REShow: Rich from Germany, Vic Tafur - Hour 2

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Learn more at Discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. Get ready. This OMG is The Rich Eisen Show. No other way to put it. With guest host Andrew Siciliano.

Oh, my gosh. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I'm not talking to you. I talk to anybody out there. The haters. Rich Eisen.

I talk to the haters right now. Earlier on the show from NBC Sports, Mike Tirico. Coming up, senior writer for The Athletic, Vic Taffer. Plus, overreaction Monday, your phone calls and more. And now sitting in for it.

It's Andrew Siciliano. We had a great weekend. What a wild weekend. I mean, we had a Heisman winning quarterback crying in the stands with his mom. We had Josh Dobbs learning the names of his teammates in the huddle. We had a running back kick, a go ahead field goal in the final minutes of the game. And then that quarterback, that rookie quarterback in Houston, marching right back down the field when they needed another touchdown. We have cowboy fans going nuts, claiming that there was pass interference on the Luke Schoonemaker touchdown, not a touchdown. We have we have the way that game ended. And then we had a great game to start the day as well on NFL Network, celebrating our 20th anniversary in Germany.

Hope you had a great weekend. My name is Andrew Siciliano sitting in for Rich today and tomorrow. Chris Brockman, Jason, whose name I always forget. Last name, Jason. Do we use your last name?

Not really. OK, Jason with the Raider hat on. Congratulations to your Raiders smoking victory cigars. Yeah, buddy. And T.J. Jefferson, we hope your headache is better, man.

And that game didn't help, but you know, it did not help. But what a wild day it was a day that began with a game on NFL Network in Germany, a would be AFC Championship Game preview in which once again, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs found a way and we are left with more questions about the Dolphins, the man who had a great call on said game. And I must say, Rich, good morning to you and for a good afternoon. It's evening. It is actually whatever the heck it is.

That was the best dressed booth I've seen in a long time. Oh, good. Thanks.

I appreciate it. How are you guys? Greetings from how's it going, man? Greetings from Berlin. I've moved I moved to Berlin for a couple of days. Look at you. Yeah. Yeah, I went I took a train to Berlin today. I've never been here. I'm going to take a few days here. This was this is as everything that's always good in my life.

Suggested by Suzy. She's like, you should go. So I did. I hopped the train and here I am. We had to recall on a little bit ago and he said that he was texting with you this morning and said that coming up, Rich will give us a full tourist update.

Yeah, that's right. I haven't done much yet. I took a train here and now here I am and figured I just zoom in to say hi to you. And awesome, you know, and do overreaction Monday in a second. But I just want to express what I saw yesterday between the Chiefs and the Dolphins. And first of all, Frankfurt Stadium is it's very intimate. It's forty eight thousand five hundred people in this place that was home to three World Bowls back in the Frankfurt Galaxy Days, a home to a bunch of concerts, home to a World Cup Women's World Cup.

The World Cup also had some games here for the men. And it was one of those spots again, certainly international games where, yeah, there was there some Chiefs fans that you saw, but I saw a Greg Lloyd Steelers jersey. I saw a C.J. Spiller Bales jersey.

I saw Eli Manning Giants. I saw just once again, a United Nations of of Jersey wearing fans coming in. And the crowd was lit from jump. I mean, the first minute that anybody stepped on the field, it got really loud. There is a canopy over it.

The only analogy I could say is if anybody's been a so fine. I know everybody in that studio there has been to so far, but anybody out there listening or watching so five stadiums and open air stadium that just has a roof over it, a canopy over it. That one cost about a billion dollars out of Cronkis pocket. This one is kind of like a canopy where it's it's a fabric, you know, and and over the playing surface is a another sort of umbrella type canopy that can open up and close. And it was closed because it was raining on Sunday. And the turf is an artificial surface. That's it's a hybrid.

So it's mostly grass and then some artificial in there. And the players just came out and and the dolphins, for whatever reason, decided to give the ball to Mahomes first. And that one kind of was a little bit of a head scratcher to be straight up with you. And I know the Dolphins probably felt, OK, we got Xavian Howard. And we got Jalen Ramsey back together.

But you know what? Let's just send Mahomes out there. And the only reason why it's a head scratcher is the Chiefs came into this game a perfect five and oh when scoring first. And the Dolphins were a perfect three and oh when scoring first. And you're giving Patrick Mahomes coming off that awful performance for the Chiefs a chance to right the ship right away. And he marched down the field seven plays and took took the lead. And and then we began to see what truly with Rashid Rice is on the screen is one of the aspects about the Chiefs.

There's a couple of things that just jump off the screen at me or jumped off the turf at me. One of them is that kid, Rashid Rice. I think we're finding this is going to be the receiver that makes plays for Mahomes.

They're looking for somebody other than Kelsey. I think this kid, this rookie is going to be that kid. We're starting to see it. They threw the ball to him out wide to start the scoring. He also made a terrific grab early on in the second quarter to move the chains when the Dolphins defense began to insert itself.

That was that led to the Chiefs second score of the game, which was Jerick McKinnon over the middle. And then the other aspect about it is the Chiefs defense. Guys, this is one of the best defenses in the NFL. Period.

End of story. You got to put it up there with the Ravens. You got to put it up there with any other defense, the Niners before they started sliding the Cowboys on on many of their nights.

You've got to put them up there. This is the reason why this team is seven and two, because this offense still hasn't clicked on all cylinders. And that moment when McDuffie ripped the ball out of Tyreeks Hill's hands and then began a whole big to do that wound up with a lateral in the hands of Brian Cook to score.

It was one of those moments where I'm in the booth and I'm like, wait a minute. OK, that's play. Stop for nothing. Wait a minute. The ball's loose. Wait a minute. It's picked up. Wait a minute. It's lateraled.

Wait a minute. He's going the whole way. And it was just a total mind blowing moment right there. And that was the margin of difference after, you know, the Dolphins started scoring some points in the second half. And the Chiefs defense got it done towards the end of the game. They got it done.

And I know it was a bot snap that ended it. But when the Chiefs now come off of their by, they'll be taking on Philadelphia. How about that? The Philadelphia Eagles go on there by the Chiefs, go on there by and the Dolphins now go on there by with that narrative, as we all thought would be the case. That narrative being, you know, hey, who have they really beaten? They came close yesterday.

I don't know if that matters to you, Brockman, because I know you've been kind of leaving that charge. But they came awful close. They came close, but they fell behind too early, too big and couldn't climb out. Are you surprised that that that Tyree Killplay wasn't ruled an incomplete pass? It didn't look like he had the ball for very long. No, I thought he did. I thought he had it. And and the one thing is wasn't incomplete.

I think you could have ruled some forward progress being stopped. But Sarah Torchon right in say that was that was appropriately called. And he's not one of those shocking.

No, no, no, no. He's not one of those. The official is not one of those. He will come on the air and disagree. He will do that. And he has done that over some of our international series games. But yeah, I that's what my takeaway is on offense.

They're still evolving. And, you know, one of the things I'm kind of kicking myself over because it happened at the end of the game, it happened on the Chiefs final possession that wound up going three and out to give the ball back to the Dolphins. So obviously that took center stage of dolphins having one last chance to tie the game late is that Travis Kelcey passed Tony Gonzalez for the most prolific pass catcher in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs. And and and just seeing him and Mahomes on the same field doing what they're doing and how the Dolphins kind of shut that down yesterday. Again, leads me to think Rishi Rice, a lot of Isaiah Pacheco and that defense with Mahomes and Kelcey sometimes will will not be held down like that. And that's the difference maker. I just wanted to give that off that that off my chest before we get to a overreaction Monday.

Well, let me ask this real quick, Rishi. The narrative that Mike McDaniel said, you know, before you you spoke last week, last Friday about that great production meeting you had with Mike McDaniel, how enlightening he was and how different a coach he is. He also said that until we kind of beat another team, like we have to change that narrative until we beat a good team. So where where are they now in your eyes after seeing them up close, after failing to beat yet again, another, quote unquote, good team? Well, I think where they are is a defense that's going to get better, because, again, it was Howard and Ramsey on the field for the first time together. They really can sack the quarterback. They can get after you.

Now they're going to start locking some people down outside. And then again, it's just if if the defense against them is going to cause Tua to hold on to it, what's next? Jalen Waddle getting dinged up in the first half wasn't helpful either.

A-Chan coming back is going to be, as you know, a difference maker. That kid was lighting it up and was actually somebody giving C.J. Stroud a run for his offensive rookie of the year money before he got hurt. So I'm not discounting the the Dolphins at all. They still have a good shot to win this division now that the Bills lost again. You know, we'll see what the Jets do tonight. But I still think the Dolphins are are a team with the inside path to win the AFC East.

And then who knows? You know, all they got to do is just beat one of these teams in the playoffs, which I think they're going to make. I think the Dolphins are a playoff team. I think we could see that. So I'm not going to discard them.

But right now, the one seed looks looks like it's fading a little bit just halfway through the season. Lots more football to be played, obviously. Are we time to react? We ready? Let's do it. Let's do it. Hit it.

Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap.

That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Mondays, Monday.

All right, what do you have? Hey, what's up? Breaking news, though, from Atlanta. Yeah, well, Heinecky is going to start again this week. But more importantly, Arthur Smith shaved the stash. It's gone.

Gone. Maybe now he'll give Bijan Robinson the ball 20 plus times. Mm hmm. Don't get me started, man. Cooper Eisen is really upset about that. Bijan Mustard, though, is on the verge of maybe winning its first game this year. But I mean, you know, can we stop with the John O'Smith end arounds? And how do you draft somebody seventh overall?

And you don't even bring him in inside the five with frequency. I mean, like I told you, I know this is Shrug emoji. Again, I don't know if this is. Is this a subject of overreaction?

This is a little breaking news that he shaved the mustache. So we're kind of getting to it. OK, we'll talk about this a little later. First up, rich raider nation. The Raiders are going full Versace at two point.

Oh, they're going to make a playoff run with interim coach Antonio Pierce. Ah, you know what? I need to see a little bit more here.

I need to see a little bit more here. The Giants are just a dreadful football team this year. And hey, the Raiders and they show like them. The Raiders showed you a couple of things. One, they're talented. They have the talent.

They have the talent to make a playoff run. So, yeah, we saw that. I'm just you know, I need to see what Aidan O'Connell looks like against the Chiefs. I need to see what Aidan O'Connell looks like against the Jets even coming up in his next game.

I need to see these things. But for the moment, it just goes to show you what happens when you have fun playing football. And that is a metric. That is a metric when you believe in the guy who's coaching you and you can be yourself.

Just one quick aside here on this. OK, that we were we were talking to the Dolphins this week and how they had no idea how to react to Mike McDaniel when he first showed up and just walked into their first team meeting going, hey, everybody OK? Like that. That's how he started his first team meeting with the Dolphins. And this is a team that came off of, you know, the Brian Flores Patriot way of doing things. And they were all like how they didn't know how to react. So one would think that if that was the case in Vegas that removed Antonio Pierce coming in, not saying that he's, you know, joking around.

But it seems that the the governor was removed a little bit. You could see the metric of playing happy and going berserk in your locker room afterwards. That said, playoff run.

I'll hold off and call that an overreaction for the moment. Nothing unites like hate, Rich and those Raider players hated Josh McDaniel. Here I am saying it's love and happiness and you went the other way. Hate will bring us together. All right, glass half empty boy.

What else you got? Hey, Rich, I watched your game. Great job on the call. Love you guys. The Chiefs are awesome. I watched the afternoon game. The Eagles.

They're awesome. But the best team in the NFL is the Baltimore Ravens. Oh, best team in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens. I don't know how you can argue this. That's not an overreaction. It's an argument that can absolutely be made.

And it is something that you can absolutely support. I don't know where they're going to land in my power rankings. The the Eagles, you know, seem to have their flaws and the Chiefs seem to have their flaws. The Ravens flaws may just be when they're not playing from ahead and start steamrolling you at the bank. I don't know. You know, maybe that they're passing game outside, but they're rushing game and their defense is just something else.

And then the passing game, you know, when it is on, it's number eight who's having an MVP type season. So, I mean, maybe I'm just nitpicking a little bit here, but you can make that case. I don't think that's an overreaction right now. All right, let's move on.

I have no case. OK, they are very good. They're plus one. Let's see. They are one 15 point differential right here. That's that's good, Richard.

You saw it firsthand. The Chiefs defense is what's going to carry them back to the Super Bowl. Now, I think that's not an overreaction. I'm telling you again, Mahomes is not doesn't have that big, huge field flipping passing game going. He just doesn't. Now, Kelsey starting to look his age a little bit, maybe.

No, I don't know about that. I just think that he is just being double and triple covered. I mean, there were a couple of times on third and fourth down plays yesterday. I mean, they were just they were mauling him. I mean, so, you know, that's an overreaction that he's looking his age. I would just say this, that that the Chiefs were able to overcome not having that field flipping up top game on offense and defensively.

The young kids started coming along. These guys, I mean, they didn't even have, you know, Bolton yesterday. They they're they're a top three defense and that defensive coordinator. Steve Spagnolo just lights people up on third and long. And that's what the Dolphins were in quite a bit. So that's not an overreaction either.

Richard saw a great performance in Houston yesterday. Stop the clock. It's over.

C.J. Stroud has offensive rookie of the year locked up and he's going to make the Pro Bowl this year. Oh, yeah, I think you could make that case.

I bet there he's got it locked up. The Pro Bowl will just be because he's going to go because somebody's not going to go. Now he's a top three AFC quarterback. Dude, come on. Top three. Come on.

It's you're saying this is also a popularity contest. Mahomes is going to be a pro bowler, correct? Yeah, right. Yeah, it's going to be. Lamar's going to be a pro bowler. Yeah, right. Stroud has much better stats than Lamar Jackson.

Tua is a pro bowler. One of them is going to basically be in the Super Bowl. The other one is going to go, oh, my arm. I can't go, you know, on my toe or, you know, I have a hangnail. I'm not going to go, you know, so a blind taste test. Do you want the guy with seven picks or the guy with one?

I got you. No, I know he's been terrific. He's been superb. But offensive rookie of the year, that thing's over. That's a wrap. I agree. Halfway through. Done.

What else you got? All right. Last one, Rich. Yes, sir.

I'm sure you saw the score from the Coliseum over the weekend, Washington and USC put on a show. Caleb Williams, turn the ball over. Can I guess what you're going to say? Can I guess what you're going to say? Sure.

Can I guess the topic? Caleb Williams shouldn't play another down for USC. No, I totally believe that.

And that's not a reaction at all. I'm going to say, Caleb Williams is going to be the Giants starting quarterback in twenty twenty four. So you're saying the Giants are going to have the first overall selections or they're going to make a move to go get the first overall selection? With Daniel Jones now being done for this year and then probably deep into next. Yeah, I can see that. Look at the Giants schedule. I don't know how many more wins are coming this year. No, I know that.

No, I, I, I, I totally hear you. And as you know, earlier on this last month, you know, the Rick Dalton GIF, that was our exclusive shot of Caleb Williams watching the Giants start to fall flat because that's where he wants to go. He wants to go to New York City and revel in all of that spotlight and all of the marketing dollars and just bathe in it while being in the spotlight.

Being in the money division areas. That's it. He's watching the Giants play football.

That's, that's, that's, that's Caleb Williams right from his, right from Hollywood, actually. And so bingo, like that's where he wants to go play in the money division twice against Dak, twice against Jalen Hurts. So I think that's what he's, he wants.

And the Giants have got to start thinking hard about making something like that happen right now, for sure. And that's it, right? That's a wrap. For us in the second.

That's a wrap baby. I'm going to come back later this afternoon. Yes, I'm going to come back later in the third hour, just to, you know, shoot whatever you want about the rest of the NFL weekend. Also later on, Chris Brockman and I are going to stay after class. I'll be right back here from Germany. We're going to record the Overreaction Monday podcast, you and I. So that's, that's what's coming up. Beautiful.

Enjoy Berlin. And when Rich gets back, we might have breaking baseball news. Ready for this one?

Ooh. Yeah, we definitely do. Ken Rosenthal, John Heyman, all the baseball writers that know what's going on, say there's two parts to this. Craig Council won't be back to manage the Brewers, right? They let him go interview elsewhere, including New York.

The Mets, that is. He won't be back, but he will manage this year. And he'll manage a team that currently has a manager.

What? Craig Council leaving Milwaukee to take another job. That job currently occupied.

Yep. Is he managing the Dodgers? Is he managing the junkies? Where does Craig Council manage?

My fantasy team. And whose job is he taking? That's coming up, also coming up. What was it like in Vegas yesterday? Vic Taffer joins us, covers the Raiders for the athletic.

He's got stories, that's next. Rich Eisen here, let's talk about DoorDash because we talk about it in our household all the time. Susie and I always go to DoorDash whenever we need some terrific food from our favorite restaurants with timely, responsible, professional drivers delivering the food right to our house in a timely fashion. We use DoorDash, and now DoorDash is made even better with DashPass. DashPass is the one membership you need to get the most out of DoorDash in everyday life because DashPass members get $0 delivery fees and up to 10% off eligible DoorDash orders, including groceries, drinks, personal care items, and more. DashPass makes delivery even more worth it, helping members save more than $35 per month on average.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. I'm Mike Del Tufo, are you out there, Mike? Yes, I'm here, Rich, how you doing today? I'm doing great, so what are you revealing? You've got right here, you've got- Right up here, above me is a brand new Rich Eisen Show sign.

A new Rich Eisen Show sign, wow. Am I going to do it now? You see this. Yeah, here we go. Let's do it. Here we go.

This is going to be fun. Just hope it doesn't come down on your head. I can't do it because the way it's set up. Just put down the microphone, dude. I can't. This is the worst reveal ever. Take down both. Keep pulling, Del Tufo. Just put the microphone down.

This is good, Rich, this is good. He's going to bring down the whole thing. Yes.

Pull both of the boards. No, we cannot have this as the reveal. He does audio. This cannot be the reveal.

He does audio, he does not do manual labor. It's the way it's messed up up there. I can't. Look, I can't. Del Tufo, walk up the stairs. Walk up the stairs, Del Tufo. Okay.

The not reveal. He's going to walk up the stairs. Because I can't climb to where I did it. Yeah, you can. That's up to the second story. No, you can't.

You got to have a cable. You guys don't know OSHA rules. This is epic. See, they screwed me.

They did this on purpose. I'm convinced. Yeah, it's against you, Mike.

I'm telling you. Del Tufo, just tell everyone out there you don't have any change for them. Just pull it. Give a good Jersey pull. Put the microphone down and pull it. Pull the other one. You're a big man. Yank it.

Yank it. Oh, geez. This is so much better.

All right, come back in here and screw off the audio now, Mike. Updating the breaking news here that Arthur Smith shaved the mustache. Also said Taylor Heinecky is going to start again for the Falcons week 10. Arthur Smith says he shaved it at 3.45 this morning when he couldn't sleep. And quote, I kind of regret it already.

But maybe he said it's cleansing, so to speak, to get them, the Falcons, through the funk. Andrew Siciliano, hi there. Good morning. Sitting in for Rich at the Rich Eisen Show Desk, which is furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call or click grainger.com or just stop by. So many great stories yesterday. The Eagles hanging on, beating the Cowboys. What CJ Strada and Dari Ogunbowale did. What Josh Dobbs did. What the Ravens did.

I haven't even gotten to them. I mean, they pantsed the Seahawks. They had 23 more first downs than the Seahawks who had only six. What the Browns did, holding a professional football outfit to only 58 yards for the game. And also what the Raiders did. And that is smoke victory cigars in a locker room after winning a game week nine. They didn't make the playoffs. They didn't clinch the division.

There were no records set. This was no milestone moment, but they were smoking cigars because they were so happy that not only they beat the Giants and Antonio Pierce got a victory, but that Josh McDaniels is gone. Vic Tafer covers the Raiders for the athletic. He has a great pod about the Raiders as well. Every week on the athletics platform. And he joins us now live from Vegas.

Am I reading that wrong, Vic? They were that happy he was gone. They smoked cigars. That's pretty much it, man.

I've never walked to a locker room and smelled just a fig cigar smoke after a game. It was either dancing or Max Crosby's doing videos and the owner's hugging him. And it was like a, it was a big, it's been a big time party all week since, you know, the day after they put in the mini hoop in the locker room and the guys wrestling the day after and having fun. So it's been, it's been very clear what they felt about the last, last regime. Vic, how bad was it?

You know what? I think it just kind of, it got slowly worse and worse. There was some problems last year and they got rid of a lot of the guys from last year's roster. Kind of want to kind of reboot this year, but they brought in a lot of former Patriots as well.

One of them, Charlie Jones, Dallas did not go very well, but, so it just kind of got worse and worse. And the key thing for me was it's all about the offense. You know, Josh is an offensive guy.

That's his resume. He has the rings with the Patriots, but they couldn't score 20 points. They couldn't score 20 points in eight games when he got to Devonta Adams and Josh Jacobs. So it's very frustrating for fans, even more frustrating for players in the locker room.

What's going on? Vic, there's a story that Jake Glaser had on the Fox pregame show yesterday, something along the lines of Antonio Pierce trying to motivate this team last week before McDaniels was fired by comparing it to his 07 Giants with this attitude that, hey, every time we took the field, we believe we could win. Obviously that team eventually beat the Patriots and then McDaniels had pulled them aside and basically gave them grief for talking about the Patriots and maybe read that as personal. Had you heard something similar? I mean, was there tension between Pierce and McDaniels that you were aware of?

I think tension may be a strong word. I just think that as the players kind of became more disillusioned with the coaching staff, mostly Josh and his guys, I think they turned to Antonio Pierce as kind of a guy, a sounding board. I think he definitely is a former player. They mentioned that several times and that bond they have. And he kind of, I guess, talks their language, I guess, is a way to say it. So I think he was kind of like a guy that I went to in the last few weeks, a guy I turned to and then this big meeting they had, I'm sure he spoke up.

So I just think there maybe had been like kind of a different sides now all of a sudden of the coaching staff, like, you know, the players guy versus the, you know, the old, old funny daddy. Vic, how long you've covered the Raiders? It's a while. How long has it been?

This is 14 years. Okay. Compare last week, where would you rank? Let's put it that way. Everything that's happened last week, culminating in those cigars last night, on your list of crazy bleep you've seen with the Raiders? That's a good question, but I've seen so much crazy bleep within the Raiders.

I can't even rank them, but definitely the joy. I haven't seen that kind of joy in the locker room. I think we're trying to think back. There was a game in London where John Gruden was dancing because he had beat Khalil Mack.

That was a pretty happy locker room. This is kind of close to that one, I just think. But yeah, I just thought, I think, you know, you look at the Mark Davis and he's had this, I think this is his eighth coach since he tore before his dad. And it's just been a rocky road, it's kind of a roller coaster of ups and downs. And definitely, they were definitely on the way down.

I think they definitely, I think he saw it as a, he said it was regressing. So it's been crazy. It's been a crazy week, it's been a crazy 14 years. Vic, true or false, Mark Davis needs Antonio Pierce to go on a run, prove that he should be the full-time coach. Because of all that turnover you just mentioned, if it isn't Antonio Pierce, nobody else would want this job. Yeah, I don't buy that.

I think there are only 32 of these jobs. Now, if you come here, the stadium is incredible. I mean, the facility is incredible. So if you're a coach of any kind, all these coaches have egos, all these guys. So you think you can do a good job here, I'm sure. And it's a reference, there's talent in the roster.

We've mentioned Crosby and Adams and Jacobs, and there's some young guys. So there's, the coverage is not totally bare. So I don't really buy that. People are gonna look at the history and say, oh, wow, I don't want that job. I mean, he gave Joshua Downs a $52 million buyout check.

That's not a bad going away gift. So I think guys can live with that if that's the worst case scenario. I'm totally with you. There's that narrative that it has been such a mess for so long. And he's blown through so many coaches, and he's paying more coaches not to coach than he is to coach. Then why would you want that job? But as you said, there are only 32 of them, and he is going to get a new coach if this one doesn't work out. But this one might work out. I know it's only a very, very, very small sample size, but Vic, do you think this is sustainable?

I definitely want to see it. I mean, the players definitely are, they feel like they've been empowered. They're definitely, they think this is their team now. So I think that's a very positive thing compared to what was going on.

Obviously, a win over Tommy DeVito, I'm not sure, is a huge landmark in terms of like you've arrived and you've made this great change. So I got to see more of it in the next few weeks, but definitely a great start for Pierce and for this team. Did you fall for that thing going around Twitter last week about Josh McDaniels and Mark Davis and Halloween and all that? No, because not only, I mean, obviously it's ridiculous, but I know Josh pretty well. I'm not sure I can see Josh in a Mark Davis costume even with his hair down all the way. So I couldn't quite picture that happening though.

Yeah, I'm totally with you. And plus, I think they claimed it was from the athletic. You would know that it wasn't in the athletic. I immediately saw it and went, no, no, no, I had read Vic this morning.

I don't think that was in his piece. But they got a lot of people. People were believing it.

So hey, more power, S is the way of the internet and Twitter, whatever, X, whatever it is these days, is kind of a who knows what's true and you just take your guess and hope for the best. Talking to Vic Tafer here from the athletic. Aidan O'Connell, he's a statue. He's got a nice arm. You know, he could sling it a little bit. Do we agree we're not gonna see Jimmy Garoppolo on the field again this year? I was surprised he was up as the number two yesterday. Yeah, I think it probably shows more like a lack of faith in Brian Hoyer. But yeah, I think Jimmy's not gonna, I mean, they felt everything goes to plan.

He won't play again. I think they want Aidan to kind of take these reps and grow and they can find out what they have. They have a guy who might be a starting quarterback. They have a guy who's, you know, a good backup, which is also very valuable.

And it's like a guy you can rely on. So he showed a lot of poise. He didn't play great. I thought the first half he was on point, second half, whatever. But I think he didn't turn up all over, which is key. Then at first starting against the Chargers, he had two fumbles and a pick. It looked kind of a little shell-shocked, which is understandable.

It's your first time. And you're going against Khalil Mack and Bosa. So I just think yesterday was much more poised.

I thought he looked good. All right, Vic, last thing I promise. Go back to the day this all went down last week, which was Monday night. I still don't get, and help me with the timeline, why you fire the coach and the GM, but do it after the trade deadline. If you have this in your head that you might do it, why don't you do it in the morning and tell the guys you're getting out the door, you can't handle my trade deadline.

Have someone else work it. I don't think Mark had decided until after the deadline. I think he had a pretty good idea. Like he told himself, that was kind of his deadline to see where they were going.

I think that night of the game, he was pretty miserable. I thought in the morning he thought of him. I don't think he really decided until early afternoon.

Cause it's definitely, yeah, it's a huge pill to bite the contractor. Plus he told these guys to have a long time, like two or three years. And he meant that when he said it. He tried to have patience, but he didn't see it going the right direction. So I do think it was a tough call for him.

I think it took him most of that morning. And so I think at that point, why mess with the trade deadline? If you really know who's going to be at the gym in a couple of hours, why mess with your team?

Kind of give the new guy, and now in case it's just the kind of old guy champ, Kelly, but give him a chance to kind of see what he wants to do with this roster and not give him anything that's kind of predetermined for him. Vic, we appreciate your insight, man. As always, it's going to be a little more fun the second half of the season. Enjoy it. For sure, man. Cigars every week. Let's go. Yeah, yeah. Try getting those out of your clothes every Monday. But you got to win, I guess, to do that.

But maybe they will, never know. Thanks, Vic. Vic Taper from The Athletic. You may have heard during that conversation some noise from Brockman over there at his desk, because we do have breaking baseball news.

Makes no sense. It's not the Yankees. It's not the Dodgers.

Craig Council is leaving the Brewers to take over Brockman as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs. So David Ross, who almost got this team into the postseason, second half turnaround, went down to the final weekend, right, if I recall correctly. Like, played over their heads.

David Ross is out a full month after he managed his last game, and the guy up the street, who was under contract, is leaving his job and taking your job within the division. Did I get that right? Yeah, I'm at a loss for words.

I don't believe this. I got that all right, right? Yeah.

It's almost, I'm trying to compare it to something. I mean, let's just take the Giants and Eagles. We're going to do a hypothetical here. Let's say that the Giants and Eagles, the Giants coach, they lost week 18. They had a nice season, totally, totally, totally played over their heads, but didn't make the playoffs. He's under contract.

Everyone's happy. Then all of a sudden, the Eagles coach takes his job in division after the Eagles let him out of the contract. Maybe that's not the right analogy.

But that's basically what happened. I mean, they're rivals, right? Brewers and Cubs are rivals, interdivision rivals? It's like Nick Sirianni being like, you know, I'm going to go coach the Cowboys. Are you cool with that?

OK, cool. Brewers made the playoffs. Cubs did not. Cubs finished one game back in the wild card, one.

So they almost got it. The Brewers' October ended early. Got swept.

Got swept. Then the Brewers said, we'll let you look around. And then he's going down the tri-state to Wrigley to take that guy's job. But he was rumored for the Mets job, right, TJ? And they end up hiring Carlos Mendoza. A Yankees coach who hasn't managed in, say, 15 years since the low minors? Wow. He jumped 17.

So confused. But there was like a 20-minute window there after Ken Rosenthal first had the story. And the story was that Craig Council's leaving the Brewers, which you knew might have been likely at this point because they were letting him interview elsewhere. Craig Council's leaving the Brewers. It's not going to be the Mets. He's taking somebody else's job.

And then there's a 20-minute story, like, wait a minute. Is it the Dodgers? Is it the Yankees? I mean, who could it be?

Who could it be? Stephen Vogt was named the manager of the Guardians this morning. They had also spoken to Craig Council. So that was kind of the first domino to fall here, right? And then the Mendoza to the Mets.

And then Craig Council, well, not the Guardians. And he was a long shot there. Not the Mets. That one seemed a little bit more likely.

But he's leaving to take the Cubs' job. It's just bunkers. Wow. OK. Wow. So there's that. Wow. Well, Wowsers. Yeah. Coming up, let's put this Caleb Williams reacted the wrong way thing to bed, please.

OK. Back off, Caleb Williams. That's coming up next. You are listening and watching to The Rich Eisen Show.

Flash credit card. Limitations apply. Half redneck, half posh, 100% fun. Trey Crowder and Corey Ryan Forrester try and learn fancy culture in putting on airs. The host of the Medium Popcorn Podcast, Brandon Collins and Justin Brown. OK. So Paddington 2 had like 100% arrived tomatoes for years. You guys ruined that?

Justin came in and took it down like two points because of his rating. That's the time we started getting death threats. Yeah. I'm not surprised. People worship that movie. Putting on airs.

The podcast is on YouTube and wherever you listen. What does an NFL team get with Jalen Hurts? Well, I'm a dog. A relentless competitor. And I'm going to work my tail off every day. Try to win ball games. I mean, I've done a pretty good job of that. And just most importantly, impacting the people around me to my best ability. I think that's the biggest thing is kind of got to impact guys and bring guys with them and just bring a presence about himself to the organization and to the program. So I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me.

And I just continue to work my tail off and try to take steps every day to be the best player, quarterback, and man I can be. So what questions are you asked? I mean, what more do you need to, in your estimation, put out there that you're being asked about?

Well, you know, Rich, it's a process. And it's something that I've never experienced. And they pretty much just ask me questions to try and get a better feel of who I am as a person, as a leader, and ask about ball, right? So it's very unique in my position because I've had so many different offensive coordinators. And I've been around so many great minds in the game. So these coaches simply want to know what I know. They know I know ball. They know I've been well-taught from each and every coach.

So me spitting back the things that I know and showing them that I'm a student of the game and I'm very knowledgeable of what I know and what I'm doing. Great stuff there, Rich, with Jalen Hurts back in the day when he was coming out of Oklahoma. I remember when I first met him at the Senior Bowl, shook hands, talked for a minute or two. My first reaction was like, A, this guy's not that tall. But B, he is like a rock. He is. He's built. I'm not going to say he's built like a running back.

But in a sense, he is. But some of those throws yesterday, man, that guy is as tough as it comes. And the Eagles get a much, much, much needed break here, a much needed buy after that victory over the Cowboys. Andrew Siciliano sitting in for Rich.

Did you see Caleb Williams Saturday evening? USC lost again. The defense can't stop anybody, granted. They were playing a very good team in Washington at the Coliseum with a very good quarterback, and Michael Pennix at the Coliseum. And they lost again 52 to 42. USC is now 7 and 3 on the year with losses in three of their last four.

And it doesn't get easier. They get at Oregon and then home for UCLA these last two games. Alex Grinch, the defensive coordinator, was fired yesterday by Lincoln Riley. So things are not great right now at the Coliseum. It was another tough loss for a quarterback who nearly put up 50 points again and had his team lose. Caleb Williams won the Heisman. Caleb Williams, most of you think, will be the number one overall pick when he decides to come out this year or next.

Although Drake May in North Carolina may have some say in that. After the game, Caleb Williams went over to the stands where his family was there in the front row. We see this every day, Saturday and Sunday, where players go over and say hi to their family. Caleb jumped up onto the railing, and he put his head on his mom's shoulder. And then seemingly, he got emotional. His mom hugged him.

I mean, come on, he's a kid here. His mom wrapped his arms around him. And then, whatever she had in her hand, a program, a piece of paper, whatever it was, a sign, maybe a sign for the front row, covered his head.

And it seemed pretty obvious that he was crying. Here's what Caleb Williams said afterwards when he talked to the press. I want to go home and cuddle my dog and watch some shows. I don't know what I'd like to, you know. We lost the game.

Something to work hard for throughout months, years, to have big games like this, try and go win, play your best. Each and every one of us, we came out with a loss today. So emotionally, I want to go home, and I want to lay with my dog.

He turns 22 in 12 days. I am 49. I don't have a dog.

I grew up with one. I've had plenty of days at the office where I want to go home and crawl under the covers and sit with my dog or with a bottle of brown liquor, whatever it is, but turn the lights off and be with myself in my own head. A lot of guys cry after games. You know, they put a towel over their head on the sideline. What do you think they're doing, smiling?

No, sometimes they're crying. A lot of guys go into clubhouses or locker rooms after the game and let it out. So Caleb Williams let it out on the sideline, in the stands, with his mom.

Big deal. There are a lot of people out there, honestly, professional trolls, if we're being honest, both on Twitter and on these shows where you scream and yell for a living. There are a lot of people out there that want to knock Caleb Williams, say maybe he's not the number one pick now. I don't want that guy in my locker room leading my team.

I saw somebody that shall remain nameless, undraftable, on Twitter over the weekend. Shut the hell up. Come on, man. Losers, man.

First of all, if you're lucky enough to still have your mother around and you're able to give her a BAM, thank you, TJ. Because Andrew, for as much pain as I was in last night, I told you guys I would have given anything in the world just to be able to have my mom give me a hug when I was in pain last night. Exactly.

And to everyone out there that says this is a knock against him, folks, you can't have it both ways. You can't be mad when the team loses and guys are seen smiling and talking to the team that just beat them and exchanging jerseys. And also be mad when they're so upset that they lost that they're moved to tears. You can't just try to stick it in the emotional fairway off the tee every week and tell these guys who you criticize for being robots that they can't show emotion on one extreme or the other.

You can't. They care. And they're allowed to cry. How do you want them to react? You want them to punch somebody? You want them to break something on the sideline? You want them to be Tom Brady and break his Microsoft surface so then you can make fun of him for losing his cool, for breaking his Microsoft surface. Exactly.

Right? Tom Brady's angry. He's a sore loser. He broke the tablet. Is it the tablet's fault? Right. Right. Oh, the guy cried.

Undraftable. Drake Mays, my number one quarterback now. I'm going to take panics over him.

He didn't cry. Stop it. Just stop it.

Please. I want a guy that cares. He cares. He's also really talented.

Really, really talented. Now, are you going to hold it against him because he said he wants to go home and be with his dog and watch shows? I don't care. As long as Monday morning he comes to work ready to work hard, to fix the problems from the last loss, and to move forward.

What do you want him to say? I'm going to go home and get smashed, right? Yeah. I'm going to go home and get drunk. Yeah.

Do something reckless off the field. No. It just goes to show you that you can't win for losing and these guys are always going to be overly criticized. And look, I'm part of the business that does it. I get it. I understand. But I'm also trying to be fair. And fans always forget, not always, not all fans, but a lot of people do, that we're talking about human beings here, guys that are compensated well to win.

And yes, I mean it now. I could say that about college football. Caleb Williams has compensated really well, really well. But is it his fault they're giving up 50 a game?

5-0 points a game. I think the real question with Caleb Williams should be, after all this talk, well, he's not going to leave. He's going to stay at USC if he doesn't get the team at the top of the draft that he wants to play for.

I think the real question should be if they can't stop anybody. And Lincoln Riley has to finally fire his defensive coordinator here in early November of year two. Does he want to go back to SC next year? Is SC the right situation for him next year? Now, it doesn't change where he wants to go in the NFL.

But is going back to SC the right option if he doesn't get the NFL team he wants? That should be the conversation. And I'm not suggesting he go into the transfer portal.

Could you imagine? Oh, gosh. Or maybe he should. No, he's not going to find a better place than SC. And he's not going to find more money, I don't think.

Although, who knows? He's paid well, legally, through NIL deals. Of course. He's compensated well. I think the question is, if he truly doesn't want to go to another NFL team, the one that takes him, do you just sit out? Just sit out.

You've made enough money. Jamar Chase set out a year of much different circumstances. With COVID, he did fine. He did just fine. This guy, Caleb Williams, is in the elite of the elite of the elite, where if he sits out, he will still be the first or second pick, period.

Full stop. Leonard Fournette, you and I were talking about this, Chris, before the show. He was the first one where you watch him play as a sophomore, and you're like, why would he play? Why would he ever come back? Why would he play his junior year?

What is the point of that? I said it at the time, and I think I put it on Twitter, people laughed at me. I said, he should backpack through Europe for his junior year.

When was that, 2015, 2016, something like that? Yeah. You watched him play at LSU. He's good. Watched his high school highlights on YouTube. You're like, well, that guy's going to be in the NFL. Yeah. And I said at the time, he should walk out of school and go backpack through Europe. Or stay there and just be a student. Now, he'd be on a football scholarship, obviously, before the NIL time.

Just SEC, wink, wink, nudge, nudge time. Could he have afforded that? I don't know.

But he didn't have to play football. No. And I think the Caleb Williams thing is going to be fascinating. Let's say. He definitely shouldn't play the rest of this season.

I don't really see the point now. Well, but he can't win for losing. So is he labeled a quitter if he just taps out now? Yes, he would be. Well, in the end of the fall, NFL types will come at him like that.

The same people that went after Christian McCaffrey and all these guys who sat out the bowl games, they can pound sand, in my opinion. Right. But it's different for quarterbacks. True. You're the leader. Well, you are.

True. I think the question is, if Caleb Williams enters the draft and he doesn't get or we'll finish this conversation next hour. All right, Rich is coming up. Germany again.

See you. For decades, Rolling Stone has set the bar for entertainment publications. Today, Rolling Stone music now takes over in podcast form. We have Michael Azerrad, who was Nirvana's very first biographer. I'm not sure how many people realize how many of the best songs on In utero were written way beforehand. Rolling Stone music now, wherever you listen.