REShow: Hour 3

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Learn more at discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. Oh my God, you guys are my favorite. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about.

That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Brian Weber. OMG. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Oh my gosh.

And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Well, the program's still plenty of opportunities for you to get involved. If you're so inclined, pick up the phone.

844-204-7424. Twitter. The X, if you will, is your best opportunity. B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. Although, again, to be as candid as I can be, since this is my final hour with you. You got Dan Schwartzman tomorrow and then Rich and the fellow's back on Monday. And I don't return until Christmas Day. If it's a holiday, safely assume I am capitalizing on the chance to support Rich's brand. I got a ton to get to. Now, some of my leaning towards the NFC has been a byproduct of how the schedule was aligned with nothing but NFC teams playing today.

I guess I could have been more open-minded. Spent a little more time looking ahead to Black Friday's NFL debut tomorrow. I just cannot find much interest in the four and six Jets who have lost three in a row. Even not having to watch Zach Wilson anymore as Tim Boyle will get the start against a dolphin team that has a direct line in the middle of the resume. They don't lose at home. They win the games they're supposed to win.

But they have an 0-3 record against teams with a winning mark. I have not had an opportunity to talk much AFC. I'm gonna address that coming up in 10 minutes after we kick things off talking Cowboys and a little bit of Washington.

I don't find that game that interesting. I'm gonna stick to big picture takeaways on Dallas in 20 minutes. Back to the college football with an NFL conversation slated for 40 minutes from now. Looking forward to checking in with Sam Munson. Does a tremendous job of taking us as fans inside the game with data-driven analysis, pro football focus that was co-founded by Chris Collinsworth. And Sam not only watches all these games they run the numbers and they give you what the metrics indicate. So we'll all learn something when Sam joins us coming up to wrap up the program. But 20 minutes from now because I am as passionate about college football as I am talking NFL. We'll get back to the conversation we just had with Chris Venini.

We appreciate Chris taking the time to join us from the athletic. Turns out he was not the black scorpion. He was not a wrestling heel. We think he might have accidentally hit the mute button on his phone. But it was pristine audio.

It was about as clean of a glitch as you're ever going to have. We gave you some of the ideas how the dominoes could fall across college football with more teams than slots right now. And a lot of that will be clarified by what happens starting on Saturday with the rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio State. But I love coming up with what if dot dot dot kind of structures and we'll do it with college football. And I'm going to point out why in my mind this is a better way, a more compelling way to crown a national champion than the upcoming 12 team playoff.

Although I'm going to sound a lot like Greg Popovich telling Spurs fans to stop booing Kawhi Leonard last night. I know I'm wrong here. At least I know you think I'm wrong. I know factually nothing's going to change. Now I would have accepted the move to a six team playoff as the intermediate step. We know why it's going to 12.

It's all about the money. Like most things in life are, especially big time college sports. But you can't tell me that it's not going to negatively impact the integrity of the regular season. Next year, when Michigan and Ohio State get together, let's say they're both undefeated again, the loser knows there is no real consequence other than seeding because they're going to the playoff. But we'll get there coming up in 15 minutes. It is now halftime in Detroit. The Packers unable to come up with a field goal on their final drive, but they have the upper hand at the break.

23 to 6. So the Lions wobbly defensive play continues. And for folks who thought that Jordan loves outstanding game on Sunday was primarily a reflection of the Chargers defensive problems.

Love has kept it going. 15 of 20, 189 passing yards. He started the game, 8 of 9 being completed. Couple touchdown passes. The Packers defense has also come up with a defensive touchdown on a force fumble than the scoop and score. Mix in a field goal. 23 to 6. Packers at the half.

And if you've not spent much time thinking about the expanded playoff picture, and after all, why should you? It's a holiday. Oh, by the way, it's my job. It's my occupation. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. The phone number is 844-204-7424.

Your best way, your path to getting involved is to hit me up on social media. B. W. Weber. Weber with two B's. Green Bay still in the mix. Now, let's say for the sake of this exercise, Packers hang on, win this game. That'll move them to 5 and 6, and you have jumbled up teams in the wild card hunt after you get past Dallas. I think Seattle loses again tonight when they take on the Niners. That'll get them to 6 and 5. The Vikings came back to reality on Sunday night as they could not maintain their advantage in the second half.

They got tight. Now, some of that also was a reflection of how much improvement we've seen from Denver. Broncos now have won four straight, but the Vikings, currently at 6 and 5, with a chance to pick up another W, taking on the hapless Bears on Monday night, but a Green Bay victory puts them in much more legitimate consideration to be a wild card in the NFC.

But clearly, we have tears developing. And in the NFC, and we devoted a good portion of the last hour to this analysis, you got the bunching of the Eagles. I go 49ers second. And then Detroit, let's say they lose today. I'd still have them better than Dallas, even though the Cowboys with a chance to equal their mark. Both teams would be 8 and 3 with a lion loss, coupled with a Cowboy win. Remember, Detroit and Dallas gonna play coming up in December. Dallas, if I could divorce myself of the past, and this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to give you objective analysis, but I'm also paid to give you my opinion. That's why I'm here, after all.

If that wasn't the case, you could just queue up an AI robot, and I probably shouldn't say that out loud because I'm already talking about my future replacement. I cannot have football amnesia and put aside all of the different ways we've seen Dallas fall apart in the games that matter the most. And it just happened this year. There was all of the hype surrounding Dallas heading into the rematch with the Niners after the Niners had ended their season each of the last two years.

And what happened? That was a beat down in the Bay Area. What's gonna happen come playoff time?

I think more of the same. Now, if you're a Dallas honk, you're gonna tell me Dak has improved since then. And the numbers bear it out. He's played a lot more efficiently. Fact, as easy as Mike McCarthy makes it to poke some holes in his resume, because you could argue, he gravy trained Aaron Rodgers for his entire career in Green Bay. And he has shown that all that talk, all that bluster that he laid out to Jerry Jones about reinventing himself, spending time in his barn, embracing analytics. Well, Mike can also be stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to his play calling.

But this year, you can't quibble with the numbers. Dak, in this second portion of the start of the regular season, has refined his game. He's looked a lot better. He's cut down on turnovers. He's been more efficient.

I just need to see more. And I'm not being a contrarian. I'm not being a contrarian. I'm not trying to troll you Dallas fans, because there are people who do that for a living.

That space has already been occupied by a myriad of squatters. I'm just telling you how I feel. And I'm the guy, when I have filled in for Rich in the past, and occasionally on the day after Thanksgiving, prisoner of the moment, coming in on the Black Friday and saying, well Dallas looked good on Thanksgiving. I believe this is the year.

Remember a couple years ago, when they beat the Raiders on Thanksgiving. I might have, might have. We'll have to check the podcast. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen.

You want to hit me up after the program, you can X me, BW Weber, Weber with two B's in 30 minutes. We wrap it up with Gusto talking much more NFL when we say hello to Sam Munson, a pro football focus. I have defended the Cowboys at this stage of the year, because I believed in their defense, and then been betrayed when the better team won, as the better team should win. And the last handful of years, that better team has been the 49ers.

So, Cowboys win today. Things will get a lot more interesting if the Lions can't roar back in the second half, in terms of the perception of the best teams in the NFC. Nothing's going to change with seeding, because Philadelphia still has the best record in all of football, and have a chance to do one of the rarest things we've seen in the NFL. Teams just don't go back to back in the NFC East. It's been the better part of 20 years, with the rotating carousel of division champs. Eagles are going to win that division again. Dallas will have to settle for a wild card, but the more they win out, the more they enhance their seeding, and the bottom line the possibility of hosting a playoff game, and then we'll find out what happens when Dallas takes the next step. You put them in a divisional round.

Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but I'll believe it when I see it. Let's try to get a little balance in here, just because I've been hooked into today's schedule, and that gave AFC thoughts along the way. We talked Matt Canada, we talked Ken Dorsey, we talked Cleveland Browns, we talked Denver Broncos, but let's focus more on the top of the conference, and that'll start with Kansas City, and we devoted a good portion of the opening monologue a couple hours ago to the fallout from that Monday night game, and two things can be equally true. Philadelphia deserves a ton of credit for going on the road, rallying in the second half, and winning that Super Bowl rematch, and a fair-minded person can point out that the Chiefs gave it away in several different ways. Two red zone turnovers. Kelcey didn't look like he was 100%, and then of course the highlight that will live forever if Kansas City doesn't win the Super Bowl this year or get back.

Just cue up in agonizing super slow motion the video of Marquez Valdes scandling, Polia Nelson Aguilar having it right in his hands off both gloves, and dropped it. But that's not in any way departure from what the Chiefs have failed to do all season long, leading the league in drops. Their defense has been the better unit, which you never thought you would say, in Kansas City based on the pyrotechnics that Patrick Mahomes has been able to generate since coming to the NFL. What we saw Monday night also reinforcing what's been happening lately. Three consecutive games with no scoring for Kansas City in the second half. Now I think they'll be okay in part because as we can do the most teams other than Philadelphia, and we can do it to Philadelphia to a degree, if you're looking to critique or find some flaws around the Eagles, all you have to do is compare them to last year.

But last year was one of the more historically dominant starts we'd ever seen, especially on defense with that record-setting effort with all the sacks. But if you don't believe in Kansas City, my counter would be, okay, who do you really trust in the AFC? And my answer would be the Ravens, but here comes a very big but.

I like big buts, and I will not lie. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. Conversation never stops on social media, BW Weber, Weber with two Bs in 10 minutes, back to college football. We'll run through beyond the analysis we provided earlier of Michigan, Ohio State, the games that matter, and focus on the increasing clarity we're getting on the college football playoff. Here's your but for the Ravens. I think they're the most complete team in the AFC, but they can't close. Third time it happened against the Browns. The Indy game was funky.

I'll just put that aside as weird. Weird things happen with Gardner Minshew and his regal mustache get involved, but they gagged away a massive lead to the Steelers, and the Browns deserve credit for their competitive zeal. That team plays hard, irrespective of who the quarterback is, as we got from Deshaun Watson and all his baggage, PJ Walker. Now, DTR, it's the defense that has held that team together. And if you think about redemption stories and teams that have been able to compartmentalize, nothing sums that up better than what's coming up on Sunday in the late window.

Cleveland at seven and three, winners of three in a row, on the road to Denver. Broncos, five and five, they've won four straight, and both teams are demonstrating remarkable short memories. Because like many people, when Nick Chubb went down with that gruesome knee injury on Mother Night Football, I thought that was the end of their season. Then it was reinforced when Watson was shut down with the elbow injury, but the Browns keep finding a way. And for the Broncos, maybe we should have given, I know this is a radical idea, when we want it and we want it now, you TikTokers, maybe we should have given Sean Payton a little bit more time to get his offense installed, to get continuity developed. But when they lost in Miami, allowing 70 points and over 700 yards of total offense, I don't think it was knee-jerk to say, Broncos are dead.

How do you bounce back from that? Well, they have. But if you want to give Denver the benefit of what they've done and say, okay, what happened in a single game doesn't have to define who you are and where you're going, that's your explanation for the Ravens, although we've seen it three times. And as much as I love Lamar Jackson and what's happened to that offense, as Tom Monken came over from Georgia, much more stretching of the field, because Greg Roman was just so run-oriented.

Lamar Jackson doesn't have the most sparkling postseason resume. So there are questions about the Ravens. Jags, taking on the Texans.

Did you think that game would be one that you would circle when the schedule came out? And what a phenomenal job D'Amico Ryans has done transforming the culture of the Texans. Last hour, we talked about coaches who have no job security that should be balanced by acknowledging the coaches that make a difference.

Like, for example, Dan Campbell has in Detroit. Not looking particularly good today, but we've seen the Lions come back the last two weeks and they did it gloriously last week against the Bears. As we get set for the third quarter, remember the extended halftime with some musical act I've never heard of. I don't even have the TV on because I was getting distracted. Packers lead the Lions 23-6.

When play resumes in the third quarter, I'll keep you posted. D'Amico Ryans has been sensational. If you listen to the players, especially on his defense, raving about how much respect they have for him as a coach and as a person, that matters. And that's why D'Amico was so praised as a defensive coordinator for the Niners.

That's why I think the Niners defense has taken a step back because they hired Steve Wilks but said, Steve, you're running the system already in place and you're not changing the assistance. But either one of those teams, you think Jacksonville or Houston is going far in the playoffs? And I know Jacksonville got to the divisional round of the postseason last year, but that was also a byproduct of the greatest, in my mind, one of the statistically driven biggest implosions we've seen in NFL playoff history when the Chargers gagged away that game. I see Buffalo at six and five and I want to come up with arguments to believe in them because they're still the Bills. However, when you have lost as many notable players on defense, like Tredavious White, like Matt Molano, and some injuries on the offensive line, and beyond that, just have these wild fluctuations week to week, how can I defend Buffalo? Unless you think this was all Ken Dorsey and now magically it's going to change. Now, what you could point out is that offense has not been the same in terms of consistency since Brian Deball left.

They don't run. They asked Josh Allen to do way too much. Still, with Miami having no success against teams with winning records, I would still, and maybe I'm being a prisoner of the past, I would still go with Buffalo there, even as the road team in South Florida, but there's a great deal of me that thinks they never recovered from those 13 seconds in Kansas City.

And if we're talking about the championship window, it may be 95% shut in Buffalo this year specifically because of the injuries. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. I clearly am a lonely man with far too much time on my hands.

That's why I'm here virtually every holiday. So, hit me up on Twitter after the program. We can have the conversation as I open up a bottle of Pinot Noir, BW Weber, Weber with two B's. Coming up in 20 minutes, much more NFL conversation with Sam Munson, a pro football focus. Straight ahead, we venture back on campus as we get ready for the 12-team college football playoff next season. Will Michigan and Ohio State on Saturday be the last truly transcendent regular season game?

That's on the way. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Well, especially during the holidays, we have to be very mindful of our time and you don't want to waste it thinking about buying tickets for an event and all that comes with it like being concerned about the location of your seats. You shouldn't have to worry when you buy tickets for a big event. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater events you're looking for with last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat, and their best price guarantee. Game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets.

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It's so easy to just listen. New members can try audible now free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash EISEN or text EISEN to 500 500. That's audible.com slash EISEN or text EISEN to 500 500 to try audible free for 30 days. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show radio network on this Thanksgiving day. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich and I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. We have hit the home stretch with a lot more to get to. Up next, talking more college football and then I'll keep this as brief as possible. Although if you've heard me over the years it probably takes me about 90 seconds just to get my name out now.

I will slowly talk to you with annunciation so I got to pick up the pace in less than a dozen minutes. More NFL talk to close the program. Looking forward to checking in with Sam Munson, a pro football focus. Touchdown Detroit Lions. David Montgomery a six-yard runoff tackle and a good start for the Lions coming out of locker room after they trailed 23 to 6 at the half as the Packers had been cruising for the majority of the first half. Jordan Love couple touchdown passes. Packers also with defensive touchdown on a fumble scoop and score. Lions have an answer and the reason we have this funky score 23 to 12 missed extra points.

Part of the equation. Lions missed the PAT the first time they got to the end zone. Presumably going to go for two here. I'll let you know how that plays out. Promise we would talk more college football and I want to be as open-minded. I want to be flexible. I want to be relevant. I don't want to be the guy saying you know what it was better back in the day in college football when we had split national champions determined by the AP and the UPI which doesn't exist anymore. I don't want to be a slave to what came before us because if you don't adapt you're not going to be in the conversation and because I know that we're all moving forward together in a 12-team playoff. Now it's not what I would have preferred but I didn't get a vote because it's all about the money.

Now you could say there's equity involved. Two-point conversion good by the Lions and the Packers lead now down to 23-14. It was a time-consuming drive. About four minutes off the clock. So Lemons go in the third quarter.

Packers on top of the Lions 23-14. I'll keep you posted on our remaining 30 minutes together. If we're coming up with an explanation why a 12-team playoff is superior to the current four-team format. Well especially given this holiday more is more.

Super size me. If two scoops of stuffing are good give me four or five. I get it. More football is a good thing traditionally although I would argue Thursday Night Football consistently is a lousy product even with matchups that we care about like last week the Ravens and the Bengals unfortunately because of the Joe Burrow injury. But more is not always superior and looking at this 12-team playoff coming up next year when I'm back sitting in for Rich because hopefully the relationship will continue and I love having the opportunity to contribute and I love being with you on a holiday it means a lot to me. When we get to Ohio State v Michigan a year from now you can't tell me it's going to have the same luster consequence or magnitude with both teams having the knowledge that they'd be in the playoff that would be the case this year. And I can fully understand you telling me hey I'm a fan of Missouri and what a great story the Tigers are with Eli Drinkwich as head coach. Missouri inside the top 10 at number nine for the first time in over a decade.

Missouri would be in the 12-team playoff. I understand more fan engagement is a positive. More teams involved drives more interest in college football although my argument in return would be college football doesn't need more interest. Second only to the NFL in ratings. It is a massive juggernaut and the real reason it's going to expand is money because more playoff games equal more tickets sold and more importantly more television product and you get Amazon or Apple involved and everybody gets richer but I don't think it's going to be better and I think undeniably it will dilute the importance of the regular season and that was the whole point of college football being different than the NFL wasn't a straight carbon copy because the regular season had the ultimate level of importance. But again this is all moot.

This is me being Greg Popovich grabbing the microphone and telling you stop booing Kawhi Leonard or Tom Brady telling you the modern NFL is mediocre. So let's focus on what's coming up. As we talked about with Chris Venini of the athletic Ohio State Michigan probably comes down to the ground game. I don't think the absence of Jim Harbaugh is going to have any tangible impact on the game other than should Ryan Day lose again and as Chris laid out and I wasn't suggesting that there was any chance of Ryan Day losing his job but he's gonna have a rough offseason in Columbus if you lose to your rival for the third consecutive year and this time you lose to interim head coach. But we know the winner of this game moves on to the big 10 title game. They'll handle Iowa. We have to watch Iowa in prime time. Well you can say we get to watch but foregone conclusion. Winner of that game whether it's Michigan, Ohio State moving on to the playoff.

Okay that's one slot gone. Pac-12 champion if it plays out this way. We know Washington is already moving on to the Pac-12 title game. Probably taking on Oregon although strange things happen as we saw last year in rivalry games between Oregon State and Oregon. Still a chance it could be Arizona as the opponent Jet Fish doing a remarkable job in Tucson. Arizona needs to defeat Arizona State which they should as the Cats have come alive with five consecutive victories and they need Oregon State to defeat Oregon.

I don't think that's going to happen. So the big 10 champion, Ohio State or Michigan. Pac-12 champion, Washington or Oregon. Gotta be a team from the SEC unless and here's where things get weird. Georgia loses to Alabama.

Now follow my logic here. Texas wins the big 12 title game. Texas has the head-to-head victory over Alabama on the road in Tuscaloosa and then what do we do with Florida State if they defeat Florida on Saturday and they win the ACC title game and they do it without Jordan Travis. Would the selection committee penalize Florida State? Would they say effectively we don't want to see this team with a backup quarterback but we've never seen an undefeated power five champion left out of the college football playoff but could we have a college football playoff without a team from the SEC with all the bias connected to the southeastern conference? I don't see it and never forget this is a TV show and that committee at ESPN realized you give me Alabama, you give me Georgia and I realize Florida State's got a vast network of alumni and a big fan base.

They can't touch the dogs or the tide. That's where it gets fascinating and we'll chop it up more when I'm back with you on Christmas day looking ahead to the bowl games that matter. Nine minutes ago third quarter. Lions with a touchdown to start the second half carving into the Packer lead. Green Bay with a 23-14 advantage over the Lions in the first of three games today on this Thanksgiving holiday. Coming up in addition to the trifecta today we have a Black Friday game tomorrow which I've neglected in large measure.

I don't want to talk about Tim Boyle that much but how about this if Tim Boyle can do anything positive at this point anyone other than Zach Wilson is an upgrade for the Jets can the Jets defense be in line to take down the Dolphins tomorrow? We're talking NFL the wrap of the program when we check in with Sam Munson a pro football focus. I'm Bryan Weber always a delight to be in for Rich on this Thanksgiving holiday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. All right folks let's talk about game time and let's talk about buying tickets to big time events because it can be worrisome it can be time consuming and it can be expensive. So game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports music comedy and theater events near you. You can see the view from your seat before you buy so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive. They have all in prices that show you your total up front so you know you're getting a great deal without hidden fees and how easy is it to use? You can buy tickets on game time in seconds with two taps and there's a game time guarantee which means you'll always get the best price. If you find tickets in the same section and row for less game time will credit you 110% of the difference. It is so awesome I use it you should as well for sports music comedy did I mention theater events all near you.

Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time download the game time app create an account it's so easy and use code eisen for twenty dollars off your first purchase restrictions apply visit gametime.co for terms again create an account and redeem the code eisen for twenty dollars off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed. The football season is underway and believe podcasts are talking about it. When he went home and went to sleep Michael Parsons is terrorizing him. Believe has podcasts covering all 32 professional teams and many of your favorite college teams too.

And to be only producing 15 points a game that's something that is definitely disheartening. Sideline to sideline end zone to end zone. As a quarterback I would expect him to be acting like that.

Take the accountability put that on yourself don't put it on your teammates. Search BLEAV podcasts wherever you listen. Brian Weber back with you we appreciate the company on this thanksgiving day in for rich and the guys it is the rich eisen show with seven to go in the third quarter packers maintaining their 23-14 lead over the lions. Let's talk NFL with Sam Munson a pro football focus. Sam I appreciate you taking the time on a holiday happy thanksgiving how are you?

I'm doing well happy thanksgiving to you and thanks for having me. My pleasure I opened the program talking about my concerns because my opinion is very important after all but just as a football observer about the state of the lions defense. Now if we go a couple weeks back there's an understandable way that Justin Herbert's going to light things up because he's a dynamic talent but we saw Justin Fields have a lot of success last week and now we've seen Jordan Love carve up the lions. Love at 18 to 24 220 passing yards couple touchdowns.

So what did the numbers tell us? What did your analysis say about the lions defense coming into this game? Yeah I think overall their defense has been pretty good. Justin Fields is an unusual quarterback to have to go against and you almost have to put a kind of asterisk next to any performance with him because he presents almost a unique skill set that nobody else in the NFL can come close to. You know that incredible out speed the athleticism it's Justin Fields it's Lamar Jackson there's not many guys that can do the kinds of things that he can do on the field but he's got a lot of things he can do on the field and it poses some very difficult questions for any defense to try and answer and they came up short. This is more concerning though the performance against Jordan Love and the Packers because the Packers offense generally has struggled this season. They've turned a corner maybe in the last couple of weeks certainly been improving but this is not a unit that should be causing all kinds of problems for this Detroit defense. So for them not to be able to put pressure on them and to allow the kind of success they've allowed certainly in the first half is definitely a bigger worry I think than any performance against Fields.

We'll see how it plays out. We had six minutes ago in the third quarter talking NFL with Sam Munson a pro football focus. Let's shift our attention to the second game coming up. Cowboys have a chance to raise their record to eight and three and since for some reason now I'm fixated on defense.

I'm going to zig when the world zags. All we do is talk about the NFL's offensive fireworks these days. Sam how impressed have you been with the Cowboys secondary ability to overcome the loss of Trayvon Diggs as they get ready to face Sam Howell and Washington throws it all over the yard? Yeah obviously Jerome Bland showing up and having a Trayvon Diggs kind of season has really helped paper over that loss and really let them kind of continue to cook even without one of the better ball hot cornerbacks in the NFL. The other thing I think that's hugely helping that secondary is how good Dallas's pass rush is. I tweeted out something yesterday that's a kind of up-to-date look at teams in the NFL how they're generating pressure on defense. Dallas's defense is in its own world in terms of pressure rate this season on opposing quarterbacks.

They are so much better than any team in the NFL. They mix it up with blitzes. They mix it up with stunts. They don't just win with four.

They are going to send the house. They are going to cause you all kinds of problems whether it's four guys, five guys, or six. You never know who's coming or where they're coming from and consequently the opposing quarterback is almost always under pressure and that's helping the secondary. It's helping some of those ill-advised passes being put in the air and letting those guys go and make plays on the first route they see.

They don't have to worry too much about how long the ball is going to get held or whether there's a double move coming because nobody has time to put one of those in the air. We are getting you set for the games coming up later today. Part of the triple header on Thanksgiving as we take you across the NFL with Sam Munson of Pro Football Focus. Sam, the primary reason why I appreciate all the analysis you and your team lay out at Pro Football Focus is there's a foundation. We all have opinions but the numbers also take us in a different direction. I think you know that it feels like there are split camps when it comes to Brock Purdy and emotion plays a role, right?

What a phenomenal story. Mr. Irrelevant somehow thrown onto the field and is part of that run to the MC title game. Where do you come out on what Purdy has done since he was thrust into the starting lineup and if we call him a high-end game manager, is that a slight? Well, I think the interesting thing about Purdy is it hasn't been the same and he's getting better.

You know, he's a young quarterback. We're only really just starting now a full season of play from him including when he got in last season. We've basically reached the end of his rookie year effectively.

So, it's not been one static story. I think last season you could look at his play and say, okay the numbers are incredible. People are talking about the next Tom Brady and he wasn't playing at that kind of level.

He was playing well but he wasn't adding much on top of what was already there in terms of Kyle Shanahan's offense and the amazing skill position players and Christian McCaffrey in the backfield and all those kinds of things. We track a metric at PFF called big-time throws which are basically our highest graded throws. The ones with a higher degree of difficulty, whether it's tight coverage, whether it's deeper down the field and Purdy's big-time throw rate last season was one of the lowest we've ever seen. He only had five of them all last year and he didn't have any through the first two games this season but now his big-time throw rate is one of the best in the NFL. He's had multiple in each of the last four games and all of a sudden Brock Purdy is adding this layer of plays on top of all the stuff that was already good and if that continues to be the case then Purdy deserves a big slice of that credit pie in addition to Shanahan and the skill position players and it creates this sort of even better sum of all the parts that makes the 49ers a terrifying offense for every other defense in the league to deal with. I think at the start of his career game manager was not an unfair description of Brock Purdy.

I think he's evolving beyond that now though. And Sam as we move to the NFL's first ever Black Friday game coming up tomorrow, Jets moving on from Zach Wilson. It feels like if Tim Boyle does anything positive it'll be upgrade based on what Zach failed to do most recently against Buffalo. How do you see the matchup between the Jets defense and the Dolphins offense? Yeah, that's absolutely the marquee matchup in that game. Jets defense has done an incredible job and it's kind of ironic that the first game where they actually struggled a little bit against that Buffalo offense last week was the game that kind of got Zach Wilson finally sent to the bench when in reality that could have happened weeks before that and the Jets defense has been doing a phenomenal job this season just keeping them competitive, keeping them in games. So they're another one of these defensive fronts that gets a ton of pressure but unlike Dallas they virtually never blitz. They do it with four guys. They rely on beating you man for man up front and applying pressure with just their front four and then having more bodies in coverage to defend the pass that way.

But of course Miami's offense has been spectacular this season so if they can slow down that pass rush of the Jets and target the middle of the field like they've done all season long they can have success but not too many teams have been able to do that against the Jets. Sam Munson Pro Football Focus is our guest on the Rich Eisen Show. Sam final thought, I gotta do some clock management here. I gotta have two minutes left.

I know you can pull this off. Somehow the Browns and the Broncos both have come alive and that's one of the more intriguing matchups coming up on Sunday. What do the metrics say about how much improvement we've seen from Russell Wilson this season? Yeah, Russell Wilson has improved a lot this season and earlier in the year nobody had really noticed because their defense was playing so badly that it was taking all the shine away from it and they were losing games and you know they were giving up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins but their defense has taken a huge leap forward. They were the worst defense in the NFL by a mile over the first month of the year and now they've sort of climbed into the top 10 since that point and that's allowed all the focus to go on Russell Wilson who was playing pretty efficiently all year long so he's taken a big step forward and now the defense is playing pretty good football as well.

Denver is a difficult team to beat but then Cleveland is a team sort of like the Jets you know that phenomenal defense one of the best in the NFL and it's very difficult for any offense to have success against them. Sam greatly appreciate the analysis thanks so much for taking the time enjoy your holiday and the rest of the football coming up today tomorrow on the rest of the weekend. Anytime you too. Thanks very much. Sam Munson thoughtful analysis and you got to read everything they lays out on pro football focus. Now if I wanted to take my victory lap in our remaining moments occasionally we have symmetry on the program I would point out you can check out the podcast take us wherever you go listen anytime any place any way you want to. I started this show saying I have question marks now look this was not the most prescient there's a big word on a holiday it was not the most insightful observation but what I wanted to see from the lion point of view was defensive improvement not the case in fact as we were having that conversation with Sam touchdown Green Bay Packers have a day Jordan Love just through his third touchdown pass 29-14 Packers leading the Lions with 3 30 to go Love highly efficient 20 of 26 250 passing yards the three scores I mentioned out playing Jared Goff who has been shaky today despite all the success he's had in the last year and a half reinventing himself in Motown pedestrian numbers today just 12 of 22 under 45 yards one touchdown will the cardiac kiddies will the Lions find a way as they did last week against the Bears otherwise now the conversation shifts despite the fact that Detroit's off to their best start since 1962 they've won three in a row at eight and two coming into this matchup let's say nothing changes in Detroit the Lions lose and the Cowboys win as they should for a couple reasons they're virtually unstoppable at home and Washington is mediocre how would you slot Detroit and Dallas understanding Lions probably gonna win that division so they'd have a better seed which team would you believe more in I'm setting the table for my pal Dan Schwartzman I know he's taking notes right now in between bites of turkey and a little bit of cranberry Danny's in tomorrow then rich and the guys are back with you on Monday with all the fallout from a monstrous a mega sports weekend with college football and the NFL taking center stage and then and I want you to get out the calendar excuse me while I whip this out I'm back with you on Christmas Day there'll be football and NBA to talk about fact I'm with you Monday Tuesday Wednesday of Christmas week so a lot for me to be thankful of on this Thanksgiving Day holiday also want to thank our guests I try to be selective don't want to bludgeon you with outside voices didn't take a phone call today but that's par for the course excellent college football analysis and our number two provided by Chris Vanini of the athletic and enjoyed my NFL conversation with Sam Munson a pro football focus with three minutes left in the third quarter Packers cruising to a 29-14 lead over the Lions a lot of people to thank starting with Rich Eisen Bruce Gilbert all the good folks at Westwood one thank you for listening I appreciate the interaction on Twitter you can hit me up there BW Weber Weber with two B's have a wonderful Thanksgiving I'm Brian Weber and I'll talk to you on Christmas Day here on the Rich Eisen show how wrestling really works and how you get the ratings Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks too much time is spent discussing talents age the younger demo is just as excited about Paul Heyman or John Cena or an undertaker or Becky Lanchard I don't care what their birth certificate says they're going to draw a younger they're going to draw a younger demo because they're fun to watch and they're great entertainers 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen