Hour 1: AFC & NFC Championship Games Reactions, Matthew Stafford’s Rams Future

0:00Rich Eisen:So good, so good, so good. Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now, and they're up to 60 % off. Stock up and save on Rag & Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints, and more of your favorites. How did I not know Rack has Adidas? Why do we rack? For the hottest deals. Just so many good brands. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Get in the game with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5 % cash back with Venmo Stash, a new rewards program from Venmo.

0:41No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo Debit Card at venmo.com slash college card. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me slash stash terms. Max$100 cash back per month. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part.

1:19Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. It's battle time! We are going to the Super Bowl! Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. He's being chased, tries to get outside. He does! He's got the first down! Coming up on today's show, complete championship Sunday recap. Way too early Super Bowl preview. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:00Rich Eisen:Okay, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on Disney +, here on the ESPN app, here on ESPN Radio, Sirius XM, Channel 80, 844-204-RICH, number to dial, looking down, already seeing phone lines lit. That makes me all very happy. We greatly appreciate that. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial, whether you're watching us, whether you're listening to us, however you're taking in this program, we greatly appreciate it. Super Bowl 60 is set. It is, in fact, the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. Two people that are playing in this Super Bowl, Drake May and Sam Darnold.

2:41Rich Eisen:Not a lot of people thought that would be possible coming into the season, and yet it is. And I'd love to chat about it with you. 844-204-RICH, as I said, number to dial. Chris Brockman, congratulations to you and your patients. Thank you very much, sir. Good to see you, DJ Mikey Diaz and Dee's Nuts. What's up, sir? Good morning. Good morning, Rich. TJ Jefferson, the candle is lit. Good to see you in your spot, TJ. Take the points. Just a reminder. We will discuss that. We will discuss that. Let's talk about the NFC Championship game to start because the AFC Championship game got lost in a blizzard in that second half, and there's not much to talk about from that game with the exception of the taking the points and it's snowing and the grit and the determination, obviously, of both teams and the team that eventually won it.

3:25Rich Eisen:But let's talk the NFC Championship game. I said coming off of the Week 16 Seahawks overtime win over the Rams. That was a game of the year at the moment. Obviously, that got replaced many times over. And then in the interim, as we saw potentially a Rams and Seahawks collision course in the NFC Championship game, the way that everything played out with the seating, the way that everything played out, certainly in the wildcard week, and that if we would see something similar to Week 16 play out in the NFC Championship game between these two teams, it would be something we talk about for a long time to come.

4:02Rich Eisen:And what played out yesterday was an outstanding football game filled with drama, filled with points, filled with quarterback play that was superb, filled with pass catchers that were superb, filled with defensive plays when they would crop up, and then filled with second-guessing. and congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks, the defense that was getting you through many of these games, the defense that helped you along with special teams get you through against San Francisco in the divisional round, the defense that would give Sam Donald, say, the rest of the day off against the Washington Commanders and the Arizona Cardinals and just boat racing people and just coming up with pick sixes or sack fumbles return for touchdowns and Demarcus Lawrence being added and this kid Nick Emanwari who's all over the place.

4:59Rich Eisen:That defense at the end of the day is not what got you through to the Super Bowl and the NFC Championship game. This is amazing and it's the truth. Sam Darnold did. the highly much maligned Sam Darnold against the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth quarter in overtime of week 16 and then the NFC championship game his arm, his grit, his guts, his determination his neck up ability his connection with Jackson Smith and Jigba that I understand in a game of 53 men is one thing. But Sam Darnold on Sunday with the rest of his teammates on offense and the blocking up front, it was his arm that's getting you to Super Bowl 60.

6:03Rich Eisen:And that is incredible. In case you're wondering, there's a list of players who in the history of the Seahawks have had 300 or more yards in a game, three passing touchdowns in that game with your 300-yard game, and no interceptions in the playoff game. In the history of the Seattle Seahawks postseason action, the list includes Sam Darnold. That's it. One. That's it. It's not Russ. There's no Matt Hasselbeck. No Jim Zorn? No. No Dave Craig. Okay. This guy. He was unbelievable. Passer rating of 127.8. And the other guy who may win MVP, his passer rating was 127.6. He needed every part of that last decimal in this game.

7:04Rich Eisen:Did he get a break on special teams? Did he get a break when a punt to start the second half after a three and out, after the Rams get what they needed from their defense? Did they get a muff punt from Xavier Smith? They did. Did they turn it into points right away with just the fourth catch of the year by Jake Bobo? words I can't believe I'm saying into a microphone but the word Sam Donald Super Bowl quarterback is being said into this microphone yes they did but did they then in this game remarkably have a sort of similar mistake made by them lead to a touchdown for the Rams right away yes I've never seen and this is unbelievable, certainly in a championship game, I've never seen a defender like Reek Woolen get called for taunting an opponent and an opponent's bench I don't know what he was saying towards the Rams sideline in that game I don't know what was going on but it was enough for Devontae Adams to look at the ref and say you're going to do something about this?

8:26Rich Eisen:And then the ref throws a flag and instead of it being a punt it was like a turnover because the Rams got a fresh set of downs. Instead of sending the punt unit out, back comes the Rams offense with a fresh set of downs and then right away a touchdown from Stafford over Reek Woolen to Puka Nakua for the score. Right away. In the same way that the Rams took the Seahawks took the Rams muffed punt, turned it into points right away. The Rams did the same thing to the Seahawks. So you kind of throw those touchdowns out and we're back sort of on serve, if you will, the way that the first half was playing out.

9:16Rich Eisen:Although the Rams didn't get the ball with an opportunity to take the lead, the Seahawks got the ball back after the Rams made it closer in this instance. no matter because the Rams did have a shot to take the lead later on in the game. They were trailing in and marched down the field. They needed 90 yards to do it. And they were inside the red zone because Stafford was jumping it down, making a profit instead of going broke, finding Blake Corum finding Kyron Williams finding Devontae Adams finding Puka Nakua and then instead of kicking a field goal to go down one Sean McVay decides to go for it Matthew Stafford on fourth and one of going for it picks it up with his legs that was unbelievable I don't know if you were screaming and yelling from the couch at that point in time that Stafford's taking off you know i turn to my i turn to my patriot loving son cooper i'm like see not just drake may can run it 37 year old whose birthday is a saturday before super bowl 60 can do it too he picks it up with his legs and then sure enough another fourth down faced inside this red zone now and they decide to go for it instead of kicking the field goal i'll be honest with you we're going to talk about this later this is what you just referred to right there i listen i think mcveigh is going to go to the hall of fame one day it's his first we all know it come on now wow i think both sean's are going to be there one day um but take the points play defense come back get half the field try and win it easy second guess certainly when on fourth down the seahawks defense stops the Rams.

11:14Rich Eisen:Sean McVay alluded to it later on. It seemed like it was like a busted coverage by the Seahawks that they lucked into having two players on Kyron Williams instead, no matter. No matter. The Seahawks did what they needed to do, not only stopping the Rams there, but getting enough first downs to essentially give Stafford no time left in which to drive the field for a touchdown. And the unkindest for the Rams cut in that regard is on a night when Darnold was dealing and was dealing to Jackson Smith and Jigba and finding Jake Bobo in the end. Part of the reason why the Rams were down more than just a field goal, part of the reason why the Rams were down for much of this game is because a first down grab and lean for the first down in this crucial instance was turned in by a guy who scored a touchdown earlier in the game and that's Cooper Cup he was awesome he was a difference maker he scored a touchdown and going down to the ground he was ruled bills fans as if he had already caught the ball did enough maybe the football act of trying to reach the ball for the first down is what made the official on the spot determine that he was not still in the process of making the catch and therefore the ground did not cause an incompletion it caused a runner to hit the ground and thus the ground could not cause a turnover that split decision by the official and then Sean McVay firing off a timeout and then deciding not to challenge because if he had fired off that time out and then challenged apparently if he had lost he would have lost all of his remaining times out.

13:36Rich Eisen:That was the final sequence that led to too much time coming off the clock. Cooper Cupp's grab and Darnold's dart of a throw and the potential future MVP of this season with 374 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions of his own, walks off the field wondering what happened. We're all wondering about the future, which we'll discuss later on. And the Seahawks are moving on with Sam Darnold at quarterback as NFC champs. And Mike McDonald, moving on last year, a 10-win season, not enough to make the playoffs because the tie breaks didn't go his way. And the man taking the selfie with him on the screen right now and John Schneider, who 1 million percent, is in line for executive of the year, based on what he did.

14:36Rich Eisen:And we'll discuss that further on in this show. but Mike McDonald is a Super Bowl head coach and had this to say after the game. The team went, you know, special teams had to pick it up. The drive at the end on offense was just tremendous. I thought Clint called a great game and then, you know, you can't talk about the game without talking about our quarterback. I mean, he just shut a lot of people up tonight, so I'm really happy for him. He should be. Yep. He should be. Showed up a lot. He shut up a lot of people tonight. And that's as much of a spike of the football you're going to get from this guy.

15:12Rich Eisen:Don't let his calm demeanor fool you. He's intense. He is intense, and he holds everyone accountable. And along with Clint Kubiak, who might be a head coach in about two weeks from today, the OC there, brought this team along and has allowed Sam Darnold to fully bloom and had this to say about being a Super Bowl quarterback. I feel that support, you know, not with only their words, but, you know, just with how everyone treats each other in the building. There's a lot of respect that goes around the building. Everyone respects the work that, you know, we all put into this great game. And so, you know, I'm just, I'm happy to be a part of this team, man.

16:00This group and this coaching staff is just, you know, I'm really happy to be here. I'm happy to be in this position. I'm just going to continue to do the best that I can to put this team in positions to win football games.

16:13Rich Eisen:Eighth quarterback ever to start a Super Bowl in his first season with the team. Last quarterback to do it is the guy he beat yesterday in Matthew Stafford.

16:27Rich Eisen:And give it up. give it up to the Seattle Seahawks. As for the Rams, Sean McVay

16:38Rich Eisen:almost fired off a timeout before that fourth down attempt. Decided to stick with the play. Took a long, hard look. He sure did. He raced down the sidelines. He raced down the sidelines and gave it as much of a look as any coach this side of Signetti can give something a look down the line. But decided to stick with it. and he's as intense as they come to, and he internalizes a lot, and I'm sure there's a lot for him to internalize after this one. Well, I mean, I think you make a couple plays tonight, and we're talking about a different thing. So I don't think it's as simple as that. You start all over.

17:14I mean, you know that. And that's what's so hard, because to get to these positions, I mean, there is so much work. There's so much time. Things have to go your way. You have to stay healthy. It's a special group. And so, you know, you know this and I know you know this. I'm not minimizing the question. It doesn't work like that. You know, you got to make these plays and you got to capitalize on these opportunities when you get the chances. And, you know, Seattle was able to do that and we weren't. But it doesn't take away my love and appreciation for this football team.

17:44Rich Eisen:Oh, man, I thought the Rams had the stuff to win it all this year. And I think they do. And I know there's going to be a lot of people who are going to spend the next few days, if not week and a half saying that that was the nfc championship game was the super bowl that whoever won that game would be playing a team in new england that's ready to be uh beaten um i think that's nonsense and i'll explain why later on in this program when we hit that subject matter for the first time i think of many over the the next week and a half but But this team was ready to go. Stafford playing at his highest level.

18:24Rich Eisen:The run game on point. Puka Nakua catching everything. And then, you know, last night, Jackson Smith and Jigba with a one-hander here, and he was eating up the Rams in that first half. He was just unguardable. What a game it was with all these pass catchers. And then, you know, there's a future Hall of Famer who's now 0 for 5. in NFC championship games. He's 0 for five of them now. And that's Devontae Adams who took it hard. Heartbreak. It's tough. It's tough to talk, honestly. How would you describe how Matthews and the offense played today?

19:16I'm proud of the way the guys fought today.

19:18Rich Eisen:I love that guy four catches 89 yards and a score he recorded his ninth career playoff touchdown that's tied for 10th all time and again he he's no spring chicken when it comes to skilled players skilled position players if you will in the NFL but he's playing at the top of his game same thing with Stafford we'll talk about it hopefully they all make a run back at it but what a game. Superb game. Puka, Jackson Smith and Jigba, Devontae Adams, Cooper Cup, all scored touchdowns. Matthew Stafford, 374 yards passing and a passer rating of 127.6. Darnold, 346 passing yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 127.8.

20:11Rich Eisen:I mean, everybody showed up. A couple mistakes here and there. By both teams, one team took advantage of just a little bit more, and they're going to the Super Bowl, which is why you've got to take care of business when you can. The opportunities when it's there, the window being open, you've got to go through it because you never know what's on the other side, as Sean McVay says, you start from scratch the next year. That's the difference between being a champion or not in the National Football League, despite having championship-quality players all over the place like the Rams and coming up short, and having championship-quality players all over the place like the Seahawks, apparently have, after all.

20:52Rich Eisen:And going to Super Bowl 60, winning the toughest division in football and arguably the tougher conference. Congrats to them. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. When we come back, the snow game that the Patriots won in the playoffs in Denver and the aftermath of all of that. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show on a championship Monday.

21:23Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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23:32Rich Eisen:Ask for O 'Reilly Veriscan today. A free service exclusively at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show on Disney +, ESPN the app, and ESPN radio audiences just rejoined us here on the program. The AFC Championship game. Okay. No, no, stop. Listen. Congratulations. No, listen. Go Pats. I'll be honest with you. The weather ruined it. Well, first things first, first things first, first things first is the injury gods damaged it. Yeah. Honestly, I'm wondering to myself, would Bo Nix have done better in this snow? No. I don't know. He's a bit more of a runner, a bit more spry. Listen, I don't know.

24:26Rich Eisen:We'll never, ever know. We'll never, ever know. No. Okay. and Jared Stidham did when it was a nice day without any snow make the throw of the game right? No doubt. There's no doubt about it. No doubt about it. Over Christian Gonzalez and got everyone going because then he found Cortland Sutton in the end zone and it's 7-0 it's 7-0 pretty easy and you know it it looked good right there it's like okay the kid's gonna be all right certainly when the Denver defense was playing its best game I think in weeks more complete game than I've seen in weeks they were all over Drake May he was he was I was concerned that he was going to start looking at the rush rather than down the field and you know Denver's up seven nothing and it's fourth and one and a 31 yard field goal two yards closer than an extra point Sean Payton decides to go for it now I don't know if he was aware of the Doppler radar of what was heading to the stadium I don't know if anybody did even if it's just like hey snow is possible i'm sure you knew that but cbs um did a great job of a time lapse during the game where they showed you what the field looked like in the first quarter and what time it was mountain first play of the game right and then what time it went you know and what it looked like at the outset of the second half i mean that snow came fast and it started to accumulate fast like that went from oh what a nice crisp rocky mountain day with maybe some snow in the air to this is a blizzard oh i know like so i clearly if sean payton knew what the second half was going to look like he would have taken the points because points are at a premium um but he did not and i i think to this moment he will lament it and we'll hear from him in a second but New England got that moment and made the most of it because they sniffed out whatever play he was thinking which is part and parcel of the entire day.

26:54Rich Eisen:Entire day even before the snow was coming even at halftime you could make the case that without that one throw to Mims over Gonzalez that led to the Sutton throw Stidham was looking like a guy who hadn't played in two years. Like a guy who went 749 days between passes. He started to get super happy feet as the game went on. I mean, you got to be concerned when Gonzalez gave up that throw. Oh, man, right off the bat. I owe him. It was very close to firing off a game over text to you guys, which, as you know, is the reverse jinx kiss of death. But yeah, very concerning because you're just like, man, it's that's an all pro corner.

27:28This guy is a backup who hasn't played in two years. Oh, especially when, you know, the Pats force a three and out to start the game and then immediately go three and out themselves did not look good and then it was yeah yeah and then you

27:43Rich Eisen:know we saw what happened after that because what Jared Stidham looked like a guy who hadn't played in two years the most was flipping the ball into harm's way just to avoid a sack yep chest passing it like he's a member of the Denver Nuggets, not the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. And it being ruled initially an incomplete pass and then ruled a backwards pass. That's not a touchdown because they basically blew the whistle, blew the play dead. And then the Patriots scored with Drake May running it in. And for the second straight week, a Patriots team that was struggling in the first half with Drake May, watched the opposing quarterback basically toss a live grenade into the middle of the Patriots defense, and they just took that grenade, ate it, and then exploded on the opposition after that.

28:47C.J.

28:48Rich Eisen:Stroud had an opportunity to rest on his defense, decides to flip it in the middle of the air, pick six. Jared Stidham has his defense rolling for some reason, doesn't take the sack. This happens. Tie game. Instead of being up 10-0, it's now 7-7. And that was the difference because in the second half, the Patriots get the ball to start the half and start to impose their will, which they have been doing all season long and especially on the road. A nine-minute drive to start that second half as the snow begins to fall and accumulate. And Andy Borogales kicks the field goal. It's, listen, nothing's a gimme in that weather.

29:43Rich Eisen:And Borogales actually missed one later on, and Lutz missed two more. But the 23-yard field goal, it was close enough. And that was all the scoring that was needed. because the snow came and the Broncos couldn't move the ball worth a lick. And if you're sitting here saying, and Broncos fans, I feel for you. I really do, because Bo Nix should have been playing in that game. And I understand what Stidham was doing, and I don't mean to be unfair, but it was just gutting to me. I don't know if you saw the video of Nix. somebody took video I guess on their phone of him leaving the game going to an elevator he must have been watching in a suite upstairs you know he's on a scooter his surgically repaired ankle up in the air behind him he's got to be sick to his stomach they all have to be sick to their stomach but at the end of the day the Patriots were the ones moving the football they were the ones actually picking up first downs Denver couldn't do it you know drake may might have had the the added benefit of it was easier to spot the defenders that he needed to avoid because they were wearing orange and it was tougher for stidham to spot the defenders because they were blending into the snow i'm serious that's how crazy it was beginning to get it felt like that was definitely the case on a couple you could see stidham was looking deep and then kind of oh yeah he had a double double clutch double take a double pump and then finally he just decided to put one up for grabs and gonzalez said i'm not getting beat over my head this time and that was the end of that but the true end of everything was drake may and the patriots needing one more first down to just flat out end it and him apparently on this keeper that he came up with the final first down necessary for the Patriots to move on to Super Bowl 60.

31:46Rich Eisen:He apparently did that on his own. And all his linemen after the game told the media was, I'm blocking. And all of a sudden, the guy I'm blocking is running away to the other direction. I'm wondering, what's going on? Oh, that's Drake May by himself. He decided to keep it on his own and admitted as much after the game. Yeah, I mean, we were in big personnel running. You're running the same deal to the right. A little stretch play. and at some point they get lackadaisical and got a chance to get around the edge. I thought he was going to track me and hawk me down, but he got enough to pick up the first.