Hour 1: Giants Fire Daboll Reaction, Pats’ Super Bowl Chances, NFC Contenders Roll

0:00Laminya Mal steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez. Gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World Cup meal. Ronaldinho sees Son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henri, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. At participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies last, all rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026. Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same.

0:37Take 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. Goats only trust Goats, because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell. 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. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment.

1:26Now, on with the show. Let's go! Roquan Smith just decapitated Aaron Jones. What's that bull doing? This is the Rich Eisen Show. Touchdown! There's the record breaker for Jonathan Taylor! HM, have a game! The Rich Eisen Show. Keenan Allen, reception number 956. Today's guests. Seahawks defensive end, Leonard Williams. Monday Night Preview. And now, it's Rich Eisen. can confirm it hey welcome this edition of the rich eisen show live on disney plus live on the espn app live on espn radio presented by progressive progressive insurance live on sirius xm channel 80 not live whenever you want to listen to us uh we still say hello to our podcast listeners the latest episode of overreaction monday is now in your rss feed for you to listen to or if you want to check it out every single week you can watch overreaction monday on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show.

2:31That's all ready for you to take in, but there's a three-hour show for you in which for you to participate as well. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Here to have a conversation with us, Leonard Williams of the surging wagon in Seattle. I mean, the Seahawks are a wagon right now. He's going to join us top of hour number three as we pay our respects to the 12s. and it's quite a dynamic national football conference that has the game of the week still to go in week number 10 with the Eagles taking on the Packers on the ESPN family of networks this evening. We'll preview that for you as well. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman.

3:14How are you, sir? Rich, I am excellent. DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. Good to see you, sir. How are you? I'm doing well. TJ Jefferson, I see the candle is lit. Good to see you, sir. My team didn't lose yesterday, so I got to say I'm pretty happy. Penn State did play the game of the weekend prior to anything else in the National Football League against Indiana. That was incredible. It broke Gus Johnson. We'll talk about that on this three-hour show as well. How are you doing? I'm doing well. 844-204-Ritchigan is the number to dial this. The way I'm starting this show is potentially dicey. I'm giving that to you as a warning label.

3:47Well, actually, it's the warning label for me because of what I'm about to say because I married into a family of New Englanders. But I think I speak for a lot of the rest of the United States of America. When teams from Boston and New England win, you hear from the fan base quite a bit. You can hear it. Sometimes if you're quiet, you could hear it all the way from New England. What is it? What did James Taylor once saying about from Stockbridge to Boston? You can hear it. You can hear it for wherever you are. If you're quiet. Yeah. Yeah. For those scoring at home. Scoring at home. Yeah. You hear about it.

4:23You hear about it. And certainly from fans of the New England Patriots. And that's the franchise that kicked basically your ass and the team that you root for his ass more often than not for two decades. And we all know the reason why, in part, it's because the guy is calling games on Fox right now. And when he stopped playing for the Patriots, things began to change. And yet you heard less and less and less. you heard complaints more than anything else which by the way you also hear when they win which is another reason why you don't want to hear from these folks if you feel that way i regret to inform you the new england patriots are not only back but they are one of the best teams in the national football league and without question through 10 weeks into this national football league campaign a highly viable super bowl winning team and a threat to do so in the 2025 national football league i know that hurt you to say that so thank you it did not hurt me to say that as you know i i adore the craft family as you know i have i have i have emceed a handful of their kickoff dinners gladly you've been fighting it all year i've not been fighting it i i needed to see a few things in order to believe it um and if you don't believe it they've got a quarterback who's not only better than most but could be the best in the national football league at the end of the day in year two in drake may not his best statistical game yesterday um season low completion percentage worst passer rating since the week one loss to the raiders but what he does what he does and by the way also a brutal mistake by throwing an interception in the end zone that was rough to keep things a tighter game a five-point game instead of at least an eight-point game if not a two-score game for the patriots in rainy tampa where the patriots fell down early but um what he does is make big time throws whether they are deep throws like the one to Mac Hollins late in this game up five to put them in position only for May to throw that aforementioned end zone interception.

6:46Or he will do what he did at the end of the first half, which is stuff that you're familiar with. If you've watched the Patriots over the last quarter century and odds are you have because they've been on national television quite a bit for the last quarter century because of the aforementioned two decades of ass kicking. Two decades of ass kicking. Not bad. Not bad. That's a tour. I think that's called a tour. Is that Steely Dan? Definitely not. Definitely not Steely Dan. That's a little bit more hard. It's ACDC. Yeah, you went more hard. Listen, a second year quarterback going into Baker Mayfield's house with the Bucs coming off of their bye week and having timeouts and a coach who knows what to do with them and an offensive coordinator in McDaniels who knows how to dial things up for Mike Vrabel, who wisely got McDaniels to return to his role as OC of the NEP with no time left.

7:57and you got a coach who just rolls the dice because that's him and mike drabel you're gonna go for it for a touchdown with no time left at the end of the second quarter instead of going for 10-10 time running into the locker room and getting the ball to start the second half you're gonna go for the touchdown and what it may do he made everybody look like a genius because he made a beautiful throw to Stefan Diggs, who made a remarkable catch for a touchdown. And then they come out of the second half, get the ball first and score a touchdown. Travion Henderson with a 55-yard touchdown run, 21-10.

8:38Stop me. Have you heard that story before? The Patriots scoring on each side of the half and flipping the script, going from down to up by two scores. Have you heard that? That's part of the two decades of ass kicking. And then they play defense as well. The Patriots have now, with the win over the Bucs, 28-23 is the final score. The Patriots have now scored, they've now won seven in a row. Once upon a time, one and two. And then after they beat the Buffalo Bills to go above 500 in the second of the seven consecutive wins that they've come up with so far. And after they won in Western New York, let's see what they can do.

9:20and all they've done is win five more in a row. And in this seven-game streak, they have in each of the games scored 23 or more points or allowed 23 or fewer points. That's the longest such streak for the Patriots within a season in team history. And once upon a time, they didn't lose in a single regular season. Even the 07 Patriots never did what the 2025 Patriots are doing on both sides of the football. of the previous eight teams in NFL history to have such a streak reach seven or more games within a season five of those previous eight teams went on to win the Super Bowl or in the case of the 1961 Oilers who did it nine straight times they won the American Football League Championship so you're sitting here thinking oh you're you're you're all right good enough Rich Patriots win the Super Bowl this year?

10:17I say this with all sense. You better hope not, or I am going to be obnoxious. Well, I'm about to say, before you obnoxiously interrupted me, being on brand, if you're sitting there thinking the Patriots can't win the Super Bowl this year, I've got four words. Why the hell not? Why the hell not? Because we're good people, Rich, and we don't deserve that. No, no, no, no. No. We just deserve that. Here's Mike Frable after the game, and he's not raising any banners. That's the beauty of what he does. Just keep stacking wins. Hit it. Well, I think that this, you know, anything in life, you're going to have to certainly put some chips in the pot to be able to win something.

11:03Can't sit around and wait and hope that they just hand it to you. And sometimes you can, but most of the time in life, you've got to be able to risk something to get something in return. So you can't win nothing you don't put in the middle. That's what he said when asked about going for it before the end of the first half. Ball or nothing, touchdown or nothing, leading by four or nothing. And, you know, you could sit and go, oh, wow, that's really philosophical. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Ask the Giants fans who watch their head coach kick a field goal to go up 20 to 10 instead of 24 to 10 from the half yard line in the Chicago snow and how that worked out for your team and you know again we've been talking about the Patriots for a bit too since the draft when Daniel Jeremiah says the draft was New England's and they were killing it and you Chris were so upset by the Joe Milton victory in the last week of the regular season against the Bills and how it cost you the chance to draft Travis Hunter and all you got was a consolation prize in the left tackle maybe for the next decade plus to help protect drake may and will campbell um the first touchdown pass may became the first patriots player ever okay oh pardon me my bad he became the first patriots player to complete multiple 50 or more yard passes in a single game since brady did it to brandon cooks alone in the 2017 season in week 11 because he completed that 54-yarder I mentioned to Mac Hollins and then the touchdown to Kyle Williams, which went for 72 yards to give them their first score of the game.

12:48By the way, Brady won MVP in 2017 as well, and the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Eagles that year. In case you're wondering if there's anything in the ether between what I'm saying and the Patriots actually making the Super Bowl this year. As I mentioned to you, also Trevion Henderson ran one in from 55 yards out. He ran one from 69 yards out also. So three offensive touchdowns of 50 or more yards scored by rookies for the Patriots in Week 10. Do you know the last team to do that? To have a rookie, rookies in this case, score three times in a game with 50 or more yards in each one.

13:30Last time it happened was when Randy Moss did it all himself against the Cowboys in Thanksgiving Day of 1998. That's the last time it happened in a game. And we saw what the Patriots did.

13:45I don't know why that was so funny. Because it happened with one single guy in one single game. I try to forget that game. The whole country watching. most of the country watched this on cbs but uh the patriots are now eight and two which nobody saw coming coming into the season certainly when they were one and two or even when they were three and two after beating the bills in western new york and the bills lost in miami yesterday the dolphins took care of them and the bills are now a game and a half behind the patriots who take on the jets in just three days at home. And the Patriots after that wind up going to Cincinnati.

14:25Then they have a Giants home game on a Monday night before they have a bye, after which they'll be nice and rested for the Bills to try and come in and avoid a season sweep. The Ravens, that's a big game before two division games end it. The Patriots have a real good shot at going deep just like may does very well just wanted to start the show to point that out and of course all colts fans are sitting there after i just spent the first 10 minutes of this program giving the flowers to new england the colts rebounded very nicely in germany colts rebounded from their disheartening bang thing loss in pittsburgh last week by going all the way to germany with sauce gardner now wearing his colts number one and taking on a falcons team who had him dead to rights until for whatever reason they decided to call time out to help the colts settle in their field goal unit to attempt to tie the game and force overtime just to try maybe save some time left for them in regulation to win it with their own field goal even though that hasn't really happened much to their help throughout the season when they could have called that time out after third quarter, after the third down to conserve time, but instead let the time wind down only to stop it for the Colts, who, of course, forced overtime and then won it because Jonathan Taylor is unstoppable.

15:53Man.

15:57This is an MVP candidate, folks, of note. I understand. I just talked about Drake May. this guy had a better day than drake may drake did what he needed to do to win on the road as a second year player as young as he is you got to give it up to him and he's going to be in the mix for mvp and so is matthew stafford but i don't want to hear running backs can't win it or shouldn't win it this guy did exactly what the colts needed after last week's tail kicking in pittsburgh is to basically say tip the cap to the steelers defense they did what they needed to do they turned us over quite a bit they turned our quarterback over quite a bit what we're going to do is we're going to rebound and we're going to hand it to Jonathan Taylor and he's going to take us home as a matter of fact I was in Germany uh for the last overtime game of the international series I called it I called that game in Munich between the Giants and the Panthers that game went into overtime.

17:00Panthers won it and they've kind of turned things around since then even though they took a brutal loss at home to the Saints on Sunday to sink them back to 500 and put their wild card hopes in a little bit more jeopardy than it was going into the week but the reason why I bring it up is because the Giants lost that game. It wound up being Daniel Jones' last game as a Giant. Daniel had a terrific fourth quarter to force overtime and the first play of overtime daniel jones handed it to his running back tyrone tracy and the ball hit the ground tracy was inconsolable the panthers took that field position and won it so i just have to say this when jones handed it off to jonathan taylor in this overtime i did not have a sense of foreboding as a matter of fact i don't think a single soul in europe the united states or around the world had a single sense of oh deja vu all over again daniel jones in germany in overtime because he helped force it after being down oh okay maybe you should let daniel jones win it no as a matter of fact too i'm sitting there watching the game with coop and cooper says to me dad why aren't they just kicking the field goal and I thought, you know what?

18:26Why aren't they just kicking the field goal? Why are they keeping the handing it off to Jonathan Taylor? And I thought, and I said to Cooper, I'm like, because it's probably a better odds of winning this game by handing it to Jonathan Taylor than it is to bring out your kicker and attempt a layup of a field goal. That's what the fans wanted, though. I understand. They wanted that kicker to come out. I'm just saying that's how money this guy is. 32 carries, 244 rush yards, three rushing touchdowns, three catches for 42 yards. We always do the math for you here. 286 scrimmage yards. That's a career best.

19:09And it is 19 yards better than the previous best game in the history of the Colts from scrimmage. A guy named Marshall Falk did it with 267 yards in week 13, 1998. he's got now the second most rush yards in a game in indianapolis history do you know who he trails himself who had 253 rushing yards in the final week of 2020 sandwiched in between these two rushing performances is now hall of famer marshall falk somebody now has five career games with 200 or more scrimmage yards and two rushing touchdowns His name is Jonathan Taylor. That's behind only Derek Henry, two behind him, four behind LaDainian Tomlinson.

19:55Taylor's five, Tyson, with two guys named Jim Brown and Eric Dickerson. All right, so let's go now a little bit better. 200 or more scrimmage yards in a career game in which you ran it in three times, including the walk-off one, okay, in overtime. Jonathan Taylor now has three of those career games with 200 or more scrimmage yards and three or more rushing touchdowns. Tied with Derrick Henry, one behind LaDainian Tomlinson. And his three rushing touchdowns vaulted him over Edger and James for most career rushing touchdowns in Colts history. He now leads the NFL with 17 scrimmage yards, most through the first 10 games of a season in Colts history.

20:33It helps to have Tyler Warren also lead the league in tight ends as a rookie, and the defense being opportunistic and also having sauce. So the Colts, nice rebound. Nice rebound, everybody. And it has, again, to do with Daniel Jones playing well. Has to do with the defense doing its thing. The Falcons, once again, did a little bit of help to their opponent, even though they had a terrific game. At some point, though, and I speak for all fantasy folks who have B 'Jone Robinson, he's going to make for a great featured back for the Falcons one day. I know that's an unfair assessment to the way that he's used.

21:14Can he get the ball in the red zone? Why is that against the law? Total fantasy thing. I understand it. Did that not pass through customs or something? But well done, Colts. Well done, Colts. Nice rebound. They're 8-2. And Denver, as we all know, started the week 8-2. They just need the Broncos. What they need to do is start playing faster and not put things in the hands of their defense to keep the game going until the offense comes around in the fourth quarter when sometimes it doesn't and they still pull out the win. remarkably that week two contest between the Colts and the Broncos in which the Broncos thought they had won it until a leverage penalty got called against them.

21:52We're going to keep mentioning this because as long as the Broncos and the Colts keep winning, they're eight and two. That's the difference between the Broncos being in first place in the conference and not. And then you've got the Patriots raising their hands saying we're eight and two as well. How about that in the AFC through the first 10 weeks of this season. As we all know, the final game of week 10 is an NFC contest, and we'll talk about the NFC in a second. But much was made of last week's Bills-Chiefs game, and as I mentioned to everybody, it was a different types of Bills-Chiefs game because it's the first time that Allen faced Mahomes where neither were in first place, and the loser was at more of a crossroads than the winner who needed to keep winning and use that as a springboard to have a chance to still be the one seed in this highly competitive conference that the Bills and the Chiefs no longer have, along with the Ravens.

22:48You know, apparently an annual right to being called the best team in the conference. Well, Ravens are under 500, Chiefs are at 5-4, and I know the Ravens are playing better, and the Bills just lost to the Dolphins, you got three, eight, and two teams sitting there thinking, we can win this damn thing. And not just this damn thing being the AFC, but the whole shooting match. It's a different world right now. Let's take a break. We come back. We hit the NFC. Lions have a new play caller. How about that? Dan Campbell taking a thigh out of the play call sheet.

23:34Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

23:41Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen 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.

24:13Rich Eisen:That's why this can be a smart time to think about listing your own space on Airbnb. If you've got plans to be away this summer, consider listing your space on Airbnb while you're gone and earn some extra cash. It's simple. You're already traveling, so your place doesn't just sit empty while your city is busy. And from my experience on the road, having a comfortable home base can change the whole experience of a trip. So whether it's a big sports weekend, a concert series, or a major event coming to your area, this could be the right time to list your space on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think.

24:47Rich Eisen:Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. O 'Reilly Auto Parts can help take the guesswork out of your vehicle's check engine, ABS, or maintenance light with O 'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians. Ask for O 'Reilly Veriscan today. A bandwagon fan. The biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America. Never watched soccer before? Perfect. Think a corner kick is a karate move? Sure, why not? Prefer sports where players can use their hands? Me too. Just here for the snacks.

25:27Now we're talking. So grab a bag of Lay's and jump on the bandwagon. We're undefeated. Lay's, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

25:40Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Whether you're watching us on Disney +, the ESPN app, or listening to us on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. When play callers change in the National Football League, you hear about it. It gets announced. It gets leaked. It gets talked about. It gets broken up and broken down and all that stuff. And then you're wondering about a rift on the coaching staff or what's going on. There's a coach on the hot seat because they have now made a change. I mean, Kevin Stefanski no longer calling the plays. And Cleveland's a perfect example.

26:14We heard about it coming in. Tommy Reese is the new guy. Is it because Stefanski's feeling the pressure despite him being a two-time coach of the year? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then lo and behold, who comes and starts calling the plays for the Detroit Lions yesterday? But Dan Campbell. I didn't even, again, I wasn't familiar with your game. But Dan Campbell. I didn't know you could do that. And, you know, so much made out of, you know, Johnny Morton taking over for Ben Johnson. And then they kicked Ben Johnson's behind in week two and put up 50 points. And everyone's talking about how it's a new world.

26:48And I was talking about how Dan Campbell, if it all works out for him, that's coach of the year material because the Eagles once changed coordinators and fell off the cliff. and the Lions had won, you know, went 0-1 and then won four in a row. Then last week, the Detroit Lions coming off a bye and they got beat by Minnesota. And did anybody know that Dan Campbell was going to take the play calling? That Dan Campbell was going to be the new play caller? And then you take a look at his sheet there, man. And I saw this and I thought to myself, is it this large because you know because he also was wearing his glasses at some point too and like does he need the font bigger like all of us do as we as we advance in age or does is it required in the national football league that you need a play sheet in proportion to your size your your own size because if it was a regular play sheet it would look like a postage stamp in this man's man hands right right so mike mcdaniel has the smallest play sheet in the league i don't know it's just like if you're dan campbell's size you need a play sheet a similar size and all they did in detroit was put it on the washington commanders and put it on lay it on thick on the washington commanders and come up with their 44 to 22 win with a season high in total yards 546 rush yards 226 first downs 30 i mean he took over the play calling and nobody really even knew about it and this is what he had to say as to why after the game you know it was just let's let's try something a little different right you know and and uh look i know i know what i want to do i know how i want to do it now that being said this is a collaborative effort now i I mean, I was taking input from John Morton that whole time and the other coaches.

28:47But I just wanted to change it up a little bit. You know, let's just see if, you know, maybe a different play caller can, you know, maybe get us a little rhythm. That's all. And it honestly is nothing more than that. Yeah. And it makes sense for him to basically say, move on. There's nothing to see here. Now, you could also say it helps to have taken on a Washington Commanders team that's falling apart. That came into the game with three straight losses of 21 or more points being the difference maker. And they now have now lost four such games in a row, which is the longest such losing streak since the 2002 Cardinals.

29:27Lost four straight games within a single season of 21 or more points. But, and you can't argue with the results either. Number zero in your program. Holy crap. Jameer Gibbs had another massive game, but this one in particular. 15 carries, 142 rush yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a receiving touchdown in his three catches for 30 yards. Second career game with 150 or more scrimmage yards and three or more touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor is the only player with multiple such games in the last two seasons. And then in terms of why you want to keep going with what had been previously laid out in Dan Campbell's vision, as he was just alluding to there.

30:15Guys, most touchdowns prior to turning 24. We have a list for you now. Jameer Gibbs has 41 touchdowns. In terms of prior to age 24, this is fifth most all time. He's one behind Jim Brown, two behind Emmitt, three behind Randy Moss, and six behind Barry Sanders. And he's less than 24 the rest of this year. He doesn't turn 24 till next March 20th. There'll be a new league year before there's a new actual age year for Jameer Gibbs. Feels like he might get to 50. Dude, the way he's scoring right now, and certainly with the way, wait for it, Dan Campbell is dialing up the plays. And this is why it takes, listen, this just in, there's no question about Church Bells and Dan Campbell, right?

31:12This has been established. But what a risk. What a risk. Oh, yeah, we're just going to change the play callers in the middle of the campaign at five and three. Okay. We're going to change the play calling. And what if it didn't work out? What now? Now you go back to the other play caller. I just wanted to try it. Didn't work out. Let's go back to the other guy, and it'll be like, oh, okay. So choice B is now choice A again because you thought you were choice A, and you wound up being choice C? Wow. I mean, that is significant. And I'll say this, man. If the Lions continue to do what I think they're going to do because I chose them to win the NFC going into the season, And I know the coach of the year is usually chosen out of the surprise candidates, like, say, Shane Steichen for the 8-2 Colts or Vrabel for the 8-2 Patriots, to make a move like this and say, I'm taking over the play calling, and by the way, I'm going to keep it quiet.

32:14And then I'm not only going to keep it quiet coming in, I'm going to tamp it down leaving it. And their next game is against the Eagles and Vic Fangio. It's going to be D.C. versus V.F. In a massive Sunday night game in Week 11. massive so Campbell's going to be the play caller and the dice roller and the leader that's a hell of a lot he's now doing what Sean Payton's doing name me another Andy Reid he's like I'm doing it Kyle Shanahan name it that's what Dan instead everyone thinks Dan Campbell just being there as the leader emotional leader and you follow me to run through a brick wall, and then I'll just make some sort of crazy-ass move on fourth down and roll the dice, and it'll work out.