David Lombardi: Nobody Expected Purdy To Put Up Numbers He Did

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

It was so un-Ravens-like for this to happen. They abandoned the run. The Rich Eisen Show.

Some of the SOL stuff happened. Same old lines. Take the points. Man, what a way for this season to end. Lions fans, I feel for you. Earlier on the show, Senior Writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. Coming up, 49ers reporter for The Athletic, David Lombardi. NFL Network Analyst, Brian Baldinger. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Great chat with Albert Breer. Now our one from the Senior Bowl. Oh, pardon me.

The Senior Bowl. That's what I should say when he's involved. He was talking quite a bit about what's going on in the coaching carousel, which took a nice little spinoff of the axis when it came to the Washington commanders. Their job is still open and it is not going to be filled by Ben Johnson, who is staying put in Detroit. What a coup for the Detroit Lions that their offense is going to still be dialed up by one of the more dynamic play callers. I guess he's going to be able to keep going forward on fourth down.

Keep dialing it up. It's not too soon. I mean, the Lions fans have got to be happy, right, about this?

Tom Pelissero, our friend who joins us every Friday. This is good news. How could they not be happy with this? Says he'll be a hot coaching candidate again next year, but first he wants to take another shot at bringing a Lombardi trophy to Detroit. Which is a great way of saying either the commanders or Seahawks didn't meet his price or the Seahawks and commanders told him they're going somewhere else. Something must have happened in this meeting where he didn't get the job. And this is a huge piece of news for Detroit Lions fans that are looking for anything that's a positive coming out off of one of the most remarkable seasons they've ever witnessed as Lions fans.

Honestly, that fellow that NBC kept showing who was in his 90s is one of the only few people who can remember the good old days, right? And so a great piece of news for Detroit Lions fans. So congratulations to them in the fact that their offensive coordinator sticks. Now, does this mean Aaron Glenn, who's also talking to the commanders, wants to come back and win a Lombardi for them? Or is he going to get the job? Is that something that Ben Johnson was told?

Trust me, I don't mean to ascribe anything to an individual I've never met, Ben Johnson, and he could seriously be sitting there going, I didn't like the way this thing ended. I am not going to take the job with the Washington commanders, with their new owner and their new general manager and their new way of doing everything. And I am not going to be the first such head coach there and maybe stay there for 20 something years and move my entire family to the nation's capital and live in the mid-Atlantic. I'm not going to live into that area.

I'm not going to do any of that stuff. I'm staying here to be in charge of an offense. You made that job sound really... That's what I'm saying. It's like one of the greatest jobs that could be offered out there. Remember, I did my power rankings of the best jobs available.

I put that at two. You know, ding dong, the wicked warlock is dead. I mean, Snyder's gone, you know, and everything is now in technicolor. And I mean, that's a heck of a job that you're turning down. He's staying put in Detroit, which is great news.

That's why I'm just saying it sounds like something didn't work out. Or he's ready to just win another Lombardi Trophy with Detroit, which is great because he is really talented and he is dialed into what these guys can do. And I don't blame him for saying, maybe I want to coach Jamir Gibbs in his second year, Laporte in his second year, St. Brown in his fourth. Like, let's roll. You're going to add Jamison Williams in his first full year where he's not coming back from something.

So knee injury or suspension. It's pretty neat stuff. So congrats to you Lions fans.

That's a nice piece of good news. And maybe you keep Aaron Glenney, don't turn into the Philadelphia Eagles. Coming off of a hangover of a playoff loss where you thought you were going to win it and win it all.

844-204 Rich, number to dial. The Niners, though, move on after that win over the Detroit Lions. Joining us now here, I guess I should introduce him, is Lombardi himself since that is his Twitter account handle. He's a reporter for The Athletic covering the 49ers. David Lombardi here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to meet you David, how are you?

Hey Rich, nice meeting you. How are you doing? I'm doing great out here in the Bay Area. It was raining for a while then the skies parted for the NFC Championship game. We had a warm one out here and now the sun is still shining in San Francisco, that's for sure. Fantastic. Are you going to also do the traffic on the 5s right now as well? I like it.

It's pretty cool. As reporters covering the 49ers, there was an obsession with the weather entering the NFC Championship game because of what happened the week before and what had happened to Brock Purdy in week 6. His two rain games this season, he struggled for 58 minutes, maybe 55 minutes, then turned it on at the very end. People thought that the dry track would really favor the 49ers and maybe it did in their comeback, but they had a lot of trouble there. The Lions' offense you were talking about in the first half was phenomenally balanced.

Exactly. That's exactly why I thought watching the Lions in the first half, that's exactly why I thought Washington and Seattle were keeping their head coaching jobs open. To talk with Ben Johnson at the first available opportunity, which would have been after Championship Sunday.

But that said, I'd love to get your thoughts on the national Brock Purdy conversation and how it lands in the Bay Area, David. Well, ever since he stepped in for Jimmy Garoppolo against Miami, that was week 13 of 2022. Probably his second drive, he was doing stuff that even the top pick in the draft he wouldn't expect him to do in his first NFL outing. He was getting hit by Jalen Phillips. I still remember this third and long against Miami in his very first appearance.

Brock Purdy delivered over the middle blind basically because Jalen Phillips was drilling him into the ground. He started beating these blitzes and he started operating as a high-level veteran from the very start. I think that 49ers fans and everybody here in the Bay Area has felt like they're watching a veteran quarterback for a while now. The fact that Purdy went under the radar this offseason because of the elbow injury. I think a lot of people on the outside counted him out. They felt, okay, not going to come back until midseason.

Even if he comes back, there's going to be a lot of rust to knock off. Nobody really expected him to put up the numbers that he did. Obviously, when you look at all the efficiency metrics, it was number one across the board this year. It didn't catch the people watching the 49ers on a day-to-day basis by surprise, but I think that it caught the nation by surprise. Once the 49ers reached the playoffs, there's been this whole discourse that has assumed that somehow he was going to falter.

It's funny that the games played out that way at the start. He didn't look good at the start of the game against the Packers, didn't look good at the start of the game against the Lions, but he's finished so well in both of those games. He talked to a lot of coaches. They'll tell you the hardest thing to do as a quarterback is bounce back from a rough start within the same game, especially if it's a huge game, and put it together and finish at the end.

We talk about the greats being able to do that. He's been able to do that for two straight weeks. I kind of sense the national discourse shifting now, giving Purdy some credit for those wins, but that shift never had to happen in the Bay Area just because he came out firing from the very, very first drive against the Dolphins last year.

He has been terrific, on the whole. But the reason why I think it's difficult for the national media to let go of the narrative that perhaps he's not ready, or perhaps he's not the guy that can get them over the hump, even though he has gotten them back to the Super Bowl, is because of the way that Jimmy Garoppolo took the team to the Super Bowl, and rumblings already started that proved to be founded that Kyle Shanahan wasn't thoroughly enamored with Garoppolo, and they went and drafted Lance, and have the benefit of finding a true talent with the last pick in the draft. And then comes this quote in an ESPN story where Brock Purdy tells Nick Wagoner of ESPN that the team told him he'd be the starter coming back from surgery unless Tom Brady wanted to come out of retirement. What's that one all about?

Well, remember the context. At the time, the recovery timetable for Brock Purdy had been about six months coming off of the UCL. So the 49ers were considering all of their contingency plans in the offseason. The story around training camp was how astounded the 49ers were and how pleasantly surprised they were that Purdy's recovery went as quickly as it did, and he was ready to go by day one of training camp. So a lot of this Brady discussion back and forth, that all needs to be viewed within the context of Brock Purdy potentially not being ready for week one. That was what the 49ers' mindset was.

As far as Garoppolo goes, I've always been at the camp that when he was healthy, and that was an issue for Jimmy Garoppolo, the availability just wasn't what the 49ers needed it to be. But when he was healthy, this offense efficiency-wise was consistently in the top ten, I would say even the top seven. But Brock Purdy has guided this offense to new heights.

There's a big difference between the number one offense in football and the number four to number seven offense in football. And you've seen it with his mobility. He had those 52 rushing yards in the second half. That's something that Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't bringing this team. And Purdy has also been really, really accurate on the deep passes.

Might have gotten a little bit lucky against the Lions with that one that bounced up into the air, and then Brandon Iyuk made the catch. But everything that Kyle Shanahan has wanted to do and open up with this offense, he's actually been able to do with Brock Purdy, and that includes off-schedule possibilities. So, just to finish up this thought, David Lombardi, the athletic here on the Rich Eisen Show, that they did, in fact, kick the tires on Tom Brady, but as a, hey, got to make sure that door is closed while Purdy rehabs. That's what happened?

I think that's the right way to view it. I think also, after the 2019 season, after they went to the Super Bowl, there were a lot of rumblings about Brady before he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At that point, the 49ers decided to stick with Jimmy Garoppolo.

So, we have reports like this. The Aaron Rodgers report, too, that was 2021 before the 49ers drafted Trey Lance, that they had a phone call with Green Bay. I don't think the 49ers denied that either. I think that they're constantly scouring for a way to improve their team. And this is anything a good front office, good personnel department is going to do. But if you're looking at this Tom Brady, Brock Purdy situation, I think that we absolutely have to remember that Brock Purdy had torn the ligament in his elbow, of his throwing arm, and his recovery was not a guarantee at the time that a lot of this discussion was happening.

David Lombardi here on the Rich Eisen Show. So, then, what do you see this year as one of the more, I guess, sliding door-type moments for this team, where it could have gone in a different direction and now here they are in the Super Bowl? Well, it's been interesting because in 2021 and 2022, also both seasons where the 49ers made the NFC Championship game, they started 3-5 and 3-4, respectively. People counted them out early and then the 49ers went on their run. This season was the opposite. They started 5-0.

I feel that people were prematurely crowning the 49ers after they beat the Cowboys 42-10 on Sunday night. But then they lost those three in a row. They were 5-3 heading into the bye. So, this team faced a big moment of truth mid-season, where they had to figure out the defense. Brock Purdy had to bounce back.

I don't think he was terrible when they were losing games, but he definitely dropped off there over that middle three-game losing streak. The team really did come out firing. It was all around when they traded for Chase Young there at mid-season. I'm not saying that Chase Young is the reason they turned it around, but that gives you a moment in time when this team did turn it around. They roared all the way to the playoffs with the exception of that loss to Baltimore. The post-season around here, I think, even some people around the 49ers thought, you know, we got the number one seed, they said.

Look at what happened last time. They got the number one seed in 2019. They blew two teams out, Minnesota and Green Bay. There was some thought that maybe the 49ers would have that easier path to the Super Bowl, but this league, I think, reminds everyone that stuff rarely comes easy. These were two of the most gut-wrenching games. I can tell you from the 49ers fan perspective, talking to a lot of people around here, there were a lot of nerves over the past two weeks, but the team found a way to get that gritty win, which is something that had actually eluded them over the course of the season, because they were winning so many games by double digits.

The games that did get a little hairier, they actually lost during the regular season. So, the fact that the 49ers were able to get those greedy wins when they absolutely had to have them, that says something, and that gives them a lot of confidence entering the Super Bowl. Well, they're going to have to get after Mahomes, that's for sure. I mean, this just in, right?

I mean, so that's what's going to have to happen. I mean, Mahomes was hurt in that Super Bowl where they lost to Tampa, but Tampa ran him for his life. I mean, he was truly running more sideways than I've seen anybody run vertically from the quarterback position. So, how equipped are the Niners to do that? I know, obviously, they get Chase Young and Bosa, but I'm waiting for that big moment.

This would be a great moment to uncork a pass rush, right, for the 49ers here? Let's talk about Kansas City. They've evolved as a team, and it's super impressive. The advanced stats actually indicated their defense was ranked a little bit higher than their offense this year. So, it's a much more balanced team, not just between offense and defense, but with Isaiah Pacheco, they're running the ball, and the best way to defuse opposing pass rushes is to be able to lean on that run game.

We talk about Detroit. Detroit did a great job of that this year. Detroit did, I mean, they almost killed the 49ers there in the first half with that. And San Francisco's run defense this year has not been good.

You look at the advanced metrics, they ranked down in the 20s in run defense, and it's very surprising because this had consistently been a top five run defense on the efficiency basis for years, and that had fueled their pass rush. So, I'll tell you, I think the key for them to get after Patrick Mahomes is actually to stop Isaiah Pacheco, because Andy Reid is going to be running, and he's going to be running a lot if the 49ers can't stop. But they say in the 49ers D-line room, they have a quote, and it's stop the run to have some fun.

You absolutely have to stop the run and get opponents in second and long, third and long. Otherwise, you'll see a repeat of the first half of that Detroit game, and I can guarantee you that Andy Reid looked at that and said, I want to do some of this. Last year, when the 49ers played Kansas City, Chiefs beat them, and they did run very successfully. This is a different Kansas City team than the one that won the Super Bowl in Super Bowl 54 against the 49ers with Tyree Kill.

That was airing it out all the time. They're a much more balanced offense, and if you can't stop the run, you're not going to have those pass rushing opportunities at Patrick Mahomes. But it's also a different Niners team than the one that lost to the Chiefs that day, because they had just welcomed Christian McCaffrey to the fold, and he played in that game, and then after that game, they didn't lose up until they lost Brock Purdy, and then they won the first five this year, and McCaffrey is a rare running back, double dip of offensive player of the year candidate and MVP candidate. And just before I let you go, this is something that I think needs to be hammered and not lost on anybody, is the aggressiveness of this organization, Lynch and Shanahan and obviously Jed York greenlining all of this stuff, to basically say, you know what, we had a Super Bowl offense with basically the same guys, and we still have one here, but we need to, even though we just spent a ton of draft capital to go trade up on a quarterback that's a big question mark in Lance, we're going to spend pretty much the rest of our draft capital to go get McCaffrey, and he is absolutely the difference maker on this offense, with all due respect to Purdy being as veteran as he has coming out of the box.

This is the difference here, and this is the reason why they can go into this Super Bowl and win it, if an A-plus Mahomes and Kelsey show up because of that guy, because of 23. What's your reporting on how they went ahead and said, damn the torpedoes, let's go get McCaffrey, David? Well, it's a reversal of their role with the Chiefs in the last Super Bowl, with the Chiefs with the number one offense, and the 49ers were number six for number seven. Yes, adding McCaffrey and obviously getting the high-level quarterback play from Purdy, the combination of both of those has supercharged this offense, and now the 49ers are that number one unit, so you can withstand some defensive erosion when you've got the offense that they have right now that is going full steam ahead. And I think the 49ers are all about being very willing to spend a lot of capital to go get true blue chip players.

They'll repay their own. If they deem a player an A-lister, they're going to back up the Brinks truck for him. Nick Bosa, they just paid him a ton of money this offseason. You saw Deebo Samuel, they consider him an A-lister too.

They'll let the B-listers walk in free agency. That's how they tried to replenish through the draft and development, but when they saw a player like Christian McCaffrey available, especially because he fits exactly what Kyle Shanahan has been trying to do offensively, and that is positionless skill positions. He likes the adaptability. He likes being able to spread you out into a nickel package with somebody who can threaten to be a receiver, and obviously Christian McCaffrey can do that. And as soon as he gets you in the personnel package that's vulnerable to the run, he can have McCaffrey take the handoff. Deebo Samuel is just as adaptable, right? So the 49ers now have two of those guys in Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, and it's impossible for defenses to know how the 49ers are going to attack coming out of the huddle. So Kyle Shanahan, it's kind of like putty in his hands, right?

He can definitely mess with opposing defenses when he has that kind of adaptability and versatility. So I think when they had a chance to get Christian McCaffrey last season, they were willing to invest a lot, and they were, I think, lucky enough to have a little bit more draft capital to spend than the Rams did. And a lot of the impetus at the time was, let's make sure the Rams don't get Christian McCaffrey. That's what they said. Could you imagine the difference right now? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it could have shifted the balance of power in not only the NFC West and the entire NFL.

Unbelievable. David, thanks for the time. Let's chat again real soon.

Certainly post-Super Bowl when the Niners and me have different plans and parade plans as well. Thanks for the time. All right. We'll see you in Vegas. Take care, Rich.

You bet. That's David Lombardi, at Lombardi himself on the old Twitter machine right here on The Rich Eisen Show. I'm telling you, man, that McCaffrey move, I forgot about that part. What if the Rams had gotten him?

I don't know. They had a lot of injuries last year. I know they had a lot of injuries last year.

Let me give you a list of teams that could have used Christian McCaffrey. Well, I mean, not to the effect, right? He's a difference maker. I know that, but, you know, schemes also help the player as well, right? Yeah.

Yeah, but I don't know, Chris, what do you think? He just seems like the type of player he would be successful. Anywhere you built the scheme around him, obviously. Yeah, the Rams, that was tough last year. They had a lot of injuries.

That's true. Remember, they had brought in Baker Mayfield for a second. Just to go out and get him so the other team also doesn't get him.

It's like one of those win-wins, right? And didn't the Rams also claim Baker Mayfield last year in a way? Well, that was when everyone's wondering, Purdy's not really going to be the guy to finish the season for a team with Super Bowl hopes, is he?

And the answer turned out to be, yeah. An interesting point as well, before we throw the break here, is that sure, if the Niners told Purdy, as Purdy said, they told him, you're the starter unless we get Brady. Now, if they told him that middle of training camp, when it was clear he was the guy and they started talking about maybe Lance should go elsewhere, if that's when they told him that and they try to get Brady then, that after Purdy rehabbed and started showing he's the guy, that they still said, hey Tom, one last shot here. That's a story that's different than, hey, it's April, it's March, he had just gotten the surgery, do your rehab, you're our guy. Unless the GOAT.

And that's what Purdy's quote was like, okay, he's the GOAT, I get it, but it still meant a lot for the team to tell him that you're the guy. Right. Different story.

Did you see the memo about this? Right? Different story.

Need to put in that perspective there. So part of the reason why we want to have David on and talk to him about all that, we come back overreaction Monday on a Tuesday, which means it's just as intense as if it was a Monday. New York. I'm Sue Allard. I'm Charles. Philip Asma. Sagar. Megani.

Washington. I'm Jennifer King. I'm Clayton. I'm Kevin Carr. I'm Archie Zaraleta. Concise, accurate and fresh each day.

America in the morning. The podcast available wherever you listen. On the Bigger Pockets real estate podcast, co-host David Green and Rob Abasolo interview real estate investors and entrepreneurs about successes, failures and hard earned lessons. Joined by author Dave Meyer, who wrote a book. I did write a book. It seems like you're coming out with a book every four minutes. You're one to talk. You've released two books this year. I've done half as many as you.

It is more about strategy than it is about just finding whatever the new buzzword happens to be. Bigger Pockets real estate podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen. When I said I wanted to bring a guest on, I'm like, well, I want to bring on who I wanted to be when I was a kid and that was an offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs. And I've got been fortunate enough to get to know Mitchell and know what a good guy is and what a great player he is. So I wanted to share this moment with with the right tackle for the Chiefs.

My favorite football team. Not that I need to tell anybody that. Yeah, I mean, it's it's really cool. I got to know him, I guess, at the end of last year and we hit it off right away. We both like food. We both like food.

We have a lot of shared interests. He asked me where I got my meat and we go to the same meat guy. He goes to the same butcher here.

It's a serious question, though. Mitch, where do you where do you buy your meat in Kansas City? He's like, oh, this place called Bickle Myers. And I'm like, OK, you're in. You're good. So because I know how seriously you take your Kansas City food. Yeah. You guys go to the same butcher here. We do. Yeah. City.

Yeah. I mean, when I got here, I like to cook. I was confined to an apartment in my previous life and I got here. I got a house, got a whole backyard set up. I mean, this guy's got the greatest backyard set up you could ever imagine for cooking.

And he's sending me videos all the time, different, different stuff to try. And the text exchange between me and him and some of his other offensive linemen that are into smoking is hilarious. Like one night I put a brisket on and it was like we were kind of coordinating with the time difference of putting a brisket on around the same time. And I woke up to check my brisket and texted Mitch at four in the morning L.A. time, which was Kansas City six a.m. time. And I told Lindsay, my girlfriend, I'm like, I texted Mitchell Schwartz in the middle of the night about a brisket.

Like what? And I responded. For whatever reason, I was up at that exact time and we were because I was doing a brisket the next night.

So we kind of throw ideas off each other to see what we do. I think he was doing like a 24 hour. Oh, yeah. Super slow.

It got all jiggly and gooey and the bark was perfect. YouTube dot com slash Rich Eisen Show. It's going to be a Kansas City palooza back on Rich Eisen Show radio network. 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 click Grainger dot com or just stop by. Jordan in the state of Michigan has been hanging on since pretty much jump. What's up, Jordan?

Jordan. Oh, hey, sorry. I was OK.

Sorry about that. I just call because I had seen I had heard your discussion of the seeming inevitability of what's going to happen in the. In the Super Bowl and how Kansas City with this run, with this magical run, I thought about all the times in the last 20 years or so that I had heard about how inevitable a Super Bowl was. And that a lot of those times we were sort of fooling ourselves, whether it be the 07 Patriots or the oh, and I are there or the Colts versus the Saints or the Bucks and the Bucks and Chiefs three, you know, three seasons ago. And with the with the with the vulnerabilities of both teams, you have. Unless they stack the box with eight the whole time you there, there, there, there are staff to say that the the Chiefs have are are vulnerable to the run.

That's how we figured. Well, that's how folks figured that the Ravens would attack them last week. And we've now seen over the course of two playoff games that the that the Niners are susceptible to the same thing. So you can end up with a with a a McCaffrey and Pacheco duel more as much, if not possibly more than.

Yeah. So, I mean, so instead of calling inevitable to say, well, it's possible for a great game, but we say that the Chiefs look impressive. But because I like I said, I remember I remember the Broncos, how explosive they were with with Manning. Nobody gave Seattle a shot and then everything turned on its head.

Now, that's the most extreme example, but. No, I hear you, Jordan, and thanks for the call. I appreciate it, Jordan. Listen, the if you're picking up on me saying that the Chiefs Super Bowl win is inevitable, I was just saying that there are plays that the Chiefs make and with their play that makes them look inevitable to win it again. I mean, anybody who says the Niners have no chance in the Super Bowl is out of their skulls. So I just wanted to say that out loud. They're favored in the game.

I know now that I mean, that surprises me. The Chiefs have played better over the last two playoff games than the Niners. Hands down.

Interesting take hands down down. The Chiefs didn't score in the second half. The Chiefs on Sunday, the Chiefs beat. The two seed in their house and the one seed in their house, but did they play better than the forty nine while the one seed struggled against the seven seed in their house with some shaky quarterback play, with the exception of one throw. That was a dime to Kittle and then a fourth quarter drive and a total washout in the first half of their home game of the NFC Championship game.

That required a comeback truly for the ages, since it was a 17 point comeback we'd only seen one time before in the history of the NFC Championship game. The Chiefs have absolutely the Chiefs have gotten better quarterback play. The Chiefs have gotten better defensive play. Honestly, now the Niners did win their games that they needed to win in order to make the Super Bowl and got some terrific play when they needed it. But start to finish, the offense definitely for Kansas City didn't score again in the second half and I would be concerned about that going into the Super Bowl. The Chiefs have kind of been a first half team in the playoffs and the Niners have been a second half team. But the Chiefs were a first half team for much of the year. I remember they went an entire month without scoring a point after halftime and that's when they lost a majority of their games. The game that I called in Germany, they didn't score a point after halftime and still won it. So that was a bit cause for concern that they didn't score after halftime, but they're also a road team in an AFC Championship game and those things are tough.

I looked it up. Brady only had two playoff games in his career in which he didn't score a point after halftime and he lost both of them. It was that AFC Championship game against Baltimore and it was his last playoff game ever with New England. His last game ever with New England, that wild card loss to Vrabel and the Titans. So, you know, Mahomes is I guess lucky to get out of it, but his defense made enough plays.

Which again, I don't know if you're, you know, I understand you're offering pushback, which is always welcome here. I don't think there's any argument here. The Chiefs have played better football the last two weeks than they have, than the Niners have. The Niners didn't play well in their elements at home and the Chiefs played well in their elements at home. You could say the road team, you know, coming from South Florida and playing in one of the most freezing cold games in the history of the NFL was an issue in favor of New England. I mean, pardon me, of Kansas City.

Would you, you want to break this tie here? I'm listening to both of you and at first I was inclined to agree with Chris right off the bat, but then thinking about what you said, it's like, I think the Niners of course are putting up more points, right? And they're doing it at a time when their backs are really against the wall.

So maybe that's why Chris is looking at like... They trailed in both of those games. I mean... They're playing better, but yeah, you got to score. The Chiefs offense isn't lighting the world on fire.

The Chiefs didn't trail once on the road at the one seed Ravens who eviscerated San Francisco on Christmas night. If you want to even just use a, what do we call that? A transitive postulate? I can't believe I'm dropping math terms here. But yeah, where one, you know, one team beats one and then the other team beats another and... Transitive property. Is that what it is? Yeah.

See, I got half of it right. Yeah. So... Like if I beat you, but TJ beats me, it'd be assumed that TJ would beat you. Correct. So, but the Niners can absolutely win the Super Bowl a million percent. They're a favorite in the game. That's what I mean. But that's why I'm surprised by that.

Why? Because they're the one seed going against the three seed. I mean, seeds mean Jack right now.

It means nothing. Better offense. They're just running more efficiently on offense. Who, the Niners? Yeah. Dude, you're the one who says Brock Purdy might lose his gig to Kirk Cousins in the latest episode of Overreaction Monday.

If he doesn't perform well in the Super Bowl. See, Rich, the thing about that podcast is he's just overreacting. Thank you, TJ. There are times where you believe exactly what you're saying out there. Right, and other times I don't.

Which time is this? It's the beauty of television. I forget.

He'll never tell, like Brittany Murphy said, you know, I'll never tell. I also said Brock Purdy was an MVP finalist. And I know that because that's a fact. Because he did play for, you know, 17, 18 weeks. You don't think the Niners offense is better than the Chiefs? I think the Niners offense is better than... I mean, first of all, don't make me compare two of my favorite tight ends in the history of tight ends.

I'm not asking you to compare anything. You've got one of the greatest, you have the greatest 28-year-old quarterback in the history of the NFL. Who hasn't been as good this year as in recent years. I'm talking, but it doesn't matter the whole year.

Why doesn't it matter? Because the previous weeks don't mean anything when Toe meets Ball in Vegas in a couple Sundays. I mean, I hate to be the one to defend Brock Purdy, but you know, statistically, he's been better than Mahomes this year. I'm talking about chips down. One guy has been to three Super Bowls already. The other guy hasn't been to one.

I get it. I'm not saying that I'm picking the 49ers or anything. But you don't think the Niners offense is better? The way that they're playing right now, the Chiefs are putting up enough points to win. And their offense was absolutely, they're running the ball very well. And Mahomes is finding Kelsey and Rashee Rice. Do we need to go through the second half game log?

No, I know. I'm just saying that I don't understand how the Chiefs are underdogs here. And yes, the Niners offense.

It's a point now, so it's basically a pick-up. But when it all comes down to it, man, Marshall Faulk once upon a time said he ran out for a Super Bowl introduction and nearly passed out. Because his usual runout, he just was so hyped and he hyperventilated and nearly collapsed.

I'll take the guy who's been there three times, right? That's all I'm saying. I can't believe that the first bunch is just like, he's an underdog. But that wasn't my question. It was, you really think the Chiefs offense is better than the 49ers? They've got two of the all-time greats performing with each other. Again, that's not related to what we're talking about right now.

At this moment, as of 1038. I don't know how you can possibly say the Niners offense isn't much better than the Chiefs. Well, because Mahomes is Mahomes. Yeah, he counts for two, I'll give you that. But do numbers mean nothing? Numbers mean nothing when it's time to actually kick off in a winner-take-all game.

It means nothing. We're still 12 days away. You know, let's take a break. I didn't expect to have that conversation when we come back overreaction Monday into Tuesday. As promised, trust me, we're going to do it. That's next.

Brian Baldinger coming up with our top five Super Bowl moments of all time in hour three. So I mentioned earlier, the Big 12 sent out its 16-team schedule. Look at this. 16-game schedule, right? Isn't that 16 teams? I thought you said there were 16 games. No. Well, I mean, hold on a second. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Jeez. 16 teams playing 14 games. I mean, this is professional football. But it's been like this for a long time. I get it, but I mean, look. A couple buys, right?

Two buys. Also, great question. It starts on the last day of August. Who's in the Big 12? Well, I mean, there are your, you know, all the way from Central Florida to Arizona, right?

There you go. So Arizona is now in the Big 12. Colorado in between.

Colorado. Wait, Arizona State's in the Big 12 now? Yeah, those are the two teams from the Pac-12 that leapt. Is that BYU? That's BYU. Is now Big 12. Wow. Yep. There's Colorado.

There's Prime. This is first game against two. I can't even read it. No, he's at Nebraska as well. Listen, man. Cincinnati. Listen, this is the way it goes now, guys. They start last week of August and finish last day of August and finish the last day of November. Well, Labor Day weekend now, right? It's the college football game.

Is that North Dakota State for Colorado? This is pro football. It's pro football. So it's time to actually have rules about, you know, whether players can leave and what players can get paid and what players are on the opposite side. What players are offered, they get.

Right? They get. If they're told a certain amount of money is theirs, then they get it.

And they don't just lose it because someone else comes in from the portal. It's crazy, man. Back on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-rich, number to dial. It is time for overreaction Monday on a Tuesday brought to you by our friends at Subway. Are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me? It's the end of the world. Overreaction Mondays, Monday on a Tuesday. Very good, everybody. Okay, I like it. It's worthy of a round of applause.

Christopher, you have the floor. Hey, guys. What's happening? Everybody good? What up?

What up? TJ, I apologize for this one off the bat. Oh, boy. Lamar Jackson is the NFL version of Joel Embiid. Joel Embiid?

What's the analogy? Great player in the regular season. MVP, if you will, might win a second this year. Both players, playoff time. What are we doing?

Oh, my God. I'll call this, by the way, Joel Embiid is one of the best players in the world. So is Lamar Jackson?

Correct. And Lamar plays every game this past year? You know what I'm saying? Except for last year when he was hurt.

No, I know. Last year he didn't, he didn't, he didn't. I thought you were going Lamar Jackson is the DAC of the AFC.

You would have loved that, wouldn't you? Now that- Well, Lamar has trophies in the case. No, I mean, but Dak, but Lamar's, you know, when it all comes down to, I mean, he's now what? He's now two and four in the playoffs?

Dak's two and five, although Lamar has gone further in the playoffs than Dak has. Embiid hasn't played in the conference finals. You know, TJ's in the room, right? You can hear what we're saying, right? I understand. I'll push back and say- Great regular season player, not so great in the playoffs.

I'll give this an overreaction. Dak had nothing to do with this. I know. I just put the record to show I did not bring up Dak. You know what I mean?

Thank you, TJ. No, but I'm giving him more of an understandable, I think, analogy since it's the same sport. Well, a guy who's going to be a two-time MVP could be Embiid who doesn't play well in the playoffs. But Embiid's not going to be the MVP this year because he's going to miss at least five more games. You don't know that. Yeah, we don't know that.

Okay. Why not Kirk Cousins? Why can't, you know, why is it Dak all the time?

Okay, what else, Chris? I can already see this happening and I'm already sick of this. Brady versus Mahomes is the new Jordan versus Lebron sports talk go-to debate. I think you're a little ahead of the curve at this point in time. I think you're a little ahead of the curve.

I'm already sick of it. No, you're a little ahead of the curve. How so? Because the people who remember Brady are not as old as the people who remember Jordan right now. I guess that's true. That's what I'm saying is that, you know, there's still enough youngins out there. You know, the current, let's just say Coop, who's 12, can remember seeing Brady win a Super Bowl with the Bucks. Can't really remember winning a Super Bowl with the Rams, I mean, with the against the Rams or the Patriots. So you know, folks like me who are taking the Jordan side, Jordan's been gone how long?

Long time. Okay, so it's going to happen. We're not there yet, but we are already seeing people who have anointed Mahomes the greatest ever and it happened within 15 minutes of him making a Super Bowl. Hey, listen to approach Brady's past Brady already. We have that graphic. I knew we'd have that.

It would be good to build seven our back pocket, you know, but there it is. He's already beaten Brady at it to age 28 greatness, right? His current age, Brady did not have all of the accolades like MVPs yet, right? He already had two Super Bowl MVPs. Mahomes already has one and has a chance to surpass him with one in a couple Sundays. He could match him in terms of Super Bowl wins by this age in a couple of Sundays. He's already got more Super Bowl appearances, four more playoff wins and 16 more regular season wins. He's got to avoid the low that Brady had, if you will, in a 10 year stretch where he made conference championship games, but not Super Bowls and he made Super Bowls, but not the winner's podium. He's got to avoid that and then play till age 40 and be better at age 40 than he was to this point in time. Brady won an MVP at 40. And so when Mahomes reaches his late thirties is when this conversation will match the LeBron versus Jordan stuff. Yeah. So but it'll actually, it's common.

It'll never be a conversation because in the playoffs, Brady two Mahomes zero. Well sure. Sure. All right. Next. He didn't go 10 years without going to the Super Bowl.

We just went. No, that's what I'm saying. That's what I said. There was a 10 year period where he made conference championship games, but not Super Bowls and he went to set. Yes, he did. That's what I'm saying. I said that.

And then he went to Super Bowls, but not the winner's podium there. What's that part? It's okay. Gotcha. All right. Rich, I wanted to bring this to the flagship show, mentioned this on the podcast yesterday as one. I thought this was a fun debate we were having. If the chiefs win the Super Bowl in two weeks, Andy Reed, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey is the best coach QB receiver triumvirate in NFL history.

And I wanted you to bring it to this platform as well because this one made me stop and think, TJ, I'd love to hear you chime in here because I, I think this is real. I don't think this is an overreaction because Reed would have three rings and Mahomes would have three rings and Kelsey would have three rings. Kelsey has already passed Jerry Rice for most catches in playoff history.

Mahomes is, as we just established earlier in this segment, doing things we've never seen a 28 year old quarterback, even Tom Brady didn't do. And Reed would be up there, you know, above coaches like, you know, uh, he'd, he'd match Gibbs in terms of Super Bowl wins above coaches that have won it twice, like Parcells and Shanahan. Right. And people were pointing out, uh, we were throwing out, we were throwing out Bill Walsh yesterday, but they only won one, right? Bill Walsh, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana only together for one, right? Correct. Cause Rice predated one of the Walsh Montana ones. Right. George Seifert got the one after Walsh's final game as coach. Exactly. So I'm looking at, I mean, Jimmy and Jimmy Johnson only won two and Troy and Mike were only, were only for two for two.

Yeah. Barry Switzer won the third one. So and then, and then, you know, Gronk, Tom and Bill Gronk didn't play in one of the Super Bowl. This is tough to push back on.

No Bradshaw, Stallworth. That's the other one that we threw out there, that out there. Um, but it's worth thinking about that's what I'm saying. It's not an overreaction.

This is definitely an argument. Yeah. The conversation. All right. What else? Chris? All right. A couple more guys of the 12 teams who didn't make the Super Bowl this year.

The other 12 playoff teams, I'm going to say half won't even make the playoffs in 2024. Isn't that the usual thing? Isn't that the usual, isn't that the mean, not always so, um, I'll, I'll say that's not an overreaction because it usually happens that way.

Usually happens. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and identify who they are right now. Oh, why not?

Because I don't care to, I will take the out here and say, that's not an overreaction. That's not fun. You know, fun names, some themes, dolphins.

They're not making it. Okay. He's a good one. Steelers. Like, come on. Okay.

You want the hottest one? That's possible. Yeah. Eagles. Yeah.

That's the hottest one possible. Bucks. Or Dallas. He's laughing. That's the way Belichick winds up being your coach pal. I mean, we're making the playoffs next year. I think so too. All right.

How about this one? I absolutely think so too. Multiple teams with a new head coach next year will make the playoffs. Multiple teams with a new head coach next year will make the playoffs. Yeah. I'll take that too. Does Antonio Pierce count for this one? Yeah, technically he was the interim last year. I think the two guys on the left will be the ones that do it. Raheem Morris with the Falcons. Radio Raheem.

And Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. I think for sure. I think that's a good one, Chris. I'll buy it. Hey, we're buying one.

Look at you going out to do it. Some reasonableness. All right.

Last one. An NBA one, guys, because we saw the scoring last week. Someone's going to score 80 in a game this year. That's an overreaction.

Oh, I don't know. That's an overreaction. Someone's going to score 80.

That's an overreaction. We got two 70s in a week. I got it. I understand it.

There's only been seven ever, and then we got two in a week. I got it. I understand.

No? I'll push back and say that's an overreaction. You would agree with this, TJ? I'm going to say this.

I believe that sometime in the next six years, the 100-point thing is going down. Wow. Oh, my goodness.

Look at him. Hey, even hotter. Look at that coat making you hotter. I just think, well, first of all, this coat. It's the hat and the coat.

This coat is looking great. How are you not sweating like crazy? Because it's cold in here. Impressive. Okay. That cold. Yeah. I don't know, man. Just the way Luca and Joel made scoring 70 look very easy, and we know it's not easy. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to say 100. Well, here's another reason why it's not going to happen, because I don't think Smitch plays me in fantasy the rest of this year. Wow. And he got all those points against me last week. Yeah.

And so did Don Bowie. Okay. Very good.

Dismiss me, guys. That was overreaction Monday on a Tuesday presented by Subway. Every epic footlong delivers the perfect sidekick. Drop everything and try a delicious new footlong cookie pretzel or churro at Subway today. By the way, you know what stopped my kids dead in their tracks? The churro? Oh, that sounds delicious. Those footlong cookies. Oh, my gosh. As soon as they walk in, they see it on the TV. Uh-huh.

Oh, they're like, what the hell is that? And you know what I say? Keep walking.

Because that's mine. Keep walking. I'm walking here. I'm walking over here. A little extra Subway talk going out the door. Brian Baldinger joining us in hour number three, breaking down film. Don't go anywhere.

Still here. That's a Midnight Cowboy reference we all made, in case anyone was wondering. Rated X movie, by the way. Really? Yes, sir. Yeah.

Whoa. Great movie. Great movie.

Great date. Oscar-nominated, X-rated film. I mean, they do do some things in that movie. Back in the day. I remember that. You're surprised I've seen that one, aren't you? Uh, yes. I know what I'm watching tonight.

Thank you. Dude. That's not what you think. That's not what you think. It's not like the ones that you watch. That's not what you think. Go on, guy. Watch. Feller's sitting there, man.

Feller's sitting there thinking, I can't believe behind the green door they can get nominated for that. Hey, hey, Cowboy. It ain't it. It's not what you think, man, buddy. It's not what you think. All right.

I mean, it's a great movie. Razzofelli over there. Also, happy birthday, Gene Hackman. Hey, 94 years old.

Coach Dale is 94. God bless him. I met him at a Super Bowl, the one in Jacksonville.

Oh, cool. Jack Del Rio brought him to a Super Bowl party. Brought him to the dustup?

He was a knight. I will never forget. Jack Del Rio and his wife walk in the door, and in walks his friend, Gene Hackman, and his wife. And I chatted football with Gene Hackman for like five minutes. He watched NFL Network, and I immediately called Suzy, and she's like, why are you not going back in there to talk to him longer? I don't want to bother that guy.

Honestly. He wanted to talk ball. That's awesome. Jack Del Rio was there. Was Vanessa there?

No, different Del Rio. The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone's senior writer Brian Hyatt. And here's Lil Yachty with T.R.

Wack. I've never been to a fashion show. I never did any Paris fashion week, New York fashion week, and I'll tell you why. Because I would always go to events, and people would say to me, oh, man, Yachty, man, I love your music, bro. And I should be like, what song? I didn't even, at the time, I didn't love my music. I would feel like I'm in a room with all these artists, and they all respect each other now. I feel like no one respects me. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.