Joe Thomas: Lions Are The Best Team In The NFL

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Live from BMW Welt in Munich, Germany. Belichick is now that guy. Is he looming over this process right now? Do you think, Tom?

Every discussion I have, that's one of the first ones that everybody brings up. Belichick, where is he going? Jacksonville.

Do you think Doug Peterson really gets fired? Today's guests, pro football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, pro football Hall of Famer and two time MVP Kurt Borner, NFL Network host Colleen Wolf. And now it's Rich Eisen.

Yes, indeed. Welcome to The Rich Eisen Show live on the Roku Sports Channel from Munich, Germany, inside the iconic BMW world, or as the locals call it, BMW Welt. I am your humble host, Rich Eisen.

We've got Chris Brockman and TJ Jefferson here in Germany with us and you wherever you are at 844-204-RICH. Number to dial right here on The Rich Eisen Show live on the Roku Sports Channel, live on this Rich Eisen Show, terrestrial radio affiliate, smart enough to have a Sirius XM Odyssey. Tune in and more. We say hello to anybody who's listening on the Cumulus Podcast Network to this show, all three hours available through any way you get your podcasts. And I need to just describe the scene to everybody here because this is a first for us in many different ways. It is the first time that we are broadcasting The Rich Eisen Show internationally. We've done many remotes before, but this one is unlike any other. We are in Germany, in Munich, Germany, where I'll be calling the Giants and the Panthers live on NFL Network or right here on the Roku Portal.

You can stream it on NFL Plus. It's the first time we've ever done a show at night because wherever you are taking in this show in the United States, East Coast, West Coast, the sun is shining. Here it is not. It is, well, I mean, it wasn't shining during the day either, but it's a nighttime show. It's six o'clock local time here in Munich, Germany.

So those are two firsts and here's one more first for you. This is the first time in 10 plus years that I have hosted The Rich Eisen Show jet-lagged out of my gourd. I am absolutely jet-lagged out of my mind. I literally flew in from the United States, landed about three hours ago, and here I am.

So, you know, caffeinated, fired up, rocking like a hurricane. We've got three in, this is our studio. It's our studio, so yes, in studio. In Welt? In Welt guests. They will be in Welt with us here in Munich, Germany. Joe Thomas, who I'll be straight up with you, I asked to show up in Lederhosen.

I don't know if he's going to actually do it. Last time I saw him in Munich two years ago when we were broadcasting the Bucks and the Seahawks back back home to everybody else, Tom Brady and Pete Carroll. That was just two years ago, by the way, for their respective teams, quarterback and head coach. But last time I saw Joe here, he was in full Lederhosen, like literally like he was looking for a Ricola, blowing into whatever seriously. So we asked him to show up there here in that and we'll see if he walks in in about 15 minutes time in full Lederhosen. Kurt Warner's going to be here in hour number two. I'm broadcasting the Bears, the Giants and Panthers with him later on this weekend. He'll be joining us in studio and Colleen Wolf, who's in town as well, as part of the in-stadium Allianz Arena action. She will be here in hour number three, also a member of our Rich Eisen Show Fantasy Football League.

That is just like everybody else's league, including the National Football League entering week number 10. You guys have been here for a couple days already, right? Yeah, so we got in Tuesday afternoon. We shot some stuff with BMW yesterday. I went to Allianz last night for the Bayern Munich Champions League match. We have had ourself a time so far. It's been awesome. And again, we're going to have a great time here. And by the way, just because we're in Germany, you could still call us 844-204, which number to dial.

International rates do not apply. It's the same old thing. Adam is on hand. Is he on hand? He's there waiting. And Del Tufo's back in the studio.

Del Tufo and Feller, apparently. Oh, is that right? It's a great combination. So, yeah, we're getting ready for this game here in Munich.

Between two and seven teams, one coming in red hot, and the Carolina Panthers having won. That's right. How dare you? How dare you? Please, let me be.

Let me be. The Red Rifle didn't play. They're red hot. And the Giants came close to beating the Washington commanders. And there's two and seven teams here in Munich. Two of seven teams that are two and seven entering week number nine in the National Football League. Or, pardon me, seven two-win teams. There's five two and seven teams and two two and six teams, because they've already had their bye weeks.

A little bit further up the standings, certainly in the American Football Conference. The game tonight that you're going to be able to watch right here on our Roku portal through Prime Video. You're going to be able to watch that tonight between the Ravens and the Bengals. And this is a huge football game, gents, because the last time these two teams faced one another, the Cincinnati Bengals had just come off of their first win of the season, having beaten the aforementioned Panthers. And, you know, it was an Andy Dalton revenge game at the time.

The Bengals had just won to try and start digging out of an 0-3 hole to start the season. They took on a Ravens team that they were up on with eight minutes to go by 10 points. And if you remember this game between Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson just trading one punch after another, the Ravens got an interception of Burrow later on in the fourth quarter, having just scored a touchdown. And then Justin Tucker tied it, and this game went to overtime. And if you can recall, Tucker actually made that field goal to bring it in overtime. And then there was a fumble. Lamar fumbled it in the opening possession of overtime. The Bengals just kind of, you know, fumpered around a little bit, tried to get it a little closer. They ran three running plays.

Didn't make any sense, because the pass had been working. And then Evan McPherson? Well, it was a bad snap. McPherson couldn't make the field goal, gave a short field to the Ravens, and then the Ravens won it in overtime. So if the Ravens win tonight, they will have swept the Cincinnati Bengals. They've already lost to the Cleveland Browns, is one of their three losses on the season. And there's their two games against Pittsburgh still to come.

There's one at Pittsburgh that's next week in week 11, and then a week 16 Sunday nighter in Baltimore against Pittsburgh, which is leading the division coming off a bye with Russell Wilson now at quarterback at 2-0, taking on the Washington commanders later on this week. So if the Ravens win this game, they would be seven and three. They would have won seven of their previous eight games going into their next two road games at Pittsburgh.

And then the Harbaugh, that would be of significance for sure if the Chargers keep on winning. A home date with the Eagles, then there's a bye, and their final four starts at the Giants. And then they have that significant short week scenario that three other teams have.

They're all the four Christmas Day participants that have to play the Saturday before Christmas in week 16, and then the Wednesday of week 17 on Christmas. The other teams are Houston, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. That's that Thursday night, the Saturday night game against Pittsburgh, and then the Wednesday game at Houston before they finish at Cleveland. So the Ravens need this one tonight to keep the momentum going and sweeping the Cincinnati Bengals and basically telling the Bengals you're not getting back to.500. You are not going to have any shot at this division. Good luck to you the rest of the way or the Bengals finally get back to.500.

They will be missing. It does appear T. Higgins not going to be able to answer the bell for a second straight game with that quad injury. T. Higgins had two touchdowns in that week four loss in overtime. And you know how I feel about the Bengals, man.

I just, I cannot quit them. I mean, it's like, it's kind of like, you know, broke back football right now. You know, where I can't quit these guys right now with the Bengals. So I'm still believing in Joe Burrows MVP campaign. I know they picked up Khalil Herbert, which is not going to be that I think significant because Chase Brown is going to be starting right now without Zach. He's going to spell him. He's just going to provide a block, you know, a few plays here and there, a catch here, there, a run.

You know, Guseki, he played great last week. You know, I just, man, can they stop Lamar? Can they stop Derrick Henry? That's the first question one and one A for this defense. And if they can, they have enough offense to kind of stay in this game.

I just, I don't know. Yeah. Derrick Henry ripped off a 40 yarder in overtime after the missed field goal to just set up Justin Tucker for the bunny to win it. And Henry, as we all know, has just been absolutely outstanding.

All season long. He is the leader in rushing yards, the leader in all purpose yards. Saquon Barkley is too. And Barkley is taking on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and the Dallas Cowboys. It's Cooper rush season, TJ Jefferson. I want to get to this with you right now before we bring Joe Thomas out, who is in fact here, but he is not in his leader hose and it's okay. I'm fine with that. It's a little cold out.

You were a little disappointed though. It is cold out. I will say it is chill. But I heard this two stories. One is on the news wires. One is not.

Okay. The one that's on the news wires is that Dak Prescott's hamstring injury is so severe that the hamstring ripped off the bone. Sounds painful. Well, it sounds painful. It sounds gruesome, to be quite honest with you, because you usually want your bone in for your hamstring.

I prefer my wings without bone. Understood. So Dak Prescott is going to be out for the foreseeable future. It's their first of two games against Philadelphia. Then they have a big time game against the Houston Texans that would love to put this star pelt on their wall. And then after that game, they're at Washington, which would love to just put the star pelt on the wall for their rookie quarterback who has been outstanding. And then there's their Thanksgiving game. And if they IR him in advance of this game, it's possible he would miss four games leading into that Cincinnati game in week 14.

It's getting late early. That's what I read on the news wire. What I did not hear on the news wire, but I heard as soon as I walked into BMW veld today is that you have proclaimed that you're off the Dallas Cowboys.

Is that true? Where are you getting your info from the man to your left? Oh, you told him what I said.

Yes, he did tell me this. Look, here's the deal. I feel as though, Rich, I'm being, you know, half of my identity seems to be a Dallas Cowboys fan.

And you have a flag at your desk in the studio. But the fact is the Cowboys, they're not playing well and they're losing and people are starting to associate me with being a loser. And I like to associate myself with winners.

All right. I didn't get this far in life hanging out with losers. So every time people want to like, I'm getting flowers from Carl Anthony towns.

No disrespect. You see, this is what TJ is doing right now. It's very similar to his Price is Right experience, as we all know, did not end well. Is that you're, you're going comedy here instead of actually handling the business at hand, which is you, are you off the Dallas Cowboys after 30 years, you're off the Dallas Cowboys. They've beaten it out of you completely.

Is that what you're saying? Look, when I told Chris this the other day, I was, it came from a place of pain and hurt. Where was this?

Where was it in the airport? We were walking down the street. We were walking down the street at cold Munich night. And I said, you know what, Brockman? I think I, I don't know what to say. Our quarterback's done.

Our season is essentially done. I'm getting clowned on social media. I'm getting clowned in person. I don't like this. Like I didn't do anything to deserve the treatment. I'm getting roses from another man, rich.

And they're laughing at me. I just, I don't think that I'm going to make it Carl Anthony towns. I am sure he is, has a florist for this coming Sunday. Why don't you tell our German fans what happened just in case they, I think it's internationally known that, that Carl Anthony town sent you flowers, 44 flowers, 47, 47 flower. It was 47 flowers in Eagles colors because that's how many points the lions had just beaten the Cowboys with and just nine flowers for the Cowboys.

Cause that's how many points they scored against the lions. But seriously, you're done. You've you've given up the Cooper rush, as you know, has performed very well in these very moments. I'm also under the point now, maybe we should give that arrangement. Beautiful arrangement.

Everybody here in Munich is now jealous. But yes, Cooper rush has let me, let me help. Five and one is a career starter. Great.

Can I help you please help me? So what is more likely that we lose? What's more likely tomorrow? But what is more likely that Cooper rush performs well in this situation?

Okay. Don't forget former Panther Jonathan Mingo is now there to catch pass. Hey man, that's all we needed was Mingo. Mingo is in town. Big addition. Mingo.

Mingo was his name-o. And so seriously, listen, in all seriousness, Cooper rush has performed well in the past in these situations to the point that we have gotten into stupid conversations nationally. I may not have made it internationally, but we have gotten into stupid conversations that Dak Prescott isn't the better quarterback and Cooper rush should wind up getting the full-time job when Dak comes back healthy, which he $60 million a year contract now has made completely moot. Yeah. Yeah. But do we see Cooper rush perform well enough over these next three games to give the Cowboys a shot when Dak Prescott comes back? Okay.

I'm not going to say that it's going to be one of those conversations. Give him a shot. He comes back or this season is over. Let me look at the schedule here, Rich. I just gave you the schedule.

I know the next three games in the reprocess Philadelphia, Philadelphia home. That's a win. Okay. Oh my God. Houston's a win in Washington. I'm back one.

There we go. I'm back for the season's over. Dak's not coming back at all this year. It's rush time. It's rush time.

All right. Why would Dak come back? Because if Cooper rush goes two and two and they're five and seven, I will be stoned. Honestly, Thanksgiving, they play well enough. They win one of the next two at home. They lose at Washington. They go two and two. They're five and seven with five more to go. They sweep them with Dak coming back.

They feel good about themselves and they got 10 wins and they go and that's the storybook. No chance. I like, I like the way you think. I'm, I'm just trying to say that, that that's possible. All right.

Superbowl is back on. You've talked me into it. I don't think it's possible. I don't think, I don't think it's likely. How does that sound? Yeah.

What's more, I don't think so, but I feel, you know, how about this? That outside of the nation's water's edge, you can give up on the Cowboys, but once you return to the United States of America, you have to be back on America's team. So international, I'm fine. International waters, you know, certain, certain rules, certain laws don't apply.

That's true. So I'm just saying, outside of the water's edge, I've got to, you can, you can say whatever you want, but when you get back to the United States, you're back on the Cowboys. And by the time you get back to the United States, you will have already known whether the Cowboys have lost to the Eagles or not. That's a good point because we're going to beat the Eagles and then I'm going to get back on the bandwagon.

If they beat the Eagles, if they beat the Eagles, I'll wear a leader hose. No, as you know, I definitely know the number of a good New York city florist. Oh, please. Oh yeah.

Oh, well Susie will know one as well. We'll hook you up. Oh man. It's going to be glorious. Oh yeah.

It's rush season. And send it straight. And here's what you do. Send it straight to Madison Square Garden. So he waits and we have the Knicks have the floral arrangement sitting right in his locker. You know what you do when you do it in front of Hart?

And by the way, and Hart knows about it and Brunson knows about it because Cal mentioned it on their podcast. I'm internationally loaned. You buy time on the jumbotron. So during a timeout, you troll him during my game. I might need Joe Thomas to loan me a few bucks to be able to pay for that.

Dolan will know where it's coming from. That's true. And you know, my name's Mudd. You're facially recognized to not be allowed. I still got in the sphere in Vegas zone four, but don't talk about it. It's like fight club. Don't talk about it. So anyway, we are here at the BMW veldt the iconic BMW world BMW veldt here in Munich, Germany. It is all good in our neighborhood. Kurt Warner is going to be showing up here in Munich in hour two, Colleen Wolf showing up here in Munich in hour three and sitting right now on our Roku channel.

Green room couch is none other than hall of Famer. Joe Thomas is joining us next. We are off and running here as we're hanging out in Munich, Germany, all the rest of this week on the rich eyes. For business owners like you, the American express business platinum card works just as hard as you do to help you pursue your passions with its world-class business and travel benefits. You can get more for your business wherever it takes you. The Amex business platinum card offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business, enabling you to flex and adapt as your business evolves and you'll earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com so that going that extra mile for your business is even more rewarding. See how the Amex business platinum card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved.

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We're on the Roku Sports Channel here in Munich, Germany and joining us here, our radio audience will rejoin us in less than two minutes time. Look who it is. It's Pro Football Hall of Famer, Joe Thomas everybody. Good to see you Joe.

Thank you for having me Rich. How are you Joe? I'm doing wonderful. Good to see you. Now you lived here with your family for a while? Yeah, so nine months from January through mid-September I was out here coaching in the European League of Football for the Munich Ravens. No kidding.

Lived down the street about a mile so I said I'll just take the subway there. I know how to get to the BMW world. Who are you coaching? So I was coaching the offensive line for Munich Ravens which is one of the ELF teams European League of Football so yeah it was awesome.

Anybody that you see like okay? I'm telling you my linemen, I keep calling my buddies in the NFL. I'm like hey they need a little more development because they don't have the resources and the time that we do obviously in the states but they're every bit as talented as the guys that are playing in the NFL that I played with.

No kidding. As far as athleticism like in Germany they can create linemen and linebackers. Skill guys not so much so you got to go elsewhere for that but if you want big strong tough dudes like Germany's got them. Yeah I remember you know Germany starting to really get some players in the pipeline going to the U.S. going to the NFL and that's is that where they were coming from this league?

Well this league's only four years old so it's really young but I think most of the guys are going a different path than playing in college in the states because you really need that development time that college time because they don't have football tied to schools over here so if you want to play football like in middle school or high school you got to go join a club so there's kind of a barrier to entry there and then they don't have the resources you do like in the states with weight rooms and meal programs and all the things you get going to college so most of the guys that have made that transition successfully have gone to school in the states for college and then made the jump like Bjorn Werner and those guys. Outstanding yeah here we are in Munich you can hear those sirens in the background 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 first of two Hall of Famers stopping by here in studio in our first ever international edition of the Rich Eisen Show live here from BMW Welt in Munich Germany is Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas here and your your duties for the Sunday game is what again? To go have some fun me and Colleen Wolf are going to be the in stadium hosts for the game yeah you know the crowd pump up people the sing-along people and just a little bit of in-game analysis but just trying to have fun and bringing them the crowd into the game so you're saying you're going to be singing Sweet Caroline and stuff like that or Country Road yeah both of them of course the classics that was great the last time we were here when the when the the crowd started chanting and seeing just the the intensity of the fans here it just blew my mind you know two years ago you talk to people that have gone to a lot of games you know if you work in NFL events production like you get a little jaded because you're doing a game every weekend and it's your job but without fail every single one of those people that I've talked to that were at that game said it's one of the top five moments in a football game in their life just because they're playing the song Country Roads and all of a sudden they cut it off and the entire stadium kept singing for like another 30 seconds it was amazing just to hear the passion for the game of American football which is not something that as an American I expected when I came over here right everybody here is locked in like it and and the same thing in London as well I want to make sure that everyone understands is that when you know a big play happens and a flag comes in everybody understands what the flag is mostly for and not they're not still cheering you know inappropriately right they know they know something is significant that's happened fumbles interceptions there everybody is locked in on the rules of football and understanding what it's like in real time watching it cheering at the right time also you know getting upset at the right time it's awesome it's really great to watch man yeah one of the cool things for me when I was living here was you know just getting to know the neighbors a little bit and asking them hey do you know American football what do you know and like without fail the ones that were really interested as you know Germans they love their detail they're really big on like stats and you know the scientific side of things and I ask them you know you used to love soccer but now football is more your sport why is that and they say because they love the strategy of it because it's so complex and so detailed above and beyond sort of what they're used to growing up playing or watching soccer that that's the part that they really have been drawn to more than the big hits which is you know a lot of times as Americans that's first thing we like you know when I was a kid playing football I was like oh let's let's play football because I get to hit people but over here it's really cool because they understand the game maybe at the same level or even better than Americans in a lot of respects how many reps could you give me right now uh because you well the thing is the Patriots need some line help and I'm wondering if Joe had any snaps left that's all I think I got one left maybe maybe like two if uh the first one's a run away from me then I then I can go another one so you get up to 10 365 straight okay yeah I like it he's my agent on the side I like it I heard that right over there well you saw the Patriots in London you called that game on NFL Network is Drake made the real deal what do you think he looks good I mean there's nothing that you've seen thus far that says he can't be a great quarterback in this league decision making accuracy arm strength understanding when to use his legs and when not to like he's really improved so much already in just a couple games as a starter and watching him out there it was it was fun he's a fun watch when he's throwing the ball because he just makes good decisions and when he does decide to take chances he's got that great arm Danny and and you chatted with Jerrod Mayo I imagine before the game as part of your your broadcast meetings and things like that yeah what what can you tell us about about him and obviously he's he ain't he's not Belichick that's for damn sure um but what what what uh what'd you pick up from chatting with with the new head coach because you know talking with Jerrod he started after his football career like in private equity or in like finance and then came back and started coaching and I think he really understands how to get through to today's players and the one thing that he said that really impressed me was he's like I need to get to know my players on a personal level and let them understand that I care about them first before they're going to start trusting me to do what we want them on the field and he said that was a big change from you know even when we came into the NFL I think he's my age or a year younger and I think back then older days in football is just like hey coach he tells me what to do I go do it but now you really got to be able to connect with those players and I think that's one of the things that will make him a great coach down the line. Joe Thomas Pro Football Hall of Famer here in Munich Germany live with us is our first guest our first ever international guest Kurt Wern will be joining us in our number two of this program the best team in the NFL is which right now do you think? The Lions.

You do think so? I think so I think their line play is so superior that if they were matched up against the team like let's say the Chiefs right Chiefs always seem to find a way to win those close games yes comes down to pass rush sometimes at the end I think the Lions offensive line would be the decision maker in that game because they're just so dominant they're so multiple they can beat you in so many different ways and once they get the lead Goff's not making any errors and they can squeeze the ball and run it and or they can protect it if they have to go down the field. Do you think they're the best a line in the national football league?

Yeah I think it's a pretty big gap between them and everybody else and anybody else I mean they have the best tackles in the league they have the best not the best guards but they've got great guards they've got a great center and so they really also play very well together and I think they really fit the scheme that they're trying to run and just they just don't make mistakes and that's really as linemen that's how we get measured. Yeah so you think that they're on the path to win the Super Bowl this year then? Hey I would love since the Browns probably not going to win the Super Bowl this year I can cheer for the Lions because I think there's some brotherhood with those teams that have always been beaten down and then have never won their Super Bowl. So then let's let's extrapolate this out Joe Thomas let's go let's do it so they take on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl or you think the Chiefs get knocked off before the Super Bowl actually hits and if so by who? I think the Chiefs make the Super Bowl you do teams that can find a way to win close games over and over and over again get a belief in themselves that I think carries through in your preparation because you go out and how many times do you see in situations that my coach told me if this happens this is what we should do and it happened and it just happens over and over and over again and that builds such a level of trust between players and coaches that they'll be prepared for anything going down the stretch no matter who they're going to play in the playoffs no matter what style they have to play to go win that game and then of course doesn't hurt having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Well I mean where does a team get that ability to just keep on finding the right combination at the right time and a lot of people think that they're they're just picking locks right now just trying to break into a third straight Super Bowl because the doors aren't completely wide open for them because of how difficult it's looked for them but they're still eight and oh how does a team acquire stuff like that? I think it starts with having a great quarterback that everybody believes in right yeah because that's how you get the most out of your players right there's belief every single day they walk in that building and so all those players are like hey I want to be part of this thing I don't want to be the reason why we get stopped short of getting our goal of winning a third Super Bowl and so they have that daily motivation starts with having Patrick as your quarterback feeling like as long as I do my job he's going to do whatever it takes to win and then it translates from there to like having an amazing coaching staff having a guy like Andy Reid who's done it in so many different ways throughout his career and I think just the stoic seriousness that Andy Reid has and his staff have with their preparation they never let the moment get too big and I think that's what really helps when they get into those situational type football games at the end where they need you know down three we need a field goal to tie we need a touchdown what are we going to do like they've never panicked because they always know like we've been in this situation before we got Patrick at quarterback we've practiced it a million times with Big Red we know exactly what we need to do and how we're going to do it so they've all got that road map built up in their minds. Bills or a team in the AFC North to knock off the Chiefs even though you just gave a very well thought out analysis of why the Chiefs are going to win the AFC anyway yeah I give you choice I give you choice of Bills or an AFC North team to knock them off even if they have to go to Arrowhead yeah would you choose one so it's interesting because the Ravens is that team that you want to pick but their pass defense is so terrible that as soon as in your mind you match them up against a team like the Chiefs you're thinking how do they ever stop Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball and I don't know how they would be able to do it even though Lamar is surpassing his two MVP seasons in multiple categories right now and he's a front runner in my opinion to win the MVP like I don't know how you are able to win if you can't stop the pass in the playoffs because you're going to play great quarterbacks every single week I don't really believe in the Bills I just feel like when you watch them they're a team that seems to be flawed because I don't think they fully believe in themselves as contenders to beat the Chiefs yeah and so I would actually say the Steelers are probably a team that could knock off the Chiefs because you can't exactly say why they win these games you're like I'm not exactly sure why right but they don't make mistakes they don't beat themselves and they play such good defense T.J. Watt the ultimate closer out there on the edge rushing the quarterback would give Patrick Mahomes a ton of problems and if they can run the ball and play tough like sometimes that's a formula that wins games in the playoffs not saying it's going to happen but if I had to pick one of those options that's what I boxed you into doing thank you I appreciate it you know so okay so you would take the Steelers out of those three I guess because we're not including the Bengals in there coming into the Thursday night game needing to get back to 500 Joe Thomas here on the Rich Eisen show I did not include the Texans in that mix and a lot of people thought that the Texans had a chance going into the season to surpass the Chiefs they've just had a real tough time protecting C.J. Stroud yeah and I'm wondering why like what what has happened to that offensive line right now and I don't know if it's Stroud playing less than he did last year playing less than because maybe he's concerned about you know the trash in front of him and I don't mean I'm not referring to his offensive line as such I'm referring to the the lexicon of football there or the fact that he's speeding up because he knows he may have to or it's just he doesn't have time so I'm what what are you seeing out of the Texans yeah it's fixable yeah and that's the problem is if your offensive line's not protecting for you when they're supposed to now you get the quarterback he's looking at his feet he's looking for where are these bodies coming from where am I going to have to escape and so instead of having confidence to go through his reads and his progression he's worried about where the pass rush is and then you lose a guy like Nico Collins and you've seen his numbers drop off because I think in his mind he was like all right if my protection breaks down that's how he's walking to the line of scrimmage every play yeah which is not a way to be as a quarterback but you can survive that if you got a guy like Nico Collins where it's like all right if some bad stuff happens that we're not expecting but I am expecting boom he's right there and so you have that built-in security blanket right there that he doesn't have right now and so he's kind of forced to go through his progressions and I don't think he fully trusts the offensive line to get through those progressions and take what the defense gives him well what you're seeing is it fixable is it when Nico Collins comes back well I mean I guess the protection yeah you know up front is that something that and how does one fix yeah a leaky line how do you how do you do that Joe better players I mean it's really hard because you don't hardly ever see offensive linemen being traded right you see receivers pass rushers because the chemistry that's built between an offensive line it takes months if not years to be really good and proficient and it's not like you can just plug somebody in there so having more experience together can help cover up some flaws because you can play to your strengths as an offensive line for instance if I'm a left guard and I know I'm just not very powerful right I just get bull rushed a lot hey I can still play a little bit lighter on my feet take away some of the speed stuff to the outside some of the quickness stuff and then we can just have my center come over and help and if I'm getting bull rushed he can just tea kettle the defensive tackle that's bull rushing him and just put them on his butt and that guy's going to remember it and then maybe he's thinking the next time yeah I can't take a bull rush anymore because that's their game plan is every time I try to bull rush he's going to come and knock me and so you can kind of play those little games within the games once you have a lot of experience and you've got guys that have played together a long time but that's not something that just happens overnight because you just need that time together who's the guy when you're playing in Cleveland that was just like okay this week I need to get my rest who was that guy when uh Frini Suggs is that right yeah um James Harrison I mean there was a lot of good pass I mean there is a lot of good pass rushers in the league it's it's a great league and those are the most important positions quarterback pass rusher left tackle cornerback so naturally they get paid the most and all the great humans with athletic talent in the United States get funneled to those positions first and then if they can't do those I'll gain weight we'll play something else or lose a little bit of weight and uh yeah that was I said left tackle by the way um but I think with uh with the pass rusher like they're just such a dominant force to be able to change the game and when you're playing a guy like a Frini especially when you're on a team that's not so good and I know hey we might be throwing the ball 45 times today so he gets 45 one-on-one reps now if I had that in training camp that would be a nightmare I'd fake a pulled hamstring or something so I didn't have to go out there in front of the fans and take 45 one-on-ones against Frini uh but that's the life you live as a left tackle let's uh talk about the Browns before I let you go into your music sorry uh I got dinner time everybody look at the time Joe Thomas everybody thanks for coming on uh but um what are you what are your thoughts on the direction of this franchise right now it's as frustrated as I have been as a fan and I include my time as a player because going into the season there was legitimate Super Bowl expectations that was the conversation around town and it's been so bad people forgot about that I mean they were a playoff team last year with Joe Flacco and people thought they were going to have better play at quarterback they were going to have better play because most of the team was going to come back and typically when you have most of your team come back you take a little step in the right direction and so I think it's just been beyond frustrating because expectations were up here and they're struggling to beat bad teams I mean they are a bad team really and I think it's frustrating because there's not a clear direction because of the salary that the quarterback has Deshaun Watson you don't know what you can do and then you look okay well let's just say this off season we're going to try to replace Deshaun and get a young quarterback in the draft now of course the draft is always a crapshoot we don't really know but it's not like the draft analysts are telling us there's tons of great quarterbacks that are going to be coming out of college this year and surefire guys that can change your franchise overnight so I don't think there is a clear direction if it's a full tear down or if they just think hey this year was an anomaly we can tweak a few things keep a lot of the same guys together and just try to survive with a small cap and hopefully you get different results yeah I mean tweaking a few things would probably mean keeping Deshaun Watson and Andrew Berry after sending Zaderia Smith to Detroit Amari Cooper to Buffalo he had a press conference on Wednesday and had this to say on the subject of Deshaun really our focus with Deshaun I would say for any player with a season editing injury and a major injury is is first and foremost with the recovery and to make sure that he gets healthy from the achilles injury you know everything else we'll deal with at a later moment have you assessed how he played though before he got hurt yeah I would say you know more broadly Tom we didn't play well we haven't played well as a team and we haven't played well as a unit on offense and I think oftentimes when you don't play well on offense obviously your starting quarterback and your play caller will get the most you will get the most criticism but the reality is offense is it's it comes down to organization and synchronous synchronization and you know there's just a lot of shared ownership across the different position groups in terms of why we didn't perform a big we'll see on having Watson back as the quarterback next year yeah I mean would you like what would you counsel on that front Joe it's such a unique situation right because of the guaranteed contract because of the salary cap hit it's not like you can trade him if you cut him then the rest of the salary accelerates it's sure it's almost impossible right so it's almost like you have to understand he's going to be on the team do you think he's going to be able to recover enough and bounce back not only just from the injury but as a player because when he was out there there was some good but more bad than good so that clip was like a minute and basically he said maybe but we're in a tough spot because it's not like you have a an easy answer like sometimes you can say as a franchise all right we know that if we trade a bunch of guys cut a bunch of guys we'll have a bunch of salary cap space we can sign people in free agency or we can pick up a bunch of draft picks and then we can change the roster like that they don't have either of those two traditional options really available to them and so it almost seems like it's going to be a we'll see probably go with what we had this year and hope for better results and tweak some things on the edges maybe tweaking the the game plan or the scheme to make sure it's what worked with Flacco and what Stefanski is known to call and his strengths and basically tell Deshaun to commit to that i mean is was that an issue that we were seeing in the first half of the season yeah so that was one of the things i listened to Andrew Berry's press conference because i'm brown's guy and uh thank you and one of the things he did say he was kind of talking about why the team has struggled so much and i think it seemed like he was not placing the blame but explaining it a little bit that they brought in Ken Dorsey to be an offensive coordinator because they wanted to develop an offense that was maybe different than what Stefanski had done previously by having more uh shotgun offensive plays which is what Deshaun's more comfortable with a little bit more of some of the things that um Ken Dorsey did when he was in Buffalo and get away from the under center play action which is what Stefanski's history has been um with Joe Flacco and i think he he mentioned how slow people were to try to understand kind of what they were doing and maybe they didn't have everything fleshed out by the time the season started because they didn't know what guys were good at what guys weren't as good at and so i think part of this might be hey let's not scrap the offense but let's make sure we really take a critical look at what we're doing and what we're asking these guys to do scrub down and find out all right what are the core concepts that we are good at that Deshaun can do with this roster of guys that we have and then maybe sort of extrapolate and highlight those things and just get rid of some of the stuff that they were having a hard time picking up on to me it would just be and i don't know if i'm oversimplifying it it would be here's what we're good at what the two-time coach of the year kevin's defense is good at yeah right you know that's what we're good at and and we have seen the good we saw the good in deshaun watson before in the game that he got hurt against baltimore he was the deshaun like that's as close to the texans deshaun watson that we've seen he was terrific and then all of a sudden it's like he's hurt like oh my gosh he's not only hurt he's hurt for the season yeah and then we saw what flaco did we saw what jamis winston did in his first start although albeit not the second yes but we did see like there are things that can be done yeah and let's do those is that oversimplifying it or no i think that's a great analysis and i think potentially what they're going to do this off season is say deshaun we know you're comfortable in the shotgun yeah but we're just going to play under center because that's what stefanski knows that's what he's best at that's what these guys it just opens up so much more that you can do in the rushing game when you are under center because when you line up in the shotgun defense immediately has that checklist in their minds of things you can't do anymore yeah because the running back is not right behind the center so they have so much of an easier time to be able to read and react when you do line up in the shotgun because you have a much fewer things in their menu of run plays that you can do and so i think they're probably just gonna they haven't told me this but i'm i'm thinking like you are like hey sorry deshaun you're just gonna have to learn to play under center because that's what we're gonna do and we've proven we saw last year yeah this is just not an offense that's good enough to play out of the shotgun all the time we need to go back to doing the fancy stuff i'll see you in the arena sir on sunday thanks for coming in my pleasure thanks for having one and only hall of famer joe thomas helping kick off our shows live from munich germany when we come back we'll hear what's going on in chicago with caleb williams i've got my power rankings and then we've also got kurt warner stopping by that's how we're rolling here on our first day yeah where's the leader hosing man it's coming out later yeah just wait just wait when you think about businesses that are selling through the roof like aloe or skins sure you think about a great product a cool brand and brilliant marketing but an often overlooked secret is actually the businesses behind the business making selling and for shoppers buying simple for millions of businesses that business is 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purchase that's bombas.com slash listen and use code listen at checkout so i tell mark norman and shane gillis my two openers yes i say hey we're doing the mullet arena we'll do two shows we do one show saturday night sells out at friday sells out out wednesday at thursday doing four shows that guys is a little treat super bowl tickets on me good seats you need 125 000 dollars well you're going for the primo primo yeah i didn't i didn't know my wife called and she goes they just took 125 000 out of our account is there something going on you need to talk to me about something are you going to south africa for a month i was like no we're going to the super bowl i don't even like either of the teams this is the rub oh no they don't tell you your seats until friday get out of here you don't know where you're sitting i don't even know if i gave the money to oh my god i don't even know so you you think bitcoin's gonna really do well i hope this money turns out matt damon said we're cool i heard don brady's involved this should be a new win-win i'm sorry i'm laughing so hard and crying i don't even know who i don't even know when i get my summer oh if i have bad seats i'm gonna be living oh my god in phoenix felt when we were there for the super bowl oh my gosh absolutely hilarious back on the rich eisen show here in munich germany hey friends if you haven't noticed basketball season has gotten underway and game time's new feature game time picks makes it even easier to see your favorite teams play live game time picks i've been telling you put it on your mobile device near you and start buying tickets because game time picks filters out the fluff shows you only incredible deals on great seats you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets there is also that feature that allows you to see the court view from your seats so you can pick your ticket based on how great the view is and of course maybe how uh how priced it is and so the all-in pricing feature gives you the total up front there's no surprise fees at checkout take the guesswork out of buying tickets right now with game time picks download the game time out create an account use my code rich for twenty dollars off your first purchase terms apply visit game time.co for details again create an account redeem my code rich twenty dollars off download game time today what time is it game time christopher had this been just an any old thursday show we're sitting there in our el sagundo studio you'd be fresh off talking about how the celtics losing to the golden state warriors didn't mean anything because jaylen brown was hurt correct right and then that had nothing to do with any chip on the shoulder with steve curr that was being in there and jason tatum led the team in scoring didn't matter he was great last night this morning whenever the game was played understood i know you get you kind of lose on that when you when you look at your app right here and like oh they're tipping off at 2 a.m wait a minute two in the morning what the hell's happening oh yes they you're it's the local time here yeah exactly so uh long story short um you know uh the warriors have started off quite well in this nba campaign uh almost as well as your uh is your celtics seven and one five on the road warriors definitely one of the surprise nba teams i think we can say that without a shadow of a doubt i know and curry looked pretty darn good and draymond green's playing and the rest of this team is jelling and buddy hill shooting the lights out i was just you know uh i did watch some of that game a little bit uh with my uh the the wi-fi connection before um passing out on the flight over here um and uh i was looking for um the chip shoulder of number zero um but uh couldn't find it couldn't find it last night um and i'm just wondering if the fact that the celtics didn't beat the warriors with that chip on jason tatum's shoulder that it's entirely possible that there is some discussion within that locker room at steve kerr being there uh about the minutes um that uh that jeru holiday got derek white didn't get but he did get to go instead of jaylen brown i'm just wondering if kur's appearance in front of them sparked any of the controversy that we're the only show that's uh pointing out i'm wondering if that you're saying i completely made this whole thing up is that what you're saying oh no i'm just saying i i'm i'm just saying if what you you're saying is the truth then last night you know the celtics would have actually held serve on their home floor well tandem can't do it by itself he let all scores last night well it just shows you what happens when he gets the minutes five of ten from three right you play the guy who's a top five player he plays like a top five player okay but not not enough to warrant olympic well they scored the warrior scored 118 he's gonna score 119 no no there's other there's other olympians on the team as we know there's one one who's not an olympian he didn't play last night the nba finals mvp didn't play what do you want what do you want him to do i mean it's also november whatever day it is we're good not worried celtics gonna repeat it's all good yeah leave the worry to me because in addition to me being told let's talk about this guy's as a loser for the cowboys i got two basketball teams and they both stink so i mean like i should just stop watching sports yeah playoff p wound up uh in uh intuit dome last night i mean i would i was going to be at the game except that was walking around these munich streets okay and here's the other thing about joel mb like he hasn't played yet this year and he gets suspended for his interaction with the reporter in the in the locker room he gets suspended three games this is you want to you want to punish the guy make him play three games in a row well here's the deal rich is it that's a punishment that is a punishment three games after the punishment was doled out or the three games where he actually is going to suit up and like no you're not going to play like i want to hear about this dude ever again to win something substantial listen the dude has broken his face twice rich and he played get out of the second round he's dislocated his fingers he's messed up his knees like and he sent those out mb last time we saw him i think he was starting for the olympics he got olympic run unlike some people on the team you know and that's that's that we're just not worthy of those minutes i guess apparently not get out of here joel i love taking our stupidity on the road across the pond and deep into europe this is fantastic all right my power rankings the latest from the chicago bears and then kurt warner coming up hour two still here on the roku channel by the way i just looked up and i'm like it's dark and i'm in my mind i had to process oh yeah we're not do we have a shot can we show a shot of of the roof here in bmw veldt can we show that it is tripping it's like we're inside of a space station it really is it it looks like a planetarium right you know that we're in the midst of a planetarium i'm gonna look up and look at the octopus it's so fine it's so cool my gosh it is amazing i walked in here and the first thing i thought was we're so fortunate with our partnership with uh you know the roku channel and um and roku and the hard-working team that says you know uh let's fix you fix you up with bmw and bmw wanting to be fixed up with us and all that stuff and i honestly came in this room oh by the way yeah how about that how about that brand new uh bmw electric i-5 i showed that to koop on the phone on a facetime he goes oh dad that's the electric i-5 um which is i'm like yes that's terrific you were from a distance and he called it it's it's great so um at any rate it's an all electric but i i came in here and i thought to myself self we've had a great run and we plan on having great runs to come will it get any better than bmw veld i just don't i don't know unless we go out in outer space i mean listen i said we will not do the show from uh from munich unless we get an all-electric bmwi 5 and a show color that's matt finish electric matt blue and there it is a brand new car something tj didn't win and isn't gonna get now hey it's rich eisen here join me and my compadre chris brockman every monday on the overreaction monday podcast rich jamus has taken the browns to the playoffs dude why can't they win seven eight games to finish the year why not i'm not saying it's no why not but this is a definitive statement that's clearly an overreaction and it's perfect fodder for a show like this one i appreciate you coming out of the gate hot come react or overreact with us overreaction monday wherever you listen it's game over over man