This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more personal info in places that could expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second. If your identity is stolen, their U.S.-based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock.
Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by AWS. Amazon Q Business is the generative AI assistant that can securely understand your business data, summarize results, and streamline tasks.
Learn what Amazon Q Business can do for you at aws.com slash learn more. Herbert to throw, pump fakes, and now to the end zone. Touchdown Chargers! The Rich Eisen Show. Who's got a better time?
No way! Today's guests, NFL network insider Tom Pelissero, pro football hall of famer, and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. Host of Spike's Car Radio, Spike Feresten. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Our number two on the Rich Eisen Show. We just talked about how, not lost on me, that we've got a college football playoff quarterfinal kickoff tonight between Indiana and Notre Dame, and it's going to be awesome. And, you know, let it begin. Let it begin. These 12 team playoffs, I think, are just going to be dynamite. It's going to be awesome. And the competition is going to be intense. And then maybe one day, could you imagine, you know what would break records?
What if Colorado played North Carolina in next year's college football playoff? Now we're talking. You know what I mean? Yeah. What if Deion Sanders is on one sideline and Bill Bella checks on it?
Hamburger. With Quinn Ewers at quarterback. Dude, nice. Not for Deion. Not for Deion. Art's a quarterback. Deion just got the dude from Liberty. He sure did. So, Deion's coming up on hour number three. Joining us now to kick off hour number two is our friend Tommy P. Tom Pelissero back here from NFL Network, NFL Media Group, NFL Network Insider. I'm now done, you may now clap.
I feel like this is like Jeb Bush. You know, now clap, please. Hi, Rich.
Hey. Rockman, that is a fantastic sweater. Thank you, sir.
It's a home alone house. Yeah, well, you can't really see it. There you go.
You got to put the laptop down. I like it. That's good. That house was for sale last year. It's not as expensive as you would think in the movie.
Is that right? Did the unclaimed Paris plane ticket come with the house, Tom, or no? The thing I found hilarious about it is you would think this is like an artifact and something that would be subject to public type of preservation. It was on Zillow.
I literally was scrolling through the photos on Zillow and being like, oh, I could move to Winnetka, Illinois or wherever that was and move in. Tom Pelissero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's dive in. You're reporting on the timeline, tick tock, of the Falcons deciding to bench Kirk Cousins and put Michael Pennix in a spot we've never really seen a first overall quarterback, let alone any rookie quarterback placed, Tom. Well, going back to even a couple of weeks ago, we talked about this on Game Day morning. It was very unlikely at that point that the Falcons were going to bench Kirk Cousins at any point during the 2024 season. That was not the intention, obviously, when they signed him.
It was not the intention when they drafted Michael Pennix, Jr. But it also was not the intention for Kirk Cousins to be going through one of the roughest stretches of his career on a team that right now is seeing what at one point looked like a certain playoff appearance, now becomes something where they need some help here. With Cousins, everybody's looking at the last five games.
I understand that's kind of where the numbers are. It's really been the last three games. There was the game in Denver where he just didn't play well. I think that was the four interception game, if I remember correctly. Then there was the game in Minnesota, which was just kind of all over the place.
That was the first time I had seen Cousins play live this season. It wasn't bad from start to finish. It was better than the week before, but it was just off.
It wasn't quite right. Then, obviously, on Monday Night Football, they didn't play well as a team. Cousins didn't play well. I was struck by just watching the highlights, Rich, and I'm not an expert in quarterback play, but Cousins' greatest skill has always been dropping back, see it, and rip it. He's been an elite processor, never had the biggest arm, never been the biggest guy, the most mobile guy, but he could see it and throw. The number of times when you watch the highlights or low lights from that game where he's padding the ball three times, where he's taking a step left and then kind of throwing back right, it just looks like his superpower, which is his brain, isn't quite overcoming some of the other things that have been the limitations through his career. He's less mobile than ever, and when you talk to players on other teams, they bring that up.
The arm has never been the biggest, but now he's been one of the most accurate downfield quarterbacks. Now, that's not there either, and the Falcons are left with a choice here. You can go another three games because of the money you're paying Kirk Cousins and because this was the plan and risk having your locker room looking around going, why is this guy not being held accountable? Or you roll out Michael Penix Jr. and you hope that this guy, who played six years of college football, he'll be with several season ending injuries in there, is ready to roll. And so it was really coming off of that Monday night game.
Even going into that game, they weren't thinking, we're definitely going to do this. It just didn't look better. And the moment that Raheem Morris said after the game, we need better play out of the quarterback position, reiterated it the next day, you got that sense that they were going to go to Michael Penix Jr. And this now sets off another chain reaction here, Rich, because Kirk Cousins has fully guaranteed money in 2025. He has a no trade clause.
He didn't look good when he played this season. And no matter what ends up happening in terms of where Cousins is playing in 2025, there's pretty significant salary cap ramifications for the Falcons as well. Well, that's down the road. They've got three pretty big games, including one against the Giants. And then if they win that one and the Eagles sweep the commanders, then the Sunday nighter they just flexed into at NBC for Week 17 would be for a playoff spot between two rookie quarterbacks that finished 1-2 in the Heisman last year. I mean, my goodness, this is all in the ether, Tom. So what are you hearing from Atlanta about Penix's readiness?
What are you hearing there? The interesting thing with Michael Penix Jr., you have to remember, Rich, is he's a left-handed quarterback. And so in practice, I actually asked some people about this, how do you run the scout team reps? Because the scout team, you are running the opponent's plays. Presumably, unless you're playing the Dolphins, the opponent has a right-handed quarterback. Basically, what I was told was they run the plays exactly how the opponent would run them, but Penix just throws it as a left-handed quarterback to the same read side. In other words, the protections and things that he's even been dealing with have been sort of flipped from what they would actually look like here.
It doesn't necessarily render those reps invalid, but it's been a little bit of an unusual situation for how he's come along. Everything I've heard has been that he's looked good in practice. He's obviously a bright guy. He's played a lot of football in his life. They don't think that this moment is going to be too big for him. But you're talking about changing some things up, not just because it's a left-handed QB, but also because his skill set is going to be a little bit different than Kirk Cousins.
You know, Penix didn't run very much at all in Washington. I know he did in the playoff game where they kind of had to because nothing else was working in that game. But he's predominantly been a pocket passer. And so from that aspect, it's going to be similar to what they had with Cousins. But you're probably going to change certain things up to best fit the skill set of a guy who this is really the first relevant NFL action we've seen in his career. There's not a lot of times.
I mean, you go back through the last 20 years, Rich. I mean, the closest comp I can think of was the Giants being 5-2 and benching our buddy Kurt Warner for Eli Manning. But even then, that was early enough in the season. This is, hey, the other guy's not hurt. We just think we're going to roll you out there in must-win territory. You're facing a bad Giants team this week.
It's an ideal matchup, even though the Giants defense does have some talent. I'm fascinated to see this because Penix was a guy who was so polarizing in the pre-draft process. There were some coaches I talked to who said, absolutely, I wouldn't want him because of the lack of mobility, because the accuracy kind of comes and goes at times. And there were other people I talked to who had him as one of the top two quarterbacks in the entire draft. We're about to find out, a grand small sample size, we're about to find out at least for year one who's right. Tom Pelissero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Tom, big week for you and everybody else in your end of the business on the information end because the way you will cover future trade deadlines has changed.
And you know what I'm referring to, right, Tom? That you now need to know everybody's Madden rating. Well, I don't think it hurts. I don't think it hurts to know.
Because it's a crucial piece of information as to whether somebody would be acquired or not on the trading block or not, right, Tom? Here is what I would say regarding the report that was out there on a variety of different things involving Woody Johnson. I would start by saying Woody is the owner of the team. He can ask any questions he wants. He can say anything that he wants and weigh in on all these different situations. He also says a lot of things and they're not always dead serious.
This is what, you know, you're going to do. Similar to, you know, did he really want to bench Aaron Rodgers after five games or is he challenging the people around him, which is something he does a lot in meetings. Sometimes when things are repeated back or second hand, they might augur slightly differently than what reality is. And that's not to criticize any of the reporting involved. You know, I had heard a lot of the things that were in that story.
You know, but again, you have to have the context of who's involved and what the tenor and the context of those conversations are. Specifically regarding the Jerry Judy trade talks, I was covering that closely. Again, I can't say for certain I wasn't there when Madden comment was uttered. What I can tell you was that deal fell apart because the Jets wanted to offload Allen Lazard and about ten million dollars fully guaranteed as part of the deal. And the Broncos weren't interested. They didn't want to take on basically, you know, what they would have viewed as dead money for a player who remember Allen Lazard was a healthy scratch last season and taking on ten million dollars guaranteed. It would not have given them the flexibility that they hoped to get in a trade. And so that's where the deal fell apart was the Jets were insistent that they take Allen Lazard. They wouldn't do it. The Broncos end up getting a couple of late round picks from the Browns instead in the Jerry Judy trade.
I think that Judy himself has weighed in on this. Again, I would just go back to this, Rich, and I understand Woody Johnson's a really easy target. A big reason that there's such a focus on him right now is he doesn't have a GM or a head coach. The moment that you hire the GM and the head coach, people talk about the owner a lot less. That's the process that they're going through. They conducted, I believe, three GM interviews this week. They'll probably pause here over the holidays, kind of pick up again as we get to the new year here. There's definitely going to be questions, but there already were questions about just the working environment and the things that various people have said coming out of that building.
Anytime you have the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports and you've had a quarter century of not a lot of sustained success. There's going to be those questions here. There may be some things where structures have to be examined and the way that people communicate might have to be examined here. But I don't think in no way is it going to stop them from hiring a competent head coach and general manager in New York. But will those be a part of the conversation? Absolutely.
I would go in your notebook and find out. Could that trade have been blown up because Allen Lazard's Madden rating was 76? Could that have been it?
Maybe it was too high and they decided to pull him back out of the deal. I mean, it's hard to say. I'm now somebody with tongue firmly planted in cheek here, Tom, as you can pick up on that. But when the big boss says something and it was tongue in cheek when he's like, you know, Lazard does that that Judy doesn't have a good enough Madden rating, that that that was something that was just said in jest. And and Joe Douglas took it to mean reportedly something more literal and communicated that to George Payton.
You know, you know what I mean? Like if there's an offhand comment. Yes. Right. That is relayed. And then that person relays it to somebody else.
You may lose some of the context. But again, I would say this and that this is not a criticism of Woody Johnson, but the reality is, Woody says a lot of stuff. There's a lot of stuff that he says because he meets with people so much because he's involved in the minutia of trade talks. And you certainly can look at that and say, is that a functional, you know, working type of environment? He's the owner. You do whatever he wants. You can ask anybody any question he wants here. Those are probably things that need to be examined here. But, you know, to say that Woody walked in and slammed down a printout of the Madden ratings and said, this guy's not good enough.
That's I would fairly say an extreme stretch. Tom Pelissero here on The Rich Eisen Show. Just shortly before you came on, Tom, Nick Sirianni gave a will see in terms of A.J. Brown's practice status for Friday. What's going on with him?
And is it a hamstring? Is that what's going on? What's up with A.J.
Brown? He's been dealing with that. Yeah, he's been dealing with that on and off. A.J. Brown's a guy who has various soft tissue stuff pop up here and there. You know, he's had a knee that he manages, you know, going back many years as well here. You know, and we've seen him, too, you know, in a surprise, Rich, earlier this season.
A.J. Brown missed a game where there were no outward signs that that was going to happen. I mean, I know that he was, I believe, limited in practice yesterday here. Nick also never gives up anything in terms of his press conferences on injury status.
So this is one of those. Let's see what the report says based on, you know, the tenor of how Nick saying that. I would guess they're probably going to list him as questionable, but we'll find that out this afternoon. OK, any other injury stuff that we should keep an eye on for crucial week 16 action, not just in real world, but the fantasy world as well, Tom, that so many people are focused on?
The Dolphins are a little bit banged up. Jalen Waddell's doubtful for this game. He got banged up in the last game. You know, Tyreek obviously has had limited practice time all season. It seems like he's going to be good to go with the wrist injury. Tua is also banged up. You know, he had a hip flexor injury or a hip pointer, rather, in the game on Sunday. His practice time has been limited as well. No signs that Tua is not going to be able to go.
But, you know, if there's any type of limitations there, that obviously can impact, from a fantasy perspective, the other things that are going on on the field. The 49ers might be down to their fifth running back, potentially now, because Isaac Garendo is dealing with a hamstring injury. We'll see whether or not he can go.
But there's a lot of times where, you know, you injure a hamstring and you're going to miss at least a little bit of time. George Pickens, you know, hurts his hamstring in practice a few weeks ago. He's out again. He's not playing tomorrow.
That'll be three straight games that he's missed. You know, probably the biggest injury headlines are the fact that T.J. Watt, Pickens' teammate, is going to be good to go. Mahomes is also going to be good to go, which every response I got yesterday, Rich, after I posted on social media that Mahomes off the injury report and good to go, everyone is saying it's because it was a fake injury. He's milking it.
It's all fake. Listen, if you go and try to get one tenth hit as hard and bent the way Patrick Mahomes was, you're not getting out of bed for a week, okay? When he's limping off the field, it's legit. He just happens to be a really, really tough dude who hasn't missed a game because of injury in five years. Remember, he dislocated his kneecap back in 2019. Everybody thought he was done. He missed two games. And he came back.
He's just, he's a rare guy. And I will always reiterate this when it comes to high ankle sprains. And we've seen it with Justin Herbert, who's tweaked that ankle like three or four times this season, has continued to play. High ankle sprains are an injury you can play with as a quarterback. They are going to heal.
You're going to tape them up. But they're going to heal as long as you don't work that ankle again. And then that'll set you back and you'll be in pain again. They'll heal while you're playing.
The question is just your mobility in the short term. That's what I'll be watching in the game on Saturday against the Texans. You know that D'Amico Ryans and Matt Burke are going to be heating them up and seeing how well he can move. Mahomes can beat you in a variety of different ways, including from the pocket here. But don't mistake him being off the injury report as a sign that he's 100 percent and is going to be himself. It's going to be interesting to see how well he's moving and how much Andy Reid kind of protects him as we get into that game. When, where did the whole, the phone on David Montgomery come from?
What's the scoop there? Well, it's an MCL tear, which, depending on the degree of the MCL, you know, most of those are in the four to six week range. If you have a really severe tear, like Kyle Pitts had a few years ago. He underwent surgery for the MCL and Kyle Pitts really hasn't been, or at least wasn't himself for a long period of time. After that, you know, David Montgomery, who just got paid, so he's got the financial security, wanted to see if there was a way that he might be able to play here.
He ended up consulting several different leading experts and eventually was told you can go out there and you can give this a go. Not, not immediately here, but you could try to rehab and it'll be somewhere in that four to six week range and see if potentially you can get back in the playoffs here. So if the Lions can, and listen, they're going to have to win the next three.
If they do that, they'll beat the Vikings in week 18, they'll get the bye. Then you're in the four to five week range before you're back on the field in the divisional playoffs. There's no firm timetable with David Montgomery, but much like Aidan Hutchinson, you know, a glimmer of hope that if the Lions were just so beat up right now, it might have to outscore people for the rest of this season, might have to be trying to score 50 instead of 40 every week. There's at least the possibility that a couple of their key pieces could be back somewhere along the road in January and February. And then who else from Detroit is in, is in hailing distance here from the vast amount of injured reserve players? Who can Lions fans who are totally inundated with one, you know, body blow after another piece of injury news from their team, who can they potentially look at and say, all right, that guy has a real chance to come back and help out in some crucial games? Well, a lot of these injuries are season ending, Rich.
I mean, that's the unfortunate thing. You know, Malcolm Rodriguez out for the year, Lee McNeil's out for the year. Carlton Davis, it sounds like we'll have a shot to come back. I mean, broken jaw. It's like an injury from the 1970s. You don't see that injury a whole lot anymore.
He's probably looking at like conference championship week somewhere in that neighborhood potentially to get back here. They're going to have to find a way. They've signed, I believe, at least four or five players off other teams practice squads since Thanksgiving. And they've had to play all of them on the defensive side.
So they're going to have their their work cut out. What about Anzalone? What about him? Is he is he in the in the realm of possible?
Yeah, that's the other one that we don't entirely know just yet. You know, he's got he's got a long history of different injuries. He's had that shoulder operate on like five or six times. He's a tough, tough two. There's a lot of guys who would have retired at this point.
So I don't put anything past Alex Anzalone. But in terms of exactly what the you know, what the timeline is going to be, you know, that still remains to be seen. OK. And again, you may not know the answer to this one and it may not be worth asking, but I am calling the Rams in the end. I thought you were going to ask me about the free kick.
I was all ready to talk about the free kick. That's OK. You know, why is that even a rule, Tom? No, I don't know why anything. Now, to be honest, it's so obscure and it hasn't happened in 50 years. Why is it still a thing?
Why is it even in there? I mean, there's a lot of things. Why are drop kicks still allowed in the rule book either?
Here's the thing. There's a lot of these little nooks and crannies of the rules that exist. And the best coaches are not just aware of those rules, but they're prepared for them.
So get this. I was told and again, there hasn't been a free kick, a fair catch free kick converted in a half a century. The Chargers worked on this play on Tuesday of this week, two days before the game. They practiced it. They practice it every like two or three weeks.
And it's all because it's such a unique play, not just because it's so rare, but because the alignment and things is completely different. Because remember, all the other kickoff rules have changed where over the last five years, there have been four different iterations of the kickoff rule. The most recent one, the dynamic kickoff, where everybody's towing the line of the kickoff line. They can't move until the ball is touched or it ends up in the landing zone. Well, this particular play, you actually have to be a yard back. You have to adjust your alignment and who's outside the numbers because the holder takes a guy off one side.
It has to be a holder. You can't kick it off the tee. You can move the moment the ball is kicked, which is the only style kickoff play now that's like that. I mean, these are like this is a really specific type of a rule that almost never comes up. And I know Jim Harbaugh said last night it's his favorite rule.
He's always wanted to convert him. And he also referred to his special teams coordinator, Ryan Ficken, as a situational sensei because it's Ficken's the one who determines, all right, every week we're going to work some of these wacky things that you never see in practice. It just so happens two days before this game, they practice this exact scenario. And if you go back and look at the broadcast, the moment they show Jim Harbaugh after the penalty, Ficken's over there going like this and saying something to Jim Harbaugh. They talk through it with the officials. They get it lined up. Cameron Dicker nails it down the middle. That's just that's really good coaching that you don't necessarily see every week from every team.
I love it. The question I was going to ask you is if I should stop asking about Aaron Donald and bringing him up for a Rams team that can make the playoffs. Is this just impossible because of, you know, rules? Because he's on a retired list or the Rams just not going to ask him or is he uninterested?
Is there any there there? Should I stop talking about it in advance of seeing the Rams next week? If he's on the retired list, and this is the one nuance here I want to make sure, I believe he's been placed on the retired list, in which case, no, he would not be eligible to come back anymore. If he were simply not on the team, which, no, he has to be on the retired list because he's not currently counted against their salary cap. So as long as he's on the retired list, no, that deadline passed several weeks ago.
Anybody who's retired, you've missed your window and you can't come back down the stretch. Tom, thank you. I will now stop talking about it. Greatly appreciate it. Have a great Christmas with you and your lovely family, and we'll see you on the back end of it. Thanks, brother. Likewise, Rich. Happy holidays. There you go.
That's Tom Post, Sarah, right here on NFL Network, NFL Media Group. See, I'm a responsible man. I could just keep talking about it, knowing that it's impossible, rules-wise. Or not even ask about that. Just be completely blind to it and keep talking about it.
That's all. But I'll see the Rams next week and I'll talk about it. 844-204 Rich, number to dial. Guess what?
It's a What's More Likely Friday. That'll be a lot of fun when we come back right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. Oh, Ethos.
Let's talk about it right here. The unexpected can happen at any time, and you need to think about things like life insurance in advance, and Ethos makes it easy as one, two, three. Just choose your coverage. Apply in minutes and get covered in real time with no medical exam, just a few simple health questions you need to answer, and you're on your way with up to $2 million of term life protection with policies starting as low as $2 a day. Ethos is approving over 2,000 families a day for life insurance protection, all online and hassle-free. Get your free quote at tryethos.com. Let's try E-T-H-O-S dot com.
What's more likely when we come back here on a busy Friday with Dion right behind it? As a business owner, you're always going that extra mile to pursue your passions, so you deserve partners who can help you go further with premium benefits and rewards. The American Express Business Platinum card offers world-class business and travel benefits, so you can get more for your business wherever it takes you. With the Amex Business Platinum card, you can earn 1.5 times membership rewards points on select business purchases, and you can get complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge, so you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love.
Terms and points can't apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts, people. You love their jingle. You're going to love their friendly, helpful service even better, because they're in the business of keeping your car on the road. And the parts knowledge they have, it's all you need for your maintenance and repairs.
They've got thousands of parts and accessories in stock, either in-store or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam. The team at O'Reilly Auto Parts can test your battery for free in or out of your car. If it needs to be replaced, they'll find you just the right battery for your vehicle.
Need your windshield wipers replaced, a brake light fixed, or a quick service? They'll help you there and find the right part or point you to the nearest local repair shop for help. The professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts are your one-stop shop for all things auto. Do it yourself, and you can find what you need in-store or online. So stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts today or visit us at oReillyauto.com slash eisen.
That's oReillyauto.com slash E-I-S-E-N, O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. Let's talk game time, people, and the holiday season. Game time's all about togetherness, and isn't the holiday season all about that, too?
The answer's yes. This means when you bring people together at live events, the experience is that much better, and it's the perfect gift. And game time has this new feature called Game Time Picks. It makes getting tickets for live events, even easier. I love using Game Time Picks because it filters out all the fluff, shows you only the incredible deals you want on the great seats you need, so you don't waste a single second searching through thousands of tickets. And then there's that all-in pricing feature I love. You see your total up front. There's no surprise fees at checkout. The price that they tell you is the price that you're going to buy.
It's unbelievable. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use my code, EISEN, for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Visit GameTime.co for restrictions.
Again, create an account, redeem my code, E-I-S-E-N, $20 off. Download Game Time today. What time is it?
Game Time. We had Jerry on the show just a couple weeks ago, Larry, and I asked him, how come Steinbrenner himself never appeared on Seinfeld? And he said, Steinbrenner shot a scene, but it was so bad you cut it. Is that a true story?
True story, yeah. What was so bad about it? He flew out on his private jet to do the show and flew back that day. And, okay, he did it, and then I go into editing and I'm watching the show, and, oh, my God, he was so awful. He was so bad.
You couldn't use it. It was much better from behind with my voice, you know, than actually seeing the real guy doing it. Right. So that was a scene where he was with Costanza? He was with Elaine in a restaurant, I think.
Okay. And I had to call him up and tell him he was cut. How did that go? I called Yankee Stadium. I said, I want to talk to Mr. Steinbrenner. That's Larry David.
You can have a phone. I said, Mr. Steinbrenner, I want to talk to you. I said, Mr. Steinbrenner, it's Larry David calling from the Seinfeld show.
Yes, yes, Larry, what is it? I said, I said, I'm sorry to tell you this. He said, come on, you can tell me I'm a big boy. I can take it. But you slipped back in that voice.
Yeah, right. I slipped right back in, right. And I said, you know, I've been cut from the show.
And I said, it's not your fault, but it's just the end of the scene wasn't working, and that was it. How did he take it? He was a big boy. He took it well. So he told you how he was going to take it. And he actually took it.
And he actually took it, yeah. George Steinbrenner in Elaine. I would never have guessed. I would have thought that there would have to have been a Costanza-George moment. I know there was an Elaine scene. I don't know. There may have been a George scene. I'm not sure. I don't remember. Oh, yes. We'll go down to Seinfeld memory lane in hour three with Spike Ferest and 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. Listen, there's a lot of prideful NFL fans across our landscape. Everybody thinks their team's the best or being overlooked. That's the thing. I know.
Disrespected or overlooked. I know. You don't want to talk about yours.
I do not. Actually, I guess there's two subsets here. We're two sets of people here. That there's fans that think their team can win the Super Bowl and they're just being disrespected. Right? Yep. They're being disrespected. And then there's ones who are just, I don't want to talk about my team anymore. Okay?
I'm the writer on that one. You're right. Raiders, Patriots, Cowboys, Jets. Let's keep going, right? Keep losing. And then this subset of the people who are like, my team's disrespected are ones who hold onto receipts.
Hold onto receipts. Perfect example. Richard Sherman on his Instagram account, he was talking about on his Instagram account, the Lions. Oh. Okay?
Okay. And how Dan Campbell's gambling actually will be helpful. You know? That Doug Peterson, if you remember, the head coach of the Eagles, he was a gambler. He was going on fourth down all the time. He actually helped the underdog Eagles, despite being the top seeds.
Right? He's like, that actually helped them. And this can help the Lions. And then if you look at some of the responses on his Instagram post, there was one particular Packer fan who chimed in to say, great, can you pop that one up if you don't mind? Nice prediction on the Green Bay Packers, because Richard Sherman had said something about the Packers not being very good earlier on in the season. Nice prediction on the GB Packers. And then Richard Sherman wrote back, yep, third in their division, sixth seed, nothing special. Why am I mentioning this? Nothing special.
Do you see who was the one who said nice prediction? Yeah. Murph Murph.
Uh-oh. Free Murph. Free Murph. Free Murph.
You love the exploits of Murph. Yeah, I got that man unbanned from the show. He told me last night when he was saying to my right at our poker night that he was in a beef with Richard Sherman. And that's it, by the way. A beef is a two-way street.
Yeah, right? If it's so, joining us now on the Rich Eisen Show, right at the very bottom of your call screen there, is your boy Murph. You there, Murph?
Hi, guys. Murph, what up? This is no beef. This is no beef.
You're not in a beef with Richard Sherman. No, it's just starting, Rich. Wait till I get into it. This is just the beginning of it. What are you so upset about? Your Packers are doing well. What do you care? Well, here's the thing.
I was just kind of floating through Instagram. I'm not signed up with him. And I see him going off on the Packers. Like, you know, they shouldn't have let Aaron Rodgers go.
It's like completely the opposite about everything that's happened, obviously. And I'm like, okay, Richard, I'm just going to give you a little bit back. You know, nice prediction, bro. And, you know, he doesn't even acknowledge that, of course, the Rodgers thing turned out to be perfect for the Packers and not so great for your team. And then it's like he didn't give us any credit for where we're at. I mean, you know, we snuck into the playoffs last year with nobody expected anything. And we're we're in the mix.
I mean, we're not number one, but we're pretty much in the mix. And I don't know. I just I know they get the money for making controversial views, but I just had a problem with it. So I had to tell him. Well, again, when you said this to me and then, you know, screen grabbed it and sent it to me, I started to investigate just to see if if you went back and forth. But this is the extent of the exchange.
This is it. I'm going to go back. There you go. Don't worry. In all seriousness, though, I'm going to go back. You've got you're feeling good about your Packers.
You should. I mean, you absolutely should hear, you know, we have the youngest team in the NFL for two years in a row. And we've got lots of great guys. I mean, we have a year more experience than last year. So I have really good. The Lions obviously are great, but they're beatable. I mean, we have a year more experience than last year.
So I have really good. The Lions obviously are great, but they're beatable. They got beat by the Rams and we almost beat them. So, you know, I'm optimistic.
OK, there you go. The Vikings are the Vikings are playing above their pay grade and they're doing great. But, you know, we have the strongest division.
What he doesn't say is number three in the strongest division in football by far. I mean, you know. So anyway, well, listen, I'll I'll keep you up on the exploits of Richard Sherman and Murph. Thank you, Murph. My guys here.
Yes. You guys love Murph. That's why I figured I'm like you. Got to call in, Murph, like it's old times. Well, I'm glad you let Murph call in. All your support, you guys. I feel it. I really do. You're only back on the air here, Murph, because they wanted you. Hey, Murph, one person on this set had Green Bay in the Super Bowl.
I just want that on the rap. That's you. That's you. Thank you.
I like it. And Murph, I appreciate all your support. One guy on this show used to have a sign that said free Murph all the time.
And I didn't even know you would. That's you. I had even met Murph at that point.
Murph's good people. Hey, wait. Hey, wait a second.
You don't have the restrictions you used to, right? Oh, no. No, no, no. Stop, Murph. How dare you.
It took me five years to get you on holiday. There you go, Murph. By the way, there you go, Murph, everybody. Murph, it's against his brand is to curse. He doesn't curse. He did get angry at somebody for angle shooting at the table last night and cursed him out.
It was like, whoa, okay. That's his Wisconsin nice that he considers that a beef with Richard Sherman. Well, he did say he's just getting it kicked off, though, you know. He's going back in for more. Sherm's going to get more of a piece of Murph. I can feel it. I can feel it.
Free Murph. Packers go further than last year. They do not. Oh, kind of depends on the draw. They seem to be like the team that nobody wants to play right now. If I am correct in my prediction is I crystal balled it earlier in the first show. If your prediction holds up, yeah, I do like them going into Tampa. You think they could they could win in Tampa? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's that's possible. But then that would get them a rematch with. Detroit. Would it?
I would imagine they'd be the lowest. See the commander. They might go to if. Yeah. Yeah. You have it lined up.
Yeah. Dude, a rematch with Detroit. Powell. Would be potentially trouble for the Detroit Lions. If they're if they're as hurt as they are right. No one. Listen, no one wants to see an opponent for a third time in the playoffs. Nobody doesn't matter if their first seed or not. You just don't want to.
Somebody who knows you, knows your tendencies, knows this, knows that, knows that in their second game, they set something up based on the first game, but didn't use it. Now they're going to pop it out on the third. Get out of here with that nonsense.
You don't want a piece of that. They got the New Orleans Saints in their house first up, and then they're at Minnesota. I mean, they could really put a crimp in Minnesota's mojo. I mean, they're going to be the sixth seed. Because I don't think Minnesota, Detroit fall apart significantly enough.
What are you smiling about over there? I was thinking away just to ask you, who would do better if they played? Would it be golf or love? Well, you're asking that question because we're going against each other in fantasy. Do you want me to text Tom? I could ask Tom. Oh, yeah, I should have asked. Well, how dare you put me on that spot right now, Jason, when I had every opportunity to put you on that spot with Jordan Love earlier this week, and I turned down that chance.
That's true. Because right now you're going with golf against the Chicago Bears, right? I'm losing sleep.
I can't. I think it's a great idea. I think you should do that. He's scared. Don't play love.
You should do that. Play love. I got a question for you. Let's go around. I got another question.
And another thing. For us to be playing each other shows that there is definitely a lot of luck and guessing involved in fantasy football. Then I am a 22-year-old host of NFL Network, and you drive the nicest car of anybody around here, so what is your point? I don't understand. My question is, if there's that much guessing, you'd be in an elimination game against someone that has a tattoo of the silhouette of you on their butt. And thus, your team name is Eisen the Elf? Hey, there he is.
Yeah. Yeah, you could never have dreamt that this would happen, Rich. You can't make it up. That's what I say every day on this program when it has anything to do with the NFL, and obviously it has something to do with, first of all, this entire segment is you can't make it up, starting with Murph having beef with Richard Sherman on Instagram.
Murph, for you, once banned from the show. When you said to me last night, he's just like, I'm in an argument on Instagram with Richard Sherman. I'm like, what do you mean? This is it, right? That's it.
Nice prediction on the GB Packers. How about him saying, yep, third in their division, six seed, nothing special. That's just him refusing to admit or not. He just doesn't like being called out by a friend of mine.
He has no idea he's a friend of mine. I don't think it would matter for Richard Sherman anyway. Nothing special. But then can't make it up that you and I are, in fact, in a semifinal in the first ever Rich Eisen Show Fantasy Football League. Yeah. And that your team name is Eisen the Elf because you have a tattoo version of the Browns Elf as me. It's weird. That TJ and I broadcast live on Instagram while it was happening at a tattoo parlor in Phoenix.
Can't make it up. No pun intended, but it's an honor for me. Well, hopefully it has an ending as well for you this weekend.
I would love to be in the final. You enjoyed my message to the league I sent out last night, didn't you? I didn't pay attention, TJ, because it was a group text. Well, you replied to it, so you must have paid attention. As a matter of fact, you were the only person to respond. I just don't want to get into how I've been responding on that chain quite a bit lately. This guy and his automated message.
It wouldn't work out for me. I'm out of the office for the next week. No, I'm not referring to that. I'm referring to my video edits and clips. Oh, yes.
Your video edits are fantastic. We just can't talk about them. That's correct. Phone calls 844-204-RICH-NUMBER. Now, what's more likely Friday than Deion Sanders? Then we have the podcaster and writer from certainly some great episodes of Seinfeld back in the day, Spike Feresten here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Don't go anywhere. A fun back half of this Friday show coming up. Nice. When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof, like Allo 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 ShopPay, that boosts 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 Westwood1, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash Westwood1 to upgrade your selling today.
Shopify.com slash Westwood1. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. There's nothing sweeter than baking cookies during the holidays. With Prime, I get all my ingredients delivered right to my door, fast and free, no last minute store trips needed. And of course, I blast my favorite holiday playlist on Amazon Music. It's the ultimate soundtrack for creating unforgettable memories. From streaming to shopping, it's on Prime.
Visit Amazon.com slash Prime to get more out of whatever you're into. Back here on the program, everybody. Let's take a phone call. Chris in Los Angeles.
Let's sneak one in right here. What's up, Chris? Hey, man. How you doing? What's going on? What's up, dude? Quick question for you, man.
There are two of them, really. But first of all, how confident are you in the Rams potentially playing that game on a Saturday? Because I'm going to need to change a flight, if that's the case. Oh, I'm not confident at all. I'm just taking it. I would not make any plans based on any of my crystal balling.
But I kind of like it. Rams have got to make the playoffs first, pal. Absolutely. I'll be there no matter what. Just curious.
And then secondly, just wanted to get you guys talking. If there's a Super Bowl that doesn't include a one or a two seed, I think we had that for the first time with the Rams and Bengals, if I'm not mistaken. If that happened this year, I just want to hear what you guys think would be most likely going into your thing.
Oh, look at Chris. Now we're talking. Well done. Most likely non one or two seed playoff. For this endeavor, use the current seeding, correct? As it is right now.
Yes, as it is right now. I'd go Ravens. That's who I was thinking.
And I'd go, man. Vikings. Vikings or Packers. Vikings or Packers. Do not sleep on the Green Bay Packers.
And I'm not seeing that because I just don't want Murph to comment on my Instagram page. Thanks for the call, Chris. Good, interesting conversation right there. If George Pickens is healthy, maybe Steelers. TJ.
You got 20 seconds to chime in before we're back on radio. Steelers. And? And?
NFC team. I know. Got to go. Right. There you go. No, no, no.
Not one or two seed. Oh, not one. Vikings. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. 844-204-rich is the number.
Do I believe in the Vikings? To dial. Life insurance, you know you need it, but maybe you think you can't afford it or it's too complicated or you don't want to deal with medical exams. Well, that's all changed with Ethos. With Ethos, you just go online, answer a few simple health questions, and in as little as 10 minutes, you can get up to $2 million in term life courage with plans starting around $2 a day. No doctors visits, no complicated forms, and all online.
Don't let the unexpected leave your family without the financial security they need. Get your free quota. Try Ethos.com. Let's try Ethos. It's a What's More Likely Friday. Hit it. What? What's more likely?
Never say never, but never. All right. What do you have, Christopher? Let's go. Hey, everybody. Everybody good? Happy Friday. True going.
Great to see you. Who's more likely to get a road win on Saturday, the Texans or Steelers? Oh, I thought you were going Tennessee. Tennessee? I'm sorry. I don't mean the Titans.
What's up with this guy? Stay focused. Stay focused, Rich. Steelers. Throw the records out, pal. I don't like that Pickens isn't playing.
Neither do I, but you asked me what's more likely. The Texans playing the way that they have played. We need to see 2023 Texans. I don't think anybody's really watching the Texans right now.
I think they're kind of sneaking up on people. Maybe they're not watching the Texans. I don't think anybody's really watching the Texans right now. Well, maybe they're not watching the Texans right now because, I mean, their last games were home for Miami bi-week at Jacksonville, home for Tennessee. I mean, the last time I think everybody settled in to watch the Texans is when they played Dallas on a Monday night in week 11.
Yeah. So the rest of the country is going to convene again, and we need to see 2023 Stroud, offensive line, defense, everybody with some 2024 Joe Mixon mixed in. But I'll take the Steelers in one of those throw the records out games. And I'm sure Lamar would say, please throw my record against the Steelers out.
Yeah, they just got his number. Joe Burrow beat the Browns this year, so we'll see. What else, Chris? All right, what Saturday quarterback most likely to have the longest run? Patrick Mahomes and his injured ankle, Orel Lamar Jackson. Why are you going to do air quotes? Because this is the don't listen, don't feed the animals.
I'm not going to feed the animals. This year, Patrick Mahomes longest run this year, 33 yards. Lamar Jackson's 39. There you go. And I like that you're trying to fig leaf your true intention with numbers that Mahomes isn't really that hurt and whatever. I'll go Lamar, Chris, and ask you to move on, because I know what you're saying. I know what you're trying to come up with here. I know you're trying to have a fun prop based. What's more like?
I don't know. I will take Lamar, Chris. We know Mahomes is going to have like a 45 yard run. I will take Lamar, Chris. Don't on third down in the fourth quarter down in the animals. TJ, I'm just saying, Rich, it's going to happen.
What else, Chris? Who's more likely to have the biggest winning margin on Sunday? The Bills or Lions? The Bills are home against New England, and the Lions are in Chicago trying to prove a point.
Is that your point right here? Yes. Okay. I will go with the home team. How does that sound?
I'll go with the Bills and the train whistles and welcome Drake May to Western New York. Drag game. So, yeah. Yeah. There's that. I'm with you. What else, Chris?
Hey, guys. Who's more likely to throw more touchdown passes? Michael Penix Jr. or anyone who plays for the Jaguars or Raiders?
So, I will go. So, you're saying? I'm talking about Penix or touchdowns and that other game combined. Is it AOC or is it Desmond Ray? I think it's AOC this season. Okay.
So, you mean if they do a half back toss? And it's Mac Jones, correct? Who? Mac Jones.
Who? I will go. If it's Aiden O'Connell, I will go the Jaguars and Raiders game.
That's what I'll do. Dude, come on. For him to come out of the box in week 16. Will Marjus put up five TD's?
And throw for more touchdowns than somebody. Okay. I'll just say that. You're thinking about it. Of course I'm thinking about it because I'm rooting for Penix and I think he's got the skill set. And that other game could be terrible. But you're asking about what's more likely. You know, he's got Jacoby Myers and he's got Brock Bowers going against me in fantasy. And if it's AOC, he's going to get up.
Last time I faced you in these fantasies, it went, you know, they went nuts. Jacoby, pick up AOC and do the stack. Yeah, that's what you should do. You should do that.
You should do that. Chris, what else? Chris, you should have made that question any player. Because like I said, what if they do a half back toss? Some hot seat coaches facing off in South Florida.
More likely to be their team's head coach in 2025. Kyle Shanahan or Mike McDaniel? Both. What is with you? What hot seat are you referring to? Why do you ask this every week? What Mike McDaniel hot seat are you referring to? Troy Aikman is talking about teams trading for Kyle Shanahan. Well, because he picked that up from the Rich Eisen show. When Mike Florio said it here. Something's wrong. People are talking about what Mike Florio said on the Rich Eisen show.
Something's wrong in South Florida. And I understand it, but they signed him long term. Owners don't care about money when it comes to coaches. Neither.
Okay. Neither will be gone. Both will be coaching for their teams next year that they're coaching for against the other on Sunday. What else, Chris? The more likely a 12 win road team to take a stumble and get got Eagles or Vikings.
Vikings are in Seattle. Oh, man. How about this one? Great photo choice to make it up for you because I didn't give you the answer you wanted. Last one. I'll give you the answer you didn't think you wanted here. And I'll say both lose Sunday. Oh, wow.
Rich Eisen. How about that? After I just hyped up the Vikings. Dang. How about that? That'd be a nice little... How about that? How about that?
Nice little Christmas parlor. And this will be the helpful Eagles hit in the mouth. This will be the helpful Eagles hit in the mouth that the Lions will say said that they needed, right? Thanks, I needed that. That's an old commercial.
I think was that was that was that for Aqua Velva when they slap across the face. Thanks. I needed that.
Remember that was John Henderson in that commercial. Nice. Nice.
Yeah, I'll go both. Wow. What else, Chris?
I think I did not. Not scorching hot wide receiver to go for more yards and TVs. Jamar Chase or Mike Evan. I'm going Jamar Chase. Mike Evans is getting close to a thousand again. I just think Jamar Chase has just had offensive player of the year. He's got a cool off at some point though, right? Does he?
I don't know. He's so good. One's going to the hall and Jamar Chase is just off to an incredible start in his career.
I'll go Jamar Chase just because. Just because. Just because. That's fair. Yeah. All right, last one.
I'm more likely to be the higher total combined. Touchdowns in Bucks Cowboys or the length and number of rounds of Fury USEC 2 in Saudi Arabia. Basically, does someone get knocked out or do we got a points fest? That fight's going the distance. Okay, so then I'll do that then. I'll say that goes the distance and there will not be 11 touchdowns on Monday Night Football, right? I have no idea. Okay.
Cooper Rush is on fire. Well, there could be a couple of knockdowns in this fight. That could have been something, but. Okay. I think we need one more. All right. Wow. What a surprise.
One more? Yeah, I know. Man, I wasn't ready for it. Who's more likely to be the Jets starting quarterback next year? Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins? They're having an Achilles off. Dude. Whoever the Jets draft is going to be the starting quarterback for the Jets next year.
They're not going to have a good enough pick to get a quarterback. How do you know? How do you know? How do you know? Bo Nix was 12th overall.
How do you know? There are not six quarterbacks going in the first draft. I understand that, but there also might not be six QB and ED teams or five with one that you didn't see coming. Kirk's going to get cut.
He's going to be out there. You wanted him at one point. That's good.
Get him back. I appreciate you giving some opinion. I'm rooting for you guys. Damn it.
That said, I know the answer to this question. What are their Madden ratings? Who's got the better one? I think Kirk is slightly. I mean, Rodgers last week.
Rodgers last couple of weeks, his Madden rating needs to be adjusted. It's in the game. Wildest story I've heard in forever and a day. I hope it's true. Wraps up hour number two. Deion Sanders is coming up next.
I have questions for that man, who I adore. Hour number three coming up. All right, currently a Rogers Rogers is at a 77.
It seems kind of low, by the way. How about Tom Pelosero saying it's also 77. Wow.
So can't use that to determine Tom game. By the way, how about that Tom Pelosero saying earlier? Cause when you talk about Michael Silver's reporting, you better choose your words carefully.
I will. People tell a story second and third hand based on somebody that says something tongue in cheek, it can sound like he was dead serious. That there was no like piece of paper slammed on the desk and saying, this is Jerry, Judy's Madden number.
We are canceling this trade. But I will just say if this is born out of another offhanded comment, like maybe we should bench our quarterback after just four weeks and say that in a room full of all of the deciders and all of the coaches and coordinators. And then that leads to a five alarm fire conversation. Woody, just quit with the jokes. Leave that up to the myriad comedians who root for your team.
Just, just, just, uh, just stop with the, stop with the gags. Speaking of you see the pregame photo of where David and that was cool. Yeah. LD out there. I think LD is in the, in the market for a new team. Every jet fan should be. Hey, we've got the beans right here with Deion Sanders. He's got a new coffee line coming up. My world with Jeff Jarrett, wherever you listen.
