Hour 1: Cowboys-Giants, Bills-Texans, Bears-Panthers & Saints-Lions Reactions

23:59Rich Eisen:But, you know, I put my marker down and so far, so good. Wow. What a performance in Houston against a defense that sacked him eight times just last year. And they needed it because David Montgomery showed up in his new digs and scored not once, not twice, but three times. last guy to do that in his teams in a debut for his team was saquon for the eagles oh so that's not a bad thing so the texans offense looked terrific cj stroud finding nico collins a lot so you're sitting here wondering can the bills hold up defensively

24:48Rich Eisen:because ordinarily that would be a wrap. Could you imagine last year if a running back for the Texans scored three times in a game with the defense doing what it was doing? Game over. Allowing 30 points in just one game all of last season. Well, the Bills made it one for one this year thanks to Josh freaking Allen. There was one drive, three plays, 96 yards. where he threw it to Dalton Kincaid from his end zone, like rolling to his right and just flipped it near, like he was just lobbing a 10-yard pass down the field. And then two plays later, DJ Moore grabs one behind the defense. Touchdown. See ya.

25:30Rich Eisen:And then Josh Allen, two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns. He now has 303 touchdowns accounted for in his career, passing and rushing together. He's the only member of the 300 such club in the history of the NFL. Nobody else. Ninth career game with multiple pass and rushing touchdowns. That's nine. That's the most ever. The only one closest to him is our Friday guest, Steve Young, who had four. Yada, yada, yada. He's in Canton. Dalton Kincaid, five receiving yards and five receptions and 100 yards and a touchdown in his debut at the Bills. Check that box. the only player with 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in a game all last season for the Bills was Keon Coleman in week one 130 yards for Dalton Kincaid most by Bill's tight end in a game since Paul Costa had 163 way back in December of 1967 remember Paul Costa everybody oh yeah I gotcha and then you know the big cost uh the throw to uh Josh Palmer at the end Dime.

26:39Almost, by the way. One play before where Allen put it up for grabs. I believe it was it Lassiter who had it in his hands and couldn't corral it? Should have got picked. That would have been potentially the end of the game. Instead,

26:55Rich Eisen:I don't know if I need to say it out loud. I'm just saying this to the rest of anybody else who's hearing. Don't give Josh Allen an extra chance. Because he'll just fling it to Josh Josh Palmer apparently, as he told Evan Washburn of CBS after the game, it's a play they kind of just made up. They didn't rep it. Walk us through what you saw. You want the absolute truth. We call this a horseshoe. This is not where the ball is supposed to go. We have never once repped the ball going there. I just felt that those safeties started cheating to DJ a little bit. Josh ran a great route, put it on the line for him.

27:33He goes and he does the rest. So we'll take those when we get them. but we don't want to make a living out of throwing it to those. That was his first catch of the game. How about that trust? Hey, stay ready so you don't have to get ready. He stayed ready all game. He did his job. And obviously, he comes up with the play of the game. That's an MVP, right? That's it. That's what MVPs do. Again, so there's two things. Either they need to run it again and call the play horseshoe. Right, exactly.

28:03Or, I'm assuming that's what he meant by horseshoe. It was lucky. but it's a residue of design and if you

28:11Rich Eisen:feel that at the end of the day these are the two best teams in the American Football Conference because one must assume D 'Amico Ryans will go back to the defensive drawing board or just say there's not a lot of Josh Allens out there then the Bills have got themselves a massive massive tie break where they don't have to go back to that building because that was their first win in Houston since 2006.

28:46Rich Eisen:There you go. J.P. Lossman was the last guy to win in Houston. Wow. Okay. So now the Bills are one up on the Patriots, but neck and neck with the Jets. Did I hear somebody laugh in the back? Did I hear somebody laugh in the back? Might have been the Bills fan. It's the truth. It's the truth. Laugh all you want. Orange and blue skies have led to the Jets and the Giants being 1-0 for the first time since 2009. Rex Ryan was getting a GD snack last time it happened. Talk maybe a little bit more about that in a minute. but you got to talk about the bears as well because as much as you're seeing this offense with josh allen is the most valuable player of the nfl as i think he's going to be this year and all due respect to what we saw to jacksonville and trevor lawrence also he might be in the mvp race at the end of the day as well he was fifth in the voting last year but the Chicago Bears man this game final score at 59 37 the over hit with two and a half to go in the first half and it was 31 31 and you're like okay sort of like Bill's Texans whoever gets the ball last will get a chance to win and then the Bears were like we're done toying with you on our offensive end of things and when you want to win a football game or a division or in college football a conference and certainly in the NFL you want to win your conference you want to win the whole damn shoot match you need a head coach who's just the right amount of crazy

30:49Rich Eisen:because you want that right amount of crazy to be

30:57Rich Eisen:confidence that's placed in you that somebody's not afraid so you can play unafraid somebody who is also without quarter when it comes to beating the opponent and also makes you smarter than the rest that things he'll tell you during a week or she'll tell you. I mean, this is not just football we're talking about here. Something that the coach tells you throughout the week, you do this, this is what's going to happen. This is our game plan. We're going to be better than them already. Just walking on the field, all you have to do is physically execute. That's the right amount of crazy too. And Ben Johnson has the right amount of crazy.

31:47Whether it's getting upset when a reporter doesn't put his phone on do not disturb during a june press conference so he can't answer a question appropriately in the middle of the spring oh my thank you or it's causing everybody in the nfl network screening room where i was sitting with coop my 15 year old came to work yesterday

32:12Rich Eisen:and the rest of us in the room when the bears scored their 58th point of the game thinking is he going to go for two to get a 60 burger is that possible i think we're all were thinking we're all were you thinking that where you were yeah i'm wondering if the it wasn't just us in the nfl network screening room that we all as football observers were attached like the matrix is he going to go for two like we were all holding our breath to see is he going to send his kicker out there because that would have led to a fascinating post-game handshake with dave Canales. Nobody sent the place kicker out there, but we thought it.

32:52Rich Eisen:We thought it because we also know his goal is to have the highest scoring offense in the history of the NFL. He wants blowouts and shutouts. Got the blowout, not the shutout, but it was well enough of a blowout where he almost doubled up the team instead of shutting them out, which I imagine at the end of the day is just as good because it's a win on the board, which is what you want, but he wants more than that. He wants to snatch your soul. Certainly the ones that are up there in Wisconsin. And he wants to have the highest scoring offense in the NFL, which by the way, he did leave a point out there on the field by not going for two.

33:31Wow. What a day. This is what Ben Johnson had to say afterwards. Listen, that'll always be the goal is we want to be the highest scoring. We want to have the most wins. We want to win Super Bowls. We want to, like, that's what That's what we do. We didn't get into this profession trying to be mediocre or average. And that's every NFL team. So that is what it is. We make decisions over the course of a week, what's best for our football team to win the game. That's the most important thing, and that goes into everything that we do.

34:03Rich Eisen:Dude, 59 points, fourth most in any game in the history of the Chicago Bears, tied for the second most points in a season opening game in NFL history. the Falcons opened up their 1973 campaign with a 62 point effort and then Caleb this is the one right here because last year if you recall it was the Bears getting set tonight to take on the Vikings and they wound up blowing the game in the fourth quarter and they're getting blown out in Detroit the following week they gave up 50 points themselves and we're all wondering what's going to happen and now here we are right so but last year this time it's like well Caleb he drank from a fire hose this summer.

34:41Rich Eisen:Got a lot put on him, right? A lot put on his plate. What's he going to do? What's Ben Johnson going to do with him?

34:52Rich Eisen:Both of his passing touchdowns on Sunday came off of play action. Which means the run game's working, but it also means he's under center. It means he's running a style of offense where you have to turn your back to the defense and then turn back around and know what the hell's going on, which is not easy to do, which is why a lot of quarterbacks, certainly in year three, are playing out of the shotgun because everything's in front of them. His 14th passing touchdown off of play action since the start of last year after he started drinking through a fire hose, that's tied with Dak for the second most in that span.

35:30The most is Matthew Stafford, who's damn near 40.

35:34Rich Eisen:This kid's doing it at this stage of his career. Oh, and he ran two and two. his first career game with multiple rushing touchdowns oh and deandre swift swift scored three times first bears player with 120 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns since rashan salam in 1995 and then if you want to go even further back the last time the bears had two players with at least two rushing touchdowns as Williams and Swift had on Sunday. Last duo was Neil Anderson and, yeah, the punky QB, Jim McMahon, in week one, their opener of the 88 season. And the Panthers scored their most points in a season opening game in franchise history and weren't even close.

36:24Rich Eisen:So if the Bears are going to do this, could you imagine a Bears-Bills Super Bowl just up the road on ESPN and ABC next year? what a Super Bowl that would be by the way Bears fans and Bills fans all trying to get the same Super Bowl ticket would be insane insane that's possible you want to bet the over now on that one Chris? yes I do you could set it at like 80 but man Ben Johnson getting it done with Caleb Williams he is a problem for the rest of the NFL and I this is like the mea culpa hour I'm like yeah Cowboys should be top 5 and I'm like I need to see it from the Bears again well I saw it I'm sold I thought we don't overreact to no no no I'm sold I'm sold hey I gotta come up with my new power rankings on Wednesday I'm looking at last week's list right now I don't want you to read that list it wasn't great it's gonna be different am I over 500 at least in week one.

37:30Let's see. Rams lost. Seahawks win. Yeah, Seahawks. Rams won. Cowboys four. Patriots six. I mean, the Eagles didn't look great. Seven. Chargers eight. They lost. Look at the Broncos. Texans nine. Oh my goodness. Yeah. We're shuffling. The deck's getting shuffled. You better hope the Broncos win tonight. Good better best does not describe my power rankings from last week, which is why I don't want to do them. It's just week one, baby. It's okay. It's just week one. It's week one? Everyone's jacked up with one. I'm like Ben Johnson. I want to win. Yeah, I mean. I want to win and I want to be the best at it.

38:06Blowouts and shutouts, baby. Damn, that was impressive. You know, I had them in my multibox on YouTube. It was awesome. When I thought they were going for the two, I immediately guarded every other game and I pulled them up widescreen. I'm so glad we weren't the only ones. We were in that room. There was about a dozen of us more and we're like, is he going to do this?

38:26Rich Eisen:Yes. The right amount of crazy. The right amount of crazy. Let's take a break. When we come back, want to talk about crazy? That ruling that took a touchdown off the board for the Saints in Detroit. And your phone calls at 844-204-RICH. Number to dial Marcus Spears. Top of hour two from Kansas City, where it all wraps up tonight on ABC.

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40:12So the Detroit Lions welcome in the New Orleans Saints. This wasn't close to the top of the marquee with all due respect. So we're watching the Bears and the Panthers score 96 points. And we're watching the Bills and the Texans do their thing. The Bengals and the Bucs was off the hook on occasion, right? Just to name three games. But the Lions were up 21-0, and then this game wound up in overtime because Tyler Shuck just channeled his inner Drew Brees, man. Winging it, baby. And Olave and Vele, which sounds like a new crime-fighting duo on ABC, right? Coming this fall. After TJ whatever the hell's going on.

40:59Jack Strand. Okay, Jack Strand. Jack Strand. Jack Strand. Right? Olave and Vele, I think we came up with this on Overreaction Monday. The two sons of Cagney and Lacey. That's right. Fighting crime as well. Right? Okay. Right. Anyway. No relation to Tango and Cag. So, you know. Their mothers were cops. And Shuck was unbelievable. He was superb, man. Dang it. And certainly after it wasn't looking good at all. But it's all about the seven points the Saints didn't get. It's 7-0, and golf gets blown up. Ball is loose. I mean, Chase Young was terrific. Yeah. I'll shoot everyone straight. He did play well in Michigan, you know, historically.

41:47Yeah, historically. And the ball's loose, and it is not only loose, but it's rolling towards the Lions' end zone. The Saints scoop and score. And now they're reviewing it. I'm like, what are we reviewing this year? Yeah, what is the issue? Let's look at. And what ends up happening is they're like, yeah, his arm was moving forward. Mike Pereira is talking about how he, because he moved his arm forward, his hand forward, he has an intention of throwing it forward. Doesn't matter if it's going backwards now. That's an incomplete pass. And Lions football, this was officiated properly. And you're like, what sort of word salad is that?

42:28I didn't need that roughage in my diet today. Nope, I'm healthy. You know? And the Saints are losing their minds. Their fans are losing their minds. Don Bowie, he's working blue on our text chain. My son's on that chain. Earmuffs. The Saints fan of the Rich Eisen show is pissed. And everyone should be pissed. And I'll explain why they should be pissed in a moment. Dan Campbell had this to say about that moment afterwards. Well, I think it was just the fact, look, I'll take that one. You know, I'll be the first to say, man, you know, I thought we lost that one. But the arm was going forward. It had a forward motion.

43:10That was how they saw it. We got one. You know, we'll take that.

43:15Rich Eisen:Yeah, you bet you will. And so the PFWA pool reporter Ben Raven interviewed the vice president of Instant Replay. Who knew that? Oh. He's a VP of Instant Replay. That's a job. His name is Mark Butterworth. And I'm just assuming his voice is quite serving. That's his name? Okay. No relation. I think it's Butter's word. Butter's is, yeah. We're real close. Who the hell is Tim Horton? He said if the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting his throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him.

43:53Rich Eisen:It is therefore a forward pass. The final question is, what is the determining factor in calling this play? I would have used a much more WTF way of going about it, but Mr. Raven is very professional. The determining factor said Mr. Butterworth. I'm sorry. I hope he's married.

44:15Rich Eisen:There's a Mrs. Butterworth? There has to be. The determining factor is does the passer begin his throwing motion prior to contact from the defender? The throwing motion starts as he begins to bring the ball up as part of his wind-up, and then the defender's contact made the pass go backwards. In case you're wondering, this is based off of the rule in the rule book. I don't have the exact code for it, but quote, when a team a when when a team a player is holding the ball to pass it forward any intentional movement forward of his hand starts a forward pass it did look like he did intend to you know he did get that hand motion it did exist if contact by an opponent materially affects a passer after the passer begins his throwing motion which chase young certainly did it is a forward pass if he passes the ball regardless of where the ball strikes the ground a player an official or anything else when this occurs intentional grounding rules do not apply so it was officiated properly which is the problem and i'll say this saints fans and everyone else that's the problem if there is a rule in the rule book that tells you as an nfl fan that what you have seen with your own two eyes is not what you saw with your own two eyes that rule needs to be thrown out of the book see ya that's why the tuck rule what's the word for it i wrote it down here somewhere sucked right it sucked it sucked come on i know you were like dan campbell after that one we'll take it we'll take it that's why the tuck rule needed to go because when you are going to stop throwing and move the ball down and tuck it that is your intention of i don't wish to throw anymore and this move was interpreted in the rule book as still trying to throw it all right golf 1000 percent was throwing it that's what the rule's saying he has an intention to throw it forward got it but the ball went backwards which means it's a live ball and if it wasn't throwing it it went backwards which means it's a live ball if it's going forwards my eyes saw it my eyes and if you're telling the fans of the nfl no you didn't see that based on whatever reason the rule is parsed this way that's a problem change it sorry Saints fans that was ridiculous but properly officiated according to the rules thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen show podcast you can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen show live weekdays from noon to three eastern on ESPN radio Disney plus and on the ESPN app the Rich Eisen show the podcast

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