Bills' Next Steps after McDemott, and NFL Divisional Round Mayhem

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0:18Rich Eisen:Welcome to this edition of Overreaction Monday. The divisional playoff weekend is in the books. Rich Eisen along with Chris Brockman. And oh my goodness, is there everything to talk about. And just about an hour before we sit down for overreaction Monday, the Buffalo Bills fire Sean McDermott. And suddenly that simultaneous catch that wasn't a simultaneous catch, that wasn't a catch, but was an interception that I think everybody thought would be the main topic of conversation when it happened to come out of the first divisional playoff game of the weekend suddenly became the third most talked about subject behind Bo Nix.

1:08Rich Eisen:Oh, by the way, breaking his ankle after that. Say what now? And now Sean McDermott being fired. So I think we need to get to overreaction Monday. Okay, great. Yeah, yeah. Lest we suddenly have to overreact to something we had no thought at all that we'd have to overreact to. Oh, by the way, that Caleb Williams throw. Holy crap. Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction. Mondays. Monday. All right, Christopher, you've got the floor. Holy smokes. Okay, I guess we've got to start with breaking news Monday morning. I want to say that I did write this on Sunday night.

1:48Okay. and I was just kind of ahead of it. The Bills' first call needs to be to Mike Tomlin to see if he's really taking next year off.

1:56Rich Eisen:I don't even know if that's the answer. How does that sound? Really? How about this? Yeah. How about this? Because, I mean, if you're firing Sean McDermott over results, not getting to a certain level of the playoffs, which is what this appears to be, like, hey, we keep hitting our ceiling before the Super Bowl, We need to get to the Super Bowl. So let's hire a guy who, despite a Hall of Fame resume and despite how great he is, let's take him and let's put him here and hook him up with a quarterback that's as close to Big Ben as he's ever seen or we've seen, okay, and see what happens, would be, I think, a sell to the Buffalo fan base that at the end of the day they'd be pleased with because he's such a big name and it is a guy that has been there and done that.

2:56Rich Eisen:I kind of think what they want to do is get out of the CEO mold and go and get a young X's and O's play-calling dude like Ben Johnson. I think Ben Johnson's success this year, along with everybody else's actions from Baltimore to Pittsburgh have created a situation in Western New York to essentially say, we need to go get one of those. And we don't need to keep doing the same thing over and over again because there's a certain level of success. The floor has been so high. Look what Baltimore just did with their guy who's been there 18 seasons. Look what this Steelers just had a, I guess, a fan base that created such a an environment or Tomlin felt compelled that we're done here.

3:54Rich Eisen:Yeah. To leave that two organizations that have done it the same way for two decades now have to do it a different way based on their own doing and based on the coaches decision. We don't have to keep doing it the same way ourselves anymore. so i don't know would tomlin be an incredible choice for buffalo and let's hook him up with josh allen he's not exactly the quarterback whispering type he's the ceo that would get a situation together that potentially can get you to where you want to go which is the super bowl and obviously a parade um i kind of think that they're going to go and get a coach who calls the plays who's hooked up to josh allen and end it and see what you can do in terms of a defensive coordinator on that side of the football and then talk to the buffalo bills fan base that thinks the roster is what at the end of the day has let josh allen and this franchise down it's the roster it's the the way that they've surrounded josh allen not the way that they've coached josh Allen it's the way or in games with Josh Allen it's the way that they've built the roster and talked to the fans who think the general manager is now not only staying but he's been promoted yeah to handle all of this that's wild that's the tougher sell I think but would Tomlin be a great choice sure I think he is by the way gonna take the this year off Tomlin yeah but let's call and just make sure I agree I don't think that's that's an overreaction at the end of the day My reaction is the CEO head coach in Buffalo with a defensive side of the football resume.

5:42Rich Eisen:Yeah, that's over, huh? I think you want to go in a different direction. And, you know, just as a for instance, they already have Joe Brady sitting in the OC chair. if you feel like he's ready and he's going to be interviewing for jobs elsewhere and potentially might wind up in Miami, just throwing ifs and buts and candies and nuts out there. Do you go ahead and see if he's the guy? I understand the Giants just bounced Brian Dayball. Yeah, I was going to bring him up. But Dayball came from the staff in Buffalo, where that's where the Josh Allen ascension began with him in his headset. Yeah, exactly.

6:22Rich Eisen:Do you do that? you know, I, I don't know what's going to happen. This did surprise me though, at the end of the day. Yeah. Of all the years to do it, I guess you could have kind of, you know, justified it either after last year or the year before playoff disappointment, but, but now, but I think again, just to bring it all full circle, Ben Johnson shows up in Chicago as an X's and O's genius. Yeah. Hook him up with your quarterback. Look where you go. Yeah. Okay. And then two other franchises that have done it a certain way are saying, you know what into the brave new world we go yeah and the bills will be like okay the crazy thing at the end of the day it's not crazy it's understandable is that the packers decided let's just keep going with matt lafleur which as you know i think is a great choice right what else you got over there man maybe the bill should call the packers for a trade maybe uh you know part of the reason sean mcdermott got bounced is because his quarterback didn't play well josh allen did not have a good game on sunday and it could this be the beginning of the end of josh allen and buffalo josh allen should force a trade to the rams if stafford retires this offseason get out of here by the way if stafford retires this offseason that might you you want to talk about how all of these quarterbacks elsewhere like burrow and whatever who are thinking where they currently are isn't the best place for them that yeah man you're going to that opening might create that sort of march create madness in the nfl josh allen's not demanding a trade why not why why shouldn't make the case why he shouldn't because um he loves it where he is and he's beloved where he is and i think if you're sitting here today like you are and I am, I hate doing this sort of stuff where I feel like I have to get into the head of somebody who doesn't deserve me clanking around between the temples or anyone in the media, quite frankly.

8:24Rich Eisen:I get it. But if I had to get inside of Josh Allen's head right now, I think his thought process is grieving the loss of a season and processing what his role in it was. if I only hit that wide open Dawson Knox. If I only did this. If I didn't fumble it before halftime. If I didn't do that. If I could have done a little bit more. I think that's what he's wrestling with right now. Not am I in the right situation. Maybe in a week or two he'll think about that. How did I affect McDermott's departure? sure how to how did I do anything to do with any of the upheaval and the coaching staff I I I personally think he internalizes things in a in a more uh empathetic way for others which is I think one of his superpowers and um I'm now going to crawl outside of his head which you've now forced me to do with this topic bar the Rams are obviously the spot where I think a lot of people want to go for anything and everything.

9:33Rich Eisen:Devontae Adams said this week, and it's made the rounds, that he's told all of the kids in the wide receiver room, listen, I did get out of where I was in Green Bay. I did want to play with my BFF in college. I did want to get closer to the West Coast. I did want to do all of these things. I wanted my money. I wanted this. I wanted that. I understand you're going to want all that stuff. But where we are right now, this grass is so damn green. Never leave the Los Angeles Rams under the current construct of owner, general manager, and coach. Don't ever leave it. And so, sure, it will be an incredibly attractive spot.

10:18Rich Eisen:And I think for Stafford, too. I don't know if he's going anywhere based on the way that he's playing, based on the way that the Rams are now one step away from the Super Bowl. And let's see how it all ends. But that's my response to this. I'll just say this is a wild overreaction. Just saying, in two weeks, it could get pretty crazy. A wild overreaction. All right. Let's talk about actual games, Rich Eisen. We watched Bears-Rams together. Unreal. It was absolutely unbelievable. I can't believe the Caleb Williams play. One of the most exhilarating watches I've had in a long time. Man. Ben Johnson should have gone for two to end the game in regulation.

10:58Yeah, I think that's a good second guess.

11:01Rich Eisen:From 30 for 30 Podcasts. I need everyone. He's on fire. Did you think someone died? Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he scrapped that. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. Biggest one of convictions. being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. I think it's... I thought he was 100 % going to do it. We were saying it with five minutes to go if they score here. Is he going to go for two? I just think it's... It's... It was such a stunning blow that to go into overtime made sense also.

11:48Rich Eisen:That the Rams would be the ones to have to steal themselves and not... you know, go on tilt to use a poker phrase. Yeah. And sure enough, the Rams got the ball first and didn't even get a first down. And the Bears got the ball back and had a chance to go ahead and win it. And they were ramming it down the Rams throat on the ground and decided to throw. And then that play where DJ, well, where Caleb says he and DJ Moore had a miscommunication, but all the, all 22 mavens are saying that. That DJ Moore didn't run the wrong route or he was coasting. I mean, that's what Collinsworth said in first blush, that he didn't seem to have much of an interest.

12:36Yeah, that's kind of what it was like.

12:37Rich Eisen:Which is kind of wild to say about the guy who keeps catching these game-winning passes from Caleb Williams or these game-changing passes from Caleb Williams. I just thought Caleb Williams makes that absolutely insane play, like a Tecmo Bowl-type play where you're just running backwards and you heave it. McVay's face is a meme. He's absolutely shell-shocked. And all you need is a one-two point play. Two-yard play. Let Caleb make something happen with his legs. Yeah, I hear you. I understand why he kicked the extra point. It is the playoffs. Sure. You know what I mean? For the game-winner season.

13:14Rich Eisen:But it fits with his personality. He's been going for it on fourth and everything this season. Even that's off the charts. You kick the extra point, you play for overtime, you get the ball in overtime, where all you need is a field goal to win it. It was all set up, and then that interception happened. So I think we're kind of playing the result here. But it's a valid second guess based on the result, which makes this an overreaction at the end of the day. Man, you really got the full Caleb experience in that game. The dazzling plays, the weird head-scratching incompletions, And then ultimately kind of the interception that ends the game.

13:54Rich Eisen:Yeah. I mean, again, his interceptions are miscommunication or fourth down attempts where he's got to throw it up for grabs. Exactly. It usually, it usually just isn't where like half of what Stroud did against your, your, your Patriots, which is just head scratchers and silly, just throw it up for grabs and change the entire tenor of a playoff game type turnovers. When he misses, he usually hits the back of the, the end zone or a Gatorade jug on the sidelines, which is why it was so shocking to see him throw an interception in overtime based on how everything goes the bear's way. Once the clock strikes the fourth quarter.

14:34Rich Eisen:So I understand why Ben kicked the extra point. Sure. And, and, and it was all set up for them to win it, man. His development though, year one to year two makes, you know, the idea of year two to year three. So exciting. I mean, he's going to be in the MVP conversation next season. So Bears fans should be very happy. Right. And it caused, I think, not one, but two franchises to bounce their long-tenured CEO head coaches for an X's and O's offensive coordinator to hook up to their MVP quarterbacks. I truly believe that's why the Ravens and the Bills eventually decided now is the time. I believe so.

15:14Rich Eisen:Watch the Ravens will still hire a defensive-minded guy and try and find another offensive coordinator for Lamar. Entirely possible that they do that, because, you know, my first blush was it's Jesse Minter's gig in Baltimore. I have no idea what the Bills are going to do. Again, at this recording, the news of McDermott's firing is about an hour old. So what else you got over there? Okay, Rich, we don't, according to their fans, we don't talk about this team at all. We don't talk about Bruno. We don't talk about the Seahawks, Rich. another dominating performance they've seemed like they've only been doing that the sam darnold mystery oblique it turned out to be a big nothing burger and i think the seahawks are winning the super bowl this is not an overreaction at all they're the team to beat listen this is not an overreaction at all and if your quarterback has an oblique question going into a big time playoff game whose album was that oblique question a big oblique question okay what you should do is return the opening kickoff for a touchdown and get the requisite amount of game winning points 13 seconds into the game and let your defense do the rest by the way good strategy great job out of the seahawks that's the way to do it and by the way that's why you trade for that guy that's why you trade for Rashid Shahid.

16:36Rich Eisen:That's why you do it. Who came on our show? I forget who it was. Called him the Percy Harvin of this team. Oh, good one. You know, like that's what he's doing right now. Great job. Take the pressure right off, you know, and put the defense out on the field. Because they're an incredible unit. And they're a unit. They're a wagon. They're not a unit. They're a wagon. so um and with the texans out without question the best defense remaining in these well without a doubt i know the way the patriots are playing i get it i get it get out of here they are so stacked and so good the seahawks are winning the super bowl is not an overreaction by any stretch of the imagination i do want to say this though to seahawks fans who feel like you are an afterthought this is just the media business i know you're out there up in the pacific northwest nobody pays attention to you in a in a world where there's an east coast sports bias unless it's college football then it's a southeast midwest biased i get it i get it totally understand but when you want a divisional playoff weekend destroy your opponent i mean absolutely obliterate them the game was a rap probably from the end of the first quarter on a rap.

17:52Rich Eisen:This thing was a rap. You know, the Niners did score to put a point on the board and give them a little bit of a higher register chance. You never thought this game was close. All of that. But after the Buffalo Bills wound up getting hosed or not hosed or it was their curse that finally hit them and the Denver Broncos have their starting quarterback break his ankle, leading to the first ever quarterback in the history of the NFL to not throw a single pass in the regular season, get a start in a championship game. And then the Patriots and the Texans have a snow globe game where there's a bunch of big time plays.

18:40Rich Eisen:Keyshawn Booty with one hand. Unreal. Stephon Diggs with two hands, and then sometimes C.J. Stroud throwing with his feet. I mean, all of that happening, and then the Sunday night game hitting with everything that happened between the Bears and the Rams and that throw from Caleb and then overtime, you're going to get knocked down the news stack. It's not you. It's us in the media, okay? It's not you. it's us okay please understand this Seattle fans you're gonna have your day on Sunday against the Rams and then for you hopefully a Super Bowl just breathe and congrats my message to see I like it no I like okay I like it a lot let's talk about the snow game in Foxboro rich oh man that turned the way back machine on for, I think, for all Patriots fans.

19:40And had the Patriots defense, you know, given early dynasty vibes, Rich Eisen, that's the reason New England's in the AFC title game.

19:51Rich Eisen:I did say to Cooper, my 14-year-old, who is a diehard Patriot fan, because Susie is from the Boston area. Of course. And when Xander, Cooper's older brother, was born and all the Patriot gear was shown to the house and Red Sox gear was shown to the house and Celtics gear was shown to the house, I put my preemptory on the Red Sox stuff. And I'm like, that's out. Yankees are this family's children's baseball team of choice. But everything else, I just could not say you need to be a Jet fan because I could not. That's good parenting. You know, run the risk of child services removing my children from my parentage.

20:40Rich Eisen:Well done. Well done by you. But I did tell Cooper that, you know, when he started just being able to remember Patriots games and start rooting for the Patriots, and that's when Brady started leaving, and then we all know what happened in the first parts of this century. Sure. I told him right now what's happening now is what it means to be a Patriot fan, which is you've got it all set up. The table is completely wired. You've got your coach. You've got your front office. You've got your owner. You've got your quarterback. You've got your roster. And it's all happening. Weird stuff happens in your favor when you have a playoff game and then your opponents always fall apart.

21:22Rich Eisen:Your opponents will come in without their best wide receiver and then lose their best tight end and then lose their second tight end and lose their right tackle and lose their left guard. And their quarterback will stop remembering how to play football. That's a lot of things to put on a topic bar. And then and then and then you get the break of the century, which is the one seed that's welcoming you into their house, loses their starting quarterback and must start a quarterback who hasn't thrown a pass in two years in the AFC championship game. that's what it means to be a patriot fan congratulations you're finally realizing what it is just topic bar you know the defense is awesome and has been awesome hey they've been great no one's talking about unbelievable and the way that everything else has shaped up because mike vrabel was hired before aaron glenn mike vrabel is now the dean of afc east head coaches oh mike vrabel used the jets to get a good deal from bob craft they're incredible they can win the super bowl too all four teams in it right now agreed the whole damn thing including Jared Stidham and the Broncos.

22:23Rich Eisen:You never know. Okay. I won't even, I wouldn't even give a response to that topic bar, man, to give you the satisfaction you're looking for. How dare you? Let's talk about CJ Stroud, man. I don't know what that was this week. I don't know what it was last week. And it's been trending in the wrong direction for this guy. Who's won a playoff game in each of his first three seasons. He's made the divisional round all three years. He has, but Houston should wait before giving him a max. Oh, that is without question a proper reaction. Score more with the college-branded Venmo debit card and earn up to 5 % cash back with Venmo Stash.

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23:24Rich Eisen:And again, this is not a Michigan, Ohio State thing. No, I get it. I find the kid impressive. Me too. All right. He can throw a beautiful football. And like I said, didn't have his number one wide receiver. Didn't have his number one tight end. He lost him after, by the way, Dalton Schultz had a 40-yard gain in the first quarter. Then you remove him. Then eventually you remove the second tight end. And part of that is because it was a slippery field, a hospital ball, whatever you want to call it. I don't want to put that on another human being. I don't like doing that, even though I kind of just did.

24:04Rich Eisen:But that's not what I take away from the game. I take away from the game that it was a legit conversation. And by the way, I don't know if anybody saw on our friends at ESPN and ABC, the halftime chat. Oh, they were calling for Davis Webb. And Marcus Spears. No, it was Davis Mills. Oh, Davis Mills. Yeah, it was Marcus Spears, Jason Kelsey, Ryan Clark with SVP, you know, hosting it. That was a real talk at halftime about, you know, Spears saying, you got to have a talk with CJ Stroud. Say, are you in there? Yeah. Essentially is what he was saying. And Ryan Clark was like, no, you can't have that conversation with him.

24:41Rich Eisen:This second half is about his ability to be still the quarterback of the Houston Texans with the contract up. And, you know, and Kelsey was was sort of a swing vote in this conversation. And it was real. It's a real talk, man, because, you know, in the same way that owners are looking at the way other owners handling their business with coaches, they've got to look about how the other owners have handled their business with quarterbacks being paid for the second time. and how Miami feels about their situation right now. Arizona, too. And what's up with all of this? And I think 100 % the Texans will pick up CJ's fifth-year option and make him play year four out.

25:26Rich Eisen:Unless CJ wants to sign right now for like a Baker-type deal. You want to sign for extra years at$30 million? Go for it. Let's talk about that. but you want 50, 55 million at one point, you know, coming off of Stroud's unicorn, you know, highly deserved offensive rookie of the year season. I was targeting him as the first quarterback to get a$60 million deal. I remember sort of spinning out of, of their, of the financial lanes and quarterbacks were getting signed a second year, second and third year, third contract deals that were through the roof yeah it turned out to be dac getting the 61st because jerry just said screw it i'm gonna go right past the 50 something million way over and go right to 60 and i thought it would be stroud who had a second year regular season that was definitely not as good as the first but still wound up in the same spot divisional playoff round this year this year i thought they had a real shot to make it to the afc championship game for the first time in team history the way that they've been playing for the past two plus months and the way that that defense is playing that i saw again in person against the chargers and stroud began to make some crazy you know decisions in those in that game including throwing an interception right before halftime that i kurt warner saying what are you looking at and who knew that that was the beginning of the unraveling uh of stroud's uh terrific play from when he returned from his concussion all the way to the end of the season that he was making great decisions hardly had an intercept he had one turnover in a month and now he had seven turnovers in the playoffs and they were still able to make it to the second round without all of that that the game changed on on him not taking a sack um and throwing it up for grabs leading to a pick six the texans were up 10-7 with the ball yep and all they had to do is just play smart small ball on offense and let the defense do its thing on drake may who was the one turning the ball over yeah will anderson and nil hunter were just everywhere roasting everywhere correct that's all he had to do and stroud flipped the script yeah and then when it came to down to who's going to come up with the knockout punch was it stroud with a touchdown drive uh now down 21 to 16 woody marks fumbled in the red zone it wasn't stroud's fault there that was a crusher because the patriots get the ball back and what happens drake may i don't know if this is on your sheet Let me just hit this here.

28:18Rich Eisen:Drake may decides to come up with yet another brilliant throw the throw and connection for the touchdown. A key Sean booty had to have had what a one to 2 % chance of being completed. If that, because booty's not just on being marked by anybody. He's being marked by Derek Stingley jr. who is a well-deserved first-team all-pro cornerback. And he, May, puts the ball in the only spot where Keyshawn Booty could get it, and the only way Booty could get it was a one-handed grab. Diving. And you have to come up and tip your cap if you're the Texans and go, not our day. And at the end of the day, this is not an overreaction with Stroud.

29:10Rich Eisen:And you have to look across the way, and go, man, that quarterback, can Stroud do that? And at the end of the day, just bringing this entire conversation full circle from what we've already mentioned on this show, the Texans didn't have the guy who could come up with a catch like that because he couldn't come out of concussion protocol, but your best defender could. And all Christian Gonzalez did was be all over the field, ripping the ball out, left, right, up, and down. Which is the way it happens for the Patriots. You get your guy and the other guy and the other team. I mean, come on. He's not there.

29:46Honestly, how many other teams does Kayshaun Booty start for, though?

29:50Rich Eisen:It's not like the Patriots receivers are knocking the world out. They balled out all season long. And Booty started. I think Booty started doing something last year, too. He started flashing last year. A little bit. Remember, before he was at LSU, he was a first-round player. Douglas and all these guys. Again, Booty with one hand, Diggs with both. Made the place. Difference making. That's why they're going to Denver. We're not going to be reenacting Stephon Diggs' touchdown celebration. Thank you, sir. Just throwing that out there. Good. All right, two more, Rich. Let's talk about the Rams, man.

30:24Although you do look at your hands saying, these are the ones coming up with the topics. Like Freddie Mitchell. Thank God my hands were so great. The Rams' big game experience, Rich, gives them the edge over all the other remaining teams.

30:37Rich Eisen:Um, this is an interesting take. This is an interesting take. I mean, honestly, um, they got the quarterback. The coach has done it. They got the quarterback has done it. They got guys all over that roster who are on the Super Bowl team. It gives them, it gives them an edge. Um, sure. But the other teams have edges of their own. Yeah. But on the, on the, on the Super Bowl coach doesn't have that Super Bowl quarterback with them. Well, I mean, Mike Vrabel won a Super Bowl as a player. Didn't get there as a head coach. Sean Payton's had one before, but, you know. Not paired up with the quarterback.