AFC/NFC Championship Games & Steelers Hire Mike McCarthy

19:06Chris Brockman:you know i don't think there was enough time left anyway yeah there wasn't enough time left he could have kicked it on the on the fourth down where stafford you know miraculously made it with his

19:15Rich Eisen:legs, then you could have saved

19:17Chris Brockman:two, three minutes.

19:19Rich Eisen:That was fourth and one, though. That was a tight one. The one I'm talking about was fourth and four. No, I know.

19:25Chris Brockman:I'm talking about if he... No, I got it. I'm talking about that one, too. But if he had kicked it earlier on that drive on fourth down, they would have had much more time left and maybe navigated a victory.

19:33Rich Eisen:I get you. I didn't have a problem with them going for it on the first fourth down that Stafford picked up with his legs and that was a wild moment right there. Wild play. Because he had an opportunity to flip it out to his running back. I think it was Rivers that was standing out there in front of him. Instead, he decided to take it himself. The fourth and four, I thought, I literally said out loud, kick the field goal, play defense, get half the field and get the hell out of here. But I understand why both of them went for it. If I am sitting here thinking one is lamenting the lack of a field goal, which Sean, if you're asking me which Sean lamented more, I would say Payton.

20:08Rich Eisen:More likely. I would say Payton. Okay. 100%.

20:11Chris Brockman:Rich, this is going to be a topic I feel like maybe not this week, but next week, it's definitely going to be talked about in the lead up to the Super Bowl. All right. The Vikings and Titans should fire everyone who chose to get rid of Sam Darnold and Mike Vrabel.

20:25Rich Eisen:Well, I think the Titans did already fire everybody.

20:29Chris Brockman:Fire him again.

20:30Rich Eisen:Fire him again. Find out wherever they are.

20:31Chris Brockman:Find out wherever they are and get them fired from that job.

20:34Rich Eisen:Listen, you know how I feel about J.J. McCarthy, and we'll see how that plays out. Let's just see how that plays out.

20:40Chris Brockman:It ain't going to play out like this Darnold Magic Carpet Ride is. I got it.

20:45Rich Eisen:I got it. I don't blame Vikings fans for having Seahawks envy right now. I don't blame them. Consult your doctor. Yeah, I know. Find out if, what, McCarthy's right for you. If nine is right for you. That's right. Yeah, that one we're going to have to see play out a little bit. Because if McCarthy turns into, honestly, Jets fans right now, like really we we gave up on sam donald because you know it didn't work out with adam gase man you know and everything else wasn't working out and you know they gave up on him they absolutely gave up on him now he's these many years into his existence and he's ready so you got to look at mccarthy and say would we turn him into the next sam donald by letting him go right now and he's he's a young pup still he's younger than drake may jj mccarthy right he was younger than anybody else in the draft class that drake may beats to the super bowl finish line over anybody else so yeah i i i understand why vikings fans could be upset and what you're bringing up right here on this front and i understand the envy that they have but this one needs to play out don't forget kevin o 'connell came on this show and said he did yeah organizations fail young quarterbacks well before young quarterbacks fail organizations you know and i think guys need three i think sam donald starting in the super bowl gives credence he's the avatar of that sort of thing um getting rid of mike vrabel in tennessee now that one i didn't understand it then don't you remember taylor the one was on our show live when it happened he told him he couldn't believe it yeah um so that one uh yeah like find out the people who you've already let go and tell them they're let go again yeah and they could say well you don't have a right to do that and they so what and and they could say yeah too bad unless you know it's the owner who needs to be held to account uh we'll eventually find out the full accounting on that sort of thing but right now that man holding up the Hunt trophy, I told to Cooper, my 14-year-old is a diehard Patriot fan who doesn't recall a lot of the previous years, that Bill Belichick used to treat that like a hood ornament.

23:13Rich Eisen:He would take it and just hand it to somebody. This thing is not what we're playing for. You take it. But for Vrabel to be able to hold that thing up, you know, like a beacon, like he's the Statue of Liberty, he has every right to do that. Because that is a Very important trophy for him in this franchise and for maybe to show it all the way down to Nashville, Tennessee and say, how do you like me now? I mean, he won't give voice to that. Certainly over the next 13 days, someone's going to pry that out of him and good luck to that.

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24:46Chris Brockman:Rachel, let's go back to August. We're sitting in these chairs wondering what's going on down the street with the Rams quarterback, back not participating in the preseason something up with his back there's a weird uh van outside where he's getting all kinds of treats what's going on with matthew stafford right what is what is going to happen he ends up having a phenomenal season probably going to be named mvp first team all pro he was and he looked awesome in the nfc championship game there's no reason for stafford to think about retirement he'll be back next year i hope so i hope so i mean

25:20Rich Eisen:Sean McVay was asked that question at the end of his press conference yesterday. He goes, what the hell kind of question is that? Stafford was asked at his locker, and he was asked about it, and he was uninterested in discussing it. But listen, when I spoke to him prior to the game in London that we called on NFL Network against Jacksonville, and um when he came on this show um what about a month ago we had him on about a month ago yeah i think you're right when he came on uh the rich eisen show a month ago he said he was having the time of his life he's having a blast well throwing a 12 throw to 17 it should and back 22 23 in his year i mean it is it is once he's old once he's done with his seat um i think playing quarterback for Sean McVay in the Los Angeles Rams is going to be the most coveted spot of any spot by anyone looking to change teams looking to force their way out for a trade okay I think once Stafford steps away that will be quite a day to keep an eye on a handful of other stars in the league who may have already twitched in a direction of not wanting to be where they currently are or has given that impression and if they so want to um force their way out like an nba player we'll see like that's how good of a spot it is to play quarterback for sean mcveigh's los angeles rams and i think deep down stafford knows that and if he still enjoys playing as much as I think he does.

27:07Rich Eisen:I do not know. Nobody knows. Only he and his wife and anybody in his immediate circle knows what he goes through. And I think that's an appropriate way to describe it. You have to get ready each week. To play at his age, at the level that he's playing at and keep his arm as fresh as it is and his shoulder as fresh as it is and his ribs. He's throwing dimes on Sunday. All of it in his back. We don't know what that requires. and it's only up to him once his head clears. But if the price is right, and I'm assuming it's going to be, and he wants to do it, there's no reason for him to sit at age 38.

27:49Rich Eisen:He turns 38 the night before the Super Bowl. So he could have been staring out a Santa Clara window, getting ready to play the Super Bowl the next day, turning 38. Instead, he's going to be turning 38, wondering if he wants to keep playing. I don't know if that's the case. um but i hope he does because he's awesome he had the best year of his career he was never a first team all pro check that box yep i think he's going to be the mvp you check that box and then you know the the rams are clearly a favorite to win you know to go to super bowl 61 here in la in their house that might be another reason to just give it one more shot maybe walk

28:26Chris Brockman:off like whitworth yeah i mean they're gonna have to kind of give him a boost uh you know dollar wise the the rams also have puka up that they're gonna have to keep if there's anybody who's gonna figure i understand there's just gonna be some financial gymnastics to work out this

28:39Rich Eisen:that that that um those are things of of uh out of my concern when it comes to this subject matter this is not an overreaction but i just gave you the reason why it could be so all right a few more

28:51Chris Brockman:uh rich before we get on with our monday and look i i know this is going to be a hot button topic for people. I understand the waters I'm waiting. But I want people to be honest with themselves when they watch these games. What they're enjoying and what they're seeing. One of the games on Sunday had 58 points and was awesome. An unbelievable ping pong match. Couldn't get enough of it. It was amazing. I know you're going with this. The other game had 17 points. One team didn't score for 55 minutes and in the second half both teams were running three times and punting okay no more of these weather games championship sunday should be like the super bowl played at a neutral site in perfect conditions no i want to see these teams at their best no at their best no i mean who enjoyed watching the afc championship game i already

29:46Rich Eisen:said in the college football playoffs the teams coming off of a bye should have their second round games their first game in the college football playoff held on campus there should be a home field advantage for those teams because we're already seeing the teams that play the week before after they have a long enough break themselves you know go in and be seven and one seven and one in those second round games it's crazy man so um there needs to be a home field advantage for it it's unfortunate that there were only 17 combined points in the afc championship game that's tied for the third third fewest combined points in any conference championship game all time the only ones that had um uh i guess worse total points would in to phrase it the way that you're you're you're positioning this jets dolphins in 82 had 14 total points Rams Bucks in 79 had just nine points.

30:51Rich Eisen:The Patriots 10 game winning points are tied for the second fewest in a conference championship game win all time. The nine scored from the Rams to the Buccaneers were all Rams points. They won nine nothing. So the Patriots 10 is tied with the Bills 10 against the Broncos in 91. and the 11 that the greatest show on turf scored indoors against the Buccaneers in that 11-6 final in 99. But I remember that game was intense, and we were on the edge of our seats, and I don't think anybody was complaining the next day how boring that was. But weather's not a factor. You're saying, look.

31:29Chris Brockman:If defensive play is the factor, you're fine with it. But the weather clearly took both teams out of this game. Jared Stidham, at one point, he was looking to go downfield and balked because he couldn't see where the Patriots defenders were because they were wearing white, and it was a whiteout. And I just can't wait for all the Neanderthals in the comments, oh, that's football weather. Really? You still ride a horse to work? You still use dial-up internet? It's okay to evolve. And the NFL is at the cutting edge of innovation constantly, except when it comes to this. You can't be happy with that product in Denver on Sunday.

32:09Chris Brockman:I understand.

32:09Rich Eisen:Man, it's stunk in that regard, and you wanted to see better, but you just had— I want to see R.J.

32:17Chris Brockman:Harvey doing his thing and Cortland Sutton, like,

32:19Rich Eisen:I got it.

32:20Chris Brockman:Like, sit him in perfect condition, uncorked a beautiful 50-yard pass downfield to set up their only touchdown. I got it. I want to see more of that. I want to see Drake May throwing bombs, and we were completely robbed because of this stupid-ass snowstorm.

32:32Rich Eisen:But you can't rob somebody of home-field advantage.

32:34Chris Brockman:It wasn't a home-field advantage for Denver.

32:37Rich Eisen:You still can't do that. But even it could have been a 30 perfect, you know, it could have been the entire game could have been the first half. Whether it's just it's it's unfortunate. It would have been terrible if the game was in New England. OK, talk about the snow game all the time. Like it's like it's it's the immaculate reception game. It's it's something that's not great.

32:58Chris Brockman:It came down to like a controversial, the most controversial play of all time.

33:02Rich Eisen:No, it's not because it was snowing. The snow was a factor. You're talking about Vinatieri's kick in the snow. Like, when your son Cage is old enough, you're going to sit him down, and you're going to show it to him. Absolutely. And you're going to talk about it. It's like one of the greatest moments of your life.

33:18Chris Brockman:But that game would have been way cooler and more high-flying and more action if it were played in perfect conditions. Also, that wasn't the championship game. I'm talking about the championship game. You have made your point.

33:28Rich Eisen:I call it an overreaction. Thank you. What else you got?

33:30Chris Brockman:All right, two more, and we'll get out of Dodge. And, Rich, this is not a shot at you. I just want that. What a setup. I just want that on the record. What a setup. It's the most Jets thing of all time that Sam Darnold is playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

33:45Rich Eisen:There's no question. What else? What do you want me to say?

33:49Chris Brockman:What do you want me to say? What is to say? I mean, as a former Jets fan, what are your feelings of seeing your guy who you thought was the savior now taking on your bitter rival?

33:58Rich Eisen:Patriots are back. And they're back. Well, I mean, and Bills fans. How do you think Bills fans feel about this? Bills fans, they think that they were robbed out of a chance to maybe go in 10 inches of snow to try and take on the Patriots. Again, to my point on the last topic. I got it.

34:12Chris Brockman:You really wanted to watch Bills, Patriots, 3-0 and 2 feet of snow?

34:16Rich Eisen:I don't think the game would have been played. How does that sound? I don't think the game would have been played. You know, obviously, I'm talking to my in-laws this morning.

34:25Chris Brockman:They had 2 feet of snow, probably.

34:26Rich Eisen:They're snowed in. Everybody's snowed in in New England. But all that said, Bills fans, you know, they win the division how many years in a row? Six, right? Five, six years in a row? Yep, yep. Never made the Super Bowl. No, that's a shame. Patriots gave him that shot. You had your window. You had it. And then the Patriots win it again. They go to the Super Bowl. Bills fans have got to be sick to their stomachs watching the Patriots go. And then Sam Darnold, he's the first quarterback from that draft class to go. And so you're looking at, what, Browns fans, Bucs fans, seeing Baker not the first to go.

35:00Rich Eisen:Josh Allen's not the first to go. It's Sam Darnold. Lamar Jackson. So, I mean, Bills fans have got to be a little bit sick to their stomach seeing this matchup too. Patriots versus Sam Darnold. Josh Allen in all those years of trying to win the division. I'm not deflecting. I get it. I'm not deflecting because the Jets in this entire time haven't had a pulse. The Bills had every possible shot. The Bills have an MVP quarterback and a future Hall of Famer that the Jets didn't take because they took Darnold and then wasted his few years that they had there and then discarded him and watched others like Carolina not utilize him, I might add.

35:39Rich Eisen:So listen, it's a tough pill to swallow. This is not an overreaction. I appreciate the caveat of you saying you're not doing this to troll me, but I think you are. I don't think that's an overreaction. I think the biggest overreaction was you setting it up. Your setup was an overreaction more than the actual subject matter. Sam Darnold.

36:00Chris Brockman:All right, last one. A coaching carousel topic here to take us out the door. The Steelers go with Mike McCarthy over the weekend. So still a few jobs remaining. If Pittsburgh was just going to hire Mike McCarthy, they should have never let Mike Tomlin quit.

36:17Rich Eisen:Well, they can't let him not quit. They could have gave him a raise. I don't think that had anything to do with it. Bigger house, nicer car. I don't think it had anything to do with it.

36:25Chris Brockman:What are we doing?

36:26Rich Eisen:Come on, Pittsburgh. Listen, I think the proper way to frame this is to every single Pittsburgh Steelers fan that wanted Mike Tomlin out. And I was always saying, you never know what you're going to get after that. And Mike McCarthy has every opportunity, certainly in this you never know league, certainly as we're talking about this entire podcast, this entire show about a team that was down and out and chose a kid third overall, third quarterback taken in the draft, third one. And he's the one that goes to go to the Super Bowl first with a new head coach in Mike Vrabel. right? That that's possible.

37:03Rich Eisen:Sam Darnold is, is doing what he's doing with his career is possible. So it's entirely possible that Mike McCarthy and his third bite at the apple does get his second Superbowl ring. And he does have as many career wins right up there with John Harbaugh. Okay. He's right up there with that. He is now, I mean, you want to talk about legendary franchises. I don't know I mean you never say never all three you never say never but will we ever see another coach with a resume of coaching the Packers Cowboys and Steelers I don't think we'll ever see anything like that I guess Parcells comes

37:39Chris Brockman:close Giants Patriots Cowboys

37:41Rich Eisen:I mean you dude with all due respect to the John that the Patriots you know the Patriots don't go back to you know the Lambeau you know and the Steelers go back I mean You're talking about old school going back in the day, you know, pre-war franchises here with the exception of the Cowboys. Listen, anything's possible. Anything can happen. But you look at Mike McCarthy's resume since, you know, since his Super Bowl win. He did win some playoff games in Green Bay. but there's been a lot of futility in winning playoff games in Mike McCarthy's career since his last win playoff. He had one playoff win for Dallas.

38:27Rich Eisen:He might just beat in the futility years that everybody tired of Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. That's just the one playoff win. That's all McCarthy had with Dallas and with Green Bay. Probably since the last time Tomlin won a playoff game they're probably he's probably down one one nothing in that regard to the new Mike in town or ton is that how you ton ton ton so so yeah I I understand that you know Steelers fans you wanted something different you got something different where your team didn't go ahead and hire somebody who's a defensive minded person in their mid to late 30s and you can grow old together with you went with a guy who's in his early 60s who's an offensive guy you're going to go draft somebody or you're going to go bring somebody in or you're going to look at will howard and say this is your guy and tell mccarthy this is your guy what about aaron rogers why we hired you you think he's back next year i don't i i have no earthly idea but why running it back with a different mike is going to get a similar result i think within a roster that's going to be one year older i'd imagine you gotta you hired mccarthy again he's not some 40 year old you you You need to get started.

39:40Rich Eisen:To me, I always think, to myself, I've said before, Malik Willis, go get him. You go get him. You tell McCarthy, hey, the guy who succeeded you in Green Bay has done a lot of great work with him already. You continue it. That might be the move here. But this is an overreaction. Never let Mike Tomlin quit. I think he was gone, and that was based on the circumstances of a lot of people in that place saying, you know, I don't want him here anymore. And now he's not there. And now you got Mike McCarthy and we're just going to sit here and have to see. That's it for overreaction. That's it. Okay. Everybody.

40:19Rich Eisen:Hey, appreciate everybody taking in this podcast throughout the playing season. We will be back next week with another, I guess, pre Superbowl week edition. You're going to have to really conjure up a lot more of those narratives. Let's go. And then of course we'll be the rich eyes and show in, San Francisco Super Bowl week, Wednesday through Friday. And then the football season ends. Love it. I don't love that. For Chris, I'm Rich. Peace out.

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