Hour 1: Klint Kubiak’s Big Raiders Challenge, plus Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner

0:00Rich Eisen:We're leaving today and entering a world of Mickey Mouse waving, princess meeting and greeting, lightsaber clashing, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror dropping, Banshee flying, Space Mountain launching, galaxy rewinding, fireworks igniting, World of Other Worlds. For whatever you love, infinite worlds await at the most magical place on earth. Walt Disney World Resort. Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance?

0:43Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app. 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 Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show.

1:20Rich Eisen:At which point did you look at your phone and feel the need to call Puka Nakua a goofy ass? This is the Rich Eisen Show. Don't say nothing about my teammates. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Of course, I had to respond to an old teammate of mine. Today's guest, Pro Football Hall of Famer Kirk Warner, ESPN Senior NBA Writer Brian Wintors, Basketball Hall of Famer Dwight Howard, and now Rich Eisen. our number one of the rich eisen show is on the air here on espn here on espn the app at disney plus yeah what what's up it feels like you're going full dicky v right here we're awesome listen i'm just telling you where we're on uh on espn radio on sirius xm channel 80 i i i've just got to talk things up because literally during the open uh suzy ruined wordle for me today so you know how dare she still doing wordle huh i mean every day it keeps the family together chris what's the matter with you people yeah never done it yeah yeah right interesting all right cool actually hour three the the wordle is espn2 that's what we're on on hour three i'm gonna put that out as a poll rod woodson uh is on tomorrow's program i booked him for today but i I'm a moron.

2:45Rich Eisen:It's Kurt Warner's final day of his regular season and postseason appearance. We clip that for a drop. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So Rod's on tomorrow's show. Kurt Warner's on today to review Super Bowl 60. Great problems to have, though. Well, we got a Hall of Famer coming in at hour number three. That's how you do, man. Tomorrow, Hall of Famer Chris Weber is going to join the program on the day that Rod Woodson Hall of Famer joins. It's today, Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, hour number three, Hall of Famer Dwight Howard. But we're not talking basketball with him. No, no, no. We're talking about the curb stomping.

3:23Rich Eisen:Wow. He received a celebrity wheel of fortune at my hand. Now, all right, we'll talk about the All-Star game. It's All-Star week here. And in that regard, the first time ever in person on this program making his way to the Rich Eisen Show studio. Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Windhorst will be here. Everyone knows it's windy. I don't think I've been as excited for that studio guest in quite some time. It's great stuff, man. And we've had Ali Harder in that chair. Not too long ago. So Windhorst stands up and Dwight Howard sits down. It's not a game over here, folks. Oh, you know it's not a game when I also have my final power rankings of the season.

4:06Rich Eisen:Oh, yes. 50 peers, baby. I can't wait. Wait till you hear who's number one. Oh. I think we all can guess, Chris. I think we all can. It's the Rams, obviously. Good one. Or? Or the Chiefs. I mean. Chiefs. I have a home. Could you imagine I make the Chiefs number one on my power rankings? I could imagine. That's the thing. Oh, stop it. There's a scenario. Give me some credit. days like a before go on Mike Deltufo TJ and Chris hello everyone this is what happens when Wordle gets ruined for me during the open what was it? I'm not telling you there's a legion of people who watch and listen to this program who are like don't do it Rich I'm not going to do it Cooper does it every day and Susie does it every day and we're on a text chain sometimes Taylor does it But anyway, it's been ruined.

5:00Rich Eisen:Is it like Scrabble? I don't want to get into it. I want to know. I don't know. Google it. I don't mean to go full signet here, but Google it. Google it. So. Hi, everybody. To the victors go the spoils. Today, there is a parade for the Seattle Seahawks in the beautiful Emerald City in the Pacific Northwest, where they don't want you moving there because the traffic's terrible. They want to talk about how bad the weather is. Don't go there. Although, what a sports season it was up there, correct? with the big dumper bringing the Mariners so very close. The NBA apparently is close to announcing, it sounds like a return of the NBA to Seattle.

5:42Rich Eisen:We'll talk about that with Brian Windhorst when he joins us shortly. But listen, the Seattle Seahawks going from, let's see what Sam Darnold can do for us here to, oh, Sam Darnold is a Super Bowl champion in a span of about 10 months. It's really unbelievable. And don't forget, this point last year, we're talking about how the Eagles are potentially dynastic, making the Super Bowl two out of three years, winning once, losing once. Jalen Hurts looking great in both of them, and they're going to run most of it back. And sure, they're losing their offensive coordinator, but how can that possibly hurt?

6:14Rich Eisen:And then we all know what happened. And now the Seattle Seahawks, we're talking about how dominant this defense was and potentially can be. but to the victors also go the losing of coaches and the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks showed up yesterday in Las Vegas Nevada after uh my stellar NFL network colleague Stacey Dales in her post-game interview I don't know if that kind of went viral on the field in uh in Santa Clara where she basically asked Gary Kubiak about the future she's like can you confirm that you're going to the las vegas raiders and i think he said hell yeah you know clint kubiak pardon me so uh gary kubiak his dad now clint kubiak is the the new head coach of the las vegas raiders and he showed up yesterday and what can he bring to the equation there what he can bring to the equation is oh look at that photograph i have not seen this one yeah a bunch of legends okay okay look at that they they brought them all out uh there's marcus allen there's mike haynes there's howie long oh boy and clink how he's like back there you know like a like like a balloon you know like he's just floating back there they got shoulder on howie long how about jim plunkett holding up the jersey with his left hand john Spitek, the general manager, Charles Woodson, Rich Gannon.

7:43Rich Eisen:Gannon, okay. Okay. Okay. We see you. Nice. We see you. Fun. And Kubiak holding up the number 26? Because I guess is he the 20th? I was reading he was the 25th head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. It's the year, I guess. I guess 26. Okay, good enough. I think he's 25. There you go. So he's the 25th head coach of the Raiders. 2005. And what he can bring is the hope that he is the guy that they were looking for last year in Ben Johnson, the young up-and-coming coordinator on the offensive side of the ball, who they can attach to a quarterback of the future with them having the first overall choice.

8:27Rich Eisen:A lot of hope that they can build this roster around whoever they draft first overall. all it does appear to be fernando mendoza on everybody's minds as we head to the combine by the way uh two weeks from from today uh we'll be we'll be in our second show at the uh combine from the convention center and in downtown indianapolis and the day before everyone gets out there and two saturdays from now fernando mendoza will be out there basically saying i'm not throwing uh but we hope that he will throw on nfl network i shouldn't speak it into existence he seems too nice to turn down uh this cheddar is still cheddar at the end of the day and usually first overall selections don't go out there and throw it when he basically can say did you see what i did uh look at the tape look at me with my arms bruised and bleeding and jumping for the end zone and for kurt signetti and making indiana a national champion an undefeated one at that unlike Ohio State I added that last part um and so um at any rate this is what he can bring hope to a franchise if you wouldn't mind putting that photograph up one more time of him with all the legends uh who helped put the three trophies that they have out there in front of him Lombardi trophies I don't know which is which but the most recent trophy on the screen for the Raiders organization is four years older than their 38 year old head coach Super Bowl 18 was the most recent trophy was at that game were you really Mike as a young kid hey oh brother I'm glad that you you said that you were a young kid because I wouldn't have guessed first Super Bowl I ever went to Super Bowl 18 wow you never told us yeah yeah that's cool Mike as Cooper might say fun fact I did not know that was a little fun um that's how long it's been the 38 year old head coach is four years younger than their most recent Lombardi trophy and one other thing that he can bring is uh from all accounts Clint Kubiak is a smart cookie and the reason why I'm saying that is not only because I've heard that never met him I don't think yet um yet right but uh um he's clearly smart because he did what I've counseled him to do from the seat first things first is call Max Crosby and say what's up first order of business is called the best player on the team the most important player on the team the one guy who just oozes out of his pores raider the autumn wind he's the pirate in that autumn wind and he is outstanding and I will also say this too.

11:25Rich Eisen:I voted for him as a first team all pro guy. He didn't make it. Kind of was off kilter on that I guess with the rest of my voting group. He is awesome. He is great. And if you want to win football games and make stand up what Clint Kubiak can cook up offensively you need him. Just look at what we just saw in Seattle. Okay? the defense. You did lose the offensive coordinator. The defensive coordinator happens to be the coach, it appears, in Seattle. And so first order of business, he calls Max Crosby, but he did one better. Apparently they met for coffee. Hit it. You know, I got to drink a cup of coffee with Max this morning.

12:14Love talking ball with him and look forward to continuing those conversations. He was the first one in here this morning working out, so that fired me up. We want him to be a part of our success going forward. There's no doubt about that. He's one of the best players in the NFL. So that's a no-brainer to get to work with Max and to see him continue to have success with this organization.

12:40Rich Eisen:Damn straight, man. You say that again. So two things that I picked up. Had a coffee with him. Now, he also said he was the first guy in the building working out. So if he says he doesn't want anything to do with the Raiders anymore, Is he there physically working out? Well, free gym membership. I guess. I guess he'll do anything for a free gym membership. Although I don't think he would have a problem affording a kind of weakness. No, I saw. He probably has got something in his house. Doesn't he have a basketball court in his house? I'd imagine there must be some gym equipment. Yeah, you're right.

13:08Rich Eisen:With the amount of scratch he's getting. So the rumor is he's already told them, I want nothing to do with you anymore. He would stay home, work out there. But he's in the building. And then secondly, is there like a coffee machine there in the Raiders facility? You like your coffee silver and black? I know. A little espresso. You know what I mean? Yeah. What do we got? Any sugar in there? How many lumps? Lumps. We're doing another Pete Puma reference. That's a Looney Tunes reference is the day is long, sir. You're picking up what I'm putting down. And awesome. Great way to do it. Understated.

13:45Rich Eisen:I want to work with him. 100 % if there's any bridge to be to be mended or any gaps that need to be bridged any bridges he should be building it to that guy and basically saying great whatever happened before even if it was the general manager telling you you're not playing at the end of last season and you're so you're so lion hearted that you are demanding to play even though you are not fully healthy in games that don't matter anymore and the fact that you didn't play would kind of help us maybe get that first overall pick yeah let's mend fences here. Great idea oh and you know it's another great idea?

14:30Rich Eisen:Just to get Tom Brady's number when you can. Yeah. I'm really excited to work with Tom and you know he made a mistake of giving me his cell phone number so he's gonna he might wish he never did that because I'm gonna be calling him a lot What I'm excited about is that we're really have different, we have, you know, different offensive backgrounds, how we're going to, you know, how we can pull ideas from each other. But obviously he's the greatest that's ever done it. And the interview process, just the passion that he spoke with on all things football just got me excited about the opportunity to work with him.

15:06So, you know, I know, you know, plenty has been said and speculated about, how that relationship's going to go. And that's one of the main draws to come here is to get to work with him, to get to work with Spy. These are great football minds. And if we collaborate the way we're supposed to, then we're going to pull the best out of each other.

15:26Rich Eisen:Okay, let's see what happens. Let's see what happens. Broncos are ahead of the game. The Chargers are ahead of the game. And the Chiefs, even with a down year ahead of the game, even with Mahomes coming off of an ACL, Head of the game. So got a lot of work to do. I think they draft Fernando Mendoza. They try and figure out free agency. Before all that, how to get maybe a weapon here. Or really, I'd hit the line in every way. I would hit the line in every possible way. Patriots hiring Milton Williams last March is a perfect example of how you can change things really fast with the right, smart hire.

16:12Rich Eisen:In free agency. Hit that line. Get the kid. And maybe draft some more weapons. Take a look at what the Bears did too. Drafting weapons like Burden and Monongah. Just to name two. Things can change fast when you've got a young smart mind at the head coaching position. Attached to a young quarterback. And also exuding some new sense of confidence. And hard-nosed confidence in your building. And we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. You know, Mike Vrabel had more experience, obviously, taking the Patriots job than Clint Kubiak as a head coach. Four wins. 14 wins in a Super Bowl. One year.

17:03Rich Eisen:Yep. and the weaponry in New England didn't already have Brock Bowers and Ashton Gentry. They did go and sign Stephon Diggs. They did have some other young wide receivers right there. They did draft a running back in Travion Henderson. They had Ramond Ray Stevenson, and off they went, even with an offensive line that wasn't its strong suit. We'll see. But it's an interesting hire. It seems like a good one on its face. And good move. Hey, Max. Cappuccino?

17:48Rich Eisen:Is that how you started? Hey, Max. Nice to meet you. I think so. What's up, man? Pew, pew. No, no. Without the pew pews. Should I make one of those little hearts in your coffee? That's right. No. No, no. Raider. A pirate. Pirate. That's pretty elaborate. That's pretty detailed. Clint Kubiak knows how to design. Yeah, that's why he got the gig. That shows you're willing to go the extra mile, bro. That's like a heart. It's like a heart. Yeah. Make me feel like you want me. That's right. It's a heart. We both like our coffee, silver and black. I don't know. All right, let's take a break. Kurt Warner called Super Bowl 60 on the radio.

18:23Rich Eisen:He also knows what he sees on film. what does Super Bowl 60 resonate? How does it resonate with him? My Hall of Fame friend, Kurt Warner, is coming up next. Brian Wynhorse is probably on to 105.

18:42Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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21:31Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner is here on the Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience rejoined, and I appreciate their indulging us, starting the conversation already on ESPN and Disney Plus and the ESPN app with my Hall of Fame friend here with Kurt Warner. So before we do move deeper into what you saw from Sam Darnold, looking at the film and talking about it on QB Confidential, your YouTube channel, were there throws for Drake May to make? It looked like he was being smothered and everyone was being smothered. But did you see plays that he could have made that he just didn't make for whatever reason? And what are those reasons, Kurt?

22:11I mean, this was one of those games where, you know, it's not just blame on one person. Were there some opportunities for Drake to make plays? Yeah, there was. You know, there were some opportunities out there that he didn't make, whether, you know, he was holding on to the ball too long in one spot, whether he missed something that popped open right in front of him and was a little bit late setting and getting it. Yeah, there were some of those opportunities. There were other times where opportunities seemed to be coming, but pressure got there too soon. There were other times, like I just mentioned, where there could have been opportunities had they designed and schemed things to me the right way, specifically versus pressure.

22:54So to me, this was one of those games where you could point the finger a lot of different places and each play probably had different blame on it. Some for Drake, some for the offensive line, some for, you know, Coach McDaniels. I just thought it was one of those things where nothing really went right for this New England team and nobody played their best football in the biggest game. And that's always the disappointing part. You know, I did that in one of my biggest games where, you know, our team and I didn't play my best in those moments. And those are disappointing because, you know, they don't come along very often and you want to push your best foot forward.

23:35New England didn't do that, I don't think, in any facet. So I hate to just say, well, yeah, Drake had some things out there and make it seem like it was about him. This was about an entire team that got outplayed, out-schemed across the board. And that's why it looked like it did. And they could hardly move the football until that fourth quarter.

23:55Rich Eisen:All right. So then let's break down Sam Donald's performance, um kurt because you already gave an example how his first throw of the game if it was off by a yard um it's a pick six instead it was a first down because he threw the dart because he's been boy has he been terrific since that thursday night fourth quarter and overtime performance against the rams in week 16 i give you the floor and what you see from sam kurt yeah again it was not a lot of wow throws but it but critical throws throws that that move the change throws that could easily, you know, have been a win for the defense. You know, a couple naked bootleg throws where he's on the move and there's pressure right in his face, and he's able to get around the pressure, make a great move, flip his hips, and make a second-level throw that moves the chains and creates a positive when it looks like the defense should have won that particular down.

24:49You know, on the first drive, we mentioned the first throw. The second throw, the over route to Cooper Cup, who makes a nice catch on it, but puts the ball perfect placement. Because again, Jones is right there underneath it, that a little short, that's not the way. Maybe that determines whether they get three points on the first drive or not. So there was just a lot of those great throws. The big third down throw that, you know, before they had that one offensive touchdown, there was a third and nine right before that. He delivers a perfect throw to Cooper Cup. And Gonzalez is right there to take him down.

25:20If that's not a perfect throw to keep Cooper on the move, He may not convert that, and it's another field goal to make it 15 to nothing. Instead, very next play leads to the touchdown pass that he throws over the top to Barner, and that makes it a three-possession game. So there's just a lot of those little throws that I know people aren't looking at and going, it's a great performance, and a lot of people are looking at it like, well, he was just riding on the train. Everybody else won this Super Bowl for him. That, to me, was not the case. without Sam Darnold in this game and some of those critical throws, I'm not going to say they don't win because they dominated the game, but they're not winning the game the same way.

26:00They don't have the same lead late in the game that they do. And so I just want to bring attention to that because oftentimes, you know, there are certain people's performance that can get lost when they don't have those big wow throws. I mean, there was even a couple more, you know, the long post route to Shahid where Gonzalez just makes a great play and knocks it away. Otherwise that's a difference making throw. There's a late one where new England comes with a blitz zero and a great job by Seattle to pick it up and Sam to hang in there and throw the deep post again to Shahid. And I thought he got grabbed just a little bit by Carlton Davis to slow him down.

26:40And they just miss on what would have been, you know, a kind of game ending play there. So even on top of that, it was good decisions and good throws that you know were denied a little bit by some really good defensive plays by New England so I just thought when you put the body of work together if you go back and watch it play by play the stats didn't necessarily say Sam played very well but I thought

27:03Rich Eisen:he played a really good football game yeah and I don't know if you saw the new heights pod with with the Kelsey's Kurt they had they had Cooper Cup on and the Barner touchdown Cup said that the play call um the formation was flipped and cup realized that barner didn't know that after the snap and cup adjusted his route to what it needed to be so barner got the touchdown you know what i mean like in mid route like that you should seek this out certainly since you're breaking it down and watch that watch that play one more time i think i'm recounting it inappropriately but okay barner had no idea that something was off cup realized it as he's running his route and changed it to what it needed to be so the play was working as designed and you know you can't beat that sort of stuff man you know what i mean like that's the sort of stuff you need in these super bowls but you also need guys like cup and certainly with jsn being out and darnold finding Cup over and over again and Kenneth Walker having a heck of a game and the this this team just just had a a vibe to it and a connectivity to it yeah certainly over the last two months that did prove to be second to none you know you're exactly right I mean it it took everybody and you know I broke down a little bit my MVP vote for the game and I think everybody saw the defense and said, okay, they're the star of the show.

28:39You know, who should we give it to on the defense? But kind of to your point as well, I thought everybody had their role in that defensive, you know, performance. Different guys getting interceptions and Witherspoon on the pressures and Derek Hall having his moments. And, you know, I mean, it was just – it was everybody across the board just stepping up and complimenting one another. And when they needed a big play, somebody made it. It wasn't always the same guy, but somebody made it. I felt the same thing happened offensively for them, you know, as well. And really, that's what it takes. I mean, I know as well as anybody that when you get to those moments, as much as we want to make it about the quarterback and it's a quarterback stat and all that, teams win championships.