REShow: Hour 1

This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Goats have home lives too. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. Rich Eisen. Hello Rich Eisen. Rich Eisen. Oh, that's Susie Eisen's husband. The Rich Eisen Show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program. Happy Thanksgiving. Always an honor to sit in for Rich. I'm feeling good. Tons of football to get to.

But as always, the goal is to be interactive. The phone number is 1-844-204-RICH. That's 1-844-204-7424.

With the caveat on a big word holiday, phone calls are taken selectively. Twitter is still functioning. Last I checked, let me refresh.

Yep, it's still there. You can hit me up on social media. Tweet at me, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. I am lucky enough to be sitting in for one of the best in our industry.

And Rich Eisen, my former colleague at NFL Network. And remember, I am only one man. Now I'm loud enough for several people. I realize my voice has a tendency to project. But I got a lot of pressure because I have to be almost, I'm never going to be as, almost as compelling as Rich Brockman, TJ Dalton.

I'm a little too faux, so there's a lot of pressure on me. And to make the main thing the main thing, I'm not going to bludgeon you with guests, not going to overwhelm you with outside voices unless you want to be a part of the program. In fact, no guests in the first hour. We're wide open. And then coming up in the second hour of the show, 1.40 Eastern Time, we'll get to college football. Beyond what I'm going to tackle in 40 minutes, we'll go round the nation with Matt Fortuna of The Athletic and then we'll wrap up the show. Final hour with my annual Thanksgiving conversation as a veteran of working holidays because I want to avoid my family. We're going to get into all of the drama surrounding the Jets and Broncos.

Feels like bad reality shows both in Denver and in New Jersey with my pal Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety who, coincidentally, played for both the New York Jets and the Broncos. Let me lean over. Thankfully, we're not on the Roku channel today, no simulcast, so you can't see me doing my best to crane my neck to get right on top of this microphone. But there is a button over here.

Let me hit it. Countdown the kickoff officially underway. And for once, the game in Detroit could be interesting.

Don't look now. The Lions are relevant at 4-6. They're not dead in the wildcard race in the NFC. They've won three straight.

I think they exposed the New York football Giants last week. Detroit hosting Buffalo, although Buffalo has been feeling very much at home in Detroit having to relocate their game against the Browns last week because of that massive storm in western New York. So once the game gets underway, I'll keep you constantly updated, but I don't want to give you too many details because then you're going to flip away. But as a veteran of working on Thanksgiving, it is my duty knowing that you are probably out and about.

You have a lot going on. So when I'm in your position, when I'm in the car and I hear a guy bloviating the way I am right now with the monologue coming up in less than a minute, if there's a game of importance going on, I want to know the score. So I'm not going to do traffic and weather together, but I'll fire up my computer.

Won't turn on the TV because I'll get distracted. But I'll let you know about the big moments as they develop at Ford Field. And then we're going to methodically get you ready for the Giants and the Cowboys. Amazingly, the NFC East is actually good this year from top to bottom. How about Washington?

I'll make the case they could be the most interesting team in all of football despite their abhorrent ownership. And then tonight in primetime, will Kirk Cousins show up under the bright lights? We know he has an abysmal record in games played in the non-traditional 1 o'clock Eastern window. We saw it again last week. He didn't have to play at night, but it felt like he was playing under deep, deep, deep undercover conditions as he got obliterated, destroyed by Dallas last week. So where is Minnesota?

Are they fraudulent to a degree? I realize your record indicates who you are, as we quote the great philosopher Bill Parcells, but Minnesota feels like a paper champion at 8-2. Remember, they have a negative point differential. They've been outscored this year, taking on the Patriots who won the ugliest game I've ever seen.

And I'm older than my exuberant delivery would suggest. That game between the Jets and the Patriots set football back 75 years. It cost Zach Wilson his starting job, not only based on his abysmal performance, but how he acquitted himself in the postgame media session. Patriots at 6-4, they've won three straight very much in the playoff hunt. In fact, if the playoffs started today, it would be a surprise to all of us because it's only Thanksgiving.

But the Patriots would be a wildcard team. So hopefully by now, because I've had the wonderful opportunity to sit in for Rich now for the better part of a year, and you might hear me elsewhere, my style is a little bit classic radio as a monologuist. I'm like Spalding Gray, look that one up.

But I will incorporate your tweets. It's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. So let's spend a couple moments on Buffalo and Detroit, but we're really going to use that as a catalyst to drive conversation in the AFC.

I want to pass along some thoughts on the Jets. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. We are live, we'll do it live. And because I am a realist, understanding the audience can be a bit diminished on a holiday. Although the first time I was asked to fill in on a radio show on Thanksgiving, I'm dating myself again, mid 1990s, I'm working in San Francisco at the old ticket 1050, now KMBR 1050, and my boss spun it this way.

Hey, you're going to get paid to talk, you're loquacious, you like to talk, you're verbose. You can watch the game, you're going to watch it either way. And remember, there's going to be thousands of people in the Bay Area in the car. You're going to have the biggest audience you've ever heard, young man.

I bought that. I realize many affiliates will be picking up play by play. In fact, they probably have the pregame right now going on. And if you're not aware of your options, I'll get there momentarily, but if you've had difficulty being a part of the show in the past, today is your chance because I think the tweet volume will slow down. That's B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. And since I gave you the overview of the triple header today, reminder, you can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports, sponsored by AutoZone. Free battery testing, free battery charging, and replacement batteries that fit your needs. That's what makes AutoZone America's number one battery destination. Get in the zone, AutoZone. The Bills felt like they were in a zone not too long ago, but the intriguing thing as we know about the NFL, and let me dust off the first of many cliches, you've heard it many times, it's a week to weekly. But if you just think about the trajectory of the Bills recently, the Jets flat out beat them. There was nothing flukey about that game at MetLife Stadium. And I realized there was the, let's be fair in terms of context, injury to Josh Allen's elbow and go back to how that game came together. There was a lot of speculation that Allen might not be able to play. We were on Case Keenum.

Watch, watch, watch, watch, watch. But the Jets were the better team undeniably that day. Then you see Buffalo bounce back against Minnesota, dictate the terms all the way deep into the fourth quarter, but here come the Vikings because that's what they do with the five wins this year coming in which they had a deficit with 230 or less left in regulation.

And that was one of the most bizarre games I've ever seen. I really am Captain Hyperbole today, but think of a weirder sequence of events than Kirk Cousins being denied inside the one after Justin Jefferson had one of the greatest catches in the last 25 years on that what, fourth and 18, right around the two minute warning. Cousins can't score. All Josh Allen has to do is avoid what he did. He could have taken a safety instead. I sound like Paul Allen now.

What are you doing? Why do you ponder passing on the Viking Radio Network? All he had to do was get the ball out of the end zone, could not touch down Minnesota on the fumble recovery. Somehow Allen gets them into overtime and then throws another ghastly interception in the end zone giving Minnesota the win. So at that point, the conversation around the NFL was, what's wrong with Buffalo? And then you have the ridiculous notion that organizations somehow have a mindset that can stretch over decades.

Buffalo can't finish. Cue up in your mind's eye the image of Scott Norwood, wide right, which of course is insane, but that's what we do in sports. We're always looking to come up with explanations for random acts, and if we didn't, sports talk radio wouldn't exist. If I just said, well, that's how it happened, that's not much of a show.

I got three hours to cover and try my best to be entertaining. So had I been on the radio in a postgame setting, I think I would have joined the chorus of people saying, I got to see more from Buffalo. Because forget about Norwood and the four Super Bowls that went unrealized, four consecutive Super Bowls, by the way, that'll never happen again.

But go back to last year in the playoffs, 13 seconds in that postseason game for the ages on the road in Kansas City. Buffalo unable to finalize once more. So the tag against the Bills, despite having, if you believe the metrics from Pro Football Focus, the most complete roster in the AFC, or just use the eyeball test. There are no obvious holes when you look on both sides of the football for Buffalo. And Josh Allen is transcendent.

The problem for the Bills long term, they need a much more refined ground game because he keeps putting his body on the line. But you were hearing, I'm going to do a little bit of a Heimlich here, Buffalo might be Chokers. So that felt like an important win last week. Yeah, they beat Cleveland. And yes, it was quote unquote neutral site in Detroit, whether back on the field coming up in 20 minutes, but I'm not abandoning the notion I had that was lined up with the Sharpies in Las Vegas.

And that's why they have those big littering buildings in Nevada. I still think Buffalo is the best team in the AFC. Now the counter would be, have you not been watching Kansas City?

And I have. And it was more late game magic from Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night. I could bash the Chargers because Chargers often Charger.

It becomes a verb or gerundive or whatever part of grammar it is. Chargers find a way to lose, but I don't have a real issue with what they did defensively. Mahomes was simply too good. If we're going back to the record, indicating who the best teams are, Kansas City eight and two best record in the AFC. You know, Philadelphia only has the one loss best record in the NFC and we'll get into what's working in the NFC East coming up in our number two in less than 10 minutes. We'll connect Philadelphia to Green Bay. You see Aaron Rodgers finally admitting yesterday he has had a broken thumb for over a month. Hmm.

What a coinkydink. So his numbers are abysmal, mostly because they have any playmakers, but as much of a fanboy as I am for Aaron Rodgers, I can't yada yada yada my way past all of the Aaron throws that he's put together. But now that Rodgers has decided to be transparent out of nowhere about the broken thumb, what was the rationale for that decision? Is there any chance Green Bay can salvage their season?

That's coming up in 10 minutes. But if I'm slotting teams in the AFC, I am not abandoning Buffalo just yet. If you care about where things are at right now, Buffalo would have the top wildcard spot. Remember, and I have to always pause, even though it's been now a couple seasons this year, we're the second with the 17 game regular season and the additional wildcard. Some of the things that we just knew from muscle memory are no longer true, but Buffalo is going to the playoffs one way or the other. And as much as I love Miami, I'm a huge Mike McDaniel guy.

I hate to be this reductionist. I have more faith in Josh Allen, even with that horrendous game he had against Minnesota and his penchant for have a little bit of Brett Favre in him with trusting his arm too much and throwing into tight windows. But I'll take Allen over to a tongue of Bialoa and we'll just see how that plays out. And I'm not in any way undermining Miami. I think Miami is tremendous. Beyond McDaniel, just think about their ability to stretch the field with Waddle and Tyreek Hill. But it's a testament to Kansas City. They have not missed a beat when they decided not to pay Tyreek.

If you're not aware, and I don't blame you, it's a holiday week. If you've not looked ahead to what's coming up on Sunday, Miami rested coming off the bye at 7 and 3. Taking on Houston, thank you very much. Only one win.

It doesn't matter if the Texans go with Davis Mills, who's been a turnover machine, or Kyle Allen. That's another win for Miami. But if you're asking me right now, who do I believe in more, I'm going Buffalo based on the strength of their defense. Now let's find out today if Buffalo can have a straightforward beat down win.

Because if you watched that game via the red zone, or actually tuned in in your market, last week Buffalo had a stagnant first half against Cleveland, pulled away in the second half. They could use a straightforward curb stomping today. And the Lions are a nice story.

I'm going to skip my rant about, oh we have to adore Lions football and Thanksgiving once more. At least they are back in the conversation. They started the year, as you probably know, with one of the worst defensive statistical performances we've seen in the history of the league. They were on pace to give up more points than any team in the modern era of the NFL. They tightened things up, and they are overcoming the limitations of Jared Goff, but this should be Buffalo dictating the terms.

And if we're just now trying to get a handle on the rest of the AFC East, what do we make of the Jets? Because I don't think Robert Saleh had a choice other than the decision he made official yesterday. For at least one week, Zach Wilson had to sit. For a variety of reasons. I mentioned, I have never endured a more tedious football experience.

It's my job after all. But it felt like I was getting a root canal watching that unbelievable, hideous game between the Patriots and the Jets. The Jets had what? Two yards of total offense in the entire second half. Zach Wilson could not play any worse. If you're looking at metrics like completion percentage of 34 guys who have been in the mix to qualify for that, he's numbered 34. Statistically, in many ways, he's been the least efficient quarterback in all of football.

But as bad as that was, as putrid of performance as we saw from Wilson on Sunday, what he did in the postgame press conference was even worse. If you're the quarterback on any level, you have to accept responsibility. Especially if you're the quarterback in New York. This is the business we have chosen.

Godfather II. You sign up for that job, you're the number two overall pick. Wilson didn't have a say in that, but you know when you're going to New York with that kind of burden of expectations, you have to be accountable. And when you're asked after that grizzly game, did you let down your defense, Zach Wilson?

And you respond with two words. No, no. Well, there's no chance you're going to be starting the following week. So what does Mike White mean?

Probably nothing. Good news for the Jets is they're taking on the Bears. Still unclear if Justin Fields can play with his shoulder injury.

If not, it's future Hall of Famer Trevor Simeon. Beyond that, the Bears' defense has been atrocious. So this should be a get-right game for the Jets. But if Salah didn't make that move at least for a week or two with the Jets at 6-4, still very much in the playoff hunt, there was a real possibility he was going to lose his locker room.

Because the Jets' defense is playing well, the veterans know what's going on, and if you have a stinkaroo like Wilson did, you gotta own it. But the perception is driving a reality, and you are how people perceive you to be. There's your deep insight from the villain host. The notion has grown that Wilson is an entitled brat. I won't get into the family money. I don't care about his affluence.

You can come from any walk of life and have a misguided and wrong sense of entitlement. That's what we saw from Wilson. But big picture, if you look at the Jets' schedule, it gets murderous in the weeks to come. After this Bears game with Mike White under center, what to tell you about Joe Flacco, they wanted no part of a former Super Bowl champion who's running on fumes at this stage of his career. Jets gotta go to Minnesota, cue up that horn.

Then they go to Buffalo. I think in those games, you want to have the ability to go back to Wilson, and he said the right things in his press conference yesterday. This was a, as Salah called it, a reset. This was a, you're dealing with a young kid, and you say you need a timeout. And you hope it's a teachable moment. But the Jets aren't going anywhere with Mike White.

Now the pushback would be, statistically, he could not be any worse than Wilson was last week, but Salah made the only choice he could, because if he didn't, there was a real risk he was going to blow the locker room moving forward. I'm Brian Weber. We're just getting warmed up. We're about 10 minutes away from kickoff in Motown.

It's the Lions and the Bills when the game gets underway. I'll keep you updated. Reminder, no guests in this very first hour of the program.

You want to slide in, it's 1-844-204-RICH, 1-844-204-7424. I'm about to check the Twitter account. That's VW Weber.

Weber with two B's. Be nice. It's a holiday.

Reduce the venom, if possible. In 20 minutes, we get to the college football. Monster Weekend, led by No. 2 Ohio State, hosting No. 3 Michigan, with all the injuries from both teams and running back. Let's talk about the playoff scenarios.

I love to run through what-if combinations. Straight ahead, as mentioned, we'll start looking ahead to Sunday's game. Philadelphia and Green Bay, highly interesting, with Aaron Rodgers acknowledging he's had a broken thumb since Week 5. Why did he make that admission yesterday? Plus, Rodgers turns 39 next week. What does his future look like and will it be in Green Bay next year? Ton to get to. Always a pleasure to be in for Rich.

Thanks for sharing part of your Thanksgiving with us. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. It's the Rich Isenship. Influencer.

It's a word that gets tossed around a lot these days. There is a woman who went the distance, who broke ground as the first true influencer by living a remarkable life. Her name, Elizabeth Taylor. I'm Katy Perry.

This is the story of the original influencer. This is Elizabeth the First. Brian Weber back with you in for Rich Eisen. It's the Rich Eisen Show. You can hop aboard at 1-844-204-RICH.

1-844-204-7424 is the number to call. Conversation never stops on Twitter. It's B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. Appreciate the folks who have heard me elsewhere sharing my grief process. Because while we're all in a festive mood on a holiday, and if you're lucky enough to spend time with your family, be nice. I know something controversial is going to happen. Somebody's going to be the bad guy.

Listen to the person you don't know over enunciating on the radio. Just let it go. No need to settle the old scores. Now, there's a reason I'm alone on the holiday, and I think it's my choice, although maybe my family prefers it that way as well. But my holiday tradition has been finding, later in the day, you don't want to have one for lunch because you'll take a four hour nap, a McRib on Thanksgiving. I'm told it's not just a gimmick.

It's not just a PR stunt. The McRib, sadly, has been pulled. McDonald's, let us know. This was a farewell tour, and I'm getting tweets from people around the country saying, looking for the McRib? Already gone. So, I'm now in the process of grieving.

There are the stages. I've moved past denial. I'm getting towards acceptance, but still bargaining. If you know where I can get a McRib, I'll get in the car. I've got plenty of free time. Hit me up on Twitter. It's B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. Fifteen minutes from now, we'll talk college football. It is, and I don't want to say this too loudly, let me whisper a little bit, it is a better time to be a college football fan than the NFL. It is a magnificent time to embrace college football. Tonight, Lane Kiffin living his best life on Twitter, knocking down reports and reporters that he wants to bolt. Ole Miss for Auburn. We'll get into all of that, and then we will talk to somebody who does actual reporting coming up in the second hour of the program. About an hour and ten minutes from now. Write it down.

I know it's appointment audio on a holiday. Matt Fortuna covers college football for the Athletics, so we'll get into the latest on coaching moves and how the dominoes could fall. If we get the upsets that potentially could be brewing this weekend with marquee games like Ohio State, Michigan, USC and Notre Dame Irish left for dead like the Undertaker back in the day when they lost it home to Marshall and Stanford have come alive. We'll get into all of that coming up in fifteen minutes. I talked about Aaron Rodgers, and if I'm going to be fully transparent, I typically bring the pom-poms into wherever I'm working from. I am an Aaron Rodgers fanboy, to a degree. Lost me last year on his attempt to be too clever with the I'm inoculated rather, what did he say, I'm immunized rather than getting the shot, but I don't want to go down that road because it's a holiday.

Let's keep it light. Even I can't defend Aaron Rodgers on the field this year. He looks like a shadow himself. And Tom Brady's, let's move beyond the optics and the cosmetics, whatever's going on with his face, that's his life while he's single again, he wants to maximize his options because Tom Brady I'm sure needs help meeting members of the opposite sex. Tom Brady though has skewed how we look at aging quarterbacks. Guy's 45 years old.

I'm old enough to remember the black and white image of George Blanta when he was 40 looking like he was 135 years old. Quarterbacks don't age well. Aaron Rodgers is looking like a more typical 38 year old quarterback and now come to find out because he told reporters yesterday, and the timing I think is more than coincidental, yeah I've had a broken thumb on my throwing hand since week 5.

That's fine. He could not have been more blasé about it. So why did Rodgers choose to make that admission heading into a game that could be another long afternoon for the pack and just when you thought Green Bay was back after Dallas gagged away the 14 point lead in the fourth quarter, lost the game in overtime, Green Bay looked absolutely abominable. Not just with the snow, they looked lousy the last time we saw them on Thursday Night Football with Tennessee pushing them around. Tennessee, the team we never talk about, the one seed in the AFC last year at 7 and 3 and coming up in hour number 2. I'll run through more of the AFC playoff picture. Marquee matchup looking ahead to Sunday.

6 and 4 Cincinnati hoping Jamar Chase can play. He's back on the practice field. Quick healer coming back from the hip injury against the Tennessee Titans at 7 and 3.

A team that will punch you in the mouth led by Derrick Henry and that's Mike Vrabel's identity on defense as well. But the Packers were theoretically back at least for the fourth quarter in overtime against Dallas. Had to win that game and then they offered virtually nothing as Tennessee was a dominant team in that game the last time we saw the Packers. So why is Rodgers opting to be candid and transparent now? Well I think part of it comes down to ego and you don't get to be a quarterback of Aaron's stature without a healthy dose of self esteem even if you wrap it up in the beautiful mystery and psychedelic mushrooms and everything else that he's dabbling in.

Aaron Rodgers believes in himself and I think in a private moment Aaron Rodgers cannot fully register cannot fully comprehend how poorly he has played. Now some of it comes down to a lack of playmakers and yes Christian Watson has finally come on over the last couple weeks after doing nothing to start the year. And I don't want to be that knee jerk to say when Devante Adams decided to go to Las Vegas and I've been very critical of a variety of personnel moves either swings and misses by Green Bay or just being cheap. They offered Adams competitive money if he really cared about that team he could have stayed but as he said he wasn't certain about Rodgers long term how that work out for Devante.

I know he got Powerball money you want to be on the Raiders right now even with the ability to somehow come up with that victory last week in overtime in Denver. If they hadn't played Denver twice how many wins with the Raiders have this year I think you know the answer there but the Packers had fundamental. Constructual problems with that roster the moment they knew they would not have Adams and what do they do virtually nothing. To have an idea that Sammy Watkins who's made of glass was going to be reliable and available for once in his career and he's not 21 to 25 anymore. You are what you consistently do for Sammy it's unfortunately getting hurt and thinking that Randall Cobb could stretch the field this team didn't have much of a chance at the beginning of the year throw in Rodgers looking very on Rodgers like and now he has the well it's not an excuse but it's an explanation I have a broken thumb.

So what does it mean well I think there are a couple ways this could go and I do think the Packers lose to Philadelphia that's nothing close to a hot take looking ahead to Sunday that's in the late window. Philadelphia has some flaws specially against the run now if you paid attention and this is again nothing that is transcendent knowledge you're well aware that Jonathan Taylor is one of the five best running backs in the league when healthy. So not a surprise that he piled up huge numbers for Indy the more troublesome development was the week before when Washington a team we should be talking much more about commanders ran wild past the Eagles so the Eagles major weakness is run defense still Jalen Hurts has got to be right there one or two in the MVP conversation there's a lot to like about Philadelphia I'm not trying to say that they are overrated in any way. I just want to see it come playoff time especially small sample size from what we've seen in hurts is start to his career in high leverage situations but when the Packers lose on Sunday to fall to foreign ape here are the questions you're going to be hearing out there. Should the Packers shot Aaron Rodgers down should they let him heal up the thumb although he says no surgery is required now he is a doctor as well I'm sure he he has his own alternative treatments in line but should the Packers come to Aaron next couple weeks it's becoming clearer and clearer this team's not going anywhere I guess they can wait until their mathematically eliminated and say Aaron take all the time you need let's lay the foundation of the game. Let's lay the foundation for next year we need to get a look at Jordan love because after all they invested a first round pick and love knowing it would infuriate Rodgers which led to all of the angst last summer remember that going way back it feels like ancient history when we didn't know if Rodgers would ever come back to Green Bay turns out.

It was just a shakedown all he really wanted was more money and a lot more of it to be guaranteed and he achieved his goals now one thing he did not get was a no trade calls. Now I don't think the Packers would trade Rodgers without his consent again this is all down the road short term as the Packers continue to struggle and lose at Philly on Sunday that'll build momentum for the team to have the alibi to say we want to proceed with abundance of caution with Rodgers turning 39 next week. Shut it down Aaron and we'll talk to you in the off season remember he doesn't show up for OTAs another reason why there were cohesion issues especially with the young receivers to start the season Rodgers cared more he would have been there but who's going to tell Rodgers what to do when at this stage he's earned the right to have his own path moving forward. But I do think the conversation is going to build about what the Packers best interest be served by exploring a trade with Rodgers consent much like Seattle and Russell Wilson decided they no longer wanted to be together although that was Russell driving the breakup. If the Packers could get that kind of Hall in return want to go old school call it the Herschel Walker bag as you kids say I've been called a bag I don't think it means the same thing but if they could get a lot of assets in return. Shouldn't the Packers consider that because Rodgers is coming up on a walk year once this contract winds down I'm not writing his football obituary but Green Bay has to prepare for life after Aaron Rodgers in the near term. That's by putting Jordan love on the field to see if he has anything to offer and in the long term I think they would be failing to do their due diligence if they didn't at least look around the league to see what they could get back because they have had the most amazing run other than the 49ers with Joe Montana in the Steve Young Brett Favre into Aaron Rodgers is incredible.

And they've only gotten one Super Bowl appearance one trip that they want from Aaron Rodgers they need to have a better idea of succession not the TV show I'm waiting for but a real blueprint for the future and perhaps Rodgers thumb injury has given them cover to make a hard decision. The game between the Lions in the bills just underway Detroit gets the football first I will keep you posted you can be part of the show one eight four four two oh four rich hit me up on Twitter it's BW Weber Weber with two B's we'll get back to the NFL coming off to start coming up to kick off our number two straight ahead as promised. Let's make the move to college football. I'll get you fully lined up for the marquee matchups coming up this weekend plus will the 12 team playoff destroy the kind of drama we had last Saturday that's coming up. I'm Brian Weber hope you're having a great Thanksgiving.

I'm in for rich eyes and it's the rich eyes and show. I'm Brian Weber in for rich eyes and hope you're having a great Thanksgiving we're live and we're honored to share this holiday with you here on the rich eyes and show you can slide in one eight four four two oh four rich one eight four four two oh four seven four two four I can demonstrate in fact I am live because I'm going to keep you updated as to what's going on the first of three Thanksgiving. Day games Bills and Lions underway about two and a half into the opening quarter. No score.

I'll keep you updated. I'm not doing real time updates, but if there are momentum swings or notable scoring sequences beyond a field goal, I will let you know getting closer to our number two of the program. We're going to start that by getting you set for game two coming up after the Lions and Bills are done. Remember because the networks want you to feel like these are special extravaganzas. There is a Super Bowl light halftime always interesting to see who they get to show up on a holiday meaning the Bills and Lions are going to take longer than they should to complete but after that Cowboys and Giants Giants were exposed in a major way.

I realize the Lions have come alive as of late but Giants with all of the injuries on the offensive line could not run the ball at all with Saquon Barkley and if the Giants can't run they can't win because Daniel Jones is just a guy even though Brian Day ball is the quarterback whisperer Jones has his limitations. We're going to talk Cowboys Giants and Washington NFC East no longer the least that's coming up to start the second hour of the show college football to me. While we still can enjoy its present alignment and I'll skip my rant about one of my alma maters USC with the grad school there and that was purely transactional. I wrote a big check for a graduate degree. I've never used USC destroying the Pac-12 by sheer greed.

They don't need the money at all. They're taking the money UCLA is a different situation, but with the destruction of the power of five under way, let's enjoy what we have now and I realize more is always better super size me in this culture. But when we go to a 12-team playoff, I'm not going to care as much now. I love college football as I whispered earlier even more than I love the NFL because it was my entree to this business. I love the history. I love the rivalries as long as they still exist moving forward.

They're going to be less and less relevant. But think about what happened last week with all of those wild close finishes. I understand the top four didn't change and Tennessee got destroyed by South Carolina and we can talk about USC LSU that debate for number five momentarily. But the sequence of events with TCU having the run on or walk on however you want to phrase it sprint on field goal to beat Baylor completing the comeback. Michigan needing a field goal in the final minute to edge Illinois in part because of the injuries at running back and going to be interesting to see on Saturday. Although it was great to see Blake Corum feeling good enough with the knee injury and he's a remarkable young man to show up and hand out free turkeys because that's the kind of person he is. But as Rich was talking about yesterday as a proud Michigan man, if Corum and Edwards aren't 100% I don't know how Michigan wins that game, but that's balanced by the Henderson injury running back for Ohio State. But Ohio State had to battle hard to beat Maryland the last second field goals propelling TCU and Michigan to their victories and Georgia grinded out a win against Kentucky.

All of that was compelling to watch because of the scarcity with the four playoff spots. When we expanded it's not going to mean as much because I'm not going to care who the 13 team is that is going to claim they got jobbed. I know it's happening and it's happening because of the money. I get it. I believe in capitalism.

I'm working on a holiday because there's a check involved. Also, I appreciate Rich's success. He's always been kind to me and I want to support his brand, but I am not Trotsky saying we should all throw our money in together and don't worry about the windfall profits in college football.

I'm a realist. I'm just saying I prefer the current setup because of all of the scenarios, especially this week. So let's play the what if game with LSU being installed at number five in front of USC, which is fraudulent. And I could spend more time than I have telling you why the committee has an agenda and it's an SEC bias, says the Pac 12 hunk.

But just think about what happened last week. LSU wrote a big check to UAB to smack him around. And the week before they went to Arkansas, who had lost to Liberty and Arkansas had a backup quarterback at one point played their third string quarterback. LSU won that game by three. In contrast, what has USC been doing as of late? They played one of the most incredible football games we've ever seen against UCLA. Caleb Williams is out of his mind. And now they're going to do it again against Notre Dame tomorrow while LSU takes on the massive disappointment that is Texas A&M. But Jimbo Fisher is going to survive because he's got the 86 million dollar buyout.

Eighty six million. I'll say it again. So you have all of this going on.

But let me just try to boil it down as straightforward as possible. If USC wins out, especially now with a resurgent Notre Dame, if you've not been paying attention, Notre Dame has put it all together as of late in the midst of this winning streak. Now five in a row, they're averaging 40 points per in those victories. A USC win over Notre Dame, coupled with a Pac 12 championship game victory, probably against a ranked opponent in Oregon, unless they lose to Oregon State. USC, two more ranked wins.

They are in, in my estimation. I don't see Georgia losing. If Georgia falls to LSU, that's a different story in the SEC title game. So let's go with Georgia, the winner of Ohio State and Michigan. Although, if Ohio State loses, you can make an argument for a one loss Ohio State, even though they will have failed to make it to the Big Ten title game.

But let's just keep things straightforward. Georgia, Ohio State, USC, and now I'll play the what if game with TCU. What if TCU, and a reminder, they barely survived Baylor last week. What if TCU loses to Iowa State? And I realize the Horn Frogs are double digit favorites. Iowa State is better than you think. They've won three straight over TCU. I realize Matt Campbell's team only has four wins. Of those seven losses, six of them by a touchdown or less, defense only giving up 16 and a half points a game. So let's say TCU were to lose and then win the Big 12 title game.

What do you do with that fourth slot? And I'm presuming an LSU loss. If LSU wins the SEC title game, they're in the playoff. They'll make history as the first two loss team to get to the Final Four.

But what happens with that fourth slot? I would go with Clemson. And I know people are bashing Clemson this year, but I got to reward a conference champion with one loss.

ACC is deeper than you think. Plus, Clemson's got to play a very good, although unranked South Carolina team coming up on Saturday. And then take on a ranked opponent in North Carolina in the ACC championship game. I would take a one loss Clemson over a two loss Alabama. Alabama though, with this committee's bias, I'll say it straight up, there's an agenda there. I can see the Alabama argument, which is fraudulent, but here's how it goes. Alabama's two losses have come by a combined four points to Tennessee, who we thought were going to the playoff. And LSU, who's going to the SEC title game.

What does this all mean? I love the chaos. I love the different scenarios.

And I'm going to do more of it coming up in the next hour of the program. First, touchdown Lions. With six minutes to go in the opening quarter. And the extra point good, Detroit now in front of Buffalo. Jamal Williams has been outstanding all season long. He's got another rushing touchdown. So don't look now, Buffalo in another battle. Yes, I'm over the top. There's only six minutes left in the first quarter.

And I'm telling you, this could be an instant classic. So with Detroit trying to keep it going, remember, they came into this game with a three game winning streak. Lions on top in the first of three games on this Thanksgiving holiday.

One hour down, much more to get to. I'll get back to the college football conversation with Matt Fortuna of the athletic coming up in this next hour of the program, which will start with NFL. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show. What do you do with it in our culture? Everybody tells you how to save, but nobody teaches you how to spend it. Something you should know wherever you listen.