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Honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. It's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here.
Give it a try at MintMobile.com slash save whenever you're ready. My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.
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LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. This is The Rich Eisen Show. It's very rare about a team that just got kind of punked on national television. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Rogers, by the way, only threw it to three teammates last night. That's it. That's a problem. Today's guests, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, Fox Sports college football analyst, Bruce Feldman. And now it's Rich Eisen. Yes, it is.
Yes, it is. Welcome this edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Live on the Roku Sports Channel.
That's where we're live every single day. The Rich Eisen Channel that you might have been watching us on every single day for the last two years through the Roku portal. That's where we re-air.
How about that? We've got a live channel. We've got a re-air channel.
One day we'll have a third channel. I don't know what we'll put on it. Deuce? An Eisen Show deuce?
I don't know. No, no, no. It'll be called Rich Eisen Plus. That third channel will be Trace. But that's for down the road.
Guys, that's for down the road. Today we've got a three-hour show right here on the Roku Sports Channel for you. Unless you're watching the re-air on The Rich Eisen Channel. Those listening on Sirius XM Odyssey, tune in. Our podcast, all three hours are available on our podcast.
Or maybe you're listening on terrestrial radio, which we appreciate. I am wearing a slamming blue shirt today. Thank you. Appreciate that. It's great. It's great to be in this neighborhood. Albert Breer is calling in, zooming in from South Florida.
Because he's doing Thursday Night Football this year. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah.
Oh, that's awesome. Breer Plus. Breer Plus.
Will be joining us in 20 minutes time. As the Bills and the Dolphins kick off week two tomorrow night. That's the way we're rolling in the National Football League season. And so we've got Kirk Cousins joining us.
He was on just a couple weeks ago. But he's kind enough to rejoin us in advance of a Monday Night Football appearance for him in Philadelphia. Bruce Feldman will join us to update us on everything going on in the world of college football.
It was quite a weekend on that front. He's joining us in the middle of our number two. And then there's my power rankings.
And there's lots of movement, you know, because week one offers a lot of that movement. Well, I told you who should be number one, so I'm interested for two through ten. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. I'm great. What's up, man?
T.J. Mikey Diaz. Good morning, Rich. How are you doing? How are you? I'm good. You don't wear the cans anymore. No, I'm over that.
I'm over the headphones. I like this. I want people to see this skinny, beautiful face.
Attaboy. Yeah. Oh, you do look good. I'm tan.
Yes. Whoa. I'm really tan. T.J. Jefferson, how are you, sir? Good to see you.
I'm great. And the Chiefs play the Bengals this weekend. Yeah. It's going to be interesting is all I'm saying. Fantastic.
Good to know. Listen, speaking of that, that's where I'd like to start. Because week one offers a lot of opportunity to overreact, and that's why we have our pod overreaction Monday, where we appreciate everybody taking it in this week. And there's stuff to overreact to, but there's some stuff that I think you can kind of sense already with a reasonable amount of certainty. And that is the Kansas City Chiefs have a real shot at a three-peat. I said that going into the season. As a matter of fact, I chose to make that my Super Bowl prediction of this year is that they will do it for the first time in our football lives as we're nearing Super Bowl 60. That's next year. Super Bowl LX. We're nearing it.
60. It's about time for us to see a three-peat. And going into the season, I'm like, okay, they didn't lose their coaches. They lost Lageria Snead, and that's about it. They got better.
They got faster. They still have Mahomes. They still have Kelsey. They still have Chris Jones.
And then week one happens. Now, again, I know they almost lost to the Ravens. Bottom line is they didn't.
They didn't. And the Ravens, I think we can say with certainty, are a good football team. And as long as Lamar can still be Lamar and Derrick Henry will run better and this team will play better on both sides of the ball, they will have a shot to be a team to make my three-peat prediction errant. But looking at the rest of week one in its entirety in relation to the Chiefs, you remember going into the season, Chris, TJ, Mike, whenever he's paying attention? I am. We were saying, you know, it's going to be a tough first month for him. It'll be a test.
Yes. As a matter of fact, Chris, I think you might have used in an overreaction Monday subject during the non-playing season, Chiefs are going to start 0-3. Now you threw that out there just post schedule release, post schedule release, which was mid-May because they were starting with two home dates against the Ravens and Bengals and then Atlanta Falcons looked like a tough start. How does that look now? Not great.
Which is my point. I predicted 3-0. I think that this past week, based on some of what we have seen, makes this three-peat opportunity look even more possible looking at their schedule because the Bengals might be a team to come into Arrowhead and pop the Chiefs in the mouth in January or early February anyway. But right now, week two, not so much. Week three, Atlanta, if they are going to have struggles like we saw on offense this past Sunday against the Chiefs, that's a problem. The Los Angeles Chargers, by week four, will they have a passing game a little bit better than the one that we saw in week one against a Raiders team that had Crosby and Christian Wilkins. Now here comes Chris Jones and Karlovtus.
I want to talk about a de-tackle, de-end combination of note. New Orleans on a Monday night coming into Arrowhead. They lit it up against the Panthers, but let's see what else. Now that week seven, the Super Bowl rematch in San Francisco, oh baby. Now I think that one is shaping.
At Vegas, home for Tampa. I think that's a higher register one, right? That got a lot more interesting after week one. You just went high register. Thank you right on cue.
You're welcome. Home for Denver, at Buffalo, at Carolina, home for Vegas and the Chargers again. What about the Cleveland Browns, man?
By mid-December, who the hell knows? Home for Houston at Pittsburgh, at Denver. I'm not saying 17 and 0, clearly, but I'm saying that the way the Chiefs showed up in week one, and again, I think they had a better game in week one this year than they did last year. The result was clearly different, but the offensive woes, the swoon. Who told us that the biggest challenge for the Chiefs, I think it was Richard Sherman, boredom.
Agreed. And he said last year they looked bored. I don't know. They didn't look bored to me in week one. It looked fast. You know what's exciting and not boring? Xavier Worthy. You know what's exciting and not boring? Isaiah Pacheco.
Exciting and not boring. Mahomes and Kelsey, I think last year had some issues. Kelsey might've been banged up in a way that we were not fully familiar, but I'm looking at the Chiefs in week one coming out of the box in a way that, again, take a look at the teams that performed well in week one, certainly on offense, certainly overall. Not much changes in Kansas City or San Francisco or Philadelphia or Detroit, right? Or Los Angeles for the Rams.
You know, there's not a lot of, well, we haven't played together in a while type stuff. Or in the case of the Jets ever, right? I'm taking a look at the way everyone came out of the box in week one and we were ascribing to them the improvements in the middle of last season based on who they were in the previous two seasons and standing in the Chiefs way.
I'm looking at them right now. I'm looking at a team that's going to be playing a home playoff game if not two or maybe three. They got a back pocket tie break on the Ravens already. They might have one on the Bengals by the end of the week.
Tell me where I'm off. It's just week one. I know.
I don't want to overreact or underreact to things, you know? This is an extended preseason, as we talked about the last couple of days. But yeah, I mean, if you had to make a bet on who's going to be the one seed in the AFC, I would certainly place it on the Chiefs. Right. Would you have done that prior to the kickoff? Prior to week one?
Yes. I had picked Houston. You would have? But yeah, probably. I mean, I've said this this whole offseason, like as long as number 15 is alive and healthy and walking amongst us, they're that team. And like Rich, you said, even if they start off hot, if they don't, they were 11 and what, 11 and six last year, we kind of thought, well, they're on the count. That's the time to go get them.
And then guess what? They were just kind of keeping it in the reserve until they had to hit the switch in the playoffs. They could do that again this year. They just got to get ready for the playoffs this year.
Yeah. They're big favorites to win the AFC, even after week one, they have half the odds of anyone else. Houston is second, Baltimore third.
Again, I don't pay attention to this stuff. Are those odds improved? I'm just trying to see if Vegas would agree with my assessment of things post week one. Did those odds improve? Oh yeah.
Pre-season to now? Yeah. Plus 280 to win the AFC. Houston and Baltimore plus 650. That's bet $1 to win $6.50.
So that's changed is what I'm saying from one week, from last week to this. Yeah. And to be the one seed there plus 175, even better. I mean, I'm glad Vegas agrees with me.
While I'm at it, let's get it. Slightly better Super Bowl odds than the Niners. Niners have the second best.
Let's get a more of a residency for our friend Sebastian Maniscalco. What are the Cowboys odds real quick? To win the Super Bowl? Yeah. Right now, after week one, the Cowboys are seventh, 14 to 1. Yeah. Behind the Lions and Eagles and Niners? Yep. And the NFC.
Yep. And then Kansas City, Baltimore, and Houston. Same odds as Buffalo. Also 14 to 1. It's your damn act together.
That's how we're rolling into tomorrow night's Thursday Nighter. Just curious, Rich. No, I know.
It's all you care about. Surprisingly, Cincinnati is the ninth best odds at 20 to 1. I think everybody just feels that Burrow is Burrow and that Higgins will come back. But when are they going to pay Jamar Chase? I don't know. You think that would have gotten cleaned up by now based on how they looked on Sunday? I kind of think that's my first item up for bids with Albert Breer, right? What is the holdup?
And because I don't know. You can guess what the holdup is. The holdup is, and certainly you heard Jamar Chase say, do you want one penny more than Justin Jefferson? And he profanely said, if I'm going to try and beat Justin Jefferson, I'm going to try and really beat him.
It's not going to be just one penny. But if he is saying, I want to be the highest paid wide receiver and the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL, and I need to have you set a new standard at the position all time, and I need you to do it now when you do have leverage of me having one year of my contract that's got to go and franchise tag years after that, the last person in the league that's going to blink under the stress being placed by the player on the team. And also the last person who might blink in the pressure of a fan base saying, what WTF? It is Mike Brown. Correct. It is, it is, it is he.
He is I and I. I mean, am I- Slim with the tilted brim. You know, the guy who voted against making replay permanent. The guy who never put somebody else's name on the stadium until it was apparent he needed pay cord to pay Joe.
That's the guy. Now it's time to pay Jamar. If I'm a bangle fan and I'm like trying to put pressure on ownership here by calling into a radio station or writing a letter or even voting with my feet, the last owner who I think will succumb to such a thing is Mike Brown. It's just amazing, Rich, that a franchise, an NFL franchise would go into the season with a top wide receiver unsigned.
Well, the Vikings did it last year. No, no, no, he's not unsigned. The Bengals would say he is under contract. I was just trying to make a dumb Jerry Jones. Oh, I see what you're saying. I got what you're saying.
If the Bengals were all in, they wouldn't be having these problems right now. Right? Good one. Good one. All right.
Let's take a break. And when we come back, we'll get Brear on the phone. Yeah.
Or the Zoom. So. Brockman, where's Brear going to be on the tan scale today?
Ooh. And especially in Miami. He's in Miami.
He's been all week in Miami. No, he hasn't. He just got there yesterday. OK, great.
OK, great. He just got there yesterday. He's probably still pretty. I assume he still has the Nantucket glow. Yeah. The training camp, the training camp glow.
Brear's Nantucket glow? Yeah. That's a name right there. Yeah. So that's next.
Albert Brear on the Rich Eisen show from Sports Illustrated, senior NFL reporter, the MMQB and Prime Video. Hey. Let's talk DoorDash, people. If your family's like mine, it probably is. You want something to eat, your kids want something else to eat. How do you handle it all? How do you make sure everybody's happy? DoorDash, that's how you make sure everybody's happy. The food delivery app is the most awesome on-demand delivery platform that you can go get to make sure that food comes to the places you like right to your table. It's awesome, especially now that football's finally back, which means it's time to order your favorite game day food, snacks, and drinks on DoorDash without missing a single play.
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Alcohol available only in select markets. Hey everybody, you know we're living in a new age of football with the expanded college football playoff, NIL, conference realignment, and increasing popularity of the draft. The landscape is changing and it's changing quickly and it can be confusing, but you know you're still into it. That's where the new podcast, The Triple Option comes in. Each week, Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, host Rob Stone, and three-time national champion coach Urban Meyer team up to bring on the biggest guests in college football, pro football, and anything related to the culture of the game. They cover it all, from top stories to recent changes and shifts in the game, the culture surrounding it, and everything in between. So get in the game today, follow and subscribe to The Triple Option on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Triple Option on YouTube as well. New episodes drop Wednesday mornings. Let's talk about game time tickets, people.
We've been talking about it actually for months here on The Rich Eisen Show and our Rich Eisen podcasts. But guess what? There's something new to tell you about game time. There's a new feature called game time picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams play live even easier. Game time picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Yet another way that game time makes things easier for you when you're looking for tickets to anything in your area. With the new game time picks, it's curation easier to save more on sports, concerts, comedy, theater, and more. And with the all-in pricing feature, which is my favorite, you get to see the total up front so there's no surprise fees at game time checkout. And with game time, you always get the lowest price guarantee or game time's going to credit you 110% of the difference, plus your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. Take the guesswork out of buying concert tickets in particular with game time. Download the game time app, create an account, and use my code EISEN for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Visit game time.co for restrictions. Again, create an account, redeem my code E-I-S-E-N for $20 off.
Create game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. What are you yammering about over there? Nah, just things in general. Huh? Yeah, we're just talking about old times. Old times.
Just crazy stuff. I found pictures that were old that I was looking at them like, so me and Brock were just reminiscing. You ever going to go with the facial hair again? I can't. I can't grow facial hair, Rich. I'm having a problem.
Like I- What do you mean? What do you mean you're having a problem? I've got a problem.
I've got good hair, nice salt and pepper, but I can't grow facial hair. It's a problem. Not good. When did you not have facial hair last, TJ? 2008.
I don't remember. I don't remember the last time you- I've never seen you. I didn't know you. I didn't know you in 2008. That was the last time. What was the occasion?
Uh, you know, it was something happened and I just felt like- Oh my God. A change was- You didn't want to talk about it? Okay.
Needed. Do you want me to- I think it's pretty personal. I see what you're saying.
Last time- I don't know what you want me to get into this. My daughter wants me to shave in the war. Does she really? Taylor's like anti- Oh yeah, you've been in charge. Yeah.
She's anti- She wants the whole thing gone. Don't do it. I'm not gonna. You can't.
You can't. That's all you got left, Rich. As your attorney advisor. That's how I get rich back here.
That's how I get rich back here. My attorney? As your attorney, I advise against that. He's your attorney, bro. Brockman, you should keep your- He might be in some trouble. You should have kept your- Hey, speaking of attorneys, I told Monaco, man, like he stole from Monaco to El Segundo for his team name.
I'm like, that's a gimmick infringement. So he might be hearing from my lawyer. Hey, listen, I whiffed on the waiver wire last night. Yeah, the waiver wire shouldn't be Tuesday, man. I mean, I got mine, but it should be like Wednesday.
You got to give everybody a day to kind of like- What do you mean? You have Tuesday? That's standard. Yeah, it is standard. Yeah, you have Tuesday. Not in my league.
Ours runs like Wednesday morning, like in a Thursday morning. All right. Back on the 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Look who's in South Florida getting set to stream Thursday Night Football. Bezos paid for a nice room. Looks like you got towels behind you. You got the whole thing. That's nice.
I couldn't set this up better and I tried different angles, but I think the lighting would have been bad. All right. I got to ask this question because, by the way, whenever I zoom in from a hotel room on someone else's show, I'm like, I got to make sure like everything is A-okay and I ... Because the bed- I'm always sensitive about the unmade bed. You know what I mean?
Exactly. Did you make your bed for this show? No, I did not.
No, I did not make my bed for the show, but I'm always like, if I have the unmade bed, I'm always like trying different angles to make sure that like it doesn't get a shot, you know? Okay. Like I don't want people thinking... I don't know. I think like people might make character judgments on you. That's what I say exactly. Yeah, from the bed, you know? Dude, that's why I always...
I'm self-conscious whenever I do this sort of thing and I appreciate you doing this for us. Albert Breer here, a first guest in the history of the Rich Eisen Show, getting turned down service for his appearance right here prior to... So let's jump into a couple of league-wide stories and then zero in on the game that you're going to be part of a coverage for tomorrow night. And we were talking before about the biggest upset of week one was the Patriots taking care of business in Cincinnati and Cincinnati didn't have T. Higgins and then had a half a Jamar Chase it seemed like because of an illness or something and he was on a snap count. Were either of these contractually related, Albert, do you think? It was certainly contractually related that Jamar Chase didn't practice for all of camp. And my understanding is that like for the most part, like for the first month of it, he really did handle himself like a pro. He was helping the younger receivers. Guys like Jermaine Burton and Andre Iosevis and all the other guys that are trying to get up and running and ready to go with Tyler Boyd now gone. But you know, like over the last week, I think there was hope that a deal would get done and a deal didn't get done. And I think that the feeling on Chase's camp, from Chase's camp, was that the C.D. Lamb thing really should have clarified everything, right? Because at that point, the Justin Jefferson deal is no longer an outlier.
So there's that. And then I think with T. Higgins, I don't think it's directly contractually related. But, you know, I do think in these situations where you have a player who is in a contract situation, we saw it with Jefferson himself last year. With injuries, they might be a little bit more careful, you know, when they're in a contract year. And so I think to some degree and again, like I don't know that T. Higgins would have played anyway.
I mean, it's a hamstring. You always want to be careful with those, especially if you're a team that's contending and is expecting to be playing deep into the playoffs. But, you know, I do think that that's something that's a factor when you carry a guy into a contract year, especially when he's in the franchise tagged the way T. Higgins is.
Well, I mean, and the Bengals are no stranger to starting 0-2 and still having a fabulous season, as they're now 0-1 with a home loss to the Patriots heading into Arrowhead for Sunday. So what is the holdup with Jamar Chase? Is he asking for more money than Justin Jefferson and Mike Brown saying no thanks?
Is that legitimately where it is, Albert? Yeah, I think so. The interesting thing is that the the Joe Burrow deal last year broke some old precedents that the Bengals had contract wise. It was a very, very strong contract. So I don't know that this one is as much about the gross number as it is about the structure of the guarantees, all of those things. And I think, as you know, Rich, as a lot of people out there know, there's the whole issue of the funding rule and how that plays in. As ridiculous as it is that the funding rule is still in place, it is a factor for some teams that aren't the most cash rich franchises.
So there's a lot of different things that go into that particular negotiation. And I'll be honest, I thought it was going to get done before kickoff on Sunday. I thought Jamar Chase's deal would get pushed across the goal line the same way Joe Burrow's deal did a year ago, right before the opener. I mean, the fact that it did, the fact that the opener went the way that it did, the fact that they're playing Kansas City this week, I think should provide more motivation for a Bengals team that's all in to win a Super Bowl this year to try and get something done even though the season started.
We'll see where it goes. Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen show, most significant injury of week one, clearly Jordan Love going down in the final throws of the Packers season opening loss in Brazil to the Eagles. What is the Packers' plan to just ride it out with Malik Willis until Love returns? That's it?
That's going to be it? Yeah, I know that they were encouraged with what happened with their run game in week one and that you kind of watched the second half of that game and they started to get some traction and Josh Jacobs starts to look like a really good fit for what they're going to be doing offensively there. So I know that they feel good about where their run game is, where their defense is with the first year coordinator Jeff Halfley coming over. It was a challenging situation down there in Brazil for both defenses. I mean, it got to the point because the field, right, Rich, that the defensive coordinators felt like they couldn't call main coverage because it was so hard for guys to transition in and out.
You know what I mean? Like the guy with the back end to cover. And so it was a really challenging situation for the Packers defense out there, same as it was for the Eagles defense. They feel like they've learned from that. So whether it's Malik Willis or Jordan Love, and I think it'll be Malik Willis this week, they feel good about the other elements of their team.
That really helps. I think also having, you know, like Sean Clifford still around and the fact that he's been there. I mean, look, like no one thinks Sean Clifford is going to be the answer for a month or two months.
But, you know, he does know the system. He has been around for a year and they are able to pull him off the practice squad and use him if they need to, if things don't go well with Malik Willis because Malik Willis is so new. So I think it's a simplistic way to put it, but, you know, you're just sort of duct taping this until you can get Jordan Love back in the field. And the good news is they really did dodge a bullet with Love and he is a quarterback.
A sprained MCL, it's not ideal, but you can generally get a quarterback back from that sort of injury faster than you might a guy at another position. Well, I mean, it's, you know, didn't miss me here that the rest of the division won in week one. Yeah. And, you know, you put eight in the box with Josh Jacobs out there and you're going to dare Malik Willis to beat you, you know, like that. And again, just call me a skeptic. Was Tannehill not contacted?
Is he not interested? What do you got for me on the Ryan Tannehill front? Yeah, I would say I think Ryan Tannehill, it's just my sense of it. My sense of it is that Ryan Tannehill is looking for like a Jay Cutler type of opportunity. You remember Cutler a few years ago when, when actually Tannehill himself went down in Miami and Cutler got the whole season. What Joe Flacco got last year where, you know, Joe knew going in like Deshaun Watson isn't coming back.
And so if I go to Cleveland, I'm out of opportunity to play out the season. I'm not sure that what Ryan Tannehill wants right now is to go and be a one or a two week band-aid for somebody, you know. He's made his money. I think, you know, he's happy with his career. I really think that that's sort of where you were, you know, where you are right now and, you know, like having that sort of, that sort of approach to, to, to whether or not you're going to join a team if you're Ryan Tannehill. For Brear here, the MMQB, NFL podcast also, the, the prime video information man.
We'll get to that shortly here on the Rich Eisen Show for Thursday Night Football. Okay. So moving on to the other significant injuries, Pukunakua, we're going to, is he going to be out for, for a month or, or longer? What's, what's the sense for, for him right now? Yeah.
Yeah. So he's been banged up. They're going to take their time in bringing him back. The good news for the Rams is that they feel great about where they're at, at that position. The depth they've got at that position is better than it has been. And Cooper Cupp is, I mean, I, I think everybody saw it, right? Like he looks like the old Cooper Cupp and, you know, I remember talking to, to Sean McVey about this over the summer and how excited they were because this is the healthiest he's been for an off season really since the Super Bowl year. And so they felt like there was a really good chance that they were going to get the Cooper Cupp that we got used to seeing over the first five years of his career and not the guy who kind of been fighting through things the last couple of years. So you know, having the Cooper Cupp that they had in the Lions game and who they think they'll have going forward is a huge help and it gives them some flexibility as does the depth to just take their time with Pukunakua and bringing him back.
And I don't think it's any secret, right? Like with Pukunakua, part of the deal is his playing style does put him in harm's way quite a bit. You know, he has almost like an Anquan Boldin type of playing style position. And so, you know, I think that they want to be careful with, with, with what they're doing and bringing him back as much as he wants to play. And the scoop with Christian McCaffrey, let's, let's hit this one because he said on Friday that the, his, his, I guess calf injury was not big, a big deal for him. And then on that night, it seems like Jordan Mason was communicated with by somebody on the staff to either say, you're starting or get ready, right? Be ready. Be ready. Right.
Be ready. And, and, and then he, he's dominant against the Jets. That said, what's the scoop with McCaffrey?
What, how serious is this? If he could, if the NFC championship game is Sunday, he's playing. I think to some degree, like this is Kyle Shanahan and the Niners protecting Christian from himself and knowing we got a long season ahead, Christian McCaffrey's got a lot of injury history. He's got a lot of miles on his legs and as well conditioned as he is, and as meticulous as he is about getting himself ready, we're going to need him in January a hell of a lot more than we need him in September. And I look like they've got the flexibility because they've got such a good team, Rich.
You know what I mean? Like in, in seeing, seeing what, what, what they were able to do in the running game against the Jets only gives them more, you know, it gives them more ability to, to, to be flexible and bringing him back. And so yeah, I think as much as anything else, this is Kyle Shanahan knowing that this is something that can linger, a calf can linger and Achilles can linger and there can be really a bad circle.
There can be a real bad circumstance that can arise from pushing somebody back out there before he's fully ready. So as much as they want to see him out there, you know, seeing what they saw from Jordan Mason in that game on Monday night, I think gives them the flexibility to play it safe. And yeah, this is what we used to see the Patriots do back in the day, right? Like where you almost treat the, treat September as like an extended preseason, right?
Like when they were really rolling with Brady, where they could manage guys certain ways. I think that's sort of what the Niners are doing here with McCaffrey. So what do you think, do you, do we see him Sunday or they're just going to be cautious again?
Like what, what's your guess? My guess would be they'll be cautious again and we'll see him in week three. That would be, that's just my guess would be, that's what we'll see. So you'd see him in the, well, I mean, that would be one to return for at the Rams. That would certainly be of importance, you know? Yeah. And that one, and that one really matters too, right?
Because that one could be a tiebreaker, it could dictate who has a home game in the playoffs. So yeah, I think that that's probably when we'll see him back. Okay. So let's talk about you for a quick second. Congrats on the gig on Thursday night. Thanks.
Hasn't officially been announced yet, but I, I appreciate you saying that. And I guess the cat's kind of out of the bag. I guess that's the, that's, that's the downside, I guess, of being personal friends with the guy that you're talking to right now and me knowing your business. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah.
I mean, this isn't new news to you, but like, yeah, I appreciate it. I mean, so what, you're just going to show up tomorrow night? Is that what, is that what's, that was the plan? Like just, Hey, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So I, I, I just go where they tell me when they tell me to be there, you know what I mean? Right. You're a part, okay. So you're a part of the broadcast tomorrow night, right? Yeah. On Thursday night. Yeah. So, so I'll be, I'll be on the pregame show and you know, working with Carissa and, and Whit and Fitz and, and Sherm, guys I get great relationships with when, when they were players and, and I've gotten to, you know, communicate a little bit with Tony Gonzalez, who I grew up watching. So yeah, it's, I'm excited. Presuming that's what happens tomorrow night, I guess, right? Like, the announcement's coming. I didn't blow it. Come on now.
You're there. And I, so now I understand. I know. I mean, the suitcase kind of gives it away. I probably should have gotten him for the job. I mean, Bezos doesn't give people king size beds.
Not everybody gets them. You know what I mean? So that, so that's, you're clearly, you're an important part of tomorrow night.
That said, let's move on now to the game itself. And the, the Bills is, they're just a fascinating team that everybody thinks that can, that you can get them now based on last year's result and this off season being dismantled in a way from the, the, the, the names that have been associated with the team for quite some time not being there anymore. So what is your, what's, what's your sense of the Bills entering this game? They'd love to just come in and steal another one and be 2-0 and have a leg up on Miami so quick. So one of the most, I think one of the most meaningful stats from week one was that Josh Allen threw to 10 different guys and had completions to nine different guys on Sunday against Arizona. They got punched in the mouth right away and sort of the same way Miami did against Jacksonville, right?
And they were forced to respond. And this is a very different team. Like you said, I mean, like the amount of leadership that's gone, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Tredavious White, Stefan Diggs, Mitch Morris, I mean guys who are captains, guys who are there forever, guys who are like foundation pieces for the build of Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott all those years ago. And really that's left Josh Allen in position to become more of a leader. And I think one of the cool things about Josh Rich is like he's such a self-aware guy that he didn't want to overstep his bounce even as the quarterback, as a leader before it was time. And he had a really good sense, I think, that this offseason it was time for him to step forward and be the guy.
And I've heard so many stories. He brought a bunch of the skill guys down to Nashville to get work in. He's keeping guys before practice and after practice.
You know, he does one-on-one time a guy, so keep three guys after practice. And you know, I think he's really embraced now being the guy. You know, whereas like before this, he was one of the guys.
Now he is the guy. And it's cool to hear how he's embraced that. The team's going to have some growing pains. There's no question about that.
You don't lose that amount of leadership without having to go through some growing pains. And they're going to be relying on some rookies. You know, Cole Bishop, when he comes back from his injury, is expected to be a big part of the defense. We saw Keyon Coleman flash a little bit, you know, in the opener against Arizona.
So there are going to be some bumps. But again, I think one of the most meaningful stats for all those reasons that I just laid out was how many guys that Josh Allen threw to on Sunday. Because as good a player as Stephon Diggs was, there's still that element of looking over there. You know, if I haven't thrown to him in three or four attempts, I got to get the ball over to him, right? You know, Josh Allen's playing a little bit differently now. And it'll be interesting to see whether or not that continues to manifest because I certainly think you saw a guy who's playing a little bit differently now with changing circumstances in week one. Yeah. So the idea that the bills will be easier to guard, defend, cover because Diggs is gone, that that might just be actually flipped on its head in the fact that you could just spread it out to a whole bunch of other people, right?
You know what the best example of this? There came a point like, and again, I hate to bring it back to New England, but I will. In 2010, you remember how shocking the Moss trade was, right? Well, you know, like part of that was Moss was playing for a contract and that whole thing about like having to look over there every so every so often and make sure that he was happy and make sure he's getting the ball. Like the Patriots felt like that was starting to affect their offense. So they trade Randy Moss, they trade for Dion Branch. And everybody was like, I like, how is this going to work without Randy Moss there?
He'd been so great for them for the three years previous. Brady wound up winning the MVP and they legitimately become more difficult to defend. Now in Tom Brady, we're talking about a guy who processes football at a higher level than maybe anybody ever has, right? He, Peyton Manning, a few guys in that category.
So like his ability to use the whole field is, was at a higher level than almost anybody who's ever played this sport. But that dynamic could exist with Allen too. And I think it's going to be, it's going to be fascinating to see if it does because we have seen that work this sort of way in the past where a quarterback can become more difficult to defend if all five skill players are available or are alive and on every play.
And what digs out of the equation, I think that becomes a little bit more of the case with Buffalo. Albert Brie here from South Florida again, Thursday night football prime video kicking off week two, Bills and Dolphins. So before, you know, I let you go here, let's talk Dolphins and it's difficult to just talk football about them. You know, Raheem Mostert won't be playing, the question about Devin A. Chan's availability is up in the air right now and, and clearly, you know, defensively we, them being as healthy as possible is very crucial, et cetera, and so on. But it's, you know, it, it truly is all about what happened to Tyreek Hill before week one and, and, and the lingering effects on the team. And Tyreek Hill came out and said he wants the police officer that, that manhandled him fired. And that's, that's really, I imagine all that's being discussed down there in South Florida.
What is your reporting on how this did affect the Dolphins prior to the game in week one and how much it does in fact linger for, for week two, Albert? I think it rallied them. Like I really do. And I, I know that sounds weird, but I think it did rally them. And I think one thing that was really meaningful, and I, and I think that this has been sort of like, I'd swept into the rugs the wrong way to put it, but, you know, I think it's an important element to it is the other guy who was on the scene and that's Kaleis Campbell.
And I know, Rich, you've been around Kaleis, right? Like a bunch. Love him. Like that is, that is one of the best, not, not just players of the last 20, one of the best people that's come through the NFL over the last 20 years.
Like it's just an A plus guy. And so I think the fact that like he was involved in that and somebody with the credibility that he has got caught up in that made it even more of like a rallying thing for that whole group. You know, like, okay, like, like something tough happened to our teammates this morning.
Like we, we got our show, we have their back. And I think it's sort of plays into the culture that Mike McDaniel has built there. You know, I mean, one thing that's so interesting is like that Tua negotiation could have gotten ugly this summer, right?
It never did. Well, why? Because of the relationship that Mike McDaniel's has with Tua. And so I just think the relationships in that building right now, the club in that building is really, really strong.
And so in a weird way, you know, you never want to see what happened before the game, regardless of your own thoughts on whatever anybody else's thoughts are on the circumstances of it. And I know a lot of people have thoughts on that. But, you know, I do think in a sort of an interesting way, it galvanized the team around those guys. And not just around Tyreek, but also around somebody like, like Koleas, who is as respected as any player in the NFL. And any player in the NFL, I'd say over the last 15 to 20 years. So I just think that like, again, in kind of a weird way, they fall behind in that game, they have to rally, right, like they're kind of disjointed a little offensively early on.
They're able to get it done. Tyreek has the big play. I actually think there's been some positive that's come of this, you know, for that locker room.
Yeah, Koleas Campbell, the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year of the National Football League is who we're talking about right now. And the conversation, if not for this, would have been about Tua and his comments to Dan Lebatard about the previous coach and Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel. And I think that you're seeing what you're saying, they're kind of weaving it all together here. McDaniel's control of the locker room and his comments as well and how they are playing out is something, you know, I guess turning something into a positive in that regard. But it'll be interesting to see that as a backdrop of the Thursday night game, which is between two of the three, I might add, and they're not the Jets, 1-0 teams in the AFC East right now. It's a pretty big game you've got tomorrow night. And what's pretty cool about it too is like, if you look at the way that week one played out, weren't their games mirror images of each other?
Right? Like, so they play an opponent that most people think they're going to beat. I think most people thought Buffalo was going to beat Arizona and was going to beat Jacksonville. And both teams got punched in the mouth. And both teams showed resolve, you know, and they showed resolve, I think, and I think seeing it on offense for Buffalo was big because of all the new pieces on offense and because Steph's gone, right? And then I think for Miami, it was big seeing it on defense because there is no Christian Wilkins anymore.
There is no Jerome Baker anymore. Xavian Howard's gone, Vic Fangio's gone, and Anthony Weaver's come in. And so, like, I think like the, just the growth of those two units, like that's going to be an interesting part of tomorrow too, is like, can the Dolphins defense and the Bills offense carry over the way they finished the games on Sunday into, you know, again, a short week and all the rest of it.
It'll be really interesting to watch. You're awesome, Albert. I'm excited to see you tomorrow night and always on our screen here. So I greatly appreciate it. And save me.
I guess I shouldn't do this then, right? Uh huh. Okay. He's horns up.
He's horns up. No, no, that's fine, dude. You know me, man, you know, you know me, I will sign, I will sign for 20 months in between losses any day of the week.
And again, if you just, I went to the, I went to the school that panics, like when we have a bad quarter. Oh my goodness. I trust me, I get the texts from you and money manager to the stars, Don. Okay. So listen, I know how thin skinned you really are Albert, but you can, you can act tough with me right now.
Yeah. Albert. Elsa, thank you for your quarterback. Like it's amazing what, what that can do. It's a Syracuse man right there.
Where are the, yeah, no, I know. And we're kind of like a quarterback development factory right now. I don't know if you guys have watched how Will Howard has played through two weeks, but that looks pretty good too.
So everybody wins, you know, another one, another one that Chris, you didn't, and there's is Quinn Ewers who came through the program. What'd you guys think about him on Saturday? Yeah, he looked great, dude. He really did.
He, he, he looked superb. And the thing that's really weird is that these guys don't, they don't play at Ohio state, but then they talk well of the whole program when they leave. Although I'm sure you're, I'm sure your guy won't Chris, no, he won't be one of those guys that talks.
I think about Kyle on Tuesday, he looks great. Not here. He had to go to Syracuse to really get unleashed. That's right. There you go. I like it.
I like it. When you and I are now hanging out like that. We are teammates.
All right, Albert, uh, save me the can of Pringles from the mini bar in there. Okay. All right.
Thanks very much. There you go. That's Albert Brier.
Once you pop, you can't stop. Albert Brier, ladies and gentlemen. All right. We'll take a break back on the Rich Eisen show.
We'll be right back to the show at five 24, two Oh four rich number to dial Kirk cousins, Kirko top of hour two with Bruce Feldman in studio. Say goodbye to complicated, expensive and uncertain shipping and say hello to an advantage with USPS ground advantage shipping from the United States postal service. Every business faces challenges, but shipping shouldn't be one of them. So keep things simple with clear upfront pricing and no unexpected surcharges for Saturday deliveries, residential deliveries, or fuel. Keep things affordable with some of the lowest prices out there helping you counter the rising costs of doing business with a budget friendly alternative and keep things reliable with on time ground shipping, ensuring your shipments get to where they need to go while maintaining your hard earned reputation. USPS ground advantage is your ticket to easy cost effective and dependable shipping. It's the complete delivery service. Your business needs to rise above the competition. There's never been a better time to turn shipping to your advantage.
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Finance smarter y'all nerd wallet compare, Inc N M L S one six one seven five three nine. Anthony Anderson, he's over there with TJ right now. He told a story. We're back live on the air, by the way. Put the photograph up. Yeah, we're back. Put the photograph up.
Anthony, do you got, is he still wearing his mic? Okay. So quick. Tell the story.
Can you tell the story real fast? So we're, we're in Monaco, the international television, and Prince Albert, Prince Albert is, is, is I'm friendly with Prince Albert. So when you're at, when you're at the castle, when you're at the palace, you're not allowed to take pictures. And so we're taking pictures and they're like, they come stop me.
And I was like, no, Prince Albert said, we can take, I can take pictures and they shrink away. And so I go to every black person there. And you saw the group of us, 50 Cent, myself, TJ, so I was like, Hey guys, we're going to take a black picture at the palace. And they were like, what?
I said, we're going to take a black picture at the palace. And they're like, okay. And they're like, when?
I was like, you'll know when. So 10, five or 10 minutes later, people in various conversations, I was like, okay, it's time to take the picture. So I just give the call and people are mid conversations into the, Oh, I'll be right back. I got to go take a picture. We all gather around the steps in the back in the middle of getting someone's phone number too. Yeah.
So we're in the middle and we just, we go in the back and you know, we, we take a picture. Jesse smile at 50 Cent, myself, my wife, TJ, TJ Jefferson, TJ, now the rich eyes and show from Monaco to El Segundo. Oh yeah.
That line lives in forever in our show. Yeah. That might've been your first, was that one of your first on-camera appearances? It was like one or two roaming around doing social media from Monaco to El Segundo back here on the rich eyes and show. Everybody make sure you've got NFL Sunday ticket and YouTube TV. It is a classic combination because when you bundled together, you get the most live NFL games all in one place. You can watch up to four NFL games at once with their signature multi-view feature.
We love it because you can not only follow the team that you want to follow, but you can follow your fantasy team because you get to see so many of your players all at once sign up today at youtube.com slash NFL ST device and content restrictions apply local and national games on YouTube TV, NFL Sunday ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games. Tim in Arizona. Let's take his phone call right here on the program. What's up, Tim? You're there. Tim. Yeah, I am.
Hey, rich. Thanks for taking my call. And by the way, thank you for having my Senator Mark Kelly on yesterday. Yeah, I love him a lot like, yeah, he's a great guy, but we do love his wife, Gabby gippers. He's a holder in high regard up there with Pat Tillman and John McCain. Oh, wow.
That's some serious names in the state of Arizona. What's on your mind, Tim? Yes. What I'd like to, I'd like to comment on the Tyrik Hill, but I'm not going to come at it. What I'd like to do is I'd like to read you, um, Ettore and James hall of fame speech, which I feel is the greatest hall of fame speech. It was great, I'm just going to read you the last part of it. Okay.
All right. For some reason, I've always been, had to deal with perception perception though, isn't always a reality. It definitely wasn't my reality. People look at my gold teeth and my dreads and are shocked and surprised.
I've never been under arrest or spent time in jail. So many people told me that you can't have dreads and gold teeth and be accepted in the NFL, but I never listened. I've always knew who I was a great football player, a great father, a proud black man, a lion, and this was my main, which many of the doubters would later discover once they got to know the real me times of change, look around the league, look at some of the young stars. As a matter of fact, look at my pro football hall of fame bus rocking the same dreads that they shed, I shouldn't. My closing message proudly represents the real you follow your dreams, aim high and create the life you want to live.
And those who have been judged prematurely because of their appearance, the way they speak, where they come from Miami gardens in the minds of many should be locked up in prison. I represent us. I am forever immortalized, locked up in the Canton Correctional Institute, inmate number 336 in the pro football hall of fame.
My career started with gold teeth and ended up with a gold jacket. That's the best speech ever. Tim, I'm getting goosebumps because I was sitting there remembering it and it was incredible and I appreciate the call and I think we pick up the drift. Thank you very much.
Also one of the best bus. I know. Yeah.
I think we pick up the gist of it. I had to laugh when he said that because one, that was one of the best speeches ever and you know, a guy yesterday said that the reason I got harassed by the cops was because I looked like a Crip gang member. I just had to laugh about it because it's the perception, you know. Hour two coming up.
And again, just to put a button on this here, okay? Because again, what our caller was saying is that, you know, Tyreek Hill looks a certain way and be viewed potentially by somebody who just is judging a book by its cover. And again, Tyreek Hill was speeding. He was speeding. It sure looked like that way to me on the body cam. And maybe, you know, he wasn't wearing a seatbelt either. Does that deserve a citation?
Sure. But does that deserve beginning yanked out of his car and everything else that happened after that? Of course not. And then people saying that, you know, to avoid that, you need to roll down your window and ask, of course you need to obey orders from authorities because that's the way things go in our society. But you can't say that to say you need to avoid cops potentially acting poorly.
He shouldn't speed, cops shouldn't act poorly. Like, can we expect that from everybody? Yeah. I mean, is that wrong to say? Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Hour two coming up. Hey, it's Rich Eisen here. Join me and my compadre, Chris Brockman, every Monday on the Overreaction Monday podcast. A 2023 last place team will win a playoff game this year. I'm taking the Cincinnati Bengals to be that team. If you gave me safe bet, if you said two last place teams, I might say that's an overreaction. Come react or overreact with us. This one makes it much easier. So thank you for making it easier. Well, tune in next week. Join Monday, wherever you listen.
