Albert Breer: Patrick Mahomes Has Good Situational Awareness

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. Today's guests. Senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, 49ers reporter for The Athletic, David Lombardi, NFL Network analyst, Brian Baldinger. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Yes indeed. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Roku channel here on this Tuesday after Championship Sunday. Lots to talk about from the association as always. With yet more activity between Dynamite Centers last night.

It was Jokic and Giannis going at it. And Doc Rivers' first game as the Milwaukee Bucks head coach. We're going to find out in a couple days who All-Star Reserves are. And getting ready for a Super Bowl trip to Las Vegas next week. We're going to do three days of shows from Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas, Nevada next week.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Our guest list is damn near locked. And we're excited about telling you who's going to be there.

And we'd love for you to put it on your calendar because there's going to be some really special shows next week. On this program, Albert Breer is going to be chiming in from the Senior Bowl. He's in Alabama right now watching some of the best prospects get ready for the National Football League talent evaluation portion of the calendar. And obviously there's still two head coaching gigs to be filled. Wondering if now the Lions and Ravens are out.

Those are the stabs that the Washington commanders and Seattle Seahawks plan to raid to fill their spots. Which means Bill Belichick would definitely be left without a seat. And I'm sure it's really weird to see a totally different Patriots group watching all the seniors work out for the NFL draft, which is going to be in Detroit.

Which is no doubt feeling the pain a little bit 48 hours later. We've also got David Lombardi who covers the 49ers for the athletic. I'm going to ask him about this question that I think is going to gain some steam despite the Niners getting in it. When the Niners, when any team gets to the Super Bowl, everybody starts asking a bunch of questions about everything and then starts drilling down even deeper. I mean, did the Niners really tell Brock Purdy it was Tom Brady's gig if Brady wanted to come out of retirement? Nobody's talking about that. It's like the most unreported bombshell of the last couple of weeks. I mean, Brady's making news today about TB12 and Noble connecting together.

Yeah, cool. And I guess this is also Noble that the Niners were telling Purdy, you're our guy unless the goat wants to come out in the pasture. At any rate, this is just stuff to talk about while we're waiting for Super Bowl 58 to kick off.

Brian Baldinger, whose breakdowns on the old X machine are must-see. He's going to be joining us in hour number three as we're still looking back at why the two teams that made the Super Bowl made it. And the two teams that did not are sitting at home and getting ready to maybe fly off to Cancun. Good to see you over there, Chris Brock. What's going on? Great, man.

What's up? You've got overreaction Monday on a Tuesday set up. Our overreaction Monday podcast, already six figures of views on our YouTube page. And I'm sure a ton of people listening to it as well as we hope.

Make sure you get that where all podcasts can be acquired. Susie Schuster and Amy Trask will be in studio later on today to record the post championship Sunday edition of What the Football. Good to see you over there, Jay Felley. Good to see you, brother. Good to have somebody sitting in that chair paying attention all three hours.

And T.J. Jefferson. Good to see you, sir. America, the world. How are you? Are you wearing a coat today? What do you got on today? I wear a coat every day.

It's cold. No, I mean, like this is this is like a little flannel, you know. Are you a true detective of the new season? Wow. I mean, I haven't seen that. Oh, my goodness. I just started. Is it that good? It's you know, it's really good. It's in Alaska.

So everyone is like really cold. I understand that. I just started it.

Yeah. You know, it's so great that you guys have time to watch things like television shows. I'm envious. What do you like?

What do you do at night? OK. Do you like the flannel? I mean, it does kind of pop them with the pink on.

Ask that question to the outstanding lady who's coming to studio later on. See how that one goes. The kids take care of themselves. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

No question. They take care of themselves. They're not toddlers. They make every proper they make every proper decision. Yeah. Right. Back in the day, we were latchkey kids, man. We had to take care of ourselves at that age.

Like, come on with a little kid around the neck. Oh, yeah, you can do it. They they they absolutely make every proper decision. Get ready for bed. Get ready for the next day. Listen, this is not what you this is not what you tune into the rich eyes and show for.

It is kind of why they took me on as to the great Hall of Famer Brian Gumbel. Moving on. Got a turn. No, no pad on him and check out my glasses. Little, little, little Caruso take it off.

Brian really moved on to. Here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. When you lose late in a playoff season, a Super Bowl or yes, a conference championship game. And I guess this goes for any team that loses a playoff game, but certainly when you lose it late and certainly when you lose it, when you think you're not going to lose.

It leaves a mark. It's what we call a hangover. The Super Bowl hangover. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost two coordinators. Look how far away from the championship they were. Then the closest they came to it last year.

I mean, they were really far away. For a team that actually made the playoffs. And any time you lose. And you maybe lose a coordinator, you lose this player, you lose that player, you lose a little bit of hope. You also may lose some confidence in your own game or maybe you're your coach. It's tough to overcome.

That's why it's difficult to lose and why it's difficult to push that rock up that same hill again. Because right now, there are 30 teams in the NFL that are in Mobile, Alabama today with their scouts looking at top prospects. Already with the page turned to next year. And there are two franchises that haven't completely changed the page yet because they haven't gotten head coaches yet.

Seattle and Washington. And some haven't turned the page yet, I guess, completely because they still have some general managers. But the two that haven't turned the page yet that you want to be like when you're at it. Senior Bowl are the ones getting ready for the Super Bowl as well. So, the two teams though that are there, hoping that they would be there with one more game left. Detroit and Baltimore.

Those are the ones that are really going to have to sit down and go through the morning process and go through the what could we have done differently. And Baltimore is going to have that, I think, for their offensive scheme. Again, Brian Baldinger will join later on when Gus Edwards has a 15-yard run in the first half and then doesn't have another run until the second half. Three runs for 20 yards, Gus Edwards, against a team in the Chiefs that got gashed on the ground by Buffalo.

And you kept on throwing it and throwing it and throwing it despite the many times you were banging your head against the wall. That's one thing. When you're the Detroit Lions, though, and you haven't been to the Super Bowl ever. I mean, Baltimore's got two in the case when they stroll into their home building. When you haven't been to the Super Bowl ever and you're up 17 at halftime. And you have an opportunity to go up 17 again in the middle of the third quarter and you don't. Because you go for it on fourth down. And then you have a chance to go tie the game despite blowing the lead with seven minutes to go and you don't. You go for it on fourth down again. These are the things that linger.

These are the things that absolutely linger. And again, what you're seeing from a lot of folks over the last 24 hours is a rallying to Dan Campbell from his own locker room and also from a bunch of people who say you got to stay true to yourself. Now, my two cents again on Dan Campbell is he's going to be coach of the year, I believe. As you know, from this seat, I said I would have voted for Kevin Stefanski had I had a vote. You don't have votes, right? I don't have votes. You don't have official votes. Correct. I don't have official votes. It's just me from here from the seat. But thank you for just want that on the record clarifying.

Thank you. We need to say no, I know. And, you know, I'm sure the Campbell family wouldn't be happy with me for that decision, but he is 100 percent worthy of winning it. And I think he's going to win it when it's all said and done.

And there's a reason why the Lions got there. Everybody's saying because these are the types of decisions he would do over and over and over again. Yet he didn't do it at the end of the first half. He took the points, which was the wise decision to make, which shows that there is within him. There is within him the understanding that there are some moments to take the foot off the gas pedal and play for. The next down play for the next quarter, play for the next game, if you can, by just taking the points and not revving the motor, not going to, as I said, spinal tap 11 all the time. But he is the guy that it did cost them the two seed in Dallas until the Packers of all teams put them back into the second best seeded position in the NFC by bouncing the Cowboys. So not every decision that's made. Not every decision that's made. Costs in the end, in the long run, that is, however, if you've got three weeks of runway in front of you, not two more quarters of runway in front of you. Or in the case of going for a field goal, only a quarter and a half of runway in front of you.

If you could get back to the 17 point lead and then you hear today again. Hey, Dan Campbell. As a kicker that misses 55 percent of his kicks from that range.

My question is, and why the hell is that kicker on the team? Right? I mean, I'm not for someone losing their job, but yeah. But these are all the post mortems that people are going to be thinking about, like, hey, why did we do that? What would have happened had we not done that? Unless you can just put it in a box and say, this is the way we got there. This is the way we always do our things. This is the way things go. And the end of that occurs. And you put it away and then you have to have a head coach who puts it away for you by putting in perspective to let everyone know that there is a rock.

There is a hill. You're going to have to push it up that same hill every single time that we don't make our ultimate goal. And that guy's Dan Campbell. And this is what he had to say on Monday in his day after press conference. You know, the whole point was to create a core that had certain standards. You know, obviously, they got to be good players. And we have that. But they got to be a certain way.

And there's got to be a certain mindset and a certain identity. And we have that with our core. And we got to add pieces that are like-minded. We got to add more talent, more competition that thinks the same way that group of guys in that locker room does.

And it's non-negotiable if it's not. There's no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn't fit what we're about in there. And so that's very important. But as far as, look, we'll talk about that when it gets – we got to start all over. Yeah, we have the foundation.

There's things that we won't have to start all the way from scratch. But, man, there's got to be that hunger. There's got to be that work.

There's got to be that attention to detail. There's got to be that urgency. And in that regard, you're starting all over again. And if you don't and you think you're just going to walk out there because you went to the NFC Championship game, you got another thing coming.

That's how you become average in a hurry. And they'll know that. They understand that. And as we get to next year, that'll be the message.

But, you know, that's really it. Yeah, I said it yesterday and all year we've been saying it. You can see why guys love playing for this dude. He leaves everything out there. You don't have to guess how he's feeling or what he's thinking.

He will tell you. I thought it was kind of refreshing, I guess is one word. But when he said, look, we don't know if we're going to get back here. It's going to be twice as hard next year. But we got to keep working. I understand. But there's ways to be true to yourself by not always being the same.

And that may be part of Dan Campbell's journey as well. Because, you know, if going forward on fourth down twice when he did is an example of the grit, then what happened at the end of the first half? You know, you take the three, sometimes taking the three and putting the pressure back on the other team rather than putting the pressure on your own team to make must have plays.

Just dialing it back a little bit. And then when it's time to push the pedal to the metal, know when to do that. Yeah, it's a golf phrase, but sometimes par is good enough to win. Right.

You don't go broke taking a profit. I mean, when I was a broadcaster to first start out, less is more. You know, when I first came on, I thought, like, I got to be true to myself. I'm a former standup comic who's always wanted to get on SportsCenter.

I want to sit there. I want to entertain. And I realized, you know what, sometimes informing is more important than entertaining.

And then every now and then, if I keep informing, then I can be more entertaining when I have the shot. Rich, I think what you're trying to say is sometimes you take the middle key. Sometimes you take the middle key. You know what I mean? When you're on, the price is right. Because even when I lose, I win.

Sometimes you take the middle key. Well, I would have had to have been looking at the board. But you didn't because you were trying to entertain a crowd of, what, like, 15 people because it was the middle of COVID? Yeah, and they all were laughing. So if any one of you had the opportunity to make Drew Carey laugh and he did, you would have kept on doing it. That's what I'm saying.

It's Drew Carey's fault. It's in all walks of life. That's what friends do is they remind good friends of their shortcomings. To make a point. To make a point.

I was trying to further the conversation. If only the Lions got a ping pong table as a parting gift for losing in San Francisco that they won't bring in to work. Haters gonna hate.

Even when you lose, I win. But I'm just assuming that the Lions players are going to buy what he's selling right there. I think so too. Which is, let's do it again. It's going to be that much harder.

It's going to be that much harder. Well, because the Packers are going to be better and the Bears are going to have a quarterback that I believe has got the skill set, if properly watered and fertilized, to use the Sirianni phrase, to have a Mahomes-type game in him. And you have to assume the Vikings quarterback won't have his Achilles explode in the middle of the season. But I'm sending out verbal hugs to all Lions fans out there as well.

Absolutely. 8-4-4, 2-0-4, Rich, number dial. Albert Breer is going to be joining us. It is the anniversary of one of the most fantastic finishes in the history of the Super Bowl between the Titans and the Rams. And I've got a top five list of the most exciting finishes of all time in the Super Bowl. Oh, hey now. I got that going on.

And overreaction Monday into Tuesday and so much more. 8-4-4, 2-0-4, Rich is the number dial. Albert Breer is going to be joining us from the field or the press box, one of the two, of the Senior Bowl when we come back. On the BiggerPockets real estate podcast, cohost 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 are 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. BiggerPockets real estate podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen. America starts the day with America in the morning. Hi, I'm John Trout, your host for the latest news, politics, entertainment, business and weather.

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All right. Back here on our Roku Channel feed, our Rich Eisen show radio feed will be returning in a matter of moments. The Big 12 sent out its 16 team schedule. This is the future of college football. Have you seen it? Six.

Yes, it looks just like a sorry. It looks like a national football schedule. Yeah, we're going to show that to you later on. Six. Yes, indeed.

It's the future college football. It's coming. So. All right. We will we'll hit on that later on. It's it's we got we'll reach out to Feldman, see if he wants to join us again tomorrow.

As we're in the full blown talent evaluation portion of our of our schedule. Here on the program, Albert Brere is Albert checking in right now? Yes.

OK, cool. It's checking in. Where is he checking in from?

Good. Is he on the field? Is he in a great question? He's not on the field. He's in a booth. Great. He's in the press box. Yeah, he's nodding. Yep. A lot of nodding. Oh, he's trying to talk. OK, very good.

Some guy just walked behind him in a red sweater. Not Ken, by the way. Oh, by the way, the the Chiefs announced they're wearing red for the Super Bowl. Oh, do we know what their record is in the previous games?

They beat the 49ers wearing red in the Super Bowl. There you go. So there's that. There's that worked out.

I believe they were wearing white last year. Because the there it is all patched up. Looks nice, man.

She's. So, I mean, it is a cool logo and the color scheme looks great. It does. It would have looked really, you know, weird if, you know, the color scheme. Anybody thought it actually gave you a hint on on who is going to make the Super Bowl.

Again, I'm anxiously awaiting Super Bowl 59 people. Oh, my God. By the way, that'll probably be like and like I said, it'll be the color scheme of turtle soup. Well, and I just want to put a future down. That's all I mean. Yeah. Is that what you want to do? Fantastic.

Yeah, that's what I mean. We're on the Rich Ives and Show sitting at the Rich Ives and Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Look who's stopping by from the Senior Bowl right now. Our friend from Sports Illustrated. Yes, you are in the press box. I appreciate you finding that spot, Albert. How are you? I wish I could have given you guys a more scenic backdrop here, but this will have to do for now. It's great.

Nothing. No, seriously. Nothing says more lad Peebles than that ceiling, I think. Is that where you are? Is that?

No, no, no. This is the new stadium. They got a brand new state. It's actually a new stadium here. Yeah.

Like University of South Alabama. Fantastic. Fantastic. New facility. And I gave you guys the view of like the back of the press box here. I guess it's better than like the Coke machine over there.

It's all right. Yeah. They're not sponsors, so we can't just show it. Good to see Albert. What's the talk at the Senior Bowl about?

Yeah. I mean, I think the quarterbacks are always the big one, you know? And so obviously Caleb Williams isn't here. Drake May isn't here.

Jayden Daniels isn't here. But like that second tier quarterbacks have a chance to make a move, you know? And so I think the two big ones that people are watching are the two Pac-12 quarterbacks. I guess they would be Big Ten quarterbacks now in Michael Pennix and Bo Nix. And I think those two are sort of in a group with J.J. McCarthy, who, you know, my understanding is like he wanted to come here, but he's a little nicked up from the season. And obviously their season ran long.

But I think those three are sort of in the cluster behind the top three. And so one of the storylines here is going to be, does anybody make a big move? And then the other one, I mean, you know, normally by now, Rich, like in the old calendar, the hiring cycle is done. And Washington still doesn't have a coach. Seattle still doesn't have a coach.

The Chargers just hired their GM. And so there's a lot of that here, too, like where, you know, staffs aren't filled out yet. And the hiring cycle has been backed up to the point where, you know, there's more of those sorts of discussions going on here than there have been in the past, because in the past I think it always been a goal for teams that had openings to be able to bring their full staffs here. It's not the case anymore. OK. So let's any anybody still talking about the way Conference Championship Sunday went down? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

I mean, I was I was just talking to a couple of people with teams that played. And I think, you know, one of the things that's interesting about the Niners to me and I was just talking to a couple of other guys about this out there on the field is the growth we've seen in them over the last two weeks. And you know, like my perception of San Francisco has been that they have a great A game, right? Like they've got a great A game like their fastball.

But like if they don't have their fastball, what do they have and can they throw off speed? And you know, I think where they've gotten in trouble the last few years is when you can take them off schedule, you can put them in long distance, you can make them play from behind. We saw it in that Ravens game in December. And I think that's where we see real growth from the Niners. You know, the last couple of weeks is that like when everything wasn't right, they were able to summon something else. And it sounds funny because they've been good for a while now, like, you know, as a 4A NFC title game in the last five years.

But you know, I think you did see some growth there. And then I mean, the other piece of it is like, I mean, my goodness, Patrick McCombs, like the trajectory that he's on, it's pretty crazy how he's been able to lift a team that maybe isn't quite what the team he played on the last four years, five years were and get them to the to the biggest stage in the sport. So what about the teams that that didn't make the Super Bowl? What about the teams that lost, I guess, is a better way to just quickly say it. Anyone talking there about Dan Campbell's decision making, Albert, anybody from and again, I am looking for the grist of the mill, because I'm sure I'm wondering if there's others from other organizations that are like, absolutely, these are the right decisions.

We know all about analytics and others like saying what the hell is he doing? I want to I'll get to that, too, but like, I do think one thing that's sort of interesting about it's like what Dan Campbell said at the end of the game, like where it was a very honest, like, this could be our only shot. And then you see, like, both his coordinators are interviewing with the commanders. And then you look at the Ravens and Mike McDonald is interviewing with the Seahawks. And you know, so there's definitely that piece of it, like where it's like, both those teams had great opportunities.

And those aren't there anymore. As for Detroit specifically, you know, we're talking about the decision making. A lot of football people don't agree with what Dan Campbell did. I mean, I'm just going to call it what it is, you know, like if you talk to people who've been in the game for 20, 25 years, the coaches, the scouts, you know, what they'll tell you about this sort of decision making and look like I think there is, you know, obviously analytics plays into it and everything else. But you know, there's also the situational awareness here, you know, and if you turn a 24 to 10 game into a 27 to 10 game, does San Francisco have to play that differently? You know, and obviously at the end, if you kick the field goal and tie it, now the whole last four or five minutes of that game has a different context.

So I think that's more of what it is. It's just the way situational football is being handled is evolving. And you know, obviously analytics plays into that, but there's definitely pushback into the way from football people on the way that the Lions handled the end of that game.

What about any, are there any analytics folks at the Senior Bowl or I mean? Sure. And they, I mean, I found like talking to some of those people, like they're defensive, you know, like, of like, no, this is the right thing to do. My bigger question, Rich, so like I thought about this a lot the last couple of days, right? So you're in fourth and three.

Okay. And then you look at the numbers and the raw numbers give you a certain success rate, right? Well, tell me how many of those situations Patrick Mahomes was the quarterback or Tom Brady was the quarterback, you know, are those numbers that you're, that they're spitting out at us on the broadcast.

Is it okay? Like, well, teams are this successful in fourth and three, but most of the teams that are in fourth and are going for it in that situation have a league quarterback. So does that skew it? What are the conditions of the game? What's the score like, and that's the thing I think, but that's the thing like that Belichick has always been, was always so good at, right? It was mixing like probability with feel. And I think that there's a middle ground there, right? Like the famous story from, was it Super Bowl 49, right?

The Seahawks game where Bill looked over at the other sideline and said, it just doesn't look right over there. I'm going to let the clock run. I'm going to force them to make the decision here, you know? So I think it's almost like a, it's an argument between art and science. And I think that there's some interesting answers in the middle of there. But I do think to some degree, like the art side of it, which is like the old school football side of it, and the science part of it, which is the analytics side of it, like it's almost like they've sort of retreated to their corners. And that middle ground, I think, is where the real answer is, right? You can use the analytics as guardrails, like that was, I remember Eric DaCosta, the Ravens general manager, using that term with me, you know, six, seven years ago when I did a story analytics, like the guardrail, use them as guardrails, not as absolutes, you know? And I think it's like this, but I think what it's become now is like, on one side, you get the football people with the art of those decisions, and on the other side, you've got the analytics people with the science of those decisions.

And unfortunately, too often, those two sides retreat to their corners and don't seek out the middle ground where I think the right answer probably is. Robert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show from the Senior Bowl. You were at the AFC Championship game.

What'd you see? And the reason why the Chiefs might have had the advantage over the Ravens after all, other than Mahomes, clearly. Yeah. I mean, we'll start with Mahomes, because I do think like that's a huge part of it, you know?

Sure. Your ability to throw the ball deep on third and nine in that situation, to drive the dagger into the home team, is something that not every team has. And you know, I talked to Matt and Aggie after the game about that.

Something they came up with the Saturday night before. And it was something they had confidence in, and they held on to, and they went to when it mattered most, right? But what really struck me, talking to Nagy and Andy Reid after the game about it, was just as important were like the plays in the middle of the game, where Mahomes didn't do something stupid. And we always look at him as like this just wild Bronco playmaker. You know what I mean? Like he's all over.

You just make anything out there happen. But sometimes people ignore, like he took a sack late in that game, where that kept the clock running. And it cost the Chiefs like two yards, but it was the right decision. It's like the situational awareness.

It's not just like that he's got the ability to, it's not just the ability to put on the cape and be Superman, it's the ability to know when to do it. And then when to just cut your losses, or do something sensible, or check the ball down. It's that like that I think is separating Mahomes from everybody else now.

So there's that part of it. And then the defense. I mean, Steve Spagnola said to me after the game, this is the deepest well of smart players I've ever had in my career, like all my years coaching in the NFL. And he said, like most teams have, I mean, I'm paraphrasing here, some dumb ass who's you got to worry about, who's always doing something stupid. And like, we don't have any of those, like we don't have to worry about any of our guys out there.

That's not the right thing. And the way that they were able to really, I think, frustrate Lamar and shut down that running game and force the Ravens to play the game on their terms. I think Steve Spagnola has done a fabulous, fabulous job with that defense. And it's made it so that structure of the team's a little bit different, which again, plays into Mahomes' awareness of knowing how he has to win now and knowing that there's a different way to win than maybe how he won four or five years ago. How come Spagnola's not on people's lists? Cause he's 64 years old and he coaches defense.

I mean, I think that that's really it. You know, like he's a, I mean, I, I think if he was an offensive coach and you had the same resume, he'd probably get another shot, you know, probably would have gotten another shot. I mean, I, the most remarkable thing about it, I was, you know, I was with Trent McDuffie after the game and he told me this story about how spags helped him get through an injury last year. And you know, McDuffie had such clean coming out of Washington had such clean medicals. So he'd never really had this sort of injury that was taking him out for an extended period of time. And like he said, like spags helped him through that. And then when it came time, it's like, I trust you, I'm putting you back out there. You're going to play every snap now when he was healthy enough to be cleared. And McDuffie said he would do anything for spags, right? Because he knew it wasn't just trying to win a game.

It was like he had Trent's best interests at heart. And you see the t-shirts in the locker room. Sure. You saw them, the, and spags.

We trust t-shirts. Yeah. It's like spags has got like the leadership piece of it too. You know, like, and it's not just, he's like a genius with maybe one of the best big game defensive coordinators we've ever seen going back to the super bowl against the Patriots with the giants.

Right. But he also like has such engagement and such investment from his players. And that's sort of like what Dan Campbell has in Detroit, you know? So I think if we were talking about a younger coach who wasn't a defensive coach, we've got to be looking at spags and saying, yeah, like it's all there. But unfortunately the market for older coaches on that side of the ball just isn't what it was 20 or 30 years ago. Again, I just think like Andy Reed is like Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's like, these, and this is not the coach you're looking for.

And all of a sudden, oh, that's right. It's not the coach I'm looking for. And suddenly he keeps his entire staff pretty much for the exception of Nagy, who's now back because it didn't work out with Trubisky.

Although the one year it did, he was coach of the year. And B enemy is I'm assuming going to stay with the Washington staff or I don't know. We'll see.

Yeah. We'll see. I mean, I think it's sort of, it depends what the committee, what happens with the commanders. I mean, I, my sense was they went into this week really open-minded, you know, Adam Peters and you know, Josh Harris, like I, the, the sense I've gotten was that where everybody thought like the Ben Johnson things that faded complete and he could still absolutely be the coach there. I I've, it felt to me like they, they almost want to take the approach that they were launching their coaching search this week because they were getting the chance to sit down with these guys and really dig in with these guys. And it was almost like they wanted to start a new this week. Again, that might mean you land on Ben Johnson, but I don't think that they were in this spot where it was like a faded complete who they were going to pick. So it's hard to say when that's the case, like whether or not an individual assistant like Eric, the enemy is going to survive.

Okay. So you said earlier how Spagnuolo took the run game away. What about the sense that the Ravens took their own run game away? Todd Monken's play calling and again, you were there, you were seeing what the chiefs were doing. It just was weird.

It was one of their, it was one of the worst Ravens days we've seen all year, if not the worst Raven day, you know? So I think it was a game plan thing though. You know, like I think it was, I think it was spags getting in, like coaches can get in each other's heads.

Right. And I think spags to some degree got Todd Monken's head, you know, like, and early on they were mixing some of the rush stuff they were doing. And with the way spags explained it to me was like, there was an adjustment they made late in the game to get even more aggressive. And it was because when they rushed with four, it was okay.

Like Lamar is going to find an opening and squirt out. And that was happening to them a little bit more early in the second half. So it's like, we're going to disguise what we're doing still, but we're going to send more and we're going to clog every running lane. And I mean, it was almost like, like run blitzes, you know? So they were daring the Ravens to beat them, throwing the ball and the Ravens could do it.

You know? I mean, I think that's sort of what it came down to the way that the chiefs were playing that was you're going to have to beat us through the air. And you know, in the end, like maybe the biggest difference was like that pick, you know, in the end zone that I think it was Deon Bush picked it off in the end zone for the chiefs. I know like their defensive players felt like we have them now, like that was where they were like, we've got him because that was a frustration throw. And you know, I think it's again, a great credit to the IQ of the players that they have out there that they were able to adjust in game and play like a different game late.

And then, you know, a credit to Spagnolo, of course, for everything we've already talked about. Thank you for a few minutes left with with him from Sports Illustrated, the senior reporter and scribe of MMQB must read every single week right here on the Rich Eisen show. So what's the world of Bill Belichick right now?

And does anybody know it? I mean, what do we what do we have with him? So yeah, like I think Arthur Blank wanted to hire Bill the coach. I think the problem was and we talked about this last week, I believe, right?

Like was like everything else. It was do I want to blow up my organization? And there were other people, you know, warning blank about this and in his ear about this, do I want to completely turn my operation upside down and make this a patriot like operation for what could only be two or three years now, I'd argue is the greatest coach of all time, you should probably do it. You know what I mean?

But but it's a lot. And so I think that that sort of sets up as Bill's problem going forward is, you know, is there somebody and I remember doing, you know, television producer I work with in New England asked me in the middle of the season, like, hey, go like ask around about Bill's market and find out what it was. And so I asked around and it wasn't the answer I got wasn't what I thought I'd get, which was is somebody willing to come in and have him in like the Bill Parcells in Miami role where it's like the overseer Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville a second time around? Somebody probably hired him to do that. Will somebody hire him to coach?

Absolutely. Somebody will hire him to just be the coach. Oh, well, somebody throw on the keys the way Robert Kraft thrown the keys in 2000.

And the answer to that really has been no. You know, and I think that that's that's sort of what I think Bill will be facing going forward, because I do think he still wants to coach. So if he doesn't get one this year and it looks like he's not going to get one this year, then going into the 2025 hiring cycle, is he willing to do something that looks different than the way it was set up in New England? And can he present an owner with a plan where it's like, yeah, I may only be here for two or three years, but here's the guy that I'm going to hand it off to. Here's why it's going to work 10 years from now. Here's why you're not just buying into this for the next 24 months. I think that's the challenge for Bill now.

And, you know, going in and it sounds frickin' insane, doesn't it? Like Bill Bell trying to get a job in 2025, you know? Right. I mean, he's going to, I imagine, stay in football some way, shape or form. Yeah.

Maybe he'll be sitting next to you. I don't know. I mean, nobody knows. He does have a pretty good rapport, right? Well, honestly, I saw firsthand how great at the gig he would be and can be.

So I just don't know. And then why wouldn't anybody want to go and knock on his door? I was kind of surprised that he did not get a job in this cycle, Albert. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you see him in the spring as an assistant lacrosse coach at Wesleyan. Right? I mean, I don't know.

I mean, honestly, I do think that there's probably part of it for him. Are you saying, was that your way of saying he'd be his daughter's assistant? Is that what you're saying, Albert? Yeah. Well, I think she said Holy Cross.

Holy Cross. Okay. That's where she is. Yeah. I mean, but it would be an opportunity for him. I think he loves coaching, you know? And to the very end, Rich, to the very end in New England, the people I've talked to there, they said he did the job until the very... You know the story about Nick Saban?

What was it? Nick Saban was interviewing receiver's coaches the morning he retired, right? Right. It was like that.

Like Bill was doing the job like that up until the very end. I saw it. I saw it. I was there for his last win. I called his last win. I had a production meeting with him.

He just, it was the same as any other meeting I've ever had with him for that sort of thing. And so I think he's, I think he, I think he wants to coach again. I think the shield record does matter to him. And I honestly, like, I think the failure of guys like Bill Belichick and Mike Frable to get jobs is eye-opening. And I think it does speak to something in the league right now where it's... I think like the atmosphere, like owners want to like coming to work. And I think that's sort of an overrated thing, but owners like the idea of, Hey, like, let's have like an uplifting environment and all that like, and football is a tough game, you know? And there are guys who coach it in an old school way and it does work if you can package it a certain way and sell it to players and have the right people around you. But I see fewer, I feel like fewer owners are willing to go into, go in on something that they can, they perceive as old school that maybe you would have seen even three or four years ago. And I think that that's part of the reason why Brable was out in Tennessee, to be honest with you.

I think Brable is one of the seven or eight best head coaches in football. But like, I think part of it was like, Amy Adam Strunk didn't like coming into work. And like when the owner doesn't like coming into work, like that can create a problem. Yes, it can. This just in, this just in, very keen reporting sense right there. And while you're on it, just like, just cause just to circle back to what you said before that J.J. McCarthy wanted to be there, but you said his season lasted long.

Can you find out for me how, how it, how long it lasted? Can you... There are lots of ugly helmets out there.

Can you get on that for me, please? There were more blue helmets than silver helmets because all the silver helmets are still in Columbus. That's right.

And my own money is that spigots on that's for sure. I know. I know.

That's how I know we're back. Rich is when you, when you start to accuse Ohio State of paying players again, even though it's legal now, it's like, that's when I know we're back, Albert, Albert, you don't really, that's why they're back, Albert, a lot of those kids could go to the pros and be very, very good. It's illegal. I'm not saying it's illegal. I'm not saying it's illegal.

I'm not saying it's illegal at all. You guys, you guys should try it. Try paying your players. Hey, it's the collective. So it's, it's, it's the spigot is on.

So the foundation and the 1870 society, they're doing great work. Okay. Very good. I'm sorry.

I don't mean, I don't just give it all a shout out. Very good. Uh, Albert, thanks for the time.

Enjoy Alabama. We'll chat again. That's uh, Albert, Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen show, the Rich Eisen show, I just can, if you want, you can, you want to get on that too.

Like what, how, how, how long did it last? JJ McCarthy season, just trying to find that out. I don't know.

By the way, you know, who's our first guest on Friday's program? JJ McCarthy? Nope. Oh.

Jim Harbaugh. That's correct. Oh. Hey. Yeah. Here? No.

We're going to, we'll get him in eventually. Okay. But, um, he'll be zooming. Breaking news. Yes, indeed. Sweet. Our first guest on Friday's show to kick us all off. Great.

My coach. It's going to be bittersweet for you. You know what? It will be. I'm not going to lie. I'm very happy. But you're happy.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm very happy for him. But sad for you.

I am 100% happy for him. Don't you dare try to paint me any other way. I paint you like one of my French girls. That man. What? Pause. All right. Let's take a break right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

I don't think you used that properly. Breaking news apparently. Well, I can't wait to find out that in the break what this is. How are you, George? Um, I'm happy to be here, Rich.

Are you happy to talk to you again? Are you really, George? We saw your Instagram, George. We saw it.

We saw it. I don't mean to interrupt what's going on. You know, you're on vacation with your wife, right?

They're in Cabo. Is that what's going on right now? Did I see that? Hey, between you and me, and don't tell anybody else, I am actually back in Nashville. That's from last week.

Don't tell anybody. And here I was, you know, go say hi to McVeigh and, uh, go say hi to, you know, Stafford, but they're okay. So this was last week. You were on the Okie Joke. I was saying I was Kyle Shanahan instead, and that's kind of my... That's your speed. Okay. Well, okay. Good. Now I don't feel as bad. I don't feel...

I'll go to Cabo with you too, and you look like you know how to have a good time. Well, here's my deal, George. George, here's my deal. And this is... It's not just because I'm a 51-year-old man. This is the way I've been my entire life. Tequila is a night ender for me. Like literally, if it's two in the afternoon, which I would never really do these days anyway, it's over. My night's over.

Finished. I know it's something like a blast, but you know, it's true. Tequila and... I just don't mix with tequila. Never have.

Rich, you should see the look that my dad just gave the phone after hearing you say that. Tequila is my day started when I'm... What are we doing? All right.

You should just come to Tennessee, and we'll get that fixed for you. Okay. So what is your... It's a mindset, and you just power through it. Okay. It's a mindset.

I never really thought about that. So what's your... What is your libation of choice when on vacation, George? What is it? Ooh. What's your go-to? I'm a big light, I'm a big pina colada guy, and I absolutely... I love tequila, just in general. Okay.

I'll drink that about anything. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844204rich, number to dial. Whoa, some breaking news. Breaking news that broke just before we went to break, and then news that just broke moments ago. Yes, seconds ago.

Let's get to the one that broke right before we went to break. Arthur Smith is, in fact, the new offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Love it.

Love the hire. I think it is 100% the type of individual, those who think Mike Tomlin doesn't think outside of the box from his own realm. I don't know. I don't think there's any connection between the two, right? I don't think so. Now, there are some from Atlanta, and I believe I saw a tweet during the break saying this is gonna be great for the fourth and fifth offensive options for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense.

Who tweeted something like that out? I don't know. Would that be... I'm not sure. You?

Now, I understand Bijan Robinson did not get the football quite a bit, or enough. In the red zone. In the red zone? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I think one of the head scratchers of the entire season was his...

They wouldn't know. But Arthur Smith knows how to dial up some offense, I think. Yeah. Say it by your phone, man.

I may need you. Well, I mean, I guess that's what he told Arthur Smith. I think Jalen Warren's season next year. Get ready.

Why not? And Najee came on last year. I mean... Well, they got a fifth year option conversation on Najee they gotta talk about. Yeah. First. Yeah. Order of business.

But I dig it. They need a quarterback. There was an upgrade on Matt Canada, and then the two-headed monster that was supposedly coordinating and calling plays towards the end of the season. This is a bonafide offensive coordinator of significance, who, by the way, was the OC for a few years when Derrick Henry was dominant. So he knows how to use a big back who can come hit you, and that's what Najee Harris is, right?

So I kind of dig it. Tannehill had some good years in the system, and if... I understand you don't want Tannehill's guy, right?

They need to... They have big quarterback issues in Pittsburgh. These are all questions, but if you want a new OC and you want somebody from outside... I know a lot of Steeler fans wanted some young hot shot coordinator to come in and figure it out, but those aren't a guarantee. You know what you're getting with Arthur Smith.

And the former head coach. And once again, this guy doesn't do it because he's a lifer. He's a lifer because he wants to be one. Exactly.

Everybody, just go Google his family history. This guy could be in the Maldives right now having a smoothie. Right. He could be anywhere doing anything. Instead, he's just a lifer. He loves to coach. That's their head coach. He loves to coach. He could be on an island talking about volleyball right now.

I dig it. He could be. Well, heaven forbid. Yeah, I mean, he won't want that, but...

Doing dental work with an ice skater. And by the way, that movie probably isn't a favorite of his family since they created FedEx and, you know, it's not one of FedEx's favorite movies, I imagine. I bet it is.

It's real deep, baby. Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think the Smith family's like, you know what we should watch tonight?

Castaway. Am I wrong? Can we get to the other breaking news? Well, we don't have enough time to unpack it because it is huge news.

I know, but I mean, it's out there. I'll just tell it. I'll just say it.

Say it. Ben Johnson's not going anywhere. He's not leaving.

Whoa. Second straight year, everybody's saying he's the hot coordinator who's gonna get a gig and that must mean the commanders are choosing someone else. Because when somebody comes out and says, I'm staying put, that means he's not getting the job.

I'll check back and play. I can't imagine. And the commanders have spoken to a billion people and the Seahawks are going to go somewhere else and they were waiting and he had the meeting and they're all like, yeah, no thanks. Or he must be getting a whiff. He could have turned them down. Look, I want to bring a title to the D and I'm going to work with Jared Goff and we're going to do this thing. Which is, by the way, great. Good for him.

He's still 37, right? I mean, it's not like this is his only opportunity because you know the Lions offense will be good. This is a huge win for the Lions. Huge win. A huge W. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday coming up and we'll talk Niners with Dave Lombardi who covers the team for the athletic. So lots of stuff to discuss.

Wow. And Brian Baldinger in hour number three to break it all down too. So we'll unpack Ben Johnson a little bit more in hour number two of this program. Just when you thought the Lions wouldn't have anything to celebrate today, that's huge news. And if they hold on to Aaron Glenn as well, now maybe Aaron Glenn's going to get hired by Washington. Of course, nor the team that plays in the state of Washington. What is that all about?

I don't know. Belichick has not been interviewed by Washington. I know you want Bill to get a job. So do I. I've never met him. I mean, I'm just...

The league is... Come on, man. I just like him. Bill in Washington, D.C. That's where Lombardi finished his career.

Dude, I get it. But also, you know, him back in the NFC East. Him in the NFC East. Twice against Dallas, which could have hired him, but didn't.

Twice against the Giants, where, you know, he's got his long history. Philadelphia. But Bill's not... I mean, I mean, do you call up the commanders and go, hey. Hey, what are we doing? I'm still here. Yeah, I've got my Halliburton case, I'll bring it to the meeting. Apparently those rings didn't mean as much as I thought.

Open it up. I mean, it's late, right? Don't you have to have one interview and it has to be announced, then you've got to have a second one for a second run at it? They could literally send a tweet in four minutes. We've hired Bill Belichick. And everyone would be like, great move. And then you'll see another tweet saying his coaching record has seven Super Bowl rings.

Super Bowl rings. It's one of the greatest of all time. 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 always feel like I'm in a room with all these artists and they all respect each other and I feel like no one respects me. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.