Sam Darnold, what did he get in Seattle, three years and $100 million, I think, it makes it harder to make some of those moves. That's why teams try to take advantage of the rookie quarterback window. To this point, it has not worked out. And there are a multitude of reasons for that.
It's the injuries. It's, you know, J.J. McCarthy's had a lot going on in his life, going all the way back to week two, coming off the rally in Chicago in the opener, and everyone being fired up. And short week, his son is born. He misses some practice, doesn't play well, and then gets hurt.
You know, there's so many things that young quarterbacks have to do to have success in the NFL. And it's hard when you just don't have the opportunity to stack those reps. I fully anticipate, and it's already happening, that they're going to evaluate everything in terms of the quarterback position moving forward. But it's not as if, certainly not anyone I've talked to is sitting there going, this was a failure. Why did we ever draft him?
It's more, this has been really, really challenging out of the gate. And as much as. You know, you saw J.J. early in that game. I was there at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
The first couple of drives, he was making accurate throws. He was getting Justin Jefferson involved. That game really flipped on a weird, muffed punt fiasco that totally changed the game and gave the Packers a padded lead that turned loose Micah Parsons and everything else. But then, yeah, you look in the second half. J.J.'s dropping back, trying to make things happen.
He's missing throws. He's throwing into double coverage. That's kind of been the pattern, which is the good has been pretty good. The Detroit game was good. Baltimore had its moments.
Obviously, the fourth quarter against Chicago. But putting together a full game, the bad has just been so bad that it's really hard. And statistically right now, J.J. McCarthy is one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Pull back the curtain on what's happening in Cleveland.
Is this Shadur's starting gig to keep if he continues to improve? What are they thinking? There. And Cleveland.
Well, Shadur already did enough that Dylan Gabriel is out of the concussion protocol and he's getting a second start. The plan was always in Cleveland. They wanted to see both these guys. They got an extra first-round pick. They got all these resources at the position in 2026.
They also were in a unique position to draft two guys in the mid-rounds because quarterbacks just weren't coming off the board. They always intended to get an evaluation of both players through the season.
Now, Shadura's opportunity came sooner than it would otherwise have if Dylan Gabriel had not suffered a concussion, but they went out and they won. How much of that was Shadur? You know, he completed 11 passes for around 200 yards. His touchdown is like a bubble screen. And one of their many bright young rookies on this team, it was a showcase, takes that thing to the house, Dylan Sampson, showing why he, on top of Quinshawn Judkins and Harold Fannin, and Carson Schweschinger, who might be the defensive player of the year, and Mason Graham, like they got dudes in this draft class.
If one of these quarterbacks even Is a thought to be your starter in 2026. It's a massive home run. But credit to Shadour. He played good enough to win. He had an interception in the game as well.
It wasn't like he went out and proved he's an NFL MVP, but he played well enough that it makes sense. Coming home, you're trying to have some juice. We keep talking, Rich, about, hey, the Bengals might be able to make a run. The Bengals and the Browns have the same record. They're both three and eight.
They're both three games back in the AFC North, which, based upon how Baltimore and Pittsburgh look, I'm not saying it's likely. We all know what the stats and the analytics say. This is like less than 1% chance these teams are going to win it, but they've got a chance.
Now, Brown's coming home, facing a tough opponent on Sunday. That stadium's going to be rocking. And a big part of that reason is for Shadur Sanders. You look at it right there. I mean, it's not over.
They're facing a beat-up 49ers team. Let's see what Shadur can do. I go back to Rich, just to something we talked about last week and all the talk of, you know, he's being sabotaged and all this stuff. Let's not, you know, just like I said, let's not overreact to one start, but also there's going to be this narrative that keeps. Ongoing, which is basically anything that Shadur does right is because Shadur is so great, and anything that goes wrong, it's because Kevin Stefanski is trying to screw him.
Give Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Reese credit for building a game plan around Shadur. They were asking him to do things that he's good at last week, and it's a credit to Shadur that he went out and he executed those things. He didn't take the deep sacks, he wasn't running around all day and getting himself in trouble. He played on time a lot of the time. He made enough plays for the Browns to get a win.
And then, as you pointed out, you observed in one of your posts this week, Tom, that. Pete Carroll's never fired an assistant in his entire career and has now done so twice in the span of 17 days. Special teams and now offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is out. What is Tom Brady thinking? Because that's really what it comes down to.
Let's be honest. Let's just boil it down. Like what what what How much was he influential in the decisions of these coaching staff that Pete is now changing middle of the season? And what decisions need to be made over the final needs to be seen over the next six weeks to potentially make more decisions? Let's rewind to last January.
It had become apparent by the end of last season that Tom Brady's number one choice was Ben Johnson. That was the coach that he wanted. He had talked about him at times in certain ways, and people read into his comments on the broadcast. He had certainly spoken with him before games and things like that. Tom Brady is maybe not just the greatest, but the smartest quarterback to ever play the game.
And the things that he saw Ben Johnson do were so next level in Detroit. That was the guy he wanted. And there was. A bet of sorts made by the Raiders that it's Tom Brady. Who's going to say no to Tom Brady?
So Tom was directly recruiting Ben Johnson and trying to convince him to come. The Raiders, I was told at the time, had a massive offer out to Ben Johnson. They wanted him to come in the building and go through a second interview, but it was pretty apparent. If Ben wanted the job, it was Ben's job.
Well, one day after the Lions season ends, he's on a plane to Chicago and he is taking the Bears' job without even having to do an in-person interview. His performance against the Bears had kind of been his interview for a couple of years, but the Bears also made him a really strong offer. And I got the sense, even at the time, that there was no clear plan B. Not that they didn't have different thoughts in mind about who they might want to interview, but they interviewed a variety of coaches from different backgrounds. They interviewed, you know, Robert Sala was somebody who had interviewed with them.
They interviewed some other younger coaches. They interviewed some older coaches. Pete Carroll philosophically, schematically, age. Um personality. has virtually nothing in common.
With Ben Johnson. And the point I'm making is: not only did you pivot in terms of the coach you hired, you completely pivoted in the way that you were trying to build it. From Ben Johnson, offensive guru, he's 39 years old or whatever, long-term answer to Pete Carroll, defensive coach in his 70s, was out last year, just wants to run the football, throw it when he needs to, and win with defense. It was just, it was totally different. Chip Kelly seemed like he was the bridge.
between the two, which was Chip had been regarded At his peak, going back to Oregon and early on in Philadelphia, as being somebody who was really, really smart with offense. But what you saw was once Chip didn't have the players who were better than everyone else. You know, he had Deshaun Jackson, LaShawn McCoy early in Philly. He made the choices to get rid of them. All of a sudden, the Eagles' offense wasn't the same.
He goes to San Francisco. That offense was not the same. He's out of the NFL. He goes back to college. Ohio State, what's the common denominator?
Better athletes than everybody else had. It took, I was at the week one game. The Raiders beat the Patriots. That might be the weirdest result of the entire NFL schedule. No doubt.
When you rewind, it was kind of bumpy that day, but they made some plays. And it just seemed like. From week two on, teams just kind of caught up with what the Raiders were doing. And there are all kinds of different stories, Rich, about just the dysfunction of the Raiders' offense. There were times I was told where Chip Kelly was repeatedly botching the play calls, where he's supposed to be, for instance, tagging a motion on a play so the receiver's on the left, not the right.
He forgets to say it.
So Geno Smith is going to the line of scrimmage and going, This doesn't look right. And they're trying to run a play. It happened on a third down in the game the other day. There's times where Chip, I was told on several occasions, called a play that was either not in the game plan or not installed at all. Things like that happen, you're not productive.
That's enough. You didn't need any extra excuses. Damn. But there were a lot of things that were popping up within games that were just not anything that a good team can overcome. They didn't have enough talent.
There's no doubt about it. Maybe my favorite stat of the entire season is there were only three players on the Raiders' offense who were making more money than Chip Kelly. It was Geno Smith, Colton Miller, and Ashton Gentee was making like 6.1. Chip was making $6 million a year. I can't think of another team that had a setup like that.
It was always going to be a challenge for them offensively, but Chip's scheme was supposed to elevate it. And what you saw on the field made pretty obvious. There was just, there was kind of a level of chaos to it that just made it really, really hard for them to function. It makes it hard to even imagine how you move forward. You know, like what what next?
Well, and that's those are the things that you gotta say about Brady. Like, you gotta, whatever's going between those temples, and obviously. You know, he's got his, I guess, Sunday job as well, Tom Pellisero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before I let you go, sir, the conversation in college is all about Lane Kiffin, his choice between staying at Ole Miss and Florida and LSU throwing tons of money at him, and when he's got to make a decision, and there's an Ole Miss playoff run, and yada, yada, yada. Is the pro game also in his mix?
Is there. Anything you're hearing about. the NFL being part of his uh decision-making process? There were rumblings months ago that perhaps there might be an opportunity that would intrigue Lane in the NFL. I have not heard anything substantive on that front over the past, I would say, month or so, in large part because you've got one of the top agents in the college game, Jimmy Sexton, who is currently managing a multifaceted push for a coach who's having the best year that he's ever had at Ole Miss.
It does not sound like at this point, I know there's logical connections that can be made to a certain quarterback who's now in New York with a team that has a head coaching opening. I have not gotten that sense. You never say never on any of these things. I do believe that this is a unique year. And I wrote my annual Rising Young Coaches story last week.
There is not a Ben Johnson this year. There is not a slam dunk. This guy is going to get a job if he wants one. He's definitely going to have one. We don't have that in this group.
There's also not a Mike Vrabel, where it's everyone. Just kind of assumes, okay, Vrabel takes one and Ben takes one.
Now, who takes the other jobs?
So, there are a bunch of young coaches that I think are going to be in the mix. There are some names that I don't know that are getting a ton of attention right now. That I think are going to end up at minimum getting interviews for jobs. There will be a bunch of former head coaches that are in the mix. Mike McCarthy, I would say, stands alone as a Super Bowl champion who is currently not coaching.
He's living back in Green Bay. I've seen him a couple of times up there, including I ran into him in the loading dock at the Packers Eagles game two weeks ago, which is kind of funny. It was on his birthday. I said, Tom, and I'm like, What are you doing here? He's like, oh, it's a great game.
Like, he's loving, you know, having that opportunity with his family. They love Green Bay, but he's just, you know, he's around town. But he, you know, I can tell you, Mike still wants to coach in the right opportunity. He would be very interested. And he's got some, you know, qualifications on his resume that no one else has, which is number one, building two programs in the NFL, both of which broke through in his second season at the helm.
He's won a Super Bowl, perpetually in the playoffs, won over 60% of his games. Mike is absolutely, I believe, going to have interviews. He's going to be selective. He's not going to take any job, but there are some opportunities out there that I believe are going to intrigue him. And beyond that, You know, Jeff Hafley's having a great year with the Packers as the defensive coordinator, former Boston College head coach.
You know, Matt Nagy, some of the other coordinators who have not had head coaching jobs, like Luana Rumo, Matt Burke, Anthony Weaver could be. He's had interviews in the past couple of years here. But those college coaches, when you have Rich, those no clear frontline candidates. And I fully anticipate we're going to be at the historic average of six or seven openings this year. Does somebody make a run in Marcus Freeman again, the Notre Dame head coach?
You know, over the last two offseasons, both times, there have been teams, the Raiders a couple of years ago, the Bears last year, who were really intrigued by Marcus Freeman because of his age, because of his leadership, because of his exes-no's knowledge. I would say that's a name that's more likely to come up than Lane Kiffen. But in the wide world of crazy coaching moves here, Rich, who knows? There could be some other things that we're not anticipating that pop up sometime here in the next couple of months. Dolly.
Blank check. Belichick. I keep saying it, and he can have somebody post statements for him on Instagram. Oh, just say that I'm not pursuing my name. Just call Mike by name.
Just call Mike by his name. It's okay. Go for it. I don't know if it was Mike. There were some typos in the statement.
But yeah, Bill would absolutely be interested. He would absolutely listen in certain spots, but somebody's got to be willing to do it. And I know that I've said this before. I said it on Game Day Morning. I'll repeat it again.
If Bill takes a job, it's not going to be, you're not going to hear the second week of January, Bill's doing a first interview, and Bill's going to be a finalist. None of that. It'll just be, the whole process will take place. He's not going to get wrapped into it like Atlanta.
Someone will run an entire process. They'll get to the end. They'll go, we don't know who to hire. And then an owner will go, let's just go get Belichick. And one day, hopefully, I'll be the one that's reporting Bill's on a plane to City X, and he's going to take the job.
That's what it's going to be: Dark of Night. In the shadows. Until then, it'll be denied, denied, denied. But is Bill Belichick still open to coming back to the NFL? I would tell you, based on everything I know, absolutely.
Tom, thanks, man. Have a great Thanksgiving. I'll see you throughout the weekend. Obviously, good to chat. You're the best, man.
Appreciate it. Tommy P, everybody, Tommy Palisero. Tommy P. P. Rich Eisen Show.
All right. I got a top five list for y'all. Ooh. Coming up next. Top five fast starting teams.
I'm concerned about how they're going to finish. Oh, okay. It's a mouthful. But there's five of 'em. And one more.
That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Here on the Rich Eisen Show 2017, our radio audience, we just showed an old school. Was that nine years, eight years ago now?
My dad, may he rest in peace or sit near to me? You know, my kids are now six foot two. The two boys, little kids, turkey bowling. Giants. Sweet Bob Sagett.
And my dad, too. Oh, boy, that one hit me. That's what Thanksgiving is all about, family.
Well, hopefully, everybody is celebrating with the ones you love. 844204 Rich Number to Dial. We're right here on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. We're also brought to you by Sonos. Everybody, Sonos speakers, and Sonos soundbars and Sonos headsets.
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Teams that I'm concerned about how they're going to finish. And they're all fast starters. I'm wondering how they're going to finish, and it's presented by Hyundai. High five. One, two, three, four, and five.
Richest top of five. All right, my top five teams, and they're all teams that started fast, and I'm mostly concerned about how they're going to finish. As you know, the famous axiom of Bill Parcells is that the season begins at Thanksgiving. That's right.
So here's my top five teams, and I'm concerned about how they're going to finish. Again, I'm presented by a Hyundai. It's kind of an annual rite of passage, unfortunately, for those in Western PA. I'm putting the Steelers at five. Putting the Steelers if I'm concerned about how they're going to finish.
Once upon a time, three and a half in front of the Ravens. They're entering Thanksgiving weekend. In the eighth seed, heading to Buffalo with Aaron Rodgers having his left. Rip party in in Pittsburgh, Buffalo's in Pittsburgh and And uh and his left wrist is in some sort of a device. Offensively, the passing game hasn't been very stout.
Defensively, they're up and down. Uh I know Steelers fans, it kind of feels like you ask a Steelers fan, does it feel like the last few years? And they'll say yes. Yeah, still have two games against the Ravens and the Lions on the board.
So, number four on this list, they were fast starters. They started 3-0 and they won all their games against division opponents. The Chargers are four on this list. I'm concerned how they're going to finish. They didn't look good in Jacksonville at all.
They were missing their left and right tackles. And Justin Herbert was beat up by the Jacksonville Jaguars significantly. Is O'Marion Hampton coming back anytime soon? Hopefully. We'll see.
The Chargers are in a good position at 7-4, but I'm concerned about how they're going to fish. Really hard schedule. Number three on this list, I am just. I'll put the Eagles here. I'll put the Eagles here.
I was telling everybody to relax because you take a look at their opponents, and there are some winnable games for this team down the stretch. They take on Washington twice. Washington Very beatable. They have Vegas on their calendar. I'm talking about how the Chargers, I'm wondering how they're going to finish.
They visit LA. Um And They should win most of these games. But if this is the team that once upon a time started two and one and they got one and done in the playoffs, in the same way that Steelers fans are like, are we seeing Deja Vu again? Fast start. Slow finish.
They finish above 500, but that's not what Ru Ray's banner is about. I'll put the Eagles here. Just cause. Two are the bucks. I'll put the Bucks here.
Are they healthy? I mean, Baker Mayfield left Los Angeles with his left arm in a sling.
So, even if he can come back this weekend with one hit, he won't be back in a sling? When's Bucky Irving coming back, man? Can they get Mike Evans back? I'm concerned how they're going to finish. They could wind up winning the vision and making the playoffs anyway.
Uh 'cause the Carolina is going to have to catch him. I don't think Atlanta has gonna They're number two, the number one team I'm concerned about how they're going to finish. I'm putting the Colts here. Ooh. Whoa.
I'm putting the Colts here. Because the Fast start, they've lost two of three. Atlanta took him to the limit in Berlin. And they have yet to face division opponents, and you throw records out, man. Jacksonville is above 500, and now Houston is as well.
They have to visit Seattle, they've got San Francisco coming to their house. I just told you they're final games. That's a lot. That's a lot. And the division's wide open.
8-3 can become, you know, 11 wins, 10 wins, and that might not be enough to win your division or even make the playoffs.
So that's number one of me. There's one more. I did not know this. My boy. And I will put the lions here, too.
Oh, okay. That offensive line is not the same. Mmm. That game against the Giants, the Giants put points up.
So what's going to happen when you're taking on other opponents? that are left on your list. On your schedule, like everybody in their division, pretty much. Packers, Cowboys, Dallas has been off the Dallas and the Rams. We've just talked with Kurt Warner and earlier, those could be the best offenses in the NFL.
Yeah. And if Jameer Gibbs is not going off, what... They do have Amon Ra. Jameson Williams has been a guy, but defensively, that one didn't look great to me.
So, those are my top five teams that I'm concerned about how they're going to finish. Presented by Hyundai right here on the Rich Island Show to wrap up hour number two. We at least finished strong this hour. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
