Nick Ferguson: these are not the Chiefs of old

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. Finally, 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. 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 rolling into the final hour of the program.

Thank you for spending part of your Christmas with us. Eight four four two oh four seven four two four is the phone number. You can always get at me on social media. Tweet at me. B.W.

Weber Weber with two B's. We got a ton to get to in this final hour of the program. If I don't cover it all, I'm back with you tomorrow and Wednesday as well.

One would say not me, not you. One would say maybe I should save some content, but that's not how we roll, my man. I might be, quote unquote, a guest host, but I'm always going to try to cram four hours of content into a three hour bag. Plus, coming up in 40 minutes, we'll incorporate our second and final guest. After we talked NBA an hour ago with Sean Devaney, NBA insider for Heavy Dotcom.

Coming up, we wrap up the program with gusto 240 Eastern Time. We take you across the NFL and get you set for the blockbuster matchup tonight in primetime between the Ravens and the 49ers. When we check in with Nick Ferguson, former NFL safety played a decade in the league for the Jets, Texans and Broncos.

Now a radio host in Denver. Mention the NBA getting set for the start of the final quarter in the first of five games today. And the four just underway at Madison Square Garden with the Knicks in front of the Bucks, 98 to 90. Jalen Brunson has been dominant, now playing Giannis and Damian Lillard, the Knicks best player with 29 so far.

Giannis has 26, Lillard with 24. I'll keep you posted. I know more of you are much more interested in what's going on in the NFL with five minutes left in a low scoring first half in Kansas City. Chiefs lead the Raiders 3-0, Vegas started the scoring with the field goal, and then KC just countered Isaiah Pacheco with a 12-yard touchdown run. 7-3 Kansas City, I will keep you updated. Coming up in 20 minutes, going to talk about Mike Tomlin and more thoughts connected to the AFC.

And I will be completely transparent. Certain people in sports I enjoy covering because they make my job easier. I don't root for anyone or anything anymore beyond keeping the lights on in my regal one-bedroom apartment. I root for my family and hope they don't bicker too much during the holidays. But I am fully on board team content.

Whatever is good for business is good for me. Mike Tomlin is good for team content. And even, and I have family from Pennsylvania, you don't need the whole backstory, the hagiography of the big word Monday.

But the family decades ago fought their way out of the coal mines and the steel mills in Pennsylvania so I could have a cushy lifestyle. I got a lot of relatives in Pennsylvania and they're tired of Mike Tomlin. I get it because Mike Tomlin hasn't won a playoff game.

They always remind me in seven years. Mike Tomlin is one of the most respected coaches in the NFL. He would be unemployed for 10 minutes if the Steelers were going to fire him, which they're not going to, nor should they.

I'll talk about it more in 20 minutes. But it was not a coincidence that prior to the start of the broadcast on Saturday on NBC, what turned out to be a beatdown applied by Mason Rudolph and George Pickens and the Steelers against Cincinnati. Mike Florio, who was dialed into the Steeler organization, let everyone know that his sources said that the Steelers not only had no intention of moving on from a coach who's part of the trio of head coaches they've had for over 50 years, three head coaches in Pittsburgh since Richard Nixon was in the White House. No way were they inclined to move on from Tomlin, even with all the drama.

And I'm not going to give them a pass on the internal friction. We'll do it coming up in 15 minutes. But Florio had the report, and you hear Mike all the time with Rich, that the Rooney family had already started early contract extension talks with Mike Tomlin. That is coming up.

I have not done my job completely, and thankfully I have more time to address the obvious void. I need to spend more time on the potential game of the year coming up tonight in Santa Clara in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 49ers and the Ravens. Although, if you caught some of the rants about Philadelphia in the last hour of the program, I remember the game of the year that was supposed to be when the Niners and the Eagles got together in the NFC championship game rematch.

We know how that developed. This game should be more competitive. Still, if you are interested in the view from Vegas, Niner's a healthy favorite at home. Last time I checked, about five and a half points over the Ravens, and the Ravens wisely trying to use that as motivation, saying that we're being underestimated.

That's all sidebar material. You got 11-3 Baltimore at 11-3 San Francisco. In fact, I found this nugget that really jumped out at me. It is the first matchup of a pair of top seeds this late in the month of December since 2005, when the Seahawks beat the Colts. And of course, if you remember anything about history, I shouldn't say of course, because another quick commentary.

In a world in which we have 5,000 channels in our hand, it's not a phone, it's a supercomputer. I don't blame you if you're not inclined to know what happened two weeks ago. I didn't choose to be history kid growing up.

There was nothing else going on. If I had all of the entertainment and other things, some not-safe-for-work websites at my disposal, I would not have been sitting in my room memorizing meaningless sports stats. But if you recall, if you're a listener of a certain age, Seahawks go on to make it to the Super Bowl, lose to Jerome Bettis. How many times did we hear that Super Bowl run up? The bus is back in Detroit, but not necessarily foreshadowing a Super Bowl rematch because, and obviously you have the wrinkle of Colts and what they did in the postseason, not able to get past Pittsburgh.

But if you're just looking for a parallel fact, I got one more layer for you. Tonight's matchup of top seeds in the month of December will be just the third occasion since the merger, 1970, that a game of this magnitude has occurred. And hopefully it's a good watch. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen.

You can lobby a phone call at 844-204-7424. Hit me up on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's in 15 minutes. We'll talk Mike Tomlin and other thoughts across the AFC. In terms of what this game comes down to, I think a lot of it is a byproduct of how you view Brock Purdie. And I'm not going to go down the tired road once more about is he a system quarterback, is he merely a byproduct of the coaching skill, the innovation, the creativity of the beautiful football mind possessed by Kyle Shanahan. Purdie has shown all of us, if you're paying attention, unless you're just a straight hater, he's much more than that.

Now, that's balanced by the supporting cast. Because, go back just a handful of years ago, Jimmy Garoppolo played in multiple conference championship games, played in a Super Bowl, if he's able to connect with Emmanuel Sanders, Niners probably win that Super Bowl. Instead it was the Chiefs and now Kansas City trying to get back this year. While I was giving you those detailed thoughts, Raiders have gotten back in the end zone. Extra point, no good.

It is Vegas now in front of Kansas City. 9-7 with 5 minutes to go in the first half, so momentum starting to go back and forth to a degree. And this time it was a defensive touchdown, Belal Nichols. Scoop and score, 8-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. And then, interestingly, I guess the card said, following analytics, Silver and Black win for 2.

2-point conversion, no good, so 9-7 Raiders on top, I'll keep you posted. But, San Francisco has the most complete team on both sides of the ball in all of football. And that's been the case since this run started, backed how many years ago?

You want to back that thing up, beep, beep, beep, beep. So, it's not a slight. It is not diminishing Brock Purdy's achievements. Absolutely magnificent. And if he was the second-to-last pick in the draft, we wouldn't, I think, be as hung up on the fact that he was dead last.

And with that, of course, you get the fabulous moniker of being Mr. Irrelevant. But Purdy has as many weapons as anyone to choose from. The Niners schematically are a joy to watch with all the emotion and the misdirection. They still use a fullback, and Kyle Juszczyk, although he'll tell you he's more of a complementary running back.

Now, I'm really getting in the weeds here. They have the most versatile running back in all of football in Christian McCaffrey. Should I continue? You got Deebo, you got George Kittle, you got Iook, and you have a defense that is absolutely formidable. So, I'm not saying anybody could be plugged in there and shine the way that Brock Purdy has, but you have to throw in context.

It is important to come up with the general parameters of what's going on. And as I give you this monologue, touchdown Raiders, another defensive touchdown. Mahomes is picked, taken back 33 yards the other way for another Raider touchdown. 17-7, Las Vegas in front of Kansas City with four minutes to go in the first half. My goodness, things have gotten interesting as the two-point conversion was good on that occasion.

So, still plenty of time for the Chiefs, and I'll meander a bit away from my thoughts on the Ravens and the 49ers, given what's going on right now. I'll make that editorial choice. I'm Brian Weber, Infra Rich Eyes, and 8-4-4, 2-0-4, 7-4-2 for the number to call.

Conversation never stops on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's in 30 minutes. We take you across the NFL with Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety.

I'll pose the question to Nick because I know he's watching. How much does he believe in the reigning champs heading into the postseason? Plenty of time to rally in this game. I'm not putting them six feet under just yet within the framework of this game or their postseason outlook.

Remember, if they win this game, they clinched the AFC West Division title for the eighth consecutive year. The glaring problems for the Chiefs prior to today, and it's been a turnover fest so far, but if you're thinking about how the seasons played out for the Chiefs, their collection of receivers other than Travis Kelce, and I'm not talking Kelce and T. Sizzle, I'm reading on the internet, she's at the game. I'm happy for young people in love.

I'm happy for anyone who can find love, if in fact that's what's going on. Kelce has been a bit more inconsistent than we've seen in the past, but he's not the issue, obviously. It's the rest of that collection of wide receivers that just cannot hang on to the ball or, in the case of Tony, don't know where to line up. And the refs had to make that call.

They had no choice in the game against the Bills because he was so glaringly offsides. So you have a wideout core that cannot hang on to the football, Mahomes not as dominant individually as he's been in the past, and a defense that had been carrying in this team in large measure that has been shaky in recent weeks. You sum it all up, Chiefs certainly seem more vulnerable heading into the playoffs than they have in the past, and the key development is, for the first time in his Hall of Fame career, it's looking likely, it's looking probable that Mahomes is going to have to play a postseason game on the road. So as you think about the balance of power in the AFC, even if the Ravens lose tonight, as I think they will, because while I have a great deal of respect for Baltimore as a franchise, how can you not with their continuity and all of the achievements that John Harbaugh has put together since he took over, San Francisco's just better in my opinion. Not by a ton, we'll find out tonight, that's why they play the game.

That's why they play the game, as Chris Berman once said. But if we're just looking at a collection of star power on both sides of the football, I don't think anybody can touch the 49ers. In my view, they're the most complete team in the NFL. So, if I'm right, if I'm wrong, you can let me know during the game on social media, B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's, or tomorrow when I'm back in the chair. A Ravens loss drops them to 11-4. Miami's win over Dallas, as the Cowboys demonstrated again yesterday, they are a fraudulent team that cannot win on the road. Miami's sitting at 11-4. Dolphins take on the Ravens in Baltimore next week. Let's say Kansas City loses today.

Well, then they have no shot at being the top seed. And they're locked into the three seed, which in most years just ain't nothing wrong with that, but if you're basing this on the body of work that Mahomes has assembled in spectacular fashion, now he's going to have to demonstrate he can get it done on the road in a high leverage situation come playoff time, and get it done with a lackluster group of wide receivers. And I'm not spending the Hunt family's money, but it was surprising to me, and if we're going to tell the Tyreek Hill story, we should be balanced and point out all of the horrendous decisions he's made off the field, but strictly in a football context, you can't deny his remarkable skill set. But look at this Kansas City offense and see how appreciably different it is without Tyreek Hill. And now the defense, which had been so solid for the majority of the year, suddenly with more flaws to deal with. Now, it's not the defense's problem at all that Kansas City is trailing Vegas 17-7 approaching the two minute warning because it's the Raider defense that's come up with a pair of touchdowns in the last 10 minutes of game time or so. But that also points out a lack of focus that we've seen all season long for the Chiefs going back to the opener when they lost to the Lions, and I know they were missing Kelsey, and I know they were missing Chris Jones. It feels like this team just is not paying the same level of attention to details that we've seen in the past. Can they figure it out? Certainly. That's the benefit you give a champion.

But right now, just watching these games, it's a weekly development. What's going to go wrong next for Kansas City with loads of time to mount a comeback? I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. 844-204-7424.

You can tweet me your holiday cheer. That's B.W. Weber, Weber would-to-be. So, let me survey the landscape, get back to the 49ers and the Ravens. If we're going to use tonight's game as a jumping off point for a potential Super Bowl rematch, a lot of that comes down to how much you believe in Lamar Jackson in the postseason. Now, I think some of what's happened in the past also was derivative of what was going on offensively, and it was such a run-focused Baltimore attack hinging so heavily on the ground game and Lamar's mobility that his interceptions, his mistakes were more glaring because he wasn't throwing it 35 times. They have more balance this year, making the move to Todd Munkin, coming over from his great run with Georgia on the college level as their play caller.

So, I like what's going on, and again, I don't want to get bogged down in schematics. I'm not qualified, but I have followed the NFL for a long time and have worked for some prestigious NFL outlets. Just as a viewer like you, I like what I see from the Ravens in terms of more balance. And if you think about how these losses have developed, remember, they're 11-3. The Ravens have had the lead at the two-minute warning in all three of their losses. Now, I know they messed around with the Rams, had to win that game in spectacular fashion with the walk-off punt return in overtime. And LA's better than we all thought, and I hope the football gods will oblige Matthew Stafford back in Detroit for the Lions' first division-winning team since 1993, and then Stafford throws two or three grizzly interceptions because that's who he is every step of the way. But it's a Raven team.

You can make an argument. They should still be undefeated, and I know why I'm splitting hairs here, but the fact that the Niners are a 5.5-point favorite tells you, for the folks who crunched the numbers, they're seeing a discernible difference in talent plus the field goal edge you get as the home team. I'm not saying the Niners are going to boat race the Ravens, but as I'm just looking at their body of work as much as I'm a huge Lamar Jackson fan, moving forward, will Lamar finally be able to play the same kind of football we've seen throughout his magnificent career when it matters the most in the playoffs?

I hope so, because that's the easy, lazy knee-jerk response. If I say Lamar Jackson and you're not a fan for whatever reason, you go, okay, we'll do it in the playoffs. I hope he does do it in the playoffs. I hope we see this matchup again. Because if you ask me, and this is not anything close to a hot take, the two top Cs right now getting ready to get together tonight in primetime in Santa Clara, what matchup I'd most want to see in the Super Bowl, it would be the 49ers coming out of the NFC versus either Baltimore or Miami.

I just love watching the Dolphins because of the creativity, and then you would have the Mike McDaniel-Kyle Shanahan component, but a lot's going to happen between now and then. Chiefs looking to rally as they've spotted the Raiders, a 17-7 lead. The Raiders with a pair of defensive touchdowns to move ahead by 10 at the 2-minute warning. First half, we'll keep you posted. Hit me up on Twitter.

I'm about to check out the feed. B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs in 20 minutes. We take you across the NFL with Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety.

Spent a decade in the league playing for the Jets, Texans, and Broncos. Up next, Steelers snapped their three-game losing streak on Saturday, pounding Cincy, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive. That's all very good news.

So why do so many Steeler fans still want to fire Mike Tomlin? That's on the way. I'm Brian Weber. Hope you're having a marvelous Christmas as we continue on this Christmas Day edition of the Rich Eisen Show. 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 $0 fraud liability, which means you're never held responsible for unauthorized purchases. Finally, 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.

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Call 1-888-SOTYKTU to learn more. I didn't ask to be thrown in the streets, but I did ask for help, and Covenant House was there for me. For these kids who didn't ask to be put in this unthinkable situation, Covenant House is there.

To learn more, go to safetplacetosleep.org today. I'm Brian Weber. This is a Christmas Day edition of the Rich Eisen Show Homestretch. We'll do it again tomorrow with all the fallout from today's NFL tripleheader, plus just a little bit of NBA analysis. There are five games going on today after all. Hit me up on Twitter after the program. It should be clear based on how I handle my content creation, I don't have much of a robust life, so like you, I'll be hanging out on the couch watching the rest of these games with the Chiefs looking to create something heading into halftime, Raiders leading Kansas City 17-7 less than a minute to go in the first half, with KC now at the Vegas 23, Raiders lead coming thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns, a scoop and score, and a Patrick Mahomes pick 6.

I'll keep you posted. We will handle this content selection with brevity coming up in less than 15 minutes. We'll wrap it up with style points when we say hello to my good friend Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety, longtime Denver radio host. I mentioned the situation in Pittsburgh, and I don't pretend to be the kind of host who says, well, I have sources or I got on the phone and call Anthony Filipponi or any of the guys bloviating like I do.

Mark Madden from back in the day of WCW fame. I don't know the internal dynamics within the Steel organization, but I do know they do not, speaking of the Rooney family pronouns, pal, they do not like to make coaching changes. They've had three head coaches in my lifetime and I'm 54 years old. They have not had a losing season in a long time.

In fact, Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. Now that's all countered by Steeler fans who are angry that the team hasn't won a playoff game in seven years, and I can fully understand the reaction to those hideous performances at home in back-to-back situations against Arizona, that funky game because of the weather delay, and the Patriots. Although the Patriots now playing with just a little bit of pride with the win last night in Denver, edging the Broncos, effectively knocking Denver out of any playoff consideration, barring 27 weird things happening, and New England's now won two of three. But it wasn't just how grisly those games were, and then followed by the Colts loss, and you had George Pickens just giving up on a play, did not want to get involved physically with a block that any high school player would have done because it's their job, and then Pickens continuing a pattern of drama in the wide receiving core, going all the way back to Antonio Brown and Juju Smith-Schuster, so if you want to have a criticism, I can let you know that the Chiefs went forward on fourth and short, did not convert, they turned it over on downs, and now it's halftime at our head.

Raiders leading Kansas City 17-7 at the break. If you want to fairly criticize Mike Tomlin's tenure, you can say there has been too much noise, that there are things we're always talking about surrounding this team. Now my counter would be, look at his overall record, secondly, he's not in charge of player personnel, and some of these issues come down to the players the Steelers have chosen. Ben Roethlisberger, for lack of a better term, was a drama queen throughout his entire career.

And now Ben's chirping with his podcast as the elder statesman that somehow Pittsburgh has to tighten things up, get things more buttoned down. But it was the legacy of Antonio Brown now being played out with George Pickens, immaturity, Le'Veon Bell, do I have to go through the whole list? That's not Mike Tomlin's fault, he didn't draft those players. Now you could say as the coach, he should deal with them in a more stern way, but that's also why the rest of the team enjoys playing for Mike Tomlin.

Because he is a player's coach, and because theoretically he's transparent, and you know what you're going to get. So I'm not pretending to be an NFL insider, I'm just somebody who appreciates Mike Tomlin's success, I think he does it the right way, and I love him at the podium. I'm just looking for a good soundbite, but I can understand Steelers fans saying it's time for a change.

And I do believe after a while, in any walk of life, if you're hearing from the same voice, it gets stale. So if Tomlin wanted to leave, I could fully understand that. If you walk in the door in Washington, if he wanted to be a GM, I don't know why anybody would, unless you want total control, and you got the groceries, and being the chef, a la Bill Parcells a million years ago. Washington makes a great deal of sense, Ron Rivera is a nice man, he's going to be handed a pink slip, that is a foregone conclusion. Yesterday's game between the commanders and the Jets still defies any explanation. I was surfing that with the red zone yesterday, I thought that game was over five different ways, I did not think it would come down to Greg Zuerlein having to hit a 54-yarder in the final seconds, after somehow Robert Salah's team found a way to blow a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, up 27-14 to the fourth, and still managed to win, and Salah if you weren't with us earlier, this was news yesterday prior to kickoff, got the vote of confidence from Jets owner Woody Johnson, Salah, and GM Joe Douglas both coming back, and you figured that was the case because Aaron Rodgers has said nothing but positive things about them when he goes on the Pat McAfee show and gets paid a lot of money. But since I've spent a good portion of the program on the AFC looking for clarity, just because it is so muddled now, a month ago we were talking about the Jaguars being in the conversation to be the top seed in the AFC, at least having a shot.

They have completely fallen apart, and now unfortunately Trevor Lawrence appears to be made of glass. Now I don't even understand why he was still in the game in the third quarter yesterday as the Bucs continue to look good. If you want to bash Baker Mayfield, and I did, I just never thought he was worthy of being the number one overall pick, but you cannot in any way underestimate this guy's grit and determination. He's got all the wideouts to compliment him with Mike Evans and Goblin.

Rashad White, fantasy alert, fantasy alert, top five in the league in yards from scrimmage. That's the Tampa Bay side of the ledger, and now Tampa Bay in position to wrap up the division. Coming up next week, all they need to do is defeat the Saints, who have been enigmatic for a long time, and it's become even more pronounced with the addition of Derek Carr. If the Bucs beat New Orleans, Tampa wins the division. They can rest their starters in the final week coming up in a couple weeks. But heading into that game, I thought Tampa Bay would win, specifically because they were at home. I think the Jags would be that miserable, and now here's Lawrence after he had the high ankle sprain on Monday Night Football, concussed last week, takes the hit on the sideline with the shoulder injury in the second half.

Can you count on him physically down the stretch? But somebody's got to win that division because the Colts lost yesterday, the Texans lost yesterday, and the Titans lost yesterday. And it really does reflect just what a jumbled mess the AFC is after you get beyond a top three that I might make a top two and a half. Because I don't know how much more, and pending, I'll come back in the second half, I don't know how much more latitude I can give Kansas City. At some point, this is who they are this year, and I can't keep saying, well, they'll figure it out because they've done it in the past.

Because I'd be contradicting myself even more. NFC, as we've been talking about throughout the majority of the program, it's the Niners and everybody else, and that's really the case for the entire league. We're in San Francisco, and then I think a drop off to Baltimore as we're going to learn more about tonight.

I'm going to talk about much more of this tomorrow. Lion fan, enjoy your victory lap because you still have major defensive problems. That game should never have been as close yesterday. Nick Mullins needed to throw his fourth interception. Not one, not two. Fourth interception on the final drive, and this is not a one-off.

This is not an outlier. The Lion defense has been MIA for the last month. Still, when you haven't won anything since 1957, and you haven't won the division since 1993, I'll give you a day to enjoy things and I'm going to tell you why. It's probably going to be one and done in the postseason coming up. It is halftime in Kansas City with the Raiders leading the Chiefs 17-7. Straight ahead, we'll wrap it up with gusto circling back to what should be the game of the year in the NFL, what's going to be the X-Factor in the showdown between the Ravens and the Niners. Looking forward to checking in with a great friend, Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety you play for the Jets, Texans and Broncos, a long-time Denver radio host as well. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen as we continue.

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Tomorrow we'll have all the fallout from today's triple header across the NFL, highlighted by what could be the game of the year when the 49ers host the Ravens first. Let's bring in an old friend and a former radio partner of mine, Nick Ferguson. Former NFL safety spent a decade in the league playing for the Jets, Texans, and Broncos.

Now a highly esteemed radio host in Denver. Nick, my friend, Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking the time. How are you? I'm doing well. Happy holidays to you and your listeners. I appreciate you taking the time and I appreciate the sentiment. Well, I was going to start with yesterday's action because I figured when you joined me at this time today, Kansas City would have a comfortable lead over Vegas.

Not the case. So let me jump into what's happening right now at our head with the Raiders in front of KC 17-7, thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns. And I had sketched out to foster a conversation about Kansas City moving forward. Nick, I was going to bring up these points that the defense has been wobbly over the last couple of weeks. As you know, they lead the league in drops when it comes to receivers, so put it all together. Are you confident that the Chiefs, who won't be going to the playoffs, are you confident they can turn it on come playoff time?

No, I'm not. This is not the Chiefs' team of old. I know you still have Patrick Holmes, Travis Chelsea, and Andy Reid, but they don't have the skilled players that they're typically used to having. And before, a couple of years ago, the idea was like, well, Tyreek Hill, they're not going to miss him.

They went to the Super Bowl and they won. But right now, they're seeing the residual effects of not having a guy that's a reliable target. When you look at Travis Chelsea, he is one of the best tight ends in this game. But it has become really difficult for Patrick Holmes in the offense because when you look at what Travis Chelsea is able to do, he's going to get you the short, intermediate passes. But he's not taking the top off the defense.

And when the Kansas City Chiefs have had guys who have been able to do that, like you said, they cannot catch the ball. So this is a team that will probably get into the playoffs, but it will be an early exit for the Kansas City Chiefs. And we're going to find out what Mahomes can do on the road because it's looking more and more likely he's going to have to start a playoff game away from Arrowhead for the very first time. Taking you across the NFL with one of the best in the business, Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety. Nick, I am hosting the Rich Eisen Show.

Rich was on the call last night in your town. A wild game with all the twists and turns. Ultimately, Patriots winning on that long field goal in the final seconds, effectively snuffing out the Broncos' faint playoff hopes. When you look at the entire season, and I have to give the Broncos credit for rallying after the abysmal start, was last night in some ways a summation of this entire year for the Broncos?

Absolutely it was. When you look at what the first half was, the first three quarters, that was like the first four games or five games of the season when the Broncos went 1-5. And then you look at what they were able to do. In the fourth quarter, that was the back half of the season when they went on that crazy run. And everyone was saying, well, this is the hottest team in the NFL, and that's how they were. But the defenses somehow lost their mojo. Then when you look at the offense running out of steam, and I have to say, there's been a lot of local and national criticism of Russell Wilson.

Being as though I've watched his team, and I'm here, I'm at practice, and I go back and I watch tape, it is not exactly what everyone thinks. They're blaming Russell, but there's more to it. It is hard to play this game as a quarterback. We're watching the same thing play and unfold in front of us with Kansas City and the Raiders right now.

But when you don't have adequate protection and then you're play calling at times, it's a little, I guess I say, up and down, it makes it really difficult. But this is what happens in the league. When a team is playing well, they praise the quarterback. And when the team is not playing well, they say it's a team overall.

Here in Denver, it's different. It's either Vince Dosa's fault, or it's Russell's fault. And to me, if you watch these games closely, it's not the case. Watching last night, man, that was the most disheartening thing about it, and knowing that you lost on the last second field goal, and I'll add this. I was wondering what Sean Payton was doing when he was calling those timeouts. And I'm like, did he wonder, did he realize that you have three timeouts?

The Patriots have one, and the game is already tied, so let's play for overtime, and let's just say, well, maybe you lean on your defense there, you lean on your offense. He ended up helping Bill Belichick out, and the way that I look at it, the master Bill Belichick defeated Sean Payton by forcing Sean Payton to use his timeouts. That's the way that I see it. I don't know how you see it.

That's the way that I look at it. I think Payton, based on what he saw in front of him, probably had no faith in the Patriot kicking game, because they had made every special team's play an adventure, and had beat him at the end. We're taking across the NFL with Nick Ferguson, the former NFL safety. Nick, undeniably, yesterday's most anticipated game featured the Cowboys and the Dolphins. Dolphins rallied to win, as you know, with the last second field goal. I spent a majority of the opening monologue saying, in my view, yesterday was the latest reminder, this is the same old Dallas team that just can't win on the road, so I'll pose the question to you. Did yesterday's matchup tell you more about the Cowboys or the Dolphins? Well, it told me more about the Cowboys and where they're not. Earlier this season, there was a lot of conversation about Beck Prescott possibly being the MVP of this league. Once again, playing that quarterback position in the league, but more importantly, in Dallas, it is a very tough road to handle, and this team, they're still missing the pieces. A couple pieces here and there, and the biggest thing was, you mentioned to go back and think, did the Dallas Cowboys make the right decision getting rid of Ezekiel Elliott? I know that sounds crazy because, well, you know, Ezekiel Elliott was getting long in the tooth, and he wasn't the same player, but I tell you what, they could have used him yesterday in Miami, just looking at his physicality and what he actually brought for the Patriots last night against Denver Broncos, so this is going to be one of those stories that we are going to talk about, you know, five years from now.

The Cowboys is that team that was great in the 80s, but they haven't been back to the Super Bowl, and they haven't been back to that team everyone anticipated them to be. Well, Nick, since you're jumping in the hot tub time machine, and I keep mentioning you spent a decade in the league because I want to establish your credentials, I looked it up just to confirm your last NFL season 2009. That was Joe Flacco's second year in the National Football League.

You're smarter than me, pal. Explain to me how he made the transition from mowing his lawn six weeks ago to having this kind of impact. It's because, you know, Joe Flacco, even though he doesn't have all the tools to be the quarterback and what I mean in today's game, that mobility, but he is still an experienced, smart quarterback that can put the ball where it needs to be placed, and just so happens, Cleveland found himself in a very difficult situation, and they knew, well, it would be a perfect marriage between their defense and what Joe Flacco can bring to the table because here's what is reminiscent of, and this is why Joe Flacco probably wouldn't have meshed anywhere other than the Cleveland Browns. They have one of the top defensive units in the NFL, and oh, by the way, several years ago, the 49ers played Baltimore in the Super Bowl, and guess who was the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens? Joe Flacco. And he had great special teams play, and he had great defense. So this is a recipe that I'm sure the Browns say, well, what quarterback, veteran quarterback out there that could possibly come in and lead us to the promised land and do it because he's been there before? And it's Joe Flacco. Excellent comp, and I recall because I was there a decade ago in New Orleans when the lights went out in the Superdome.

You work in radio, so you're good with clock management. I've got about 90 seconds for you to answer how you see the massive game between the Niners and Ravens tonight. What do you think it comes down to? Well, it comes down to which team can actually get turnovers. When you look at Baltimore, their team has been able to create turnovers and put the offense in a great scoring position. But I go back to my experience with the 49ers and the brilliance of Kyle Shanahan. They went out and traded for Christian McCaffrey for a reason, and they have a bevy of weapons that I think is going to be really difficult for the Baltimore defense, as talented as they are, to slow them down. And Kyle lives for these types of games. He spends hours upon hours in that building trying to come up with creative ways to get his guys open. This is a game that I think the 49ers truly win because the 49ers have been on the cusp every single year, every single year, but they could not get over the hump.

I think this is the year they get over the hump, and Brock Purdy wins the MVP of the league. Nick, as always, I value the information. I appreciate our friendship. Continued success, my man, and thanks so much for taking the time to join us on Christmas Day here on the Rich Eisen Show. Thank you, man. Happy New Year.

You too, pal. Nick Ferguson, in addition to spending that decade in the league as a player, former safety for the Jets, Texans, and Broncos, he alluded to it. I was going to mention it. Again, I was rambling, and Nick was concise. He spent time with the 49ers as a coaching intern because Nick is so versatile and well-rounded and wanted to have all of his career options in front of him. So he knows that organization extremely well, and I'm not just going to parrot what my friend said because hopefully you were with me earlier in the program.

I think the Niners win tonight by seven to ten, and I'm not trying to tell you to put it all on the over. I'm not doing that kind of radio yet when I get paid for it. Oh, my goodness. You're going to think I moved to Vegas. Like Dan Tana himself, not the restaurant in Los Angeles, the character played by Robert Urich since we're going back to the late 1970s, he worked for the Desert Inn, and the thing I remember as a kid, he drove into his garage. He lived at the casino. Obviously it was a sound stage, but he drove right in, and then five feet away was his bed.

Now, probably not the best in terms of emissions, but it was very cool when everything was cooler decades ago. That's been the theme of the program. I'll leave you with this line now from the Sopranos.

Remember when is the lowest form of conversation, and I continue to contradict that thought. Update from Kansas City. Nothing has changed in terms of the overall score. Raiders leading the Chiefs 17-7, three minutes into the third quarter. Vegas flexing their muscle defensively, a pair of defensive touchdowns.

Mahomes, mortal today, 74 passing yards, and a pick six. A lot of people to thank, starting with our guests. Greatly appreciate anyone willing to take the time on a holiday, and the NBA information provided in the last hour of the show by Sean Devaney, NBA insider, Heavy.com. My good friend Nick Ferguson was spectacular. As always, want to thank the host, Rich Eisen. We value every opportunity to keep the chair warm, and we're going to do it again tomorrow. Bruce Gilbert, all the good people that Westwood won our technical producer today. Curtis was spectacular on the board. I hope you have a great Christmas. Enjoy every moment of it, and hopefully you'll be back with me tomorrow, because we're going to do it again on Tuesday. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen. Merry Christmas. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube, or search for Give Them Lala wherever you listen.