REShow: Desmond Howard - Hour 3

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Limitations apply. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Oh, man. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. It's an end around to Deebo Samuel coming right turns the corner. Keyshawn Nixon on the interception. Wilson escapes the sack, throws left side to the end zone.

It's intercepted. Earlier on the show, two-time Super Bowl champion and Greenlight podcast host Chris Long. Coming up, ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard, plus your phone calls and more.

And now it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We've had a fun two hours talking about the college football playoff committee final for their decision and why I believe they made their decision, what decision I thought they should have made.

And Chris Long of Greenlight podcast discussed that in week 13 with what the Eagles look like, the Niners and what that win means and what he thinks the Chiefs loss to the Packers means for both teams. If you missed any of that, we re-air right here on the Roku channel as soon as we are done. Same thing for everybody who wants to listen to us on our podcast version of the show.

You can get it there. Our YouTube feed has select videos on it. Same thing with our video on demand service as part of our relationship with Roku. As soon as we're done with this hour, Chris Brockman and I stay after class for the latest edition of the Overreaction Monday podcast. So keep an eye out for that in your or an ear out for that in your podcast feeds.

And if you don't know about it already, where you been? Brockman and Del Tufo in their usual spots, TJ Jefferson in his spot. I'm curious, Chris, TJ, what were you thinking as a cowboy fan watching the 49ers dismantle the Eagles? Seriously, I mean, you know, it was kind of twofold, right? At one hand, you're like, I need to eat like last week with the bills. I need the Eagles to lose so we can gain some ground on them.

Right. See, like you want them to lose. But then you're looking at how they're losing and who they're losing to. And as I've said many times, Rich, that Niner hurdle is when the Cowboys haven't been able to clear lately.

So the other half is like, dang, man, really? So you want you know, you want the Eagles to lose. But the other hand, it's like, well, in order to avoid going to San Francisco again, you need to have a better record than San Francisco, unless you're not winning your division, even with that better record.

Does that make sense? To avoid going to San Francisco again, you've got to get the one seed. And in order to do that, you've got to have a better record than San Francisco, which the Eagles could have helped you do right here on the spot. Instead, though, the problem is, is you need to catch Philadelphia in order for having a better record than San Francisco to matter. You know what I'm saying? I mean, that's a lot.

That's a lot, but it's the truth. So now what you got is the ability to get past San Francisco. I mean, past Philadelphia, potentially by beating them next week. OK, I don't know what the tie the tiebreak after after that would be conference record, right? And your problem is, is the is the Eagles conference losses are just one now because I still can't believe their other losses.

To the chest. It's unbelievable. It's the most head scratching result of the season. But again, that is that in Carolina beating Houston. How did that happen?

I don't have an answer. But like we said earlier in the show, Dallas has a very tough stretch of games coming up. And, you know, there's four games they could very well take an L in.

So I don't know, man. It's going to be interesting. You know what I mean? Interesting stretch of games coming up. Yeah. Yeah. Dallas is Philly, Buffalo, Miami, Detroit.

That's before ending the season with Washington. That's it is tough, man. Look, I do.

I think you just need to steel yourself that you're going to have to go to San Francisco again. Yeah. Yeah. Well, here's the bottom line.

Unless, wait a minute, you could go to Philadelphia instead again and hope that, what, Green Bay would knock off or Minnesota or the Rams would knock off San Francisco. I don't know. You know, just concentrate, you know, after a buy. Right. I don't I don't I know.

You got to take it one at a time, but I'm just what I'm wondering. Oh, that's where my head would be. Desmond Howard going to join us shortly. Jeff in Texas. You're here in the Rich Eisen Show.

What's up, Jeff? Yes, sir. Thank you very much for taking my call, Rich. Been a longtime fan of you.

Thank you. And your show. And I want to talk about my Cowboys, man, kind of piggybacking off of what TJ was saying. You know, I kind of feel the same way. As much as I was excited to see the 49ers beat the Eagles at the same time, once the game was over and reality kicked in, it kind of made me feel like the guy on the kickbacks move was Jean-Claude Van Damme when he was telling Van Damme when he was trying to look for Tom Cole.

Hey, you're not good enough. Right about now, I need all the Cowboys fans to basically concentrate, Michael Urban included, because, yeah, they're juggernaut, dude. I felt like for the last three years, we're probably two players in a cultural way from winning it all.

But as much as it hurts me to say it, that's just what it is. Well, your coach is dialing up the plays like crazy. This offense did not look this way under Kellen Moore.

And they were the number one offense last year. They've kicked it up a notch. And Dak has kicked it up a notch.

And C.D. Lamb has kicked it up a notch. You cannot complain about Mike McCarthy's handling of the play calling in the offense.

He's handed everything off to Dan Quinn. Well, let me rephrase that. I can. You can. But at the same time, I can't, too.

But I also am really concerned about his time management. That's the biggest issue I have. I hear you.

I hear you. And as you know, the last couple of seasons have ended in mind-blowing fashion. So I appreciate the call, Jeff. That's Jeff in Texas. They're taking one game at a time, Jeff.

I guess, for sure. Let's go to Spencer in North Carolina. You're here on the Rich Island Show. What's up, Spencer? Hey, fellas. Happy Monday.

Same to you. So I'm still in mourning for my Florida State Seminoles, but I think there's a bigger issue that a lot of people are glossing over. Jordan Travis being injured is one thing. But when Tate Roddenmaker got concussed and we put our third string in and won, it almost sends a message to teams that if your star player is hurt and you're riding on winning big and having style points, why not just say, oh, he's fine and he can play? I mean, we saw a similar situation in the NFL with two of last year where he was concussed, came back in the game and played on the short week and then got hit again. And it almost looked like his career could have been over at that point. So now you're putting these kids in a position where they feel like they have to go out if they're injured and play and compete in a game just because winning isn't enough.

You have to win by a lot. And I just think that that's dangerous for the game, especially when we're promoting player safety and cracking down on targeting. And I just don't think it sends a very good message to the kids. No, I just don't think it sends a message to the kids that, hey, defense, the guy who ran your offense is out. So sorry, even though you might be one of the best defensive units in the sport, if not arguably the best, you don't get to play for the championship. I'm sorry.

You also don't get an opportunity to maybe, Florida State rides you to the championship because we think your offense will end up getting boat raced. And you're out. I mean, that's exactly what it was. And we all understand, thank you for the call, how much money's on the line. And as Chris points out, it's now a television show. So we saw it coming.

I think we talked about it on Friday, right? It was easy to see. Once Alabama beat Georgia, you could see how it was going to play out. So it kind of stinks. It stinks for Florida State.

Well, we'll never know. We'll never know if they could have gone on a run. They could have held Michigan off the scoreboard. Look what Iowa did. Honestly, if Iowa didn't give up that huge punt return in the first half, it might've been three nothing at halftime, right? Correct?

It might've been. We'll see. Joining us here now on the Rich Eisen Show from College Game Day is one of my favorite people on Planet Earth. He makes me happy. Look at your face there. There's Desmond Howard from ESPN College Game Day.

And of course, one of the only few people on Planet Earth with a Super Bowl MVP and Heisman Trophy in the trophy case. How are you, Desmond? Good to see you. It's always great to join one of my favorite people on Earth. And it's always a pleasure to do your show. So thanks for having me, my man. I'm doing fantastic, brother.

I'm doing great. So what are your two cents on the college football playoff committee decision, Desmond? Well, Rich, I look at it this way. I guess I look at it from a player's lens, so to speak, a former player's lens. And, you know, you have a checklist and you're like, go undefeated, win a conference championship, play a competitive non-conference schedule.

Like, that's one thing that we've always talked about. We've talked about people's team schedules and, OK, well, they have the cupcakes during the non-conference schedule, so they didn't challenge themselves. They didn't play anybody.

And that was like a real like point of emphasis a few years ago. And now you have teams taking challenges like Florida State, who they they play. They play LSU. Actually, they played two SEC schools. They also played the Florida Gators and it won both games. So it's like as a player, you listen to all of this and everything you're supposed to do. And as a coach, too, and you take that risk, you go, you play LSU early in the season, you knock them off and you run the table. You win the conference championship and you've done everything you can do.

And it seems as though they keep moving the goal posts. And it's just unfair. It's unfortunate because I believe that they did everything that that was asked of them as a program to to earn the right. Because, you know, people talk about is it the most deserving team or the best team? Well, you know, you don't deserve anything that you don't that you did not earn.

If you didn't earn anything, you don't deserve it. So when they start to, you know, play that word game, I'm always of the belief that, you know, it's hard to say the best team because who you think may be the best team. I may think a little differently. Right. So that's why you start to come with this criteria.

And you you have these metrics. So now you start to to look at teams and you base them on things that are similar, things that are common, not just the eye test, meaning I think this team looks better. So I thought Florida State did everything that they could possibly do, everything within their power. I thought that the excuse about the quarterback getting hurt is very weak because it's not like he got in. Well, listen, Jordan Travis went out. We get that he's not coming back. But Tate Rademacher, he was concussed.

So I'm thinking, Rich, like within four weeks, he could be back playing. So it's just that that whole quarterback excuse didn't sit well with me. We've seen opportunities in the in the past where a team may have lost their starting quarterback and the backup quarterback came in and he played great. And they won a national championship. So all of that to me was just an excuse just to get an SEC team in the college football playoffs. I was going to ask you, so you would have had Alabama out, Florida State in what you're saying? Florida State would have been the it would have been a flip between Alabama and Texas because both are sitting there with one loss.

Right. And Texas beat Alabama. So so honestly, I would have thought and again, just to make sure that, you know, I'm accused of being a homer. This is not I know that I watch ESPN. So used to be on it that that I would have put Texas for I would have put Texas for Florida State three against Washington and then Michigan, Texas in the Rose Bowl. Like 2005, everybody forgets Vince Young beat us in the Rose Bowl or Michigan in the Rose Bowl the year before the classic USC Texas matchup in that wonderful house.

So that's that's what I would have done if for the right thing. But I understand Alabama is the SEC and that that rules roosts. And they're you know, one of these is not like the other is the great Commissioner Sankey says, I hear all that Sesame Street talk, you know. So I understand.

Wasn't that amazing? One of these is not like the other. I know.

But I you know, the I also know that what the magic number is and it's it's the it's the bag that that this sport brings in. I just I don't know, man, that that's that's that's what I would have done. So what do you think of the matchups, though, now that we we we know what they are? What do you got for me between the Rose and the sugar here, Desmond? Well, let's start with the sugar because I can't remember a time and, you know, I'm no historian where Texas played Washington. Maybe they've played before. I can't remember the matchups. I think that game is so unique and so rare that that's just a beautiful matchup. I mean, those two teams, if they've played before, I don't know when it happened, but it was so long ago. That's good to see those two on the field again together.

I'm looking forward to that. You're looking at a Washington team that people started to really doubt after the first win against Oregon. And Vegas had them down their 10 point dog against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship. And they went out there and they out physical the ducks and won in a convincing way.

So that was good to see. Kudos to Michael Pinnix, Jr. in that team. But then you look at Texas, man, and Sarkeesian, he's a hell of a coach. And obviously, Quinn Ewers, you know, has been, you know, last year didn't have the season that he he wanted to have.

He thought he would have. The kid dropped a lot of weight, you know, started taking his health very seriously, started taking his craft very seriously, dropped weight, married his girlfriend, became laser focused and committed and came out the first game, obviously, and beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa and then got injured a little bit, missed a couple of games. But I mean, just the transition that he's made, the transformation that he's done from year one to year two as a starter has been incredible.

And he has a lot of weapons around him, too. So that's going to be a good match up. And then the Rose Bowl. So Michigan's headed back to the Rose Bowl.

Haven't been in a long time. And I guess my biggest concern is, you know, Zintra not being their best offensive lineman. You're talking about a group that prides itself on dominating the trenches. I mean, that's that's Michigan football.

They want to dominate the trenches. And this is going to be a tall task based on what I saw against Iowa. No, can't take anything away from Iowa. I hope your listeners and viewers that they understand that Iowa is one of the best defense in all of college football.

No doubt. Like not the Big Ten, like all the college football. It is not because they have like a roster, a defensive lineup littered with four and five star players.

That's not the case. They're just one of the best coached, most disciplined defensive units you have ever come across in college football. So it's always going to be hard to score on them. The problem is they don't have an offense.

And that's been their issue. So to watch Michigan's offense without Zintra, they had to reshuffle some offensive linemen. Michigan was like, OK, they'll figure it out because I think Michigan is a really good second half team. They make great adjustments.

But now they're about to go up against a different type of animal with the offensive line and defensive lines of Alabama. No doubt. So what do you think? What do you think is going to happen? What do you think is going to be in Houston?

I have four weeks to figure this out to get the line together. I think that Sharone Moore is a very creative offensive coordinator. I think that having Coach Harbaugh back is a huge lift for the team. But the flip side is that Jalen Milro. He's so good. Yeah, but he's up and down, too.

Like people forget the Auburn game because it's fourth and 31 and they threw a Hail Mary and won that game. So they kind of forget the plays before that and how he played before that. So he's a guy who, man, I mean, when he's hot, he's incredible. But when he's not hot, you know, he's like he leaves you scratching your head. Like, what did what was he looking at?

What did he see? And I do believe that our defensive coordinator, Jesse Mentor, is one of the best in college football. I don't know if you read this, but after the Ohio State game, Marvin Harrison Jr. came out and said that he said that they threw coverages at us that I had never seen before.

And that really kept us kind of confused. With that being said, I think the back end is going to have to really confuse Jalen Milro, which I do believe that, you know, they have the talent and the scheme to do that and have him hold the ball till the rush gets there. Now they're going to have to make a tackle on this man because this dude is built like a linebacker, brother. So once the rush gets there, they're going to have to try to bring him down because he he's extremely athletic. Like I said, built like a linebacker, runs hard, fast, and he's a problem when he gets rolling.

Okay. And so, yeah, I saw that what what Marvin Harrison Jr. said. Michigan's defense treated Marvin Harrison Jr. like the Pro Bowl receiver he might be right now.

You know, like that he he's he better get used to seeing that type of stuff because he's about to see it coming up next year for sure. And so who's going to get your Heisman vote, Desmond? What do you got? Well, Rich, you know, you're my guy. And if there's anybody I would tell who's going to get my vote, it would be you. Okay.

I have three guys. I don't. I'll tell you this. So going into this, you know, championship weekend, the talk was about Bo Nix and Michael Pinnix Jr. and how this is going to be a golden opportunity for them, one or the other to separate himself from Jayden Daniels at LSU, who's been outstanding every game this year. Like there hasn't been a game where he had a bad game like he's been outstanding from beginning to end. And I don't think, you know, either one made a statement in that game. Obviously, Bo Nix didn't even in the you know, sometimes they're losing calls like Jayden Daniels. You still can be that guy who people walk away talking about his performance. You didn't walk away talking about Bo Nix's performance in the loss in the Pac-12 championship game. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I think Dylan Johnson may have gotten the MVP of the Pac-12 championship game.

So it's not like Michael Pinnix Jr. went out there and lit it up either. So to me, those are the three. I think they're going to bring a fourth one.

They might just want to bring a fourth one. But those are the three. Jayden Daniels, LSU, Michael Pinnix Jr., Washington, and Bo Nix from Oregon. Yeah. And no surprise here, while we're having this conversation, Lincoln Riley just announced that Caleb Williams will not participate in the Holiday Bowl. Like that is no surprise right there. I mean, he's gone, right? I know he said it's a game time decision January 15th.

But we're going to see him at the next level next year. Des, right? Pretty much? Absolutely, Rich.

Absolutely. I don't even know why they're playing that game like he's not coming out. There's no way he's coming back to USC and coming back for another year.

There's no way that's going to happen. OK. All right. So before I let you go, Desmond, let's talk about the third rail here.

How about the Rose Bowl? You're an honorary captain for Michigan and for Alabama. It's Paul Finebaum. What do you think? Let's get him an honorary captain. You know, he wants it. Right. OK.

Right. Am I am I wrong? You know, he wants it. He's kind of representing.

And I'm having my fun that he doesn't want it. But are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready for if Michigan does win him talking about an asterisk? Are you ready for that, Des?

What do you think? Paul Finebaum is a caricature of a caricature of Paul Finebaum. Like that's what he is right now. You can't even take anything he says seriously.

You just can't. It's like they march him out there. They pull the string in his back and he just starts spewing negative things about Michigan. So, I mean, when a person does that repeatedly and you just know his shtick, you can't take him seriously. You just take him for what he is. And that's that's how I look at Paul Finebaum.

I was actually looking forward. I was on on GitHub last Friday and I was on with Finebaum and they wanted to talk about the FSU. And, you know, they even if they ran the table with Alabama, jump them over Texas and blah, blah, blah. And because he was in the airport, he had to leave. We couldn't get into like a discussion because I wanted to talk to him about Ohio State because I told Paul, I said, listen. First of all, on game day, when this first when this story first broke, broke and we were on the set and everybody's talking about this and talking about that. I said, you know what, guys? I said there is a silver lining to all this. I said moving forward.

There are no more excuses. I said Purdue. I said Penn State. Michigan State first. Yeah, Michigan State was that night. Exactly. Michigan State. But, you know, you know, they came out and said they thought about canceling the game and then they started to huddle up.

Whatever. So I said, listen, but these other teams, they got time like they have time if they need to change their signals or whatever they need to do. They have time. So because they have time, there are no more excuses. And not only that, you had Purdue, you had Penn State, you had Maryland and Ohio State.

And then the Wolverines played the toughest part of their schedule with an interim head coach. So I got I said, well, what's the excuse now? Like I said, I want to tell Paul at some point, Paul, you have to just admit that they're a pretty good team, that they execute very well, that they're well coached because you have no other excuses. So that was the beauty of it. And I didn't get a chance to I got robbed of that opportunity. Well, but that was exactly what I would have told Finebaum because because it's true, it's facts. Well, I feel like, you know, put on my glasses. I'm a follically challenged Jewish man.

I feel like we're I'll be a surrogate. You know, you could just tell me what you want to tell Finebaum. But in all seriousness, it's kind of funny, Des, because when it first came out, he thought it was a witch hunt on Harbaugh. He actually said those words. He said the words that it was a witch hunt on Harbaugh.

What is this thing? And then, I don't know, he must have learned something or to kind of flip the script. And now it's so just get ready, get ready, because it's SEC versus Harbaugh and Michigan now. And now, like, this is it. Like, it's it's the lone SEC team left.

That's his part of the country. And it's Jim, which is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I can't wait. They've got to get you and Finebaum together, you know, for as honorary captains, Des. Let's do it.

I'll work on that. And if I'm not mistaken, my my first Rose Bowl that I covered in last and only was Bo's last game at the Rose Bowl. OK. And if I'm not mistaken, you played in that one, right?

Like that. You started. That's when you started.

That's when you finally started to get get going. You know, a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Exactly.

Yes, sir. And I think Jim's last Rose Bowl was his as a my freshman year, his senior year. I don't think he's he isn't coached in it. He hasn't been there.

It's all like he never went there. Stanford, obviously not with Michigan yet. It's going to be great. I can't wait for it. And I assume you'll be out here for it, right?

Yes, sir. I definitely want to see you. I got to see you. I got to see you. Thanks for coming.

Yeah. Thanks for coming on, Des. Really appreciate it. All right. Thanks, man. You're the best.

Thanks for having me. R2 at Desmond Howard. Go check out Des on all his social media feeds. The one and only.

Right here in the Rich Eisen show. Do I look like fine on you if I if I suit and tied it up and started talking smack? I think fine bombs about one sixty five.

Maybe you have to drop about 40. I got it. You mean I've got a few on him? Yeah.

I'd have to go out there. All the tape you got put all the advantages. Introducing first out of the red corner.

Reach high rate. So you're saying that if there was a folliclee challenge, if there was a Russian nest doll, a folliclee challenge, Jewish men who talk in front of a side of you. Oh, so you on. Yeah.

You screw top me and inside it's fine. Well, there might be a few other people between you and fine bombing. No. Yeah.

Me and Jean wasn't a Jew, was he? Oh, I don't think so. Just checking out. I just don't like the you know, we are people that stop fighting, man. Oh, gosh. We'll take a break.

Phone calls. I'm speaking of fighting. I mean, the officiating again. What is with Steeler fans?

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That's audible dot com slash EISEN or text EISEN to five hundred five hundred to try audible free for 30 days. What's the most pissed off you made Nick Saban ever? Oh, when I took the sack second at 26 in a national championship. You mean the one that you immediately made up for with an amazing play that put you on the map? Yeah. That sack? Yeah.

OK. So walk me through how that what he said to you, if you can, in a certain way on a live radio TV broadcast. I mean, I could only see it on camera, you know, how mad he was. That was probably the most pissed off, though.

I think he's ever been. I mean, he just used squeeze in his headset so hard. And then, you know, like it was hard because the emotion was like so mad to so happy, you know, so fast for him. And, you know, we got into the locker room when everything settled down. I mean, he was still still the same coach, you know, put me to the side. Like, what were you thinking?

You know, it's like one after you won the game and you pick and confetti out of your hair. He still took a moment in that moment to revisit. Yeah. That being who he is. I mean, you know, he put me to the side. He said, you know, well, why did you take the set?

Right. You know, and I thought it was a good time to joke with him. You know, so I mean, we won the national championship. So I told him, I told him, well, you know, we needed more room to throw the ball, coach. You know, and like he looked at me and like I was laughing. He's like, that's not funny. So I mean, I didn't know what else to do in that situation. I was like, OK, I'm sorry, coach.

I shook his hand and he just moved on. I was like, oh, man, that's amazing. I love that story.

My favorite story the whole week. So you just figured. Yeah. I was like, oh, maybe. Yeah. I thought it was a good time to joke, but it was. Nope.

It's never a good time, I guess, in that respect. Youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show radio network back on the air. Rich Eisen Show desk.

That's where I'm sitting. Furnish my Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you. Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. Kenny Pickett is having surgery on a high ankle sprain. That's the old.

It seems to be the old tightrope right tightrope. Get you back soon. Yeah. Yeah. Which means it'll be Trubisky versus Zappi. Very peppy Thursday night matchup. Zappi V Trubisky.

Nobody asked for this. No. You know what the total is in this game? What do you mean total? I mean, I mean, total points scored as fiber count as predicted by Las Vegas. Can we guess?

Is it very Iowa like? Can I 32 for 30 and a half? I was going to say 30.

I was going to say 30. And guess what? About the under. Have you watched this Patriots team play? They cannot score. And now remind you Stevenson is out.

Cannot score. What are we doing? I mean, it's just. Well, first of all, let's let's let's hit the Steelers first.

All right. And then we'll get to the Patriots. They can't score either.

We'll get to the Patriots first because the Steelers are in a position for a playoff spot. Currently, you're five seed right now. They are. I guess they are right now. They are. They are.

They are. And so right now in the wild card spot, this is wild in the AFC. We're entering the season. We were all talking about how deep this conference is and tough the conference is because of how many terrific quarterbacks there are in it.

And the wild card quarterbacks at present are Pittsburgh's Mitchell Trubisky, Cleveland's Joe Flacco and Indianapolis's none other than the man himself. Say it. I know you like saying his name.

You say about Gardner Minsky. And he wins it in overtime in Tennessee. Dude, that's you can't make it up.

Can't make it up. And so Pittsburgh has an opportunity to still make the playoffs here. This is why they hold on to Mitchell Trubisky. This is why you have it. And the Jets are now on to quarterback who knows what.

That's why you have him. And this is exactly now taking on New England here. And then I see them in Indianapolis for a huge football game between the two. In week 15 in the middle of the NFL Network Saturday triple header. And this is where the rubber meets the road as they then take on Cincinnati at Seattle and at Baltimore to end it. And this is where you will watch Tomlin do his finest work. I know the offense thinks.

I get it. And you're feeling how great it was, right? And Arizona comes in and beats you up in your house. And the number of times we've seen coaches get on the hot seat because Arizona comes into your house and beats you up. That got Mike McCarthy, if you remember. It did. Arizona went into Lambeau, beat the Packers, and they told Mike, we're done.

Haddios. See ya. They did it to him again this year. Because of that, it's happened before. And if Steelers fans, I'll say it one more time. If you want this to be the moment the Steelers finally get rid of Mike Tomlin, you are out of your frickin' minds. I will tell you this. We're hearing, what, seven to ten jobs are open right now?

Yeah, seven to ten. And you can hear about the hot coordinators, and you could hear about my coach at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, whoever it might be. If this guy is put out on the market by the Pittsburgh Steelers, everyone will be falling all over themselves. And whatever the Steelers are paying him right now, he could double it. I'm telling everybody that. In the same way, you might not want to hear it in the same way, Brockman doesn't want to hear that quarterbacks who are less than are going to get market value just because it's their turn and it's their time.

Mike Tomlin is one of the best coaches of all time. You will see him in the Hall of Fame one day. It's going to happen. Oh, his bust is going to be amazing. It's going to happen. We're going to see it. Steeler fans, I know you're very disappointed with that loss, and you can't believe what this and that. The other thing is, hey, Pickett may not be the guy. It may have to take some time. Not everyone's apparently Jordan Love. Can you believe I'm saying that?

Or Stroud. They gave him a 99-yard touchdown to Arizona. I know. That's kind of rough. Listen.

99-yard drive. I know. I know.

I saw. Get out of here. I'd love to see Tomlin go just to see all these fans who I personally know some, and I've read Steeler Twitter all the time. Would you rather be the Carolina Panthers on Coach 7 in, what, three years?

No. But again, they're sick and tired of hearing the same cadence from the same person with the results being just enough to make the playoffs and not go on a run and watching the Chiefs do what they're doing and seeing what the Bills do and what they're doing and even the Bengals are doing what they're doing. They got to get the quarterback right. And I don't know if Pickett's the right guy or not. Yeah. Unfortunately, Pickett's going to be out for the next couple of weeks, at least.

But just watch. This is when Tomlin does his finest work. I could wind up being proven wrong with egg on my face, but I think they win this week against New England, and then we'll see what happens in Indianapolis. Yeah, I don't have any doubts that they're going to win on Thursday, but they don't look like a playoff team right now.

That's for sure. Well, they're in the fifth seed right now. And then there's your Patriots, Chris. They got it done yesterday. How many I know you say they got it done because your memo is the memo is tank. And I told you just lose the last organization that will tank or the New England Patriots. They will not tank. Belichick is not going to sit here and think, how are we not going to do this this week? My game plan is to just look good. Get me some style points or if we have if there are any and then let's just be done with it and keep losing those style points in the ranks. The crafts are not sitting there next to Sean McManus of CBS or whoever else is going to be there, Bon Jovi or whatever, and they're not flying all over to Germany.

Mark Wahlberg. I'm telling you, when I saw them in Germany, they wanted to win that Germany game so badly. Yep.

Seven points. They don't want to tank. And I kept thinking to myself and I'm seeing Sully and Fitz in the crowd there cheering as Zappi was leading them down the field. I get it, they're not getting the memo either. Now at one point, the Panthers did get the memo, which was to start winning some football games. Yeah, they took the lead. They took the lead in Tampa and then they didn't focus on the memo. Well, Mike Evans took over. So you know, and then the Cardinals, they got the memo. They won in Pittsburgh. Start winning games. You needed that, right? Start winning games. You needed them to win games.

Oh, Pats are number two now, baby. And that's part of the reason why you're seeing this up and down performance from all these people you need to work together is that we keep talking about a memo, but it's not actually in black and white. Maybe if that's the issue, we now have created one for you. Rich Eisen Consulting, unbeknownst to you. There it is.

Did you see in a tank LLC is what we've called it. There you are with your mug, with your arm leaning on the R.J., you can come in here and hand out the hand up. We've actually printed them out. R.J. is handing them out and has one R.J. hand one to the team to hand one and one to TJ needs a memo from the desk. So now officially got the memo.

Now's when you actually could do the drop. Go forward. See the memo. Now you've seen it. OK, we're going to read it out.

Oh, this is fantastic. All right. From in a tank LLC memorandum from the desk of Chris Brockman to the Patriots, Panthers and Cardinals.

Yes. It has come to my attention that not everyone is on the same page to make my clear agenda a reality. New England must lose every remaining game and Carolina must win at least one more, if not two.

The Cardinals could keep on chopping wood like they did in Pittsburgh. Your immediate attention and focus on this crucial matter is an absolute must. Time for everyone to cut the crap. Thank you.

Chris Brockman. Well done. I mean, did we find your voice?

I think I think you did. And let's see how Earth responds to that. We'll see. We're number two now.

So you're two. We're locked in. You need Carolina.

But to get Caleb, we need Carolina to win a game or two. So this is great. By the way, did R.J. get his stapler back? Because I think your stapler's right there. Okay.

So it's really good. Me on. Hey, Peter. There you go. Did you get that memo? There you go. We now have it. We have it. Well done. We now have it. Fantastic.

And I think this we'll see what happens from here on out. Unfortunately, though, the Patriots do not like your memo. They don't want to hear from your memo. Belichick finds none of this humorous at all. Too bad.

Because it's as bad. I can't believe we're in this position. I simply cannot. And now, I mean, it's going to be zappy short week in Pittsburgh. They're going to come and decapitate him. Yeah. And Pittsburgh can't score. This is going to be another one of those ten to six games. You know, the Patriots. Did you see we had talked about before teams were 50 and two, you know, allowing only ten points and winning the game. The Patriots were the two losses.

Yeah, I've got those numbers here. Now, for the first time since 1938, a team has given up ten or less in three straight games, lost all three. We're setting records this year. The last team to do it, the Chicago Cardinals lost four such games in a row in 1938. Well, it might happen again.

The last time the Patriots were shut out twice in one season was 92. Is that Dick McPherson? 92? No.

He has a computer in front of you. Well, you're asking me. Belichick's never been shut out twice in a single season. First time in franchise history being shut out twice at home in a single season. That was Dick McPherson. They don't want any piece of this. The Crafts want no piece of this and notice Belichick.

Guess who they want a piece of, though? Caleb Williams. I get it.

Caleb Williams. So you got to keep losing, man. Well, you now have a memo. Stick to the game plan. From In-a-Tank LLC.

In-a-Tank is well done. Okay. You're welcome. See?

RES Consulting working for you even though you don't know it exists. Get me that, Caleb. Did you see the memo? Thank you very much. Let's take a break. Phone calls to wrap up this program.

844-204-RICH. No. That's funny. You know, in today's world, it seems the best treatment is reserved only for a few. Well, Discover wants to change that by making everyone feel special. That's why with your Discover card, you have access to 24-7 live customer service as well as zero dollar fraud liability, which means you're never held responsible for unauthorized purchases. And no matter who you are or where you are in life, you'll feel special with Discover.

Learn more at Discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. 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 upfront so you know you're getting a great deal without hidden fees.

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Download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, before our radio audience returns, Ken Tullo, the Rich Eizen Show staff has phoned in because he has some expertise of security on the sidelines to talk about what went down with the big dom on the sideline in Philadelphia. What's up, Kenny?

You there? How you doing, Rich? What perspective can you offer us, sir?

So this is my, I moonlight on weekends, Rich. RE Consulting has expanded to RE Security and it's my first season doing on-field security for NFL games at SoFi. So I tell you, I have a lot of respect for all security personnel now having worked it in terms, it's really exciting. You know, you're in the mix, but it's grueling, you know, being on your feet for all day and you know, also you're in harm's way, you know, in terms of field incursions from fans and also players crashing into the sidelines. You guys are talking about that a little bit, but with big dom, you know, and for my training, your main job is to protect the players and coaches from the sidelines, from field incursions on the sidelines. It's not to be a bouncer at a club down in South Jersey, like Mikey was, yeah, you're not breaking out fights there and your main job, you're not trying to be part of the game. You don't make yourself part of the game.

I know. Mikey is miserable today that he's being discussed. So do you think the league's going to come down on the Eagles? Big Dom's in big trouble. Okay. He's in big trouble today, there's no doubt about it. I would be surprised if he's anywhere near the sidelines the rest of the season. Yeah.

I wouldn't be surprised either. All right, Kenny. Thanks for the time, brother. Appreciate it. You got it. We'll chat again soon. I feel the same way.

Kenny, the cleaner. Yeah. I'm sure Big Dom is not a happy camper today. Yeah. At all. Tough spot. You think? Yeah. But right in front of him. I mean, you just... Well, it's not like it's the biggest NFL audience of the year. Oh, wait a minute. And Instinct took over.

Pretty much is. Stream the NFL on Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone, including tonight. Every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL is live on the NFL app, and you can get it by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports or on your Westwood One affiliate stations, digital platforms. Kevin Harling, Kurt Warner in the booth, me in the studio for free, and get in the zone with AutoZone.

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Restrictions apply. Let us go to Rooster in Austin, Texas. What's up, Rooster? Hey, how's everybody doing today? What's going on?

Rooster. How you been? Hey, last time I called in Susie was at the desk furnished by Granger, so I finally get to talk to Rich. Congratulations on your Wolverine's and our Austin, Texas Longhorns. Welcome, Warren.

Congratulations to you. Yeah. I'm calling about my 49ers dismantling the Eagles. I knew it was going to be a blowout. Oh, well, I mean, you should have called in before then, Rooster. I mean, Chris would have loved that. I know.

Yeah. I would have not bet the Eagles. I'm busy doing these e-bike tours down here. Everybody loves these tours, so I couldn't call in, but I'm definitely calling in today, and thank you for having me again about the Niners. And DJ, this is going to be the first time I'm rooting for your Cowboys next week in my life.

Strangest bedfellows, man. Yeah, we need them to beat the Eagles and copy exactly what the Niners did. There you go. Thanks for the call, Rooster. I hope they have the tape, Rooster.

Yeah. He just gave you the rope. It was strange bedfellows. Strangest, strangest bedfellows, because you're rooting for the Niners, yes, sir. I mean, I can't say that with the... Well, either way.

Either way, you know. It's like me watching Ohio State and Penn State. I was rooting for a 0-0 tie.

Ohio State and Notre Dame. I'm like, can we... Yeah. You're rooting for the Meteor.

Yeah, I was rooting. I know. 2020. 2020. Derek in Missouri. You're on the Rich Idol show. What's up, Derek? Derek?

You there? Hey, Rick. Once again, how are you, sir?

What's on your mind, sir? Well, I would be hoping I would be calling you once again after a Broncos victory, but that was unfortunately not the case. Right. Yesterday. You got to get Houston.

It's a credit where the credits do. I mean, C.J. Strout is becoming a real deal, no doubt about it. But once again, I'm with you on a Monday discussing the official in the NFL after what we saw last night in Green Bay. The game was great up until his last two minutes.

That was wild. I mean, Pat Mahomes gets hit when he's inbounds, they call a flag, and you see two of, if not the worst, not pass interference calls hands down so far this season in my mind. I mean, it's getting to the point where I feel like I'm reliving 2012 all over again, but it's officiating with the replacement refs. Derek, I appreciate it. Thank you for the call.

I don't blame you for feeling that way. And we discussed it last week with Dean Blandino here, former head of NFL refs, now Fox rules analyst, even Stone Street, Eric Stone Street, the hard Chiefs fan, saying that he sometimes texts Roger Goodell about officiating during the games. I'm sure, you know, he might have reached out to who he refers to as the goods last night when there was no flag on the clear, clear pass interference on Marquez Valdez-Gantling, which would have put the ball inside the five and Mahomes having a handful of shots to score the touchdown that would lead to the game tying two-point conversion.

But no, didn't happen. Now I keep saying this, replay assist, I don't know when they don't chime in for some reason. I'll chime in to say that knee was down, that butt was down, this was down. And then when something like Mahomes happens on the sideline and, you know, there's a flag on the play, replay assist, when there's a flag on the play, should chime in and say Mahomes was in bounds, pick up the flag. And the way to do it is you get in the ears of the officials, they're already huddling up to discuss it. Give them an extra 10, 15 seconds. Certainly when their clock's not rolling, that's exactly when replay assist should chime in, clock's not rolling, flag on the play to pick it up. Not when the clock's rolling, like say when there was a clear moment where there was an out of bounds play in those last two minutes as well, where the officials stopped the clock and the clock should have kept rolling. You can't chime in there and, you know, you can't chime in when there's no pass interference, when there should have been a call because we got rid of that a couple of years ago.

But you sure can chime in to make at least one of them right. Especially when it was a huge moment in the game. And Justin Herbert must be sitting at home like, what gives? I got blown up when I was way out further out of bounds than that and you didn't call it and my offensive lineman who was sticking up for me gets called for a 15 yard penalty. And that's another thing, like Isaiah Pacheco gets ejected from a game because of a sequence that ensued after Rashe Rice's butt was on the ground, but the replay is there. So the officials let it go just in case that was a fumble. Yeah. So shouldn't whatever happens after we go and replay and say the play ended with the butt down, that anything that happened after that is completely thrown out too? Just men in black.

I don't know. But again, replay assists should be there and the league should absolutely use it for something like the Mahomes play. And the pass interference play, I don't know what to say. The whole country saw it and it's unfortunate that they blew it. And the refs have got to ref better.

I don't know how to do it. I don't know. I don't know if we make them full time, year round, what to do, but that was pretty brutal. We'll be back to wrap up our Monday show in a moment. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too. In 1995, when WCW announces they're going to be live and head to head with Monday Night Raw feels like this would have been something Vince would have kind of laughed off. No, we did not like them moving to Monday nights. There were a lot of hotels. They all carried CNN, TBS, and TNT. Vince was convinced that Ted Turner had deviously done this deal to get in the hotels and keep us out. It's something to wrestle wherever you listen.