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Today's guests. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero. Actor Jared Harris. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Well, hey everybody, it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving edition of the Rich Eisen Show. We're on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance SiriusXM Channel 80. The reason why I mentioned the radio first is you're just as important as those who are watching on Disney Plus and ESPN, the app, 1230 Eastern Plus. I need to describe for you, I'm wearing one of my favorite blue sweaters today. I really enjoy it.
It's got patches on the elbow, makes me look very professorial. And I feel good. I feel really good because over the next couple of days, I'm going to eat myself into a coma and I'm going to self-loathe. And is this thing on? Yeah.
What a great way to start the program. Kurt Warner, Tom Pellisero, some of our favorites. We love repeat customers like yesterday. Where's Jaffegans Booze, man? Jaffegans Booze is somewhere around.
He's around the corner. You were so funny yesterday, Chris, when he's going off about Bill Belichick and his girlfriend. And you're like, Rich, looks like you need another finger in that drink. Oh, my God. I mean, you were down in it pretty good during that conversation.
At any rate, no alcohol, but a repeat customer today. The actor Jared Harris is returning on this program. You may remember him from Mad Men, the terrific HBO miniseries Chernobyl. He's in another dynamite film called A House of Dynamite and also a show movie called Reawakening. And so there's lots to talk about with him.
We'll go down some memory lane. Because his dad, Richard Harris, who many of you might know certainly from a couple of generations ago, the movie Unforgiven, and from many other generations ago, he's an old Hollywood legend. Jared's in studio hour number three. It'll be a lot of fun. Chatting with him.
Good to see you, Chris Brock. Hey, Rich, good to see you, man. We have a what's more likely just specific for the Thanksgiving games. Only about the three-pack on Thursday, which should be tremendous football game.
Okay, very well. You almost went full Rome there. Yeah. Hilarious. You know, it went full tremendous right there.
How about that? And so I got my power rankings today. The powerful Mike Del Tufo is here. Good to see you. DJ Mikey, D's and D's nuts.
Good to see you, buddy. Good to see you, TJ Jefferson. Candles lit. Let's go. I'm wearing a no-contest shirt that I mocked up.
What do you got?
Okay, Senator. Just, you know, NCW. I love it. I love it. TJ.
Okay. Awesome. All right. Is O'Shea going to join us at the end of today's program? Because you're recording the latest no-contest wrestling later on after the show today.
We are. We have the tribal thief for Watson Reed. I've even heard of your guest. Yeah, man. Very good.
That's good. We're thinking about hiding our sneakers because if he could snatch Roman Reigns sneakers, then he could definitely take me in O'Shea.
So, ladies and gentlemen, T.J. Jefferson being topical. Are you ready for tomorrow's? Are you ready? Thanksgiving contest.
It's been a while. When was the last time? It's been a while. You went into the game feeling great about your team. And it's a monster opponent coming in.
It's not like some division foe that you're better than, or some season that's lost because Dak's been hurt, or. You know what I mean? Last week, I kind of felt that because if we don't win last week, then I feel like the season is. I'm talking about Thanksgiving. I'm talking about the kettle.
Man, I feel like every week. I'm talking about the kettle being right there in the end zone. I'm talking about the entire country sitting down trying to avoid talking politics or just avoid talking anything to your relatives. I'm talking about this big, huge game that I do believe. Is going to crack 50 million viewers.
I really believe it. Good chance. Listen, the NFL. Schedule makers. We talked about it with Mike North, who's the major domo on this front and the National Football League.
It's talking about how, hey, AFC North's playing NFC North this year. Those are just massive matchups. Um and The AFC West. is chock full of must-see. Games.
And you looked at some of the matchups as well. Like this weekend's Steelers-Bills matchup. These are enough marquee matchups coming into the season with the Steelers also playing. the AFC East and Rogers is Roll through another old spot of his, like the NFC North. They were like, we could be able to give something of value to all of our television partners so we could load throughout the season, so we could load up.
We could load up on Thanksgiving in a way that we've never really thought that we could to goose the ratings. And going into the season. Everybody thought Chiefs and Cowboys had his chance to be the highest-rated regular season game in the history of the NFL. And last week the Chiefs at five and five, with their playoff season You know. Uh uh teetering.
A chance to win the division for a 10th straight time to make the playoffs for an 11th straight time up in the air. All of CBS. Yeah. Coast to coast. Was showing the Chiefs take the Colts into overtime, a game that bled into the late window where everybody essentially.
If they wanted to watch what most of the country was watching, went from that game. To Eagles Cowboys, probably joined it while the Eagles were building that 21-0 lead on Fox for the entire country to show. This game in front of him. And the Cowboys come back on the Eagles. To continue their improbable playoff push from 3-5-1 to now 5-5-1.
And the game that is Annually, the biggest regular season audience, the middle game of Thanksgiving in Dallas.
Now has the entire country having seen how both teams have come in essentially. I think it's 50 million for sure. Chiefs at Cowboys My oldest son's sitting around wondering, is Taylor gonna be there too? That's right. You know, I mean, it's a real thing.
And so coming in, Pickens doing his thing and. Mahomes coming back from 20 to 9.
Now both teams coming back. The Chiefs a fourth quarter 20-9 deficit. And The Cowboys coming back from 21-0. Everybody saw it. And um as we said Pickens is the only uh 1,000-yard receiver.
In the NFL, to have been acquired by his team off of somebody's scrap heap because the Steelers were done with him. Jackson Smith and Jigma is the only other 1,000-yard receiver in the league. George Pickens is number two. We were joking that he's turned CeeDee Lamb into his own personal Alvin Harper over the last month. You know, it doesn't like that sort of conversation, I'd imagine.
CeeDee Lamb, who talked about his drop in the end zone, and I guess those are all happening against the Eagles, and they were one-on-one against them. That's what he had to say going at Thanksgiving. It's really just lack of focus on my end, honestly, just Thinking of doing two before one, and there's been plenty of that going on. And by that, I mean I'm thinking about my next move before catching the ball. and things of that nature.
Uh There's not really much on anybody else but myself, and I've never been a type to really point the finger, but Yes. It's all on me and I gotta handle that. What are those conversations like with Dak when you go through kind of a little stretch like you're going through? I mean, you just find ways to get better. You want to be solution-oriented and not really much dwell on the problem.
Granted, we know the problem. I need to catch a ball. But other than that, man, we'll be fine when I do catch it. Just be ready. Let's be ready.
Ready. Let's go. Thanksgiving middle window. And in this day and age, you know, CeeDee Lamb, fantasy. 100% owned, George Pickens, 100% owned, Dak 100% owned, Javante Williams might be up there, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, Rashid Rice.
Let's go. Six and five versus five, five, and one. You bet. Chiefs, Cowboys, keeping it 100 on the land, in the sea, and the air. That's a fate of Ophelia reference.
Let's go. Or the dated kids just say you're keeping it a buck.
So let them know that. Yes, but that's not the lyric I was referring to. But like some people might not. Hang. Let's go.
And then, you know, right before it. Right before it The NFC North, baby The Bears are sitting back in Philadelphia. Maybe in the same hotel as Al. For Prime Video's Friday game. Would Alice?
No, he's. I don't. There's a season, and there's four of them. Packers Lions, baby. The Packers eat vegetables.
For the right. To keep pace with the Bears, or if the Eagles do their job. Maybe emerge from Thanksgiving weekend in first place of this division in which the Bears are eight and three, the Lions are seven and four, and right in between them are the seven, three and one Packers, who have not looked terrific in a month. That Steelers game where they went in Pittsburgh and Jordan Love. outplayed everybody with Aaron Rodgers on the other side of the field ever since then.
Couple home losses, surprising losses? The Panthers deflating loss to the Eagles. They've pulled one out of the chair, their chiny, chin, chin against the. The Giants, they Terrorize J.J. McCarthy, but offensively, can they put up points with somebody that feels Jameer Friggin Gibbs?
And that's the way you got to say his name these days. And the Packers, a couple years ago, Once upon a time, everybody didn't think Jordan Love could do it. He went into that building on a Thanksgiving and he pounded them. And then all of a sudden they went on some run. They made the playoffs and they made the second round of the playoffs.
While the lion's coming off of a 15 win season. Don't look like that team a lot. Of the time. They had a nice win streak from September into October, but other than that, it's been a lot of middling play. but against some terrific opponents.
Packers win this, they sweep the Lions. and can train their focus on a team they have yet to play. and they love to beat in the Bears. Oh, baby. What a great way to start your Thanksgiving John Madden celebration.
Ducking. And the coach Dan Campbell earlier this week asked about the up-and-down play and how the Lions have not looked like the team. That has been dominant in the regular season over the last couple of years. At the end of the day, it's like, hey man, you take you take it the way it comes and you just try to improve along the way. And uh You just never know, you know?
I mean, if f f 15 and 2 felt great last year until you get booted right out. And it's like, hey man, maybe we got to go the hard road and just win. Let's just win. and find a way every week. and grind it out.
Is this are your juices flowing right now just listening to this stuff and how it's all going down tomorrow? Starting in Detroit. Can't wait. Clark coordinator, Super Dan wearing his salty t-shirt. Every week now he's salty.
Oh yeah, man. Great way to also start off of Thanksgiving weekend of football in the State of Michigan as well. NFC North. What a big 24-hour period from Detroit to Philadelphia with the Bears having that big game on a Friday. Mm-hmm.
And then all leads off to up to the night game. Yeah. Where after a week two toe injury that required surgery, everyone's wondering: could it be Jake Browning? Versus Lamar when that game hits. And then my Jake Browning's hit.
Yeah, didn't go well. My maybe my fir my my worst take to date of joining the world of first takes Disney World. And then it looked like it's gonna be Flacco, right? Back up. targeted next week to come back when Everybody was talking about how long the injury would take.
That was way back when the Ravens were only beating the Browns and nobody else. One in five Baltimore Ravens. One in five Ravens are now six in five. And a lot of that reason is because of a defense that suddenly has become quite stingy. In support of a team that needs that.
Because Lamar Jackson looks like potentially the Less healthy quarterback coming into this game. What is up with him? He doesn't look like he's got that.
Next gear. He's sitting out Wednesday practices, and this week's a short week. And they have, in fact, run down the Steelers who are taking on the Bills on Sunday in a big game. Steelers are rooting on uh Bengals in this one. Certainly, the Bills would as well because they've got a tiebreak on Baltimore.
And if the Steelers do catch the Ravens, This would be helpful for the bills. And certainly, if the Bills win this weekend in Pittsburgh, they'll have a tiebreak over either one of the teams that does not win the AFC North that might be thrown into the wild card mosh pit with them by the end of the day. But this is a big game for the Ravens to hold ground. You can't lose division games at home. Reason why they're in front of the Steelers right now.
is because the Steelers have lost a division game. That one in Cincinnati on that Thursday night. Two, Joe Flacco, the only win Flacco had as the quarterback of the. Cincinnati Bengals, because he's not that anymore. It's Joe Burrow who had this to say.
about how close he was to coming back last week and how it is. helping him get ready for his return on Thanksgiving night. Yeah, it was it was it felt good. I needed it. Um I felt good to to get some live reps.
Both scout team and first team. Um And I think that'll serve me well this week, having a full week where You know, you're expecting to play and you're going through your preparation like you're gonna play and then. Um that doesn't happen.
So Um but it's good to have that under your belt. to then go into this week where you're not going to get a ton of full speed reps because it's a Thursday night. Um against a team that Played a million times. Joe, just to be clear, you're planning on starting on Thursday, correct? Like, that's correct.
Oh, baby. It's happening. It's happening. Let's go. It's happening.
Must Joe TV on NBC. Yeah, NBC. Thursday night. He had this to say. to people like Maybe all of us in this room thinking, what are you doing?
Yeah, three wins. Season's practically over. Offensive line Has trouble protecting quarterbacks in Cincinnati. That's part of the reason why. You've been out since week two.
And also stopping the opponent. No, it's been an issue as well. What are you doing, Joe? Why are you coming back while you're playing? He had this to say to those who.
Say that. You look at it from my perspective, I'm a football player and Uh If I get hurt, I'm gonna go through the rehab process and then I'm gonna let everybody know when I feel like I can go out there and play. Um I don't really know what else to say about that. Um I'm not gonna ever go to somebody and say, Yeah, I'm healthy, but You know, I don't think I should go out there and play it. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
I'm not going to. live my life and play this game. Scared of something happening. Like, yeah, something's going to happen. It's football.
Guys are gonna get hurt, guys are gonna get concussions, you're gonna Break bones, tear ligaments. It's a physical intense game that's That's part of this. And yeah, I've had injuries. Um There's not a lot I can do about that. I I work really hard to have that not happen.
But what I can do is when it does happen, I can control how I'm Attacking my rehab and attacking practice and doing everything in my power to get back as quickly as possible. And that's what I did. Love it. Yes, he's a football player. He plays football.
He's not looking at his rear view mirror. Not worried about his toe, not worried about his knee, not worried about anything like that. Here, he's worried about. Find a number one who's back from suspension. Number five's not going to play, though.
Oh. But Joe Burr. Jamar Chase can single-handedly end this Raven streak of winning games and winning games giving up 20 or fewer points. All five of them. He can do that with three flings of his right golden arm.
to number one. You know, let's go! Let's go. If the Ravens are, in fact, going to make the playoffs and win their division from 1-5. And they are in fact Going to be one of the more dangerous teams going through December into January.
They have to win games like this one. And to take on a Bengals team with Joe Burrow back, saying screw it Okay. This is the way you want to finish your Thanksgiving, baby. I want it to start now. We can't.
Now, now. This is great. Am I right? Or am I right? I'm right.
I can just answer that. This takes a nice chunk out of the picture. I don't know what that means.
So, Rich, real quick, I know people, because I've been monitoring the socials, people are going to say, well, you're saying Jackson Dart shouldn't play, and you're saying Joe Burrow should play. That's correct. There's a difference. That's correct. We're talking about a man's head here.
That's correct. And we're also talking about, we've seen enough. Joe Burrow is, you know. A concussion is completely different. Joe Burrow's being paid a quarter of a billion dollars from Mike Brown, who, as you know, doesn't like spending a single dollar on people.
Give me a break. Let's go. These are completely different. And I understand if Jackson Dart feels the same way about this kid, too. I get it.
But sometimes it's just got to be like there's two wins. And I know that we're talking about a team with only, what, three, right? Yes. But it's different. It's also Thanksgiving night.
Let's go. Plus, I don't care if I'm consistent. Let's take a break. Kurt Warren is going to join us next. Uh It's Thanksgiving.
Let's go. I'll be there in person tomorrow. He'll be zooming, but... It's okay. Mm.
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And it does not look like he's going to answer the bell because his bell was rung. There's already conversation about it's the same thing that happened with his ankle earlier, that he just needs a break. Again, what are you seeing from J.J. McCarthy on film, Kurt? Yeah, you know, I did actually a breakdown.
So it's on QB Confidential for people that want to go a little bit more in depth and, you know, kind of talking about some of the issues. You know, I mentioned it when we had a little conversation on Game Day Morning last week. And I think the first thing is that sometimes you just come across what I call natural throwers, that it's just. It's just natural for them to pick up a football and sling it. You know, guys like Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.
And then there's other guys that aren't necessarily natural throwers. You know, that they've worked at it, they're good at it, but they're not natural throwers. And I believe that's where it starts with J.J. McCarthy. I don't believe he's a natural thrower.
Thrower, athletic type thrower. And so the first thing that you're seeing is a lot of inaccuracies when he throws the football. Coming out of Michigan, everything was a fastball, and it was either hit or miss. And that's something that he has to work on. He's got to get better at.
So it starts there, I think, with the physical. And then, what I talked about in the piece is the mental side of things. And it's a fascinating thing. And because I don't know the background, I don't know the full details. But you've heard me talk a lot about pure progression.
Type systems. And pure progression type systems, again, for those that aren't familiar, is a play where the coach basically designs a play and says, it doesn't matter what coverage you get, doesn't matter what you see, you're going to read this the exact same way. One, two, three, four, five. That's how you're going to read it no matter what. And when that happens, because I'm a believer, there's some times when you come up and you can have a pure progression play, but I know without a doubt, one and two aren't going to be open against this coverage.
I know it. You know, it's just bad coverage for that concept. For me, I'm wiping those things out and I'm going right to three, four, and five. Um, but in some systems, they don't really allow you to do that. You know, three, four, and five have a certain timing, so you do have to look at one and two, or at least have to take that same amount of time before you can get to three and four.
And so I you know, I I I'm a Always talk about how I think pure progression can hurt quarterbacks more than it can help them. And so, what I'm seeing a lot of times on tape is. I believe JJ's hanging on routes way too long.
So by the time he gets back to these other routes, he can't see it. He doesn't have a time to verify it, or he's late on those particular routes. And so my question becomes, Is JJ slow at processing things? Is he, you know, take him too long to see and determine whether he wants number one or number two before he gets to number three? Or Is the system dictating him to you got to see one, you got to see if one comes open, you got to hang here until it gets to the top of the route before you can move on to the next one?
And is that causing him to go through things slowly? And so, that to me is the big question I have with what's going on with Minnesota: is it JJ? Is it the system? Is it a combination of both of them that's causing him to play slower? Then he needs to play.
He has got to speed up the processing and get to places quicker.
So, um, You know, if he is wanting to take a little bit more time to throw the football and wants to be more accurate and wants to slow down his body or his arm, he has the ability to do that. But right now, that is the biggest issue that I'm seeing: the processing part of it, or at least getting to where he needs to be, is slow. Is it system related? Is it player related? That to me is a question that I'm going to continue to look forward to as he continues to play throughout the season and in his career.
But I think it's a valid point because I see a number of systems built that way where you can't really speed up your process because these other guys aren't quite ready in their route yet. And it causes a quarterback to play a little bit differently, play a little bit slower, you know, and miss things that, you know, personally, if I was building an offense, I'd say, hey, if you don't like this coverage, we're getting off of that. We're getting right back to this. I'm making it fast. I'm letting you play fast, get the ball out of your hands, and be able to play a little bit more successfully.
So that to me, in a nutshell, is what I'm looking at when I see the Vikings play.
Well. Is that why he's taken a lot of sacks, or is it because the offensive line is just not as good as previous years and they would have been banged up? They just had all five of them. together for the first time this time around, unfortunately, was against Micah and Green Bay. What about that part of this equation?
Well, I mean, I I would say it's it's still a combination. I mean, there's times where the offensive line struggled, especially this past week. But yeah, I mean, the longer you take to process information, like if you can get back there and read it and get the ball out on time, that's always going to help your offensive line.
So, yes, I do believe when he's hanging on something too long on one side, and then we're asking him to come all the way back to the other side of the field and try to verify what's going on coverage-wise back there before you can throw it. That all takes longer, and taking longer obviously is going to put more pressure on the guys up front.
So I don't think it's one or the other. I think there's different times where you can point to the offensive line, and other times you can point to holding the football too long as well. And so. Again, to me, this game is played so fast that you have to speed it up any way possible. And that's where pure progression, or that's where some young quarterbacks struggle.
We saw Caleb Williams last year talked about it so much that he held the ball too long. And he was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL last year because he didn't get through his process. Fast enough. That to me is where JJ is right now for one reason or another, and it has to get better.
Well, I mean, six games to go, and then there's going to be an evaluation of their evaluation, you know what I mean? Re-evaluation. I mean, that is and I'll leave that to Tom Pellisera to talk about what may be happening in Minnesota right now when he joins us later on. Do we want to do the same Eagles thing again? I mean, right?
Because it worked the first half and then the second half, not so much. I mean, I feel like we're a groundhog day in it here. I I I think so too. But I actually heard some sound from uh from Jalen Hurts. Yes.
We were talking on our show. You know, said, What do the Eagles need to do? And I said, They just need to pick an identity, whatever they want to be. I don't know which one, run, pass, but we need to pick one and we need to solidify it and go down that path. And Jalen Hurts basically came out and said the same thing.
He said, We got to figure out what we want to be, what our identity is, and we need to build in that direction. And I have actually tweeted after this last game: you know, dare I say that I think the Eagles need to become a pass team. I think they need to focus in that area. They're not getting it done up front. It doesn't look the same.
They've got weapons on the outside. To me, they need to build it from outside in this year based on what I'm seeing. I don't know if they'll do that. I don't know if it's the influence of the head coach that wants to stay the way that they've been and the way they've been successful, which makes sense. But how does that work then, Kurt?
What is that? During the week, you're just like, hey, listen, Saquon had a season high in receptions in Dallas, seven, but that didn't work, right? Although, and A.J. Brown did have a bunch of targets and catches. Same thing with Devontae Smith, but.
It didn't work because why? They kept trying to run it like, again, what does it work like? But it was definitely working. I mean, they got a 21-point lead and then they. Fumbled away the game, basically.
I mean, you know, with some turnovers in that second half, but it was working. I mean, they were moving the football, and they've moved the football through the air a number of times this year. I feel like when they've struggled more in the air is when they've tried to be a run team and then just complement it with a pass here and there. And that's why I say that. I just, I don't see any continuity up front in the run game.
Like, there's just nothing that I see that I go, okay, we can build off of that. Or there he goes. We're coming. We're getting, you know, more holes for Saquon. He's getting closer to some of those.
I don't see it. And so I think Jalen Hurts is a really good passer when he's confident with where he wants to go with the football. They've got the weapons on the outside. The best offense that I've seen from them this year has been passing the football and when they've committed more to passing the football. And that's why I say that.
I don't know if they'll go that route. I don't know if they want to go that route. But that to me is what I'm seeing on film. Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. The Shador Sanders start in the All 22 machine came out looking like what to you?
Kirk. Yeah, I mean, he made a couple great throws that we saw. You know, the one throw and sprinting to his right and then throwing it 50 yards down the field was special. He made another throw where he bought some time and hit Jerry Judy before he fumbled that one. But I would say, you know, overall, Yes.
I'll say an average performance, but I also don't think They really tried to do a whole lot in the past game. Like, there wasn't a whole lot going on. Like, again, those two plays that they had were kind of scramble plays off of pressure. You know, his touchdown throw was a screen. Like, they just didn't really.
Do a whole lot in the passing game.
So I can't say that it was just an incredible first start for Shaddur, but I can't say that it was terrible. It wasn't like he was missing a bunch of things either. It just. You know, it was pretty uneventful outside of those two really nice throws, which excites you because you see, obviously, some physical potential with what he does and what he brings to the table. But I guess I would say it's more just an incomplete where they didn't have to do much because the Raiders were bad.
They didn't call a lot for him to really showcase his skill set. But hey, you get a win, you make a couple great plays, you get a touchdown pass. And I think it's something great to build off of as they move forward. And I can't wait to watch them expand things and see where he goes. Yeah, what are you expecting on that expansion against the Niners?
What do you think, Kirk? Yeah. What are you looking for this weekend? Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm just looking for more design, like just called drop back pass plays, you know, win, you know, or even play action shots. Down the field.
I thought it was just a really managed game. You know, screens here, you know, design things where you know he was going to throw the ball a certain place. You know, and so that's all I'm hoping for: is you know, that San Francisco is a good defense, but they're pretty stagnant in terms of this is what they're going to do. They're really good at what they do, but this is what they're going to do.
So, I think it's much easier to be able to dial up some things and say, okay, this is how we're going to attack them. And I would love to see some of those more designed concepts to see where Shadur is right now and processing that, going through it, holding in the pocket. You know, that's one thing I've seen in these two starts. He had that tendency in college, you know. Obviously, the offensive line wasn't great in Colorado, but bouncing back and always wanting to move when he didn't have to move.
I've seen a little bit of that in these first two starts. And so, something I want to see him get more comfortable with: staying in the pocket, processing it, getting it out. And so, that's just what I want to see more of a drop back pass game than we got to see last week. Packers, Lions, Chiefs, Cowboys, Bengals with Burrow, the Ravens. The best offense we're going to see on Thanksgiving Day is.
Kurt Warner. I would say it's right there in the middle game. You can go with Dallas if you wish, sir. I know. I mean.
You don't cardio go against Patrick Mahomes, but I do believe Dallas is the most complete offense that I've seen. This year. Devontae Williams is running the ball extremely well. They're doing a great job up front. George Pickens has been awesome.
We know C.D. Lamb can be a great player. Ferguson, I mean, I just like their pieces. I like the way that they're doing it and the balance that they have. I know we saw the Chiefs run really well last week, but that obviously hasn't been what they've been good at.
So I like 15 and what he's going to do, but I'm probably going to lean towards Dallas and say, yeah, they're the best offense going right now and there's going to be playing on Thanksgiving. Don't you think somewhere, Michael Irvin? Is suggesting to petition the league to see if George Pickens can wear 88 as well, don't you think? You can have double 88s. Hey, like college, you know, college, there's double numbers.
Like, he's he's basically. But I think one plays offense and one plays defense when they do that. I understand that, but don't you? The way that Pickens plays, the beast, the physical play, like that's that's 88 club stuff, right? Like what we're seeing.
He does remind me a little bit of 88, you know, the physicality by which he plays at the line of scrimmage and the tough catches that he makes. Um he does. He looks a little bit like uh like our 88 when when he's out there playing, but he is He has been a a beast for them. I mean, what an addition he has been. Um for them and Dak's playing well.
It's a fun offense to watch. I mean, this is maybe the first, I shouldn't say that. I mean, the Eagles aren't a bad offense, but I want to see this defense tested against this Chiefs' offense to really see: okay, what did these moves mean? These guys that are getting healthy on the back end, how good is this defense? And we're going to get a great, I think, glimpse of that to really see: do we feel like Dallas?
Can make a run here because their defense has improved enough. And I feel like we always talk before at the end of our conversation about Matthew Stafford playing out of his skull. And I guess so my question my different version of that question this week, is Matthew Stafford to Devontae Adams from the one yard line the Rams version of the tush push? Curtain. Oh, yeah.
I mean, yeah, it is nearly unstoppable. And, you know, it's such a great package because. He's obviously incredible with his releases. You're not gonna stop him one-on-one. And so they just come down there and say, hey, we're gonna run the football.
But if you leave that guy out there one-on-one, you know, and as good as Matthew is too at. You know, being able to make the different kinds of throws, whether it's a soft throw on the fade, whether it's a back shoulder throw, whether it's these crazy little quick slants that they run where he throws it sidearm around two or three linebackers that are there. I mean, they're just a perfect combination. For what they're doing. And, you know, I'd really like to know: is this something that they go up to line of scrimmage and they haven't necessarily called and they just let Devontae do what he wants to do?
Is this something that's signaled between the two of them once they get up to the line of scrimmage? Is it actually called in the huddle so they know exactly what they're doing on the outside? Because it almost looks like it's like, hey, Devontae, you go up there and you decide. You decide, you know, what's the leverage? Where do you want to go?
Do you want to go inside? Do you want to go outside? We'll make it work.
So I don't know how that's called in the huddle, but you're exactly right. It is nearly. Unstoppable because of both of them together. But Devontae Adams, I don't know if we've ever seen anybody that releases as well and as quickly and creates as much separation that quickly from the one-yard line, you know, if we've ever seen that in a league. And so it's a pretty lethal combination for them.
Yeah, we were talking here yesterday or the other day. They all meld together when you're on three hours a day, but about how he must be out of his skull in football and Irvana right now because he probably did not think he would play with anybody. With the neck up ability and arm. Um again like Rogers, right? And obviously Rogers and Stafford are different.
Different types of quarterbacks. But he probably never thought, I'm going to be able to look at my quarterback. He's going to look at me. We're going to have some unwritten, unspoken language. I'm going to be able to do my thing.
He's going to do his thing. Neck up, arm. Probably never thought he'd play with anybody like that again. And now he has. I mean, well, I mean, there's just not very many of them.
I mean, when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers, you're like, oh, yeah, I'll never play with anybody as talented as Aaron Rodgers again. And then you fall into Matthew Stafford, who's one of the most physically talented quarterbacks we've ever seen. You know, we talked to Devontae about, you know, how great Matthew is at manipulating defenses and the no-look passes and holding, I mean, all that stuff. And then, you know, what about the fact that not only will you get Matthew Stafford, but you'll also get Puka Nakua, you know, another number one receiver like yourself, you know, where teams don't know who to cover. I mean, yeah, I mean, he's probably just thinking, man, did I hit the lottery on this one, you know, and throwing a little Sean McVay in there who knows how to dial it up and mix it up for them.
I mean, it is fun to watch. And I mean, I'm interested to see if anybody can slow them down. With the talent they've got on both sides of the ball the rest of the year. Kurt, you're the man. I would say I'll see you tomorrow, but I know I'm not.
I'll be physically. I mean, I guess physically there. I would want to say we'll stand shoulder to shoulder together, but that's just shouldered in a promo photograph, Photoshop. I'll see you tomorrow, bud. Take care.
All right. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody on the set there. I hope everybody has a great one. As Kurt warned everybody, check us out on NFL Game Day morning Thanksgiving edition 10 a.m. Eastern on NFL Network.
ESPN Radio is presented by the Progressive Keys to Progress program, gifting cars to veterans. In need. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. Tommy P.
It's coming up in hour two. Same thing with my power rankings. Uh The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. This episode is presented by State Farm. Having insurance isn't the same as having state farms.
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It comes standard. 844204 rich is the number to dial. Um we're going to be playing a what's more likely version for just the Thanksgiving games. But before we leave, we're going to also record for our YouTube channel. To be popped out on Friday, a what's more likely for the um rest of the weekend.
Because we can't stop churning out content. That's right. You know what I mean? We only know one speed around here. My power ranking is coming up, and it will leave a conversation in this studio, is all I'm saying.
Wow. I'm just wondering if a certain team. That's playing on Thanksgiving is going to make their way.
Well, there's six of them. Yeah, that ain't talk about them, though. Should I tell you how many are on the list? I don't want you to ruin it for everybody. I'm not going to ruin anything.
You just made the list. Um. Not many. Oh. Yeah.
I mean there was there was one in particular I was thinking of. Oh, the Bengals are not on the list. TJ.
Listen. No.
Okay. They're not on the list. See what you're doing there. Our friend Derek in Missouri would like to chime in. What's up, Derek?
We've got about a minute for Derek. What's up, Derek? He's normally ready to roll. Derek. He also thinks, well, we're not going to get to him until hour three, usually.
But, all right. I'm trying to get Derek in Missouri. Back on hold. Normally he hops in here. 844-204, which is the number two dial to have a conversation.
With all of us here on the program. All right. And so you're not working this weekend, are you, Mike? Are you working? No, no, of course.
What are you working? What are you working? College basketball, college football. By the way, I'm so close to paying full-on attention. To the Michigan basketball team.
I did one game. Eviscerated Auburn. I did one of their games. They're actually really good, Richard. We dropped three figures on Auburn, which, as you know.
took us out. Um And so that was good. I'm so close.
So close to being a game. I got one more game. I got one more game. Hopefully, there'll be more than just a bowl game for Michigan. But yeah, European guys rank seven.
Did you see in hoops? Yeah, she is pretty good. We'll see how that goes. Did you see that? Fifth bracket.
The executive is in charge of the College Football Playoff Committee. Do the 6-7 with Rhys Davis last night. What do we do? He did this because Rhys talked about the 6'7 matchup. Right.
And the guy just paused and went six, seven like this and and and then called Rhys Rich. Like he botched Rhys's name after doing the six seven.
So he didn't stick the landing. It was so... Cringe is the only way to put it. Yeah. He called Rhys Rich.
Maybe you thought it was you. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know.
Maybe he's what he thought he was talking 23 years ago. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
