REShow: Hour 2

What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

New episodes drop monday, thursday, and friday wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. Rich Eisen. Hello, Rich Eisen. Rich Eisen. Oh, that's Susie Eisen. The Rich Eisen Show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. It's another hour of the program.

Great to have you with us on a jam-packed Thursday, but I will do my best to make sure you can slide in a variety of ways you can be a part of the program. Hit me up on Twitter. B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's.

The phone number 1-844-204-RICH, 1-844-204-7424. Hour number 1 was exclusively focused on the NFL. Going to keep that going here, talking about the future of Tuatunga, Violoa, and Miami, and more in the immediate future. Realistic expectations for Teddy Bridgewater and a hugely significant game between the Dolphins and the Patriots coming up on Sunday. In 20 minutes, we'll say hello to our first guest, Mike Jones. Who?

We keep doing that until somebody says, oh, I get that reference, as arcane as it may be. Mike, been covering the NFL for a long time, national football writer for the athletic, and then in 40 minutes, just a little bit of NBA for these important reasons. I can't just do three hours of football, although justifiably, if I had an interim program director in the hallway telling me, respect the clock, be more disciplined with your formatics, and just talk nothing but football, there are a lot of very intriguing developments across the NBA. Don't look now. The Nets have found their sink. They've won 10 in a row. LeBron suddenly is getting frustrated with losing.

Where did that come from? My goodness, is he paying attention? It feels like LeBron, the player, resents the personnel moves orchestrated by LeBron the GM. He'll be smiling when he breaks Kareem's record coming up, and that is just a massive achievement. I'm old enough to remember when Kareem broke Wilts' record. People forget that game played in Las Vegas with the Skyhook over Mark Eaton as the Jazz and Lakers got together. The fact that LeBron's gonna break that record is an astounding achievement, and the reason he's playing. The downside is the Lakers are brutal and irrelevant.

Plus, last time we saw Luka, he had 60 points and a triple-double. What's he gonna do to follow that up tonight? All coming up in 40 minutes. We have a Thursday Night Football game to get to. I will address the Dallas point of view coming up in the final hour of the program. Dallas has demonstrated there are reasons to believe this is going to be a different playoff outcome than as recently as last year, with the obvious flaw connected to what happened last year. I still have major doubts in the game management acumen on a big word Thursday of Mike McCarthy. All you have to do is go back to last year when he drew up and called for one of the most idiotic plays based on what was left on the clock. I know Mike said we've practiced this. We could do it in 13 seconds.

Had that look in real time. So, it's Dallas tonight, 11-4, taking on the 7-8 Tennessee Titans, who I told you were approaching this game as a glorified scrimmage because, irrespective of the outcome, they were well aware that they'd still have to beat the Jaguars next week, winner-take-all, to win the division. So, Mike Vrabel is shutting it down across his roster, including the news we got to wrap up the first hour of the program. No Malik Willis tonight. Josh Dobbs, the third string quarterback, as Ryan Tannehill was ruled out a couple weeks ago when he hurt the ankle against the Chargers. Amazing. He was carted off the field and came back in the game.

You rarely see that. So, it's Josh Dobbs. Nice story from the Tennessee geographic and fan base point of view. Josh was an outstanding player for the Tennessee Vols, so he'll make some personal history. First time starting in the league against a ferocious Dallas defense and that's part of the motivation, in my opinion, as to why Malik Willis is not playing tonight because Willis has been shaky.

I'm not coming up with alibis. He hasn't looked good, especially considering where Tennessee took him and, just contrasted to Kenny Pickett. Pickett, especially towards the end of that thrilling conclusion on Saturday night in the Franco Harris tribute game Steelers and Raiders. Pickett made the plays the Steelers needed and then on the other side of the field you saw Derek Carr wet the bed once more and that's why we got the news yesterday that Carr will not play for the Raiders for the remaining two games and that's just a precursor to the Raiders and the former franchise quarterback Derek Carr getting a divorce. I wanted to confirm how wobbly Malik Willis has been. Three starts this year, 234 passing yards as the total. Not one game, three games, no touchdowns, three picks. So, from a standpoint of a young person's confidence, you want to put him out there with no weapons because I don't think Derek Henry is going to play tonight.

I'll get confirmation during the next break. Even if he does, he's limited. You have a defense that's going to be makeshift with a bunch of backups, meaning that Dallas should do whatever they want to offensively. This is a dire circumstance for a young quarterback against a very good Dallas defense. You want Micah Parsons, I know he's limited as well, but even half of Micah Parsons is better than most pass rushers. You want Micah Parsons coming in to devour Malik Willis, so from a cognitive and mental point of view, I get it. Get the young guy out of the way, plus you need him next week because it's all on the line. Now, maybe Josh Dobbs balls out, I don't see it, but did anybody see Brock Purdy turning into Joe Montana?

That's the beauty of this league. Now, very different with Dobbs. We have a body of work as he bounced around from the Steelers. Remember, he couldn't beat out Mason Rudolph to be the backup to Ben Roethlisberger, landed in Detroit. We have a sense of the skill set of Dobbs, but I think this is more about protecting Willis, not, oh, you got to rest him up for next week. You can't have him get abused again. You can't have him have even more of a confidence potential issue heading into a game with huge magnitude next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars who have come alive. Trevor Lawrence looks like something approximating the generational talent we thought he was in Clemson, and it really is another indictment of just how terrible a job Urban Meyer did last year.

Arguably the worst performance we've seen from a quote-unquote professional coach, and you know all the other nonsensical, creepy things Uncle Perv was doing when Buddy needed a night out. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. It is the Rich Eisen Show.

1-844-204. Rich, you can tweet at me. Twitter is functioning. B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's, although it had the hiccups last night, and I attribute that to the surge in traffic thanks to the greatness of the Liberty Bowl as Kansas outlasted, or are Kansas, outlasted Kansas, and Kansas made the furious comeback and forced that game to a third overtime. Today three more ball games with the history and the heritage of the bad boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. There will be a crowd there because Syracuse will be playing in Yankee Stadium against Minnesota. Later on Oklahoma-Florida State would be good if it was 1997. It's the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando.

People will show up there obviously because Oklahoma travels at Florida State with the in-state connection, and tonight Alamo Bowl actually a watchable game. Texas against a Washington team that exceeded expectations. Let's get you back to another quarterback situation in the NFL. It's been a good portion of Monday's program trying to wonder aloud what happened to Tua Tungovialoa. Now I was on the air before Mike McDaniel announced at the time that Tua had entered concussion protocol, and I give his head coach a great deal of credit for reading his quarterback's body language and demeanor when they were chatting on Monday. He just said Tua didn't feel like himself and seemed like himself and wasn't as outgoing as normal, so they had a conversation.

Tua, I also give him credit for being forthright because he had to know the consequences of being honest that hey I'm kind of out of sync here. Something doesn't feel right and he's back in concussion protocol and the official diagnosis occurred. This is the second concussion.

However, let's just tell it like it is. We know as observers something was profoundly wrong with Tua in the Buffalo game. Now that got botched and there were changes implemented to the concussion protocol in the wake of that. Somehow we were told it was a back injury. Tua wanted to get back on the field, understandably so, because this is what he does. This is his identity. He wants to be a high achiever.

He wants to be there for his teammates and he understands. Now with a third incident, I'll just say the Buffalo development appeared to be head trauma as well. Three things have happened in the span of four months. It's not three concussions. I know two officially, but we're talking in general terms here.

I'm not pretending to be a physician on the radio. Three incidents occurred in the span of four months. We also have learned, because we have far more knowledge now about the nature of concussions, the impact is exponential. It's not one plus one plus one.

It's one raised to the next level. And there is real concern now about the future of Tua beyond his ability to get back on the field in the postseason. Just from a standpoint of optics, how in the world can anybody let him play again this year? Because you got to think about a young person's brain cognition for the rest of their life.

So all of this will be decided in due time. I think there are real questions now about how Tua approaches things moving forward, because now every time he takes a major shot, we're all going to think, okay, is this another incident? And what was so baffling about what occurred? And most of us agree, or those of us who looked at the video, he took a shot against the Packers towards the end of the second quarter, and you can see it hit his head in a very awkward and violent fashion. That appears to have been the catalyst for this latest concussion. Well, I guess after the fact, Tua looking completely different between the lines in the second half is now understandable, right? Because he was going through a brain injury. A player who had cut down on his turnovers suddenly became an interception machine with back-to-back-to-back picks. Well, I don't think he had full use of his faculties. Seems pretty clear if in fact there was a head-related incident that it would be hard to be at your very best.

So let's try to come up with the right time horizons. In the near term, Teddy Bridgewater I think will be adequate. That's why he's one of the best paid backups in all of football. Tua injury-prone in different areas before what's happened this year, so the Dolphins knew it was a wise investment to write a bigger check to a veteran backup. And effectively, if Tua had just avoided all of those interceptions, and a few of them just seemed baffling and perplexing, if Teddy B can play with a clean sheet and minimize his miscues, Dolphins should be just fine. If he can get it to Waddle or Hill or Kiseki and run it just enough, especially against a Patriot team that has gone through some of the weirdest developments we've seen in franchise history over the last few weeks. I think Miami wins that game.

Another shot to go. Miami wins that game. Another step in the right direction to locking up the final wildcard because the Chargers clinched on Monday night, and the Ravens got it done over the weekend. Teddy B should be serviceable, and that's all Miami needs, especially because I don't know what version of the Patriots are going to show up.

Saw him a couple weeks ago. They handed the Raiders one of the most bizarre conclusions we've seen in the history of the NFL. And then last week Cincinnati is pounding New England. They're up by a huge margin. I went to the grocery store thinking that game was a done deal at 22-0. I get home.

It's 22-18. Patriots are driving, and they're inside the red zone. They get inside the tent, and then they fumbled again. So the week before, it was a donation through the air. Jacoby Myers has lost his mind, and through is a Chandler Jones.

I just love the image of Chandler Jones with the stiff arm making Matt Jones look like a child. And then they gave it away again last week. So Cincinnati to me is just fine.

I know people were saying, well, how can you have that kind of lapse? It happens. Did they win the game? That's all that matters. New England, I have no idea what they're going to do week to week. I think this is all lining properly for Miami. They get to the playoffs, and I think at that point you have to stick with Teddy Bridgewater just out of abundance of caution. And then we'll learn more about Tua's viability moving forward. He's going to do everything he can to make sure he is medically cleared and ready to go for the upcoming season.

But it's a fair conversation to wonder about how much of a runway he has moving forward. And remember, while this franchise has now done everything to support Tua, the player they wanted, tank for Tua, seems like a long time ago, right? Ancient history. Same franchise that flirted with Deshaun Watson. Now that was under the Brian Flores regime.

Clearly Brian Flores did not believe in Tua at all. And they were found guilty by the NFL of tampering with Tom Brady going back to his time in New England. So the Dolphins have made it very clear they are interested in other quarterbacks. They're dating Tua, who's still on the rookie deal. They got to make the option decision coming up.

They're not married to him. Now you factor in the questions about his availability due to the concussion problem. I can understand why Tua is going to do everything he can to try to get back on the field because he knows he just saw it from Derek Carr.

Vastly different circumstance. Hey Derek Carr, as you kids say, got the bag. He got paid. But his agent made it such a team-friendly deal.

A series of outs, essentially voidable years, and a series of one-year contracts. Now Derek's going to be hitting the bricks, looking for a job as well. Tough business to be a quarterback.

Tough business to be a quarterback in the NFL. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen coming up in 15 minutes or so. We'll call it 25 minutes. I'm not great with clock management.

You got to stay with me because it's a floating clock here. We will get to the NBA. LeBron not happy that the Lakers are losing. Breaking news, LeBron. I don't know why he had that moment of clarity other than he was reflective last night going back to Miami. Luca with the greatest triple-double we've ever seen. Even Will Chamberlain didn't have one that included 60 points along with 20 and 10. How's he going to back that up tonight?

Should we be believing in the Nets? We'll talk NBA to wrap up the program. But prior to that, and this hour of the program, it's a three-hour show.

We're not only doing two hours. We have more NFL to get to. I mentioned Derek Carr's run with the Raiders, done. Who's going to be the quarterback in Vegas next year? Looking forward to taking you across the NFL with Mike Jones, national football writer for the athletic.

I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. This is it. The putt to win the tournament.

If you sink it, the championship is yours, but on your backswing, your hat falls over your eyes. Is this how you're running your business? Poor visibility because you're still relying on spreadsheets and outdated finance software. To see the full picture, you need to upgrade to NetSuite by Oracle. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system to power your growth with visibility and control of your financials, inventory, HR, planning, budgeting, and much more. NetSuite is everything you need to grow all in one place. With NetSuite, you can automate your processes and close your books in no time while staying well ahead of your competition. 93% of surveyed businesses increase their visibility and control after upgrading to NetSuite. Over 32,000 businesses already use NetSuite for the new year. NetSuite has a new financing program for those ready to upgrade at NetSuite.com Rich Radio. Head to NetSuite.com Rich Radio for this special one of a kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses.

NetSuite.com Rich Radio. What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

New episodes drop Monday, Thursday, and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. This is it. The putt to win the tournament.

If you sink it, the championship is yours, but on your backswing, your hat falls over your eyes. Is this how you're running your business? Poor visibility because you're relying on spreadsheets and outdated finance software? To see the full picture, you need to upgrade to NetSuite by Oracle. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system to power your growth with visibility and control of your financials, inventory, HR, planning, budgeting, and more. NetSuite is everything you need to grow all in one place. With NetSuite, you can automate your processes and close your books in no time while staying well ahead of your competition. 93% of surveyed businesses increase their visibility and control after upgrading to NetSuite. Over 28,000 businesses already use NetSuite. For the new year, NetSuite is a new financing program for those ready to upgrade at NetSuite.com slash rich pod. Head to NetSuite.com slash rich pod for this special one of a kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses.

NetSuite.com slash rich pod. I'm Brian Weber. Always a delight to be in for Rich and the guys on a Thursday, Rich Eisen Show.

You can be a part of the program 1844204rich. Hit me up on Twitter, PW Weber, Weber with two B's. Let's keep the football conversation going.

Always a pleasure to talk NFL with Mike Jones from the athletic. Mike, it's been a while since we've chatted. How are you and happy holidays? I'm doing well. How are you doing?

Happy holidays to you as well. I'm doing well. I appreciate the sentiment. Well, as I started the program, I didn't think I would be spending much time talking about Tennessee heading into tonight's Thursday night matchup, given that we knew Mike Vrabel was resting a majority of starters, understanding that next week's game against Jacksonville is winner take all for the division. Still, I didn't think I'd be talking about Josh Dobbs. What do you make of the report that surfaced about 30 minutes ago that we're not even going to see Malik Willis tonight Vrabel's going with his third string quarterback against the Cowboys? Yeah, it's pretty crazy when you think about it, but I think that also speaks to the readiness of Malik Willis and their level of confidence.

I mean, we've seen him in a few cameos and, you know, hasn't been a lot of success. Obviously, when they drafted and they knew that he was going to be a project, it looks like he is not quite there yet. And you're going with a guy who hasn't played a whole lot of football in games, but he has been a veteran.

He's been in the league for a while. He's been in a number of different offenses and they feel like he's going to give them a chance to compete tonight. It'll be interesting to see how this goes, but I totally agree with you. Yes, they know that next week against Jacksonville is for all the marbles and that they've got to be ready to compete there.

And, you know, we'll see how this how this does. They don't know, you know, it looks kind of bleak for Ryan Tannehill. So maybe, you know, getting Josh Dobbs some action right here in Dallas will help them to do well next week against Jacksonville where they have to win the division. Mike, from the Dallas point of view, we have seen them play down to level competition just a few weeks ago. They nearly lost that game to Houston. Then you saw the resurgence last week against Philadelphia and I realize it was Gardner Minshew filling in for Jalen Hurts, but Minshew wasn't playing defense. So do you view Philadelphia any differently based on the fact that the Cowboys scored 40 points against a defense, especially that secondary that most people consider to be one of the best in all of football? Yeah, well, you know, whenever you have divisional opponents, I feel like you got to throw records out the window because there's so much familiarity there.

You know they're going to play each other tough. I still think that Philadelphia is the best team in the NFC, one of the best teams in the NFL. Now, it would have been interesting to see how they would have done with Jalen Hurts at quarterback.

You know that some of those drives ended prematurely. Gardner Minshew didn't do badly, but Jalen Hurts is a cut above and also they probably could have run a little bit more of the ground game controlling the time of possession and things like that. So I still think that we're going to see the Eagles make a deep playoff run. What I'm really curious about is how far Dallas goes because you're exactly right.

They can play really up and they can play really down and underachieve as well. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. We're talking NFL with Mike Jones of the Athletic. Mike, the big news yesterday, Derek Carr and the Raiders will be getting divorced. Felt like something had to give based on a year in which the Raiders have regressed. You go back to last year, they made the playoffs with interim head coach Rich Passaccio holding things together with all the hype surrounding Josh McDaniels. This is a 6-9 football team. Do you think Carr is being cast in the role of the fall guy here? Is he getting a raw deal? I definitely believe that he's the scapegoat.

Now, if you talk to people there, they will say, hey look, it's not completely over. We'll see what happens. But he's definitely the fall guy here because look, he has played at a pretty high level, not elite, but a good high level for the bulk of his career. Last year, he really carried that team when they had an interim head coach. They dealt with a lot of turmoil and he played well and put them in a good position as the season ended. And then now you have a guy who's supposed to be an offensive guru and he's not having success with him and he seems there's been criticisms. Josh McDaniel has underperformed as a head coach. He has not gotten out of that offense what he should considering the resources when you have a pro bowl quarterback like Carr, you have Devante Adams, Josh Jacobs. He has not had any type of consistency really with those guys. Now, look, they've got issues on defense and the defense has not provided the support they need, but we've seen Josh McDaniel say, hey, we've got to throw the ball better. Well, a lot of that has to do with your offensive play design and things like that.

I'm not saying that Derek Carr is immune of any criticism, but I feel like he is definitely the scapegoat here. Mike Jones from the athletic is our guest on the Rich Eisen Show. So Mike, as we look ahead with openings potentially at the quarterback position in Tennessee, we'll see what the Jets do. Do they truly believe in Mike White now Las Vegas? The names that come to mind will be Baker, Mayfield, Jimmy Garoppolo, but if we're just looking for that Patriot connection, do you then buy Tom Brady potentially reunited with McDaniel's and go into Vegas? I mean, if he wants to play, it does make a lot of sense for him to go there because of the familiarity, but at the same time, Brady is not going to go somewhere just because he knows somebody. If he looks at the rest of that roster and feels like they don't give him the best chance to compete for a Super Bowl. They've got a lot of work they've got to do on their defensive side of the ball.

They've got to find some consistency on offense as well. So I wouldn't say it's a sure lock that Brady would be an option there, but obviously definitely you would think he would have to consider that. I mentioned Jimmy Garoppolo.

Good news for Jimmy from the health perspective that the walking boot that he's needed with the broken foot has come off. So we're all speculating, but I appreciate your informed opinion. If Brock Purdy continues to play at a high level, even if he regresses a bit and just consistent, what do you think Kyle Shanahan does at the quarterback position in the playoffs if Jimmy Garoppolo is fully healthy and available? That's a really tough call. I think though if Brock Purdy is continuing to play well and they have momentum with him, you stick with him, but you have Jimmy Garoppolo who you know can be ready on a minute's notice and can be thrust into that role.

But again, we'll see. Like you said, speculation, but they really have a lot of confidence in Purdy. They didn't go out and get a veteran to try to fill in for Jimmy Garoppolo. They felt like, okay, let's roll with this kid. He's worked really hard. We like what he's able to do in our system. And so I think that momentum is a big thing. They've got great defensive support. They've got a lot of weapons around him.

And if they feel like they will be able to continue what they're rolling with, they'll do that. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. We're taking you across the NFL with Mike Jones of The Athletic. Mike Nathaniel Hackett was relieved of his duties earlier this week. So that's a marquee opening with a new ownership group that paid $4.6 billion and has Walmart money.

So they can write big checks. Whomever gets that job, obviously Sean Payton's name has been linked to the opening, has to then take the responsibility of trying to jumpstart Russell Wilson's career. Do you view what we've seen from Russell this year and a bit towards the end of his run in Seattle as an aberration, some slippage? Do you think he's fixable?

What do you think the next few years look like for Russell Wilson? Well, you know, I mean, he's not done yet. He's definitely slower.

He's definitely older. So there has to be some type of modification in his approach. He needs to find a coach that one has a lot of creativity, a lot of innovation, but also can command his respect and trust, but figure out how to help him get the best out of what he's got left. You know, he doesn't want to be running around a whole lot. The times that he has run around, he got concussion or whatever.

He's not a pure drop back passer either. So, you know, in the, in the stay in the pocket type of guy. So whoever it is, has got to be able to figure out how to, to bridge what he has done and what he wants to do. Um, you know, it's going to be around to the interesting champagne, the name gets thrown around, but the saints aren't just going to let him out of his contract. They are going to have to come up with some compensation to get them. And they don't have any draft picks to give because they gave them all up for Russell Wilson.

So they've kind of made a mess with themselves. Um, that's why I kind of think Sean Payton would be a long shot. Uh, but you know, it'll be interesting to see who else they go after. Wrap it up with, I think the best game coming up this weekend. We got to wait until Monday night, but it's a marquee matchup with Buffalo and Cincinnati. I think the Bills have the most complete roster in all the football, Philadelphia right there as well. Do you see Cincinnati right on that tier as well? They've won seven straight. And I think we overlooked the fact that traditionally the team that loses the Superbowl takes a step back.

Well, obviously this year it was the reigning champs. The Rams have been awful and here's Cincinnati playing at a very high level again. You know, I think that Cincinnati has probably a little more complete of our officers than Buffalo does. And you look at, you know, obviously Josh Allen, amazing. Stephon Diggs, fantastic. They've got a lot of injuries on defense and they don't have a whole lot of consistent playmakers on offense. Josh Allen really puts that team on his back and elevates everybody's level of play. If you look at what Joe, uh, with Joe Burrow is working with, he's got Joe Mixon, he's got Samadji Pirai, he's got three talented wide receivers, got a really good defense. So I say that the Bengals have a little bit better roster. I think they have a chance to win this game. And right now they're one of the hottest teams in the NFL as a whole, not just the AFC.

I think they've won seven straight and looking to make it eight now. Mike, as always, we appreciate the information. I know it's a very busy time of the year for you.

So thanks for taking the time. Enjoy the rest of the holidays. Thanks, Brian. You have a good one. Happy New Year to you.

You too. Mike Jones, one of the best in the business, national NFL writer for the athletic. And you actually heard me do the real time. Hmm. Things that make you go, Hmm. Let me process that. And I respect Mike's opinion. Yeah.

Look, you can go category by category. Who has the edge Buffalo versus Cincinnati and people overlook some of the veterans on that Cincinnati defense. Now they did lose Lyle Collins. And remember it was the Cincinnati offensive line that they spent a bunch of money upgrading in the off season. And what was hard to fathom early on was that Joe burrow got beat up once more. First couple of games go back to that Dallas game.

I didn't think he was going to survive. Now, some of that came down to a matter of coalescing and finding the rhythm upfront. But if you're going through the skill positions, yeah, I'd go advantage Jamar chase. Running back, Joe Mixon's been in and out of line but P Ryan's there. And that's really the flaw on Buffalo's roster that they rely way too much on the athletic ability of Josh Allen. Remember he's their second leading rusher. Still, I know it was against the lousy opponent and you probably didn't spend much time because hopefully you have meaningful relationships on Christmas Eve.

I'm a lonely man and this is my job after all. But riding the red zone all day on Saturday, what was most promising in Buffalo's win over Chicago, the Bills piled up 250 rushing yards. And we saw more from Devin Singletary and more from James Cook. That to me is the key element moving forward, not just in this postseason but long term. Josh Allen's got to run less. I know it's a huge part of why he's so effective and right there with Mahomes. Short list of best quarterbacks in the league but I'm just worried about his longevity.

He takes far too many hits. Since we're talking NFL, a reminder, you can listen to the NFL with the NFL app on the Odyssey app and on westwoodonesports.com also via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports, sponsored by AutoZone. It's time to say goodnight to that check engine light with the free AutoZone fix finder service.

It'll help troubleshoot the likely cause of your light for free. Restrictions apply. Get in the zone, AutoZone. I'm Brian Weber. As we plow forward deeper into the second hour of the program, just one more guest along the way coming up roughly an hour from now, we will talk college football. Not the three bowl games today. I am not breaking down the minutia of the bad boy mowers pinstripe bowl, although the orange will be out in force. Syracuse playing in the state of New York against Minnesota. No, we're spinning it forward to the national semifinals coming up on Saturday. Looking forward to our conversation. One hour from now, when we say hello to Pete Futak and collegefootballnews.com. I've done nothing but football so far. That's probably why I've been retained.

Remember like Derek Carr has that series of voidable years on his contract. I'm in an hour by hour renewable. I was allowed to come back for this next hour, although I didn't tell anybody I was talking NBA. So why did LeBron suddenly have a moment of clarity last night?

Hmm, losing is terrible. I'm getting tired doing this. Can we really believe in the red hot nets of all teams? They've won 10 straight ends after Luca went for 60 and a triple double last time we saw him. What's he going to do for an encore tonight? Talking NBA as we continue.

I'm Brian Weber in for Rich on the Rich Eisen Show. Did you know that driving high is considered driving under the influence? That's right. Driving under the influence of marijuana is against the law in every state, even in states where marijuana is legal. That means driving high could get you a DUI. And if you think law enforcement officers can't tell when you're driving high, you're wrong. Your friends can tell. Your coworkers can tell. Even your parents can tell.

Everyone can tell. So what makes you think that law enforcement officers don't know when you're driving high? Driving under the influence of marijuana can slow your response time and change how you perceive time and speed. So even if you think you're fine to drive when you're high, you're not. Because the bottom line is, if you feel different, you drive different. And driving high is driving under the influence.

So remember, drive high, get a DUI. Paid for by NHTSA. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Rich enjoying a much deserved vacation. Back with you on Monday.

That's going to be a stacked program. But Rich is more generous than yours truly in a variety of ways. Namely, he does take your phone calls, and I'm not anti-phone call. However, and I'm Brian Weber. If you hit me up on Twitter, we can have the dialogue. B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. Few reasons as to how I've arrived at this philosophy. Phone calls taken selectively. I am the fill-in hack. If you are a regular listener, you're not going to waste your time with me on the phone lines. I understand that. I am the substitute teacher.

Now, the corollary, as we're getting deep with the vocab today would be, if you normally can't get through at 1-844-204-7424, this is a chance. But Rich is back on Monday, so save your best perspectives for the host. Getting closer to the final hour of the program. We're going to talk NBA here and then all football the final hour of the show in just under an hour from now.

55 minutes to be precise. We're going to talk college football with Pete Futak from collegefootballnews.com. I am not bogged down in the particulars of the Cheez-It Bowl coming up later today in Orlando, Oklahoma against Florida State. I am very motivated to talk about Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan TCU, national semifinals on Saturday and then the majority of the traditional January 1 games being played on January 2nd because college football does not want to compete with the NFL on Sunday. So, we'll talk about the games that matter straight ahead. NBA is in a very interesting place right now and I realize and I did this strategically. Many of you just want all football all the time.

I get it. Numbers bear it out. I don't have to go through the actual details of the beat down. The NFL applied to the NBA head-to-head with ratings. But as you might imagine, we're talking over 20 million people for the early games and then things got a little bit less robust for that final game on Christmas night. That was largely unwatchable until Arizona made the Gasly turn over late and here comes Tom Brady one more time. But as you were thinking about what happened between the Dolphins and Packers just as viewers, not the Tua situation.

We'll talk more Tua coming up to start the final out of the program. More than 20 million people watched that game. A lot of people hung around for the beginning of the Broncos and Rams and then saw Russ throw those picks early on and said, yeah I don't need to watch the rest of this game. The NBA has now a dilemma on Christmas day because the NFL crushes everything in its past and you know the NFL is going to continue I think in my estimation depending on where Christmas lands.

Always to have a game or two just to have even more of a capital advantage when it comes to advertising and ratings. But if we're just looking at the depth of quality in the NBA, even if you're a casual as NBA Twitter describes people who aren't that all in, it is a phenomenal time in basketball. I mentioned him passing the Nets.

I can't avoid them. They've won 10 straight. Durant is putting up some of the best numbers of his career. Kyrie hasn't said anything stupid, myopic, offensive, or connected to anti-semitism. In a while now he's Kyrie.

You are what you consistently do. He's overdue to come up with something disruptive. But just from a basketball standpoint another victory last night and Ben Simmons looks like a functioning NBA player based on how low he had sunk in Philadelphia and the back surgery in the offseason.

That's a major step forward. Now at any moment given how combustible that roster is in Brooklyn it could all fall apart but that's a good watch. And let's jump to the West. Let me do the Lakers just to get them out of the way because I really want to spend more time glorifying Luca who does not get enough credit. I'm going to address that currently but I thought the timing of the latest public soul searching from LeBron last night was not coincidental. Now it's rare he plays the second game of a back-to-back but he was in Miami. Lakers actually won the game the night before taking on Orlando so maybe he was feeling a little more rejuvenated. Lakers lose again and then he's holding court postgame. Probably I think because he was back in Miami and was asked to reflect on that run with the big three that he came together the form with Baj and Wade in the championships speculation he might want to end his career there again.

Remember he's hanging on for a few things. One goal will be achieved this year and it's not going to be championships. Obviously championships with the Lakers just being in the play-in conversation would be a victory but the first accomplishment that will be secured will be moving past Kareem as the all-time leading scorer and then if you're pro LeBron I'm going to have one less argument on my Michael Jordan as king since I'm beat up in my early 50s. Hard to argue against the greatest scorer in the history of the NBA when he gets there.

Now my pushback will be I can already see this conversation coming at an Italian restaurant I like to go to here in Southern California. I will call LeBron a stat compiler at that point because I'm never going to see the Michael Jordan higher ground that I've hauled on to for a long time. LeBron riffing last night I'm paraphrasing but the quote that got a lot of play was he said I'm a winner you can't dispute that with all the rings and you know I'll play as long as my mind is right but the losing isn't acceptable. Well we all know who's calling the shots when it comes to Lakers. Now for years they've had dysfunction with the friction within the bus family and then Jeannie winning that Game of Thrones battle thankfully after Jimmy's reign of terror but the relationships with the Rambis family anybody else that seems to have a way to have input with Jeannie Buss now I guess it's Jay Moore good for Jay that's that's certainly a shrewd decision beyond whatever personal dynamic dynamics going on I think obviously if you're getting engaged there hopefully is affection there but if you're gonna get married that's the family to get married into but LeBron is calling the shots it's not Rob Palenka it's LeBron we've known he's the shadow GM. Anthony Davis wound up in LA because he wanted out his team wanted him out in New Orleans and LeBron wanted him on the Lakers well they did get the championship we overlook what happened in the bubble but remember the circumstances surrounding that after the COVID crisis that dominated our attention basketball seemed fairly inconsequential but also led to the long layoff Anthony Davis was finally healthy and then you put him in the climate controlled bubble with no travel and he did have the ability to stay healthy unfortunately he's just made of glass you can't rely on him Russell Westbrook has played better I'm not going to kick him while he's down last year was an aberration couldn't be worse than last year this year he's had some meaningful impactful games but if you watch this team if you can still bear to watch but you can't avoid them they're still on TV so much it just doesn't work and then beyond the marquee names you know it's a horribly flawed roster so if LeBron's got issues with it should look in the mirror because they should never have made the move to get Russ but LeBron thought it would fit somehow he had not paid attention to Russ becoming a basketball vagabond so if LeBron is getting frustrated that's LeBron the player who needs to have a conversation with LeBron the GM the Lakers are fundamentally broken and nothing is going to change for the foreseeable future now LeBron does at least have some assistance when Anthony Davis is actually able to play in contrast Luka Doncic is the very definition of a one-man franchise making what he did the last time he played got a lot of help from the Knicks because if there's going to be a historic gag job that got that game to overtime it's going to involve the Knicks they invent ways to lose but you throw in the extra session Luka 60 points 20 rebounds 10 assists he'll be back on the court tonight against the Rockets that's another lousy team Houston only 10 wins all year long they've been rebuilding for a long time my observation on Luka is this imagine how good he would be if he had any assistance because remember last year during that playoff run my takeaway along with a lot of people who follow the NBA as more than just a bystander if Jalen Brunson was the second best player on that team how are they going to win anything well Jalen Brunson's gone who's now the second complimentary player in Dallas Spencer Dimwitty if Mark Cuban was pitched this roster on Shark Tank he would say I'm gonna pass for that reason it's horrendous this guy is doing it all on his own and he's doing magical things but if the goal is to win a championship last time I checked that's what it's all about and I know Cuban has got the ring it was nice to see the statue to Nowitzki being authentic with the perfect alignment of him falling away knocking down a jump shot those are all feel-good stories but it's about winning and losing and Dallas is 19 and 16 in a western conference that now has Zion Williamson looking phenomenal in great shape Zion went off last night new career i-43 paulkins have the best record in the west so luca a remarkable talent and a tremendous story but it's going to be largely a regular season story because he just has no help i like your assistance namely on twitter bw weber weber with 2b's final hour coming up much more football to get things rolling i'm brian weber always having a good time in for rich eisen here on the rich eisen show how wrestling really works and how you get the ratings eric bischoff and conrad thompson explain on 83 weeks you're either growing or you're dying i think it'd be hard to recreate the kind of growth at wcw experience between 95 and 98 this audience should be growing the character should be coming more and they're not everybody's gradually losing audience now that people will say well but aew is 15 ahead of where they were last year but there's variables there let's see where we're at year from now 83 weeks on youtube or wherever you listen