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Now, on with the show. It's Zero! The Old Best Rebels have knocked out the Georgia Bulldogs live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. This is the Rich Eisen Show. No complacency.
Today's guests. NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero. Colts quarterback Phillip Rivers. Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. And now.
Interrich I sense. Everybody, happy new year one and all. The first edition of the Rich Island Show in 2026 is on the air right here on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance as well. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. Happy New Year.
Hey, Richard. Happy New Year to you, my friend. Happy New Year, Jason Feller. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to you, TJ Jefferson.
Happy New Year to you. All candle is lit for the first time in 2026. 844204 Rich Number Don. We got Phillip Rivers and Michael Irvin on this program. And Tom Pellisero is first up to talk about what we saw over the last two days.
Yes, college football, because many teams are currently on the clock. We've got a massive week 18 schedule that begins with a double header on ESPN. Tomorrow night with the NFC South up for grabs between Carolina and Tampa. And then, of course, the Seattle Seahawks taking on the San Francisco 49ers on a Saturday night game that will decide who's the one seed and most likely who's the five seed in the NFC.
So it's similar to the way the regular season ended last year. And then we've got. The Sunday slate, so much to talk about on this program. I've got a top five list of the top five NFL stories that have slipped through the cracks. I'm also going to bust out my crystal ball, as I do every single year before the wildcard weekend, to predict to you the wildcard weekend matchups.
A literal crystal ball, too. And also when they're going to be played. I'm going to try and predict you're going to learn on Sunday night once all the games are done. Very great. And as I mentioned, 844-204-RICH being the number to dial right here on the program.
Let's talk college football to start things off. That's why we're here today, right? Because we knew that it would be a big weekend coming up, and we would be coming off a triple header of January 1st action in all four. College football playoff quarterfinals would be in the books. And coming into this college football playoff, So much was about Why Miami shouldn't make it, or Alabama shouldn't make it, Notre Dame should have made it.
The group of five teams have no business being in the In the field of twelve, and the conversation built around all of that. Was why is the College Football Playoff Committee trying to create for football what we see in March Madness? Why Are we looking for that Cinderella? Because in football, Cinderella doesn't really exist. Sadly.
Except potentially, Cinderella is coming at you in the form of an undefeated team that just beat Alabama by 35 points.
Now, that is the real stuff. Or Cinderella could be a Miami team that didn't deserve to make it. And as a matter of fact, Interestingly enough. Goes ahead. On New Year's Eve.
and drops the ball on Columbus, Ohio. and they're out. The Buckeyes are one and done in the college football playoff. And then a Texas Tech team that gets a week off doesn't score a single point against Oregon in the home of the Miami Hurricanes. And Miami could be that 10 seed that is on its way.
Two. Smash the glass slipper. Or maybe it's an old miss squad that loses its head coach right on the precipice of everything. And Hires the defensive coordinator Pete Golding on the spot, tells Lane Kiffen, go ahead and beat it. Although, do us a favor and leave some of your offensive assistants behind who we could potentially use, say, in beating Georgia.
In a national Quarterfinal? As we saw to wrap up, New Year's. days action. Maybe ole miss is a Cinderella that makes the wicked God Father $500,000 richer with each one of their wins. But listen, let's try and keep this as pure as possible in a sport that is as impure as it possibly can get.
As we're now dealing with a transfer portal opening up today, and all the head coaches that won on New Year's Eve night and New Year's Day, congratulations to you because you spent much of your time prepping on roster retention. But then Again, that's for another day. Indiana. Going into Pasadena. coming off of their Bye week.
With all six previous bi-week teams in the now two-year, soon-to-be-completed history of the new. College football playoffs, not a single one. of the bye week teams going into the Rose Bowl yesterday. won a game. They were 0 and 6.
When Indiana took to the field after Texas Tech got shut out by Oregon to kick off New Year's Day, and Ohio State got bounced by Miami on New Year's Eve. all four bye week teams last year. Lost. In the college football playoff. And so Indiana, let me tell you.
Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of one of the greatest days of my entire life. Going into The Rose Bowl with Michigan. Being the top seed, taking on Alabama, my entire family. Was there, my kids were there, Suze was there. My nephew Jack was there, so not my entire family, but a good chunk of my My family sitting next to Portnoy in the suite next to us.
And we're sitting there watching this. Michigan game on fold. And walking into that stadium, though, I thought, could it be possible that Michigan comes in and blows the doors off of Alabama and wins by 35? And I, of course, didn't see that materialize, but Indiana did. I can't express I mean We're all in the media trying to describe what this means.
Here. But I don't think words can possibly express The fact that the Indiana Hoosiers are now the bullies of college football. It's the truth. Am I wrong? Tell me if I'm wrong.
They're the bullies of college football. It's weird. They are steamrolling you. They're steamrolling you with their grit. They're steamrolling you with their power.
They're steamrolling you with their coaching. They're steamrolling you with their Heisman. Trophy winning quarterback. They're steamrolling you with a bunch of receivers you've never heard of. They're steamrolling you with an offensive line that is road grading.
They are steamrolling everybody. Not only their first Rose Bowl win, their first college football playoff win, their first Bowl win since the 1991 Copper Bowl. Copperball. Correct. What?
They handed. Alabama, its first loss by thirty five points or more since the nineteen ninety eight game against Arkansas. Alabama's first loss of thirty or more since the nineteen ninety eight Music City Bowl. Against Virginia Tech. That's what happened.
with Indiana. taking Alabama over its knee and spanking him. And you know, Chris Fowler that he does not Talk in hyperbole. But he and Herb Street were on it by saying this was an embarrassment. They were embarrassing Alabama.
Indiana embarrassed Alabama. And it just goes to show you in this day and age of portal. And NIL That Indiana can utilize it wisely In a way that other teams might not have to because They've got more bag. than Indiana. And they may have more bag than Indiana.
But nobody has more sack than Indiana. The Hoosiers head coach. I'm going to apply that real quick. Thank you, sir. Kurt Signetti.
This guy. This guy. This guy. How come? This guy.
This guy? When Alabama decided to go for it on fourth down early in this game. And then decided to pull up stakes on it. only to try it again anyway. and failing.
They cut away to Signetti on the sideline. arching his eyebrow. motionless, emotionless, just arching his eyebrow. I took a screen grab of it, immediately posted it saying, why wouldn't anybody See this look on this man's face and attempt to dare. To twitch in the direction of trying to outwit him and outsmart him and outbeat this man.
I don't know, man. What a Godsend. to Indiana football and college football. To be honest with you. That In this day and age of Portal and NIL, and how we all thought it would just make the rich richer.
that Indiana suddenly has two more winds to go. Until it wins it all.
Now, they play Oregon next, and all, I guess one would say, with all due respect. to my friends in Columbus, this is the Big Ten championship game. In the same way last night was the SEC championship game. in the sugar bowl. And then you've got Miami taking on Ole Miss.
And so one of the aforementioned Cinderellas is going to make it. Oh, Miss or Miami is playing for the national championship. That's going to happen. And then Indiana takes on Oregon. in the college football semifinals.
So you've got two programs That's never one at all. Ever. In Oregon and Indiana, and then you've got Ole Miss in Miami who have taken forever in a day, Ole Miss. to win it all and of course we know the you with michael irving joining us in hour number three Did have some national championship years of note. in more recent memory.
So college football playoffs So far Only one team's won in a bye week. Coming off of bye week, and that's Indiana. and Kurt Signetti went into the Rose Bowl game knowing Knowing that this team coming to Southern California After a bye week, After hearing all about how terrific they were in the Big Ten championship game, Needed a little bit of a signetti. Portion of a body broken off in a spot where the sun does not shine, hit it.
Now, it was all on me. Take it. everybody focused, thinking the way we want them to. because it had a lot of smoke blowing up there, you know what, for Two, two and a half weeks, right? And then you're dealing with player retention and negotiation and a lot of stuff, a lot of different stuff.
Guys are winning awards, right?
So, um, I thought I had to rock their world and get their attention and I did my best job to do that. We don't have it on tape. Lift it. Can everybody get a signetti in their lives? Can anybody?
Right? I kind of heard a little Pittsburgh come out in his voice when he's talking right there. Unbelievable. I ca I can't believe Indiana's Become what it has become, and congratulations to all the Hoosiers out there. This is.
Dream come true. This is like Mahomes dropping in the Chief's lap. This is. Name any of those moments where Lightning strikes and your football lives change. And then obviously Mendoza is steamrolling his way to a first overall pick in the National Football League draft.
Raiders fans looking at him, wondering: is he the right guy? Is he going to be the guy? Is he the next Kirk Cousins? Is he the next? Manning, who's he going to be?
Please. I know, right? And we'll talk about that with Tom Pellisero in a moment. But Miami beating Ohio State on New Year's Eve night, that got my attention. Ole Miss against Georgia.
was just a fun football game. That was a dynamite football game. I know you live and die Georgia in your household, Chris, which is it wasn't great in the fourth quarter. No, I understand that. It was a complete reversal of the first meeting between the two where Georgia could not be stopped in the fourth quarter.
And Ole Miss loses, but Ole Miss now. With their New head coach Pete Golding. is now two winds away from old Miss being Natty Champs. He had this to say after beating Georgia last night. Super grateful for the opportunity that obviously our Chancellor and Keith gave me to step in with these guys.
And a lot of guys put a lot of work into this in our building and our community and our fan base and recruit really good players like these two guys and to be around these dudes on a daily basis. Like, I don't want it to end. And yeah, it's definitely special being 35 miles away. My brother lives in New Orleans, a bunch of family and a bunch of him and high boys here tonight.
So yeah, absolutely. We love playing in the dome. But more importantly, for these guys, they have the opportunity to keep for a championship. And that was the one thing that has been consistent for us since we've been here three years. This guy over here was pissed off last year.
We didn't make the playoffs.
So I know everybody else was doubting us this season, but the goal of this season of why Trinidad came was to compete for a championship. And that's something that we're going to do around here on a consistent basis. Trinidad Chambliss is the guy that he was referring to to his left a couple of times right there. That kid made some unbelievable throws in the fourth quarter, caught fire to take a 10-point lead. Certainly after.
Kirby Smart made a a weird choice to Go for it on fourth down only to have Olemas call timeout, only to send his punt team out there and then immediately fire drill his offense out there and snap the ball. What were you thinking in your household when that was happening? It was very confusing. I thought it was just going to be a. Oh, let's try to draw him off.
Maybe we'll get a free first down. Whoa, they're running a play. What are we doing?
Well, it sure seems like the intent was to get him to jump off sides. This is what Kirby Smart had to say about that. Um momentum alter. Yeah. For the moment, because Georgie came back and eventually took the lead anyway, but hit it.
Yeah, we screwed that up a little bit. We had a misfire there. It was a change-up from the look we had done twice, and we knew teams were going to sit back and not honor us because we had not snapped it on those plays in two different locations, two different times, and the ball was not supposed to be snapped in that situation. But that was on us as coaches. It was on me and our guys.
It's not on the players, and Gunner and those guys did a nice job executing it. But we did feel like we had lost momentum at that point, and the book says we needed to go for it. It's probably another way I would have liked to have gone for it, but we did not execute the situation really well there. It was a situation where it gave us an either-or. We didn't have to snap it.
We could take a delay. We could sit back and see what happened just to take a chance. And it was my bad. Georgia never really retook the lead. They tied it.
And they ran a fake punt earlier in the game that worked. It was brilliant. It was awesome, cool play. It was such a fun game, man. That was a real fun SEC.
Well, and the playoff kind of needed a game like that because the three previous games were. I don't know. The Miami-Ohio State game was pretty intense. That was intense. It ended up not being that great.
I found it intense maybe because I was suddenly. Rooting for Miami. The biggest thing. Listen. But.
At the end of the day, Uh Georgia had an opportunity to be one of these teams, and Ohio State had an opportunity to be one of these teams. And I know everybody's carping on Alabama as if they're. First winning in Oklahoma didn't happen. Notre Dame fans are just going to be complaining forevermore. Who knows?
They could have been going on this run that Miami. Uh is on at present but I love the Final Four. I think it's a neat Final Four. I think that there's a lot of rooting interests in the Final Four. And I can't wait to see it all play out.
I kind of dig it. I kind of dig it. I dig the fact that it's different, right? I got turned off a little bit to college football years ago when it was every year: Alabama, Alabama, LSU, Clemson, Georgia.
Now this is different. This is new.
So what you're saying is you don't want the two best teams playing for the.
Well, I mean, but after a while, it's just like, okay, great. Like, this, at least you don't know what's going to happen. I think the. Playing field's been leveled in college football. And but the the Cinderella story is the bully on the block.
Yeah. I mean, this is Indiana's tournament to win. They've already they went into Oregon and beat him by 10.
So now this is a neutral site. Obviously, different results, different times, different results. Just look at Ole Miss and Georgia. And, um,. And then Miami Feels destined.
I'm sure Ole Miss feels destined. And anybody could can win. Out of these final four. Every coach part of Saban's coaching in this four-round. That is correct.
You left out Michigan in that run of teams.
Well, I mean you guys won one. But in all accuracy, Ohio State i has been a a a you know natty contender year in, year out s since you'd have to say since the turn of the century. And um and they're out. And I already know some Buckeye fans who want Ryan Day fired again. Listen, if he doesn't win at all, he just needs to be fired.
That's crazy. Craziness. College football world, everybody. Fernando Mendoza: is he the number one overall pick in the draft? Who is available for this weekend's major week 18 activity, and which coach is coaching for his job?
That's next.
So is Tom Pellicero with the answers to all of those questions right here on this busy first of 2026 edition of The Rich Island Show. Um O'Reilly Auto Parts can help take the guesswork out of your check engine ABS or maintenance light with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASC certified master technicians. O'Reilly Veriscan can identify the most likely problem with just one scan. If you need help, O'Reilly Auto Parts can recommend a shop for you.
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So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with an awesome deal only during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, one big happy Samo cast family. ESPN Radio's audience has returned.
And so has Tom Pellisario, Tom Pellisaro, Tommy P, back here on The Rich Eyes and Show. How are you doing, Tom? Tommy. Hey, what's up, Rich? What's up to the boys in the studio?
Tommy P. Happy New Year, baby. Hey, happy new year, fellas. Good to see you all. Tommy P.
So, Tom, let's jump in with the story of the moment in advance of Wild Card Weekend. And that is the Heismendoza. Quarterback of Indiana doing what he's been doing over the last month plus, if not the entire season. What are you hearing right now amongst your colleagues and also your sources about Is this kid the first overall pick in the upcoming draft? It's always fascinating, Rich, because my first exposure to it is always when the teams, whether through various Blesto meetings, places where they share information on the following year's class, I always kind of know, all right, who's the group of guys who are being looked at as first round picks going into the season?
And if you go back, as I did recently and look at that list going into 2025, a lot of those names that we were talking about have either fallen off because they decided to go back to school. Lenora Sellers, obviously, went back to school. There's been other players who have not performed up to that level. The Garrett Nussmeyers have not put themselves in the conversation. But Fernando Mendoza was a really intriguing player who had just transferred into Indiana that everyone was talking about and seeing, all right, what is he going to be able to do in that program?
Can Kurt Signetti do with him what he's done with others, including Curtis Rourke last year, get him playing at a really high level? They've got a really good young coaching staff around him there. And as we get toward the end of the season here, again, we're pre, you know, senior bowl. We are pre. Combine rich, the entire process, all the visits.
But sitting here right now on January 2nd, It's hard for me to imagine that Fernando Mendoza is not the number one pick. This is not a really deep quarterback draft again for that same reason I just talked about some guys. You know, Arch is not going to be coming out in this year's draft.
Some of those other names that you heard here, you know, the other ones, obviously, that the Oregon quarterback has certainly been in that conversation. Ty Simpson from Alabama, if he chooses to come out, I would think would have a chance to go, certainly in the first round. You know, the kid from Cincinnati is another one that's been talked about a little bit, but his plans are unclear at this point. There's a lot of teams that need quarterbacks right now. There's not a lot of quarterbacks to be had, which is where if you potentially could see some horse trading up at the top here, if the Raiders end up with the number one pick, it's really hard.
Again, pre this process, it's hard for me to imagine the Raiders not standing in and Fernando Mendoza heading from Bloomington to Vegas. Yeah, and certainly a guy in Las Vegas, Nevada, who. will definitely be in time for curfew. You know, like that's the sort of. individual you want to have as your quarterback, certainly in a town where Yeah.
Things happen. Tom Pellisero here on The Rich Eisen Show.
So. Before we get to the weekend itself, over the last forty-eight hours, one of the biggest or juiciest bits of news in the NFL is the Miami Dolphins apparently reaching out to Troy Aikman to help with their general manager search. What's the scope with that? We've seen some teams bring in consultants from different areas in recent years. A couple years ago was Bob Myers with the Commanders, who was the former Golden State Warriors executive, came from the NBA world, but had been around championship cultures, and they felt like that would help Washington as it deployed its searches for both a GM and a head coach.
You know, we've seen, for instance, Rick Spielman, who helped out with a couple of searches in recent years. He's now working for the Jets. The Troy Aikman hire is very much in the Bob Myers lens. Troy, obviously, you know, is a pro football Hall of Fame quarterback with three Super Bowl rings, but also because of his travels with Monday Night Football and getting exposed to different people and seeing folks at games and having interactivity, he's been calling around to GMs over the past week here and just trying to get information on, all right, if we're going to capture the winning culture, but also get the right person, who is that? He's been doing that on behalf of the Dolphins.
This is not, to be clear, from my understanding, Troy, who has mused before about, I think I could be a GM. This is not him trying. To get the GM job. He's not a candidate for the GM job. I do not expect he's going to be with the Dolphins beyond this search, but he is going to sit in on the interviews here and probably ask certain types of questions that.
Whether it's Stephen Ross or his son-in-law Danny Sillman who's involved, Tom Garfinkel, the president, Brandon Shore, who has a significant role in the front office as well, and Dan Marino, who is another Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback who is still employed by the Dolphins, all those guys will be a part of this process as they vet. Who is the right general manager going to be? What they're looking for in Miami is a scout. You know, they want somebody who is really going to have a vision for how do you build that roster. They got a lot of resources.
They have a patient owner from everyone I've talked to. This is a good job walking into it here, but they want someone whose expertise is in team building. And so, what I would anticipate is that the Dolphins move, I think, fairly swiftly through this process. I think they're going to hit the ground running next week. They've obviously got a two-month head start since firing Chris Greer back on Halloween.
The idea of Troy Aikman is not just to. Allow him to be part of the interview process, but also for him to make sure, okay, it's great to say, hey, we want to pluck somebody from, let's say, San Francisco, but who's the right person to pluck from there? That's where Troy has been involved in this process. And again, I anticipate that this is going to be a process that moves on the relatively quick side, Rich.
So Norv Turner's not the next coach of Miami? Is that what you're saying? No, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Norv Turner is fired up on some of these things as well. I mean, think about that too. When you're bringing in somebody like Troy, he's got all these different connections, the people he was with, who in turn have connections in different buildings.
So whether it's other people from the Cowboys heyday, whether it's other just executives that Troy knows, he's going to be tapping in to all those resources here. And I think the other thing that's worth mentioning here, Rich, is we've seen a structure that's become more common in the NFL. It's not clear exactly how the structure is going to actually work in Miami, but a lot of the most successful teams in recent years have really had a GM that is focused on coaching and scouting, and then another type of administrative. Who is focused on all those other departments? Because in the last 10 years, there have just been these mass buildouts with whether it's your data and analytics, your nutrition, your medical staff facilities.
It's a really big job for one, you know, the traditional GM to oversee everything.
So you look at, you know, the way that, for instance, the Rams in San Francisco, Green Bay, Detroit, they've all got somebody else who's kind of additive. That could end up being the structure here where, let's say, a Brandon Shore could oversee a lot of those other departments and allow the football, the head scout, the GM, to focus on how do we get this team moving in the right direction with a lot of huge decisions here, Rich Looming, starting out with exactly what they're going to do at quarterback. Yeah, well, let's hit that here, Tom, because. The way I I kind of want to handle this Because over the last 48, 72 hours, just red-hot rumors that maybe Lamar doesn't want to be in Baltimore anymore. Baltimore's done with him.
I'm sorry, it's tough to set you up when you take a sip from a coffee mug of you with your beautiful white dog. But, you know, it threw me off. Lamar is. Gone from Baltimore because they're finally going to separate after all these years. And then Lamar comes out and says, What is everybody talking about?
I'm not falling asleep at meetings. Everything is fine here. We all heard the Joe Burrow cryptic stuff, but he says he really likes it where he is.
So I'm going to set this up with an overreaction Monday subject matter that Brockman gave me this week. Let's go. It's very rare that I do this. But the subject matter was: a face of the franchise quarterback will be traded this offseason. What's your opinion?
Is that an overreaction or it's not? Face of the franchise, I put that in the category of it's the Lamars and the Burroughs and the Josh Allens of the world. Listen, in the modern NFL, we've seen some crazy stuff happen, Rich. I'm not sitting here anticipating that you get those types of moves. If we focus specifically on Lamar, you know, there were some things, some of those things that came out in that Baltimore Sun column that certainly have been circulating in the past.
Is there a degree of frustration that Lamar is not around that much in the offseason? Sure, but those are voluntary workouts. He's able to make that choice. He prefers to train down there in Florida. You know, are there things that maybe Lamar could do differently, whether it's from a diet standpoint, offseason workouts, whatever?
I mean, those are all fair discussions. I've never been told that he has fallen asleep in a meeting. I have not talked to anyone who has seen him asleep in a meeting. But I think the overarching picture here is you've got a player who is an extraordinary talent. I know Lamar a little bit personally.
I like Lamar. A lot. Everybody who's around him gets the juice from him. He's a two-time NFL MVP, but he's been banged up three of the last four years. He's been really banged up with different stuff down the stretch of the season.
And so, what you're trying to figure out is. Is that solely Lamar? Are there environmental factors? Are there things coaching-wise that need to change? I do not get any sense.
And, Rich, a lot of things can happen, right? We're going to have a lot more answers on all this after Sunday night. And then, you know, whatever discussions occur into the week. I do not have any indication right now that John Harbaugh is in danger of being fired. That would really surprise me.
There's a reason Steve Vashati is stuck with him for 18 seasons and running now. But clearly, there's things that they need to talk through here when you're coming off of a pretty disappointing season to this point that still could take a turn. And if they play like they did last week in Green Bay and Derrick Henry is just running all over everybody, maybe they go in the playoffs, maybe they make some noise, and this all just becomes background into the offseason. But it's no secret that they had some level of contract talks with Lamar last summer. That did not yield a deal.
Dealing with Lamar, who doesn't have an agent, is always a different process. I don't know that. A player who, a couple of years ago, Rich, so we talked a lot about this, and why was no one willing to give up two first-round picks when he was franchise tagged? Why were they not willing to make that deal? The idea that a player now who's a couple of years older and has had injuries, like he has almost this entire season, has suddenly become more valuable, and people are going to be banging down their door to do a $60 million a year contract to give up major draft capital that would make you move them.
That seems a tad illogical. Again, we'll see what discussions take place in the coming days. What happens on Sunday night is certainly going to be a part of that conversation. It would surprise me if Lamar Jackson is not a Baltimore Raven in 2026, but we're early here, Rich. And if you line it up on paper right now, there are maybe, maybe a dozen teams in the entire NFL that you can say we know who their starting quarterback is going to be in 2026.
Tom Pelicero here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So, how many coaches? Are going into this weekend knowing it's their last game as the head coach of the franchise that they're currently coaching, Tom. Is it their last game? I would say zero. Really?
And that is an accurate reflection. There have been other years where there's, you know, a couple, two or three that have a pretty good idea. I don't think it's any secret to the ones that right now are in some level of doubt. Of course, you got Pete Carroll. They're 2-14.
They've lost 14 of their last 15 games. He's fired two coordinators. It's been just a resoundingly disappointing season on a lot of different levels here. But Pete, as we reported a couple of weeks ago, he's been fighting to try to stay. He's 74 years old.
I guarantee Pete, in his mind of always competing, does not want to have this be his last act. In football, but certainly there's significant doubts surrounding his situation going into the weekend. Cleveland's another one that's been talked about a lot. They got a win last week over the Steelers. You've seen a progression of Shadur Sanders, all the work they put in with him in terms of the decision-making and the pocket movement, even though he throws a bad arm punt interception last week.
But by and large, you've seen growth from him. They got a really good young rookie class. The stance from the front office there has been all along. They want to see the entire season through. And then make decisions once they get to the end of it.
So, those are discussions that are probably going to go into Monday. Atlanta, the same thing. Arthur Blank, from my understanding, has communicated that clearly to Raheem Morris and Terry Fonteno. There's no decisions until the end of the year. If you asked me six weeks ago, I would say you're probably starting over in Atlanta again.
But we all saw Blank celebrating on the sidelines as the Falcons are stunning the Rams last week. They've won three in a row. They are playing hard. They're playing hard for Raheem Morris. And so there's a lot for him to think about as well.
You know, obviously there's other teams that have struggled down the stretch. The Cardinals have in a big way. The Colts certainly have after they were the hottest team in football the first half of the season and then just had this unbelievable mess of injuries from Daniel Jones to Trevorius Ward to you know Sauce Gardner right after the big trade to Forrest Buckner having a season-ending neck surgery now as well. There's a lot more questions than there are answers, Rich. And I think that that also extends to You know, who the candidates potentially are going to be.
There's not a Ben Johnson, there's not a Mike Frable, there's not an Aaron Glenn, there's none of those guys who a year ago I was sitting here on this show and saying, all right, those two or three guys, if they want jobs, They're going to get jobs in this cycle. We don't have that. Mike McCarthy is certainly in that category. You know, a 60-something-year-old third-timer just isn't going to be for everyone. I think Mike's a really strong candidate.
He's the clear one if you want to immediately reestablish core competency because he's won over 60% of his games. He's been to the playoffs two-thirds of his NFL seasons. You know, where that leads, is that Tennessee? Is that New York? Is that someplace else?
Even the teams, I don't believe, have a great deal of clarity here. There's not going to be a situation, Rich, I would say this: there's not going to be a situation like last year where Mike Vrabel. Took a Jets interview the last week of the regular season, and then the Patriots pulled in a couple of other interviews to clear the decks. And they had Mike Rabel in place seven days after the regular season ended. I don't foresee that.
I think these are gonna be longer searches, and to at least some degree, I would point out. That with The number of coaches that maybe have some level of uncertainty around their situations, Rich, there may be some of these owners who are waiting to see what happens in Cleveland, what happens in Baltimore, what, if anything, could happen in Pittsburgh. I don't have any indication that Mike Tomlin does not intend to return to the Steelers. I do not believe that Art Rooney is ever going to fire Mike Tomlin. But if there were a world where Mike Tomlin would become available, That potentially could be the type of thing that could change the calculus for somebody as they're deciding what to do with their own coach.
Do you want to take a stab at the quintessential didn't see that one coming? Want to take a stab at that?
Well I mean, let me say this. I know it's speculation, and I know you deal with facts. I understand that. I don't want to put you on the spot, but it usually does happen. Like, wait, whoa, didn't see that one coming.
Here's what I would say. If you're looking for the teams that usually create the surprises, there are teams that either fall just short of the playoffs or get into the playoffs and have a resounding defeat. Right now, one of the most disappointing teams in all the football, certainly the most disappointing team that's still in it, I think, is Tampa. At the beginning of the year, they were the team that had. All their guys out.
It was wow. Baker Mayfield's playing at an MVP level while throwing to practice squatters out there.
Now they're largely healthy, and somehow they've gotten worse. They've lost seven of their last eight games. They now need not just to beat the Panthers on Saturday, but get the Falcons to lose to the Saints. In order to get into the playoffs, Todd Bull signed a contract extension there. Last offseason, he has won the division each year that he has been there since taking over for Bruce Arians.
I would just say that has the hallmarks of if the Bucs season ends in difficult fashion, that we at minimum there's a conversation that might be had about exactly what the future is going to look like in Tampa. All right. In a couple minutes I have left, let's go through some injury checks for the weekend. Who are you keeping an eye on right now in your notebook? Tom.
I mean, the biggest thing is obviously Lamar, full practice week, first time in two months that he's practiced all three days in a week. You know, he had the back issue last week. They left the door for him all the way up until game day. You know, if it was he had rolled into Lambeau Field and said, guys, I'm good to go, they were going to put him out there with no practice.
Sounds like he's in a better spot. He's going to wear some additional padding, but he's going to be good to go against the Steelers team that frankly has had his and the Ravens number for a lot of years now. TJ Watt, I know that there was some conflicting rumors out there, but what I reported last weekend remains true, which is he's expected to be available for the game this weekend. We'll see now coming off of a several week layoff after getting a procedure to fix a small hole in his lung. We'll see exactly what that means in terms of is he playing 70 snaps this week?
Is it something less than that? I wouldn't read too much into him being limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday because TJ Watt doesn't practice that much anyway early on in the week. But this has been about he has taken a very deliberate approach to coming back. Certainly this. The Steelers have his best interest in mind in terms of putting him out there.
But the plan all along is to have him available here in week 18. And then there's some others, obviously, the 49ers. We'll see. George Kittle, I know, wants to give it a go on Saturday. He's officially listed as questionable.
That's a pretty big one. For the 49ers, because the mismatches that he can create. And the other thing I'd point out is: you know, Charles Cross is out for the Seahawks. That's their left tackle. For a 49ers team that Robert Saul has done an unbelievable job this year with his rookies and practice squad rushers, they've been rolling through there.
For Sam Darnold, Entering a deja vu game, if there ever was one, Rich. Once again, second straight year, going on the road with the difference between being the number one seed and having a buy and a home field advantage versus you lose and you're the wild card and you go out to go on the road in week one. The fact he's not going to have his blindside protector, I would not overlook that. I guarantee you Robert Saul is not overlooking that when he's figuring out exactly how he's going to attack Sam Darnold and that Seahawks offense on Saturday. Brother, you're one of the best.
If not, you're a good friend of the program as well. Happy new year to you, and we'll see you on Sunday. Happy New Year to you, Rich. Appreciate you, guys. Tom and Taylor, everybody.
Tom Pellicero of the Insiders NFL Network, NFL Plus, NFL Game Day Morning, right here on the show. Lots of food for thought. 844-204-Rich, number to dial right here. You are next. Before Philip Rivers joined us, top of the second hour.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Everybody, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Let's go to Kevin in New York City here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Kevin?
No pressure. You're the first phone call of the new year, Kevin. Can you hear me? Yeah, hey, Rich. Big fan.
I just have a bit of a point here, so please bear with me. It's really directed to you in particular. I'm just a fan. I know your objective football mind. I'm just sort of tired of what I think is at times kind of disingenuous and Frankly, cherry picks straight the scheduled discourse around an AIDS MVP case.
Okay. Chris, you might have seen my Twitter post, but long story in a nutshell. Managed produced more total yards, played objectively better and more efficiently against tougher pass defenses on average, with the worst important Castillo's O-line. Um you know, I won't uh go down the list of every efficiency metric that he outstrip Saffridin, but he does also have fewer all pro teammates. Statistically, objectively worse running game and offensive line by rush rate.
So. And I think that the strength of schedule was responsible kind of service level. Opponent wins do not equate to quality of pass defense. And they have played on average singer pass defenses and have played better against top ten defenses. Kevin in New York City says Drake May should be the MVP based on the metrics.
Do you know how many touchdown passes May has thrown against an 11-win team this year? Yes, again, but winds do not equate passing.
So you agree to what's the answer, Kevin? What's the answer? I mean, I think I saw Norlofsky stat, something like 20 or something. He knows zero. He's thrown zero touchdown passes against 11-win teams.
Listen, we can go back and forth on it. I am actually going to spend the weekend drilling down on every last stat. I've got every possible stat for both of these guys. And I'm. I'm going to have to put a name in at some point.
I'm not going to be able to tell you what it is until the. The NFL Honors makes the announcement. And I appreciate the call. I mean, May has so many different metrics. to prove that he's the MVP, and so does Matthew Stafford.
The only Issue for Stafford is he had a clunker of a game most recently. And um and May had a one of his best games of the year.
So We will see how that all shakes out. Aside from what Kevin pointed out, is that all the metrics point in Drake May's favor. Oh, okay. Didn't notice that. Because I have about five on the printer over there, five pages for Stafford.
Well, I can give you this one then. Cole, what is it? I'm just telling you, I can give you all the metrics that you want. What is that? Against top 10 pass defenses.
Drake may have played more games against those people, had more touchdowns and more passing yards per game and an equal passer rating.
Okay. Against common opponents, Rick May is 6-0. Against common opponents with more passing yards, passing touchdowns, lesser interceptions, and a higher passer rating. I mean, I can keep going as well.
Okay, very good. The fact that Drake May didn't play against any 11-win teams is no fault of his. You've watched him play. I'm sure he would have dominated an 11-win team had he played against them. Are you sure about that?
We will see in the playoffs. I guess we will, except maybe not even well, yeah, they're all going to be 11-win teams.
Well, some 11-winning team is going to walk into his house. We'll see what happens. But as you know, it's a regular season award, which is why the votes need to be in by Monday afternoon.
So Keep that in mind. Certainly When the award gets announced the Thursday before the Super Bowl. A regular season quarterback award. Let's not. Oh, that's true too.
I understand. You know, that's the way it always works. Yeah, McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley not winning each of the last two seasons has proven that it will never be a n a running back ever again. McCaffrey is the most valuable player of the San Francisco Forty Niners, head and shoulders. Above anybody else.
You could make the case it's neck and neck between Mac Jones and Brock Purdy after that. Mm. based on Mac Jones keeping the season alive and now Purdy. Turbocharging and since he's come back over the last couple of weeks, including going over the Indianapolis Colts, who have zoomed in for our next hour top of the hour guest, Philip Rivers, man of the hour, coming up in hour two. The Rich Heises Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
