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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Jackson Dark took a shot. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Defonte brings it in.
Today's guest, Spengls head coach Zach Taylor, ESPN college football analyst Josh Paint. Steelers defensive tackle Kim Hayward. 49ers tight end George Kittle. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Well, hey, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show, right here on Disney Plus, the ESPNF, ESPN Radio, SiriusXM Channel 80. Everybody, we've got a, it's always a great day in our neighborhood when George Kittle's on. That's an hour three. George is going to be joining us with the 49ers now, 2-0, and getting set to maintain their home turf against Arizona in week number three. Cam Hayward in his usual Tuesday spot, coming off that loss in New England, getting set for the Cincinnati Bengals, whose head coach Zach Taylor is joining us in less than 20 minutes time to help kick off our Tuesday show.
Josh Pate in his usual spot on a Tuesday as we review what happened in college football and preview conference play starting in Big Ten and across the SEC and across this college football loving nation. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? Rich, I'm excellent. What's up, man?
Mike Del Tufo has. What is that? That was a gift. That was our first. You got it, Brockman.
It was. I got one. Who's house? Yeah. I was told I couldn't take two.
Okay. What? Oh, they gave those out last night? Yeah, they got the beach towels. Oh.
Because it's the 75th anniversary of the Rams' 1951 NFL Championship. Ah, so they gave out beach towels. They gave out beach towels last night. Can the Cronkies afford that? Is the question?
Nah, I mean. Up.
Now they're selling the Angels. That's right. Boy, those are expensive beach towels. You can take that down. I know, no.
What's up, TJ Jefferson? How are you? What's up, Rich? You know, one thing Rams fans will remember about the 21st night of September. Ah, is the fact that they got their goat back.
And. They were wearing these highlighters. There you go.
So, what is it? Why did Sarah text everybody those uniforms were the LA Ramananas? The Ramananas. The Ramananas. The lemons.
Lemons meet. At any rate, whatever the heck the Rams were wearing, it worked last night. And unfortunately, for the Giants who got the ball first and were matriculating. The ball down the field in a way that was reminiscent of their Sunday night victory over the Cowboys. Jackson Dart gets the old Malachi crunch.
And his um his left leg Um looked like a metronome just, you know, sort of. Going back and forth in the air, and you could tell he was done for the night. Blue tent walking off in a cart, the whole business underneath the stadium. And I know you guys were there. It sounded like the air went out for the Giants and all the transplanted New Yorkers that made their way into SoFi Stadium last night.
Um and and we'll talk about that in a moment. But The Los Angeles Rams Got what they needed last night, which was to get their Mojo back. And part of their mojo Coming back. in the form of Aaron Donald. I don't know what it was like in the building when he got introduced.
You knew. They were going to introduce the defense last night. You just absolutely knew it. That with Aaron Donald coming back playing his first game in almost a thousand days. that He was going to be introduced to the SoFi.
Fans, they didn't have the sound up on the broadcast, but I had heard from some people, including you folks, that it went crazy. Loud. Yeah. And he gets out there to start the game, and it looked. Like I said, like the Giants were able to do what they needed to do offensively in their first 15 scripted, but they couldn't protect Dart.
Out he goes, and in comes. Um a Rams team that needed something on offense to get things going so Donald could support it with this defense that's still missing Miles Garrett. And by missing Miles Garrett, they also don't have The kid that they traded away, who was as terrific as they come in his first two years, is a Ram and Jared Verse.
So they needed Donald last night. to provide that defensive spark. And then, for whatever reason, the Giants just could not get pressure on Matthew Stafford in the same way that they got it on Dak Prescott. in uh night one On Sunday night football in week number one, on Monday night football, they just couldn't get to Stafford, and he just lit them up. He lit him up.
He looked like he was well rested. Looks like his commute to work wasn't 19 hours long at the last second. And Without Puka Nakua. Devontae Adams had a damn near career night. Put it all together.
With Jameis Winston not being ready for prime time offensively, Aaron Donald coming back defensively. Devontae Adams showing off why he is a. Hall of Famer, if not I think first ballot hall of famer, which is a tough thing to be as a wide receiver, as Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss were the last two, and before that it had been quite some time. But he shouldn't get in. It just shows you when they can also run the ball, and they've got the Rams have 15 tight ends that.
causes you not to know who to start, if anybody, on fantasy. They're going to be tough to beat, which is why. You know A lot of people think they're going to make the Super Bowl at the end of the day. But they're in a very deep end of the NFC West pool. Bottom line is: the Rams needed everything I just said.
Everything I just said. Coming up with the largest yards differential by any team in a game this season. They popped 481 on the Giants who only got 182 after Dart went out. It was right downhill. That's the largest differential in any game, not just in the first two weeks of the season, but this decade in the NFL.
There's not been any massive yards differential gap like that. As Stafford becomes the second oldest player with a fourth touchdown game on Monday Night Football, Drew Brees, the only guy who is older. 22nd career four touchdown game for Stafford, sixth most in NFL history, breaking a tie with Dan Marino. And you might imagine Sean McVay was jazzed to see 99 in your program, number one in your heart come back. I think he models the way.
You know, I was asked about that at the very beginning, and he just elevates people he's around, situations he's a part of. There was a bounce. If you didn't get chills when he was introduced, then you're not freaking alive. And so that was awesome. And I just think it's one of those deals that you get an opportunity to just say, just watch what the hell I do, follow my freaking lead.
And that's what this guy does. I love him. Do you guys have a snap count for AD, or did he just tell you I'm good? What do you think? You tell him to come out when he looks like us.
And as you might imagine, Aaron Donald looked the part not just in uniform, but when he got out there on the field, we'll get to those numbers in a second. But this is what Donald had to say about coming off the couch, if you will. You know, he's been trying out for the Rams all summer. He made the 53 men. Hit it.
The game really wasn't as fast as I thought. It was more of me calming myself down, right? You know, overrunning stuff or just being my feet not being in the ground how they supposed to be, not trusting my ass, a little stuff like that. But playing the game, when I held out in 17 and 18, was the same way. When I came back, it took a couple games to get going.
It's a little different. I ain't playing two years.
So, you know, I got to watch the film, see what I did good, see what I did wrong, and just clean it up.
So, but we wanted to harris. Did that feel familiar? Yeah, it felt good. You know, it felt good. It would have been better if I was able to slam them, though.
But, you know, but against first game back, we'll get there. Yeah. Put up the next-gen stat numbers. Guy's not human. According to Ben Zolak of Next Gen Stats here, 32 snaps for Donald, 14 run snaps, three tackles for loss, one run.
Um For a loss, you got 18 pass rush attempts. Look at this. His getoff of the line is less than a second, 0.75 seconds. That's the third fastest by a defensive tackle this season.
So that's how he's coming out of the gate, having not played in two years. He's just, it's not, it's not normal. And then there's another freak who's gonna come back at some point because he was up I think they showed him in the broadcast chilling with Mookie Betts at one point. Oh, yeah. I didn't even see him.
Oh, yeah. And um Garrett's going to come back and And then they did this without Puka last night. They heard that breadcrumb dropped by Marcus Spears in the middle of his appearance on Monday Show, where he's like, Puka's out. There was a lot of conversation about it. The questionable tag was Keeping the Giants guessing.
We'll see how long he's out, but it sure helps to have a first ballot Hall of Famer and Devontae Adams to step in. And um You know. Uh Yeah. Listen. Uh some of the best trades In sports are the ones you don't make for whatever reason.
I'm sorry. I know A.J. Brown's younger. And I've seen what he can do. But He's got a long way to go to get the resume of Devontae Adams.
A long way to go. And if the Rams were really kicking the tires on A.J. Brown and almost made that move, or were going to make the move, and for some reason couldn't make the move because there was too much from Harry Roseman being asked of the Rams, or whatever it was, I don't know. But the fact that they didn't make the trade And Devontae Adams is there, and he's in this part of his career. where He's He's the guy that you turn to when Puka's not there.
Or he's the guy that you can turn to inside the five-yard line, a la Mike Evans. Or he's willing to just not be the man as all wide receivers apparently demand to be and make problems or noises or whatever, that he just goes about his business and takes the opportunities that are given him on a team that is quarterbacked by a guy who's got the sixth most four touchdown games in NFL history. Playing at the top of his game as he nears 40. Devontae Adams, like, sign me up, and then when I get a chance. I'll have almost a 200-yard game.
Hit it. You got it, Mikey? The flow of each game, you know, Puka does what he does and takes a, you know, I take some stress off of him, he takes some stress off of me, and it doesn't really require a game for me to go out and have 200 yards or almost 200 yards. When it's needed, anybody can come out and do it, and obviously when we lose a guy like Puka, it's time for people to step up for sure. I mean How many First Battle Hall of Famers are like, I'll step up?
Step up. It's like, no, you're supposed to fill my shoes. I don't know, man. It just works. That's just why I like the Rams when it works.
And now they get to close the books on the elephant in the room that Sean McVay referred to one last time. And they're able to hang their hat on the first season opening loss on this right now. This is I think a soundbite that's making the rounds all over the place today, so hit it.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. And, you know, sometimes you have a dumbass coach that makes travel plans that puts you in a bad spot. There you go.
That's what Tori. Yuck's all around now. I don't know who that laugh was. That was amazing. Who was that winning?
I don't know. That sounded like Ricky Ricardo was happy in the room there. Hey, hey. That's what the Rams needed, just what the doctor ordered. Winning man cures all it does.
And in just again, the way that they want it to. The way that they want it is well. On a big night now, comes the momentum that they need to keep rolling because they have massive football games coming up Sunday night. in Denver.
Okay. Broncos feeling good. Just took care of business against Jacksonville. Here we go. What a big game that is.
Then they're in Philly. It's okay. You know. You know. They're sitting there going, Okay, Saquon.
You ran all over us a couple years ago. You're banging your helmet as you're scoring in the snow. We almost won that game if we only didn't Forget to block Jalen Carter in a crucial moment.
Okay, Saquon, we didn't have Aaron Donald then. They don't have Garrett back that either. And they won't for the Monday nighter when ESPN's crews are all back here again in Los Angeles for that Monday nighter against Buffalo. What a massive game that's going to be. Two and one of those games.
You go three and two into the schedule where you're welcoming in Arizona, visiting Vegas. You've got a home date against the Chargers team that just can't get through. a couple of series looking on the same page, and then at Washington and at Arizona. One would call that a softening of the schedule potentially. Hmm.
Out goes the whole conversation that they're going 17-0. That one was left in Australia. But they can go 16-0 potentially in the United States, in the Northern Hemisphere. There you go.
But that's not going to happen either because this team has some holes and they're still working on it. But last night is exactly what they needed. Exactly what they needed. Certainly since. Um, Seattle and San Francisco have yet to lose.
So Then there's the Giants, which we'll talk about at length at the end of this hour. But let's take a break while we're talking about Super Bowl 61 here in Los Angeles. Last time Aaron Donald was in that game, he was pointing with his ring finger because they took care of business against the Bengals team that won that started that year out two and oh. Guess what they've done now this year? Start out 2-0.
And they got a big game against Pittsburgh. Cameron Haywards in this show's rundown in hour three. Same thing with George Kittle. But to be fair and balanced, it's we'll talk about the Pittsburgh side of things of the Steelers. Bangles game.
In our three, let's take a break. When we come back, the head coach of the 2-0 Bengals, Zach Taylor, will join us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly. Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on? Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan.
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I like it. Zach Taylor is the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals coming off of a big win in Houston, and then, of course, a week one win at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, getting set to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, a massive week three game. Zach Taylor here on the Rich Eisen Show. It is good to see you, coach. What's going through your mind after the first two weeks of this season?
that we got a big divisional game coming up on the road.
So it's good that we were able to start fast. But again, it's only two weeks into the season. We still have a lot left to prove and to get accomplished. And so going on the road with our first divisional game gives us a lot To get ready for and get excited about. What have you learned about your team through the first two weeks?
Do you think?
Well, we can win in a lot of different ways. I think all three phases have the talent that we need. And so there's still some things we can improve on. But I think last week, it was really good to see how well our defense played, how well our special teams played, and then our offense capitalized on the opportunities we needed to win. But it's a good recipe for the month of December, and then we just got to continue to improve.
Listen, I'll ask the question of you that my 15-year-old Cooper, who's a die-hard football fan, asked me last night while we're watching the Monday Night Game because he just constantly thinks about things. He's like, Dad, is Dexter Lawrence the biggest acquisition? By any team. this season so far.
So I'll ask you that question. Exactly. He's my favorite acquisition of any team this offseason so far.
So I can't. I just know we're very fortunate to have him and a lot of the other pieces that we added this year. He's been a big part of our locker room. Just the energy he brings every day, the enthusiasm. He loves being here, loves playing with his teammates.
He's made some big-time plays for us. Not all of them show up in the stat sheet. A lot of times he's providing opportunity for those around him and they're capitalizing on it. And so anytime you get a big, big defensive tackle like Dexter, he creates opportunity for himself and for others, and that's exciting to watch. And I guess now let's look back.
I know we've talked since this moment on the show, but I'll just revisit it: the decision to acquire him and flip a 10th overall selection in a draft that had some real players. in the top fifteen for sure. Collectively, I think as a group, media and evaluators would agree on that. What was that process like for you? And now that you've seen the first two weeks and the first several months of a training camp and OTA season in front of you?
how it's paid off in your mind. We had an opportunity to go get arguably the best defensive tackle in football, and we did it. And everybody in this building was on board. Ownership, personnel, coaches, there was no hesitation. You could just tell the second we did it and he walked in the building, what it did to our locker room impacted them in ways that you really can't measure.
And so I think with our fan base as well. And so just he walked in immediately. He had a great training grant, great first two games. And we just got to continue it throughout the season. And then just the idea that the defense can get you through the game.
It's not like it's never happened in your tenure here in Cincinnati, but it's been a while. I think it's fair to say that you could say the defense is helping us get through some rough moments, rough patches in a game. How does that. Ripple effect throughout the rest of your other phases in the game. It does.
I mean, it absolutely dictates how you call plays on offense. You don't have to be perfect on every drive. Joe doesn't have to go be a hero all the time. You know, we can play a certain style where there will be times it's okay to punt and pin a team inside the 10, 15-yard line and know you're going to get the ball back very quickly in very similar field position. And so it does change the way that all the phases can play.
I was really impressed with plays that all three phases made in this last game on the road at Houston in a tough environment. We're going to need that again this week against Pittsburgh, but it's been fun to watch through two weeks. Zach Taylor, eighth season as Bengals head coach 2-0, taking on the Steelers right here on the Rich Eisen show. Did you have a clear vantage point of Jamar Chase's first touchdown? Coach?
I did not. I probably had the worst seat in the house, Rich.
So it was in the opposite end zone from me.
So I couldn't really see it until I got my iPad after the game and got a chance to watch it a couple of times. But I'm not surprised. I mean, I'm really not. You know, it is impressive. That's not to take away from it.
Maybe one of the best catches I've ever seen in my life. But to say that it surprised me that Jamar Chase made that play, I'm not, because that's just what's in his DNA, and that's what he does. That's the thing is that for me, you know, I I just never doubt that his feet are going to be down and that he's going to maintain possession going to the ground. Like, it that would have been surprising in that case. But the most impressive aspect of that catch for me was he stumbled.
At one point. And then, of course, his college teammate, who's one of the best in the business, is the one. covering him and for him to Maintain his balance or regain it. And spot the ball and twist his body. I don't know how many other people could do what he did.
Coach, to be honest with you. Probably nobody. You know, it's just him. And I think just the chemistry that he and Joe had together, it's more about Jamar than it is the corner he's going against. We've got against great corners.
Stingley's one of the best. But really, Joe just sees Jamar. And I don't care who's covered him. I'm going to give him an opportunity. And when I give him an opportunity, he usually makes us look pretty good.
And so we'll continue to find as many ways to do that as we can. And I think we saw that on display in the second touchdown, too, right? Like they look that looked like a backyard that looked like backyard football a little bit to me. That one. Yeah.
I mean, we were trying to figure out what Mike Yasicki did to Joe because Mike was open on the front pylon. And but I think Joe, when he broke through, he had to scramble a little bit. As soon as he pulled through the contact, his eyes went backside, and he was trying to find Jamar coming from the backside. And Jamar did a great job shaving back a little bit, making a great play on the ball, and getting us to 20 points. Zach Taylor here on the Rich Rodson Show.
Would you mind taking everybody inside your meetings with Joe Burrow? talking ball with him. And game planning. Like, what's the first order of business? What's the usual order of business?
Just whatever you're willing to share, I'll take it. Yeah, usually after a game, Monday after the game, oftentimes he and I will recap just some key points, whether it's regarding him or the offense or the team. We'll hit that, and then usually I'll hit him again Wednesday early in the morning on just some thoughts as we've game plan for the next opponent. And then we'll go in the quarterback meeting. We'll have a more in-depth meeting on Wednesday morning about some of the normal-down stuff.
Circle back on Friday again with him to now that we got the game plan in and um. Make sure he understands from the coach's view how we see things. Hey, we've got three days of practice now. What are some things you like or don't like to try to tweak that? And usually there's very little that he doesn't like.
He might have a tweak or two on the backside of a progression or something. And then we'll have a big meeting on Saturday night, Saturday night in the hotel or at home, however it is. We'll go through every play on the call sheet. We'll make sure all the quarterbacks understand what we're trying to get done, any questions they have at the last minute. We play Jeopardy, our backup quarterback, really our third-stream quarterback is usually in charge of creating Jeopardy.
So you've got to pick the categories and pick the amount you want to wager and answer questions about the other team's defense and so forth.
So we got a good weekly process that we've been following now for seven years, and I think it served us really well. And we're both comfortable with the communication part of that. All right.
Now, okay, you know where my follow-up questions are going. What do you mean jeopardy?
Somebody comes up with an actual jeopardy board where the categories are based on the opponent and the style of defense that they're running? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, it could be. It's all on the internet.
There's some website you can go to and create the jeopardy. I'm not smart enough to do it myself, so we let our other quarterbacks do that.
So Flacco's created a Jeopardy board? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Flacco, it's Sean Clifford right now for us. Sean Clifford.
So we've got four quarterbacks in the room. Sean's the one that does it. One category might be, hey, Steelers defense, Pot Perry. You might have to answer random questions about Pittsburgh. Their personnel, you might have to, hey, finish the play call.
It might be an elaborate third-down call we have, and there's only a couple words in there, and you got to finish the call. And, hey, what are these check criteria we have this week? That might be a category.
So, and then whoever's got the least amount of points has got to. Has got to do the $500 miscellaneous question. That tries to get you a couple more points at the end. Is there a buzzer system? Like an actual, like no, no, but that has been a complaint over the years on what is the timing you're allowed.
Some guys sit in there for two or three minutes really dwelling on a question.
Okay. So, yeah, if you sat in there, Rich, you might have a couple of tweaks that you would offer up that would solve some problems. I'm always at your disposal for that sort of thing, no doubt about that. And are you a stickler for making sure? Whoever gets to answer does do it in the form of a question?
Do we stay in the middle of the morning? No, we don't do that. No, usually the biggest complaint is we've had so many different. Guys that have put together the Jeopardy, like what is their standard for the overall correct answer? Because there's some room for interpretation sometimes.
So the awarding of the points usually draws the biggest gasp, you know, from really we're letting him get 400 points for that answer. That wasn't that wasn't a complete answer.
So that's usually the number one complaint.
Okay. And then my last follow-up question is: has there been a Jeopardy moment? From this meeting, the That actually did foreshadow what happened in a game that helped you win. That's happened. Oh, I'll tell you: well, it wasn't necessarily Jeopardy.
So we always go through the entire call sheet. Yes. And then everybody in the room.
So right now we have four quarterbacks. We have about four coaches that sit in there. They pick their first touchdown call. What do we think we will score the first touchdown of the game on? And Joe picked.
The play we scored on against the Texans. And oftentimes, when Joe says a play, it kind of puts it in my head, like, all right, well, he likes that.
So, um, so trust me, we get in that field zone against the Texans. And that was that was Joe's touchdown call. And, and I'm not trying to cater to Joe and let him win because he picked it, but it does lead me down a path of, okay, that's, that's, that's a good shot play that we'll, we'll go with the start.
So, Joe won it. And that was the, the, the, the, which throw one of the throw did you? Jamar, that unbelievable catch that you were talking about. Yeah. That's the one.
That's the one he's like, we're going to score our first touchdown against the Texans on this play, and that's the result. Right there. That was the result. Oh my God. May it work.
Well, listen, you're not catering to Joe. By the way, not a bad guy to cater to number one. And number two, he's used to winning. He's used to winning. I think it says more about me.
It says more about me, though, Rich. I wasn't willing to put my ego in front of everybody and try to pick the one I picked. I was willing to let him win this one. Give him something for once. There is no I and Zach or Taylor.
I see that. You're a team player right there.
So at the end of the day, starting 2-0 is much better than some of the results that you've had as the HC there. What do you do with this? I understand it's a week-to-week situation. I get it. But it's got to feel good.
Yes? Correct.
Well, it gives you confidence. I think any time you feel like you had a good training camp, you feel like you had a good offseason. You feel like on paper you got the players you need. The unknowns are the chemistry and the diversity. And we really haven't faced adversity yet.
So coach long enough, Been a part of enough seasons now where adversity is coming at some point, and oftentimes it comes in road divisional games as well.
So, how's our team going to handle that? I don't really know that yet.
So, we've played with leads in two games and been able to control the games that way, but we haven't faced adversity yet.
So, I feel like I know what I'm going to see from the team when we get that. But until we do it, remains to be seen. And you never know. Road divisional game, that's oftentimes where things can pop up for you.
Well, again, I know you've got your hands full with the Steelers, but did you check the Monday night game out at all? I watched a couple plays when I was in here. I didn't watch the whole thing.
Okay, did you see 99 back for the Rams? Did you check him out? You know, I think the Giants won offense most of the times I ended up putting my eyes on it, so I didn't get to see. I've seen him up coast in person more times than I need to.
So I'm well aware of what he's capable of. No, and I know, and what you say about your guy in Sexy Dexy is what I would expect you to say about your guy. But you got a good Aaron Donald story from your time around him? At all? No, he held out of both training camps.
I was there.
So, unfortunately, for our offense, when I was working there, I don't think we ever went against him in training camp. But he showed up for the first game and he always made an impact.
So, I was happy about that.
So, I was there for two years, obviously, played against him in the Super Bowl.
So, unfortunately, we have stories about that. He's a tremendous player, great person. His wife, Erica, actually, her dad coached with my father-in-law in Green Bay, so my wife is friends with his wife. And so she's known her for a long time. And again, you know, we're obviously so focused on his return and Miles Garrett and everything going on with the Rams, yada, yada, yada.
But you were also in that building the last time the Super Bowl was in this city. Do you think about that? Do you think about that? Like, hey, I'd love another shot to get back there right now and have a different result? I'm human.
Yeah, that's the ultimate goal. Think about it every day. But I also know that there's no skips, no steps that we can skip as a team. And our guys fortunately understand that. We got enough guys that played in that game.
We've got other guys that have been in Super Bowls that know that this is a long process. And it's about getting your team better every single week. And to where your best team is stepping on the field in January. And so that's our mindset right now: to go on the road and win our first divisional game.
Well, I'm just trying to leave you in a better spot than I found you, Coach, even though you're 2-0 and feeling good right now. But I think you got to be a stickler on making sure every answer is in the form of questions. Otherwise, why do you call it jeopardy? You know what I mean? Like, uh.
I think you gotta, you gotta, I mean, it's, you know, it's all about the details. You know what I mean? I agree. I'll get Sean Clifford in here. I'll make sure that he does a better job.
It's on him. He's the judge and juror in that one. Yeah, and if Burrow, and if Burrow's like, what gives, you just say it was the Michigan guy and see how that works with him.
Okay. Okay. I'll be sure to do that. All right.
Thanks for the time, Coach. Appreciate it. Always enjoy our chats. Thank you. You got it.
Thanks for that. And Zach Taylor, everybody, the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers coming up this week. Jeopardy. What's I mean? Right, you see what I mean?
We should play Jeopardy here. How so? No. I don't know. How so?
Sports Jeopardy. We did not do well. No, I didn't do well. He did well. You guys did not do well.
Brockman did well. The board didn't work our way. It did not. We did not have. We got pretty unlucky.
No. We did in Celebrity Family Field. We got pretty unlucky. By the way. What's in the ether right now, I have been offered, I shouldn't say, I mean, but I'm going to say, I haven't offered a chance to return.
To the wheel. Oh. Do you think we need one more? Oh, yeah, we need one more. Little celeb wheel?
A celeb wheel. Nice. Me versus potentially other ESPN on-air individuals who have no idea the smoke that awaits them. Interesting. I'm the smoke monster.
Okay. I'm lost. Yeah. I need that to complete my cycle. The wheel?
Well, I have. Christ is right. That's sir. Family feud.
Now either in the Jeopardy or the Will, or both. I'm really good at Jeopardy too. I'm sure you are. You and I share, like, look at that. I am.
You were locked in. You were locked. You're like, I was not going to lose. You remember that episode? Candace Parker.
Candice Parker. And Dwight Howard. I was not going to lose. Let me tell you something. I was watching that along and I was getting a lot of answers myself.
That was one of the part of me, because I'm a little petty, because all the crap I took about losing price is right. A little part of me was like, man, I hope Rich gets smoked in this so he could know what it feels like. But then I let that go and I was rooting for you. And you dominated. I appreciate that.
But like you, I crushed in the regular rounds. Rich Eisen is right. To your showcase, I got to the final puzzle, and I whiffed on both final puzzles. Those were not easy. Yeah.
But I have been invited back. I have accepted. I just don't know who else is going to accept. Excellent. And if it all works out, I will return to the wheel.
We need family feud to invite us back so we can redeem ourselves. We definitely need feud redeeming. Like Bob Marley, I think. One thing's for sure is we did better. This Michigan guy still did better than Portnoy.
They got bagels. Yeah, they got, yeah. We got some points before Del Tufo screwed it up. Oh, I mean, you did. I'll admit it.
I sucked. I'm so mad my line got cut out the show. Yeah, he had it. Yeah, you had the line. You had the best line of them all.
You did. Yeah, I know. I thought you worked a little blue. Oh, Steve definitely worked blue effort. Steve Harvey, man.
Let's take a break and we'll talk about the New York Giants and, my gosh, what happened in that game. Uh, Josh Pate, hour two, overreaction Monday on a Tuesday, still beckons. There we are. That's good, though. That's a good picture.
There we are. Oh, man, that was so fun. I mean, look at that. Yeah, that was packed going. We did not do well next to Steve Harvey.
Oh. I suck. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high-interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required.
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Great chat with Zach Taylor. Josh Pate is coming up next. Yeah, buddy. And we got Cameron Hayward to be fair and balanced for the Steelers' perspective of things. I texted George Kittle to tell him that always a great day when you're on.
And I asked him if he's good. He wrote back, amazing. Football is life is what we have. Nice. Yeah.
I mean. George Kittle is a Ted Lasso character. In you know, for football. That's true. You know?
So George is on in hour number three of this program. George Robos. Listen. Right. Exactly.
Listen, we had our guy Alan Dallas call in yesterday, Die Hard Giant fan, and I was having my fun with him. Like, manifest it, man. Give me the give me give it give it to me what's going to happen tonight. Let's go. And you know, it all started with Jackson Dart.
Looking like what we saw in week one. which is a highly improved quarterback from year one. With a An ability to escape, an ability to make throws, and an ability to run. to create problems. for the defense because you didn't know which is common.
And um and then doing it in a way where it it it felt controlled. You know?
Didn't feel like, oh my God, he's going to put himself in the blue tent. It really felt. like an absolute real deal repeatable Exciting. Wade a quarterback, an offense that had an improved offensive line. And let's go to work against the Rams team that Okay.
Might show up jet-lagged somehow. And Typical of a New York sports team on a Monday night football, the quarterback doesn't last long. Hmm. I mean, in comes Young and hits him on his right side. Who was it?
Was it Spates who came in on the other one? He got high load, man. And then that left leg, it just looked like, like I said. It it did like flop around like one of those One of those balloons outside of a car dealership. Yeah.
Oh, it's Josiah Stewart. I should know. Michigan man coming around the end. And it it looked terrible. Like a knee's not supposed to Okay.
you know, rock back and forth like that. And out to go start. And in comes Jameis, and he just did not look ready for primetime. Maybe he can, because it looks like he's going to have some time at. under centre here, So Dart goes into the blue tent again, and he's got to be looking in there going, How do I keep winding up here?
Then he limps off to the locker room, We're getting full-on reports from Laura Rutledge. He's not in the X-ray room yet. Oh, wait a minute. He's now in a cart going to the X-ray room. And then we find out the Giants had to take his uniform away from him because he wanted to go back in the game.
They had to hide his uniform from him. And the good news is he was back out on the Field, right? Although in street clothes. Yeah, but he wasn't in a hospital somewhere. That's correct, because.
You know, if it was something really significant. He wouldn't be standing there. One would think. And you know, Then goes Malik neighbors grabbing his shoulder off of what appear to be a very Otherwise, benign You know, meeting with Trent McDuffie. You know, uh McDuffie covering him, and then he grabs his arm and lies down on the ground.
I'm like, what the hell is happening here? Like, somebody protects Scataboo at all costs. Right. And then he tries to jump over someone. Yeah.
Well, but that's just him, man. Yeah. That's him. I know. And I love seeing it.
Then Brian Burns limps off. What a disaster. What a disaster of a Monday night for the Giants. And that's why G-Men fans and friends of mine, when I'm like, this looks real, guys. This looks real, ladies.
We're all like, pump the brakes. They're all looking for the trapdoor. They're all feeling like the PTSD of all these years. Since Coughlin left. Where it just ain't working, but the What are you gonna do?
When The first time your quarterback gets contacted, it's a Malachi crunch and His left leg is the one that's taken the b the brunt of it. The good news, apparently, is it's not a season ender, and that's what John Harbaugh was attempting to hang his hat on last night after the loss. NFL Network's initial report right after the game is a sprained FCL for Jackson. Is that the case? Yeah, we'll know more tomorrow.
That's in the neighborhood of it, I would say. We'll get an MRI tomorrow and have a really good feel for it, and it'll give you more information then. Is that sort of the. Are you raising me without information? I'm not just answering it that way because we'll know more when we find out more.
I think you make those decisions. when you get all the information, not right after the game. How much is that almost, I know it's obviously could lead to missed time, but a sense of relief, you know, when you see something like that, there are outcomes that could be worth it.
Well, there's no question. I mean, the fact that it's not that outcome that you're talking about, the devastating outcome is really good news.
Okay, so it's Jameis time for who knows how long. Let's call it four to six, right? Look at the giant schedule.
Next up, it's Dayball coming into the house.
Alright, the man that John Harbaugh is replacing. And Tennessee is 0-2. Then you're home for Arizona, which is, again, no joke of a team, guys. I know that the Niners just. Uh the Seahawks, pardon me, just put the bang thing on him.
Um Then you're at Washington where I'm assuming it's going to be Jameis versus Mariota, one versus two from that graph class, which is nuts. Wow. There's a story there, though. And then a Saints team with Tyler Shuck coming in that could be in first place in their conference by then. That's the four-weaker.
And if you remember last year, that was when the Giants were playing well with Dart, surprisingly, and then there was a turnover. Palooza for them in the Superdome in a game that they otherwise could have won or would have won before a visit to Houston. And I'm imagining if you got somebody coming back from an MCL and if five to six weeks and week six is a buy and week five has Will Anderson at hall, Coming for you, you're going to wait for the buy.
So maybe, just maybe, if this is four to six weeks. At Philadelphia, which would be a great time to get Dart back. And you know, that's where Scatterbu had his leg blown up last year. For Tango and Cash to be back together doing their thing in that building, surprising the Eagles, helping you out as a Cowboy fan, is exactly the sort of thing that you want to maybe just say, maybe we can do that and get back on the swing of things and win three of the next five. in the process with Jameis.
And go 4-3 into the buy and come out at Philadelphia and see what you can do. Season's not over, not to go full Jim Morris Sr. here. It isn't, but that sucked. Yeah.
to put off Blunt point on it about the Giants. 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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