REShow: Micah Parsons - Hour 2

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

Can they avoid charger-like things? The Jaguars have won it! They have come back from 27-nothing! Earlier on the show, two-time Super Bowl champion and Greenlight podcast host Chris Long. Coming up, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk.

And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air and we are all set in the American football conference side of things for the next weekend events. It is down to the final four in the AFC and it is a rarity to see a final four set in a conference with four different locations possible for the AFC championship game. Normally, it's got to be maximum three because the lowest seed that's left won't have an opportunity to host an AFC or NFC playoff game. But this year, we know that the Bales and Bengals are playing each other this weekend and the Chiefs and Jaguars are playing this weekend. And the Jaguars, if they win, they can visit either Buffalo or Cincinnati and Cincinnati can visit Kansas City.

And normally, that would mean Buffalo would play Kansas City in those three locations. This time around, it's Bengals at Kansas City, a rematch of last year's AFC championship game in the stadium in which it took place. The Jaguars can potentially take on the Bills in that game.

We would have to fire up the national championship game that Joe Burrow put a ring on his finger and all the video for that if the Jaguars visit the Bengals for the AFC championship because that was Trevor Lawrence versus Joe Burrow that night. So, they would be playing another, I would say, championship playoff game if that happens, or the Bills take on the Chiefs in Atlanta. So, the AFC championship game is taking place in Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, or Atlanta. So, Bills, Chiefs, Atlanta.

Correct. If the Bills play the Chiefs, that is in Atlanta. If the Bengals play the Chiefs, that is in Kansas City. If the Jaguars play the Bills, that is in Buffalo. And if the Jaguars play the Bengals, that is in Cincinnati. Cincinnati does have a real shot. You never know because we saw some crazy stuff this weekend.

Cincinnati has the rare shot of playing a home game, then a road game, then a home game, then a neutral site game called the Super Bowl and getting back entirely possible. Anything could happen. No doubt.

Anything could happen. No doubt. And we've seen rematches all over the map. The Niners swept the Seahawks all three games.

That's tough. The Jaguars took two of two from the Chargers, won a boat race here in Los Angeles, and then whatever the heck that was on Saturday night for the Chargers. The Bills took two of three from the Dolphins. The Giants and Vikings split. The Giants won the more important of the two games. And then last night, we saw the Bengals take their second in as many weeks against the Ravens.

Now comes tonight. First time we saw these two teams play, the Buccaneers beat the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys offensively looked terrible. And then by the end of the night, we were all wondering if the season was totally done because Dak Prescott broke his throwing finger, throwing thumb.

We all know that's not the case. Cooper Rush essentially helped make this rematch possible the way that he played. And now Dak returns tonight with the Cowboys to take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the biggest game ESPN has ever broadcast.

That is a fact. And joining us on, we spoke to him over the weekend, is one of the best players in the National Football League. Here's my chat with Micah Parsons. Joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show, getting set to try and sack Tom Brady multiple times on Monday night and send Tom Brady potentially into retirement.

That's pretty much mincing zero words. And he's he's good at this thing called football. He is an all pro.

First team, all pro. The Dallas Cowboys, Micah Parsons back here in the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing Micah? I'm good Rich. How you doing my guy? I am doing first of all, I'm just glad I'm sitting in my seat. You know what I mean? I'm glad I'm sitting in my seat because the last time I saw you, you were sitting in the seat and I felt I felt deposed. I'm not going to lie. I felt like you were kicking me out of my chair, you know?

No, never. You still have aspirations to do talk shows and host them? Yeah, I'm going to join you one day.

The Rich and Micah Show, hopefully. Well, I appreciate you giving me top billing. I appreciate that.

Yeah, I think we could clap on something. Okay. See, I appreciate you deferring to me because you really would want to call it the Micah Show with Rich Eisen. I understand that. No, no, no. You're the legend in this, you know what I'm saying? Okay. I understand. So if I was rushing the passer, I would defer to you is what you're saying? Yeah.

Okay. Like when they told me you wanted to talk, I said, just because it's Rich. Is that how you said it? Just like that?

Just like that? Because I know, because I know you want- Because we got a good relationship. And I appreciate that. And I also, and right back at you, I also know you want to let your play do the talking right now. I understand what's going on right now. I don't take it.

I don't take any offense to that at all. You want your play to be the talking from Micah Parsons, correct? Am I right in saying that? Yeah. Okay.

Well, you're not talking much right now. Tell me, talk to me. What do you got? What's on your mind before this game?

What do you got? I'm really just focused on the game, bro. I've been doing everything that's possible to get my mind, body and spirit ready. You know, just trying to give it my best shot, give it everything I got. Well, so much is made of playoff experience and how that actually not just plays into the game that you're playing, but how it can actually make things better the second time around. How are you different approaching this game than maybe last year, Micah? Man, like last year, you know, the rookie wall hit you, just like, you know, I just hope we win. I'm going to go out and give it my best. But I mean, overall, just understanding what playoffs take, the mindset, the film studies, the practices, the walkthroughs, just taking everything up a notch than it was before.

You know, really trying to go into a higher level in space. And what about the idea of what happened to your team last year? Perhaps more of a motivation to make sure it doesn't happen again, one and done.

Micah, does that factor into this at all or no? Yeah, you know, just so hungry, so determined to make it out this first round. Show the fans, give some of the fans the hope for, wish for, showing that we care, we put as much passion into this as they do. I mean, what a huge game this is. I mean, there's a reason why it's on Monday night, right, Micah? Mm-hmm.

Right? It is. It is. It's showtime.

Okay. It's showtime, and it's Tom Brady that you're going and aiming for. What do you see on film right now about Brady, Micah Parsons?

What do you see? Just, you know, you see why he's, you know, one of the best ever to do it. You see why, you know, he gets the ball out quick. He's decisive. He's methodical. He's deliberate in everything he does.

You know, we just got to be just as deliberate as game plan was. So, let me hit you on a couple of the narratives about the Dallas Cowboys and let you, being an all-pro Dallas Cowboy, tell me your thoughts on it. And one is that, you know, even Michael Irvin was saying that the Cowboys playing down a competition and not above the competition. Would you say that's fair over the last month, Micah? I can say it's fair. I don't think it's intentional.

I can see why people would say that, but I don't think it's intentional at all. I think it's, you know, sometimes games don't go as planned. You know, last week you can't control much fun and things like that. But, you know, you can try to control the mindset you go throughout the game and see if you can go above the hill and keep pushing, which I don't think no one gave up. You know, I think everyone kept pushing, but you just got to try to control things a lot better and finish game plans better.

Okay. And then just the level of inconsistency from week to week. Forget about just playing, you know, up to competition or down. It just seems that also, you know, the pass rush has not materialized in the last six weeks as it did in the first ten.

What do you say about that, Micah? You know, I would say, you know, I personally got to do a better job, you know, and we just got to get our timing together. We got to gel together. One thing that you notice is that sometimes you tend to play a little different to teams. I think teams play a little different than most teams. People don't really want us to get us going, so we got to find ways to get ourselves going. Obviously, the team's going to game plan against it, and, you know, that means quicker passes, RPOs, play action, booths, and things like that.

So we got to get them out of that and get them to just hustle and turn. And what about the idea that the Cowboys are just ripe for the upset? What do you say to that right now, Micah Parsons? We're the underdog? Well, I mean that you're ripe for an upset.

You're not technically the underdog if you're talking about a certain town with a strip in it, but you know what I'm saying? What do you think about that, Micah? I don't think much of it. I just think we just need to go out there and just play our butts off. You know, whatever happens, happens, but we need to go out there and give it our best shot. If we want to give it our best shot, I don't want to say what if, you know, what if, could've, should've.

That's all that stuff is, right Rich? I hear you, Micah Parsons. You don't want to have any regrets. You don't want to have, you know, you just want to put it out there on the line and go get... Leave my heart out there, brother. We've got Tom Brady. Turn Tom Brady into a broadcaster. That's what you want to do on Monday night.

Yeah, maybe we could get a show together. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry, Rich. I'm sorry, Rich. Whoa, whoa, what just happened, Micah? I said I was joking. Micah, I'm a thin-skinned, on-air personality.

That's what I am. I mean, come on now. You've got to help me out right here. I feel like I just got sacked. I might be roughing the broadcaster. That's 15 yards right there. I'm going to get 15 yards on you. By the way, what are your thoughts on that, the roughing the passer penalties in the NFL? Just going off the board right here.

What do you think about the way this has been called? Honest, I think in the past year, I think this league has been going more offensive favor. I see guys pulling off a quarterback because they don't want penalties and they're going for pump fakes and stuff more often now. I see guys just not affecting as much because of these hits and the star rushes off. Just a lot of things off and I don't think they're calling as much holding and stuff. I really think it is affecting the game. I think we need to find a balance in the medium and officiate it because I think they're looking more for the quarterback and stuff now rather than what offensive linemen are doing. I think it's becoming more of a dirty game. What are offensive linemen doing? What are they doing?

I mean, hands to the face, holes. I mean, I promise, Rich, if you watch, I watch Lyle Miles, Garrett, Vaughn, you can even watch my tape or you can watch Bosa. I promise you see a whole lot of holding, a whole lot of pulling guys down. There's a whole bunch of stuff and I just don't think they're looking for it. They're looking straight at the quarterback now.

More at you going to the quarterback. That's what they're looking at. That's what you're saying. They're looking for the wrong things now. That's what I see. You probably see more rushing and passing calls than holding unless it's in the run game or something. Well, what does it mean to you that it's you and Nick Bosa as the first team all pro edge rushers?

What about that? I'm really just excited to be with him. I really like Nick a lot. Nick was putting me on game back when he toured the ACL in Australia and LA.

I'm a big fan of Nick. He respected me even when I was just in college. He was always a humble, neutral guy. I respect what him and his brother bring to the game.

They've broken up with some dominant BMFers. I watch him and how technique and good his hands are. He's a true pro, bro. He is. The two of you guys are just phenomenal. You really are, man.

You know how I feel about you. He's a beast, bro. I wish nothing but the best for him. I hope we see him in playoffs this year. I really want his jersey. You really want his jersey? You want the win that day, right? So you'd sack the quarterback multiple times and beat him and then walk up to him after the game and say, I'll take your jersey too?

Is that what you're saying? Yeah. I probably won't get his jersey, huh? Yeah, not under the circumstances that you'd like to see him post-game, I would think. Yeah, you'd probably be pretty upset, huh?

Yeah, I think so. I'd wait until another day, you know what I mean? What if he did that to you? He'd take stack down. I would give him my jersey.

You would? After we lost to overtime and Rogers, I tweeted under your post. I said, after Rogers, after we lost to overtime, Rogers came up to me.

I was obviously pissed. He came back and won the game. He said, I want your jersey.

He shook my hand and smiled. I said, you got it, Rog. I was right there on the field. I missed that. I didn't see that tweet.

I didn't even request it. Under with. And when he was talking about it, I was like, bro, that was one of the greatest moments of my life when Rogers asked me for my jersey. After he beat you? After he beat your team? After he beat me. He went a terrible moment in the goods, just because how much I love Rogers. Last year, I saw Rogers collect his MVP jersey.

I couldn't get a word, but this year he knew who I was and asked for my jersey. I said, oh my God. I love it, Micah Parsons. Well, and I say this with love. OK, and this is the way I'm warming up to say, to say thank you for coming on the show.

And this is going to be something that might be sound disrespectful. But, you know, you and Nick Bosa have something in common other than being first team, all pros. You know what that is? You know what that is?

Oh boy. You know what that is? What you and Nick Bosa have in common.

Ohio State and Penn State. Don't walk into it, Micah. You know what they have in common?

You both lost to Michigan this year, Micah. That happened. What do you think? What do you think?

I should hang up, huh? No, no, no. I guess that's the same. That's how maybe you would feel if Nick Bosa asked for your jersey. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just trying. That's not how I feel.

I think we just feel about how you feel about Michigan. Mm hmm. Got it.

Yeah. OK. Hey, Rich, I'll come out to L.A., bro. Don't make me come out to L.A. You are welcome here any time, Micah. Rich, if Nick doesn't want Micah's jersey, you'll take it. I'm glad we can put it on the studio.

That's right. How about that next time? Super Bowl is not in L.A., but if I see you out in L.A., I'll make sure I'll be bearing the jersey for you, Rich. I love it, Micah Parsons. You're one of my favorites.

You are. I look forward to watching you play on Monday night. And I guess last one for you is how do you envision Monday night going when you get out there on that field? Walk me through it, Micah Parsons. What happens Monday night?

What do you got? Man, you know, win or lose, it's hard to predict, but there's no, you see, number 11 just give everything he has for the game and for the sake of this team and where I think we could go. So you don't see me not shine. If you look like, you know, people say, why do you always look so tired?

I mean, if your best players don't look tired, then I don't know what they're doing. OK, well, maybe I gave you that motivation, you know, the Michigan takedown, the Michigan guy motivation. Maybe I just gave that to you. You know what I'm saying? That's my gift to you.

That's how I love you. OK, I look forward to that. Micah Parsons, thanks for the time. Again, I know you took time out of your busy schedule to do this and I do not take that for granted. Thanks again.

Take care. Let's do this again. That's Micah Parsons, the first team All-Pro and Lion of the Dallas Cowboys here.

Let's go. On the Rich Eisen Show, getting ready for Monday Night Football. Love that guy, huh? How funny is him?

How fun is he? And he is him. He is him. He said that right. Oh, man, I do love him.

That's my man. This NFL postseason, every Westwood one NFL broadcast streams live for free, including tonight's. I'll be there. Kurt Warner with the call, along with Kevin Harlan from Tampa.

Wildcard Round, Divisional Round, the AFC NFC Championship Games, the Pro Bowl, and of course the Super Bowl. Catch all the action on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports. 844-204 Rich, number to dial.

Christian Kirk, top of hour number three. And between that, your phone calls over Reaction Monday and so much more. We'll be back with your phone calls and over Reaction Monday in a moment. Monster.com can help you tackle the job hunt and make your next career move in football and in life.

There's the regular season and then there's the playoffs. Monster.com knows that scoring your next job, that's a playoff moment to bring your A game. You need Monster.com. Looking to change positions and join a new team?

Monster can help. Monster.com has millions of job openings and great coaching and career advice for a strong performance when it counts. Plus, when you upload your resume to Monster.com, you can be recruited by employers before they even post their jobs. Monster.com specializes in building the right teams for employers and knows how to match you with those job fits. When you score the position, Monster.com's salary calculator ensures you're paid what you're worth. The regular season is history and we all know the playoffs are no time for messing around. It's time to get off the sidelines and go to Monster.com and win the job hunt.

Monster.com. 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 RichPod. Head to NetSuite.com slash RichPod for this special one of a kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses. NetSuite.com slash RichPod. The Rich Eisen Show radio network powered by Grainger.

With supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger is the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Why not? Terzo and I will all rise. He's first in, first out right here on this busy Monday. What's up, sir? What's up, Rich? Hey, guys, this has been hilarious. Rich, I actually did watch you on Saturday morning when you guys were doing your super Tiro deal. That was making me laugh out loud.

I was getting ready for a wedding and it was hilarious. Your shoe game, I might question a little bit. I like the Converse, but I don't know if you keep up with TJ's shoe game because he does a pretty good job. All right. That's fine. It's your prerogative, Terzo.

It's your prerogative. It's hard to keep up with the kid, though. You know what I'm saying?

I got it. So watching the Niners game, we're at this wedding and I'm glued to my telephone because obviously there are no TVs in the venue. And you know how much of a big Niner fan I am. And DK Metcalf came out and was eating our lunch. He was. And I think from the Thursday night game that they lost, whenever he got that unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and kind of almost shifted that game, he came out possessed and he was not going to get punk again. It scared me, but Brock Purdy come back in that second half and played really well. He wasn't missing the throws like he was in the first half.

Deebo started getting going. It was a fun game to watch. I'm just really curious to see who we get tonight. I don't know who I want more, Tom Brady or the Cowboys. Well, I'll tell you what, man, let's see how it goes, because if Brady shows up with Ryan Jensen, by the way, getting him back at center and and that alone, I mean, is so huge just for Brady's mental state entering this game and they can run it and protect it and show up like championship bucks. I don't think you want a piece of them either. And you'd rather a cowboy.

I don't know. Either way, it's going to be an incredible game to wrap up divisional weekend. And thanks to the cultures who greatly appreciate it. Let me just give a couple cents here on on on the 49ers, and I understand I'm treading into waters of potentially cannibalizing an overreaction Monday topic. And we're about to get to overreaction Monday. But I just want to talk about the Niners real quick. The only question about Brock Purdy left is how will he handle handle the crucible of playoff football?

How will he handle it? And in a rain. That did subside. His first series was shaky is the only way to describe it. Shaky. There were throws that he made that look, man, they were throws that he made and balls that were floated and misfired that we had not seen in the first few starts from Purdy and totally understandable. And I thought to myself, hmm, we go down the field, we see that and McCaffrey doesn't touch it and they have to settle for three, but at least they get three.

I'm like, that's weird. Why wouldn't McCaffrey touch it? I think Shanahan wanted to get Purdy settled or unsettled Purdy settled fast, knowing that Purdy would have to be unsettled to begin with. And a 68 yard rip from Christian McCaffrey on the second series will settle anybody.

How about that? McCaffrey's first touch as a 49er in the playoffs goes for 68 yards. And then he he finishes up the drive by sneaking out in the flat and Purdy makes some nice moves in the pocket to get free in order to find him. And then he got settled in and then there was a drive that happened about three, four drives in that Purdy started making all the throws, all of them. And I thought to myself, this is the moment you're going to look back and say, we've settled in. Now, Shanahan and the 49ers, it got dicey at one point right around halftime. Words that should never be said anymore, and I don't understand it. When kickers have such howitzers, they can get it through an end zone anywhere.

It doesn't have to be altitude or anything else. But squib kicks should never happen anymore again. I do.

I do. Because you give a team an opportunity, you squib it and you give them the ball around the 25 or 30. That means it's just one 20 yard play can get them in field goal range. And sure enough, Geno Smith scrambles and then gets hit after he, you know, Jimmy Ward hits him as he scrambles and the Seahawks take the lead at halftime.

The score is 17 to 16. But then to start that second half, it was a 13 plate, 75 yard drive and Purdy made all the throws and they took a lead 23-17. And then got a defensive play. Fumble, Bosa recovers.

And then it was the boat race was on after that. And Purdy wound up with 300 yards passing and one on the ground. And at the end of the day, the San Francisco 49ers, as it is right now, the 23 points as it is right now as we go into. Monday night football, the 23 points that they gave up is the best that we've seen yet.

Right. And you've also seen also the 49ers when it's all said and done, get 300 yards passing from Purdy, three touchdowns passing from Purdy, one on the ground from Brock Purdy. They get 133 yards from Debo Samuel and a touchdown. They get 119 yards from Christian McCaffrey and a receiving touchdown. They get a defensive fumble recovery from the Defensive Player of the Year in Bosa. They get a second half comeback win, which technically was because they were down at halftime, and they get a divisional round playoff game. They're set.

You know, obviously other teams won this weekend, but just in terms of other teams that won this weekend, they're set. That was neat. And they emerged healthy, it seems right.

Am I am I mistaken on that? I think you're right. Seems that they emerged healthy from that. I mean, Debo looked unstoppable. Sorry, the Bengals gave up just 17, but Debo looked great. He showed up in the way that we saw Debo from last year's playoffs show up. Purdy in his first game got rid of the jitters and then looked terrific.

LeBron's tweeting about him. He's feeling it. I mean, didn't have to really make any throws, though. He wasn't asked to really win the game. He threw a couple of short passes and guys took it to the house. But he also made some of these throws, too. That drive to start the third quarter, I mean, stuff could have gone sideways there. If the Seahawks had gotten the ball back in a way that, say, the Jaguars did right.

True. I mean, that thing could have gone sideways, but instead that drive was just huge because it settled him in as well. You know, Purdy got a three yard run to get the first first down on that one. He found Kittle for twenty three yards on second and 10 when they were seemingly behind the sticks there. Then he went on a third and seven, found Debo for twenty one yards to get a first down. McCaffrey went up the middle four straight times and then Purdy's the one who shoved it in the end zone to wrap it up. That's that was that was a drive. Then after the fumble, when it was twenty three seventeen, Purdy turned those pick the first turnover of the postseason into points. You know, McCaffrey did a lot of the work, but then he found Juwan Jennings for thirty three yards in the seven and then Elijah Mitchell in the for the touchdown. Purdy found him. Nice and settled down.

So they got that out of the way. And I don't think anybody's going to think he's going to get rattled from here on out. At least you never know. My take on the Niners. All right, Christopher, are you ready? Are you ready for this? This is as big an overreaction Monday as you can. What fan base can I upset today? Let's hit it.

Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap.

That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Mondays. All right, Chris, what do you got over there, sir? Shout out Bears fans.

What's up? You guys are passionate, if not misguided. All right, here we go. Sean Payton's going to have the Chargers in the AFC title game next year.

False. That's an overreaction. That's an overreaction.

He wants to coach in L.A., lives in L.A. Justin Herbert is there dying to be coached up into a great quarterback that we all know is inside of him. And, you know, he has who he has right now. I'm going to hit this later on as well. But since you have brought it up, I'll hit it here in the same way that you say the Chargers are going to charge her. Right. Yeah. And blowing a twenty seven nothing lead in the playoffs, their largest blown lead in the history of the franchise regular or postseason is the latest charging. It's it's even a verb, right? I think I did that in the charger. They're charging. Correct. Yeah.

And in the same vein that that is on brand, what is also on brand would be for the Spanos family to say, here's what happened. We almost made the playoffs last year. We made it this year. We're going to have to pay Justin Herbert an insane amount of money. Players get paid after they're drafted at the quarterback position and they are supremely generationally talented and everybody believes it after just three years. They're going to have to pay him. They're going to pay him a mint. We're going to see what that contract looks like. Sean Payton is going to command an insane amount of money that I don't think the Spanos family wants to make a stroke, a check for. I just think it's coming down to it now. It would be great for Chargers fans who want to see Brandon Staley gone and and Sean Payton here that to see the Spanos is say this is bold a maneuver as we can get. We've got a generationally talented kid that we're going to pay all this money to. We might as well throw more good money after good and get the coach to hook up with them. I don't think they're going to do it.

I think Brandon Staley is going to be a guy that they stick with. Otherwise, I think they would have axed him by now, right? Who knows? Maybe they have their meeting today. I don't know.

But I think they like them and I think that they see some positives there. And I don't think they're going to make this. That would be a bold maneuver I don't think they're going to make. So I'll call this an overreaction, Chris. Rich, my pre-season burning question for the Chargers was can this team stop doing Charger-like things? And what did we say about what's more likely, right? Same type of deal. We said they're going to pull a Charger-like thing. And that was it.

What else, Chris? I watched that game yesterday morning in Buffalo. Bills are making too many mistakes to be a real Super Bowl winner.

I would say yes to that and also counter that the quarterback who makes these mistakes is so incredibly talented he can make up for them. He's the one making them. I know. I get it.

I know it. So it's not an overreaction to say this. But I think, you know, Allen needs to knock it off with the throws deep, although, you know, I'll just call this not an overreaction.

And that is it is generally it is genuinely concerning. And now he is entering the versus Burrow and potentially versus Mahomes portion of his winter go home schedule. And I think this is the sort of stuff when he maybe if he meditates or looks in the mirror is going to have to think hard about.

Does he need to play more like Daniel Jones? Well, which is which is not make not turn it over. You don't have to always go for it. You can take the safe throw. It would be wise.

It would be a smart idea. You're going to take it on Burrow. You see, remember last night, Burrow, Collins broke it down immediately that they went on a slant on a third down late in the fourth quarter to Jamar Chase. It wasn't there and he dirted it. He didn't force it in. He didn't look.

He didn't look. He just dirted it. He goes, I'm not taking a sack and I'm not throwing it away. And that's the sort of stuff I mean, and I'm not throwing it into coverage or I'm not going to throw something dangerous.

I'm just going to dirt it. And that's the sort of pre snap stuff that goes in his head. Because that's an amazing living in the moment moment that I would counsel Josh Allen to find. What else, Chris? Giants are going to upset the Eagles next week.

I feel that that's not an overreaction at all. Something going on with this Giants team, man. I've got. Smells like 0-7.

Smells like 11. I don't know. About making the full run. Now, that's a tall order, but one and dunning the Eagles is entirely possible. This is the fifth playoff meeting between the two franchises.

That's a turnpike apart and and they've split the first two and stir. In case you're wondering about history, 2009 was the last time they played each other in the playoffs. Eagles have won the last two.

I've already looked this stuff up. And so but obviously that means nothing about this coming weekend. And what it means is is hurts healthy. And can the Giants stop this run game? And can they play as well offensively against a very difficult Eagles defense and execute? And I say they sure can.

And I've got five more days to talk myself into choosing them on game day morning next Saturday. On the other side of that, the Vikings. They've reached their peak with Kirk Cousins.

This is as good as it's going to get. I can't imagine that they feel that way. And the coach that they hired is perfect for him. Defensively. Look at their record in one score games this year. It all went their way to break to be 13-4. No, I get it.

I know that. And the crazy thing is, do you have the soundbite of Kirk Cousins? Do you mind pulling that one up, please, Mr. Hoskins? Because it's amazing that the last play of the season was the check down that Cousins has been eviscerated for his entire career.

As opposed to taking a risk. And this was his answer as to why he checked it down. Yeah, just a shell read there. Saw a single high. Tried to work Justin. Didn't feel good about putting up to Justin. And then when I went to progress, I just felt like I was about to get sacked. And I felt like I got to put the ball in play.

And if I take, you know, I can't go down with a sack. So I just thought I'd kick it out to TJ. And I had thrown short of the sticks on a few occasions in the game and even going back a few weeks. And just felt like, you know, just throwing it short of the sticks isn't the end of the world. It's just, you know, it's obviously tight coverage. So didn't have the chance to pull away.

But I just thought I was going to go down and take a sack if I didn't put it out. Now, when he was on the show earlier this year and I asked him, do you feel like you're playing riskier than before? That you're taking more chances? He kind of bristled at that notion.

But anybody who's been following Cousins's career or all 32, you know, all 22 tape heads will say he doesn't hadn't taken risks. And that's part of what Kevin O'Connell kind of unlocked, saying, you know, live for the day, man. Seize the day carpe diem. You like get on your football table and yop, you know, to use, you know, the the phrase from back in the day. You know, like, go ahead and go for the go for the moment. And he had been doing it all year. And then in this moment, he checks it down. And the question is, like, he didn't feel good about putting it up to Justin Jefferson.

And you just wish this photograph would just flash in his head. And we're showing our radio audience the fourth and 18 grab when he had to put it up on a fourth down. The game was going to be lost in Buffalo if he didn't get the first down. He did.

And Jefferson made a sick play. How does he not do it in that moment? It's kind of like, wait a minute, you wouldn't feel good about sending it to him. It's there's a track record of feeling good in moments that you shouldn't feel good throwing it to him.

So I understand that that gives credence to your overreaction sentiment. But get more defensive players like Big Z. Figure out that side of the ball and let O'Connell and Cousins do it again. Albeit Justin Jefferson's final three games were lacking. It was an incredible season and the Vikings were good for a reason.

They just need to be better. And Kirk should be done with the checkdowns on fourth down for the rest of his life. Just remember this moment, Kirk, because I'm sure it doesn't feel good. What else you got, Chris? Feels like we're going to be talking about this for a few months, but Tyler Huntley? He's going to be the Ravens starting quarterback next year.

I don't know, man. He played pretty well last night. I know he did.

I know he did. You know how I felt about Tyler Huntley last year when he was putting two in the air and two on the ground against the Packers last year. And then, as you know, Harbaugh went for it for two at the end because the defense wasn't going to stop Aaron Rodgers. This defense is different.

No. Did you think he was going to go for two if they scored last night? I didn't because this defense is different. And the new overtime rules guarantees everybody touches the football at least once, regardless if the first team scores a touchdown.

I don't think so at all. He would have played for overtime because the defense is balling. How good is Roquan Smith? And I thought, again, a lot of people are roasting Harbaugh for so much. Not calling a timeout at the end. I knew exactly what he was doing.

You don't want to leave any time for burrow. You know, he might have popped off one time out with like 40 seconds to go and only giving up 20 seconds on the clock instead of 38. But that said, this team still almost won a game last night in Cincinnati. It was a play. It hit the dude's fingertips. I know.

I don't know if Tyler Huntley is going to be the guy if Lamar isn't. How do you not catch that? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think he expected it. I'll just call that an overreaction and just try and, as I said to start the show, every indication from Baltimore is that these two sides are done with each other, but they swear that it's still Lamar's world and we're all paying rent in Baltimore. We'll see.

Alright, last one, guys. Brock Purdy, we talk a lot about him, as we should. He's been awesome. He's done enough to be the Niner's starter next year.

That's a great one, Chris. Like right now, if the Giants knock him out. He's done enough. If they get bounced next week, he's done enough.

I would be hard-pressed to say that's an overreaction. I think he's just been dynamite, and as shown he can be. In this offense, too, they may have found their guy.

I really believe it. And you know I'm a Lance guy. I am a Lance guy. And I think it's funny this year, they're like, we're going to give it to Lance and we can't go into the season with Purdy backing up, so let's keep Jimmy G around. And then Jimmy G gets in there because Lance gets hurt, and Purdy, you know, the guy that they couldn't have as the backup, is now beating them all as the starter. And then Lance is going to back him up, and Jimmy G is going to hit the road? Seems like it. But I think you might be right, Chris.

I don't think that's an overreaction at all. Good stuff. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Christian Kirk still coming, your phone calls as well, here on this Monday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Welcome to Talkville, the ultimate Smallville rewatch podcast where each week we watch every episode of Smallville, a show that changed our lives forever and perhaps your lives, too. I'm Michael Rosenbaum.

Hello, I am Tom Welling. What was the sign off now? Always remembers Talkville. That's it, always hold on to Smallville, folks. We love you, can do it without you. We've got a great season two coming up.

Catch up with season one or start season two on YouTube or wherever you listen. Monster.com, folks, can help you tackle the job hunt and make your next career move in football and in life. There's the regular season and there's the playoffs, as we know, Monster.com knows that scoring your next job, that's what we call a playoffs moment. Bring your A game and to do that, you need Monster.com because if you're looking to change positions and join a new team, Monster can help. Monster.com has millions of job openings and great coaching and career advice for a strong performance when it counts. Plus, when you upload your resume to Monster.com, you can be recruited by employers before they even post their jobs. Monster.com specializes in building the right teams for employers and knows how to match you with those job fits.

So when you score the position, Monster.com's salary calculator ensures you're paid what you're worth. How about that? Regular season's history, it's all about the playoffs. Time for not messing around. Get off the sidelines. Go to Monster.com and win the job hunt.

Monster.com. Let's go back to the phone lines here on the Rich Eisen Show. T.J. in South Carolina, what's up, T.J.? Wait, I'm here.

No, no, this guy's in South Carolina. What's up, T.J.? Hey, man, long time first time or first time long time. I'm happy to be on the show. Very good. Yeah, so if you've got a minute, I just wanted to talk to you guys about Lamar, the injury, and the Ravens offense.

Yes, sir. Okay, first of all, I love you guys, but with all due respect, I think you guys are kind of stirring this up a little bit kind of hard. First of all, Ravens, at least for the Ravens team, the injured guys don't really travel to other stadiums. I know if it's a home game, they're usually there or whatever.

Yeah, yeah, and Lamar was. They love traveling. Yeah, right. Yeah, they don't go to away games.

And from what I understand, also, having swelling and inflammation in your knee, flying and traveling and being in the cold can really affect that. So I think that was part of it, part of the Ravens' policy in that. I don't know, man. I don't know.

This is weird. Come on, now. I mean, come on. Did you see, like, Bateman and some of the other guys there?

Like, I haven't seen Bateman since he's been injured. No, and I understand that, but it's not like. But if, I don't know. And again, I might be way off on it, and TJ, you might be right.

I'm way off on it. It's just something weird. I mean, he's tweeting out his injury news and saying exactly what it is. I think he's just trying to defend himself, man. From what? What's he trying to do? But what's he trying to defend himself from? Who?

Because you got people in the media calling him a slacker and saying he's skipping treatments and he's not going to these workouts. Not these parts. Not these parts. I'm not saying you.

I'm not rich. I'm not saying you. I'm just saying there's other people in the media that are saying this, like, you know, what does he care?

What should he care? I mean, that's the whole point. It's just like, what was that? What happened there? Because that is always going to be, always, 1,000 percent, always will, always has been, always is, always will be a provocative act from a player when a team has been totally quiet and hiding whatever you're hurt with or by.

And for him to put that out there, a provocative act. There's no question. No matter how much the Ravens love him, it's one of those moments where it's tough. The tough love is coming from, it's tough to love.

Right? There's tough love and then it's tough to love. And that's just one of those, like, they had to have been like, what is up with that? And again, if their policy is to not send players on the road because they're injured and not to make it worse because they're injured, you know, and they know that it's going to be something weird to look at, then they can still rally around their locker room and block out all the noise.

But this is weird, man. I think he was hearing a lot of the noise and I think he just kind of wanted to defend himself a little bit. And you kind of got guys now, like Marlon Humphries defending him. You have Mike Davis who wasn't even on the team defending him. RG3 is tweeting out, talking about, hey, look what happened to me when I went out there and tried to play.

You know, when you have guys like Michael Vick and Sean Davis. This is not, and again, this is not me. No. And this is, again, I just want to make sure, and thanks for the call TJ, way to chop it up. Appreciate it.

Call back. This is not me saying Lamar should have played last night. I'm not saying that.

I'm just asking where was he? And if the answer is team policy, they don't travel and it doesn't matter and we're not changing it for anyone because we didn't change it for this guy and that guy. It's kind of different. Yeah, exactly.

And we review your policies. Come on. And if he's there and he can calm, you know, Tyler Huntley down or help out, wouldn't you want him there? Exactly.

That's additive. Extra set of eyes, you know, something that the coaches didn't see that Lamar saw. When I say Tyler Huntley loves Lamar and just asking him about Lamar and watching his face light up about Lamar and just talking about Lamar and then hearing everybody else talking about Tyler Huntley's affection for Lamar and vice versa, by the way, from what you're hearing. All I'm saying is this.

If you need me to be somewhere and I could be there, I'm there. Cool. Cool. So he loves Lamar like Ben Lyons loves R.J. Barrett of the Knicks. Well, no. That type of love.

I mean, if we're going to talk about it, if we're going to talk about Ben, then then he. Oh, geez. Don't do it. Should I do it? No, no, no.

I don't know what it is to do it. No, no, no. Don't do it. Don't do it.

He loves Lamar like Ben loves not saying hello to everybody walking in the door. Stop me, get up! Christian Kirk coming up. I just want the record to reflect that I advise against that. That you did. All of us. Thank you. I was all for it.

I just didn't know what it was. All of us. Speaking of, stop the count.

I mean, I'm just sending this right now to our basketball group chat. Stop the count. I'm up 6-0 on you, so stop the count. Oh, really? Oh, because the games have begun.

Where have we begun? There's one game. Celtics, Hornets, and I have.

There you go. I have Malcolm Brogdon. Stop the count. And I have no Celtics or. Or Hornets.

Or Hornets. Right. Okay. Stop the count. He says.

Turn off those machines. It's in your inbox right now. I just sent it. Oh, cool. Screen grab. Stop the count. There it is. Stop the count. And Adam's laughing. I'm not talking about what I just said.

He's on delay in the back. He wants you to win because the madness needs to stop. And all I'm saying is. I mean. You know, it's just the old axiom.

DJ and I are at all the playoffs right now. If you don't like the celebrations in the end zone, you keep your opponent out of the end zone. That's it. If you don't like it.

But it's fantasy. Stop it. It's all luck. Definitely not luck.

We're not playing one on one. Definitely not luck. Because then you would not score. Definitely not luck.

I love these pickups. Because many times on Saturdays and Sundays, I was just alternate. I'm just swapping people out from swapping people in. So I win the week.

I'm just going week to week. That's how you go. And then you keep enough guys. So when it comes to the playoffs, you win. That's how you raise banners.

You're welcome. You don't live. You don't love your lineup.

I didn't lock the baby with a cap the way. I've adopted his strategy. I gotta be honest. Okay.

Stop the madness. Christian Kirk's coming up. He knows how to win.

Sure he does. For over 40 years, Jim Ross has been the voice of wrestling. Nobody has stories like Jim Ross, and he shares his tales with co-host Conrad Thompson on Grilling JR. This Nickman was the top heel in the Attitude Era. It was a fresh character. It was new. It was material that we had not seen or heard to that date. We couldn't have created a bigger or better heel. We wanted to make more heels, and we tried to make more heels, and we did, but nothing compared to Vince. The Grilling JR podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.