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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Definitely, now's not the time. Touchdown Bears! They've taken the lead on the Packers!
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Knocked away by Eric Kedrick! And Alan's got it. Not to be denied. He's still going.
On today's show, Complete Wild Card Weekend Recap. Latest head coaching news, your phone calls, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three, The Rich Eisen Show is on the air.
So much to talk about on today's program over Reaction Monday, the podcast that we record every single Monday prior to the show. It's up for you to take in either on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show, or however you take in your audio podcast. It's sitting out there.
So much to discuss with you at 844-204-Rich Number to Die. We're going to hit two more games that we've hardly hit over the first two hours. We've been very Bears Packers-centric, and why not? It was quite a game on Saturday night, and there's a lot of Packers fans that think they should bounce their head coach right now. Adam Schefter, our colleague at the Good Wonderful World of Disney, is saying that the Packers are already entering conversations to extend Matt LaFleur's contract.
I think that would be the right move. It doesn't mean it's going to actually lead to a contract extension. We'll have to keep an eye on all of that. And I had mentioned earlier in the program that Packers fans pining for John. Harbaugh, the same things that you think Matt LaFleur isn't delivering is the same things that Ravens fans thought that Harbaugh wasn't delivering and led him to finally, I guess, run out of time there in Baltimore with the owner thinking a new voice is necessary.
And maybe the Packers feel the same thing with LaFleur. Um I just don't know if firing LaFleur for John Harbaugh is going to fix the things that Packers fans think that needs to be fixed. It could. I don't know. Personally, I think the best fit for John Harbaugh would be the New York Giants, man.
I mean sending him to the New York market to sit there atop the Giants Flowchart is exactly what the Giants are looking for. They're looking for a guy who also knows that if it the division, don't forget. He came from the Eagles. The ravens took him from the eagles, ran Brought him to Baltimore. He had 18 highly successful, remarkable seasons, won a championship, has been there and done that.
He's brought um he's brought dynamic young quarterbacks along. He's brought A championship to a city. He also has a culture tone set. that Giants fans are dying to to have Said on their behalf. You know, I mean They go with Pat Shermer, who never done it, who's never done it before.
They went with Ben McAdoo, who'd never done it before. They go with Brian Dayball, who wins coach of the year, but technically, you know, he had never done it before either. Bringing in somebody who's been there and done that. With John Harbaugh's capabilities, resume, personality, skill set. That is That's it.
I mean, if I'm the Giants, I I make sure he doesn't he he comes to us. this week first. And you don't let him out of the building. Mm. End of story.
Huh? That's kidnapping. They can't. No, you just don't. No, you're sorry.
The doors are locked, John. I can't believe it. Yeah. I don't know where you're going. Teterborough?
Where are you going? No. Not North. Not either. We're not letting you hop a flight to Atlanta.
No. Treat like a mocha once he checks out. End of story. Everybody checks that out. But, you know, bouncing your current head coach in Green Bay for him.
I don't know if I'd do that because again. Uh folks You're you're asking Him to come and now you got to get a new play caller for Jordan Love.
Now you're starting from scratch with Jordan Love. In terms of the scheme, in terms of everything. Or you just keep it going.
Okay. Honestly, there were. I know four punts in a row that are driving you nuts that cost you a game. in Chicago. Jordan Love, four touchdowns, zero interceptions.
That I mean I just wanted to clarify that. I just don't want, you know. anybody to sit here and think that I I'm denigrating John Harbaugh. I'm just pointing out to Packers fans what you think LaFleur's faults are. to the point where you want a new voice.
Is exactly what led to Baltimore Think maybe it's time for a new voice, except LaFleur's only been there about what, seven years? This guy was there 18 years in Baltimore. Yep.
So Not saying that he wouldn't fix. Green Bays. um problems and bring another title to Title Town. I'm sure John Harbaugh would not Mind Having a street named after him down a street from Holmgren and Lombardy. I mean, that's.
That's something that I would sit around and wait and see if he could get. Take his time, which is why he's taking his time. He's going to have his options. And isn't his agent? It's Bob Harlan's son, Kevin's brother.
Yeah. Yes. I mean, there's a lot of connections. It looks like it's lining up a little too perfectly. No, there's a unless they.
I mean Again, Bob Harlan is now, what, twice removed from his job there? I'm sure he has some influence. But it's not like, let's hire the client of Bob's son. It's just. Let's just say Bob's son knows who to call.
And I don't think he's calling anybody. I think he's sitting back waiting. I think the phone calls are coming from elsewhere. Oh, yeah, they're coming to him. As well, they should.
Absolutely. You know. It's well they should. 844-204-RICH is the uh number to dial here on the program. The playoffs began with a a corker.
of the game You know the Rams and the Panthers, And the Panthers, man, have got some players. And one of them is their quarterback. And one of them is the potential offensive rookie of the year in Tederoa McMillan. And another one is JC Horn, who unfortunately got knocked out of the game. And you know, Derek Brown in the middle.
There's a lot of guys, man, that are balling out for that team. And. It was their first foray into it. And Dave Canalis goes four and out to start. I don't know what I don't know why.
You're going for it. I don't care what the analytics say. I don't care what Greg Olson was saying about. You know, this is who they were going in. It's the playoffs.
It's the playoffs. It's fourth and short. It's the Rams in your house. And they gave the Rams a short field right off the bat. Poka Nakur.
Catches an easy one. He winds up running another one in and another record for Puka Nakua. Um or at least adjoining Another outstanding Los Angeles Ram. A Hall of Famer. There's only two players in Rams' history with a rushing and receiving touchdown in a playoff game.
You can guess who the other one is. Even need to say it, I'll say it. It's Marshall Falk. And um He's the sixth wide receiver to do so in playoff history. Mm.
And all of a sudden The uh Rams go up in this one early. 14-0. And that's when the Carolina Panthers started doing their own thing. They marched down the field. to make it a 14-7 game.
mistakes getting made all over the place. By both teams. It wasn't pretty at times. The Rams went through a stretch of this game where they couldn't move the ball a lick. And I'm sure there were a bunch of people saying Matthew Stafford's not the MVP of this league.
I hope he's not the MVP of this league. There he's going to go down again. In Carolina, and sure enough. Yeah. Lead changes galore.
Four lead changes in the fourth quarter of this game four of em. It went from tied at 17 with the Rams up 20 to 17. The Panthers are up 24-20. Then the Rams go up 27-24. And then.
That Bryce young throw to coker In the end zone. was spectacular. Just a special throw. Look at that picture on the screen, guys. Yeah.
Right there. Dime. Yeah. Where only Coker could get it, right? And now the Rams are are losing.
And the entire season is potentially going down the tubes here. In a game that again Was the Rams to win.
Well Fourteen to nothing. in this game. Um And that's when Matthew Stafford took to the huddle. and drove his team down the field. And he hit Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds to go in a gorgeous throw that only his tight end could high point.
And then turn around. Because he led him to the sideline. Pirouett gets in the end zone, touchdown. Rams win. 34-31.
Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, 12 of 15, 143 yards in the fourth quarter. That's what you want from your MVP quarterback. Who took the huddle and had this to say? after the game about what he said to his team. I walked behind Taylor on the way out and was like, before that flash, I forget what I said to him, but I was like, let's go snatch these guys.
You know, like, let's go snatch this one back, man. Let's go.
Well, that's not exactly what he said because Devontae Adams gave a little bit more of a meat on the bones about what he said. The words, you know. Snatch was in there, but hit it. Yeah, I think he said, let's go snatch these guys' hearts. And that was.
I was pretty uh That was pretty cold. That was pretty cold. Just to hear that and I actually like literally smiled in the moment 'cause I thought that that was like one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment, honestly. And to hear him say that and the look in his on his face and then throw the touchdown and then the look on his face after that was just like The MVP star. It is MVP stuff.
First three quarters look brutal. 12 of 15, two passing touchdowns, and a passer rating of 146. It's the third career playoff, fourth quarter comeback. drive for him And the two previous ones were in the Rams Super Bowl run. Ten catches, 117 yards for Pukunakua, and that rushing touchdown.
Kyron got in the end zone. This is why I think the Rams are the best team in football, they've got that ability. Defensively, um they can stop you, although Bryce Young was unstoppable at times. Their only problem, the Rams' only problem. You know it, I know it.
We see it all the time. That kicking game and that special teams I don't know. It looks like they have fixed. their kicking problem with Mivis.
Okay. But the hunt is just, what the hell was that? I don't know. What was that? I don't know.
And that's what led to the final touchdown for the For the Panthers, because the Rams were punting the ball away. Because that's the other thing, too. Is sometimes when the Rams get the ball and all they need is a few first downs, they somehow can't string that together. I mean, everybody's team, you can nitpick. these days.
But they're forced to punt, and you're thinking, all right, so now if The Panthers are going to win this football game. They are going to have to go the length of the field to score a touchdown. Instead, they only had to go 30 yards. And And remarkably, they were even forced to a fourth down to go for it on.
So Now the Rams go to Chicago. That's going to be so much fun that game is so fun. See what the weather is going to be. I mean, it's going to be cold. And that cold weather, it was cold.
And the Rams are still alive. Again, I've chosen them to win the Super Bowl. The offense, Devontae Adams, really didn't do all that much. In this game. Five catches for 72 yards.
He had a crucial drop at one point. It was so jarring. When he drops a ball, same thing with Nakua. That one on the one when Stafford, by the way, has a sprained finger. Remember, he followed through and it looked like it looked baddie.
He had DJ Watham's arm. And you're wondering how's it going to affect him? Then he hit Puka Naku in the hands for what would have been a touchdown, and he dropped it. Just How many times is that going to happen for the Rams where the Puka and Devontae Adams drop a ball in a game? I don't think too many times.
But they overcame all of that. To win. And I'll say this. The Carolina Panthers were my sleeper team coming into this year. And I chose them for that because of the way they finished last year.
Plus, I had a front row seat to seeing them. I keep mentioning this game. I know not many people remember the Panthers Giants game in Munich. I do because I called it with Marshall, I mean with Marshall, with Kurt Warner sitting in the booth there in Munich. And I had a front-row seat to Canalis and what he's selling, and whether it was being bought.
And it was definitely being bought by Horn and being bought by Bryce Young, who I was sitting there with in the meeting room before the game. And don't forget, he was benched by this guy. And we were saying on this show, he's got to just leave, demand your departure. You're never going to hit it there. And they put him back in.
They finished the season strong. They were scaring the heck out of the season. Didn't they scare both? The Chiefs and the Eagles at the end of the year last year. And I thought, okay, let's see what they can do this year.
I know they went 8-9. Um But Bryce Young can play football in the National Football League. He's tough to put on on the ground. He is really good. They got two running backs, although Rico Datto didn't like the way he was used towards the end of the year.
Yeah. Disappeared. I know. He's not happy. He's correct, not happy.
Not happy. Macmillan is the real deal. Yeah, he's the real deal. And the Panthers Are going to be a threat to win this division in above 500. And one thing that they did do strike a blow for.
was uh for Division winners with a sub-500 record hosting a playoff game, because there are many, including somebody who's sitting across from me in the room that thinks that those teams should not host a playoff game. Those days need to be over. Or this was an actual great playoff game that they almost won, and Bryce Young and the fan base of the Carolina Panthers should feel very proud of this fact. Bryce Young went toe-to-toe with. Probably the most valuable player this.
League. and a future Hall of Famer. He went toe to toe with Matthew Stafford in this game. And made a game of it. And if it was going to be a total, complete blowout, I totally understand there would be a conversation in a couple of months from now for the owners' meeting when everybody's getting together that we should make a rule change, that it doesn't matter if you've won a division.
You do not host a playoff game if you're sub-500.
So What would that have been?
So they would have been out. No division winner at all? Or are they a division winner, they're just the lowest seed? Yeah, division winners make the playoffs, but you recede through based on record.
So Carolina. Top four home game. Carolina go vising Chicago. That would have been a tight game for you. Sure.
Okay. They probably would have been. All right. I don't know. But they don't deserve a home game.
Eight and nine, home game? Get out of here.
Well, they certainly did well enough. They certainly did well enough. And almost came up with the win.
So, Panthers fans, you should feel good about yourselves moving forward. That was pretty impressive. And the Rams, they survived it and they advanced, and now they're going to Chicago. Again, the last time. McVeigh's 0-2 in Chicago.
They have not won there. And the Rams are going to pack their cold weather gear. And the neat thing for them is that if this is a run game, they got a Notre Dame kid and a Michigan kid who knows how to run in this weather. Oh, baby. Sunday forecast prelim.
We're six days out. 18 degrees, 20 mile-an-hour winds, 20% chance of snow. That's right. And Stafford knows the building. He knows the building.
Puka doesn't know the cold weather, though, that's for sure.
Well, he thinks they plan it do. Don't you remember? He wore the. The shyste. Yeah, the shyste indoors, because he thought the lions were playing outdoors until he realized they were indoors and he took his shyste off in the second.
That was two years ago in the playoffs. But again, it's a kid who played at Notre Dame and a kid who played in Michigan in that weather. Did pretty well, both of them. Here we go. Rams Bears can't wait for it.
I bet you that's going to be the afternoon game leading to the Sunday nighter, or it could be the Sunday nighter, which would make it particularly cold. Yeah, give me Sunday night for that one. Yeah, give me Sunday night for that one. Okay. 844-204-RICH, number to dial, your phone calls, and so much more.
We'll talk about. Brockman's Patriots. Oh, yeah. Or Cooper's Patriots. Why is it better for him?
Because he's my son. You have one more. I. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen here.
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Kyle in Florida. Take it away, Kyle. What's up, sir? Hey Rick, how are you doing? How's everybody got?
What's on your mind? What I mean?
So I hear you're talking about the Rams and Stafford. I just wanted to double check. Are you so certain that Stafford's still an MVP shoe and what exactly is going on with the Rams at the end of the season? It seems like he's really struggling against losing teams, dropping some winnable games and Note for talking MDP and strength of schedule matters for May. I believe it should matter too.
You know what? I don't know what is his shoe-in. He did win first ballot all-pro, but you know, who did last year, too, was Lamar Jackson. And then Josh Allen wound up being the MVP.
So I have no idea how my other fellow voters did. I know how I voted. The Associated Press has asked me to keep that off of this show until the the uh NFL honors announcement the Thursday before the Super Bowl.
So Tune into Friday's Super Bowl. Show to find out how I voted, if that actually matters to you. But I mean, listen, there are so many metrics as to why Stafford is the MVP, and there's many metrics as to why Uh Drake May is the MVP. Stafford got it done yesterday. I mean, on Saturday.
At the end of the day, And Drake may do what he did too, Kyle. I know that that's probably not a very satisfactory answer for you hanging on as long as you did, but. Um you know that that's That's just the only thing I can tell you right now. Team Stafford and the Rams are just kind of faltering near the end of the stretch here and just kind of wondering: do you think anything's going on? No, I don't think anything's going on other than the fact that they play in the toughest division.
Uh in football. And I will say this, and this is not any slight against Drake May. By any stretch of the imagination, had Matthew Stafford played at the New York back up the U-Haul, looks like we're quitting on our coach Jets in week 17. He might have had five touchdowns and been sat out by halftime, also, as opposed to the Atlanta Falcons.
Well, he did it against the Cardinals who were backing up the U-Haul.
Well, but then he did actually win the football game with 300-plus passing yards in the same way that he did this past weekend. And thank you for the call, Kyle. Watching the Patriots on Sunday night, every single time Drake May took off and ran for first downs, Cooper did look at me, my son, in his Drake May number 10 jersey that Susie and And I secured for him for Hanukkah. He did say to me, Matthew Stafford can't do that debt. Saying that over and over and over again.
What does Matthew Stafford do? You can't. Matthew Stafford had one rushing yard this year.
Well, Matthew Stafford doesn't have the same game as Drake May. He's also 37, and May is at 23, and is growing and grossed up and dropping his huggies week in and week out. And he now has A playoff win under his belt. And last night, the Sunday night, Game. was the first game of wild card weekend.
That felt like the final score. did not indicate How badly a team got They're behind speed. The thirteen point Game that the Patriots won. It was the first of all, the only game in which there wasn't a fourth-quarter lead change. It was the only game where it was a double-digit margin of victory.
And, you know, again, watching it with Coop, when it was 6-3, he goes, Dad. You know, if they score a touchdown, you think this game is over. And I'm like, yeah, I do. Yeah, I was saying that too. I do.
Yeah, first team to score a touchdown felt like they were going to win that.
Well, even if the Chargers did get in the end zone, the Patriots were just the better. Team Last night, and the one thing that I think Patriots fans should 100% feel great about. is The fact that their defense looked championship quality on Sunday night? Because that was the question coming in. is can they play defense Well enough.
to win a playoff game.
Now, you know, listen, the whole business of they didn't play a team with a winning record quite a bit, et cetera, et cetera. You can only beat the teams that are, you can only play the teams that you play. That's the old axiom. And it's the truth. And what they did was not only beat them, they frequently beat them up and began to get enough confidence within themselves and began to get enough confidence with their systems and with their coaching, with everything that when rubber meets the road, It's now Winner-go-home time, what will you do?
And what they did last night was just absolutely destroy the Los Angeles Chargers. On their offensive side of the ball. And what you need to do in the playoffs. is take an opponent and break their will. That's what you need to do.
And if you have the added benefit Of having an opponent in your house. That's an added benefit. And the extra added benefit of that opponent coming into your house with some ghosts in their own past. Recent past. Then you make them see those ghosts again.
And that's what they did with Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert, once upon a time, had a 27-0 lead at halftime of his first playoff game of his career, lost it.
So if he's up big, You want to come back on them, you want to start making them see the ghosts of losing a big lead, you can do that.
Sounds good. His second playoff game of his career, one and done, four interceptions.
So if you start picking him off, You start making him see those ghosts again. All the better.
Well The Chargers never had a lead. And that one was kind of surprising to me. I thought Jim was going to take the points. Harbo has been taking points all season long. He does go for it on fourth down every now and then, but he went for it on fourth down after the Chargers got the first takeaway of the game on a tip ball up in the air.
They were all over Drake May to start this game, and they couldn't get it in the end zone inside the 10-yard line. And I thought to myself, he's going to take the three and at least take the lead and play defense again and tell the young buck: now try it. Down 3-0. Instead, they went for it, didn't get it. didn't also expect, I'm sure, to have Ramondre Stevenson rip one off of a dump off pass take it all the way to midfield right away.
But It changed the tenor of the game at that moment. And then what the Chargers did was they didn't come back on Justin Herbert or make him see ghosts. And they also didn't pick him off to make him see ghosts. What they did was, was get after him in the second half. to make him see the ghosts of this entire season.
and then start to feel like it's not my night in general. And that's what they did. And they did it so effectively, and they did it with so many players. All over the place on every level of the defense, all of it, front to back. What a tail kicking.
What an absolute tail kicking. And then Drake May. After those mistakes, he also got Picked off a second time in the fumble in this game. He fumbled. He fumbled, so he turned it over twice.
And each time? Just a resiliency to the point where he had a great second half. His. throw to Hunter Henry over Derwin James Jr. Was spectacular.
Spectacular with people draped on him, too, because they were getting to him. The Chargers pass rush showed up in this playoff. Both defenses, what over 10 sacks in the game? Correct. And I thought it was rightful to say that he's not seen a top-five offense, defense all season long.
What's going to happen this time around? And what he did was just what he's done all year, which is take off when he needs to, keep his eyes up down the field when he needs to. At one point, Josh McDaniels called for a fake pitch keeper on Khalil Mack, of all people, that I believe he pants on that. A reverse pass, too, where he was open and the pass just kind of sailed over his head. I didn't like that call, by the way.
I thought that, you know, cute, but he was open. Everything else was working, man. But that said. Yeah. Kudos.
Every step of the way, and now they've got a home game against the winner of tonight's game. Aaron Rodgers coming in, or it's the Houston Texans. I bet you want the Steelers. I want the Steelers. I bet you.
In the worst way. Yeah. Yeah, and the worst way. Yeah, because the pass rush that got home last night for the Chargers, I called Chargers versus Texans. Um I didn't call Tui Pelotu's name once in that game.
And obviously, he had a better night last night. Yeah, the tip ball night. I called Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter's name, and Lasseter's name, and Derek Stingley Jr.'s name, and Jalen Petrie's name, and Aziz Al Shire's name. I called all their names. In that game.
But again, they might not see him. Those Steelers might take care of business tonight. This is really about the Patriots for the moment. Patriots can win the whole damn thing. If the defense plays like that, that's a fact.
And Traybion Henderson didn't do very much. It was a Ramondre night. It was. And, you know, again, these playoff games are tricky for rookies, even with rookies who have got national championship experience. Like Trayvion Henderson.
But okay, the Uh uh you're a coach man.
Okay. He's unbelievable. I just think he's awesome. He's His 2.0, I think, is better than his 1.0. You could say the same thing.
And by the way, did you notice that Vrabel was wearing a hoodie in the first half of that game? I turned to Coop. I'm like, is he cutting off the sleeves, man? He always wears. He always wears a vest, but that's the first year.
He went hoodie up. He went vest over hoodie. He went hood up. And I'm like, oh, is that a nod? Is that a, you know.
But he is just a better version of himself that's already one coach of the year. He knows exactly what he is doing. Culture-wise, this building is 100% lockstep. He's got a first-rate A play caller dialing it up in the ear of Drake May, letting him do his job. What's happened on the defensive side of the ball with who's coaching it and why and why not.
For it all to be clicking right now, Vrabel is just superb. And Milton Williams tried to give him a kiss, and instead he got a headbutt from him and he's bleeding from his lip. That's why you pay that guy, though. Oh, my goodness gracious. Money, money, money for sure.
This is Rabel after the game about that split lip.
Well, we talked to him about being willing to spill some blood out there. and that the big dogs come out in January. And I think Milt took that to heart. Um and the way that he played the game and the way he finished the game and he came over and you know, got me pretty good, but Yeah, that's what happens. I love him.
He's so perfect for that city and that moment and this team and this franchise and getting them to where they are right now with 15 wins and a home divisional playoff game. with a chance to go to the Super Bowl, a real one. Um And an MVP candidate quarterback, it just got to tip the cap, man. All of it, absolutely all of it. And every Patriot fan I know, from members of my own family to the guy across the way here, everybody, just out of their skulls, every right to be so.
Unbelievable. Superb. Good for them. Good for them is a exact well, I mean, I and listen, I know the Eagles fans are now out, so the fan base that chirps the most is still in the mix.
So And you'd They're back. They're back. You better get ready for it. They're back for a long time. This kid is unbelievable.
And we're going to have A.J. Brown next year. It's going to be great.
Okay, that'd be great. Yeah, he'll be definitely happy over here.
Okay, next very good. I don't know how he couldn't be. Let me talk. Let me. That's happy.
All right. Let me talk chargers here. Let me just say this. Everybody's got injuries.
Okay, and some teams are able to overcome them, and at the end of the day, some are just too significant to overcome. Losing their all-world left tackle before a snap. Gets Taken. In Rashawn Slater, and then to have to move your Young right tackle to the left tackle, and him play enough that he still gets a Pro Bowl nod. despite playing as little as Joe Hall did.
And then your your tackles are gone. And you don't get much production from your running back because he doesn't Stay healthy. Najee Harris goes down. O'Mari and Hampton has an injury-marred rookie year. Um At the end of the day, the question would be: would it cost the Chargers in the playoffs to be Unable to protect Justin Herbert.
I'll say this: the first half, he was protected. And the Patriots just shut those receivers down. He was protected in the first half. He had time in the first half, and they could not score. They couldn't score when the the the they all they had to do was get ten yards to score.
So you tip the cap to the Patriots there and I know, I think Justin Herbert deserves better than having a conversation about him, that he's not a big game player. But that's now 0 for 3 in the playoffs in the first round. And I know Jim has been sitting in this chair saying, I've got to get him to the Hall of Fame. And to get him to the Hall of Fame, You got to have a little bit better health up front. And you got to find some guys who are going to get open for him on outside the numbers.
It's crazy that Ladidi and McConkey didn't have much of a game. Keenan Allen dropped one on third down, which he never does. Yep.
Just wasn't there night again. And Herbert in the second half. It was a row. I was concerned for his safety. I was concerned for his safety.
He took a few big hits where you're like, oh man, is he going to get up? Yeah. But that's happened all season. I mean, he's so tough. This is what Herbert had to say after the game.
Yeah, not good enough. We got to score points and defense gave us every shot we needed to, and it wasn't enough. realizing that obviously the emotions are still raw. What is your confidence in yourself that you'll be able to get over this some eventually, get a playoff point, make a playoff one? Um yeah, I don't know.
We I haven't figured it out yet and um hasn't happened so we'll have to reevaluate and see what happens. Yeah, Jim also said if I had the answers, I He would have done something about it. He doesn't have the answers. A lot of folks are obviously looking at the offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, who's been around with Jim for a long time, San Francisco with Colin Kaepernick. They went to a Super Bowl together.
Um and I just know this: that Jim's not going to change. I don't think he's going to change his philosophy. We had this conversation on the Overreaction Monday podcast. He's going to just always be about the line play, about the defense taking the ball away, and the offense doing just enough with his quarterback who do frequently more than just enough. Just get healthy, get some more playmakers on the outside, and maybe they're going to make a change at Coordinator.
They're going to lose their defensive coordinator, that I feel confident in. That Jesse Minner is going to get a job. I think he's going to wind up in Baltimore personally. I think you're probably right. But.
For the Chargers, what a massive disappointment. I saw them on opening night, and I thought to myself, this team can win it. They can win the division, they can win it all. And then they won their next two games in division to go 3-0. And at the end of the day, I mean, if you can't protect your quarterback and your philosophy is all about line play and owning the battle of the.
Trenches. And you can't win that. It's going to come home in the playoffs. And the fact that they won 11 games is remarkable enough. Remarkable enough.
There's enough players to win. you know, another division if you can. Or go deep into the playoffs with a quarterback like this, but you've got to protect him. And then you got to figure out, is it your scheme too? I bet you across the way, Harbaugh's already working on it.
I'd imagine. Licking his wounds, going through the. going through the end of the year. Meetings across the street. That's got to be a.
A sad day across the street with our neighbors. We'll take your phone calls, 844-204-Rich. Number to dial right here on the program. Don't go anywhere. We're back.
Oh. Oh, O'Shea just showed up.
Okay, we'll bring him out there too. Woo! The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back.
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So it's important you hire right and do it the first time. LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant takes the heavy lifting straight out of the whole process. It filters applicants based on the criteria you set. And then suggest 25 Great Fit candidates daily so you can invite them to apply and just keep things moving along.
So get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash Eisen. That's linkedin.com slash Eisen to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. O Shay Jackson Jr. is here on the Rich Eisen show recording a no contest wrestling that drops Wednesday.
Good to see you over there. How are you, sir? Man, I'm feeling really good. You are? Yeah.
Okay. And why is that?
Well, after I sweated out about six pounds watching the Rams versus the Panthers, and obviously we getting the victory, we got the Hardy Boys on No Contest Wrestling Podcast, which is huge.
Okay. Yeah. TJ, I haven't heard you chime in on that, so you must be excited as well. I really haven't had a chance to talk wrestling with all this football based on this football talk. This is amazing.
Okay. All right. So that'll be dropping on Wednesday. That's exciting for you.
So where did you watch the Rams game? Oh, I was at a hukalau known as The Spot. Shout out to The Spot.
So they've got football games at a hookah lounge? Is that what you're saying? Oh, yeah, that's because Bobby the owner, when it's LA sports, he puts them on the big TVs. But when I went to the Hookah Lounge, I found out that Bobby the owner is a Niners fan.
So he was trying to put bad juju on us. There was also another random couple a couple tables down. They were Niners fans. Hate y'all. But yeah, it worked out in Shay's favor, which is the best day.
Did you just go third person on me, right? Got to sometimes. It's Monday. I'm feeling good. You were sweating it out, though.
Yeah. Oh my goodness. Definitely stressful when you see Stafford constantly grabbing that hand. Right. Uncharacteristic drops from Puka and Devontae on top of what, like 10 penalties.
It just did not seem like a recipe for a victory, but. Was the Rams. They pulled it out. Did you hear what Stafford said in the huddle? Did you hear that sound?
No, no, I didn't. All right, let's call up Devontae Adams. Yeah, because Devontae revealed it in his post-game press conference.
Okay. Hit it. Yeah, I think he said let's go snatch these guys' hearts and that was that was pretty uh That was pretty cold. That was pretty cold. Just to hear that, and I actually literally smiled in the moment because I thought that that was one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment, honestly.
And to hear him say that, and the look on his face, and then throw the touchdown, and then the look on his face after that was just like. MVP, sir. Embry piece of Yeah. Make a t-shirt out of that, right? Let's snatch their hearts, snatch it, snatch their hearts right now.
Gotta like that. Yeah, man. You know, for LA fans, that's a Kobe quote. Oh. Yeah, back when uh he was going up against Philadelphia.
In the finals, he talked about snatching their hearts out, which Philadelphia loved. They loved hearing that. Do you think Stafford... Purposefully quoted Kobe, or he's heard that before and you just said it. No, Matthew Stafford is just a dog.
And once he was locked in, not even Chadwick Boseman could have saved the Panthers. He was ready to go. He was ready to go. And that last drive, it was beautiful. I was so upset because I picked Jalen Coker during fantasy, thinking he was going to come back like week six and just be one of those picks that everyone avoids during the draft.
And no, no, it did not work out for me well. But as soon as I see him in the playoffs, he wants to have the game of his life. Yeah. He did. He had one of the best games in the history of the franchise in the playoffs.
Yeah. Thanks. All right. Well, I'm glad that you had a good day at the Hookah spot. Are you going to go back for the next one?
Are you that sort of superstitious? You know, I'll do as much as wear the same hoodie.
Okay. But it's too stressful at the spot. And plus, it's like technically a restaurant, and I can't be doing all that cussing. I like it. Let's take some more phone calls here with O.
Shea Jackson Jr. Rick and Phoenix. Let's take Rick and Phoenix's call. What's up, Rick? Hey, Rich.
First of all, I just want to pay you a compliment. I just finally got a chance to watch Boo Yah. Very well done. Very well done for a very good man, Stu Scott, who we all miss.
So I just wanted to pay you that compliment. You guys did such a good job. I didn't. I just sat down for it, man. Andre Gaines, who directed it, actually texted me during the show saying that they got nominated for an NASA.
NAACP Award to him. Oh, nice.
So he's very psyched about. My question is: not really a question, but more of a comment. I'm a big Chicago sports fan, born in Chicago. I don't think that Chicago has had a better day since november second, twenty sixteen, and we all know what happened then, Than Saturday.
Okay. And then the huge comeback against the Rival Packers. And by the way, Ben Johnson is the first Bears Head coach. After three games. Have a winning record against the Packers since Lovey Smith.
Lovey. You could do the math on how long that's been. That's been a long time. And again, November 2nd, that's the day the Cubs won the World Series.
So you're saying? Oh, there he goes. Whoa! We don't talk about the worlds here. He's out.
Out. Oh, what happened? I just don't know. Or that could have been the day that the Pope was named, too. Had to be the Pope's in the mix, too.
Yeah. Oh, that had to be the Cubs. You know?
Well, the Pope has a thing with Seattle. Have you seen that? No. The last three times there's been a new Pope that year, Seahawks go to the Super Bowl. What if it's a Seahawks Bears NFC championship game where there's that Papal fact in the Seahawks' favor, and the actual Pope rooting.
for the team that's in Seattle. How does that work? What are you going to Google that one? That seems like a good Paul Rudd name. A Papal Fact.
Papal Fact. Good fantasy name there. A Papal Fact. Kenye in Washington, D.C. I've got about a minute for him.
What's up, Kenye? Hey, Rich, how you doing? What's going on? Man, I'm highly pissed off, brother. Man, my Eagles lost, you know, and I'm just still trying to get it together.
But Uh, Petulo, he would have had his credentials snatched as soon as the clock hit triple zero. He could have left with the fans and I would have mailed him all his things, man. Last night was just abysmal. The offense needs to get overhauled. Missy Elliott, he gotta go.
I mean, Jake Elliott. You know what I'm saying? Missy Elliott. What a nickname for a kicker that's got some accuracy issues all over. And A.J.
Brown, I love him, but just like a beautiful woman, sometimes, you know, the talent ain't worth the drama that he brings.
So we're going to have to figure it out. But I just wanted to say that, man, because I love my birds. It's gold birds till I die. But last night was a damn shame, man. Kenye in Washington, D.C.
I like you. I like you. Fantastic. You sound like Will Farrell getting darted in old school. I like you.
That's crazy. Eagles fans are on one right now. Crazy. You appreciate that one. That was solid.
What a bar. Missy Elliott. Not what you want to be called if you're a kicker named Elliott. Makey Elliott.
Now that's a different one. Yeah. We'll wrap up this show on Disney Plus in a second. Wow. 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.
