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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Intercepted, big man. Oh, and the ball is out. Intercepted, Dante Jackson has it.
Live from the Rich Eisen Studios in New York City. Hi, intercepted. Cam Hart has it. Intercepted, game over. Today's guests, ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday, actor Tony Goldwyn.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody. Hey there, and welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show from the ESPN Studios in New York City. The Rich Eisen Show studio is up and running for the rest of the week from Lower Manhattan. Hello to our Disney Plus.
Viewers, hello to our ESPN app viewers. Hello also to those who are listening to ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. We've got our guys here, Chris Brockman. Good to see you. Hey Red TJ Jefferson, you made it.
Mike Del Tufo, you're here right here in your old hometown. Good to see you. How are you? I'm a Yankee fan again.
Okay. Get out of here. Absolutely not. Bringing weak sauce from Los Angeles. See you.
By the way, if you're sitting there on Disney Plus, you're streaming it, you're watching it on the ESPN app, you're like, that looks a lot like the get up set it is. And we're thrilled. I mean, I have not done a show with the ESPN letters on a desk. Um, and I'm, I mean, um, well, since the well, I guess since I did the sport since August, I was going to hit the throw the way back machine, but not coming this year.
Well, at any rate, uh, we've got uh Tony Goldwyn, the actor, making his way to the studio in hour number three, Jeff Saturday, who was on GetUp earlier today. Um, he is going to be uh our first guest coming up in just about 20 minutes' time. Our phone lines are still working: 844-204-Rich is the number to dial with whatever you want to talk about here on this show, and we obviously are going to start. With the Monday night game that went down the road from what we usually do a show from, the game was drunk. It was off the rails.
Six turnovers in the second half since the NFL started tracking. Play-by-play type coverage of a game in 1991. There's never been a single play that's resulted in one player turning the ball over twice in the same play. That happened to Jalen Hurts last night, and I'm sure fantasy football players were losing their minds over that, whether it was. How many matchups flipped on that play alone?
It was insane how the Chargers and the Eagles were just hitting each other in the mouth over and over and over again. And what ended up happening was a game that went into overtime for two 8-4 teams that needed. This game for various reasons. In terms of the Chargers, they needed the game to stay in the race for their division, if not potentially the one seed. The Eagles needed to stay in this race.
For the one seed by getting that win last night. The division is still theirs over the Cowboys by one and a half games. Had they won last night, it would have put this division on the precipice for Philadelphia to win once again and become the first team to win back-to-back, the last team to win back-to-back titles in the division were the Andy Reed Eagles. And that's still in the ether for them. But right now What you have Is a Chargers team that's in the mix in the AFC West still.
Because they beat The Denver Broncos. They're the last team to beat Denver, and we'll talk about that later on. on this program when we focus on the chargers. But for the Philadelphia Eagles fans, I have been telling you to relax for two plus weeks.
Well, what about now?
Well, I'll get to that. I'll get to that.
Okay. What about now? And all I'm going to say. is look right down the camera. And tell the Philadelphia Eagles fans who watched last night's game chock full of mistakes, chock full of turnovers, chock full of drop passes, chock full of a lot of hair on fire moments.
And look at you in the face if you're watching on Disney Plus or the ESPN app. And tell you, say what you keep relaxing. Oh, call. Come on, dude. Are you serious?
No. No, you are not Frankie Goes to Hollywood. They are not relaxed. We're going to tell you to keep. Relaxing.
Because what we saw last night Were enough positive things. I didn't see any. I saw Saquon Barkley going on a mad dash. I saw the running game. One play.
He had one nice play. Untrue. He had multiple carries that were first-down carries from jump. Multiple carries that looked a lot like last year. Multiple moments.
And there were also great throws from Jalen Hurts. Two of them AJ Brown dropped for touchdowns. And one of them, A.J. Brown had his hands on, and was one of the four interceptions that Jalen Hurts has. on his record from last night.
And so There was enough positive things. In addition, and I'm sober, okay? I am sober because I know what Eagles fans are thinking and saying right now. On top of that. The Philadelphia Eagles After that awful loss, that gutting loss, that hair on fire loss That long ass plane ride home loss.
Okay. All of that. Go home. And take on a Las Vegas Raiders team that suddenly can't tie its shoes and hasn't been able to do so. for a couple of months.
And they also have not won, but two games against a three-win Washington Commanders team. That is Just coming off of a shutout loss. to the Minnesota Vikings. In Such a fashion. The Vikings.
just became the first team in the history of the NFL to be shut out by 25 or more points in one week. and come home and shut another opponent out. A week later, by 25 or more points, that team is on the docket. Twice. For the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Commanders.
Now, there's a visit to Buffalo that might be one of those measuring stick games. I will tell you right now. That game against the Buffalo Bills will be one of those moments of, all right. The Eagles have straightened themselves out, but now here's the measuring stick for the playoffs. And if you're sitting here saying, The ultimate goal is to go back to back and win the Super Bowl again for the Philadelphia Eagles.
I will look all the Eagles fans in the face and say, I'm concerned for you. But all you need to do is punch your ticket to the playoffs. All you need to do is Is when your division, which they're going to do, the only way they lose. Excuse me. Do you feel put the Cowboys schedule up if you don't mind?
Not them boys. Killed the Wabbitt last night.
Now, listen, I know you're very happy watching as the Cowboys watch an Eagles team losing their third in a row. They were on the march last night in overtime to win that game and saw some great throws from Jalen Hurts to put them. In position. Dallas has got the same Minnesota team that I just said, just shut out. the Washington Commanders.
They should win that game. The Chargers team that we saw last night hitting people in the mouth. They can't block anybody. Justin Herbert is running for his life on every play. And yet, won the game.
And they do have two winnable games at Washington at the Giants as well. They need to sweep that. And have The Eagles lose. twice The Eagles will have to lose once to the Washington Commanders and then maybe against the Buffalo Bills. That is the way that the Philadelphia Eagles lose this division.
Is it possible? Yes. Is it going to happen? It is unlikely. It is un Likely.
So what the eagles need to do is is play just well enough. Get this division. in their hands And go home. and get ready for a home playoff game. If you put up the NFC standings through 14 weeks, they're going to have their hands full.
The Bears might be coming back into their house again. They're currently the seventh seed. The Lions, if the Lions make this Playoff race. The Lions might be the team to come in. The 49ers might be the team to come in if you take a look at the NFC standings through 14 weeks.
These are the teams they might have to face. Because they're not going to be any lower than the three seed. They're not going to fall to the four seed. The fourth seed is going to be your NFC South champions.
So, this is the reality of it. It looked bad a lot last night, but it also looked good. That third and 15 throw in overtime after their call for holding, Jalen Hurts hits his back foot. That was a dot. to Devontae Smith.
He also made some terrific throws. in the fourth quarter leading to these moments. Yeah. But we're all focused on the negative because it's the Philadelphia Eagles, and I understand they do not look. like a Super Bowl contender.
Right now, are they going to lose the division? No, are they going to make the playoffs and host a home playoff game? Yes, are they going to have their hands full in that game? 100%. Could they be one and done?
For sure. Nick Siriani had this to say after the game about turning things around. We'll drag ourselves through the mud on the plane ride home. Look forward to watching the tape, see what we need to fix. And then you don't have a lot of time to feel sorry for yourself.
You got to have that same confidence, that same joy that you come in every single day. And I'm looking forward to getting back to work. I understand you guys are looking at me with skepticism. The 2023 Eagles were 10-1. I understand.
Yes. And then lost 5 out of 6 to end the year and got absolutely boat raced in the playoffs to the Bucs. What's the difference between that team and what we're watching right now with the way Philadelphia is playing? They're not going to lose five of their last six. They've already lost three.
What do you mean? They've lost three in a row. They could lose seven in a row to end the season.
Okay. If they do, then they won't make the playoffs. And then everything that I've just said. I would be shocked if they. What do you think they're going to lose to the Raiders?
You really think they're going to go home and win? I don't, but I don't think it's going to be a resounding win. It's going to be ugly.
So now it doesn't matter. They're 9-5. They're nine and five. Then they go to Washington. You think they're going to lose to Washington?
I think that Jaden Daniels with a couple of games under his belt with a full complement of weapons. Jayden Daniels didn't even finish the game in Minnesota. He came out of the game and he's throwing his helmet around wondering why am I playing right now? And more and more and more, there's going to be Zach Ertz is gone for the season. That team is just going to be a shadow of itself, and it's going to really test Dan Quinn's ability to get everyone to say, don't listen to that U-Haul backing up.
The season's over. Don't pay attention to Zach Ertz playing this game, and now he's going to be rehabbing the rest of the season, the rest of the officials. Marcus Mariota had the Broncos beat. I don't know who that is. I know who Marcus Mariota is.
How interesting. You got to say that. You're right. That's my fault. You know, honestly, you have to just take a look down the road.
And the other thing is, that 2023 team fell apart so badly. They didn't even win their division. They had to go on the road. They got one and done in Tampa. They're going to play a home game.
They're going to play a home. I'm going to quote you. We can't definitively say that the Eagles are winning the NFC East. I'm saying, if they, how about this? They don't deserve to win it.
If the Cowboys win out. And they lose a game to the Washington Commanders or the Raiders, then they don't deserve it. Then everything that I believe in them with their superior. Talent. At certain positions, that is just like the Chiefs, things just are blowing up.
They're not working. There's a hold here, there's a mistake there. There's a drop ball here. But then there's also Cooper DeGene, who erased Ladidi McConkey last night. Fact.
Erased him. The front four was getting after it without Jalen Carter at some point. It's all going to hopefully be able to be pulled together, and they have the opponents coming into their house to pull it off. But so much for the positivity, right? The Chargers lying, though, right?
They're missing. I would also like to point out that that is now a third straight 100-yard game for A.J. Brown. And what happened? What's the reason?
I understand that he lost them all, and he dropped. And had he caught the one. Instead of settling for a field goal, they score a touchdown at the end of the game. If he could, that was a dime by Hurst. That was a great throw in the bucket.
That was a great game when there was nothing going on, and A.J. Brown takes off down the field and they connected mentally and they connected physically, but the ball went off of Brown's hands. And after the game, he took responsibility for that. He should have had the one in overtime. I'm just saying there's enough there.
But I understand they've lost three in a row. It's Philadelphia. Every single thing, mistake that they make gets compounded. I thought they were winning that game last night when Nick converted on third and 15, and then another throw to Dallas Goddard. Did Phil back.
And it was just a risky throw into coverage. I thought maybe if he had checked it down, just been a little bit more patient, but there was only three minutes to go. I'm sitting there thinking a tie doesn't really do much. Except, you know, it would keep them two in front of Dallas. It would have kept them two in front of Dallas.
So Ty kind of would have helped him, but I'll tell you this, though. The conference is gone. For the Philadelphia Eagles. That, I think, went by the wayside last night: that they're not going to be able to catch the Rams. Or the Seahawks.
Yeah, I think what you said is right. The winner of the East is probably the three seed. And so that's. You just gotta just take a beat. Take a breath.
And I know relax doesn't really help right there. Or, you know, what hopefully the Eagles will be able to do. is to tell the committee, listen. We had a quality win against the Rams. That's a committee.
Right. And hey, this is a quality loss. The Chargers have nine wins.
Okay. You know? Bitch. Oh, wait a minute. My bad.
Yeah, this is the version of football where the records matter. I still like the record. And it's a schedule that's. Put together by a home office that runs the sport and formally makes it a professional. The defending champ gets an automatic bid.
One of the things I like most. Is that what it is? Yeah, what I like most about you is your optimism, right? And the thing is, Philly fans, and I'm staring at one right now off camera, they don't believe a word you just said. That is true.
That is true. They don't believe it.
Well, I'll tell you, Nick, it helped last night to be, as I mentioned, at a home game on the road.
Okay, were all those fans? Did you? Were they booing? Were they booing when the ball went off? Could you imagine if this game was at home?
Oh, man. If this game was at home, all the Philly fans were there. Yeah, something would have been there. All the Philly fans were there. Most of the Philly fans were in SoFi last night, just happy to be there, seeing their team and rooting them on like an old school fan base.
I know I always tread into some dicey waters when I criticize Philadelphia fans because, you know, East Coast fans are all. from the same we cut of the same chip. Oh, let's East Coasters. I get you. You know, sure.
But seriously, if this game was at home, I don't even know if the Eagles would have had a chance to come even keep playing and winning. They were in a position to win. Yeah. Okay, and they made some smart play calls. They did.
It's just some of them didn't work out. And that's what's happening right now. And it's tough for all of us, I think, to wrap our arms around, or at least. I'll talk, I use the royal we here. Is that All the teams that last year were Super Bowl contenders, many of them might not even make the playoffs this year.
It's a whole different world right now. And so the Eagles are still. One of those 10-win teams from last year. who have a chance to make the playoffs and go on a run. The commanders aren't.
You take a look at the Ravens, they're six and seven. The Chiefs are six and seven. You take a look right now also at the Lions, they're on the outside looking in. The 14-win Vikings are history. The 12-win commanders are history.
So it's a completely normally when it's a different type of playoff community from year to year It doesn't change from cream of the crop one year to the outhouse the next for those. It's normally a mix and a match. Of some teams that barely made it the year before, that's out, and another team that's on the rise this year. It's just difficult to wrap your arms around. But the Eagles out of everybody that I just mentioned Of the final eight from last year.
Commanders, Lions, right? Vikings were going in.
Well, the Vikings were in the final eight. A ravens.
Okay? Chiefs. The Eagles are in first place. They're the closest. And they're one and a half games in front of another team that has to finish perfect in order to win it.
So, Jeff Saturday is going to join us. And one of the things we're going to talk to him about is the Indianapolis Colts reaching out to Philip Rivers. Yeah, they did. What do you think? Yeah, they did.
You know, that caused the movement. That was awesome. I thought to myself, and we'll get to Jeff in a second. that um it's a perfect story. to have on our docket Uh, as we're walking into a building owned and operated by Disney, because that sounds like you know, very tough, a guy who's at home with his 10 kids and his wife, and it's a family coaching high school football and getting a call at age 44.
Hey, you want to come back to the last team that you played for in the NFL, and we need you. And it was a birthday yesterday, honestly. Like, is Dennis Quaid available to play Phillip Rivers? You know, I mean, Brandon Cooper ought to come back. Yeah, that's exactly what I thought of.
And then I also thought of, like, listen, um, I can't put anything past Philly Riv. You know what I mean? Like, that guy is unlike anybody that I've met in the 20-plus years of covering. The sport from his sidearm Frisbee type throws to him on cursing tracks. Exactly.
He's Disney, right? Dad, gummy. Dad, gummit. And plus, the one thing I loved about him also is he would show up post-game in his bolo time, his ostrich boots, like he's shot out of a cannon, like a treat, you know, treating a win like he's an eight-year-old still. That was great.
But my favorite part about Philip Rivers is that he reserved his one particular brand of red ass specifically for Jay Cutler. And I thought that was always Thumbs up, brother. You know, like, I got you. We see each other, you know? But.
And I also think to myself, you want to put anything past him. Um If if if his family loves him, you gotta look at him and go, Really? You wanna You want to take on, you take a look at the Indianapolis Colts' final opponents. Oh, yeah. And there are some people that can.
Yeah. Have dad in a cold tub pretty fast. You know what I mean? But you mentioned either the Texans, the Texans. He's got 10 kids.
Man needs a break. Go play football. Oh, my God. You got to go play football. Yeah, he needs a break from kids.
Why'd you come back? Love of the game. These dad gun kids. You always thought that you could try it one more time. Get out of the house, Rich.
I got too many kids. I am done. Get me out of here. You know? At least he's had a chance to do 11-on-11 drills already.
Out of here, please take me away.
So it really is a wild. And just in case anybody is wondering, the Hall of Fame did put out a statement last night. Did you see this? Oh, no. Because he's.
If he signs to the practice squad, because he's a semifinalist for this year. He's a semifinalist. If he signs for the practice squad and doesn't play, he's good. If he signed to the active roster for even a split second, the clock resets. Come on.
Oh, that's not. But let's be honest. Was he going to make the Hall of Fame this year? Probably. I don't know.
I don't. But next year is possible and the year after. But if he goes and wins a chip this year, he has to reset the clock. Listen. Wow.
Think about it. Comeback Player of the Year. On the board. Let me see if there's a lot. I'm surprised Cooper Payton texts that to you already on that.
Being a dad. That's what he's coming back from. He just got to get out. All right, Brent Saturday.
Now we're all set at the table for Jeff Saturday joining us next. He's our first guest of our New York week, the actor Tony Goldwyn in studio hour number three. It's also an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. We're off and running from Lower Manhattan on the Rich Eisen Show. Uh The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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Jeff Saturday here on ESPN Red presented by Progressive Insurance, talking about back in the day in 2011, when that lockout was going down, I'm on NFL Network as a host of an NFL. Network where we didn't know what we're going to have a season, what are the rules going to be? And like, let's do the top five free agent running backs. Like, how? Like, we don't even know what the rules are.
We don't know who's a free agent. We don't know if it's going to be football. What am I doing for a living? And I kept sitting there thinking, we just got to get the lawyers out of the room, man. Amen.
And then you, so you and Kraft helped sort of Dominique Foxworth. Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, with Mr. Kraft, and you know, we go in and Jerry Jones was a big part of it and just sat down. In fact, John Mara, who I know he's battling right now, but another great human, Clark Hunt, was big.
But as we walked in, and just to your point, and this is no slight on attorneys, you know, whether you love. My brother is one.
Okay, yeah, yeah. He might be listening right now, having to work. And there's a need, right? But in those rooms, at that time, there was not a need, right? And so what we needed to do was all of us come together and figure this thing out and get us pointed in the right direction.
And we did. And listen, of all the things I've done in my career, there are things I'm extremely proud of. That deal is one of them. And that we got that deal done. And what it's done for players, for us economically, what it's done for us health and safety-wise, it has totally changed the way our game is played.
45 years old at a quarterback was never going to be attainable under the rules. It has changed, and guys are going to play a lot longer. They're going to make a lot more money. All great. League is making great money.
Fans are having a great experience. It was a win-for-all. But when we were in there before and it's a turn after trade, everybody, oh, we couldn't do this. We couldn't do it. Yes, we can.
Because to your point, we're starting with a blank slate. Let's do it the right way. And it is, of all the things I've done, it's one of the things I'm most proud of in my career.
Well, speaking of quarterbacks playing deep into their 40s. Oh, shit. That's a great segue. That's why he's a Hall of Famer. Professional.
Hall of Famer. Professional. His name's on the mug and the mic. What did you think of the news that Phillip Rivers had a door? Knock from not the Hall of Fame, which could be happening, but from the Indianapolis Colts to say, what do you think about bailing us out here?
Yeah, so I'll start from the beginning. When I watched Daniel Jones, I was devastated for him, for the Colts. I am a fan. I tell everybody, right? Like, I have bled blue.
That organization, Jim, God rest his soul, was a friend and somebody I love. And I love those people, and I cheer for them week in and week out. And when I saw Daniel Jones go down and he grabbed, at first I thought he was grabbing his cap, but then when I saw and I saw him slam his helmet down, I was like, this is bad, y'all. And he gets up, and I saw the limp, and I'm like, that's really bad. And in my head, I'm not just thinking about right now because we had already lost three or four.
We were down in this one, and Jacksonville was looking good. I was like, this isn't even about the season at this point. This is about our future, right? We just more. Mortgage the house to go get sauce.
And you know, depending that Daniel Jones is going to be our guy and that we got our guy in the building like an Achilles in December. That ain't good for now, and it ain't good for the future. And so I was devastated, and to fast-forward to Phillips Rivers. you know I mean, when I first heard it, I thought it was a joke. And that's no disrespect to Philip Rivers.
I love Phil. He's a 44-year-old guy sitting at home. Right. I mean, again, You know, neck up, I'm sure this is he's ready, right? He could go tomorrow for sure.
You know what I mean? Neck up to dissect the defense and be standing there and shotgun or under center and looking across the way. Like, right, he's got that part.
Okay, that's not atrophied, but but let's say this: never thrown to any of the receivers. Like, I equate this to me coaching, right? Like, I walked in, I didn't know a soul. He's gonna walk in and not know a soul. It's not that he does that, these receivers aren't good, right?
Or this running back's not good, or this offensive line isn't good. You, you don't know what his third step looks like. Like, where does he drop it? Like, all the things like people think it just like comes together. It's that's just not how the NFL works.
There's a reason that we do OTAs, right? There's a reason that people say we won that game in June, right? And that's no disrespect to Philip Riverson. Can he do it? Absolutely.
Now we're going to go to Seattle. That's right. I mean, my word. Like, these grown men want to kill you. By halftime.
I'm thinking about his wife. I'm like, my wife was like, We're not doing this, coach. I'm going to do it. We're not going to. Yeah, let's go.
Okay, eight games. I promise.
Okay, I don't. My wife didn't want to do that. Can you imagine his wife, 10 kids, and you're going to go out there and put your body? I mean, pray to God your left tackle don't throw a freaking Nolan Ryan because you might not get up. Like, literally, you might not get up.
This is, and again, if he does San Francisco and Jack at Houston, also. I mean, you know, like, I want no part. And look, like, the game is changed. People ask me all the time. They're like, man, do you miss it?
Heck yeah. Would you want to go back right now? Absolutely not. No, you see them dudes. You see Grover Stewart over there.
You see, I mean, like, I tip them, like, when I was coaching, I walked in, and these dudes are enormous and they are physical freaks. I don't think people realize the violence that happens on our field because it just looks like ballet at times, right? It looks beautiful. Don't miss the physicality. And I think.
That's the part that I'm probably most, I guess, concerned for Phil. Again, can you get rid of it? Can he figure it out? Absolutely.
It's one of the smartest dudes, and he's got a gun. He's super competitive. I just, you know, I would like a guy who's actually been in the building and actually sat in a meeting and thrown a ball to one of our guys. I also look at it as it's a smart Hail Mary from the Colts, right? Like, just to give, let's see who's out there that we could.
Try and salvage the season 'cause Tom Brady.
Well, could you imagine?
Well, the Raiders need help more than the Colts. Nice guy. Nice money. You can't do that. But who else would own it and play for it?
You can own another one and then play for another one. What about Peyton? Let's. I don't know. This could be like while we're doing Disney movie ideas, like, let's have the.
Statue come to life. Can you imagine that Peyton's places? Wow. That would be great. That would be unbelievable.
Andrew Luck is on the West Coast, probably still in good shape. I mean, Chad Powers. He's a young guy. I don't know. Like this is the way that we're, you know, I You pointed it out for the Colts, too.
You said mortgage the house for For Sauce, because they thought Daniel was their guy. I mean, right at the trade deadline, there they are with pro-I think off the top. My head probably had eight wins at that point in time. They still have, or seven wins at the time.
Now they have eight. And Sauce was hurt last week. Daniel Jones goes down. They're now on the outside looking in. Who, you know.
Who knows? You can't even trade a two or a three for somebody else. You can't trade for anybody right now. No way.
So it's just, you don't want to trade any more of your capital anyway in the offseason, too. This just kneecaps every plan that the Colts had right now. I put it out there this morning when we were having the conversation, and I had told all my Colts fans, you know, we're all on tech chains, that kind of thing. I was like, the absolute worst thing that could have happened. Like, I'm just being real.
Take any other player and you could Find your and finagle your way around this thing. Like that one, that particular injury to that guy at this time of year, it could not be worse. I mean, it is, it is. When you talk about like an organizational challenge at this point, so I mean, think about it this way: if you're Daniel Jones, you want to get healthy, right? You're on a one-year deal, you want to get healthy, so you want to come back, but you're going to have to sign with somebody.
You got Mac Jones, you know, out in San Fran. Is that going to be the guy? Like, Because you're going to have to get into sweepstakes. Like you said, you can't trade anymore. You can't give up any more picks.
We got to replenish the locker room. There's just so much that they're going to have to work through. And again, there's a lot of fans that are mad that we did the trade, right?
So now you're going to bring in the chaos and the noise of we should have never done it, all those kinds of things. And I'm all for it. I was going, let's go in. Like, if you got it, let's go in. Yeah, that made sense.
I think you could second guess the move that they were making, you know, and it's just an, as you point out, just an absolute kneecap of an injury for that Achilles. I'm taking a break. Can I have you to the rest of the app? Absolutely.
I love that. I want to talk about last night and I want to talk about the way that you're seeing the rest of this playing out. And I want your favorite. Safe for work, Jim Ursa story. Oh, absolutely.
I got Jeff Saturday right here, get up every single day, as you know, on ESPN and First Take in the family of shows. We're on the Get Up set here for the Rich Eisen Show all week long here in New York City, my hometown. Everybody, back in a moment. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Meet the computer you can talk to.
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Quote today at Progressive.com. Jeff Saturday hanging with us here in our New York set of The Rich Eisen Show for all week long, we'll be here. Love y'all being back, dude. How cool is this? You coming in at Get Up this morning was awesome.
I love it too. You crushed it too, dude. I love the stories. I'm like a kid in a candy store. Yeah.
You know, I mean, it's not like I'm Phillip Rivers getting a phone call after being out for four years, saying, come on back, can you handle it? But being gone 22 years and getting the call and saying, hey, what you're doing on your show is something we want to have, and we'd love to have you back. And, you know, I didn't blow any bridges up, and it's been awesome. It's the way it should be. Thank you.
It's the way it should be. I appreciate you saying that. Yes, sir. What did you make of the Eagles last night? I actually counseled patients when I was on Get Up today, and I didn't start the show today.
These guys looked at me like I had three heads. They could already, if I was quiet, Not good, Jeff. You hear this screaming at me from up the turnpike, down the turnpike. Jeff's going to be on our side. No, I have not been concerned this year until last night.
And the reason I'm saying that is this. That was the first time I saw the outside truly influence what they are going to do. I did not like the plan of we're going to get in gun and go throw the ball 30 times and feel like we're going to go to AJ 13 times. We're going to try to throw this thing around against a team who basically plays zone and tries to force you to check the ball down and just earn it. Like I thought that would play totally into what the Eagles wanted to do, right?
Go play. And the thing is, their defense is so good and they've beaten some really good teams, right? Like you beat the Packers, you beat the Rams on defensive ways or special teams ways. You're good enough to win in other ways. Don't put yourself at risk.
I felt like last night was the highest risk, lowest reward. Game plan that I've seen them run. That bothered me because, again, they got after him. They pressured Jalen Hurts. They got after him against Lane Johnson's not there.
Dickerson's banged up. Juergens is banged up. You know that.
So move forward, fellas. Don't be moving backwards. You're playing into what the Chargers wanted to do. Saquon still had 20 carries for 122. He popped that one for 52.
I mean, that looked like last year a little bit. I know everybody's saying the deja vu is 2023. I mean, last year, seeing Saquon running in SoFi Stadium for half the field is something that we saw. You know, the Rams will tell you all about it. But that was a bit of a trick play, right?
That was a, you know what I mean? That wasn't a.
Now, he had some 10 yards, and he ran behind his pads better than he had, and I was excited about that. But let's lean into it. That was my problem: they had 13 plays, I think, under center, and only three were passes. There's not a lot of like. Thread of consistency of what we're going to be.
That's a problem. Like at week 14, that's a problem.
Well, I'm concerned about their ability to repeat. I'm not concerned about their ability to go to the playoffs and have a ticket in their hand to see what they can do with it because I'm seeing a lot of what is happening to the Chiefs and the Ravens. To the Eagles right now, which is great play as a hold. But you need consistent play. Nope, there's an interception.
You need the consistent running game. It's not there. Although the Ravens, they do have the running game, their passing game has been something that's difficult. Or they get a touchdown, and Isaiah likely has the ball knocked out before his third. That's a catch.
I thought so. You know what's that catch? I'm just saying, you know, these things just keep on happening. Right. Where it's like.
A couple of times last night again. All right, they got the momentum. Saquon just ran it in. They're going to win this game. No, they're not.
Hey, we're going to get the momentum. We're in overtime. They just scored three. We're marching down the field. Tipball interception game over.
It just seems that those are happening. And then you take a look at the way, say, the Patriots are playing. The Rams are playing, the Seahawks are playing. That there are struggles at some times, but it does seem to be coming a little bit easier to those teams, and maybe because we're seeing more wins. Did I just mention Rams, Broncos, the Jaguars over the last week and a month and a half that played well?
Am I mentioning Super Bowl contenders? Absolutely.
How about winners? Absolutely.
So when I look at, like, I did my top five, and I have the Rams, I had the Patriots, the Packers, the Seahawks, and the Broncos. That's my top five teams in the NFL right now. And I think all five of those teams could win it. And then you could go even further than that, and you could say, you're not going to count out the Buffalo Bills. If the Bills just stay consistent the rest of the way, even without winning the division because of how far the Patriots are ahead, they're going to have the best quarterback in the AFC that's viable going in the playoffs.
Like when you start talking about how do we win games in the playoffs, quarterbacks are a major part of that, right? And he can do it with his arm and his leg.
So you're not going to discount them. You're not going to discount the Texans who have an un. You know, unbelievable defense. There's a lot of really good teams. What about the Chargers who we just saw last night?
The only thing I worry about them, their offensive line is going to be a problem. Robert sacked seven times. And they should have got him more. Honestly, he played heroic. That's as good as a quarterback performance.
And I think he only threw for like a buck 30, but he was running for his life. But he let him in rushing, and he took a beating. He was with a broken, he was an absolute stud last night.
So you're concerned about the line there. Yeah. The NFC, you could also have the Lions as an eight seed right now. The Bears go from one down to seven. You also have the Niners coming off of a bye with a very.
Winnable last place schedule with the exception of the Bears on Monday night football on this family of networks. That's going to be a massive, massive game in the second to last week of the season. The Seahawks can win the division and the conference. How about how scary? Like when I look at the Seahawks and they're not even, they may not even win their division.
And like you just said, you talk about the Niners and even the Lions. The Bears for me, I love the Bears. I think what Ben Johnson has done, they're the coach of the year, in my opinion, of what he's done. No one expected him to be nearly this good. And he has an elite run game.
If you're playing them, like you saw what the Packers did, I know it was a tight game, but the Packers basically said, you're not going to hit us with a bunch of runs. We're going to make Caleb Williams beat us. I don't think he can take them yet, right? Like in year one of Ben Johnson's offense all the way through. But 49ers can absolutely beat the Lions if they get hot.
I had kind of discounted them because of, and then they played this Cowboys. Game, and we're not even talking about the Cowboys who, when they're playing good, they can score as many points as anybody in the league. That's scary, you know. And so the NFC to me is a gauntlet, and you're going to have to play your best ball at the right time. The Rams, to me, are probably the most balanced team because of what Stafford, Puka, and Devontae with Williams.
They finally started to run it, but they're going to have to stop the run. Like you saw the Panthers kind of expose them a little bit to what should scare you, right? Run it a little and then hit them down deep behind it because their defensive backfield isn't great. But everybody's got warts, and it's just who coaches them up the best at the right moment. And the Rams' next two games, home against the Lions, and then five days later at Seattle.
Let's go. This is right, like the great match for you. Real ball. I'll say this about whoever does the NFL scheduling, we give them all kinds of grief. This, for everybody, like as you're watching this trek down for playoffs, crushed it.
Like they're Is no day you're not going to want to turn the TV on and go, this is a true game. You got the Bucs and Carolina play each other two times out of the last three weeks. You also have the Bears and the Lions in the last week of the regular season. That may be for winner-go-home. Steelers and the Ravens play in the last week of the regular season.
I mean, it's all kind of shaping up right there. I've got about 40-plus seconds left before the radio audience goes away. Who did you choose for the Super Bowl? Have you stuck with it? What are you thinking right now?
Well, I chose the Ravens, so that's probably a poor choice. Me too, Jeff. I was with you on that one. I mean, I will say this: of all the things I've seen, the most shocking to me has been what happened to Lamar post-injury. I don't know if he's got to still be hurt.
I'm not sure. Because there's just no way. Like, his accuracy, and this dude, the first few games, he was lasered in. And so I've just been devastated to watch him because he's such a stud, man. He's such a fun player to watch.
So, who are you taking out of the AFC right now? Mm-hmm. Probably the Pats. They are good. I'm just telling you.
Did that hurt you? Are you all right? Oh, I need to. And then I watch them. I'm saying Bob Kraft should be in the Hall of Fame.
Stop getting around. It's different than the current situation. And so the NFC, who did you? Rams.
Okay. Yeah, I'm with you. The Rams, I think, are the best team in football right now. Yeah. I think they are lights out.
We had Stafford on yesterday. He looks like he's just having the time of his life with those guys who can catch it and run it. And, you know, obviously, Rams Patriots would be quite a Super Bowl. Absolutely.
And they talk about it with Kurt Warner as well. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
