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NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games. Welcome to the program. Always outstanding to have the opportunity to sit in for Rich and the guys working hard for you on this Labor Day. We are live. I can demonstrate that by potentially taking a phone call or two.
844-204-7424 the number to call to be totally transparent with you. And if you've endured my approach on previous holidays by now you know a few things will come into focus. I am projecting. I have a microphone and you will listen to me. It's a marvelous chance to defend Rich's stellar brand so I've had way too much caffeine. Plus I am not on the radio as much as I used to be. So I come prepared with about four and a half hours worth of content not to be patting myself on the back.
After all it was a jam packed weekend filled with college football. We'll get there coming up. But because this is a mega platform and because I am fired up and happy to be with you. I move quickly in addition to over enunciating. So if you want to participate in the program and the goal is to be interactive.
Your best bet is to hit me up on the X platform. I don't work for a billionaire. Let's still call it Twitter.
Tweet at me B.W. Weber Weber with two B's as you might imagine given that we are now. Just a handful of days away from the start of what should be a fascinating kickoff weekend across the NFL. Today is going to be virtually wall to wall football. Also this is the football show of record. Mr. Eisen after all the face that runs the place at NFL Network. So we're going to jump right in with what I believe are the most compelling elements of the upcoming season.
That starts on Thursday with that juicy rematch of last year's AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and the Ravens. We will get to the college football coming up in 40 minutes. I had a business decision to make.
Do I start on campus or do I go with the brand that has crushed everything in its path. Plus if I'm lucky enough to be occupying this very same chair hunched in the corner of this studio. So I can get on top of the microphone to give you crisp delivery a year from now. Write it down folks. I know you're taking copious notes thinking who is this guy.
Why is he yelling at me. I'm Brian Weber Infra rich 8 4 4 2 0 4 7 4 2 4 or slide over to Twitter B.W. Weber Weber with two B's. When I'm back with you a year from today Labor Day twenty twenty five. I will be talking even more NFL because the NFL will already be under way. We know it's inevitable the league is going 18 games in the regular season. Why there is more money to be made meaning just as was the case when I was growing up a billion years ago.
We're going to have NFL football on Labor Day weekend again as soon as next year. Hopefully if you've had to buckle down and say oh man where is rich in the past. And I get it. You know how much pressure has been thrust upon me. I have to be as compelling or as close to the ability to get into the neighborhood as Mr. Eisen and the fellas. So I got to measure up to the fab four that you hear.
And you see on the fabulous simulcast on the Roku channel every day. I want to make sure that I don't overwhelm you with outside guests because I think I'm just that fascinating. So no guests here in the first hour.
In fact we will not hear from another outside voice. Unless you pick up the phone till our number to 140 Eastern Time talking NFL with Josh Alper or pro football talk and then in the final hour to 40 Eastern Time appointment audio traffic and weather together. In addition to the college football I'm going to handle in just over 35 minutes. We'll wrap it up with gusto when we say hello to Pete Futek of college football news dot com. In terms of the college if you didn't stay up relatively late on the East Coast. I'm thankfully here in Southern California and I wasted thousands.
If I'm going to be candid with you hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a master's degree from USC. I was personally invested to see how the team that destroyed my beloved PAC 12 conference would do. Taken out LSU neutral site last night in Vegas. Even if you did not have a partisan interest in that game. Good watch. Couldn't ask for more of a dramatic ending than we saw USC at last.
Showing a semblance of a defense. And since I reveal my biases up front nobody is objective. Especially when I'm paid to opine. Brian Kelly is on the short list of my least favorite people in all of sports. And to see him not only melt down on the sideline but pull a Denny Green.
Can I pound? I can. But I think the whole thing is going to come down pounding the podium with frustration postgame. We'll talk about the implications of what that game meant for both programs in the big picture. When we get to the college football coming up. But here's a preview with the advent of the 12 team playoff. That is no longer as significant a loss or significant a win for USC and LSU as it would have been as recently as last year. Because of the 12 team playoff and there's plenty of margin for error. Another reason why I'm probably the only person in a filling capacity with a national megaphone like the Rich Eisen show. Who is not in favor of this expanded playoff.
I would have gone to six then incrementally to eight. I'll explain my rationale coming up. But as the countdown to kickoff for the NFL is underway it strikes me.
And this is going to sound like a paradox on a big word Monday. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. You can hop aboard at 844-204-7424 or slide over to Twitter. X me BW Weber Weber with two B's coming up in 20 minutes. We'll focus on quote unquote America's team with the rare combination of a lame duck head coach and a lame duck quarterback. Even if you believe Dak's not going anywhere just like his head coach for now Mike McCarthy. Heading into the final year of his contract that is on the agenda. But for once with the understanding that the NFL has become ubiquitous.
They already had the Lord's Day and now they've moved decades ago to Monday now they own Thursday. This week they're going to have Friday Night Football in Brazil with another very intriguing matchup. Between a pair of playoff teams from a year ago with the Packers taking on the Eagles. But it strikes me not that we're ever too far away from the NFL. Especially on this program given Rich's connection to NFL Network and the NFL media platform from day one. But this summer as someone who consumes way too much sports media. It felt like the talking head shows were not as thirsty as desperate for NFL content contriving absolutely nonsensical arguments. As they were even last year or typically is the case seemingly every day because you know how it works. The NFL dominates the conversation because you the audience is never wrong and you want as much NFL as possible.
I get it and I follow the wisdom of crowds. But this summer watching all these dopey shows because my goals of getting a semblance of a life before the age of 55 have gone unrealized. There was a lot of Kaitlyn Clark conversation understandably so because she is a transformational talent. And even the shows that didn't want to go near the Olympics because that would require some preparation.
Could not ignore the phenomena of Team USA and Hoops. So I don't feel like for once a level of exhaustion with NFL analysis before the season has even started because other things commanded our attention. And dare I say baseball is still worthy of conversation.
In fact I probably shouldn't say this out loud because I can hear you turning off the radio right now. We'll briefly focus on some baseball coming up an hour from now. I realize Labor Day currently belongs to college football as soon as next year the NFL will grab it back. But not too long ago Labor Day meant the gateway to the stretch run. We cared about September 1 call ups and we would track towards the end of August which prospects we'd be seeing soon with the expansion of rosters.
I'm not getting into the weeds there. But how can you not appreciate not only the magnificence of Aaron Judge who in addition to having another shot at hitting over 60 home runs this year. He's still in prime contention for the Triple Crown and here in Southern California every time I turn on the TV show Aotani is doing something even more memorable. So we'll get to the baseball coming up an hour from now. But even if you have taken the summer off from following the NFL it would be very hard to do. You would have to move into a monastery and take a vow of sports media silence.
You got to have an opinion about the Kansas City Chiefs. They're also unavoidable because every commercial these days that is not handled by Patrick Mahomes. Now Travis Kelce is picking up another check as if he and his brother need it based on the Powerball money they got for their podcast and good for them. Now I could go on a rant about the death of the middle class in sports media and the top one percent making even more. But again the audience dictates where the money goes and you might have heard that Kelce has a girlfriend who has a fan or two. That is a remarkable development for the Kelce brothers to have that kind of audience connection. And if you go back to last year when Kansas City lost the kickoff game against the Lions.
Now remember context matters. I'm Brian Weber making sure that we have a balanced analysis in the sea of hot takes open for business on the X platform. B.W.
Weber Weber with two B's 8 4 4 2 0 4 7 4 2 4 is a number to call. Last year Kansas City loses at home to a Lions team that was foreshadowing their marvelous season if you're a lion fam. And I understand you had to have a degree of satisfaction just to get back to the playoffs make it to the NFC title game for the first time since the early 90s.
But did you close your eyes at halftime and think well we should automatically be going to the Super Bowl based on the way they control that game. Obviously everything changed in the second half because the Lions are still the Lions but when the Lions beat the Chiefs on a Thursday night last year. Remembering Kansas City did not have the injured Travis Kelsey and did not have Chris Jones who was holding out to get the contract that he ultimately got the week after that loss.
I do remember the level of histrionics and sky is falling radio that was hard to miss and it sounded like this. Well the Chiefs have a Super Bowl hangover and this is a fundamentally flawed roster. How is Patrick Mahomes going to be superhuman again.
This is not the analogy of Michael Jordan and the Jordannaires because basketball and football is different. And then we heard it again virtually month by month because as you may recall the Chiefs slept walk their way through the majority of the regular season. Raider Nation still reveling in their victory on the road at Arrowhead on Christmas Day. But as you probably remember that was the last time the Chiefs lost a game because if there is a switch to find in the NFL they have a habit of discovering it when they need to. So Kansas City with an opportunity to do what no team has ever done in the Super Bowl era. History used to be my monkey trip. I will not take it back to Otto Graham's dynasty in Cleveland or what Vince Lombardi did in Green Bay.
Most of my references are too dated anyway and I feel like I'm about 140 years old. In the Super Bowl era no team has pulled off the three P. What are realistic expectations for the Chiefs. Why can't they do it. We just got proof of concept last year that the regular season it means virtually nothing for this team. I understand the football truisms that you need a defense to show up from time to time.
But has that ever really slowed down Kansas City in a high leverage game. And yeah I know they lost their best cover quarter. And luxurious need he's got in that secondary was battered last year but as simplistic as it sounds if you give me my home who's healthy along with an engaged and Andy Reid apparently is not going anywhere after all the rumored innuendo about retirement last year.
You give me that combination of a head coach and a transformational quarterback. I have to go with Kansas City over the entire field. Now I do think the division gets a little bit more interesting and remember Kansas City as they have the dynastic implications across their resume. They've won that division eight freaking times in a row.
And some of that is a reflection of the dominance of the Chiefs some of that is a summary of how mediocre the rest of that division has been. I cannot believe these words are going to come out of my mouth. We got here four hours early so I could rehearse them as smoothly as possible. And I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. We're live on this Labor Day. Rich and the fellows back with you tomorrow.
Hop aboard at eight four four two oh four seven four two four. As I mentioned I try to be candid with my biases things I don't like because after all my opinion is supposed to drive the program. So I already took a cheap shot at Brian Kelly. The Chargers are my least favorite franchise in all of sports. I will not go down the road of pounding the table like Mr. Kelly and screaming about San Diego losing that franchise being the equivalent of a sports crime.
But it is not hyperbole to say the Spanos family is as dysfunctional an ownership group as you're going to find. And if you don't care about their personal dynamics they're just flat out cheap especially when it comes to hiring head coaches. Well they realize and I think they got nudged by the league especially now because of the larger microscope they're under here in market number two in Los Angeles.
They had to do something to address just how relevant that franchise has become in the mega market that is Los Angeles. So I give the Spanos family a degree of credit for doing the obvious but writing a check that they've been reluctant to write for years and going out and getting Jim Harbaugh. Now you could counter Harbaugh was leaving either way to avoid the hammer of the NCAA that's already dropped based on his recruiting violations during the Covid era. We still don't have a clear accounting of what was going on with the sign stealing scandal. I'm going to tread lightly here because I know Rich is a proud alumnus of Michigan. So I'll just say I find it hard to believe the head coach didn't know what Connor Stallions was doing.
In fact if you watch that one sided documentary in my opinion that was almost a PR piece trying to rehab the image of Connor. He got a game ball the year before he got busted. So two years ago he got a game ball.
So that tells me a few things. Harbaugh certainly was more aware of his contributions and his identity than he claimed to be with I don't know who this guy was. He was just standing on the sideline. And why are you giving him a game ball if he has no impact on your program.
But we'll save that for my podcast on campus with B web wherever you get your podcast. It would be foolish for folks even if you had a bias against Harbaugh and I don't. But you'd have to be absolutely out of your mind and absurd with your logic not to acknowledge just how phenomenal head coach this guy has been. Every step of the way going back to San Diego not San Diego State. San Diego made them a winner. Stanford my alma mater although I disavowed them because they joined the ACC. They had no choice.
Transformed the cardinal. People forget the disarray the 49ers were in before he arrived. What did they lose? Eight games the year prior? And they had not had a winning season in a long time. First year there they go to the playoffs and they are a consistent winner and you know what he just did in his alma mater. So the bolts are going to be better if for no other reason Justin Herbert's going to have one of the sharpest offensive minds in a head coach and his offensive staff. And I think a terrific play caller in Greg Roman based on the success that Harbaugh and Roman had together with the 49ers. The offensive line will be better. I realize the play makers they lost. Unclear who's going to be their wide receiver number one. I don't care about your fantasy league.
I'm just talking big picture. Chargers will be better. In fact I have them making the playoffs because we know if there's any truism in the NFL it is unbelievable shifts year to year. That's about every season. Somebody rises up after finishing in the basement the year prior and winning the division going worse the first we saw with Houston in magnificent fashion last year as CJ Stroud had one of the best rookie years we've ever seen from a quarterback.
So I have the bolts making the playoffs meaning Kansas City faces more degree of difficulty in their division. But even if Kansas City loses on Thursday and I would not be surprised at all if especially with the added motivation that the Ravens have just go back to last year's AFC Championship game. They had home field advantage. Lamar Jackson coming off his second regular season MVP year and either they forgot to run the football or Kansas City was doing something defensively that they figured they couldn't solve either way.
It was coaching malpractice. There's no way the Ravens have that kind of ludicrous game plan again on Thursday and they added Derrick Henry. Yeah, I know he's going to turn 31 during the season, but you know the blueprint for Baltimore. They want to run as much as they can in addition to the mobility of Lamar Jackson and their strong defense. So whatever the spread is on that game and I don't get that involved with gambling because I'm not getting paid to endorse anything yet going to be a hell of a game even if Kansas City loses they're going to be just fine. And as we will pause coming up and get to the NFC later in the program. Who else are you picking in the AFC Cincinnati certainly makes a ton of sense with the return of Joe burrow steam almost made the playoffs with Adam last year, but they got to navigate that rugged AFC North with Baltimore in their way Cleveland despite the Sean Watson only playing a handful of games the last couple years still has won the most balanced rosters and all the football they made the playoffs last year with Joe Flacco who's 117 years old as the starting QB without Watson and without Nick job because they have a top five defense. If we get to the AFC East under the vote an entire programming block to that compelling division coming up in the final hour of the program. Buffalo's championship window in my mind has closed in part because of the radical roster overall but then you're forced to make a decision. Are you buying the notion that Aaron Rodgers at the age of 40 coming off a torn Achilles can stay healthy for the rest of your year or are you more inclined to believe that Miami will finally win a game of consequence in December or January or show up against teams winning records because as much as I love the offensive ingenuity and the swagger Mike McDaniel especially now that he's transformed himself in terms of his hairstyle and all of the swag he's wearing the guy looks like he's straight out of Miami Vice hanging out with Crockett and Tubbs Mike McDaniel's record is basically the same as Brian Rodgers and you know certainly the backstory between Flores and two at this point so if I have to come up with a summary judgment before a single game has even been played if I'm thinking AFC and I have some reservations on the Texans primarily because of the schedule. Although, if I'm going to go back to my fallback position of head coach and starting quarterback to make Orion and TJ Stroud are a potent one to punch, but if I'm thinking about teams that have a realistic chance of making it out of the season to threaten Kansas City out of the Kansas City's biggest obstacles are internal lethargy, a sense of okay as I laid out in granular detail. We didn't do anything of substance until late in the season. We can do it again.
We're going to be just fine. Well, there's a reason no team has ever won back to back to back Super Bowls. It's not only unprecedented. It's extremely straightforward to describe the challenge because of the inherent parody of the NFL and those radical changes year to year. Still, I can't talk myself into a rational explanation as to why the Chiefs are going to make history.
If you think that I'm a blowhard well, I might concede that point or if you think I'm out of my mind pick up the ball. I'm not going to play 4420 47424. I realized I ignored the entire other conference that was by design because coming up, we'll be talking about the NFC East and then in 20 minutes, we'll get to the college football when the world zig. I think the 12 team playoff is a disservice and makes college football less interesting on a variety of levels. I'll explain why coming up 84420 47424 is the number I check out your thoughts on Twitter during every break. So hit me up right now.
X me a BW Weber Weber with two B's as we mentioned in a spotlight. What is typically been the most competitive division in all of sports in my lifetime. We're talking NFC East is lame duck man Mountain Mike McCarthy even going to make it through the entire regular season and is his quarterback Dak Prescott already looking for the exit just getting warmed up on a very busy Labor Day. I appreciate you sharing part of your holiday with us. I'm Brian Weber in for rich. This is the rich eyes and show Let's talk door dash people. If your family's like mine, it probably is.
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Call 1-800 Granger click Granger calm or just stop by one of their local branches. Listeners, please welcome a real finance nerd from our sponsor nerd wallet. Hey, Sean.
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Hey, that's my line finance smarter y'all nerd wallet compare Inc and MLS 1617539. Welcome back to the rich eyes and show radio network. I'm Brian Weber and I'm proudly sitting at the rich eyes and show desk furnished by Granger with supplies and solutions for every industry.
Granger has the right product for you call click ranger.com or just stop by 844204 7424. If you are bashful if you are reticent, I understand or if you don't want to talk to the B team and want to wait for the return of rich, you don't have to wait too long. I'm going to mention the crew back with you tomorrow.
So if you want to lurk in the shadows of social media, you have another avenue to pursue hit me up on the X platform that's BW Weber Weber with two B's in 30 minutes because I supersize that monologue to start the program. We'll start our number two, focusing on rookies, a sparkling class of rookie quarterbacks and rookie broadcasters. I'm surprised Bill Belichick is not filling in, given his pension for grabbing every freaking broadcasting job sent his way, the man who mumbled for a living with intent. He had that little regard for the media, and I know why he did it because in his maniacally focused mind, he thought, if I give these people nothing, I will be out of that room four minutes earlier than other coaches. That's four minutes more I can devote to breaking down tape.
Aha, competitive advantage. But what a disconnect between a guy who said nothing by design, who now will come to your house with a whiteboard and break down your kids' peewee league football with X's and O's. We'll talk about Belichick and Tom Brady makes his debut coming up in one of the more intriguing matchups on Sunday. It is Dallas on the road at Cleveland, so let's talk Cowboy football with the goal to shift our attention to what happened across college football dating back to Thursday as Deion Sanders flirted with disaster. Arguably should have lost that game to North Dakota State, but it should be fairly self-evident by now. A, I take the job way too seriously.
B, I have no life. So if you missed anything in college football, I watched it. We'll talk about Dabo Swinney being annihilated because of his defiance.
He just will not use the transfer portal. I understand his justification, but when you get stomped by Georgia in fairness in the second half, the way the Bulldogs did especially on defense, and look, there's no shame in losing to Georgia. They don't lose in the regular season.
That was their 40th straight regular season win, but the disparity in talent level was so stark that Dabo just can't come up with a justification anymore for being so stubborn. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about Miami and Florida.
That was quote unquote a renewal of a rivalry, and now it seems like just a matter of time before Billy Napier is dead man walking and the fallout from USC LSU last night in what was a magnificently entertaining game. But with Brady in the booth on Fox, remember, he cannot participate in production meetings because he's still in the process of becoming a part-time owner or a partial owner and a part-time owner. He's not going to be hands on hand. As a minority investor in the Las Vegas Raiders, the league has understandably seen the potential for a conflict of interest. Brady cannot go into other teams' facilities, cannot participate in production meetings, not even by Zoom for a guy like his former head coach, so meticulous with his preparation. I'm not going to get into how that could impact Tom coming up to start the second hour of the program in less than 30 minutes, but however you view the Cowboys, and we'll see them all across this great nation of ours, take it on Cleveland. I think there are reasons to believe that even though Deshaun Watson was part of what is going down already in the lore of NFL history as perhaps the worst trade ever made, certainly the worst contract to the wrong guy with the creep factor, how do you give Deshaun with the well-documented pattern of off-the-field, egregious behavior that led to the long suspension? How do you give him the singular ability to have a fully guaranteed contract? It is Dallas taking on Cleveland, and we're already on Mike McCarthy. Watch, watch, watch, watch, watch. The season has not even started, and poor Mike, I have a degree of empathy for him.
I'm a human being, after all. Plus, I work in the media. We have even less job security than coaches do, and we're certainly not in the same tax bracket. But the Mike McCarthy situation should have been resolved within hours of the debacle of the playoff game that we all watched at home against Green Bay. And yes, the Packers are an ascending team, and they validated what they were able to achieve in that beatdown win as the road team in Big D by hanging around and making the divisional playoff matchup against the 49ers more interesting than they probably should have been.
This is not an anti-Packer perspective. This is just a latest reminder that the Cowboys, and if I'm saying the team, I mean one guy who wants to be the face of the franchise because of his own ego and his own desire to have constant attention. It's all about Jerry Jones. And if Jerry Jones had an idea of how to run a functional franchise, Mike McCarthy would have been fired within hours of an atrocious loss, especially at home to the Packers. But because the Cowboys work in mysterious ways, here's Mike who's now going to have to endure the slings and arrows of every postgame press conference when the Cowboys lose. Mike, are you concerned you're not going to have the job tomorrow?
He's a mumbler as well. He'll get up and say nothing, but the drama is never going to cease because that's what Jerry Jones wants far more than winning Super Bowls. How else can you describe the Cowboys' offseason? Because if we're going to take Jones at face value, and that's my mistake, I've been doing this long enough and have a degree of intelligence to process things, we should all just tune out Jerry Jones because he makes so little sense. To say repeatedly, going back to the practices of the Senior Bowl that quote unquote Dallas is all in, then try to come up with a word salad describing what he really meant to clean up the mess of doing absolutely nothing in the offseason, other than jumping in the hot tub time machine to get back in business with Ezekiel Elliott and chasing that by signing Dalvin Cook.
Does that make any sense? Well, it's the Cowboys. And Jerry didn't want to pay Tony Pollard. He had to pay C.D.
Lam, you knew it was only a matter of time. And now we're also on Dakwatchwatchwatchwatchwatchwatch. So the question for the Cowboys and Dak Prescott, because I'm not concerned about Mike McCarthy, he's either going to be fired during the season and replaced by Mike Zimmer as the Intermed coach or at the conclusion of the season because the Cowboys are the greatest example of you are what you consistently do. And in the case of Dallas, it's failed to show up in high leverage situations in the playoffs. I think what's much more interesting is the future of Dak Prescott unless his self-identity and the financial aspect of all of the endorsement money that comes with being the starting quarterback for Dallas. And unless that is a priority to him, more so than competing for Super Bowls and gathering every dollar he can because Jara has butchered these negotiations, why wouldn't Dak Prescott at this point play it out and hit the market when he gets to free agency after the season? I understand there is the element of the risk of injury and it would require betting on himself. But because of all of the slow playing and because of the inertia in dealing with Jara, I don't see any real argument other than the injury factor, which, of course, is always something to consider in a collision sport like the NFL. But if you're Dak at this point, why wouldn't you say I'm not revisiting these contract negotiations during the season. I'm all in, quote unquote, on this team.
I want to solely focus on matters on the field. We'll talk again at the end of the year, hit the market and be the most coveted free agent since what Reggie White, who basically invented modern free agency in the 90s with the boatload of money he got to go to Green Bay from Philadelphia. So to me, that's the most interesting thing to track with the Cowboys this year. We know the talent is there.
I never thought C.D. Lamb was going to miss a game because he wasn't going to miss a game check. Micah Parsons has got to get paid at some point, but it's not fantasy football. The Cowboys have shown this repeatedly. And look at what Philadelphia did. We're going to put a pin in the NFC discussion for now.
We'll get back to it coming up in hour number three. Eagles go out and get the splashiest free agent available of them all at Saquon Barkley. They revamped the coaching staff. They bring in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. I like the pickup of Kellen Moore. And unless there is something fundamentally broken in the relationship between Nick Ceriani and Jalen Hurts, I expect this to be a bounce back year for the Eagles at a minimum winning the division. And we'll learn a lot more about Philly as soon as Friday in a juicy matchup against the Packers for the first regular season ever played on the continent of South America in Brazil. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen.
Your voice can be heard at 844-204-7424 or hop aboard on the X platform. It's BW Weber Weber with two B's. We get back to the NFL in 20 minutes to start the second hour of the program straight ahead. All the fallout from a jam-packed weekend of college football. How much was LSU exposed last night by USC? How big a victory was that for? Lincoln Riley, because here in Southern California, the naysayers had been out in force heading into the opener last night.
Plus, is the expanded 12 team playoff really going to be an upgrade? All that and more as we continue on this very busy Labor Day edition of the program. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
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Simple, affordable, reliable. This episode is brought to you by FX's The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow. The hit show returns as the stakes get higher and more secrets are uncovered. The former CIA agent sets off on his most important mission to date, to recover his daughter after she's kidnapped.
FX's The Old Man premieres September 12th on FX, stream on Hulu. Brian Weber always having a good time with you whenever I'm lucky enough to be in for Rich and the fellas. We're live on this Labor Day. You can be a part of the program.
844-204-7424 is the phone number. Conversation never stops on X. B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's, coming up roughly 60 minutes from now. Once we ease our way into the second hour of the program, we'll take you across the NFL with a good friend of the show, Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com.
Final hour, 2.40 Eastern Time. We will focus on college football in addition to what I'm going to handle presently when we are joined by Pete Futek of CollegeFootballNews.com. In 15 minutes, back to the NFL. I open the program, get you fully lined up for what could be the game of the year. It's a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game. Fittingly, it starts this brand new NFL season on Thursday night with the Chiefs hosting the Ravens. If you're looking for bulletin board material, and it does exist. Now, bulletin boards don't exist anymore, but I've covered pro and college sports long enough, especially in the pros when there's so little separation between the teams.
These guys are alphas, always looking for an edge. How about this from an outstanding defensive player for the Ravens as they get set to take on Kansas City on Thursday. Roquan Smith asked by reporters in Baltimore this morning the key to slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs said, quote, stop the run and make them one dimensional.
Good luck with that, my man. And you know I will not do my Patrick Mahomes, Kermit the Frog impersonation. I wouldn't just respect him like the Raiders did.
Nice move, rookie and traded cap. But you know that'll be fodder in Missouri for now before the Chiefs take their talents to Kansas to get more corporate welfare. Let's talk some college football. I have not left myself a great deal of time, so we're going to revisit this coming up in the next hour of the program. Plus, you did not want me to talk too much baseball. I know, I know. I don't have to remind myself.
I am ancient. Great weekend if you love the quantity of college football, not necessarily the quality. For the life of me, I can't understand why the power brokers, and let's just tell it like it is, the sports media power brokers who run college football, the networks before streaming gets involved, that's going to happen very soon, don't spread things out and give us more to watch on week zero. Now week zero arguably had more drama with Georgia Tech, quote unquote, upsetting Florida State in Ireland, phenomenal finish. And it was a real upset because if you care about the view from the sportsbooks, Georgia Tech was a double digit dog. Still, never know what's going to happen.
I know it's a cliche, but there is some truth to it. Week one in college football because there's no preseason. And now with free agency, that's what the transfer portal is, coupled with NIL. These teams are so different year to year, it's going to take them a few games to get an identity and sort things out in terms of roster management. So that gets us to Clemson and Georgia, and I don't want to be trite and saying, OK, hey, nice effort by Clemson. Everybody gets rocked by Georgia, especially, I realize, quote unquote, neutral site in Atlanta. That's a home game.
What is it, 90 miles away from Athens? Georgia loaded once more because Kirby Smart has built a dynasty. Now, he can't keep his players from excessive speeding and he can't keep a handful from being incarcerated. But we're not talking about the academic decathlon here. We're talking about sending dudes to the NFL and stacking national championships. And Carson Beck, outstanding quarterback for the dogs, already in the conversation to be the number one overall pick next year in the NFL Draft. But if you watch any of that game or you just want to listen to the fill in host analysis, I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen.
You can head over to Twitter. It's B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. The old eyeball test.
I don't break down film. I do not pretend to be an insider, but I am older than my energetic delivery would suggest. I've watched a ton of college football, did college football coaches shows and play by play for a long time. If you just watch that game, it was clear, especially in the second half, as Georgia asserted themselves, there was a massive differential in the overall talent level. And Clemson alums like DeAndre Hopkins vented on social media, effectively saying, where's the talent? Specifically on offense. Clemson just does not have the playmakers anymore. Some of that speaks to Georgia's ability to flex their muscle and send a boatload of dudes to the NFL every year. But if you are Davos Sweeney, who's reminding everyone that, oh, not too long ago, Clemson was a lock to make the playoff every year. Well, I got bad news.
We have the shortest attention spans we've ever had. 2019, that's the last season that Clemson made the playoff, is a lifetime ago, especially given the seismic shifts the sport has gone through. So I'm not saying Davos going to get fired. He's got as much job security as anybody based on body of work. But he's distorted the expectations in South Carolina by building them into a national power that the locals aren't going to be satisfied with nine wins and going four and four in conference as they did last year.
And they're going to look for obvious solutions like, hey, Debo, use the transfer portal. Clemson did not add a single player joined only by the service academies with that dubious distinction, and you're only drawing attention to your defiance and being stubborn. You can't tell me there wasn't one guy he could have added.
The fact that it was zero is really just throw it in your face because Debo claims he knows best. Still, even with the lopsided loss, not only on the scoreboard, but in terms of game flow, and it was all Georgia all the time in the second half, Clemson is not disqualified from anything. Because if you're not paying attention, remember, with this new format, the top five ranked conference champions, that includes now a power five outside looking in team, group of five because the Pac-12 is dead. So we're going to get a Boise State or whomever you like from the next tier of college football. Top five highest ranked conference champions get automatic bids.
All right. Well, we've seen Florida State lose a conference game. We just saw Clemson lose. How about an ACC champ with three losses? I think there's going to be massive parity in the expanded Big 12. How about a Big 12 champion with three losses?
Does that do anything for you? There are major flaws in this expanded playoff that I will detail coming up in the next hour of the program. I realize none of you care about it because more college football is good in your mind, but sometimes you got to think about scarcity and putting a premium on the regular season.
We're talking NFL rookies coming up to start the second hour of the program here on the Rich Eisen Show. 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. Tune in next week.
Overreaction Monday, wherever you listen. The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hyatt, movie director James Mangold. I'd want to turn Bob Dylan into a simple character with a simple thing to unlock that then makes you go, ah, now I get him. First time I sat down with him, he said, what's this movie about, Jim? It's about a guy who's choking to death in Minnesota and reinvents himself in a branded place, becomes phenomenally successful, starts to joke to death again, and runs away. And he smiled. He was like, I like that. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.
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