Hour 1: Guest Host Tom Pelissero Reacts to Bears/Commanders, plus FOX Sports’ Mark Schlereth

23:47Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of things. One, you throw a couple of picks, one in the red zone last night. Those things always come back to haunt you. They're inexcusable. But most of the time, you look at those picks that are thrown, you get under duress, there's under-pressure throws that you make, and those things affect the way you play the game as well. You're everybody's target because you're the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen won a MVP last year. So you're, you know, heightened awareness of the teams you play. You're everyone's best shot. And there's always something with the Bills right now over the last two weeks that have been, you know, kind of what has cost them a game.

24:26Obviously, they couldn't stop the running game. Bijan Robinson last night. So that was, you know, that was big. And then you feel like it gets you out of what you do. When I watch the Bills, they have become a very balanced team. They run the ball exceptionally well. They take a lot of pressure and create a lot of play action opportunities for their quarterback. And when you're behind or things aren't going the way you want them to go, you tend to get a little pressed on the offensive side of the ball. So there are a couple of things. But I would tell you this, Tom. I mean, offensive football has been, dare I say, in the AFC, so up and down, at times atrocious.

25:05And I don't know if you watched that Jets-Broncos game, but it set offensive football back into the leather helmet days. I mean, it was so bad. So there is a lot of that. It's endemic of the National Football League because of our failures to make guys practice in pads, to actually execute the game and work on the game because we have taken a lot of the physicality out of the game. under the guise of, hey, we've got to keep our players safe. So there's a lot of that that is continuing to me to manifest in really poor play across the board.

25:44Tom Pelissero:I've heard that so many times, Mark. And, of course, in your days playing, in my early days covering the league over 20 years ago, it was first day of training camp, 845 shells, 3 o 'clock pads. However the coaches structured it, it was true two-a-day type of environment. Now, of course, you've got the ramp-up period. There are teams that fundamentally don't believe in going live at all. And I have a lot of unpadded days through the course. When you talk about the failure to develop and the failure to have that time on 10, what, what does that mean? What is the impact that we actually see, particularly in the early stages of the season here?

26:17Hey, how many quarterbacks are hurt right now? Too many. I mean, I had, I had a Roger, I was calling a game a year ago and stand on the sideline, you know, pregame talking to Roger Goodell and he's like, Hey, what are we going to do about all these quarterback injuries? Well, I got an idea. Make the guys up front practice. I say this all the time, and I'll say it to you, Tom. The most skilled position in football is the offensive line. It's the only position in any sport where you're matched up against an unlike athlete, where the guy that's across from you is as big and as strong as you are, but he's exponentially more gifted as an athlete than you are.

26:57and you're expected to win 100 out of 100 matchups 65 for 65 and if you give up one sack you've had a horrible game and that guy's going to the pro bowl and you know if if if a six foot three point guard blows by an nba seven foot center we don't go man that center sucks at defense we got to get them off the court no you got a great matchup you know we don't put heavyweights against welterweights in boxing, but that is the equivalent. Like you have got to be, and it's five guys that have to be tied together and have to be doing the same thing and having the same communication and knowing exactly what they're getting.

27:37And they are, from an athletic standpoint, I mean, offensive line, we are the worst athletes collectively on the football field without question. And so every step, every nuanced hat position, hand position, where you want to block guys, all that stuff, all that stuff has to be developed. It has to be worked on. And it can't be worked on in a walkthrough. It doesn't work that way. And so you see it and you see diminishing, like a diminishing skill set of that position, diminishing development of that position. And then you see the results of that or quarterbacks are injured. all these things all these things kind of pile on and you know I just I know we're the golden goose and I know we're Teflon and all those things but eventually will it cost the NFL viewership?

28:28Right now it doesn't look like it but eventually we look at and we're like wow this is just a really bad product

28:33Tom Pelissero:Mark Schlereth is our guest host of the Stinkin' Truth podcast also I noticed right there it says on the bottom of the screen Mark good luck for you you've got the Jets again this week Panthers at Jets for Fox. A two-part question. One, is the Jets offense fixable? And two, have you ever seen an end-of-half situation managed the way that Aaron Glenn did on Sunday? No. To answer your first question is, or actually your second question, the end of the half management where the clock just ran out and you had 20-some-odd seconds, and it just was like, At that point, it was just like, it is so bad that let's just get into the loft room and have orange slices.

29:16And, you know, maybe we can, I don't know what, that game was so bad. Fixing the offense, that's an interesting question. Justin Fields, like, I think, is it fixable? Yeah, but you're going to have to depart on what you're doing right now. This is not Detroit. You know, this is not Jared Goff. This is Justin Fields. and he is not ready for prime time when it comes to being a drop back quarterback and basically picking a defensive part and I know there were nine sacks and I know that he was under a lot of duress no question about it but at the same at the same you know as I as I talk same token you got to get rid of the football got to get the ball out of your hands and there are so many times where his inability to decide and him holding the football and deciding not to let it eat and, you know, waiting for a receiver to turn around and look at him before he throws the ball.

30:16Like, you don't have that kind of time. So you have got to put him in a position of strength, which is what? It's the bootkeep game. It's the waggle out the frontside game. It's the quarterback design runs, the RPO, where you have actually one read. You know, you got a one, like a one read route. You got, like, I think you have to put him in a position where he can excel. And what you're doing right now, or at least what you did on Sunday, is not the kind of offense that he is going to, that he's going to thrive under.

30:47Tom Pelissero:Other side of that game, the Broncos, who are 4-2. They're tied to top. The AFC West at this point. The offense, though, so far, Mark, has been pretty up and down. That team's in your backyard. Jared, how good are the 2025 Denver Broncos? Offensively right now, they're struggling. And, you know, there's this narrative out there that they have the best offensive line in football, and that's just garbage. They just have so many, you know, busts, inability to identify linebackers and safeties and who they're going to. That game on Sunday was a debacle. I mean, a debacle. And there were so many mistakes.

31:27The first three plays of the game, you're in an eye formation. You motion a fullback out of the backfield. The linebackers correspondingly move a little bit. And your left guard, Matt Peart, who was starting for the first time, it's almost like the linebacker moved. And now it's all of a sudden like, well, since he moved, I don't have to block him anymore. I don't know. Did he have the Harry Potter cloak of invisibility on? I don't understand. Like your inability to identify who you've got and how to get to that guy was alarming. And sometimes it's a matter of sometimes it's a matter of for Sean Payton.

32:06I know you like to be very multiple in your run game and have a big menu, but you got a small up and simple down because your guys can't handle it right now. So the first three plays of that game, I mean, you practiced all week. You developed it all week. The first three plays of the game were like there were two busts and a fumble. like you've got your first 15 you have coached it you have walked through it you have done it all and then all of a sudden we get out there like we've never played before um and and that was kind of how that whole day went and I'll tip my cap to the Jets because they set the tone man they put a physical ass whooping on the Broncos across the board from receivers to DBs from offensive line to defensive line from linebackers to running everybody like they they set the tone physically and the Broncos never actually responded.

32:56So I'll tip my cat to the Jets for that. But there were a lot of mental mistakes across the board that is just, they're just unacceptable.

33:03Tom Pelissero:I found myself looking this up last night, Mark, as the Bills were kind of having that game get away from the preseason betting odds to be the Superbowl champion. There were three co-favorites coming into the season. It was the Bills. It was the Ravens. And it was the Eagles. Three teams that have varying degrees right now of issues. they've got a sore three. In your mind, right now, there's no undefeateds left after six weeks, which is a pretty rarity, too. Is there a favorite? Is there one team that, above all, you say, I wouldn't want to see that team come January, February? Just last week, I said it was Detroit.

33:39And then all of a sudden, Kansas City looks like they figured it out. But Kansas City looked like they figured it out two weeks ago, and then they go to Jacksonville on a Monday night and lose a game. No, there is just no dominant team. If parity was your goal in the NFL, with the draft and the way you do things, and then first to worst from a scheduling standpoint and strength of schedule, if parity was your goal, you certainly have achieved it. Because there is no dominant team out there in the NFL right now.

34:12Tom Pelissero:If you're talking about that game, too, and the way that it ended with the Lions and the Chiefs, there's the occasional situation that plays out postgame. There's some type of an instant. The NFL has been trying to eradicate those from the game. I'm curious, Mark, in all your years, did you ever think about or actually do, you know, going and popping somebody in the face for something that happened during the game? No, no, but we did it during the game. In the game, there was, you know, back in those days, there was a little bit of frontier justice. And, you know, like if you did something in the game that was deemed that was deemed dirty or was deemed like, hey, man, that's that's crossing the line, then we got to take care of it.

34:58And, you know, and it wasn't officiated to the point where, you know, everybody's getting injected or those things like there was that aspect of we're going to get you within the context of these four quarters. You're going to get yours as well. and that's how things got kind of rectified. And so, I don't know, maybe now without that and everything seems to be a penalty and physicality is fine. I mean, yeah, it's so interesting to me. I was doing a game the other day and social media went crazy because I was like, oh, come on, helmet to helmet. That runner wasn't, he wasn't, He was, you know, he took three or four steps.

35:44He turned up the field. You're like, he wasn't defenseless. It's like, come on, what are we doing? And so it was helmet to helmet, and that's a 15-yard penalty. And I'm like, I could show you 7, 10, 12 of exactly those fights. They just didn't sound as loud. Like, we flagged anything that sounds loud. Like, maybe somebody could get hurt. We'll flag it. I just, I don't know. At some point, we all signed up to play the game. We understand how violently, you know, how violent the game is. Everybody signed up. Everybody knows the consequences of playing the game. And I'm all for player safety to a degree, but you can't, you can't, you know, you can't take physicality out of the equation.

36:26It still has to be, you can't litigate contact out of a contact sport. Just at some point you have to realize that we all signed up for it and we're all out here and let's just let the guys play.

36:37Tom Pelissero:When the players get faster and faster, their pads get smaller and smaller. You've got wide receivers who essentially have no type of padding from the waist down. Out there, yeah, depending where you get hit, there's going to be some type of an outcome. Even in the college game I was watching the other day, there was a targeting call where the defender, from everything I can see, lines him up with a shoulder. It is shoulder to shoulder. The guy's head snaps back. He's thrown out of the game. I mean, again, to your point, player safety is extremely important. But there are times where just from a physics standpoint, I find it hard to believe that we can avoid certain types of things that by the letter of the law are a foul.

37:15Tom Pelissero:And, you know, intent apparently is not not part of the equation. Yeah, some of those things, there's nothing you can do about it. And it's just part of the game. And, you know, like I like I always say, and this is offensive to a lot of people. There's a reason that that not everybody can play in the National Football League. Like, one, hand to God, you're not gifted enough to play. And two, you don't have balls enough to play. And that's just a fact. Like, that's just the way it is. Like, there's some guys that can go out there and can do those things, and there are a lot of people who can't.

37:47And look at me, I'm not mad at the people who can't. They just understand that this is what we sign up for. And every guy as a player understands that it's not if, it's when. There's 100 % likelihood that you're going to get injured. It's just the way the game operates. And, like, we know the consequences now. It's out in the open, right? There is CT and there is head injuries and there is trauma. We've seen some brutal injuries. That Tyreek Hill injury is as brutal as any injury I've ever watched. But I understand we're still going to line up and play because that's what we signed up for. So I'm all for player safety, but at some point, it still has to resemble football.

38:25And I'm not saying that it doesn't, but we just get further and further and further away, under the whole kind of guise of, hey, man, we want to keep everybody healthy.

38:35Tom Pelissero:Mark, great stuff, man. We appreciate it. Enjoy that Jets offense again on Sunday. Yeah, it's going to be beautiful. I appreciate that. That is Mark Schlereth. You can hear him on the Stinking Truth podcast. See him calling the game on Fox this weekend. Always great stuff from him. Brockman, you're grinning over there. What's going on? I just love the way Mark puts things. He's very blunt. Obviously, former player, three-time champ. He's been there, done that. And the idea of him having to grind tape on the Jets this week in preparation for that game, I kind of feel for my brother. I was just laughing because he's talking about, man, they set offensive football back, and I just see the lower third saying, he's calling the Jets-Panthers game this week.

39:21Tom Pelissero:The Panthers, by the way. Three and three. Three and three. They had to come back the week before. They were clearly, you know, offensively the dominant team against the Cowboys. Sorry, TJ, in this past week's game. And they're running the heck out of the football without their Pro Bowl guard, Robert Hunt, and without their starting running back, Chuba Hubbard, to the point that Dave Canales is having to answer questions about. Is Rico Dowdle now RB1? A lot of people with one or both of those guys on their fantasy team who would also like answers to those questions. A lot more to come on this edition of the Rich Eyes and Show.

39:54Tom Pelissero:Malik Jackson is going to be here in a little bit. Also, over action Monday on a Tuesday. Stick around.

40:03The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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41:16Tom Pelissero:Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellicero in for rich on Disney Plus, the ESPN app and ESPN radio. presented by Progressive Insurance. 844-204-RICH. That is the phone number you can call. Overaction Monday on a Tuesday coming up. Malik Jackson is going to be in studio with us right now. Let's go to the phone. Servan in Washington, D.C. What's on your mind? Hey, Tom. How you doing? Doing fantastic, man. I assume you're calling about that game last night. Yeah, that was one of the craziest victories I've ever seen, but also for the Bears, because of the whole situation. And by the way, can I say hello to my boys TJ Jefferson and Chris Brockman, five and six-time Super Bowl champions?

42:06Brockman? I missed it because I had my ears out for a second. Sylvain, take us off speaker. Sorry about that, guys.

42:14Tom Pelissero:Just a whole bunch of knuckleheads behind me. But anyway, because of the whole situation with the Bears, I want to do a top five of the greatest Bears victories in the Caleb Williams era. Yes, it's delusional. Yes, it's crazy. But how many of them are choosing from here? All right, just go ahead. Give me your top five. Does he only have five wins? He's got more than five. It's not many more than five. Packers week 18 last year. I imagine that's on your list, right? What else you got? So number five on the list would be the first win last year against Tennessee. That's the one the whole kick started the era.

42:50Tom Pelissero:Number four being against the Los Angeles Rams because the Rams were predicted to win. All of a sudden, the Bears' defense comes up big. Number three being the one this year against the Raiders because of the whole block kick. And believe me, they thought the Bears' culture was going to be bad. It just got ugly. Number two, taking down Floos because he was the worst coach in Bears' history. Abe Gibran, who can rest in peace happily. And number one, of course, being last night. Because I got heckled by all these Commanders fans. and Lord have mercy, was it good to shut them up last night? I appreciate the efficiency, Sivan.

43:24Tom Pelissero:Thanks very much for the call. Top five Caleb Williams NFL wins. You think we were going to be doing that this morning? No, I mean, I could do Drake May. Do it? Just give us counter-programming there if you need to. He didn't even put the beating the Packers at Lambeau? That didn't make the list? That should have been number one. How is that not on the list? Now, granted, it was a meaningless game. But still. But they hadn't won a game since October. They went in there with an interim coach. They hadn't won at Lambeau Field, and I can't remember how many years. To me, that was a significant one.

44:00Tom Pelissero:The Raiders game this year was big. It did feel like, all right, this is kind of, we're going to get this thing rolling here. I just see that defense, by the way, credit to Dennis Allen last night. They've gotten so much better. They had one big coverage bust, and Jane Danos exploited it to Luke McCaffrey, who somehow, Brockman, you texted me. You did not sound pleased, even though I had told you to pick up Luke McCaffrey. No, no, you told me. No, I had picked him up as in Debo Insurance. I asked you if I should start him, and you, notoriously bad fantasy advice giver, said, yeah, you should start him.

44:34I did not. Thankfully, it wouldn't have mattered if I had started Luke or not.

44:38Tom Pelissero:I was still losing because my opponent had Jane Danos. I did qualify it with, but I'm probably wrong. Right. So you went with Debo. Yeah. That was not a productive decision. No. Right there. He had four catches for 15 yards. And don't forget the minus one rushing yard. I don't want to shortchange Debo on that one. Right now. He's been awesome this year. Can't complain about Debo Samuel. Will you bring up that graphic again of the six quarterbacks taking in the top 12 picks from last year's draft? And I want you to be as objective as you possibly can here. You want to power rank these guys? Brockman, give me your power rankings.

45:09Tom Pelissero:You're starting a franchise tomorrow. how are you ranking them you can say I'm a homer all you want I put Drake made number one because he's younger than these guys younger than Jayden Daniels who's obviously had the most production here in the NFL going to the championship game last year Jayden Daniels two who man do I go Caleb three or Bo Nix three Caleb three Bo Nix for Michael Penix five and a TBD on on J.J. McCarthy. J.J. McCarthy is still the one. I know that there's... He's also very young also. He is young. He came out that he was 22 when he got drafted. There's a lot of people already writing this off and claiming that he's been benched and the Vikings don't want to play him.

45:54Tom Pelissero:Well, that was a theory that he got soft benched. Which is ridiculous. He played seven bad quarters out of eight. He's a walking boot for a week as part of some gigantic ruse to not play him anymore. Seth Rollins sat in that chair with a brace on his knee and duped me and TJ and the rest of the wrestling world for months. That was a ruse. I mean, this is not professional wrestling. This is the NFL. Is it? They just, they want, listen, I will give you the short version of this because we got a break. They want to make sure JJ McCarthy is ready to go out and play well. There's so many times where you're pushing a guy out there and you might feel like, all right, he's just got to learn by taking the reps.

46:34Tom Pelissero:They want to see the guy be 100%, which he's not. right now he is not 100 on that ankle still so they want to see his mobility this week they want to see how he is operationally uh through everything and then they'll evaluate it if i had to guess right now and we've there's only been one bonus practice this week we'll see the first injury report tomorrow if i had to guess i'd say it's carson wentz revenge game against the eagles on sunday but that's not a product of them just deciding carson wentz is a better quarterback than J.J. McCarthy. We have no clue what J.J. McCarthy is. But personally, I find it refreshing that they're taking these stances of, okay, even if it's like, yeah, the guy's 95%, we're all about their three practices.

47:12Tom Pelissero:He hasn't practiced on back-to-back days since before the week one game against the Bears. Week two, his kid is born, he misses a Thursday practice, gets hurt in the game, hasn't played since, and he missed every rep last year. So find a way to get him right. Now, Carson Wentz also has a bad left shoulder. that got bagged up in the game. Oh, by the way. So there are a lot of moving parts when we're talking about exactly what the Vikings are going to look like at the quarterback position, even though they're getting healthier seemingly everywhere else. The Ridge Eisen Show podcast. Uncovered windows can make your home feel up to 20 degrees hotter.

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