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Now, on with the show. It's B-Roll! The Old Miss Rebels have knocked off the Georgia Bulldogs live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. This is the Rich Eisen Show. No complacency.
Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Tom Pellisero. Colts quarterback Philip Rivers. Still to come. Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. And now.
Welcome! It's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Hour number two began with Philip Rivers. It was great to chat with Philip.
Hour one with Tom Pellisero. If you missed any of it, there's our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show. There's our podcast. All three hours. You can also hit the button on our Disney Plus page once we're done to re-watch any and all of the three hours that you may have missed.
844-204-Rich, number to dial on the program. He is the The man of the moment on the sidelines. For the University of Miami, that is not actually playing for the University of Miami. He's the first fan. He's also my Hall of Fame friend.
I love this man more than anybody that I know. His name is Michael Irvin. Good to see you, sir. Howard Irvin. Hey, it's so good to be with my boys back on the show again.
Rich, you know, I never told you, man, but what I was just watching, when I watched your intro, that Johnny Carson-like intro. That is, dude. Hey, that's spot on, Rich. You know what I'm saying? That is spot on, man.
That's exactly what that. I'm like, man, well, you know what? I don't know why. I've never said anything about this. You know what?
That really is, Rich. That's cool, buddy. You know me. You know what I'm all about. You know what I'm trying to do.
You've been with me seriously, literally, since my wedding day, you know.
So you get it. You know what I'm trying to do around here. And I just love watching you doing your thing. And um Do you think you're playing for the team still, Michael? Do you think?
Well, you know, I'm so superstitious, right? And a lot of us athletes are. You know, you remember my boy Time, how he had to put his suit out the same way every time. I used to wear whatever my suit was, my underwear had to match. And we would wait till I get undressed and say, okay, we're ready.
You know, that's the superstition that we did. Dale Hellestray and Troy used to mess with me about those things. And and what I do.
Okay, let me explain to people. Like, I can't just sit still, right? I have to be in front of our offense like I'm helping them saying, Come on, this way, pull this way, and then behind the defense, like I'm trying to stop the other offense, you know.
So, so yeah, I just get into it like that. I can't sit still. As a matter of fact, when I was doing an interview on the sideline the other day, that's when the team started coming back because they had me standing still. In one spot, I didn't tell him I gotta cut this short, man. I gotta get back in front of the offense, man, so I can pull him, I can do my piece.
And so it just got crazy, man. I told him I gotta get out of here. But once I got out, From under the interview, I went over there and got in front. It's like Carson, come on, y'all, come this way. If it's third at five, I take five steps this way: one, two, three, four, five, and then start pulling so we can get the first down.
That's just how I watch the game. No, I know how superstitious you are. All those years with uh game day morning, you would wear the colors of the team that the Cowboys were facing. You know, you would wear the Eagles green on a day the Cowboys. I saw all of that.
I had a front row seat for all. Right, I don't know. Why are we like that, though? Why are fans, why do we believe we are affecting the game in some way? It blows my mind, man.
But But I just love it. It's a way that you feel that you can control the uncontrollable. Is Ray Lewis the same way? What are you and Ray like watching this? No, no, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray Sincey still, Adrian James, Andre Johnson.
Those guys are, you know, they're more calm. They're more calm. I think everyone's more calm, Michael, than you are. You know what I mean? That goes without saying.
But I'm just wondering. Does Ray even try to tamp it down for you? He does. All the time. All the time.
Hey, calm your black head. That's what he's telling you. That's what he's telling you. Ray saying that, Joey, all the time, man. I just laugh and go grab him and hug on him, man.
Because, you know, those defensive guys can't take that. They can't take it. They can't take all the affection stuff.
So when they get mad, At you, just throw back on them, try to kiss them. Yeah, stop telling me, man, leave me alone. That kind of stuff. I bet. But my boys, Rich, you know, it was so great being on the sideline with my boys again, all of that, man.
And the conversations we had. Early on, when we were all going to Miami, about how we want to build it and what we wanted to become. You know We talked about our kids possibly going here and now seeing it doing, seeing what one of ours. Coach Cristobal. Come back.
You know, doing what he's doing with it. Is insane. It's incredible. And it's a great feeling. And it was so great.
Because Coach Chris Ball, even Coach Johnson went up to him and he said, Coach, come on now, the game ain't not over. We got to make shit until it's all the way over, you know? And he says that's what Coach Johnson would have been saying, you know, that's what he got taught under.
So, you know, it's there, it's great to see family. Bringing family along this way. Yeah, and it looks like, again, Coach Jimmy and Coach Cristobal, they're doing an old school you know it segment from Game Day Movie. Yeah, you remember them days? Oh my god.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Sapp was in the stands. I know Sap was in the stands. Everyone's there. Everyone's there.
You know, I was with you on that night in Spirit. You know that, Michael. And it's not just because my nephew Lee went to the U.S. Right, right. By who you were playing.
Who you were playing with. Oh, yeah, that's right. Oh, okay. Yeah, you had a whole alumni base from Ann Arbor, Michigan. In your corner that night, and but I mean, you saw that too.
You, you know, you saw kids like Caleb Downs, R Vel Reese, those are beasts who are coming to the next level. Um so i in all seriousness though, like what what do you think makes this Hurricane's team a threat to win it all right now. Michael honestly, Rich, uh If even saying what we're saying, we give them enough credit for what they've done. And I look at it, and I'm on the sideline, I get to see things. Pretty close up, and a great job done by all of the coaches, you know, Dawson coordinator, everybody, everybody.
But the thing I hone in on a lot is, because that's what I did when I was playing. The big guys. It's always the big guys. And Mario Cristobal being.
Okay. A big guy. And it means having Jason Taylor working with that defensive line. Those two. I put the focus where we needed it: offense and defensive line.
And you're seeing the results. We've always had talented skill set people. But when we opened up against Alabama a couple of years, years ago, years ago, I looked at our line. I looked at their line. I said, no shot here, bro.
You know what I mean? It was no shot. It was Bryce Young's first game. I remember that. Oh my God.
Look at this line.
Now, when I look at that line and I go to that offensive line, yeah. Yeah, we got a shot every time because of those guys. And an old missed. I see a lot of good things in Ole Miss. You know what I mean?
They got a lot of that fight like Miami got in them.
So that next game is going to be a battle. But beating Ohio State, there was nothing, nothing better than beating Ohio State because they stole one. I had a picture when I was in Columbus, Ohio. I stumped on the graves of those. And I went right on campus.
I had to go. Stump on the grave because you took one of our rings.
Somebody you had on the inside stole that ring through a five-minute leak flag. to take it away.
So we've been turning to get they tail for a while. And everybody thought we were going to get beat. Enrich We didn't go for it, Rich. It was an incredible, incredible thing to be on that sideline and get that feeling. And I remember when it first came around, the first time we did it when it was Oklahoma and Nebraskas and all of that, and now it's the Ohio states and And the note dames, but boy, it was an incredible feeling to be there.
Michael Irvin here on the Rich Eisen Show. And speaking of a cowboy, South Florida-Miami connection. How about Troy Aikman being hired by the Dolphins apparently to help with the general manager search, Michael? What do you think of that one? Right there, I think it's brilliant.
I think it's brilliant. You know what I mean? There's no doubt Troy's an asset and a great resource. For anybody. I mean, whoever, he he should have a consulting business and help all of them.
Because I heard when they're going outside, the the you use some firm or some research search firm. Troy talks to these guys every day. And he's serious, he's around these guys every day.
So he knows, and he knows, you know, he knows what it takes. To win a Super Bowl.
So, yeah, because a lot of times, Rich, you can get dazzled with the brain. of a of a person. Great talent. really know how to design the plays. But it takes also the order.
You know, the order you're going to have to make sure that you can have order within the organization and not have situations like sometimes that you've had in Miami. All right. Um, and we had Philip Rivers on in the in the second hour of the show, Michael. Did you ever get a call? after it's being retired.
Yeah. And play? Did that ever happen? For you? Come back and play, Rich.
But but I thought that was pretty incredible what Phillip Rivers did to to get be able to get back on the football field and have that opportunity. But but now think about it.
Now, that's where the game has lend itself. You know, probably probably, I don't know what year it was when he first came into the game. You know, he was taking more hits, but now the game protects the quarterback so much that he said, Oh, my arm is still good. My body will take way less hits. than they had to take, you know.
So so yeah. Th then then that leads to you having an opportunity to get back into the game. But at no at no point did you think, you know what, maybe I should I should come back? Nothing like that? You never thought that?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought it shoulders up. I thought it shoulders up, but then shoulders down, said, boy, stop playing around. You know what I'm saying? Or better understood, I probably thought it knee up.
Yes. But right in that knee spot, he said, Negro, please, you better sit down somewhere. Right in that knee area. See, you better sit down. Hey, Rich, I like what people say to me, man.
You look like you still can play. Yeah. This is beach muscles, man. These things they function for real. You broke these beach muscles.
Beach muscles. This ain't nothing, man. This is nothing. Hey, TJ, what's the anniversary today? You said something to myself.
Oh, yeah. What's up, Irv? What's up, man? How are you doing, bro? I'm great.
I'm great. You know, whenever I get into an argument, TJ's my boy, y'all. That's my dude right there. I'm always running into TJ everywhere. I don't know why do we run into each other everywhere.
Because TJ's that's where the players play. You know what I'm saying? You're right, buddy. You're right. But anytime wherever I get into an argument about who the greatest running back of all time is, and I'm sure you know my answer, one of my arguments is I always point to this day, January 2nd, 1990, for the Emmett Smith game playoffs against the Giants.
Where he 42 touches, 229 yards, and a touchdown. I always point to that game as your running back could never do what Emmett did on this day. It was the day that in the regular season that got the California into the playoffs, the shoulder day, shoulder game, right? Shoulder game. What was that like back in the day?
That shoulder game, playing with Emmett. Oh, man, Emmett. To me, I to me Emma is. The greatest running back of all time.
Now, I know we see Jim Brown, and God knows that he's a beast. I just put him to the side. Like, Peter, we don't care about him. Right, right, yeah. And you don't put Jim Brown to the side.
You put Jim Brown to the side. But you also gotta remember. Jim Brown was going up against defensive linemen that were 240 and 50 pounds, too.
So, so, so, yeah, he was gonna beast those guys.
Now, the Emmett was beasting Reggie White and the Jerome Browns. You know what I'm saying? So, so we see such devastating blows and such speed by Jim Brown. We see such dynamicness and beauty. And and and a Barry Sanders.
But the combination of both with what we call a hit balance. I don't know if he had. Four or five legs because every time somebody hit him this way, kind of stand on back up on this leg and hit him this way, stay. And he always made progress. You know, you can see Bear sometimes, and he'll dance and make some beautiful plays.
And he's one of the greatest elders, so I'm not putting down on anybody. We're just breaking out of parative analysis and trying to really dig in and find differences. But sometimes they're dancing. Got them in a lost situation. And then sometimes they even took them out on the red in their end zone, red zone.
You know what I mean? Emmy Smith. Gave you both. What about that day, Irv? What about that day when he was in the game?
That day was incredible. That day was incredible. You guys know how it came about. E and I would always step out and double trouble right before every game. And we would always talk like injuries.
And if you're injured, that's one thing. But you hurting. We ain't got nothing to do with you. Hurting. We knew we were going to, we made a pact to come in here.
We knew we were going to be hurting.
So, like, I remember one day in Washington, I had a porn rib, my rib cartilage, and I could barely breathe. And then it was like, hey, boom. He's a wait a minute. He's fake. Can you stand?
He said, I said, I stand. He said, they don't know you hurt. You stand out there and keep the safety out there and let me run. You know, that's the mentality.
So we're in this game. And Emmett had gotten hurt. He hurt his shoulder. And I was trying to say the same thing to him. I think they don't know you hurt.
You just sit back there, get that safety in the box, let me win this game. But I think they forgot and handed the ball over to him. And after that, it was over. I mean, the dude put on an incredible performance. After that game, Rich.
He was in the training room. Literally bent over with the ice on, and I'm trying to check them out. I'm coming in. I don't know if he was crying because I had so many tears to my eye crying. I'm grabbing him like, oh, yeah, you know, it's the greatest game.
I swear to you guys. A total. That was the greatest performance I've ever seen. by an athlete in my life, because I really knew how he was hurting. And what he gave up that day.
Well, it was incredible. 32 years ago today, unbelievable. And, you know, he's a Gator first as well.
So is he sending you straight to voicemail these days because he doesn't want to hear about Miami right now? You get sent straight to voicemail if you call Emmett? Right now, no, no, no, he he'll take it, he'll take it. Yo, he and DR. Oh, Florida, Florida, State, they're a little, you know, they're a little different when it comes to their alma mater than I am with mine.
They wouldn't even allow me to go. They'll answer the phone.
So, man, don't call me with this. Come on, my man. Stop playing, man. Stop playing. You know what I mean?
So, yeah, they're different. All right. Before I let you go, you want to take a shot at the Super Bowl? Who's in Super Bowl 60? Irv, what do you think?
This is a good one. I heard you guys talking even about that, even about the MVP. And I mean, that would be interesting, man. Drake May has played well. Matthew Stephen.
But this big thing, this big thing I think about with the Rams is you're going to need both of them out there. And I'm talking about Puka and Devontae Adams. And then you got a shot to beat anybody. The shot to beat anybody. Without both of them and just one of them, the game changed.
You can make it a little more difficult on Puka without Devontae Adams.
So, yeah, I think. It's a hard pick to find out that they think about who's going to go to the Super Bowl. No, that's why I'm asking you. Come on, that's our nerve, man. You sound like mooch now, where you're talking it out and then you're going to wind up on the fence.
Come on now, let's go. I was trying to solidify my thoughts here on it. Because you see Seattle. What the Seattle in the defense, but then you see Niners players had those big games, yeah, they had played those big games, but you see the Niners, and you know the coaching, you see the Rams, you know, the coaching pedigree that are on those sidelines, and Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.
So, so, from what I, the players, the coaching pedigree, I would say take the Rams if everybody's healthy. I wish they take the Rams because I'm an offensive guy and I know they can put up points against everybody or anybody if everybody's helping. Then the AFC? What do you got? This is even more difficult.
Because Vrable has done such a great job. And I said this to Rich a week ago: I said, man. New England needed to lose a game. Because you know, when you win eight, nine, ten, eleven games in a row, you're like I took, you guys are not, you're not studying film on Monday. It's kind of fun, you know, it's kind of fun, and it's not quite bellow check.
And Brabo has put his hand on it.
So I imagine you kind of lose just a little edge. But then they lost, and you saw what they did coming back. And that's exactly what I was looking for. The way I know it was just the jets or whoever, I don't care. I was looking at what kind of performance you can put on when you come back to see if you're going to wilt in the playoffs.
And I don't think they will wilt. I was looking at Chicago. On the other day to see if they can come back because it was a pressure, a better game, and they came back. I was like, okay. I can see this now, okay?
Because he's made so many big plays this year. In any press and playoff moments, he's going to be looking to make a big play. Most young guys run from that big play, but he'll be looking for it. But if I had to pick right now, AFC, I would take New England with the young Drake May. Uh um Even though we're Buffalo right now, because Josh Allen has to be Superman all day.
Yeah, so New England Rams for a third time in Super Bowl history, says Michael Irvin. I don't know if we want that. I don't know if you want to. TV. No, I just.
I don't know about TV. Would you think it would be a better one if it was like a Seattle? I think it's great no matter what, because anybody could win it. I think Houston and San Francisco could make it, which would be wild for D'Amico Ryans to be back in his old spot against his old team. There's so many different ways Jacksonville could go on a riot for sure.
Chargers. I didn't think about Houston, Rich. And I want to say this: Rich, you got to give Demico Ryan a lot of credit. Super. It's amazing to start off 0-3 like this and then put the defense together.
And man, it's just an incredible job. And I don't know if we're giving him enough credit because we'll say, well, he was supposed to be there. He shouldn't have started off 0-3. But and then missed three games with this top quarterback. And Davis Mills come in and win those games.
I was like, man, that's an incredible job he has done. I don't think we talk about that enough. Agreed. I miss you, Irv. Great to see your beautiful family pictures behind you.
Susie sends her best to you. We're all watching you on the sidelines of the U, hoping that everything's okay. You know what I mean? Like, we love seeing you out there. And one last thing: do me a favor: find out for me if Aikman took the job thinking he was actually hired to find a new GM for the Cowboys.
Can you do that for me, Michael? He's like, wait a minute. Oh, it's with Miami? Did I really do that to you, Jay? That was unnecessary.
What do you mean? What do you mean? What do you mean it's unnecessary? But that's the smart of Miami, though, because they know he wanted to do it for a long time. And he wanted to do it for Dallas.
And that's why you can understand Miami saying, okay, if Dallas won't tap into that resource, let us. And even the Cowboy fans can understand. Of course. You know what I mean? So, we're happy for Troy, man.
I love my man. Me too. I love you too, Irv. Happy New Year to you and how are you, buddy? All the Irves.
Good luck. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not a happy new year. It's a happy new year. Happy you.
This is how we say it, brother. You understand? Happy New Year. That's how we say that. Enjoy it, Irv.
We'll see you out there for the semifinal. And I'll chat with you, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Michael Irvin. Oh, famous friend. Happy New Year. To everybody here.
Okay. Wow. I think we took that segment and beat it with a belt. You spanked. That Thanked it.
The fact that Michael Irvin knows my name is not lost upon me. He loves you. I'm just saying, though, as a kid growing up watching them, you never would think that these guys would know you. You know, I told you, him and Charlie Sheen sat in front of me at the Canelo Bud Crawford fight. That was in the experience in itself.
This is great. All right, we take a break. Fuck you have to get it. By the way, what Ray Lewis tells him on the sidelines, that was an interesting moment as well in the history of this program. We take a break.
I got my top five list: the top five most overlooked stories of the NFL season coming up. Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it. And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence.
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Number Dial. Noah in Portland, Oregon's been hanging on for a while. What's up, Noah? Happy New Year, sir. Good morning.
Happy New Year. What's going on? Happy New Year. You partner like happy you year. I can't ever say.
Right. Forgive me, I'm in a rural area, so hopefully, I don't drop the call. I want to talk about the Panthers a little bit. I predicted them to be nine and eight when we did our win loss. I didn't think at all that they would have a shot at the playoffs this year.
Shout out to Anna. We're eight and eight. My one problem is, I believe the last game that I predicted against Tampa, we were going to lose. Doesn't matter because if Atlanta wins and they've been terrific, Atlanta, could you say Atlanta's been a top 10 team in the last month. Kirk Cousins has been On point.
Bijan has been unstoppable. That's true. He's the man right now. Bijan has been unstoppable. You cannot stop him.
I thought they were going to be that way in the beginning, though. And, you know, Pitts, despite having only one catch on Monday night, has been. The exact guy that the Falcons had always hoped he would be right now. London's healthy. Mooney?
Mooney. They still getting that pass rush going. Yeah. All right, so if we do make it, right, if we make it to the playoffs, that are my expectations. Right.
But we're either going to. Lose out first round, and/or if not, then I think we're going all the way to the Super Bowl. Oh, that is a hot take. We've got a couple of games that we have under our belt that I wouldn't have thought Green Bay being one of them, the Rams being the other one.
Okay. Listen, you're going to have to go on the road and do it, that's for sure. And I just don't know if you. Have those horses, but thank you for the call. That's no one Portland Big Panther fans sitting up there in Super Bowl, Big Ten Country.
50 rematches. That would be wild. if it turns out to be Denver versus Carolina at the end of the day. Once again, same building 10 years later. That would be crazy.
Unlikely here on this much more likely Friday. I have a top five list. Yes. Came up with it last week while I was just chilling out doing nothing because I can't turn it off. Um it's the top five NFL stories.
that have slipped through the cracks. Nobody's talking about this, or at least not Not enough people. Presented by Hyundai. Head it. High five.
One, two, three, four, five. Richest top five. All right, my top five NFL stories that slip through the cracks presented by Hyundai. Here we go. I mentioned this last week, I'll say it again.
Um The fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars are in the position that they're in, which is one home win against Tennessee away. from winning the division. and also having an outside shot at the one seed. Trevor Lawrence playing as well as he's ever played. Defensively, the only team that's taking the football away more than the Jaguars are the Bears.
They are Like a rocket ship. And nobody's talking about the fact that they've done this without Travis Hunter. Normally, when you do not have the second overall pick in a draft at your disposal, coming up with. Numbers for you. And this is a guy that was supposed to come up with numbers on both sides of the football for.
Jacksonville. They lost a starting corner and a starting receiver. All in one fell swoop when his knee gave way. Late October. And ever since then, they've lost once.
It's crazy. And I could only sit here and think what the Jaguars would look like with an improving. Travis Hunter moving Upward as only somebody of his talent can. And we'll obviously see what happens with Jacksonville. Over the next few years with him.
But everything that we thought, Jacksonville, honestly, if I told you guys before the season, Jacksonville would, in fact, have a shot at winning the division with one home win against Tennessee in week 18 and have a shot at the one seed. And Trevor Lawrence is playing out of his skull, and they're the best in the AFC at taking the football away. You would have said. What's Travis Hunter doing? Right.
Probably offensive rookie of the year. Right. And or the craziness I was asking Lim Cohen, how about. offensive and defensive rookie of the year. Instead, it's been nothing.
Number four on the list. Nobody's talking about this. Trey McBride is having a monster season. Oh, baby. Is he ever?
An absolute monster season. Going into week 18, he is tied with Puka Nakua for most catches in the NFL. He is the first tight end in NFL history with multiple receiving seasons of 110 catches or more. The last tight end to lead the league in receiving. As as as he could do.
going into the last game against the Rams. Tony Gonzalez did it in 2004. I was going to guess. With just 102. Catches.
As a matter of fact, if we put up the graphic here, By the way, I love the headline from Smitch, Trey Bien. Nice. He has two of the top five single season. Catches Seasons In the history of the NFL by a titanium, two of the top five. 111 last year.
He's got 119 this year. And remember, last year he only caught one for a score. Remember, he couldn't score? This year he's got 11. He's having a monster season.
Nobody's talking about it. No, because they're 3 and 13. I understand that. And also, he's had. Two different quarterbacks.
Yeah. He's been just absolutely superb, number three on the list. Nobody's talking about this either. I don't know why they would, but I'm focused on it. Um The Jets won their trades.
They took two of their best players out. They decided we're tanking. We're going to start losing games. We don't have it. We're going to take our best players and turn it in for draft choices.
In the middle of the season, we're going to hope our fan base buys into the fact that we know what we're doing. And as long as Aaron Glenn is safe. And he's the real deal, then guess what? They were, when they traded. Sauce Gardner to the Colts.
The Colts were 7-2. They've gone 1-6 since. Right now, that. If the Colts lose this weekend and go 8-9, the draft choice that the Jets have currently is 18th overall. It could be right in the middle of the first round, and the Jets have done their job on their own.
They're now third overall on the clock. And Quentin Williams You know, it goes to Dallas. Dallas doesn't make the playoffs, so they're not going to watch him go and. Play postseason football this year. And, you know, hopefully for them, the draft choices turn out to be better for them in this coming season.
Now all I gotta do is just draft right. And no longer burn it down because the fan base is sick and tired of watching them burn it down. The Jets have been pretty good at drafting. They just haven't hit on a quarterback. Number two on the list.
Of storylines nobody's talking about. The Minnesota Vikings have actually finished quite strong. They're eight and eight. They've won four in a row. J.J.
McCarthy, it was just announced moments ago, is starting for the Vikings in their final game against the Green Bay Packers. Everybody loves putting the memes of McCarthy out there right now. I understand. If he wins this game. They'll be six and four with him.
And Justin Jefferson had this to say about J.J. McCarthy being the quarterback in Minnesota moving forward. That's not my job. Of course, I would love for him to be here. Of course, I would love for him to be the quarterback, especially off of this year.
I feel like he needs to show everybody and prove to everybody that he is that top-tier quarterback.
So I would love to have him. And I love to work with him and show everybody he is that number one guy. 6-4 he would be if he beats the Packers this weekend. And as you know, the Packers might be starting Clayton Toon. They signed Desmond Ritter.
And the defense has been balling out. I mean, Brian Flores may get a job. out of it. And they might, by the way, not finish in last place. in the NFC North.
Because the Lions might lose their final game and they would be 8-9, and the Vikings would finish with an above 500 record at the end of the day. Number one, the top NFL story that has slipped through the cracks. Is the New Orleans Saints may have themselves a franchise quarterback? I think this kid Tyler Shot. Could be the offensive rookie of the year.
Yeah, I said that on overreactions. Nobody is paying attention to what he has been doing for the New Orleans Saints.
So under the radar. 2,125 pass yards and 11 total touchdowns with one game left. And his passer rating in his eight starts is 97.2. Each of the four rookie quarterbacks. to have a higher passer rating in starts in the last 10 seasons.
One the offensive rookie of the year that year. He's completed 69.6% of his passes in his starts. Nice. And nice, over the last 10 seasons, the only quarterbacks to have a better passer rating than him. As I mentioned, Justin Herbert, Jaden Daniels, C.J.
Stroud, Dak Prescott, they all won Rookie of the Year.
So. Yeah, they've won four in a row. He's gone over 300 each of the last two weeks. He's playing well. And he's the only.
Rookie quarterback in Saints history to win a game. and to have a 300-yard passing game. He's done the gig for Callan Moore may have found himself a quarterback. Nobody's talking about that. You have one more.
I did not know this. Hey, and here's the one more for you. Here's the one more for you. Miami's best home run hitter is a football player. Devon Han.
Oh, I see what you see what you mean. Han is no freaking joke, everybody. He is unbelievable. 11. He may not play this weekend, but so I'll just say this.
11 games with 90 or more scrimmage yards. That's the longest active streak in the NFL. 10 games with 100 or more scrimmage yards are tied for most by a player in the history of the Miami Dolphins, trailing only Ricky Williams. He leads all qualified rushers in yards per carry with 5.7 yards per carry. Fifth with both 1,350 rush yards, fifth with 1,838 scrimmage yards.
He's one. Here's how about this one. He's gained 745 scrimmage yards after forcing a missed tackle, according to next-gen stats. He's forced 92 missed tackles. And he's one of 51 players in the history of the NFL with 3,000 or more rushing yards in his first three seasons, and amongst all of them, He has the highest yards per carry average of five point six in his career.
Guy's a massive home run hitter. And I'm sure he's going to be a first-round draft choice in your fantasy league next year. Without question. And those are my top five stories that slip through the cracks presented by Hyundai. When we come back.
We finish with the I guess now tradition, if we've done it, how many years in a row have I done this? Several.
Okay. I'm busting out the crystal ball. I'm going to predict who makes the wild card round, what the games are. And I'm going to do my best to predict. How they're going to fall on the wild card weekend schedule.
Two on Saturday, three on Sunday, one on Monday. I'll see if I can throw my dart at the dartboard and hit a bullseye. Let's go. That's how we're wrapping up this Friday show in a moment. And I know things.
The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. As you know, I care deeply about pediatric cancer research and awareness. Hyundai Hope on Wheels is all about that.
So are the dealers, over 850 dealers nationwide together. Have raised more than $277 million supporting over 25,000 kids in their fight against cancer because for over the last 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer. Research. Learn more at hyundaiusa.com. Search up Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
At Hyundai, Hope isn't optional. It comes Standard, ladies and gentlemen. All right, if you're listening right now. You might hear my voice a little bit more lush. because it's bouncing off This huge ass crystal ball that I went and bought years ago, thinking it would be fun to have a crystal ball on the set.
And I got the biggest one because I thought it would be looking good on television. And it is. It's just a massive lump of glass. But I look into it. every now and then and I see Or as uh as as my my good friend Tyrion Lannister might say, go ahead.
And I know things. Just like me.
Okay. Just like me.
And I have right here. in front of me a list of wild card games that I think are going to hit. Right now, as you know, there's still a few things up in the air: who's winning certain divisions, what seeds they're going to be in. And at some point, it's all going to land. By Sunday night.
And the good folks in the National Football League are going to get together with television partners, and they're going to say, you get this game, you get that game, you get that game. And wild card weekend will be all fully formed. I'm just going to tell you how I think it's going to land first.
Okay. Because I drink and I know things. And you got a crystal ball. And give me some music right here, because I'm going to crystal ball it. Oh, actually, we have a drop.
Go ahead and hit it. Hit it, hit it. You know, I tell you, I don't have a crystal ball. I have no idea. It's called Crystal Ballet.
Is that Mike Zimmer? We might have to update it. All right. End scene. Here we go.
Give me some actual football.
Okay. There's two games on Saturday, three on Sunday, and one on Monday night on ESPN. I am saying The first game of Wild Card Weekend is going to be at Carolina. Oh. And it's going to be the Seahawks visiting the Panthers for a rematch of what we saw in week.
17 just last week. Seattle's going to be back in Carolina. The Panthers, I think, are going to lose to Tampa but get in because Atlanta beats the Saints. How does that sound? And I think San Francisco beats the Seahawks on Sunday night, making the Panthers the five-seed going to Carolina.
And I think that's going to be the first game of wild card weekend. Followed up. By a prime time game. In. Duval County, Florida.
I believe The Jaguars will beat the Tennessee Titans, but not get the other results they need to be the one seed. They will be the AFC South champions, and just like the last time they won the AFC South. They're going to have a night game. At home. If you remember, that was the game where.
Trevor Lawrence threw a ton of picks. Yeah, four Peterson kept him out there. And then Justin Herbert and the Chargers, despite taking the big lead, lose. And yada, yada, yada. Here we are.
With the Bills under the lights. I think the fact that Josh Allen is playing a playoff game. is going to be too good for the NFL to pass up and put in front of the whole country bills. At Jaguars. Is going to be the night game.
NFC and AFC for your first. Wild card weekend. double header on Saturday.
Now for the triple header on Sunday. I am going to say That at the end of the day, Lamar coming back and rolling Derrick Henry downhill against the Steelers team. That looked offensively challenged against Cleveland. I think the Ravens win that game on Sunday night and they open up the wild card triple header at home against the Houston Texans. Oh, that's so nice.
Rematch last year, right? Oh, I believe two years ago? No, it was two years ago at C.J. Stroud's first season. Yeah.
He won his first playoff game, then lost in Baltimore. I believe. And then the Ravens made the AFC Championship game only to lose to the Chiefs. That's the first game. And then late window, this is going to be on Fox.
Brady and Burckhardt. Are going back to Chicago for Packers and Bears. For just a monster raiding Sunday afternoon. leading to the night game. Chris, get ready.
Let's go. Chargers. Jim Harbaugh. Let's go. And Justin Herbert coming into New England.
I think will be the NBC Sunday night game. Old Foxborough. Because the league will just take a look at everything and think it's too good to pass up the opportunity of Rams. and Eagles on Monday night football. Just one more.
Nice game sent from the NFL to our good friends. In Bristol, Connecticut, and the Walt Disney Company. I think the Rams and the Eagles wrap up wild card weekend in a game that everyone's going to sit down and watch. I might be wrong about who's in and who's out, and I might be wrong about the matchups, and I might be wrong about where the NFL places them. But I think I'm going to get more than half of this list right.
How could you be wrong? You literally have a crystal ball in front of you. I did. And again, I will just blame the crystal ball. And while we're already doubling down on all this silliness, we might as well quadruple down.
Oh, yeah, yeah, magic eight ball if I'm going to be right. We don't have a job for that. Am I right with my crystal ball that picks magic eight ball? You play eight balls. I shake it and it comes up.
And it says it ball. It is certain. I'm right. I'm right. The crystal ball doesn't lie, and the magic gate ball doesn't lie, unless they cancel each other out, and I'm totally wrong.
All right, now let's assume your matchups are correct. Pick the winners. Oh, God. Come on, man. Why not?
I already picked enough winners to give you enough. Keep going. I just told you that the Bucs win, but the Panthers get in because the Falcons win. I just told you that the Niners beat the Seahawks and that the Ravens beat the Steelers. Keep going.
Pick them. And that the Bears are the two seed, which means they win the final game of the weekend. I'm not going to lie. I look at this: all home teams. You think there's not a road team that wins?
I think the Texans would beat the Ravens, don't you think? I think the Texans are about to go on a fat run. Derrick Henry is just running over everybody. He can't do that every week, though. I don't know.
Can he? But TJ, at the end of the day, you're going to tell him? Don't you think the Chargers beating the Patriots is totally different? Come on. Oh, absolutely.
It's going to happen, maybe. Happy New Year, everybody. That wraps up our Crystal Ballet segment and our first show of 2026. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
