Hour 1: Jarrett Stidham’s Big Moment, plus Former Pro Bowl OT Terron Armstead

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0:55Rich Eisen:Bring out the good.

1:25This is The Rich Eisen Show. Let's begin. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What do you think we are, gangsters?

1:33Rich Eisen:Live from the Rich Eisen Show's studio in Los Angeles. Can I interrupt? I'll address the Keon situation. Today's guests, five-time pro bowler Teron Armstead, ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate, senior writer for the MMQB Albert Breer. And now, it's Rich Eisen. That's a fact. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show, everybody. The Thursday before Championship Sunday edition of the show. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Whether you're watching us on Disney +, the ESPN app, or listening to us on ESPN Radio or Sirius XM Channel 80. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? Hey, Rich.

2:18Rich Eisen:What's up, man? DJ Mikey D. Morning, Rich. Good to see Mike Del Tufo. DJ Jefferson. Candles lit over there, huh? Candles lit. What's up, people? Okay. Woo! I'll tell you what's up. it's a growing legend is what's happening right now. Oh, man, this could go anywhere. Well, it starts. A lot of directions. This show on the last day of 2023, December 31st, 2023. The Patriots had just beaten the Denver Broncos on a Christmas Eve. I was not happy that day. Chad Ryland split the uprights. Russell Wilson in the Broncos offense struggled. I was there calling a game. Bill Belichick won the football game, wound up being his last win of his Hall of Fame career.

3:05Rich Eisen:And it will be, I believe, officially made a Hall of Fame career two weeks from tonight at NFL Honors in San Francisco, California. And it was on that night, I guess, Sean Payton decided we're done with Russ. and to that point I need to keep my options open. I think we're going to draft one. Last thing I need is Russ to get hurt and now we're on the hook for his salary. So we're going to start Jared Stidham the next game. Jared Stidham started that day on December 31st of 2023 against the Los Angeles Chargers who had already fired their head coach weeks before because of what had happened against the Las Vegas Raiders.

3:58Rich Eisen:The Chargers were starting east and stick, and they were being coached by, you remember good old Coach Giff? Don't call me Coach Jiff Smith. Remember him? Nope. You remember him? No, no chance. He's now the run game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Coach Giff is going to be on the sideline in Seattle. But that day serves to be the only day Jared Stidham in his professional football career started and won a football game. That's it. There it is. There's the visual proof. Hey. He's throwing it. That's great. Yep. So there's that. And on Sunday, after that game, he started against the Raiders, a former team of his who once upon a time started him twice because they were doing to their quarterback and Derek Carr what Sean Payton was doing to the guy in front of Stidham on the death chart and Russell Wilson, which is like, we're done now.

5:03Rich Eisen:Stidham lost to the Vegas Raiders. They finished the 2023 season. They draft Bo Nix and yada, yada, yada. when Stidham starts on Championship Sunday for the injured Bo Nix, he will not have attempted a single pass since that season-ending loss to the Raiders. 749 days will have passed in between professionally attempted in a live game passes by Jared Stidham. and i could go on and on and on here but i i just will just give you this one in that time frame of not having attempted a single pass 141 players according to nfl network research have attempted a pass in the regular or postseason since stidham's last pass attempt 92 quarterbacks 26 receivers 11 punters 7 running backs 3 tight ends 1 defensive back and 1 kicker have all attempted a single pass in the span of time between Jared Stidham's attempted passes I think I've set it all up have I not?

6:24Rich Eisen:I thought you were going to cap it off with a partridge in a pear tree it's unbelievable what we are about to see on Sunday. It's mind-blowing that it is, in fact, the case. And Stidham stepped to the podium yesterday and was asked if he's ready. How ready do you feel for this moment? Yeah, look, I mean, I think every week I've always, going back to when I was backing up Russ, I've prepared the same every single week like I am the starter. Just hasn't obviously been that way. minus two weeks. So my preparation hasn't changed one bit. And yeah, that's just kind of how I view it. Right? The guy who's beaten only Easton Stick in his attempts has now got to beat Drake May and the Patriots coming into his house.

7:17Rich Eisen:But of course, he's not alone. And everybody's beginning to believe in him with each passing moment. and that includes the guys in the quarterback room with him. This is not about myself, first of all. Obviously, my thoughts and prayers have been with Bo since Saturday night. I mean, it's crushing because he's one of my best friends. And Sam and I were talking about this. Sam and I probably spend more time with him than his wife does right now. And that's just the nature of the business that we're in. You know, when training camp starts, like, that's just how it is. Like, I see Bo more than I see my kids, you know.

8:00So it's just one of those things. You spend so much time with someone. You see how hard they work, how good of a teammate they are. And then that happens, and you just feel crushed, you know, for him and everything. So, yeah, just obviously my prayers and stuff have been with him.

8:17Rich Eisen:Well, he's referring to Sam Ellinger, who is now the backup quarterback for the Denver Broncos. And Sam better have his head on a swivel because if facing the quarterback with the fewest career starts by any quarterback prior to starting in a conference championship game isn't the most Patriots lucky break ever, taking on the third string quarterback, I think we'll surpass that. But the Patriots, including Brockman, doesn't want to hear any of this conversation. because it's something that the Broncos don't want a countenance either because this is a you-never-know league. Our first guest yesterday still has a magic carpet probably hanging in his closet next to his gold jacket.

9:11Okay?

9:13Rich Eisen:And Kurt Warner. and Sean Payton echoes what he said at the podium after the AFC championship game. Watch out. Watch for this kid. All right. They did sign him in free agency on the first day, like he's a starting quarterback in that 2023 season and haven't given up on him for this exact moment. Everybody in the locker room says he's going to be ready. We heard Jordan Palmer say he's going to be ready. And here was Sean Payton talking about prepping him up. How do you just convey to Jared, like, hey, go out and be yourself and play football? That's his personality. He's going to rip it, you know.

10:01And that'll be our approach.

10:03Rich Eisen:I mean, hey, he's got this calm demeanor that I think suits him well. he's played in big games college um and you know i said this at the start of the season i felt like our two um was inside the best 32 and i think everyone feels that way but that's that's why that that sign was important And you don't know when it's happening, you know, but I'm glad it happened. I'm glad that acquisition took place. I'm going to predict this. By the time Tom eats ball on Sunday. Jared Siddham is going to be in the Hall of Fame? That's correct. Oh, my God. I mean, we're inching up to Sunday night, season's over.

11:09Rich Eisen:Monday night, hang on a second. Tuesday, don't sleep on him. Wednesday, boy, he looks and sounds like a starting quarterback in the NFL, and he's been waiting his entire life for this moment, and all he needs is two wins in a row, albeit against a Patriots team that is on fire, and then whoever's coming out of the NFC West NFC Championship game. And then suddenly we're going to be talking about this two-game stretch in a Disney movie theater near you. And then by Friday, it'll be something. Tomorrow's show, Chris, you'll start talking about how Vegas thinks this, that, the other thing. It's now a total coin flip game.

11:57Rich Eisen:Saturday, we'll just hear something about you know Stidham that we never knew before and then Sunday morning shows will all be about what Stidham told the team or Sean Payton told the team last night and by the time Tome eats ball he'll have a gold jacket and then the game will head and then we will see if Sean Payton rips it with him I mean Kurt was talking about that on Wednesday's show as well like what's going to happen is he going to just like see what's up manage the game or is he just going to come out and open the playbook? Because if he does that, then we will find out potentially the biggest difference between Stidham and Nix because Nix is sack averse.

12:44Rich Eisen:That guy does not like taking sacks. He can avoid sacks. He will throw the ball away. It's been a long time since he's put the ball in danger to avoid a sack. He's also very elusive. And we'll see if Stidham takes more sacks. and gets them off schedule more, leading to more issues on long downs. You know how the ripple effect of taking a sack can go. Or the offensive line, despite having two first-team all-pro people, have to block differently for this guy, leads to a holding penalty here, and takes you off schedule there. And those are the residual effects of New England getting better field position and better points on the scoreboard, and they do go to the Super Bowl, even though Stidham didn't throw an interception.

13:29Rich Eisen:Or does Stidham just rip it and then rips it up? And we're talking about, on Monday morning, everyone that said watch out for him is right. It's your point about the sacks. Bo Nix in two years has taken 46 sacks. Drake made just this season alone 47. He's sack-averse. Wow. and that is something that doesn't really show up on a stat sheet except you get better downs and distances you get better opportunities for field goals you get better opportunities to put your defense back on the field with the other team backed up you know like these are the things that are the hidden parts of of a game that do wind up on the scoreboard at the end of the day without us the next day chopping it up with a topic bar or a split screen or a conversation with a pundit or a phone call from a fan that might be a difference in this i can't wait to see it i i think sean payton's gonna rip it he says he can rip it and i think he's just gonna say all right kid we've been talking about it forever you know if you're ever in a game this is now the moment we talked about it forever in a day this week this is the playbook these are the first 15 scripted he might already be having it presented um and that's it and we'll see but i can't wait by the time this is kicked off again he'll be in canton well they announced mvp finalists today right was it's too late it's too late you know jordan palmer said he's just as good as drake may it's too late all i know is i'm looking forward to the movie starring steven amill as jared is that who it is yeah i think so well it won't be his brother because his brother has the one with the throwing motion that he's very upset about that he's been robbie's been on this show but they both vehemently complaining they both but also rich doesn't it make it even sadder the the fact that you say bo's so averse to getting sacked correct he got hurt in the way that he did like seemingly something so simple right you know it just kind of makes we still don't know when or how it happened right that's not been confirmed by anyone i don't know you can just see the pain this is not passing the smell test to me.

15:46Rich Eisen:What do you mean? You think he's not really hurt? No, it's just something like, why haven't they come out and talked about it? Why hadn't he, I mean, he, they did that night. He put that night. He said it was the second to last play and Sean Payton said that right as Bo Nick said when he got hurt. I don't think Bo Nick's has spoken because he's just coming out of the OR on to they said that was part of yesterday's conversation with the media is that everything I don't know what you mean by fishy. What does that mean? This has been weird. Well, it's weird that after the game, a coach will come up and say, oh, you know, this just happened, and I'm not going to play cat and mouse game.

16:25Rich Eisen:He's got surgery. It's over. I'm getting it, but it's Thursday, and we still don't have any more information about this. The fact is you're complaining about something weird that's benefiting your squad. But that's the least weird thing is it benefits of all squads his. Oh, of course. So, I mean, I'm really annoyed about it. Somehow the Pats get all the breaks. They do. There wasn't a league-wide conspiracy against the best player of all time. Yeah, but your argument right now makes it seem as though I would just be like, cool. There's no argument. I'm just saying, why don't we have any more information about this?

16:56Rich Eisen:I don't know if anybody did ask because he also delivered it. It was the second-to-last play. You can watch him roll to his left. But I also watched him run off the field after the game looking fine. Well, you can watch him roll to his left. He goes down. He comes up limping. His next throw is like some air balloon all the way down the field where it did look like it wasn't his best throw of the game. Then comes a kneel down where even that was awkward. Then they show him on the sideline wincing. You know, I don't know. And then Sean Payton says after the game, like, you know, what's the matter?

17:36Rich Eisen:Somebody probably walked through all that actually the next day. But at any rate, you got Jared Stidham starting for the Broncos. And then you got the NFC Championship game that we're about to talk about with Teron Armstead as well on this program. Josh Pate's going to return to wrap up the college football season as well as the portal. The portal's done. Last we chatted with him, he said there were 10 ,000 kids in the portal and just a little bit less than 4 ,000 in FBS. He's got the final numbers. We're going to find out how many just got trapped in the portal. Like what? General Zod? It's like the Phantom Zone.

18:15Rich Eisen:So many Star Treks this week. Well, that's Superman. Two. It's okay. When did that movie come out? I just did. By the way, does Kevin James play Sean Payton again? In the movie? In the movie? Of Jared Stidham? Why not? He reprises roles? Sure. That's where my mind's at now. Okay, good. And then Breer, Albert Breer in our number three here on the program. Teron Armstead, let's bring him out. He's in our green room. Let's bring him on out and talk to Teron when we come back.

18:54Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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21:00Rich Eisen:Back on the Rich Eisen show on our radio feed on ESPN radio and Sirius XM. Teron Armstead is here and we're chopping it up about what's going on in the Broncos locker room right now. And you spent all those years in New Orleans with Sean Payton as your head coach. and so what is your best guess as to how Peyton's going to approach it first 15 scripted what do you think here against the Patriots on Sunday a fast start is vital I think for Stiddy's confidence confidence and belief of the offense a fast start that can be just simple completions me knowing Sean they're going to take some shots early but it's very important for them to get the run game going.

21:48Rich Eisen:If the run game is effective this game, particularly this game, it opens up the play-action pass, which they're calling Stidi a gunslinger. Will Lutz, he told me on my show, Sean Payton has talked about Stidi's arm talent. He's going to take some shots. He's going to dial up ways to create points or give opportunity to create points. He knows they're going to have to score to beat this team. The Broncos' defense is incredible, but Drake May and company, they're doing it. They're hot, the momentum. So they're going to score. And the Broncos will have to put up 21 around that to, you know. It may have to be more than that.

22:30Rich Eisen:I mean, you saw Josh Allen with four turnovers put up 30 anyway. Yeah. And one of the things that I think Josh Allen was so in his head about after the game is like a wide open Dawson Knox. If he hits him, that thing's a wrap. It's over. And we're not even talking about what we've talked about over the first five minutes of our conversation, right? We're talking about the Bills going to New England for an AFC Championship game right now. So what's going on, you think, in Vance Joseph's room? It's matchups, Rich. That Buffalo Bills offense presented different challenges for Denver that I can't say the Patriots have.

23:09Why is that? What do you got? That O-line. Buffalo's O-line is incredible. They're fired. They were having their way with Denver early. If it wasn't for the fumble to James Cook, Alex Singleton making a great game-changing play, that game had a chance to get ugly. They were running the ball at will. And to be able to protect it the way that they can on the edges, one-on-one. Even though Josh had some moments where he was hit by Nick Benito, but those weren't losses from Deion Dawkins or Spencer. this situation for the Broncos D-line, this is the X factor to me, people. This is what can determine the game.

23:49Not the quarterback situation for the Broncos. Denver D-line has the potential to make this game look like the Eagles' Chiefs Super Bowl last year. It's possible. That's the way Broncos win this game, in my opinion.

24:04Rich Eisen:And Stidham doesn't turn it over and allows the defense to do what it can do that you just said. For sure. To dominate the line of scrimmage. And that's the way that they get through the Super Bowl 60. Stidham's not going to, and this is a Sean Payton thing, from the quarterback position. Your job is to take care of the ball first and foremost. Not splash plays, not 40-yard completions. Your job is to take care of the ball. So Stidham is not going to have a situation where he's putting the ball at risk much. A sack fumble might happen. It's football. But he's not going to be having a lot of risky throws.

24:44Rich Eisen:Well, aren't you seeing a Patriots defense that's come on over the last two weeks? Fire. In the aftermath of the wild card win, the all-22 set says Herbert did have his shots downfield, but he really didn't take them. He couldn't complete them, didn't see them, or what have you. but part of that might be because he was wearing the New England defense. That's a fact. Okay, because that old line just, as we know, banged up at the end of the day, ran out of gas. And then last week, I guess the first thing that if I'm Sean Picknick showing Jared Sidney, even though he knows this, hey, if the Patriots are on you, don't like C.J.

25:25Rich Eisen:Stroud throw a grenade in the middle of the field. Let's not try that. You know what I mean? And flip the momentum of the entire game. Let's not try that one. Because New England, I mean, Milton Williams is showing he's earning his free agent dollars, certainly the last two weeks. What do you think of that end of things? You take that and you learn from it, of course. But in all honesty, and it's nothing against the Patriots defense, those were the worst two offenses in the tournament. The injuries to the front line of the Chargers, what they had and a lot of inconsistencies from other players.

26:00And then Texans offense have been that. We've had showings of that. Same outfit several times this year.