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Visit Amazon.com slash Prime to get more out of whatever you're into. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rush back to throw, looking left throws. And it is intercepted. Picked off by Gino Stone.
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Joe has the football. He'll look to throw. Fires a pass.
Caught by Giammarche. Touchdown! A 40-yard strike. Earlier on the show, NFL on Fox analyst Rob Gronkowski. Coming up, Steelers defensive tackle Cam Hayward. SMU head coach Rhett Lashley.
Comedian Sam Murrell. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Now at number two, the Rich Eisen Show on the air.
844-204 Rich. Number to dial. We've got Tom to chat with you. It's an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday segment.
That's coming up in just a short amount of time. We just said goodbye to Gronk and one of the best in the National Football League. On off the field is joining us right here right now to kick things off for the 10-3 AFC North leading Pittsburgh Steelers, the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner Cam Hayward back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Great to see you, Cam. How you doing, sir? Great to see you too, Mr. Eisen. How you been? I'm doing fine. Are you zooming in from the Not Just Football podcast with Cam Hayward set right now?
Is that what you're setting up? I am. I am right here in the environment. It's a good place to be. How do you enjoy doing that? Do you like doing it? I enjoy doing it a lot. I've been trying to get you on. I'm just trying to figure out a week you're not busy. Well, Cam, I'm right back at you, by the way. Anytime. You know that.
You've been always so kind to me and, you know, I'll do it anytime you want. Besides Michigan Week. Besides Michigan, Ohio State. Yeah, I don't think you want a piece of me right about now in that regard.
I heard. Yeah, I've been doing a lot of talking with my chest now, but let's talk about your team. You guys are balling out right now. You've been in locker rooms, 11 and 0 locker rooms in Pittsburgh.
Where does this one rank right now for you, Cam? Man, when you look at this team, we have, you know, a really good patient offense, you know, with Russ at the helm, you know, having Najee run the ball, George Pickens, Pat Fryer-Muth, sprinkling some Jay Lenoir in there in an offensive line that just keeps growing. On the other side of the ball, you got a defense that's just hungrier than ever.
You know, we are hopefully gearing up for, you know, a stretch drive right here. But, you know, you got TJ, myself, Minka, Alex Highsmith, Patrick Queen, Dante Jackson, you know, Joey Porter Jr. We got a multitude of guys that, you know, are all just trying to make a name for ourselves as a defense. And then you jump on the other side and you got our opportunistic special teams. I can't say enough about how good they've been this year.
You know, Miles Killebrew, Chris Boswell being accurate as ever. We have a complete team and, you know, that's showing up on Sundays. And then obviously your coach, who you know I adore. And I just want to get to this crucial part of your season, certainly from my position, sitting here in front of a microphone talking about it for a living. When Justin Fields is 4-2 and then gets switched out for Russ, I was sitting here saying, you know, why change? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, you got a 4-2 kid here making the most of his opportunity and then they switch it. Obviously Mike has the ability to do something like that and the foresight to do it. But you clearly didn't know. Nobody knew that Russ was going to play in the manner in which he is and then go 6-1 after that with lots more to go.
That's my long wind up. Here's my question. It's like, what was it like though for you, veteran, on the defensive side of the ball? What was happening in that locker room when Mike made that switch, Cam? You know, I think he approached it in a way where Mike T was transparent to begin with. He said, we have two quarterbacks that could start anywhere and I'm going to give Russ an opportunity here. The thing he asked from everybody was, make him look right in his decision. And that's our job week in and week out. So there was never a question of us questioning what he wanted.
It's just, we got to make this guy look right. Russ and Justin have handled it beautifully. They're always communicating. They're always talking.
We understand that we're going to need both of these guys to get to where we want to get to. So Mike just came in and said, did he announce it? That, hey, we're switching to quarterback? He did.
He did? Yeah. In a team meeting in front of everybody?
Team meeting. Okay. And did he in fact say, make me look right? Is that what he said? Cam, or you said that? I think we said it, but it was along those lines. But you know, I think for the most part, Mike T is like, I make the decisions. It's up to us to make them look right in those. Okay. Give me an example, Cam.
Cause we saw it on Hard Knocks a couple of weeks ago with Nick Herbig, another kid on your defensive side of the ball, balling out where Mike was hyping him up all week to go against Zeus Brown of Cincinnati and hyping him up and saying, listen, they got this guy cause High Smith was basically abusing the line. And it's your job now. This is your job this week.
I want to see it from you. And then Herbig comes up with a big sack force fumble, big, huge play for you guys. And it happened. And, and I was sitting here saying that this is a point of, of why he's such a great coach to tell a team, this is the way it's going to go. And if you execute, we will win when it goes this way. And then it happens.
Did he ever do that with you, Cam? You got a good example in your career where Mike did that maybe early on in your career, told you this is the way it's going to go. Not even if it's just you with the team that just sticks out with you, this is the way it's going to go. And it went that way. You know, I think it's come to like that a lot not just in my career, but a lot of guys you know, over the years even looking back at the Nick Herbig situation, it wasn't just hyping.
It was manifesting. You know, it was telling Nick that you're capable of doing everything you want on that field. Once we get to Sunday, you know, I talk about, you know, we've had, I remember one year playing Baltimore, and we were just talking about it's your contemporaries, not only your position, but your contemporaries you play against, and they can't live together. And I remember it was funny, we were talking about Najee versus Patrick Queen. And, you know, my team talked about both of you guys can't remain in the AFC North. And look how it worked out. We now have Najee and Patrick Queen in the AFC North for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So it was, it's fun to see those comparisons he brings up.
And it's a level of competition, but it's also the level of, man, we got to get this now if we want to get to where we want to go. Year 14 for you, Cam Hayward. Give me the time where you realized T.J. Want could be special on the line with you? Oh, I would say, you know, I would say my, his rookie year, he was playing on the right side. I know he didn't enjoy it as much because he has all the love on the left side. But on the right side, he was the way we would communicate, you know, the way he was an upper level thinker at such a young age, you kind of knew he was already special. You know, the way you communicate with stunts, the way he was approaching the game, the way he asked questions. And then now you just watch year in and year out.
You can't say enough good things about his study habits, the way he prepares for a game, the way he dissects an offensive line quarterback. And, you know, you're not surprised once you get to Sunday. And just take me, if you don't mind, into the defensive line room for a week like this, you got Jalen Hurts, you got Saquon Barkley, right?
But then obviously you're on the west side of the state, they're on the east side of the state. There's only one trophy at the end of the day here, right? Yeah. But walk me through what is it like in the defensive line room on a week like this, you and Highsmith and Watt and the rest of these guys, knowing that you can truly affect the final outcome of this game as a unit, Cameron? Well, Mike, he already said to us, he was like, get ready for the state championship of Pennsylvania.
So we're looking forward to that. But I think as a defensive line, you relish this opportunity. You want to play against the best. Saquon is the best running back in the National Football League right now. Every week there's a different highlight of them, not to mention a strong offensive line, two great or three great wide receivers in Dotson, Smith and Brown.
And distributing that is, you know, MVP type of quarterback in Hurts. So we relish this opportunity to play against these guys. We understand it's a big, tall task, but we embrace that. And, you know, it comes down to our level of prep during the week and then we get to have fun on Sundays. And then we all know what happens if, you know, the Eagles need one yard, right?
Half a yard. We all know what's coming. How do you handle what's coming, Cam? Because it's coming right at you pretty much.
I mean, you are right in the middle of this. You know, I think the main thing we can do, we got to stay low. We got to drive our feet. Most of the time you see these guys that dive, you know, they just lunge.
And, you know, it's that second wave of the tush push that usually gets you. So, you know, it's not just going to be the D-line. Linebackers are going to be able to fall over top. It is a group effort. And, you know, once you stop that, they've got another playoff for that.
So we're going to have our hands full, but looking forward to it. Cameron Hayward here on the Rich Eisen Show. The reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner right here on the program.
32 men got named as finalists nominees for this year's Walter Payton Man of the Year award. What is your message to those gentlemen that have been so honored, Cam? I think my message is as players, we are competitive and we all want to win. But over my times being nominated, you start to realize it's not about even winning. It's about recognizing what the great work we're doing across the country and being thankful to be amongst that group. You know, when I won, I almost didn't feel worthy because there are a lot of guys doing a lot of great work. And so you appreciate, you know, being amongst those guys and just keep doing the work.
We don't do it for the notoriety. We do it because we want to help out others. And when you see that patch on your jersey and you're putting it on, you see it hanging in your locker every single week, what do you think of? I think about the village that helps get it done. You know, not just me, you know, my mom, my family, my teammates, the community of Pittsburgh and Atlanta where I grew up. Everybody's had a hand in me, you know, succeeding off the field, but often, I mean, on the field and off the field. And we do it together.
And so when my foundation succeeds and we're able to help out people, it's because of the village gets it done. And, you know, Whitworth won it. Kaleis has won it. You know, I know the MVP is a quarterback driven award, right? Is this a line award? Walter Payton, man of the year, not to get competitive here. Is this a trenches award, Cam? What do you think here? I wish we had a trenches award.
You know, that might be something you need to work up the ranks, but, you know, I'd be selfish if I said it was a trenches award with a Walter Payton man of the year. I know. See, I shouldn't divide. I should unite here, but that's the mood I'm in right now, Cam. Is there anything else you want to talk about before I let you go today? Anything you want to tell me on your mind?
Anything? How do you feel about the college playoff? Well, see, this man's a smart man. Did you see what he just did right there? He wants to talk about the college football playoff because, well, because guess who's not in it? You see what I'm saying? Oh, Wayne Michigan didn't make it.
I wasn't even referring to that. Oh, is that right? I just feel bad for like teams like Oregon. You know, they win the whole year and they got the hardest, you know, schedule, if you look at it, to make it to the national championship.
I thought that was pretty interesting. Well, I mean, is that because they have to play the winner of Tennessee, the Ohio State University? Is that your point right there?
Because, well, I mean, here's the thing. We did have Ward Manuel, the college football playoff selection committee chair, said that they just ranked them one through 12. And then just the way it all wound up is one plays the winner of eight, nine, right? Like that's what one does. And then two plays the other winners and that's the way it worked.
So that's what he said. For me, I think you should, you know, you guarantee the spot if you win your conference championship, but that shouldn't be indicative of you getting a first round bye. So then that way, that way you clean that up and you reward the teams for what they've done in the season. So where would you place Ohio State then, Cam? I do not think they'd be in the top four to get a first round bye, but I think they'd be in that five to six to seven to eight range right there. Well, and here's the way I would do it, but again, the NCAA tournament for basketball doesn't do it, but the NFL gets it right as far as I'm concerned. See, I mean, that you reseed or you don't reseed. You basically, that you don't, the bracket isn't just the winner of this game plays the bye week team here, the top seed plays the lowest seeded team that emerges from wild card weekend. I kind of dig that the way that works.
I dig that a lot too. That would be my guess that happens in the future, hopefully. Okay. And we'll see. I don't know, but good luck against Tennessee, Cam. I wish you the best of luck in that game. Thank you.
Thank you. We've got some work to do. Well, you do because, you know, I mean, somebody from the big tens got to keep the tradition of winning the national championship going that Michigan started last year. Cam, somebody's got to do with this. There's wow.
Well, there's four. Is it a tradition after one year? It sure is. No, I would call it that. Yeah.
It's got to start somewhere, right? Cam, one year at a time, one week at a time. You know that. I used to have traditions when I was in college too.
I remember those. Well, we're out of time. Geez, look at the time. Cam, I appreciate everything that you've done. And anytime you come on this program, I look forward to watching you ball out the rest of the year and best of luck.
I'll just ask you this question as I send you out the door. What would it mean for you to win the Super Bowl in year 14 in Pittsburgh, PA and have a parade in that Steeler-loving city, Cam Hayward? You know, I think it would just mean we fulfilled a dream that's been not only mine, but not even the team, but everybody in this community. And so hopefully we can live up to that. And I'm sure you're ready to look up there in Philadelphia and see those towels, right?
I understand where you're going. Of course. They'll be enough. You probably got some that live in Philadelphia. You never know.
Oh yeah. And they'll make the drive. That's an easy drive.
That is an easy drive. Take care of yourself, Cam Hayward. And everybody, please, I would love to be on your pod for real. Okay. Sounds good.
Let's connect. Not Just Football with Cam Hayward on SB Nation. Everybody check that one out and check out Cam in Philadelphia this weekend for the 10 and 3 Pittsburgh Steelers. Thanks again, bud. Thank you.
Right here on The Rich Eyes and show Cam Hayward, everybody. There he goes. There he goes.
I mean, he was 4-0 against Michigan. That's what I know. I looked it up. Trust me. Trust me.
I looked it up in advance, getting ready. That's what I thought. He said, what do you think of the college football playoff? Which I thought was a way of saying who's still playing and who isn't. Now he was trying to be professional with you, but you on the other hand.
No. I understand. I understand where you're going with that one.
But I just love that story about Tom on there. That he's like, we're going to go with Russ and it's up to you to make this decision look good. Man. He takes it, he lets the guys know what it is, and then he puts it on their shoulders to make it look good. Yeah, he can only do so much. Well, when you've been the coach for that long, you have the... You do have, but that's what it takes, man. Stability, the confidence of ownership to make a move like that. It matters.
It cascades down. Think about it. Do you think Parsons would walk...
I should, I'll screw it. Do you think Parsons would walk off the field under the situation in this place where the coach has been there forever and the coach has contract... I'll say this about that.
Years left, and this is not a shot at McCarthy, but when you do not sign your coach beyond the year, you are inviting these questions and you are inviting this activity. Okay, two things. Potentially. Right. With Micah, as far as I saw, the clock was ticking. It was 10 seconds and the clock was ticking and he was walking off. I'll just say that. Two, look at the stuff George Pickens has done.
There's always going to be someone who's going to, you know, not walk... Well, test the patience or not. So yeah, I mean, I could see it, but like, I wouldn't bet that you'd see it twice. I guess, you know, Antonio Brown did once upon a time have a Batmobile and Facebook Lived. Yep. You know, in the locker room.
So I shouldn't... So I'm saying it wouldn't happen more than like once. It does matter that coaches can make decisions like this because they know ownership has given them the trust and the contractual backup. And the free rein, which Mike doesn't have. Did anybody think Russ would win six of his first seven?
No. Honestly, like at four and two, it'd be like, good luck. You know, you know, they would sign for matching the four and two to go eight and four. I see what the schedule was.
Well, that's what we talked about before the season. The back end of the schedule was very, very difficult. He took on the two New York teams first.
I remember this off the top of my head. Then they had to buy them. Then they won in Washington, Baltimore. They won that one. They lost in the snow in Cleveland. And then they won their last two at Cincinnati and Cleveland. And now this is the one, this is the rubber meets the road, man.
Black and gold. Here we go. This is it because they play on Christmas, which means it is now time to hit the Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday, short weeks, next two weeks after this one are short. Well, the next four. Well, the next two weeks are short at Philadelphia. Then the short week at Baltimore.
And then the short week home for Kansas city, Saturday to Wednesday. And you take a look at the other teams that are involved in this Baltimore, Kansas city and Houston, and their stretches are not, this is the, this is the toughest because you're taking on the 11 and two Eagles. Then you're taking on the eight and five potentially after Baltimore comes off of its by at the giants, you're taking on the nine and five Ravens. And then you're taking on the Kansas city chiefs who could be, who knows what probably what 14 and, and one at that point in time, because Kansas city's next two games are at Cleveland and home for Houston. And then you look at this Houston's stretch, they're home from Miami at Kansas city and Baltimore. So the Steelers play both Kansas city and Baltimore, just like Houston. It's just, instead of Miami, Pittsburgh's at Philadelphia.
And that's a, it's a pretty tough stretch. And and then they're, then they finish up home for Cincinnati, which we'll talk about in a second. But we were always saying, if you put up the Steelers schedule one more time here, we were always saying, Hey, they better make hay before they're by in the first eight weeks, because after they're by, and we were even saying that we were saying this after they're by, well, they're at Washington, which in our minds before the season was a winnable game.
But when the game actually hit, well, much tougher contest. And then after that, every game is a division game with the exception of at Philadelphia and home for Kansas city. Their entire division schedule is after that. And they hit that part of the schedule and they hit that part of the schedule where it's like week 10 on, they hit it at six and two. And then they were four and one in the first five games of that post bi-week stretch. Steelers fans would sign for that in a heartbeat, especially with a seamless transition from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson and the improvement they were hoping for on offense when they did it. A plus so far.
Take a break. We'll talk about the Bengals and their playoff possibilities along with overreaction Monday on a Tuesday right here on the Rich Eisen Show. 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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That's OReillyAuto.com slash E-I-S-E-N. O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. As many of you clearly know, I love going to watch football live. There's nothing like it whether it's college football or professional football. There's nothing quite like the excitement of being in the stadium and game time tickets and game time picks through game time is exactly your way and your gateway to getting the seat that you want and the experience that you'll never forget. Game time picks is a new curation feature that filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't waste a single second searching through thousands of tickets. The all-in pricing feature, that's my favorite. You get to see your total up front, no surprise fees at checkout. With game time you'll always get the lowest price guarantee or game time will credit you 110% of the difference.
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Game time. Where'd the nickname Showtime come from? My godfather, LaTroy Hawkins, him and my dad but really him. They would watch me play and I would make the diving plays and stuff like that in baseball and they said that I was always, it was Showtime when I was on the field and so they always used to call me Showtime, especially my godfather LaTroy.
LaTroy Hawkins, that is a name I have not heard in a while. Okay Patrick, look I appreciate you calling in here greatly and I appreciate the text exchange that I had with you the other day where you were gentle in rejecting my suggestion to give you a new nickname of the Patrul. I really appreciate that Patrick.
It was a good idea. I just kind of was playing down the nicknames as much as possible at that point. So it's okay, great. So you're saying you're saying... Whatever works for you. No, no, no, hold on a second. You're saying that it's not a judgment on the actual creativity of the nickname, it's just you attempting to be humble, tamping down any of the accolades right now because you're focused on winning.
Is that what you're saying? Well yeah, I mean just for me in general, I mean it's all about the football, it's all about the team, and so I know that the nicknames are cool things to do with the social media and everything that's around right now, but for me it's all about just being a teammate and someone that's just a part of this organization and a part of a team that wants to win. So if you had an ego, let's just again, let's put it in a box here. You have an ego, you don't care about being humble at all.
You're just pounding your chest. Nickname of the Patrul, do you like it? Be honest, be honest.
I don't know, there's been so many nicknames that came out lately and I'm just going to kind of keep it at just Patrick right now. You're being polite, I like it. Thank you though, I appreciate it. Check us all out on our YouTube channel. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, 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. The Cincinnati Bengals, I mentioned at the very top of the broadcast, bears repeating here, last night's Monday night football game between the at the time five and seven Cowboys and the four and eight Bengals was the battle to emerge as the higher register playoff push candidate. Hey man, I mean they came with the win when they needed it and they're five and eight and they lose and then they lose and then they lose and they lose and you never know, I mean hey. And you could make the case that the Cowboys were the ones, certainly since they entered with a better record, and chasing down the seventh seeded team. The Cowboys have already beaten them and all they had to do is just win out and beat them again and they'd have the tiebreaker over them. And so here come the Cincinnati Bengals at five and eight.
How real is it? Well, one of the teams that they face in the final four games in fact are the Denver Broncos, currently the seventh seed in the AFC. And Joe Burrow and the Bengals at five and eight coming out with that win, getting the break that man, I know Micah Parsons said after the game he feels like that they're what, they're paying a due that's not fair. The Bengals are like hold our beer on that front and they finally got that break when Amani Owari became Leon Lett 2.0 and touched a live football that would have been theirs if they just let the live football go dead. And the Bengals use that opportunity to score and they're now hoping that they win out and nine and eight would be good enough.
Question is, will it? And will they win out? Next game is at Tennessee for them and as we all know, Tennessee didn't score a touchdown this past week in losing to Jacksonville at home in one of those stick needles in your eyes football games that occur every now and then in December. And then next up for them is Cleveland and what better way to just keep the momentum going and welcome Cleveland into your house and say, guess what?
You don't have Joe Burrow's number anymore because Joe is on fire and we sweep you. And that game might be just off the charts if Jamis, if 500-yard Jamis strolls into the stadium right into the jungle. And then that game that I believe will be a Saturday game on NFL Network, that could be a Saturday night game actually. If the Bengals win the next couple and Denver might get dinged up a little bit here and then they're at Pittsburgh.
Oh boy. Steelers could put the final nail in or the Bengals go to nine and eight with a win over Denver in their back pocket. Problem is they have to leapfrog two teams in front of them because leading the sniffing it category in the American Football Conference, outside looking in, are the Colts and the Dolphins. And the Colts have the Broncos first. The Colts are first up against the Broncos and the Bengals.
Let me make a look here. They've played neither Miami nor Indianapolis nor will they. So there aren't any head-to-head tiebreakers there. They're going to have to really hope for some results as the Colts after playing Denver. I mean, I mean, they, they, would it be better for the Colts to win for the, for the Bengals here? They'd be seven and seven.
That's the problem. You have to leapfrog that team and they're, they're now staying in front of you. And then the Colts play Denver, Tennessee as well. Then they're at the Giants home for Jacksonville. Colts have a very nice schedule there.
Although, what do you throw records out, right? When the Colts play in division two, who the hell knows? What about the Chargers? Could they fall?
No, I don't think so. I mean, you want to... Well, they're the same, same record as the Ravens and Broncos. Let's take it one at a time. Let's take a look at the Dolphins right there. The Dolphins final four, they're at Houston this weekend, then home for San Francisco at Cleveland and then at the Jets. I mean, it's possible that the... They could lose all those. I mean, or enough for maybe Cincinnati to pass them.
Enough, yeah. You want to look at the Chargers, really? You think the Chargers could fall off the table? Well, it's the three, eight, and five teams.
One of them would have to fall, so I don't know. All right. Can't hurt to look.
I'll buy that one then. Home for Tampa, home for Denver at New England, at Vegas. I don't think they're gonna... It's two and two, maybe at the worst. Yeah, I think, and obviously all you need is 10 wins.
The Bengals can't catch you. Right. So, as I mentioned, higher register, you never know.
But you know what's higher register is the price tag for Jim R. Chase. We just hit that. Then we'll do overreaction Monday on a Tuesday here. How many times do I say into this microphone here, pay a guy early rather than late?
Always want to be early here. No need to let anybody else set the market. I don't know why they didn't sign Jim R. Chase before the season. I don't know why.
Is it possible? Because again, when you give guaranteed money, you've got to put money in escrow. The Bengals just not... If they could take a year off from putting that money in escrow and just, you know, keep it in their own account, would they prefer... Honestly, would they prefer to have that? I don't know. I don't know the answer to it. I don't know why they didn't sign Jim R. Chase before the season. I don't know. I don't know the answer to it.
I'm just throwing things up against the wall. But who could have seen Jim R. Chase balling out coming? Everyone. Do you remember the conversation when they had the draft choice that you take Panace Sewell to protect Joe?
Or do you take Jim R. Chase to give Joe that weapon he knows from college and go off? And they chose Chase. I'm not saying that was the wrong decision at all.
I mean, Detroit loves Panace Sewell. They've turned him into a quarterback too every now and then. Both players have been great.
It's worked out great. And, you know, the offense... Last night, despite Micah and the defense playing well, they didn't sack Joe very much. I mean... He got hit a few times. We're not talking this year about Joe not being protected. We're talking about more the Bengals defense not being able to, you know, provide Joe with more of a lead that he can clearly build with Chase. Correct?
Correct. Jim R. Chase with yet more touchdowns last night, two of them, now has the most touchdowns through four career seasons of the Super Bowl or third most behind Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. He passed our first hour guest Rob Gronkowski with those touchdowns.
I mean, I could go on and on and on. Your fifth career game with 175 or more receiving yards and two or more touchdowns, trails only Tyreek Hill in that department. First player in NFL history with 10 or more receptions, 174, five or more receiving yards and two touchdowns in three games in a single season.
Okay. First player in NFL history to have at least 80 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns in each of his first four seasons. Bengals, the price only going up. And the quarterback seems to have advocated for it from the podium last night. I've been saying that for a long time. He's a special player. He continues to make plays after the catch, before the catch. Any way that you get him the ball, he makes plays. He deserves all he's going to get and more.
Facts. Is Jamar Chase the current leader in the NFL at the wide receiver position of how the hell is he open? Do you have anybody covering him? Are you double teaming him? Why isn't he doubled every play?
You can't play one-on-one. Justin Jefferson had that for a while and then I think he's been doubled. Tyreek Hill had that for a while. Your 88 clubber in Dallas. But Jamar, how many times last night, it's just like, you got digs out there, right?
You got digs and blend. How is he so damn wide open? And then of course, after the Bengals got the gift of a possession, he's wide open and then he pirouettes and just, he runs away from people. Yeah.
So he's not only a great route runner, he's faster than most. Okay. He's awesome. You know what? Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll do overreaction one day on a Tuesday. How about them apples? And then we've got the head coach of SMU football, Rhett Lashley is going to join us.
And also Sam Morrill, the comedian in studio hour number three. Lots more to go. We're at the halfway point of this Tuesday show, but 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 Shopify. Nobody does selling better than Shopify with shop pay that boost conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts are going abandoned and way more sales happening. So if you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell whatever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web, in your store, in their feed and everywhere in between businesses that sell more sell on Shopify, upgrade your business and get the same checkout skins uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Westwood one all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash Westwood one to upgrade your selling today.
Shopify.com slash Westwood one. You met Lala Kent on Vanderpump rules. Now Lala and her friends share everything on Give Them Lala. It is ruined by a proposal story. How Jason proposed. And she was like, he brought in a bunch of bagels. I was like, I have to stop. I will punch you in the throat. If you ever tell this story again and call it a bagel. Now when I tell the story, I go, he went and got breakfast. There you go. Bagels. Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube or search for Give Them Lala wherever you listen.
Hey everybody, it's your boy Rich. Would it be great if I started every segment that way? Sure. Okay.
Awesome. Let me ask you somebody out there all in a text exchange, right? With a bunch of people. One guy never responds. Like I shouldn't say never, like literally out of every 10 texts. One response.
What do you do? You kick that person off the chain? Yeah, he's done.
See you. Well, why? I don't know. Just like, what's the point?
What do you mean? I don't know. They just like to observe. Oh, but if they don't want to respond, what's the point of having them on the chain? Respond to what? To what we're saying.
That's germane. Like we're talking sports. We're talking. This is what's happening right now. But if they're doing like the ha ha's or the thumbs up or whatever, that's nothing. Nothing.
They don't do anything. I don't know. Like a ghost. You've been ghosting.
So there's another way of me saying, TJ, why don't you ever respond to the text exchange that you're on? Like ever. I mean, are we being for real? Yes. For real.
For real. I work with you guys every day. We see each other every day.
We talk multiple times a day and per week on the weekends. It's like I look at my phone and there's 75 text messages like I'm. And then I have my fantasy football group chat.
They've got 70. Do you respond there? No, this literally has this literally happened this week. And then there's another text like I just I don't have the time to go through and read 70 text messages about random thoughts. I've never thought the answer to this question would be I'm too popular. No, no, no, no, no, no.
That's exactly what he said. I'm on too many chains. I'm on too many chains. He's alone and he's not wants doesn't want to respond to.
And I wasn't even like I was hanging out with friends. Do you ever do you ever respond to an Ashton text chain? I mean, we don't really text chains or me and his wife. That's the only ones we're responding. Well, I'm afraid of her. So of course I got.
He's on her fantasy football and to meet him and his wife at TJ Jefferson. And people out there, if you want to call 844-204. They'll agree. You know, you know, people who are on text exchange, group text exchanges who just never respond. Yeah. You're going to find out that the more people are like me than you think, because it's always in a group chat, right? There's always that person who will respond to every single text, no matter what is said.
No, no, no. So there's that person. I don't respond to every single text.
I'm breaking down. But there's like, but, but, but it's also, you know, where we're talking about it on a text exchange, we can bring it like this very conversation to the show, right? Like, so, so, and if you respond in a certain way, then I'll know that you're into something like you have an opinion. Let's we will bake it into the show. This isn't just a, a chitchatty thing.
It's also just making people aware. Like there are times in the, in our text exchange, I will say, let's talk about this Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. Sure.
Okay. See what I'm saying? I was busy on Sunday too. Who's more busy than me on Sunday. And you don't, you, you can't, you, you just sit there and work a favor.
You just sit there and you just press, you press buttons. You know what I mean? Like I'm, I'm, I'm TJ information. I'm talking for four hours, but once the game starts at 10, you're done. Right. I'm done. I'm watching now. I'm watching all that. And that's what we're, what do you think we were doing? Exactly. You're done.
I worked at your show, Rich. You're done. Once that's off the air. Let me just say something to you.
I, I, I, I swear, I understand what I'm about to say is infused, but I'm not just sitting and watching these games, just, you know, like cracking open a beer. Like there's this show. There's Sunday.
Then there's going to be a Saturday. Like I have to take in information again, though. You're taking me not responding personally. What do you think we're doing? Just watching the games.
They're taking it in too. Like you're like you're doing. Right. Okay. Are you, are you honestly, are you sitting there like saying, I'm going to talk about this on the show tomorrow?
I hope so. I mean, I've got three segments during the week that I'm trying to come up with and I'm watching topics. Why can't you just text back?
It's basically what I'm saying. Why can't you just text us back? I was busy on Sunday. I went to a football game. Which game?
The Niners Bears game. Oh, you. Oh, well, look at this guy.
Oh, interesting. So why didn't you say I'm at this game? Why couldn't you share that? Cause that's stuff to talk about on the show. Honestly, the last time I tried to share something with football, with me and my personal life, I was told that as a national sports show, people don't care. So because of that, I now keep it to myself. But you went to a national game that we talk about. I can't, I can't, you know, I can't decide if I bring this up, I might get pushed back.
He's too busy actually attending. That's what I'm saying. I'm glad I brought this up. I'm glad we need to hear it out. This feels like a roast.
Maybe now the next time when one of us goes into, you know, when one of us gets a number retired or something, we'll be better. Let's get it all out there. You literally went to the game? And you didn't text us? Like, yeah, I'm at the game. And you didn't say anything about it?
A photograph, anything? No. This guy. All right, I'm just saying.
Text chains are built for this sort of thing. Let me know. That's all. I'm so confused. This guy. This guy.
Living his best life. I wasn't looking at my phone all the time worrying about replying to, you know, the Vikings to Trey McCarthy or the Giants or Falcons need to start panics. Like these are part, like, am I supposed to respond to this? We are a football show and you went to a football game. Yes. When we go to the Rams game, it's like, hey, we were at the Rams game.
This is what the scene was like. And then when you're not at the Rams game, I'll call you out for that. Exactly. Right. Okay. We get it either way. It's over reaction Monday on a Tuesday. Hit it.
Hit it, please. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage.
This place sucks. Over reaction Mondays. Monday on a Tuesday. I waited. Well done. I was waiting for you to step on it. Nope.
Not this time. On a Tuesday. Mike, how you doing? I'm doing very well. Rich, you good?
I'm good. I'm not going to ask you because you're not going to tell me anyway. Probably not. He's too busy going to games.
Going to games and not telling your friends. That's so weird. Yeah.
Guys. He definitely wasn't flying business select up to San Francisco. I think that's what he's talking about. Pardon me. Direct into San Jose. Direct into San Jose.
I'm sure. Don't worry about how I got there. Did you drive? With a car waiting for him. Right through security. Let's start this segment.
Let's go. I think I just realized something. We're not actually friends with TJ. Like I just figured that out.
Is that right? Yeah. We're just, we're not actually friends with them. We're co-workers. That's an overreaction. You guys think you're friends with me?
That's an overreaction. Mike, we're definitely not friends. Guys. Joe Burrow's got a couple of friends and unless they get paid.
Oh baby. If the Bengals don't pay Chase and Higgins, Joe Burrow should ask for a trade. They're going to pay Chase. Higgins is gone.
How does that sound? I mean, Higgins is not good enough. Higgins might end with two Brockman.
That's not good enough. Well, I want T Higgins, but Joe Burrow needs to do whatever. If he has to take less money, take less money. They got to keep these guys. I agree. That would be better for them. Better for them. He should want out if they don't. Chase is getting paid. It's obvious that Higgins isn't. Don't you think it's obvious?
Why is it obvious that Chase is getting paid? It's going to happen. It will happen. It will happen. I have no confidence in that.
Well, if neither of them get paid, then I'm with you. Otherwise than that, an overreaction. Man. What else Chris? There's something going on there.
We just talked to Kim. Hey, what team does he play for? Pittsburgh Steelers. I think a case can be made. The Steelers are the best team in the AFC. You could make the case. Sure. A case could be made that the Steelers are the best team in the AFC.
Yes, sir. That is not about us though. It's about us.
Well done. I mean, the fact is, if you said the Steelers are the best team in the AFC, I'd push back as an overreaction. You went a case could be made 100%.
When you put it in there, I'm this. You can make that case defensively. They are back in the play of the plays that Russ is making.
You just heard Cam Hayward come on in the first part of this hour saying when Mike Tomlin announced the move in a team meeting, he basically said, your play is what will make this thing work. So it's now on you. I made the choice.
You now back it up. And they're six and one and it's working. And I'll tell you what, you know, who's also six and one in their last seven games? Kansas City Chiefs. You knows also, well, let me make this correct.
You know, so six and one in their last seven games, the Buffalo Bills. So let's make the case. You can make it.
What else you got over there? I like it. I like it. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. We might be three for three. The best team in the history of the NFL to have a three game losing streak currently the Carolina Panthers. They're going to make the playoffs next year. I remember looking far ahead.
We're fast forwarding a whole year. I would say this. I like the cut of their job. I will say this, sir. I like what you're putting down.
I'm picking it up. And I will say that of any team on the outside, looking in, finishing up in a way that can cascade into the next. It's the Carolina Panthers.
That's what you're always looking for. You're looking for the team that finishes up strong enough that it cascades into the next season. I'm not saying they're the next Detroit Lions, but you recall the Lions did that one year, right? And they haven't stopped.
It's been cascading in, you know, in droves. But the way that Bryce Young 2.0 looks pretty good, is pretty good. And I'll say this. I'm already compiling a top five list for the end of the season of takes that never materialized. One of them is Bryce Young, when he got benched, was on the spot made irredeemable in Carolina.
And look at it now. So to take it to the level to the level of they're one of the top seven teams in the NFC next year, that's an overreaction. Do you think Bryce needs to like find the guy that fender bender'd the Dalton's and send them a Christmas card or something? What if?
In the same way that Brady's been sending a Christmas gift secretly to the Mo Lewis family? That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. What if it turns out to be one of those 30 for 30s where it was one of Bryce's. Oh, look at you.
What else you got over there? One break a game and they're on a five game winning streak, by the way. It's been fun to watch. I mean, Lee Gadd had the ball in his hands if he had just rolled in the end zone, the Eagles could have lost. Man, I wanted him to catch that so good.
It looked for a split second as if he did. What else? We were just kind of talking about the AFC playoff picture. I'm going to say someone who currently has five or six wins is going to make the playoffs. I just don't see the Bengals making it as much as I just laid out a case. I mean, the only way I can see it is if the Colts beat the Broncos this week, if the Colts beat the Broncos this week, that means they're one behind and all they got to do is just be one better over the final three weeks than Denver. And they catch the Broncos. And over the final three weeks, we just established that the Colts have Tennessee at home at the giants home for Jacksonville.
So this is a pretty damn big football game in the Rocky Mountains on Sunday. And three teams are still alive in the NFC. Falcons, Cardinals, Niners. I understand. And Rams, don't forget the Rams too.
Rams have seven. No, I see what you're saying. Yeah. I'll just call this an overreaction at the moment. Denver is playing too well defensively, although Jamis did slice them up with Jerry, Judy, and bow nicks. I think they're going to come off the bye week stronger.
One would think the Colts are also that's coming off about that's why week 15 is monster big. So I'll just call this an overreaction for the moment. Split, split decision. What else?
All right. Two more. It's crazy that we, I had this written and then the news broke this morning that maybe Bill is thinking about it. If he does take the job officially in North Carolina, Belichick is going to have UNC in the playoff next year. I don't know who their, I don't know who their quarterback is. I don't know who it is.
Who cares? We got Bill. Well, I mean, he's not really known as the quarterback whisperer, is he?
He only coached the greatest of all time. Okay. All right. I don't mean to denigrate. I shouldn't even do it, but I don't think that's an overreaction. I just don't. I don't. I think it'll be done in a certain way where I, I, I, I hear you.
Yeah, I'm just saying. It'll be fun. The playoffs is a tall, it's a tall order.
I'll call, I'll call that an overreaction. They're in the conference to do it. What else?
What else? We're going to talk to the SMU head coach coming up here. A non-bye team is going to win the Natty this year. Hey dude, four games in a row.
That's a lot. And not just that, but here's the thing about the college football playoffs. Name me another part in any of these teams schedule, all 12 of them, where they played four games in a row against opponents as good as these. There's always been just some slappy university thrown in there, or there's just somebody's homecoming within the conference that you get. And there's a week off, you know. Georgia had a really tough schedule, but now they're without Carson Beck.
No, I understand it. That's why I'm just saying, just for these bi-week team, non bi-week teams to win, they've got to win four in a row and against the, against opponents that your own scheduling would never put together, ever. You would never willingly in your own sports department do that. Now they're forced to do it. So I'll say this is an overreaction to wrap it up. Rhett Lashley of SMU, who would love to push back on this, is coming up. You know what I'm saying?
Like, it's a tall order. Think about it. Let's just choose the Ohio State University or Tennessee. Okay. Ohio State did play Oregon this year, correct?
Correct. I don't know who they played before it, but it certainly isn't the same level of competition as Tennessee. Level of competition is Tennessee, I'd imagine. And then whoever they played after Oregon wouldn't be the same level of competition as say Georgia. Georgia had a tough one.
No, that little stretch included. They played Penn State, then Nebraska, lost to Oregon, and then played Iowa. That's not a bad, but that's not on par with the playoff. Compare, if you don't mind putting the playoff bracket up one more time here, compare that to Tennessee, Oregon, and then take any of the next two teams out of the bottom part of the bracket. Right. Notre Dame and somebody else, right? Would you mind putting the bracket up one more time, if you don't mind?
I feel you. Have the ability to do that? Yeah. So it will be Tennessee, Oregon, then Texas.
Then Georgia? Yeah, just say the high season. Come on. That's a tall order. Yeah, it's gonna be fun.
I'm not saying it's not fun. I'm just saying it favors Oregon, Arizona State, Boise State, and Georgia. We have a prediction yet? Is that your biggest nightmare, though?
Ohio State going on a run and winning the Natty this year. You mean sports-wise? Yeah. Yeah. I had to think about where Soto wound up first. My world with Jeff Jarrett, wherever you listen.
