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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen show. Pichon Robinson explodes for 54 yards. The Rich Eisen show. Today's guests: Super Bowl winning head coach Bruce Arians, ESPN college football analyst Josh Payte, Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward, host of Netflix's The Puzzle Room, David Kwong.
And now it's Rich Eisen.
Well, hey everybody, welcome this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on this Tuesday. Our first guest is going to be Bruce Arians, and then Cam Hayward joins us in hour number three as a regular Tuesday guest. And his guest in his podcast is Bruce Arians. Whoa! I mean, go figure.
Josh Payte is he going to do the Puzzle Room next with David Quang? Because we're just trying to. Actually, the the latest episode of that show on Netflix, the guests are me and Sue's, and it's a bit of a hot mess. And you should watch it because it was a lot of fun to do. I saw some clips.
Eight four four two zero four. It's is the number. How are you, Chris Brockman? Good to see you. Excellent.
What's up, man? DJ Mikey D is in these nuts. Good to see you, man. Thank you. Good morning, Rich.
That was me last night watching the Yankees. Good to see you, T.J. Jefferson. What's going on, man? How fellas?
How's everybody? We're good. We're good. So Bruce Aaron's going to join us in about fifteen minutes' time. It'll be a lot of fun.
So I was talking on yesterday's program with Marcus Spears, and then afterwards, what an incredible night it was! Twenty years ago to be. In the Superdome for the reopening of the Superdome post Hurricane Katrina, NFL Network sent me, Mouch, and Marshall Falk to do NFL Total Access from there in advance of the Monday Night Football game, and it was unreal. I will never forget that environment. I'll never forget that night.
And it was the loudest I've ever heard a stadium in my twenty-plus years. Michael Vick and the Falcons in the house. The Saints hated rivals as they reopened the Superdome. And that said, going into last night's game, having seen. The way the Falcons looked in Michael Penix's first start on Monday Night Football in Week Three against the Packers, I thought the Falcons were the better team, and we're going to win this game.
Oh! Then I turned on the the broadcast, and I saw Steve Gleason there. Yep, and I saw Drew Brees there, and I saw a whole host of people from that night twenty years ago there, and I heard the pregame. Ceremonies, and I heard the crowd, and I immediately texted the group of NFL Game Day Morning that had by choice of the Atlanta Falcons to win the game. I immediately said, "I'm switching to the." Oh, he switched because I thought there was no chance on that night, last night, in that stadium with that crowd, with all the people that were in that place.
To commemorate and celebrate and remember, there was no chance the Saints were going to lose that game.
So I switched and kind of forgot, as I shouldn't, because I have them in the one fantasy league I want to win the most. I forgot that the Atlanta Falcons. Have the biggest home run hitter Atlanta seen since Chipper Jones? Because Bijan Robinson is that. Three snaps in, he quiets the crowd by ripping one straight to the house.
This guy hits a hole and hits the sideline, and he's gone. Seventy fifty nine yarder, ripped it right off, touchdown. And the crowd that was going nuts gets quiet. And he is so good. That's why he's a first-team All-Pro.
And he is so amazing. And he's a tone setter. A running game's a tone setter. If you have somebody that could just take a simple run to the left side and take it to the house, as he almost did in Green Bay last week, as well. What a difference maker that is.
Now then. You also have to have two other things in order to win games in the NFL. Certainly, in an environment like that, you also need a defense. And I'll tell you this, guys: if the Atlanta's Falcons defense, with Jeff Ulbrich dialing up the plays, can play like that, and Bijan shows up as he is now frequently doing, that. Right there is a winning formula in the National Football League in 2026, especially if you've got a quarterback that has a big heart and an arm to go with it.
Now, Week One this year in Pittsburgh and Week Two this year in Atlanta against Carolina. I hate to keep bringing up the name of Cooper Rush because he's basically the only backup quarterback that's looked beyond unusable this year. In which we've already seen, along with Atlanta, we've now seen Washington and Chicago get down to their third-string quarterbacks to play meaningful minutes and snaps this season. Michael Penix coming in. Off of that knee injury, and coming up with a Monday night start in Green Bay, at I mean a a Sunday night start, right?
You you've got a a Thursday night start, pardon me, in Green Bay, and then a Monday night start in the Superdome on the night. That they're remembering the biggest night, maybe in the history of the Superdome. To do that in back-to-back weeks is beyond impressive, beyond impressive. And two years ago, when he was a rookie, he was asked to save their season with hardly any time left. This year, he was given a ton of runway.
And said, "Save our season." Is what they said to him. We're starting zero and two, but we're in Lambeau Field. No pressure, and we're in the Superdome, and the whole country is watching these standalone games. It helps to have again a home run hitter like Bijan, who he's he's a switch hitter too. You could say he he can hit from both sides of the field, right?
And sort of like Chipper.
Sorry, I keep bringing up the brave you hate the most, TJ. But I'm trying to make an analogy here about home run hitting and quieting a crowd on the road. You know, there's a reason why I think he named his kid Shea. Right? Yep.
Okay. Just want to make sure we're all up to speed on everything. Drake London, who in week two was seen on the sideline barking at anybody who he could bark at, has suddenly now come to the fore and existing. Kyle Pitts caught some passes. Jahan Dotson caught a basically game sealing touchdown.
Atlanta playing like this has a top five offense in the NFL. That's a fact. That's a fact. And if the defense can play like this, because Tyler Shuck the Poor man's Josh Allen, as he was referred to by the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, in the only game that the Saints have won this year. Um, he can find Olave and Veley, and last night Alvin Kamara turned back the clock.
If the Falcons can play like this, we got a game on in the NFC South with Carolina. Having played the night before, by the way, great week for the NFC South in front of the under the lights Sunday night and Monday night. The Falcons are are a handful, and you got to give it up. Good, good for Michael Penix, who seems to be is his ninth time playing a game coming back from a knee injury. Right, ninth season of that.
It seems like it. Yeah, he had this to say about winning. In the Superdome for the first time. Was your first NFL start in in the Superdome? How do you think it went?
Yeah, it went great. Obviously, we got we got the results we wanted. It went real good. He's just like a sweetheart, right? That's funny.
Do you got that other soundbite? Yeah. This was him asked about. You know, playing and come back from the knee injury and the whole bit, and now the team's two and two. That I'm healthy.
Yeah, I mean, I I feel like it's we still got a lot of work to do. Um, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm I'm happy and I'm excited at you know just like. I mean, I'm wording that wrong, but um. Yeah, not satisfied. There we go.
Not satisfied. That word was gone just now, but yeah, just not satisfied. You know, we still got a long season. You know, two wins, but it's we're gonna we gotta keep stacking. Yeah, keep stacking.
But the fact that they're stacking because that this season was toast. They had the fewest points in the NFL in the first two weeks, and the most points in the NFL in two weeks after. And Pennix coming back and winging it around and. You know, there was a a funny post I saw a couple weeks ago that somebody, I guess in their guillotine league or some fantasy league, spent a gajillion dollars on the wrong B. Robinson.
Right.
Well, last night that individual was very happy because the wrong B. Robinson scored one more time than the real B. Robinson. Three touchdowns for Brian. Two for Bijan.
Six touchdowns. Hey, and next up for the Atlanta Falcons is the Baltimore Ravens team that somehow lost to this Saints team, and I have to say that with all due respect. And that game is on Sunday Night Football, third straight game in a standalone prime time contest. Thursday, Monday to Sunday, and this one for Panix, it's home. We'll see if.
Lamar is going to be healthy for that. Maybe no Lamar Jackson. I don't know. He he hurt his ankle, and it was a rainy day against Tennessee. And I think they they figured we got this with Snoop Huntley because you would see on the sideline Lamar was just yucking it up.
He didn't look like a guy who's like I'm in trouble here. But that's also a default for Lamar. You you know he's he's always happy go lucky and chill.
So. Yeah, Ian Rapoport this morning said an outside chance to play against the against the Falcons. We'll see.
So that would be good for the Falcons, to be honest. With all due respect to Snoop Huntley, you know you'd rather face him than Lamar. Yeah. Season saved in Atlanta, basically the headline there. And then the New Orleans Saints, a team that got, you know.
Close in Detroit and and left Detroit in week one feeling hosed, and I think that that's an appropriate feeling, you know. And then week two, coming back in Baltimore and winning that game to go one and one, and then Vegas coming in and turning the team over in the fourth quarter four times, so they had that game in hand against a team that. Just went toe to toe with the Chiefs and is, I think, as I said on Monday Show, for real. Last night, though, they had the doors blown off them in a game that they had to win, and I am not talking about wins and losses for the standings. I am talking about for the city and for the dome, for the culture.
You know, like. That was just a big, huge no-show against the team they they hate. That's a serious rivalry. I know it's Packers Bears week, and we're going to be talking a lot about that rival because it's known as the biggest rival re in the NFL. This is this is like one a a big fat no-show.
Defensively, they had no answers. I mean, at one point. Troy Aikman's like you know we were talking to Brandon Staley, the defensive coordinator, former Chargers head coach, and defensive coordinator in here in Los Angeles as well. Aikman said we talked to him before the game, and you know we sensed he knew he didn't have the right pieces to stop this team, and sure enough, it was borne out. Good news for the Saints is it's just only four games in, and they've got a young quarterback.
Not so young; I mean, he's he's twenty seven, but he is he's a very prideful guy. And and and I think this is the way that you want your quarterback to show up after a game like this, where the team didn't show up in a stadium that everyone showed up in for a good reason. This is the sort of answer that you want to hear. Yeah, it's extremely disappointing. It's embarrassing, and I mean, you can't say enough good things about the fans showing up.
The entire process, what this game, you know, meant, and we fell short as a team to not get that win.
So that was our mission. That was my message, and we didn't win. And it was a team loss. We got to do better on all fronts, and you know, us as an offense, starting faster when it comes to you know another really good offense as well, and being able to do our part. And we got to do we got to do a Lot better there, and starts with myself.
I mean, that's the answer you want to hear, there, right? Um, here's the issue: their next opponent is an undefeated Minnesota Vikings team coming in in Week Five.
Now, how about this? How about this? Defensively, they had trouble stopping Atlanta. The Minnesota offense, even if Justin Jefferson returns, right now with Kyler Murray, they look lost. I'm not going to lie.
Okay, just play the way that the Dolphins' defense did, and you got yourself a shot in that dome. You always do. That place is a tough spot. Then you got to visit the resurgent three and one. Doesn't matter who's playing quarterback.
Apparently, Giants. Before you play the Steelers in the first game ever in Paris. Those are the next three before a buy for the Saints, but they do have to fix what's going down on defense, and and that's a check the mirror game because man, what an environment! This has nothing to do with the fact that I switched to them and they they they lost. I just thought that's a wrap.
Yeah, I thought it too. And instead, the Falcons came in and hit them in the mouth repeatedly. It was like uh. Hans Gruber hit it again because you want to make a point to the Saints, and you do that with you know team owner and new team president Matt Ryan in the building for your head coach. That was a big win for the Falcons.
Joining us now here on the Rich Eisen Show is one of my favorites. He's a Super Bowl winning head coach. Courtesy of the Relax, it's a blood test campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer screening and the importance of knowing your risk. Bruce Arion's back on the show. All right, how are you, BA?
What's going on? How you doing, Rich? I appreciate you bearing with us here today. Thanks for thanks for joining. Oh, you bet.
You know, again, just real quick, what what did you think of the contest in New Orleans last night? I mean that. That says you know a really tough place to play, and that everyone was ready to show up and show out like 20 years ago against the Falcons, and the Falcons hit him in the mouth. On Monday, yeah, that that running game the Falcons has is pretty dynamic right now, and I've always loved Michael Penix. I said, "Boy, if the Falcons get him back, they're going to be a really good offensive football team." And you know, I think they're scoring forty points a game since he's been back and rushing for like two hundred yards every game.
But I think the Falcons are legit right now. Who's the Saints? Yeah, and then the Saints' defense is injured. You can't have any. You better have your whole defense when you go up against the Falcons because they got too many weapons.
They sure do. And we just showed number seven on the screen. There in Bijan Robinson, Bruce, who does he remind you of? Is there any comp for Bijan to somebody? I mean, the only guy I can even come close to is Barry Sanders.
I mean, Jamar Gibbs. Woods and Buffalo—they're all three so dynamic, but Bishan takes it to a whole other level with his jump cut ability, his pass catch ability. He reminds me a lot of Barry when he's running the football.
Well, that's as high praise as you can give, right? I mean, because he does—he does cut on a dime, but he can also hit the hole and he's gone. He's history. For sure, I mean Barry Sanders scored the best touchdown ever seen just touchdown on a draw play, and Vizion's the same way. I mean he runs that zone play as good as anybody because he can hit D gap from one end to the other.
Bruce Arians here on the Rich Eisen Show. Who's the best team in the NFL right now? It's really tough to identify. Through four weeks, it feels wide open. But what's your opinion on this, Bruce?
I love where the Chiefs are. With with I thought Kenneth Walker was the biggest get in the entire off season to put with Patrick. But when Patrick Mahomes is your leading rusher, you got problems, and that's how you got hurt last year. But you know that running game they've got with with Patrick is dynamic. Their defense, you know, Spags is always going to have them playing good.
I think everywhere else, it's going to be a dogfight. I think it's going to be one of those years. The last three weeks of the season gonna decide everything for everybody.
So the NFC West, you're very familiar with that division for sure. You've got the 49ers who have yet to lose. You've got the defending Super Bowl champs who welcome in the 49ers this weekend, having only one loss, and the Rams having lost twice. Who do you think is the best team in that division? Period.
I'm gonna stick with Seattle. Drew Lock's playing really, really well. When Sam gets healthy, I mean that defense. They got a lot of new pieces too, so they're finding their way. But I'm gonna stick with the champ till you beat him.
But the Niners look really good. I think the Rams got all the hype and we're living with the hype. That Miles got hurt and Aaron's only playing fifty percent of the time, so it's not quite the defense everybody thought it was going to be. And Matthew's thrown a few interceptions, unlike him. All right.
So the Packers and the Bears are playing this week, Bruce.
Okay, and I'm wondering about which head coach taking on this rivalry. Is an approach that you would rather have, okay? And I want to play a couple sound bites. This was Matt Lafleur on Monday talking about the rivalry and what he's heard from Chicago's head coach. This game is about players, and so we'll keep it about the players.
You know, I'm not the one out there; they're playing.
So, I think that's that's always been my mentality, and we're going to keep it about those guys. And don't get me wrong; I love the rivalry. It's awesome. It's great. It's intense.
You can feel it on game day. You can feel it throughout the course of the week, and also the significance. I mean, they're the defending North champions, so. What a great opportunity, great challenge for us in our home stadium to play against the defending champs. All right, so that's Mount Lafleur Monday.
After beating the Jets on Sunday, Ben Johnson speaking to the team said, "You know, this is, you know, what week it is." You just left it at that, but we we hearken back to beating the Bears in the wild card game, and this was him in the locker room after. Yeah, that's what he said about beating the Packers, Bruce. Which one speaks to you more? Right, Ben, that's more like me. I've had a few of those conversations when I was in Arizona and Tampa Bay.
So, yeah, I think Matt handles it really, really a lot of class, and and you can tell he's just an intensity burning right there in that in that interview. Ben, he doesn't hold back. I love it about him.
So, who was that team that you were, you know, f bombing in the locker room prior to playing?
Well, in Tampa, Tampa was always the Saints, and because they were the king of the hill at the time. And when when I was in in Arizona, it was Seattle; they were the kings of the hill, and yeah, we. We won, I think, four times up there, and we lost all at home and tied once. And you know, Jeff Fisher and I always had some good banner, but Jeff and I are good friends. But it's just friendly banner, okay.
And and do you think that that is something that players respond to? You know, what? Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah. They they know when your coach doesn't like the other team, and if it's personal, you you try to get it personal sometimes on purpose, just to get a little extra into the practice sessions.
Okay, and in terms of Lafleur, what do you think he's saying behind the scenes? Do you think it's any different? I can't say it on the air, Rich. Harry told me not to cuss. Got that?
You got those marching orders, huh? Yes, I did. Do you miss coaching at all? I do not. I love the.
I miss the locker room. I miss the guys, the coaches, the players. I do not miss the game, and I damn sure don't miss referees. Did you see the league suspended too this week? About time.
It's about time. You know, t here is finally some accountability in that department. Yeah, because one one one official was seen cursing out Trey McBride, and another official was just hopped. You know, got knocked over and got really angry at the player who who knocked him over. You saw that, right?
Oh yeah, yeah. I was surprised it wasn't a coach that got more in trouble that got cussed out because coaches say a lot of ugly things, especially me. But for to say it to a player, that's that's that's a little bit different. Bruce Arians here on the Rich Eisen show. All right, I know my time with you is limited, so let's just get to it.
Relax, it's a bloodtest dot com. To find a screening location nearest you for prostate cancer, I'll give you the floor here on this, Bruce. Yeah, you know I'm a prostate cancer survivor, so this very, very dear to my heart, and very, very proud to team up with Navitus. You know. Roughly one in eight men in the United States, especially African American men, are going to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Early detection is the key, and I beg guys, forty, start a scorecard, get to your doctor, get your blood test, check your PSA level. That's how I found mine. As it elevated, I went to the doctor, and he said, "I don't think it's anything," but I think. We didn't do a biopsy just in case, and I found out I had cancer at fifty-one. And great doctor, operated, got out, got rid of it.
But you know, crucial catch month is—I think it's very, very dear to the players and the coaches because so many of us have been touched by the dead damn cancer. And so, yeah, relax. It's the bloodtest.com. Early detection, and like I said, it's very, very personal for me.
So it's it's something I I really believe in, and want to raise as much awareness as I can and help stop this problem. Bruce, always great to see you. Family's good. Everybody good. Everybody.
Oh, had a great week, great weekend at Virginia Tech. That damn kick was good though. It did. I mean, it depended on the angle, though, right? No.
Yes.
Okay. Okay. Very good. Just, I loved. I loved seeing you.
Always great to see you. Thanks for the time. You too, brother.
Okay, that's Bruce Arians right here on the Rich Eisen show. Great first fun segment here on the show. Let's hit the break because we've been on the air for the first 25 minutes of the hour, which we're very appreciative of. When we come back, baseball, baseball playoffs. We'll have to talk about that.
Josh Pate coming up the next hour, talking college football. Don't go anywhere. Hiring for a small business is hard. You don't often have a team of people helping out. That's why LinkedIn built Hiring Pro.
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One more time: gusto.com/slash-rich. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.
So here we are. Happy birthday! Happy birthday to us! Happy anniversary to us! By the way, it's twelve years ago today.
This show first came on the air. Sir, a month later, we were simulcast for the first time. But it was twelve years ago today, right here on the campus of DirecTV in El Segundo, California. Rich, you want to? We're still here.
They're not most of them. Yeah, something something funny. You weren't here because you were off doing NFL Network stuff. But Chris and Mike, you remember when there was a run through the first show? Was just to run through testing the cameras, just seeing everything.
I was actually the first guest. I sat in the chair while I remember that. Who was who was hosting that day? It was the producer. It might have been Drew.
Drew, yes, Drew was playing you. Yeah, to get everything ready, and I came in. I was technically the first guest. He sat there and he he interviewed me while the cameras were. I remember that testing and everything was going.
So I also remember. Not knowing you had been hired by Direct, they hired me. I got hired basically in like January and February. They told me they're going to do a podcast. I found out it was you early, right?
And they said if you open your mouth, we're get Chris set. Yeah, because it wasn't done yet. It wasn't done. You cannot say like again, Chris. I have the texts that can prove it.
You were an NFL Network employee, and I had to bring, you know, I, I, and I was too. Honestly, you know Xander, who's now eighteen. I thought I had to give him up to to get the contractual window in the NFL world to do this show. Yes, you know I thought literally would cost me a firstborn. Big to do, you know.
And screw it, I'll tell the whole story here. Um. You know, Directv wanted this to happen. Yeah, but there was a merger. Stop me if you've heard about mergers before between Directv and I think Time Warner or something like that.
That was just starting. Yeah. There was a Time Warner merger with with DirecTV or something, and then AT and T came in later. And there was the dispute was involving the red zone. Oh, right, right, right.
The ability to show out of market games that DirecTV had that package at the time, and that was the holdup. Like, how are we going to handle all that? And if they went ahead and hired me to do this show without the NFL's consent, because my NFL contract was up too, they thought like that would. Ruined the merger, and the executive in charge here at the time, fellow named Dan York. What's up, Dan?
Thank you, and Dan Patrick for saying it's okay if Rich, my old Sports Center buddy, does a show after mine. And of course, Christopher J. Long, the man who, you know, was a heartbeat of this show and this campus and audience network. Twelve years ago today, he he. They basically said, "If we do your show deal now, without approval, without anything going on, because we're like, you just want to hire me to." Period.
They're like, "We don't want to antagonize the NFL." I am like, "So you are telling me, like, the biggest merger in the history of mergers in our business at the time is now holding the beer of everything else going on right now? That me being hired could ruin all of that? Is that what you are saying?" And they're like, "We're not going to risk it." Because my agent at the time is just write down a number on a piece of paper and go drive all the way out to the Nevada California border and tell me what garbage can you'll leave it under and I'll drive out there and look at that and no one will know and they were like nope and sure enough at some point Roger Goodell who I have to thank as well said go ahead and do it if you if you can do this show. And NFL Network, and I don't ever hear that you are tired or you are doing this. And we have first position.
Go ahead and do it. And it all got done, and here we are, twelve years later, and now I'm on ESPN. That's crazy. I mean, it was a wow thing. It is crazy.
Also, Rich, you know, like I said, I worked on corporate back then, so I was working very closely with Chris. And like I said, I remember the day you brought your name up. I remember the whole process. It was the lunch in the studio. The studio used to be a restaurant, right?
Yeah, and one thing, Chris. Said to me, he was like, "I got to find a way to get you on the show, on that show with those guys." And he said he would. He said that at least four times to me during the process. And I was like, "He's already got four guys." I'm like, "There's no way that's ever going to happen, Chris." But and for me to be here now, after he said that 13 years ago, because that's how long it took. Yes.
It's kind of wild to me. No, and you're you're referring to Chris Law, who used to sit between the two of you guys, who was an integral part of our podcast that this show was born out of as well. I send my best to him where he is today. And you, we were looking for some social media help. Yeah, you TJ showed up here with another individual whose name escapes me to be honest, because you were so far and away more engaged.
Yeah. More into it, more. I'll say the word lovely to hang out with. You know, you're just a delight, and that's what we're trying to create here: is a working environment that that exudes, um, you know, friendship, partnership, excitement, and you know, we've gotten a mix right. Um, you were so far and away the guy, and.
And we want to thank everybody out there. I didn't plan on doing all this. No, this is just came off the top of my head here. Thanks to all the viewers that have stuck with us, yeah, man. Yeah, you know, I mean, they follow DirecTV to we, you know, Rich Eisen Productions, which was created in December of twenty nineteen.
YouTube Live Chat, YouTube Live. We we through a pandemic, through different places from NBC Sports and Peacock to the Roku Channel, which just delightful. People there, from Charlie Collier to Roku, Joe, Francesca, all of those folks. It's incredible, and now our our partners with Disney Plus and ESPN. You know everybody there for that show twelve years ago to be what brought me back together with Disney and ESPN before that merger happened another merger.
My goodness, thank you to everybody and to everybody here working here behind the scenes. Liz Hoskins, Sean Mitchell, and the rest of the crew that works so hard. Yeah, Jordan Dilo, Adam, everybody. Thank you. We of course all of them.
I knew if I was going down the line, I'd forget. Everybody, we'll just say thanks to everybody. Let's go for making this happen. But most importantly, you listening and watching. Great sound does more than just fill a room; it pulls you into the moment.
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We know. I just made that up. We'll take a break. We'll talk about all of that when we return. Baseball.
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It's still going on. Baseball, it is.
So listen, not for much longer. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm just going to come out and say it. You know, because I, I always shoot you straight. And, man, you know, I know I'm associated with the NFL. Thankfully, because of my near quarter century with NFL Network, you know.
But my first true love was baseball, and the first team I fell in love with in my entire life were the 1976 New York Yankees.
So I go, it goes way back, and I've been watching baseball for a long time.
So I'm just going to come out on a limb and put this out there: that if you've got your Cy Young candidate stopper on the mound, down by a game in a best of five series, the the one thing you should do is catch the ball behind him. That's a good note, you know, and and when you throw to you know the ball, it should go to another teammate who should then catch it. That's why they have gloves, you know.
So basically, in support of Cam Schlitler, three errors in the first inning. Nah, it's not optimum. The fact that the Yankees were down only one, he only scored one, is because of Schlitler's greatness. And then you know more errors after that, including one by you know their rookie shortstop George Lombard's been terrific in his first go round here in an inning that got extended by that error and those errors last night by the Yankees. Including a mind-blowing one by Jazz Chisholm Jr.
at second base, trying to complete an impossible double play that he then threw the ball away, that led to the first run getting in unearned because the guy shouldn't have been on first base because Ryan McMahon booted an easy ground ball to start, or at least what looked routine. I'm not the one with the glove on. I understand. Um. So those errors wiped out the Cy Young award-winning, and I believe Camp Schlitter will his hard work and ability to potentially win this game for them, and it wiped out two home runs by Ben Rice, who's been spectacular without Aaron Judge, wiped him out.
So. You know, I posted on Threads last night that if the New York Post headline is not couldn't field for Schlitt, oh, that's a good one. Then they should fold. That's a good one. They should fold as a publication.
That's good. Which they, you know, kind of might should do anyway. But Schlitt. You know, my buddy Paul, who's a diehard Yankee fan as well, thought it couldn't it couldn't hit for Schlit. I am like, let's punch it up.
Couldn't field for Schlit because it's all the errors, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, the New York Post back page headline: What we got? Would you believe? Went Taylor Swift on you?
Oh, yeah. They called it the Errors Tour. Wow, and they spell the Yankees with four E's.
Okay, that's not bad. That's why they're the Yankees, man. Facing Swift exit, you like Swift because it's errors tour. Facing swift exit after simply putrid defensive effort. You know what?
That's pretty good. Yeah, gotta give it up to him.
So they saved it. I thought couldn't field for Schlit. A little too long, maybe. Maybe a little wordy. Troll level level ten, right there.
Errors tour facing swift exit. It's good. It's good. It's good. I really enjoyed the game.
You know what, Rockman? You know what, man. This is what Aaron Boone had to say after the after the loss in Tampa on the Chisholm error. Jimenez, the ground ball to Lombard, he makes the backhanded flip to Jazz. Do you want the Jazz sort of not make that throw to first?
Yeah, probably, probably a little force there. Obviously, you don't have great speed there going down the line.
So yeah, I mean, probably best, you know. If if if you if you're under control and you make the throw, though, it's probably going to be bang bang.
So I don't necessarily have a problem with the throw. We got to play catch, you know. It's big leagues. It's the big leagues. It's the big leagues.
Let's see. Let's see if Jazz thought better of it afterwards. Oh, let's see if he if he thought better of it afterwards. Honestly, I probably still throw it honestly in the play that was trying to be made. I just feel like I could have try probably try to make a better, even better throw.
And now that I where I throw it, I try and throw it a little bit more close to the base. You know, my back was turned, so so. I mean, it almost hit Baker Mayfield in the back of the head wherever he was. Oh God, Rich, yeah. Here's the issue.
Here's the issue is that the Yankees, the way that they played in the first two games against Tampa, or at least this one, this game two, completely different from the the way that they played against the Red Sox, but completely like what the Dodgers had so much fun with after beating the Yankees in that World Series when they all got together in a very famous Bleacher Report podcast conversation, where they were basically talking about put the ball in play. Put the ball and play against the Yankees, and they'll make the mistake. Buck Martinez is like they they they strike out too much and they don't feel the ball.
So just let them beat themselves. You don't have to beat them; let them beat themselves. And at one point, I did text our friend Vinnie Pasquintino, who's going to join us later on this week. Is Cam Schlitler tipping his pitches because the Rays were on it so significantly well? And he goes, nope, he's not.
They're not tipping pitches. The Rays just lead the league with the flattest swing rate, swing plane. They're swing plane. They're flattest swing plane, and they don't strike out.
So Cam Schlitler is going to struggle against them in a way that he does. He dominates others. Just two strikeouts for him. That's it. They took his superpower right out, and then they they just put the ball in play, and the Yankees did the rest.
So we'll see what happens in Game Three. It looks like Max Freed apparently his his girlfriend is due to give birth. Oh, and we'll see if he makes this start. It could be Redone instead. I don't know.
And I say Mazel Tov to the Freed family if that's the reason why he doesn't make the third game. Start, but we'll see what happens. Going up to Yankee Stadium, I would counsel Aaron Boone to put back into the lineup those that did well against the Red Sox. This lefty-righty stuff, I don't care. I don't care.
Clearly, the lineup in Tampa reverted to the form of the regular season, as opposed to what we saw. In New York against the Red Sox, where they put the ball in play, you know I feel like this is like Bill Durham. You catch the ball, hit the ball, you hit the ball, and don't lollygag the around the infield. And yes, Jazz, don't throw it. Yeah, if I had my feet and I had the ability to get it there, I will do it again.
And if my grandmother had wheels, right?
Something like that, yeah. But just play with your head. And if the Yankees get eliminated, then you got to look at the general manager again and say, in this day and age where everybody's throwing a hundred miles an hour plus, and then their off-speed stuff is in like the mid nineties, do you want to send a lineup that is basically homerun or bust out there, or do you want it like what we're seeing in Tampa, Milwaukee? Just a name too. Obviously, if you have as much money as the Dodgers, which the Yankees do, you get them both.
You get someone who can hit home runs, and you get someone who put put the ball in play. And then when the ball is put in play against you, sorry, I wrote it down. Yeah. Okay. Just yeah.
We got time. Thank you. You catch it. Oh, and then when you throw it. You throw it to your teammate.
Not really to your teammates. The errors tour. I just thought couldn't field for Schlit was the winner. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to three Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
