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Now, on with the show. This is The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Colleen Wolf. Monkin feels that Deshaun Watson's got the better chance to win this week in Tampa. I mean, this isn't a debate. Doesn't sound great to say if the locker room doesn't want this guy, I'm going to force beat him.
Today's guests. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. NFL Network Insider Mike Carafolo. NFL Network Analyst Brian Baldinger. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Colleen Wolf.
Yeah. Hello, hello, everybody. Welcome to this Wednesday edition of The Rich Eisen Show. And yes, I am Colleen Wolf and not Rich Eisen. Often mistaken for each other in no circles whatsoever.
Make sure you call us 844-204-Rich. You can watch us on Disney Plus and the ESPN app. You can listen to us on ESPN Radio and SiriusXM Channel 80. Follow us on X and Instagram at Rich Eisen Show. And subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash rich Eisen Show.
So do all of those and you will be covered. I'm here with the crew. Hey, the whole gang. We got Chris Brockman here, Mike Del Tufo, TJ Jefferson. It's a full house.
Full house. Great to see you guys. Great to see you. And I'm a little worried about Brockman's choice of breakfast this morning. Oh, no.
We're going here already. He decided to have some chicken soup that was left out for Rich because.
Okay, so yeah, here's the Deal. Rich, obviously, not here today, right? Rich was kind of playing through it yesterday, not sure what was wrong, thought it was a stomach bug. Susie brought soup and bagel chips and stuff. Rich didn't touch any of it because it actually wasn't really a stomach bug.
So it was left out overnight and it was still there this morning.
So I kind of just started, you know, just picking at the noodles. Then I decided to full-on go get a fork and I ate all the soup. You sure did. You went back a second time too. Like a second round.
I finished it. It feels good. And I'm drinking the ginger ale. Thank you, Susie. I hope you're feeling better.
Yeah, I know, right?
So Rich is out probably the rest of the week. Emergency appendicitis. Yep. Bad news. Pendectomy.
Yeah, yeah.
So he was able to catch it. And so hopefully, he'll be on the men this morning and he'll be back on Monday. Also, what a hero doing the show through that. Rich. Oh, my God.
Yeah, he was in a bad way yesterday. Like, people obviously hear. Watching what couldn't tell, but during commercial breaks and oh my gosh. Yeah, he was coming over to the couch and kind of sitting down between breaks yesterday. And we were able to gut it out, but it got the best of him.
And we'll fight and, you know, covers butt the rest of the week. And he'll be back on Monday, ready to rock week two. Yeah, so we're wishing him a speedy recovery. And lucky for him, he has Susie, who brought the soup in yesterday for him. Chris Brockman got it instead.
And then I got the call to come in with you guys and hang out. Yeah, this happened also super late. I was already asleep. I kind of woke up to all this this morning. Yeah.
I kind of woke up to this last night. This was not on my schedule. I stay, these guys know I stay up all night. Like if you are bored at two in the morning and need to get something off your chest, you could call me. I'll be up.
But I went to bed at 10 o'clock last night. Oh.
So I missed all of this. I missed all of it.
Okay.
Well, I mean, hey, look at us now. Here we are. And I'm a little worried about your circadian rhythms. That's why we don't have to talk. About that, because we have a boatload of guests today to talk all about NFL football.
I'm so excited that we finally have at least a proof of concept for week one in the books after all off-season long. It's just so many days of no football and talking about what-ifs and seven months. This could be cool if this happens. But yes, it's only week one.
So, of course, we're going to, everyone's going to overreact. Everyone's going to have hot takes and unhinged takes, perhaps. We were throwing that idea around earlier. Yeah, and the cool thing too, Colleen, is like you were down in Australia for the game. I was 49ers and Rams.
So, I kind of want to, I don't know, throw things off, but I want to start with that with you. Yeah. What was it like being down there? What was the vibe? Have you recovered?
And how stupid and insane does the Rams plan now in hindsight look that you kind of experienced it as well? Outrageous, like just unbelievable that they tried to pull off a game after just. Landing in, I'm gonna call it Melbourne because that's how they say it there. I know that that's like the it kind of drives me crazy when people say Abiza. I don't do that, but I will say Melbourne because I had a bunch of Australians say, Thank you so much for pronouncing it correctly.
After I had a bunch of Americans say, You're American, say it right. I'm like, Okay, I don't really know. I'm caught in the middle here in the crossfire. But in Melbourne, I was there for a week and it was awesome. I had never been to Australia before.
I would highly recommend. I want to go back. Yeah. They have, I was not expecting there to be such bomb Asian food because Southeast Asia is like right there.
So pretty close, right? You can get to Southeast Asia quicker than you can get to the other side of Australia by flight. Wow. Apparently.
Okay.
So I have not fact-checked this, but someone there told me. But it was just, everyone was so cool. The stadium was incredible. 100,000 people. The fans were so into it.
One of the all-time greatest waves in a stadium I've ever seen, they were really in sync. I took a hot air balloon ride over the city, which was really fun. It was at sunrise. We went over the stadium. They were just painting the logos and the end zone.
So that was really cool. Went out to the suburbs and fed some kangaroos. Pet some koalas. There were wombats and Tasmanian devils, things that I really didn't even know actually existed, but they do.
So that's cool. Wallabies. It was really awesome. And then I. Flew back.
I got back on Saturday and did the show with Rich on NFL Network Game Day Morning, Sunday morning, which that's like 4 a.m. call time. Yeah. So I'm all sorts of thrown off. I don't know what time it is.
I don't know what day it is, but it doesn't matter because I'm still here to perform. And the Rams, they had a really hard time doing it. Yeah, they were. And I could see why. And like, I was on the Rams sideline for the whole game.
And I can't even explain to you the difference in energy from sideline to sideline. Sure. The Niners, from the very jump, they were just all over it. They had so much juice. And the Rams were just flat in that game.
And you could feel it. And it felt like, you know, they really couldn't get anything going the first few series. And then they finally got on the board. But it was like after that, they went right back to sleep. And there was no energy at all.
Yeah, that kind of came across on the broadcast, like right from the get-go. Sean McBay just looked tired. Yeah. And that is a guy never lacking for energy or enthusiasm, kind of wears it on his sleeve. You know, Miles Garrett, we now learn was kind of banged up and he's going to be out a month, but he kind of looked, you know, lifeless.
Matthew Stafford really looked old. And you're just like, what is going on with these guys? Yeah. And I'm like, oh, they're going to do what? They're going to try a tush push here with Matthew Stafford?
What is happening? And that felt like that series where it was the Pukunakua that maybe was a touchdown and wasn't. And then the tush-push didn't work. That sucked all of the air out of the sideline for the Rams. That's when it was like they were really done.
So it felt like the game was over well before it was over. But really cool experience. Love the international games. I'm going to be in London and Paris and Munich and Mexico City.
So you're doing them all. Hey. And that was one thing. You know, we've gone to a couple the last couple of seasons, TJ and One thing I really enjoy and I love when we're over there is how much the Europeans and the internationals love American football, and everyone's a fan of different teams for different reasons. There's really no kind of rhyme or reason, almost like TJ, like you.
No kind of rhyme or reason as to why they like.
Sorry, you took a shot there. I apologize. They like their teams kind of for no real reason. And it's just like maybe they like the colors or the name of the team, the mascot or whatever. And they support and they come out.
You know, the games sell out in minutes. And it's always, you know, energy and it's hype. I love the International Series. You know, I feel like there were a ton of Niners fans in Australia. And they were Niners fans from before even the game was announced.
It's not like they just jumped on board. There were people coming up to me telling me stories about how they were fans of this team from like decades ago and their dad. I think a lot of it was like the Jerry Rice era and for some reason. Reason the international crowds like just kind of caught on when they were doing their thing. And can I just tell you, Jerry Rice, what a legend.
He's just walking around on the field, no credentials whatsoever. Does he have the goat necklace? He's got the goat necklace swagged out. Like, I mean, he's just so cool and he just knows it and he wears it so well.
So, just a really, really cool experience, the international games. It's like a football festival, kind of seeing all of the different jerseys and such. But I think that was one of the games for me at least that changed my. I don't want to take a lot away from week one, but when I watched that game, I did not expect the Niners to look as good as they did, and I did not expect the Rams to come out so slow, even with the travel schedule.
So we're going to get into all of this. We have, you know what, should we just do it now? The segment teams that can't afford to do 0-2? I was just kind of going down the list, and I kind of think there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There's seven teams for me.
Okay, we said this yesterday too, TJ. We were talking about it. In the history of the NFL, only three teams that have started 0-2 have gone on to win this Super Bowl, right? It's the 0-7 Giants. No, the 07 Giants, the 0-1 Patriots, and the 93 Cowboys.
That's the only three teams to have done it.
Now, obviously, nobody in the new 17-game era, those were all the 16-game seasons. But starting 0-2 is. A really tough hole that came out of.
Now, the Bears started 0-2 last year, and they want a playoff game.
So you can go deep, but to win the big one, it's almost never happened.
So these teams we're going to talk about right now can kind of ill-afford to start 0-2.
So kick that off. Yeah, so I mean, just kind of looking at. For me, the Chargers, like this was a team, it was one of the off-season hype teams along with the Rams and the Broncos.
So actually, all three of those teams can afford to go. But that was kind of the worst week one loss. Can we all agree? The Chargers? The Chargers, because no one expected the Cardinals to look as good as they did.
Yeah. Which that was really surprising. And for the Chargers, they have a brutal schedule coming up. What? They have the Bills and the Seahawks.
So they don't have any room for error here. And they're playing the Raiders this week.
So I mean, look, the Raiders played the Dolphins, who might be the bottom team in the league, but they looked impressive. You think they're worse than the Browns? Man. No, maybe not. We're going to do power rankings later, and maybe we'll do all 32 teams.
Maybe not. They're going to be picking in the top five. Let's just say that. I think it's kind of a safe assumption. But, you know, wondering what the Raiders are going to do with Brock Bowers out.
Hey, that Ashton Genti injury. Remember, there was a prayer circle? Remember that, TJ? There was a prayer circle for Ashton Genty, like he was going to be out for the season. Right.
And he had the second best running back performance of the weekend. The prayers were answered. The prayers worked. They're dead.
So, maybe there should be more prayer circles. Oh, yeah. I thought the Raiders were a big week one winner. They were. It was encouraging.
It's like, oh, all right, cool. We're a team. You know what? Like, that's how I felt about the Raiders and the Cardinals. I was like, oh, good.
Good. Job! You did it! Yay! Like your toddler walked for the first time?
Yeah! Oh, come on!
So, and then, well, also in that same vein, the Packers, they can't afford to lose because if Matt LaFleur goes 0-2, and let's just say the Cardinals end up pulling off another win, and his brother is 2-0, that just feels like it could be some tough sledding for family business. What do you do if you're his parents, the LaFlores?
Well, they were at the Cardinals game, right?
So, they kind of made their choice, right? They're like, oh, Matt's been a coach for a long time. We'll go to Mikey in his first ever game, but now do you just kind of like baby of the family always gets the most attention? Yeah, that's true, too. As the baby of the family.
Truth comes out. But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of families that deal with this. Obviously, we've seen the Kelseys before, the Edmonds. Edmonds, yeah. I think, you know, one of my pet peems about what we do is there are so many relationships, families, brothers that play in this league, but for some reason, it's completely incestuous.
Yeah. Brothers playing in the league.
Well, I mean, they're brothers.
Well, I just mean that everyone knows each other and somehow is like related or friends. What I mean is, we don't really talk about, like you mentioned, the Edmonds. No one ever brings up that there were three of them. Yeah, but we always talk about one or two. I mean, there's so many.
There's a lot of great stuff. The Watson League. Yeah. Thomas Jones and Julius Jones. Uh-huh.
The Matthews.
So many. We could just like keep going. Yeah. Also, TJ, your Cowboys. Uh-oh.
We already covered this yesterday. They can't afford to go 0-1-2, especially with this another division game coming up against the Commanders. They go. O and two and then Rio? I mean That's going to be bad for tiebreakers.
How's your psyche?
Well, I was trying to make sure that I got on a flight to Rio, but now I think I might just stay here. Yeah, you can't stay the game. But yeah, of course. I mean, 0-2 in our division with your boys, who I just absolutely hate so much, the Eagles. Yeah, but they didn't even really look that convincing.
They did not. Yeah, they did. But you got the dub. And I don't really care about aesthetics so much when it comes to wins and losses. You can't judge on that.
A win is a win.
So. Yeah, but I mean, it just the fact that They let it go, that they let the commanders come that close. Like, I don't think, based on how the team is built, that it should have been that close of a game. But it is week one.
So letting them stick around, though, for far too long doesn't make me feel great. Understandable. You know? What else? We have the Bucs.
This is a big week for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs against the Browns. And then I guess you could say everyone. The whole South. Yeah, everyone in the South needs to win. Right.
But I feel like Baker, too, with full history with the Browns. Sure, sure. That always kind of plays into it too. And they also have a really tough stretch coming up. They have Minnesota, Green Bay and Dallas, depending on how that Dallas defense actually is.
And Carolina plays Atlanta, so someone's going to get a win there. Yeah. I mean, look, for personally perspective, need the Pats to get a win this week. You know, the way week one ended, it seems like it was forever ago, but it was only last Wednesday. You know, having a chance, up 10 points against a backup quarterback, you think you got to be able to win that one with Drake May and company.
A.J. Brown goes down. No Trayvion Henderson. Everything just kind of fell apart. And it looked like, man, are we starting over at square one here?
Kind of looked like a rookie. Need Pittsburgh coming in, who didn't look great against Atlanta at home. They only really win because of that sick TJ Watt pick six.
So need them to kind of put the. Take Pittsburgh to the woodshed here, kind of get back on track. Yeah, and Drake May. Don't want to fall behind, especially with how good Buffalo looked. No, not at all.
But let's hear from Drake May because he was asked what went wrong in the fourth quarter. Everything. I'll be the same thing I said after the game. Uh just got impatient and uh you made decisions that end up costing uh you know costing us offensively and putting our defense in a bad spot and We're on to Pittsburgh. We got, you know, uh another week and another chance in this league and that's You know, dealing with the ups and downs in this league, that's part of it, playing the National Football League.
That's right. Channel Williams in her Abelichek there. Yeah. We're on to Pittsburgh. It's true.
But I mean, the A.J. Brown injury. Oh, just brutal. That's, you hate to, I hate to see injuries in general. Week one is such a bummer.
Also, he was supposed to be so good for this offense. He looked like he was going to be so good for this offense.
So we hate to see him go to IR. But now we have to see how Mike Rabel is going to get this passing game going for the. Yeah, and I thought Josh McDaniels kind of had a rough game. It didn't look like they were, you know, kind of dialing it up maybe to take advantage of some of the matchups. You know, Seattle's secondary was a little depleted.
Would have liked to have seen some more deep balls, especially early on. A.J. Brown doesn't get a target until the second drive. You're kind of like, what are we doing here? Yeah.
So now with him out and Romeo Dobbs was atrocious. It's like, bro, you're in here. We brought you in to make plays. You know, Mac Collins, we can't really be relying on this guy. You need to step up.
And so, Trayvion back in practice, maybe he gets back out there, adds another explosive element. Like I said, really looking forward to see how the Pats bounce back. Yeah, if New England, if they drop their home opener to the Steelers and go 0-2. And their schedule, much has been made about their schedule. Really difficult.
Really difficult run kind of coming up here in the first four. And with AJ being out. You know, at Jacksonville, at Buffalo, you're looking at 0-4 if you kind of drop this. Drop we're in like doom and gloom. That should be our names this morning because we've all, even before the show, we everything, the conversations were really dark.
Really dark. We're gonna take 60 minutes. I know, TJ, but like, what are we doing here?
Okay, you're the slowdown guy. You're like, come on, it's only a marathon, not a sprint. I feel like it's a sprinting marathon. I mean, we have to react in a way, but yes, it's not. All right.
Tranquilo, everyone, Tranquilo. Yeah, yeah.
Hey, what do you guys think that are listening? Call in with teams that cannot afford to lose. How do you feel about your team right now? Yeah, if your team is. I don't feel great.
If you're stressing, let's go. Give us a call. We'll talk you down. Yeah, I thought you were asking me that.
Well, I know you were one and oh. But I would answer. Yeah. But still, it didn't really feel, I know that they won, but it didn't feel like a win. Got it.
Anyway, maybe you guys feel the same about your team. Give us a call. 844-204-RICH. And we will be right back. Back as we continue on here, the Rich Eisen Show.
We're going to have Kurt Warner join the show, talking quarterbacks next. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Taking a quick break to tell you how Saturday's game time can get a little messy. Your crew just came over to watch. Snacks on the table, drinks in hand, and somebody's celebrating like they just won the whole season and beyond.
And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit. Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where Bear Ultra interior paint comes in. It adds an extra durable, stain-blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass. Plus, that easy clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer.
So before the next kickoff, give your space game-ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bear Ultra, only at the Home Depot. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much.
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Obviously, is there was so much expectation for this Chargers team, you know, being a playoff team, you know, Mike McDaniel coming in and how he's going to unlock Justin Herbert, and Justin Herbert's going to unlock Mike McDaniels and his offense.
So much unlocking. Yeah, all that stuff going on. And it just didn't play to what everybody had talked about. And I had some concerns going in simply from the standpoint: if you watch Mike McDaniel's offense in Miami with Tua, I thought Tua was the perfect quarterback for what they wanted to do. It was very much an anticipation-type offense where you're really throwing to windows or throwing if you can make the throw to a receiver, as opposed to reading defenders and hey, if this guy's not open, that guy's open.
It's about getting back, hitting that back foot, being able to recognize that stuff and get the ball out on time in different ways. And I'm not sure that's exactly who Justin Herbert has been throughout his career.
So I felt like this was at least going to be a process for him to learn and get comfortable in that. And then the second question. Question is, is that what he does well? When we talk about unlocking, will that unlock either part of this? Because does it play perfectly to the skill set of the quarterback within this offense and vice versa?
So it didn't show up in week one. And so it's something that I'm going to keep my eye on moving forward. Yeah. And we're talking to Hall of Famer Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. And when I watch Justin Herbert with this offensive line, and part of me Don't want to make excuses for Justin Herbert because it's always about the offensive line with the Chargers.
I mean, since the like before the dawn of time, it just is that is one of the guarantees of the year: the offensive line for the Chargers is going to be an issue. It was like for years it was that with the Falcons, but it was a pass rush and they couldn't find one. But then they did.
So I'm like still waiting for the Chargers to do that. But it almost makes me think that Justin Herbert is going to end this season with a career high in rushing yards just out of self-preservation because of the offensive line. But let's get to the Falcons, as I mentioned before when I brought you in, because head coach Kevin Stefanski, he has not named a starter yet for their week two opener against the Panthers. Let's hear what he had to say. He was asked about it today.
Do you have a QB yet for this week? We will have a quarterback, yes. I'd say we're working through it. I'm not ruling anyone out. Tu is not going to practice today, but he's getting better.
Cooper and Mike will practice today, so we'll work through it. All right, so they're working through it right now. Kevin Stefansky just always with quarterback questions and never, he just never has had a guaranteed. I feel like winning quarterback at that position. And When I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Cooper Rush, considering this oblique injury with Tua seems to be lingering, and it seems like with Michael Pennix, they're really they they want him to be the starter, but they also don't want to rush him back.
What are your feelings about the quarterback situation there? Yeah, I feel that the same way. Michael Penix, to me, has to become the starter sooner rather than later. And you've got to figure out, do you believe he can be the guy you drafted him to be? And we have to know that.
We have to know that when the season's over, is that Tua is not going to be there next year. I mean, they're just not going to sign him to a starting quarterback contract, you know, after the history that he's had. And obviously what we saw last week, starter and then gets hurt. It's just not going to happen. And so the longer you prolong this Michael Pennix thing, the less opportunity you get to see if he can be that guy.
And so I kind of read into that. Hey, we're working through it. If Michael is ready, if we feel he is ready, he will be our starter. If he's not, if we don't feel we can put him out there yet because of the injury, then we'll work through these other two guys and figure it out until Michael is ready. But nothing else really makes sense to me in this situation simply because this to me, and again, we all want to win.
This year and have success. And of course, but you're trying to figure out that position for the long haul. And the only true option here of those three guys is going to be Michael Penix. And so that to me is basically what Kevin Safancy is saying. We're working through it just to see if Michael ready this week.
He's not.
Okay.
We'll start one of those other guys. And then, is Michael ready next week?
Okay.
Well, you know, that to me is how they've got to go about this. Yeah. And when you think about Michael Pennix, this is his third ACL reconstruction.
So I think that there is a huge mental component of this too, in trying to get back. But Cooper Rush, he didn't complete a pass when he was pressured. He particularly struggled when holding onto the ball for longer than two and a half seconds. It was just completing six of 14 attempts, 83 yards, two interceptions. And Kurt.
TNF week three, that's the Falcons.
So even if Michael Pennix is like ready to go, I don't is that really going to be the best time to throw him out there? Or maybe it is to reacclimate him.
Well, and maybe it's just, hey, we're thinking about playing him this week, but we don't want him to turn around and have to play on a short week.
So maybe we go with one of those other guys this week, and maybe it is Thursday night as he's getting closer, where you kind of make that debut, and then he's got 10 days, so to speak, until the next game to recover and see where that knee is. And how, yeah.
So, again, I think there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that we probably don't know about. But back to my point, I think it's all about when do we feel is the right time. That Michael Pennix can get on the field and protect himself and be ready to go. And as soon as that time comes, I believe he's going to be the starter.
Okay, so let's go from Kevin Stafanski to Kevin O'Connell with the Vikings, where we saw Kyler Murray go down early in the game. He's in concussion protocol. Carson Wentz, he played really well. And I don't know if that was a product of him really playing well in the system or the defense that he was playing, but he sets up pretty well for week two against the Bears because Chicago just allowed 361 passing yards to Bryce Young. What are your thoughts on the Vikings?
Yeah, I mean, obviously, they're in a similar boat. They're at the point now where they need to find that guy. And that's obviously why they brought in Kyler Murray to see if he could be that guy, not just this year, but he could be the guy, and then maybe they pay him and move forward with him. And unfortunately with the injury there, you know, Carson, I think, is what Carson is at this point. And Minnesota has seen it.
He's a guy that can definitely come in and make some plays for you. You know, there's going to be some inconsistencies. There's going to be some mistakes along the way. And you've got to figure out how to have a game plan to be able to overcome some of those things and still win. And they did it last week.
Obviously, they were down big and they got a whole bunch of breaks late in that game to get a victory, but Carson made some big-time plays for sure. And then there's the question of JJ McCarthy. And where is he? And do you want to see him right now? Is he ready?
Because the bottom line with JJ to me is: next time you put him in. Is going to be what you determine the future on.
Next time you put him in, if he does not succeed in that situation, I believe you're almost forced to have to move on. You know, that it's gonna be hard for an organization and a fan base to get behind a guy that's gotten two shots. And it's shown that he isn't that guy.
So that's where to me it gets sticky if Kyler's out a period of time. How does Carson play? Obviously, if he's winning, that's easy. But if they're not winning and they're struggling, that to me is a huge decision that the organization is going to have to make with a guy that they drafted. Is he truly ready?
Because I think he was thrown in last year before he was ready, and it showed that way. You don't want to do that again if you've got hopes of this guy being on your roster for the long term. All right. So I'm also thinking about the fact that you were in Kansas City. You had a front row seat to Patrick Mahomes.
And I can't let you get out of here without talking about some of the other quarterbacks here that did not get hurt, but maybe are returning from an injury.
So Patrick Mahomes, what was your assessment of his performance? Because he obviously wasn't his pre-ACL self.
So what were the limitations? And how do you see him projecting for the rest of the season? Coming into that game, you know, the fact that he was back nine months after the injury, and I know he hadn't missed any time, but you know, I talked to him before the game, and he just said, you know, I've done everything except get hit. And that is a big thing. That is a real thing to get hit and to get hit in certain ways and to be able to run and move.
And then, when you move, to do the things that you've done in the past, and you know, as we're seeing right here, to go for the touchdown and then to dive and to go between defenders and do those sorts of things.
So, I believe they're, you know, as cool as he is as a customer, there was some nervousness and some anxiousness about, okay, where am I really for a real game? What can I do? And, you know, we saw the movement, and the movement actually looked fairly decent for everything that you could expect. But the throwing wasn't quite what we expect from Patrick Mahomes. You know, he started, I think, two of 12 in the game.
Then he settled in and made some throws, but it just felt like he was a little. Bit off throwing the football. And to me, all that is expected. The beautiful thing is, we saw the emergence of a run game and Kenneth Walker III, who both looked incredible. And if you add that to what I believe Patrick will be as he gets more comfortable and becomes more of himself, man, this team is going to be a tough team to beat.
I was questioning whether Andy Reid would actually commit to the run game after signing the big deal with Kenneth Walker because it's not really what he does. It's not really his tail as old as time. Yeah, but he did. And from the get-go, from the first drive, five, six straight carries to start the game.
So I loved that part of it. And if you have that, you can allow Patrick Mahomes to come along and you can allow him to struggle and not be fully comfortable for a few weeks into the season as he goes through the whole process. But I was obviously excited about what I saw from that team missing the playoffs last year. Patrick, again, got better throughout the game, which is a great sign. But to find ways to win and really dominate that football game without him is exciting for the league and exciting for the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans because I think it bodes really well for them this year.
As far as getting over the mental hurdle of coming back from an ACL, what do you think of Andy Reid maybe doing what John Harbaugh did? But John Harbaugh tackled Malik Neighbors so he could get over his whole mental thing coming back returning from the torn ACL. What would you do? What did you think of that, by the way?
Well, a little more weight from Andy coming than Coach Harbaugh. But yeah, yeah, that was crazy. But I kind of get it because, again, you know, just like I said, I was talking to Patrick before the game, and that's the one thing he mentioned to me: man, I've done everything. I feel good. I haven't gotten hit yet.
And even if you aren't coming off an injury and you're starting a season as a quarterback and you haven't got hit, there's part of you that kind of wants to get hit. You know, that you want to know that you can take that hit, you can bounce up and you can move on. And so, you know, when Coach Harbaugh and I heard that story, it fully makes sense because, you know, a player going into a game, and again, it's not the same kind of hit you're going to take in a game, but there's that tentativeness. Like you get the ball and it's like, okay, here come some bodies. What do I do?
Do I play slower? And the one thing you don't want a player to do is play slower, is play tentative when they're out there, because I often feel that's when guys get hurt, is when they're doing that sort of thing and thinking about it as opposed to just playing. And so to Try to get that out of his mind. I love the sentiment by Coach Harbaugh and really having the pulse of his players and his team and being able to do little things like that to kind of ease their mind. And not necessarily for Malik, but man, the team looked really good on Sunday night.
It looked like they were ready to go and they were confident in what Coach had brought to the table. And, you know, and I bet Malik felt a little more confident after that as well. Yeah, I think so too. But it is an interesting strategy for sure, to be clear. What about?
Let's go down to Houston quickly with CJ Stroud and the turnover issues that we saw week one against the Bills clearly happening during crucial moments of the game, a potential game-winning drive. And now he's going into this contract year. Do you see this being an issue that is going to linger, or was that just a product of week one? Could be a little bit of everything, the Bills defense. What were your thoughts on that?
Well, I mean, I think we've seen it a little bit. You know, when he was so good as a rookie, that was one of the things he did so well is he protected the football. You know, that he didn't have turnovers and he played right into what they were doing on top of making plays. And then we've seen the last couple years, the turnovers kind of creep in, specifically playoffs. And then at the crucial moment, as you said, against Buffalo.
This one is very interesting to me because we've seen a really good CJ Stroud. And there's no question if you watch him in practice every day, he is physically talented. He is a gifted, gifted thrower.
So everything you see says, Franchise quarterback, franchise quarterback, sign him to a big deal, sign him to a big deal. But It's about production, and you've got to be able to produce and produce in the big moments and be the compliment that they need to their defense and be more of what we saw as a rookie-somebody that we can believe we can put the ball in your hands in games like that when our defense gives up 30 points. We don't expect it very often, but it happened. We have to trust that we can put the ball in your hands in those situations and win games for us. We go on the road in the playoffs and we put the ball in your hands, and you've got to be able to win games for us.
That's what the franchise quarterback has to do. And they said all the right things, and because of the talent, I think it's going to be hard for them to let him go. But we're seeing this play out as we've seen with other quarterbacks that have signed the big deals: they're not showing the production and consistency that you need from that position. And if you pay that position 60, 65 million dollars, it limits what you can do with the rest of your rest of your roster.
So you have to find one. Is CJ that guy? I really believe he's got to answer that question. And I'm You know, maybe the text can sign him whether he answers that question or not, because they've seen some things. But I think it's really important for any organization to know, to know that is the guy and that that guy can carry you and win games for you with his right arm when need be before you sign them to one of these monster deals.
Kurt, I could sit here for hours, days maybe, and ask you about every single player, but quarterback for sure. But we only have time for one more question. And so I'm sitting here debating: do I want to ask you about Drake May, Caleb Williams? But honestly, the real question I need to know is: who played better than you expected week one? Who played better than I expected?
Was there anyone that impressed me? Yes, there was. No, no, there's a lot of guys that impressed me. But like, I put my top five quarterbacks together: Trevor Lawrence, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and I thought Caleb Williams were my top four on the week. I expected them to play well.
So you said unexpected. My fifth is the guy that probably unexpected how well he played, and that was Jackson Dart. I thought he played unbelievable. You know, he got back, he made quick decisions. What I saw last year as a rookie, he was a guy that oftentimes would be unsure in the pocket.
He'd want to run around and be an athlete and create, as opposed to playing the position in the pocket, seeing it and getting it out. I thought he was fabulous on Sunday night. I thought they had a great plan for him, but he was definitive with his reads. He got back. He threw the ball extremely well, made some great reads, even though Dallas missed some assignments on defense.
So what? You still have to see it, read it, and make those plays as a quarterback. He was probably the guy of everybody in the league that surprised. me the most at how well he played in week one. Yeah, all of the vibes around the Giants, it was just on full display in prime time for everyone to see.
And it just looked like they were loose, they were having fun, and they all bought into everything that John Harbaugh is selling.
So we'll see if that's the case the rest of the year. But, Kurt, thank you so much for being so generous with your time. We'll let you go so you can go win another award. Thank you again for coming on, my friend. You got it.
Good to see you. See you on Sunday. See you Sunday. Kurt Corner joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. We have plenty more to come your way.
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Gusto.com/slash rich. All right, it's been a fun morning so far on the show. Uh, Kurt Warner had some really interesting insight there. I loved that the player that impressed him that maybe he wasn't expecting to impress him, was Jackson Dart. And I think that a lot of people were in the same boat with that.
Maybe not TJ, but I don't know. TJ and Cowboy. A2, Wolf, A2. Go birds. All right, hey.
Let's take a call. This is my favorite. I started sports and sports talk radio.
So taking a call is like a kind of a dream.
So let's go to, let's see, is Josh still here? Josh in Idaho Falls wants to talk about the Rams, whether or not they're good. Josh, what's up, man? Hey, buddy. Hey, how you guys doing?
First off, I use Gusto, so they're fantastic. Nice! I hear that. As a small business owner, and my best for Rich, I've had my appendix. Out, it sucks.
So speedy recovery.
So I have two things for you if there's time. Glad you're feeling better, though, buddy. That night I was like in full burn down, crash it, crash out, text with my brother in my fantasy league. following the unknown Aaron Dahl timeline, the lack of wide receiver depth and now Miles Garrett, given that you were there and have seen those sidelines before, should I just turn in my week five bills and week thirteen Chiefs tickets? Because there's nothing good anymore, or do I poke?
No. Oh my God.
Okay, Josh, back away. Let's just like, let's take a deep breath. Maybe light some candles. I don't know if you have a tub. Maybe take a bath or like an ice plunge.
One week. It's one week. And the Rams are, you should know this better than anyone else. If this is your team, the Rams are a team that they always take a little while to get warmed up. They play better as the season progresses.
And yeah, I mean, it just. The way that the schedule kind of lined up for them, it's not great having to start so far away from home and then have to have their first four games in four different time zones.
So I can understand a little bit here what the Rams were going for in trying to mitigate some of the jet lag on the way back, considering they have really tough games here coming up. What they play the Broncos, they play Philadelphia, and then I think they have the Bills. Is that correct?
So this is, it's a gauntlet, but. I think that they're going to be okay. It's not great that Miles Garrett is on IR right now. And I don't think that Aaron Donald is regretting coming back, but like that is. I think you're going to be okay because this team.
It has too much talent for them to be stuck in the mud. That's not what they do. They're going to be exciting. They're going to bounce back. But I think that it was just a really tough week one matchup.
I don't know. What do you guys think? I'm wondering, I'm not concerned right now, which is always the key two-word phrase. Uh-huh. Yeah.
How many losses will it take before you're like. Oh man, they're screwed. If they lose on Monday, 0-2, you'd think they're screwed. And the Giants look good, but if the Giants beat them. And the first five games are very difficult.
If they're... Two and three. Are you are you really freaking out? Or is yeah, or is it a one and four situation?
Well, that's I mean, we are panicking. We are we are turning in the the the chips, the tickets, the all of the things. Um I mean, because the Broncos looked like the worst team in football on Monday, right? Yeah. So yeah, maybe but At Philly, not an easy place to play.
You know, they lost there in the playoffs. Buffalo, you know, in a month on Monday night, Buffalo looked like the best team in the league. I'm just saying. Yeah, really worried. That's true.
Thank you for the call, Josh. 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. Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today.
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