Hour 1: Bills-Chiefs Implications, NFC North Seismic Shifts, Steelers Stop Colts

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1:22Now, on with the show.

1:28This is the Rich Eisen Show Smith with a smash Betts has it, steps on the bag The throw to Burrs, double play Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles To beat the champ, you gotta knock him out Coming up on today's show Complete Week 10 Roundup World Series Recap Monday Night Preview and now it's rich eisen oh baby do we have a monday show in store for you right here live

2:01Rich Eisen:on disney plus the espn app everywhere and espn radio presented by progressive insurance my lord did we have so many sporting moments over the weekend that will last for quite some time to talk about with you once again here on a monday we have no guests it's just us talking about it and studio and then us talking about it with you at 844-204-RICH being the number to dial here on this program. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman. How are you? Rich, I'm great, man. It's Victory Monday. Let's do this. Well, you and I, it's also Overreaction Monday. We just completed that podcast. It's available for everybody in their RSS feeds along with all of us here on the Rich Eisen Show.

2:39Rich Eisen:The cut down version of it airs at 4.30 Eastern time on ESPN2 and then the full version of it on our YouTube channel if you want to watch it youtube.com slash rich eyes and show you want to hear it get it wherever you get your podcast it's already in the books good to see you over there jason feller wearing his dodger black good to see you over there sir my blood pressure still elevated canadian wife won't talk to me i'm on cloud nine we'll talk about all of it later on kind of just sums it all up um that was awesome and to say you can't go home again it's clearly you the case now for Jason Feller.

3:16Rich Eisen:Good to see you over there. TJ Jefferson, Candles Lit. How are you, sir? I'm great to see you. You know, Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith has all that gum in there. Okay, look at you. I'm going to try to see if I can get as much gum. Oh my gosh. That's only two... That was like four. Okay, very good. Good to keep going. TJ with the props and the jokes. That's what I really bring. Listen, everybody, week nine in the books with the exception of the Monday Niter right here on the ESPN Family of Networks between the Cardinals coming off their buy and the Dallas Cowboys needing to get back to 500 as soon as possible with the Eagles on a bye week and getting stronger.

3:51Rich Eisen:We'll talk about that on the program, but it's every year. It seems now the football gods out there see fit for all of our viewing pleasure and competition pleasure seem fit to get together and say, these two all world quarterbacks don't play in the same division, but let's have them play every single year anyway. And back in the day for us, I guess, dare I say it, a generation ago maybe, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady did it all the time. And now it appears the football gods want Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen to play every year. They played in week nine in Western New York for the sixth straight season.

4:41Rich Eisen:Six seasons in a row. They don't play in the same divisions. And it's the first time that they matched up as MVP quarterbacks. I mentioned this stat on Overreaction Monday. Might as well mention it here. Do it. They've hit double digits now in terms of facing one another, 10. And now it was their first matching up as MVP quarterbacks. The record for most matchups in the history of the National Football League between MVP quarterbacks. The aforementioned Brady and Manning played each other 17 times. They were division mates for one year. Okay. Brady came in in 2001 when the Colts were in the AFC East.

5:23Next year, realignment. They go their separate ways, but still, they faced each other 17 times. And then, including the playoffs, by the way, another 17 times, Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr faced each other many other generations ago. 17 times so it was the first time they faced each other as mvp quarterbacks it was another first as well it was the first time mahomes and allen faced each other when neither were in first place that's right as we all know the bills lost to the patriots on a sunday night they lost to each other just to get this exactly correct this game was in week five week five of the NFL campaign when Drake May came in and shocked everyone in Western New York and won under the lights against the Buffalo Bills.

6:13And they have yet to lose since, which is why the Bills were not in first place coming into this game. And as we all know, the Chiefs famously started 0-2 and the Broncos aren't losing football games. They've won six in a row now after they beat the Texans yesterday, 18-15, and the Chargers keep winning. And the Chargers were the ones who began to put the Chiefs in that 0-2 hole in Brazil. So that's all mentioned as the backdrop of this game because it's a rarity when you see two MVP quarterbacks face one another. It's a rarity for these two to face each other as non-first place teams. And it's also a rarity that these two teams are, because of that last stat, at a crossroads.

7:08They're teams at a crossroads of a season. Because as the Chiefs were losing in western New York, the Jacksonville Jaguars escaped in Las Vegas. and the Jaguars are one of the four teams to have beaten the Chiefs this year. And they come off their bye, and they are now 5-3, and the Chiefs are 5-4 heading off into their bye. And the Bills, had they lost this game, watching the Patriots win again in Atlanta, that result in New England against Atlanta, which can't make a field goal or an extra point for their lives. That might be the difference between the Falcons making the playoffs or not at the end of the year.

7:52They lose by one in New England. The Bills take the field yesterday knowing they've got to win to keep pace with Drake May. And the team they have to beat are the Chiefs. And I don't want to hear it that, well,

8:10Rich Eisen:the Bills keep beating the Chiefs in the regular season and the Chiefs just keep beating them in the playoffs. Even though that is correct. That is exactly what happens. The Bills have now won five in a row against the Chiefs in the regular season. And the Chiefs have won the last four against the Bills in the postseason. As a matter of fact, three of the last five Bills campaigns

8:35Rich Eisen:have come at the hands of the Chiefs after the Bills beat the Chiefs in the regular season. But coming into this game, as I mentioned, with neither quarterback, MVP quarterback, being in first place, a loss might eventually mean they're not making the playoffs at all. and sure enough the bills despite boat racing carolina which turned right around and won in green bay against a team in green bay that smoked the steelers in pittsburgh only to turn around and lose every ounce of mojo that they had to lose to carolina while pittsburgh flipped the script and got six takeaways of the hottest team in the nfl and hottest quarterback running back combination the NFL and Indianapolis you can't tell week to week what's going to happen so you need to take care of business in the week that you're playing and the Bills playing a Chiefs team that could ill afford to lose if they wanted to make it 10 straight years atop their division and the Chiefs are taking on a Bills team that could ill afford to lose if they want to win their fifth straight time atop the AFC East, this is big.

9:56Rich Eisen:And I don't care that the Bills boat raced Carolina and Carolina won in Green Bay. They, in their own locker room with the defense being maligned and now missing Ed Oliver for potentially the rest of the season, they went ahead and they pressured Mahomes like it was the Bucs in the Super Bowl. mahomes is not used to getting pressured like he did yesterday 52.6 percent of his dropbacks were pressured only the fourth game in his career when he was pressured on 50 or more percent of his dropbacks the other three games happened from 2018 to 2020 so the bills turned back the clock on mahomes in terms of him running for his life second worst passer rating in his career 57.2 You don't think that means anything to the Bills, who aren't guaranteed a division this time around, like whenever they face each other before, the Bills and the Chiefs?

10:52Rich Eisen:They're not even guaranteed a playoff spot with the way the rest of the AFC West is going and the Ravens coming on stronger, one would think.

11:02Rich Eisen:James Cook, I said it the other day, just keep finding number four. Don't forget the reason why he was holding out or holding in and you paid him anyway. 27 carries this is what we're talking about put the bell cow on him and see what he can do 114 rushing yards first 100 yard rushing game by a bill against the chief pardon me but of anybody against the chief since zamir white did it if you remember the christmas day surprise of the raiders in arrowhead or white in 2023 and the only one who's had more rush yards through the first eight games in the history of the bills than cook's 867 is oj who had 1100 plus in 73 and 75 he won the mvp award in 73 by the way it's a career high number of carries six career games now with 20 or more carries half of them have come this year because the bills understand this is how you do it and then josh allen man this is unbelievable you want to talk about a remarkable quarterback performance in a game where it really mattered.

12:08Rich Eisen:And again, I don't want to hear it that they don't do it against the Chiefs in the postseason because that can change at any postseason. And there's no guarantee they're going to see each other this postseason. You got to make it to the postseason before you worry about this stuff. When they, again, faced each other for the first time without being in first place. Josh Allen, 23 of 26 for 273 passing yards and a passing touchdown. His two rushing touchdowns give him 79 in his career. That is the most of anybody in the history of the NFL. He broke the tie with Cam Newton at the top. This is the one that's kind of crazy.

12:46Rich Eisen:He's got seven rushing touchdowns this year now. First quarterback in NFL history with six or more rushing touchdowns in each of their first eight career seasons. The other ones are named Jim Brown, Marshall Falk, and LaDainian Tomlinson. He's a quarterback. Sixth player in NFL history to do so in any eight-season stretch of a career. That widens out the net to Derrick Henry and fellow Bill Thurman Thomas to be in the mix. He's unbelievable, and he did it when they needed it. They needed it. I don't care that they don't do it in January or February because this year neither may get the chance.

13:26And this is what exactly the Buffalo Bills needed to do. You put up the AFC standings if you don't mind, Mr. Hoskins, please. because the Buffalo Bills now are the top wildcard team, a half game behind the Patriots, who won again, as I mentioned. They've been on fire since starting one and two, six wins in a row

13:46Rich Eisen:for New England, which now visits Tampa next, and the Bucs are coming off of a bye. That's a big win, while the Bills next visit Miami, which, as you know, has a dumpster that's apparently on fire. So that was massive for the Bills, because otherwise they would be a 5-3 team, just like the Jaguars, and the Chiefs would be 6-3, right in front of them with a tiebreak on top of them, because they might not win their division either, and that possibility just got that much larger because they're five and four the chargers who beat them are a game and a half ahead of them the broncos who they have yet to play the chiefs go on a bye and they come off that bye at denver which after their sixth straight win denver now starts week 10 in three nights against a raiders team that has uh brock bowers back healthy three touchdowns against the jaguars but that's a tall order for them against a defense that is killing it and taking scalps so the chiefs now head into their buy in this situation which is way worse than the bill's situation and it could be absolutely different and that's why i don't even care about their postseason records against each other this was a big win for the bills and a tough loss for the chiefs who head into their buy week one game over 500 it's the first time in the mahomes era that the chiefs haven't hit their by at least three over 500.

15:28So they are now in a spot that they're not used to being in. This is what Mahomes had to say after the loss. We've had great moments. We've had bad moments. We've got to be more consistent as a team. I've got to be more consistent at a quarterback. We've got to be able to battle. I mean, we've kind of been in a lot of these tight, close games in our history, but they're not going our way now. So how can we deal with that adversity? How can we be better and learn from it? I mean, you only learn from so many losses. I mean, you've got to learn from it fast. and it's going to be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up to it.

15:59I mean, the fourth and 17 he converted was unbelievable to Rasheed Rice,

16:03Rich Eisen:who is definitely back. You know, four catches, 80 receiving yards. He had his first rushing touchdown of his career. By the way, 11th different wide receiver to rush for a touchdown in the Mahomes era. And just gives you an idea of how diverse that offense can be when it's clicking, which it can, and it is, and Kelsey's playing way better than a lot of people thought that he would follow up last year's season with. There's a lot to hang your hat on if you're Kansas City. The problem is they started 0-2. They started 0-2. And hopefully they get healthier and come back, and then they have their two games against Denver, which is the way through.

16:42Rich Eisen:It's their way through. They do have the Colts coming off of their bye after they visit Berlin this weekend against Atlanta. They're at Dallas on Thanksgiving. They're home for Houston on a Sunday night, and Houston's only giving up 15 points per game despite being 3-5. The Chargers, they have to win that. These are all pretty much must-wins for Kansas City to repeat as AFC West champs for a 10th straight year. And if not, they've got to win enough to make the playoffs and then go through as a wild card, which they've never done. They've been on the road before, as we know, and made the Super Bowl, having beaten Buffalo and then Baltimore and then went to the Super Bowl and then won it.

17:30Rich Eisen:But never from the wild card. That is correct, sir. They've won it every single year from the spot of AFC West champs. So that's why, again, this is a massive win for Buffalo. Tough loss for Kansas City. doesn't take the Chiefs off. The loser wasn't going to be removed from the chess board. But I don't want to hear it about the Bills can't do it in January because they might not see the Chiefs at all. Well, the Bills can't do it in January. Well, I understand what you're saying, Chris. They haven't done it. And especially against KC on four. I understand it, but there's some people on this team that it doesn't matter to them, and they also can't go into life thinking that the inevitable is going to happen to them anyway but what they want to do is they want to play at home because that advantage is significant certainly it's the last time they're playing in this house they want that 844-204-RICH number to dial when we come back we hit the nfc north which had the puzzle pieces just tossed straight up in the air in week number nine Bears are back in it.

18:40Rich Eisen:The Vikings are flat out in the mix as the Packers and the Lions stub their toes at home. There's the Colts losing to the Steelers. The Steelers' defense rising up. We've got a great new segment about a Mike Tomlin soundbite. As you know, he's very quotable. It's called Straight Outta Tomlin. It's awesome. And we've got some great did you knows to end our number one. And also, still to come on this program, my breakdown of World Series games six and seven, which were, I wrote it down here, drunk. They were drunk. The games were drunk. 844-204-RICH, number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

19:20Rich Eisen:Don't go anywhere. So much to talk about on this Monday.

19:27The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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20:25Rich Eisen:Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A., member FDIC, Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. Save money on your next oil change with O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Get a$15 O 'Reilly gift card after rebate when you buy five quarts of Mobile One full synthetic motor oil for just$35.95. Stop by your local O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. the green bay packers speak of the green absolutely destroyed the pittsburgh steelers on sunday night football and i was talking about how great it must feel for jordan love to do what he did as a guy who'd been sitting behind rogers wondering where he's going to get his chance for green bay knowing the future plan was for him to be the green bay quarterback knowing invariably he would be on the same field as rogers as an opposing quarterback and for him to come up with 360 passing yards and one of his best performances 20 straight completions must have felt great for him and then he shows up back home on his 27th birthday and this is a big number because if anybody's been paying any attention to any show that talks about anything to do with the green bay packers you've seen the number 27 for the quarterback means something because that was the age at which Bart Starr won a championship and Favre and Rogers won their only championships with Green Bay and now here's Love at 5-1-1.

22:06Rich Eisen:Happy birthday Jordan Love, you're 27. And then he plays one of his worst games of his life. Pretty bad. And you tip the cap to the Carolina Panthers, man, they got Bryce Young back. He didn't have a terrific game, although Micah Parsons didn't get a single pressure on him. It's the first time in his career that he bageled in the quarterback pressures department. And the Packers, in a game that everybody was chalking up, they wind up losing on a last-second field goal, 16-13, absolutely stunned at home in front of the faithful. 80 passer rating for Jordan Love his lowest passer rating in a game in his first game without a passing touchdown all year long Rico Dowdle man 25 carries 130 yards now you've heard of him hit him with the Rico touchdowns he has totally taken over this role for the Panthers despite them paying Chuba Hubbard prior to last year's game in Munich that I called against the Giants talk about a crossroads that was Daniel Jones's last start as a giant he got cut and the Panthers have not looked back and they are now above 500 through their first nine games for the first time in six seasons they were five and four through nine games played in 2019 they lost every game after that finished five and eleven but listen this was big for them to go into Green Bay and stop the top ranked team, number one atop the NFC standings team in their own home.

23:55Rich Eisen:And this is the reason why you can't sit around and go, oh, that team is great. That team has no chance. I wonder how many survivor pools got busted with that one. You can't sit here and say also Green Bay has no chance moving forward because again, you just throw that one out for jordan love and micah parsons they don't they haven't played like that all year long the one issue about moving forward is tucker craft may be done for the year uh confirmed he it is in fact yeah and he was the uh yards after the catch machine i know this fact off the top of my head because we did a piece on it in NFL game day morning on NFL Network on Sunday.

24:45Rich Eisen:11.2 yards after the catch for Tucker Craft, most by any player in the NFL at the wide receiver or tight end position, the most by a tight end since they started tracking such things 19 seasons ago. Really? To the point where we were saying that the Packers were serving up helpings of Kraft yak and cheese. I know. I actually dropped a microphone on the set after delivering that line. That's a problem. But Josh Jacobs is not. Again, he had another rushing touchdown. At least one in seven out of eight games. That's the most such games in the NFL entering tonight's Monday Night Football contest. So the run game's working.

25:32Rich Eisen:The passing game's going to get better, one would think certainly from yesterday. It's proven to have been better. Problem is that they're 5-2-1 now. And one would think with J.J. McCarthy coming off of the sideline after being hurt since week two, and he gets his first start since week two against a Lions team that's 5-2 coming off of a bye, Carolina had to think to themselves, we just knocked Green Bay out of first place in their division. But that's not the case. Because there's J.J. McCarthy showing up. You know, it's one of my favorite subject matters. I'm biased. Everybody knows it. Because we're both Michigan men who know how to win.

26:32Rich Eisen:But I understand there were lots of doubts. And there were doubts here, too. I even went higher register last Thursday. I think it's all going to work out for J.J. McCarthy. Not worried about him. And the words always about J.J. is, well, he doesn't really have to throw all that much because Michigan did all the running, forgetting about all those deep throws he made in Ohio, where he's also still undefeated. Same for Colston Loveland. Oh, we'll get to that later.

27:06J.J.

27:07Rich Eisen:McCarthy, three total touchdowns. Two in the air, one on the ground. Did everything he needed to do in the moment. As fellow Michigan man, Tom Brady was pointing out on the Fox broadcast. Ended the Vikings four-game losing streak in Detroit. Detroit was 3-0 at home this year. Their last home loss was last year against the Bills. So J.J. McCarthy removes Josh Allen as the last quarterback to have beaten the Lions at home in the regular season. Removes Jaden Daniels in that category overall. A guy who is the unicorn coming into this season. And we all know this season's now in doubt for him. Every throw McCarthy needed to make, it was on point.