Hour 1: Chiefs in Peril, CFP & Notre Dame Bowl Snub Reactions, plus Bengals-Bills

0:00Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with Power Boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell.

0:31This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. 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.

1:05Watch 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. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Another pick for Houston. There is your dagger. A leaping interception. The Rich Eisen Show from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Stafford Surgical in L.A. is blowing out Arizona. On today's show, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. College football playoff breakdown. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Well, hey everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

2:00That's been out of the mix for the last 13 weeks, and then we were off last week, and now we're in the play. Wait a minute, I'm told that's college football. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here to have a conversation with us with so much going on in the world of football, collegiately and professionally. Week 14 in the NFL, we knew it was playoff implicating action all over the place. Check that box. Matthew Stafford, nice bounce back performance against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams are back on top of the NFC because the Packers took care of the Bears. The Steelers took care of the Ravens.

2:36The Bills took care of the Bengals just when it looked like Joe Burrow was going to keep that season alive. So much to talk about. The Jaguars are on top of the AFC South right now through 14 weeks of action. The Eagles are in the home of the Chargers tonight in SoFi Stadium on Monday Night Football. We'll preview that game with our special guest, the Positivity Rabbit. We'll join us from Philadelphia. I don't know what's going on in the world of sports anymore half the time. Indiana beat Ohio State. That was a big game, obviously. The AFC, pardon me, SEC Championship game. Georgia took care of Alabama.

3:17And Matthew Stafford, as I mentioned, bounce back game. He's joining us to talk about all of anything he wants to talk about in the middle of this program. We're live on Disney Plus. We're live on the ESPN app. We're live on ESPN radio presented by Progressive Insurance Sirius XM channel 80 as well. I believe the table is all set. Chris Brockman, you and I did Overreaction Monday, the pod that's available for everybody to watch on our YouTube channel right now or listen wherever you get your podcast. Good to see you over there. How are you, sir? You're going to have to drag me out of here with a helicopter here in the middle of the show.

3:49You know what I mean? You're doing college worth off the top. Good to see you over there, Jay Felly. How are you, sir? What's up, Rich? Doing great. Good to see you. Good to see you. Thanks for not doing a bit. You're welcome. What's going on, TJ Jefferson? How are you over there? What's going on, brother? Well, I had a bit. Won't do it now, so I'll just say, hey, everybody. Hey. What's up, TJ? Okay. Everybody's got bits. It was awesome to be able to watch football on Sunday without your team being involved and just be able to really concentrate and enjoy football. That was fun. What I'm going to do later on in this first hour when we talk about the college football playoffs is I'm going to do something.

4:21I'm going to be as a professional as I possibly can.

4:26Rich Eisen:That's how you do it. Caping for Notre Dame requires a lot from me. It requires a lot. I have to dig deep. I understand. For that one. This won't be Emmy-worthy. This could be Oscar-worthy. As you know, on the petty scale, my love for Notre Dame way up there, what is it, Richard on our petty scale? Actually, Rich, there's a new one. We got to put 50 cent. Okay. No, you know. That might be number one. He is now the top of the penny scale. Thank you. Thanks for the update. Yeah. Appreciate that. That's coming up. Listen, the folks out there who are Chiefs fatigued, and there's a lot of you out there, I know.

5:08For those of you out there who have been waiting for the Chiefs to finally stumble and not get up, well, guess what? the first alert Kansas City Chiefs have arrived they have fallen and I don't know if they're going to be able to get up because at this point in time we will have a new AFC West winner for the first time in 10 years man that we are no uh we know for sure we are assured of that when the Kansas City Chiefs lost last night and the Denver Broncos earlier in the day took care of business for their 10th win in a row. That now gives them a lead over the Kansas City Chiefs. Too large for the Kansas City Chiefs to overcome with their four remaining final games.

5:59They cannot get to 11 wins. The Broncos have 11 wins. That is all she wrote on that front. And the question is, can the Kansas City Chiefs make the playoffs at all? and I don't know if they're going to be able to. Chiefs fatigues out there, it's your special day. That day has arrived because everything has gone wrong for the Kansas City Chiefs that could go wrong this year. Every single break that they used to get, everybody thinking, well, you know what, the refs are in the bag for them, the football gods are in the bag for them, as if they weren't talented enough on their own to do what they were doing.

6:40every single thing seems to be going against them right now, and many of it self-inflicted. The Houston Texans deserve a lot of credit for what we saw on Sunday night to bring all of this about. That Houston Texans defense is as good as anybody else's, and we see some pretty darn good ones. The aforementioned Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs, saw both of those defenses already this year, and lost both of them. The Green Bay Packers have a pretty darn good defense. The Seattle Seahawks are just boat racing a bunch of people on that side of the ball. The Rams have got a terrific defense. I could go on and on.

7:23The Chiefs' defense has let them down at times where the Chiefs' defense needed to pick them up. And the Chiefs' offense has let the Chiefs' defense down at times when the defense needed to be picked up. honestly, nothing's working. And I'm just wondering if the Chiefs could wave a wand and go back to Brazil. Week one, I was sitting in that booth in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Here's Kurt Warner to my right. Without the puffy jacket. Belly full of cheese bread. And we were, oh boy. can confirm oh boy third snap of that game Xavier Worthy goes one way Travis Kelsey goes the other way and they met right in the middle of the field Worthy knocked out of the game knocked out of action for a couple weeks and that was the beginning of a nightmarish season that just feels cursed that's how the game began the game ended with the chargers needing just one more first down and the chiefs defense getting the chargers to a third down on offense needing to just get off the field chris jones takes the wrong path to justin herbert who runs around the end that chris jones was supposed to occupy slides for the first down.

9:02Drew Tranquil goes in Chris Jones' face. They start barking at each other and the Chiefs lose. Next week, they go home to Arrowhead, taking on the Philadelphia Eagles. This game was a struggle as it should be against the defending Super Bowl champs and a rematch right off the bat in their home opener in Arrowhead. Chiefs are down by three, but inside the 10-yard line, six-yard line to be exact second and goal from their fourth quarter Mahomes sees Kelsey doesn't put it right on him ball pops up in the air interception taken essentially to midfield from there no points and the Eagles go down the field and score make it a two score game and that was all she wrote the Chiefs are 0 and 2 you could take a look at every single one of their losses this year Jacksonville want to talk about a red zone interception as well marching right down in Mahomes flips the ball there's Kelsey there's Juju Smith-Schuster but Devin Lloyd snatches it out of the air and recreates essentially a James Harrison moment pick six flips that game and just the breaks that normally go their way like say a team decides to go for it because they need that touchdown they're basically out of timeouts the quarterback and trevor lawrence slips and falls normally that's a break the kansas city chiefs get and win the game he gets up and runs it in the end zone and chris jones is caught on all 22 standing there future hall of famer first battle the Hall of Famer.

10:52Talking about how breaks sometimes don't go your way and then basically had to come out later on that week and say, my bad. Everybody saw what they saw. That happened to the Chiefs. They lose to Jacksonville on a Monday night. Just when they thought they could get above 500, but no, they're now 2-3 and then go on a nice little win streak that comes to an end in Buffalo. What happened there in Week 9? Well, Mahomes on third and ten. Joey Bosa comes in in the fourth quarter of a 28-21 game because sometimes the offensive line has not been able to protect Mahomes. Forces Mahomes to put it up in the air.

11:32Throws it into double coverage. Interception. Massive turnover. They lose that one. 28-21. Next week in Denver. They're actually up in Denver. They could basically say nice win streak you've had here Broncos but this is our division we're in your house we're up on you in the fourth quarter and stop you and get the ball back up by three but two straight three and outs Denver does what it's done all fourth quarter season long come back and win and win in a one score game and at that point in time the Chiefs who had been undefeated in one score games the previous season part of the reason why they went to the super bowl fall to oh and five in them they pull one out of their orifice at home down 20 to 9 against the indianapolis colts need overtime the next week in arrowhead they're back they're back going into dallas on a thanksgiving we all know what happened there a game that is a one score game 28 21 mahomes is driving down Down the field, third and eight.

12:45There's Rushy Rice, wide open over the middle. Hits him right in the hands and he drops it. Dallas gets the ball back. Marches down the field, makes it a two-score game. Almost pulled it out when the Holmes escaped a sack twice. Kept his balance and found a wide open Xavier Worthy down the field. I think it's going to happen again until it didn't. Too many mistakes there. Then last night.

13:10we saw three interceptions by Patrick Mahomes and no touchdowns three of them last time that happened where Kansas City Chiefs quarterback had no passing touchdowns and three interceptions in the same game Tyler Palco everybody has entered to chat who week 12 2011 that's how long it's been and the Texans defense came in and hit him in the mouth. That Jalen Petrie tipped one in the air and then recircled back to grab it. He was flying his body all over the place. And so when Mahomes is just a hair off and the defense is laying the wood, you're going to see drops. Or you're going to see a moment where Andy Reid starts to get impatient and says, I'll make the mistake this time.

14:05I'll go for it on fourth and one for my own 31 with 11 minutes to go and my defense is looking like the Texans defense. I'll go for it. Doesn't work. Mahomes is hectored, tries to flip it to Rice, doesn't connect. A gift. A gift to an offense that had not been doing a lick. short field touchdown. Then another moment. Going for it this time on fourth down with five minutes to go. This one was a little bit more understandable from their own 41. This one, Ray Rice just had it in his hands. I don't know what happened to him over the last couple of weeks. Rushy Rice, pardon me. Dropsies. and then one last moment similar to the week two loss to philadelphia ball not right on kelsey up in the air interception

15:08and um that's all she wrote too many mistakes from all the folks that know what it takes to win in this game is such a slim margin and they're now under 500 through 13 games the first time since the 2012 season when they were two and 14 i don't know what's going on i'm shocked as this is anybody else and i know all you chiefs for teagers are loving seeing people like me pound the table saying i will have to see it to believe it and you you know and you heard collinsworth last night all the people to think that collinsworth has been uh it's been a lot it's a bit much i'll say tonsil tickling to use the phrase of the day you know that that they have they they were just loving that coop is one of them i don't know why i'm right it's because his older brother loves taylor swift even though she appears two seconds and i love her too and so does her sister and so does his so does his mother i don't know coop coop the patriot fan he's sitting there at home he's he's like you.

16:11He's texting you having a party. Coop's my boy. I don't know why I'm raising a Chiefs hater. It's not from dad. But I know all you folks out there are loving watching people like me going, I don't have answers. It's Uncle Brock. They don't have answers either. I think I see my home's keyed up. Hit it. Yeah, I mean, you're just getting late in the season. You're not going to get these opportunities back. That's a good football team, but we had chances and we didn't execute at the right time to win it. We know the chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have, every opportunity we get.

16:46The next-gen stats machines gives them a 16 % chance. That seems high. Well, I mean, you have to win out, so they have to remove all these mistakes. I just keep on saying that crops up. I did say last week I identified the Colts as the team because they've already beaten them. That's the team that finishes second in the AFC South and is in a wild card position and the Chiefs can pop out out of their back pocket that tie break that they have because they beat the Colts. The problem is the Colts are now no longer a wild card team and I don't even know how they're going to finish with Daniel Jones now out.

17:28And the Texans are now sitting there in that seventh spot and they're two and a half games behind them. I don't know, man. There's a mosh pit of teams at six and seven right now. that's two behind a Colts team that's not even a wildcard team right now. That's how bleak it is. And the division's gone.

17:48So, congratulations, Chiefs Fatigers. You're getting what you want. I don't like the way you put that. It's the truth. What's wrong? This type of season and regression was easy to see coming. I don't know how that's the case. Based on last year, they literally got every bounce and break ref stuff, whatever, that you could possibly get. 11-0, whatever the number was in one-score games. That just wasn't going to maintain. That's not sustainable. And the way the roster is constructed, it's just not a good roster. They're old, they're slow, they're not explosive. They're old and slow. I'll push back on that.

18:23There's zero explosivity in this offense. Your best runner is the quarterback. And Andy Reid, I think we need to have an honest conversation. He's lost a little bit on the fastball. That was a major, major blunder last night, especially the way his defense was playing. Well, let's have him give the reasoning behind it, hit it. I thought we could get it. That was the decision. You know, I was confident we could, you know, we could do that. It's important that you take advantage of opportunities. I thought it was an opportunity. I was wrong, no? I mean, hindsight, it was wrong. We've been pretty good on fourth downs.

18:57So, you know, I mess that one up. I mean, that's as honest as you can get it. And why wouldn't he think that? That's earned arrogance of the way they've played in these situations in the last eight seasons. Again, I was talking to the team with Kurt before week one. They were all like, Xavier Worthy is going to have a much bigger role in this offense. Three snaps in, he's gone. He's not only just gone for the game, he's gone for the month. Rasheed Rice gets suspended, he's gone. So again, if I'm wondering if they go back in the DeLorean, you know, do they go and grab Brees Hall from the Jets for a three?

19:35How does that change things? I bet they wish they would have done that. Or do they go back in the DeLorean and they go back and find whatever, whatever they did to step on a rake and then have the entire season go just feel cursed. they go back there and they just have worthy and kelsey run uh routes of a different depth it just started a whole season now i understand you're saying hey you can't get the breaks and yada yada yada but they still had the roster and they also believe they had the left tackle who's now gone who also was gone for a couple weeks due to personal reasons as well i'm not making excuses I'm just saying that I believe if anybody feels that the window is completely closed, I would pump the brakes on that a little bit.

20:23They need kind of an overhaul. Well, they have the general manager who the last time he saw something so glaring in a Super Bowl loss, they hit it and then they went on a run. For the ages, I might add. That does appear to be over, certainly on the front of the AFC West and maybe just for the playoffs at all. Let's take a break. When we come back, we talk about a sport where head-to-heads matter in results. Only when I guess somebody actually pays attention to them after talking about something completely different as a metric as to who makes the playoffs for weeks. We'll talk college football.

21:02Everybody. There are some pissed off people. Certainly in Notre Dame. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the show. The Rich Eisen Show on a busy Monday.

21:17Rich Eisen:the rich is a show podcast

21:24Rich Eisen:rich is in here you can always tell when something big is happening in a city i know what it's like when i'm traveling for big games and events i remember being in pittsburgh earlier this year and experiencing the beautiful architecture and passion those fans have for their home teams that was so infectious now it was a great trip but you know what it's like dealing with the travel. The airport is packed, hotels are booked up, restaurants all busy. And when you have that kind of influx of visitors in your city, a lot of them are searching for a place that feels a little bit more like home during their trip.

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22:30Rich Eisen:Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14, because next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability, and we're still doing it every day, because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA.

23:04Rich Eisen:Save$2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Coverall Tire Dressing. Plus receive four times O rewards points now at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or OReillyAuto.com. Back here on our radio here on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance talking about what happened with Indiana and Ohio State. that third down call to end the game and call ball game with your Heisman Trophy hopeful, if not potentially winning quarterback who's post-game chit-chat on the field after the game. Serious Kirk Cousins vibes. It's great. Could have been better.

23:48Oh, please. I don't care. It's great. Kid's nice. Everybody's nice. He's using the word flipping on TV. But Cignetti, man, this is what he had to say about the decision afterwards to go for it? I wasn't going to play not to lose. We were playing to win. And the one thing, you know, we do spend a lot of time on the clock. How many plays are left in the game, things of that nature. We kind of figured we had to get about three first downs. That's what I told the team. So you got to get a first down. I wasn't going to punt the ball back to them with two minutes to go and no timeouts. We had to give our guys an opportunity to make plays.

24:26We were getting on top of him at certain points in that game. And Fernando was throwing great deep balls, and it was a great play. It sure was. I just love his default look of just like, why wouldn't I do that? If he's disinterested or he's just like, what do you mean? It's obvious. He's just football coach. He is football coach. He's like central casting football coach, and he's Indiana's. And two things, if Indiana wins it all in the year that Lee Corso signs off would be unbelievable. And also for a school that comes out of the mist and builds a team with a head coach and an idea and transfer portals, sure.

25:11but in the nil world where supposedly indianas the indianas of the world are supposed to be left on the side of the road and in this world where there's nothing in college football except nauseating headlines and results and mind-blowing decisions made by people which we'll get to from the college football playoff committee and a world in which one coach leaves for another school right before the college football playoffs are even announced because one school rightfully says get out but then says the offensive coordinator you could stay because we still have to win games and there's a gajillions of dollars and buyouts and all of that stuff And the ultimate snapshot of the sport is fans showing up at a chain link fence to scream obscenities at a coach leaving on a private jet sent from the other school that just paid a gajillion dollars of a buyout.

26:14If that's the world of college football, to have Indiana win it all would be what we call a palate cleanser. A palate cleanser. now Ohio State could still win it all too because you know last time Ohio State lost their last Big Ten game of the season by a final score of 13 to 10 they went on to win it all anyway well not winning the conference championship either alright I'm going to leave it alone but one of my favorite posts that I saw over the weekend that popped into my timeline was Indiana should be number one overall in the college football playoffs unless the committee considers that Ohio State is the more impressive loss of the two.

27:07That's pretty funny. Which perfectly encapsulized the absurdities of the college football playoff committee's thought process and processes and the way it's been described by an athletic director who got thrust into the role of college football playoff committee chairman to be the face front individual to explain to America and the college football fans and also programs and athletic directors and chancellors what the thinking of the committee is. Somebody who absolutely is not ready for the spotlight.

27:52And it perfectly, that post encapsulized how all over the place this entire process has been.