Hour 1: Knicks Stunning Comeback vs Cavs, plus Rich Power Ranks NFL’s Top 2026 Games

24:37I don't know, Rich, man. It really felt like Tiger 97 at Augusta. Am I wrong? Or Jordan in the beginning of, honestly. The first time you saw Mahomes play in 2018, you're just like, how are you going to stop this guy? The league is about to change. That's what it feels. He is taking over. It feels that way. Yeah. I mean, I said it yesterday. It feels like he's already now the best player in the league. And anybody who doesn't feel that way about him is going to hear about it. Yeah. Maybe not verbally.

25:05Rich Eisen:Because, again, he's not sitting there silent when asked this question directly because he's trying to find the right words in English. He's trying to find out how can I say humbly, you're all in trouble. No, what you said. He said it. You've made a mistake. What you said. Everything that you said, yeah, that's what I'm feeling. Yeah. Like the reporter did the job for him. Oh, my God. So, Knick fans out there on 7th Avenue, let's take it one quarter at a time, please. Yeah, but this isn't new for the Knick fans, right? No, I get it. So it's like you can't look at this and go, they've been doing this for years.

25:42But the reason why Ewing is sitting there celebrating ringless is the same guy I just invoked. and that guy may be coming to Madison Square Garden very soon. If the Knicks are lucky.

26:00Well, Ewing had the bad luck of not only having Jordan, but then having Olajuwon, when Olajuwon was at his peak in the greatest. Well, he was one who, he was just, remember Hakeem? And people are invoking Hakeem's name. Yeah, because David Robinson got him. It's because David Robinson went in front of him and he's like, I'll show you. And the dream turned into a nightmare. He destroyed him. Yes. And David Robinson doesn't get enough credit as one of the greatest basketball. I get it. But Akeem Olajuwon, what he did on that night. Yeah. But I'll go more Jordan than Akeem because who did Ewing see in college?

26:29Rich Eisen:Yeah. Jordan did it at two levels. How many? I said two. Okay. All right. Let's take a break. We got a lot bottled up. I was thinking that the other night. I'm like, I cannot wait to get back in the chair and talk about it. The only thing I disagree with, Rich, is you said Wemby's like, are you not entertained? I get the feeling he doesn't care if you're entertained. No, I think he's going to go out there and do it regardless. He wants to kill you. I know. That's fine. Everything was different. It would have been different. Yeah, that's right. All right, we take a break. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial.

27:02I've got a power rankings based on the NFL schedule. The top 10 games I'm looking forward to seeing. Coming up. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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29:11Rich Eisen:Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, alongside Chris Brockman, Mike Beltufo, TJ Jefferson, and James Schrempf. Schrempf. Everybody who's listening right now, you've got to check out our television version to know what the heck that means. How Dan used to say it, Schrempf. Oh, speaking of Dan, I saw him on Friday. Nice. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, interviewed him to complete the first season of This Was Sports. Amazing. That's going to be launching on Disney Plus on June 5th. Did he ask about us? He did not. He did not. I'm just curious. But again, I'm interviewing old school sports center anchors. and Dan is the first one.

29:59You've seen a few of these already. I've seen a few of them.

30:01Rich Eisen:I've been here in person for them. They are phenomenal. And the one with Dan, we talked for an hour and a half and we could have gone another hour and a half. But it was his birthday. So I had to, you know, let him go back to his family. But it was great. We'll talk more about it as we get closer. Love it. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the program. we'll get to your calls they see some win-loss gamers want to play and i've i've missed the game i've missed it but the schedule got released a couple things i do want to say here okay before we get to my power rankings i am not a fan of the first game on opening night i'm with you i'm you know obviously i'm not talking about the melbourne game i thought they would put the bears in seattle and save the Super Bowl rematch for later in the year instead of serving up that piece of filet mignon to start.

30:59Rich Eisen:And also, I don't know. The reasoning was what? It won't be as more relevant as it was to start the year? I'll be honest. It wasn't like last year. Last year, all we talked about leading up into that game was the previous time they played. Right. Yeah. I just don't even know. It wasn't that so compelling of a game that it's like, oh i can't wait for the rematch you know like you could name the last few super bowls that you'd rather see repeated because of the way it ended you know what i mean i agree right i mean if the eagles and chiefs opened up against each other after that defensive penalty allowed the chiefs to run out the clock for instance uh the niners and the chiefs the way that game ended in overtime like running that back right away angles rams any of those games right running those games back right away would have kept some sort of appetite that we felt uh still existed from the way the previous game ended this one was you know not all that compelling to be honest i was there i thought the bad bunny halftime was more compelling than the game as you know unfortunately yeah um so running it back now i just thought running it back with bears at seattle the nfc matchup that almost was the bears are i think a little bit more identifiable let me ask you this question the team that you think and i know who i'm asking this to and i that that's i will crowdsource the entire room here without you because you're such a troll mike i know the way you're going to answer this question thank you the team that is going to be more more likely to be a carbon copy, if not maybe better than last year's team.

32:45Rich Eisen:Patriots or Bears? Oh, I would say everyone's on the Bears. Right? I mean, Caleb has got a lot of juice for MVP talk, and we saw what the Ben Johnson offense is. Let's see that in year two. I think definitely would be the best. So of a curiosity factor, what do they look like in year two? For sure. If the Pats get brown. Now that's true, too. But the problem with the Patriots is there's also, yeah, the brown stuff. There's also kind of all this weird drama with the head coach. And like, why do you want to put that on full display week one in front of the whole country? There's also offensive line issues, you know, with New England that needs to be addressed or rectified.

33:21Yeah. It might take a couple of weeks. You don't know what that's going to look like. For them to get their sea legs under them, you know, and that's not a pun on purposeful. What would you say? Bears or Patriots? Who's got the better odds? who's more likely to repeat last year's performance, if not improve upon it. I was going to say the Bears, but then Del Tufo chimed in, right? And the A.J. Brown thing is compelling. What does he look like? If he goes to New England, what does he look like with New England on night one? He looks like the best wide receiver that they've had in years, right? That's for sure.

33:57So 100%. And the fact that Caleb did lose a receiver. I just think Bears and Seahawks would have been a more compelling opening not match up than a Super Bowl rematch, which is wild to say. But yet we almost got Bears-Seattle. But Chris, I think what you said earlier is the reason they did it. Because of the drama? No. You don't think that's going to put extra... I mean, obviously you're going to have all the eyes on the world, but that's how this world works. People like drama. They love this. I know, but there's no... That's not why the... When is Seattle playing the Bears? I guess I totally missed that.

34:34Week 8. Week 8. Yeah, I know. On Monday night. And you're trying to figure out, hey, that's obviously not going to be a slouch of a game in week eight. Right. No. But I just, you know, the week, the first night banner raise evening is always just as a it's a weird game. It's a weird night. Always is sort of like last year. CeeDee Lamb loses the ball on the lights after, by the way, there's a weather delay for an hour. I understand that that's not something you can schedule against, but I don't know. It's going to be a tough opener, man. Look, they got the Sunday night game, right? We know that.

35:14That is a tough opener, to say the least. Pat's first four games are pretty tough. I mean, you look at New England's first four games, sure. It's at home for Pittsburgh at Jacksonville at Buffalo. Three of their first fours on the road. Against playoff teams. And then Vegas comes in and New England tries to get some revenge for their week one home opening loss of the Mike Vrabel era to the Pete Carroll Vegas Raiders, which still stands as the wildest, weirdest, most inexplicable result of 2025's right season, which, by the way, you know, worked out, worked out, almost cost New England. you know seating and things of that nature um but there's at chicago that's a new england at chicago on on prime video and it's you take a look at every single game on the schedule it just looks amazing and i'm going to get to my power rankings in a second but let's play my first win-loss game of the 2026 non-playing season.

36:22Let's have some fun. Let's go to Malik in State College, Pennsylvania. Of East Coast Jefferson's home Commonwealth. Can you guys hear me okay? Yes, we can, and we just want to set this. I just want to set this up properly. That you are in the town of Penn State University, which T.J. Jefferson roots for. The conundrum that he's a Cowboy fan who roots for Penn State, but hates the Eagles, who you're calling to play the Gwynn Lodge? That's interesting. It is an absolute shame. I feel so bad for you all the time, TJ. You shouldn't. I live in State College, but I don't root for Penn State. Wow. Why is that?

36:58That's worse than me. I actually grew up outside of Bucknell. Okay. So I just kind of, yeah, just root for Bucknell.

37:09Rich Eisen:And you're saying it's tough for TJ to be a Cowboy fan. You're sitting there in the home of Penn State football, and you're like, yeah, I kind of root for Bucknell. I will never dis - a friend of mine playing for Bucknell. Nobody looks for us. Nobody looks for us to do anything. Anytime you do anything, it's a win. You know what I mean? Here's the weird thing. We're now going to switch gears. You're playing the win-loss game for Bucknell. Put the schedule - Oh, we don't have that. Unbelievable. Graphically supported. All right, give them some music here. Let's do it. Malik in State College, Pennsylvania.

37:37Rich Eisen:Win-loss game for the Philadelphia Eagles. What happens when they open up at home against the Washington Commanders? Oh, come on. We got to take that one home. That's an easy win. All right. There we go. What do we got week two at the Tennessee Titans? You know, I think the Titans are going to be dangerous just because, you know, you're coming in with a lot of new stuff. But I think we leave with the win. Okay. Very respectful W there. Here we go. At the Bears on a Monday night, week three.

38:13What do we got? I think this is going to be our first loss.

38:16Rich Eisen:Okay, 2-1 Rams at Eagles. Oh, boy. League four. Yeah, you know, the last two times we've played, it's been down to the last play, and I think that dam does break. Unfortunately, it isn't this year. Give me the birds. Okay, that's 3-1 going off to London to take on the Jaguars. Yeah, we're going to take that win, too. 4-1 home for the Panthers. Mm, yeah, we're going to. That's a win. That's a win. All right, 5-1. Monday night home against the Cowboys. You know, I think we're going to split these games. I think it's going to be a loss for each home team, so give me a loss here. Okay, that's five and two now at the Commanders.

38:58I think we're going to sweep these guys this year.

39:02Rich Eisen:I really do. I feel it. Okay, that's one, two, three, four, five, six and two. Home for the Giants. I'm going to be at that game in person, So I got to have a win for that. 7-2. Steelers and Eagles. The Commonwealth Bowl. Oh, yeah. That's a... Come on. Aaron Rodgers, that's a win. That's 8-2. Thanksgiving. At Dallas. I think this is where the Eagles pull up. It's a big game. I think we put up some big numbers this game. That's a win. 9-2. At the Cardinals. That's a win. 10-2. Home for the Colts. I think it's a win There's just too much in the air with them 11-2 a Saturday night Against the Seattle Seahawks I think that's a loss Fortunately 11-3 Texans at the Eagles On Christmas Eve Oh You know give me the win on that one I think we're going to be hungry At the 49ers That's a loss I think 12-4 at the Giants.

40:13I actually am going to give this one to the Giants. I think we're probably going to rest our starters, and I think they're going to take a walk. Malik and State College, ladies and gentlemen, the Bucknell fan, 12-5. There he goes. Going off to root for Bucknell. Quickly, what conference is Bucknell playing? Oh, geez. I know their name. I don't know the conference. I think it's called the Roll Your Break Conference. They open up against Richmond. Hey, against the Spiders. Yeah, Spiders. Dance that drink over here. All right. I've got my power rankings of the best games on the NFL schedule coming up next.

40:50The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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41:37Rich Eisen:a million bucks the nfl schedule dropped and it is time to settle up people there's road trips to plan hotels to book tickets to split tailgates to cover scores to settle all the things for the season but now when you send ten dollars or more to a friend with paypal by may 28th you could win two tickets to every home game of your favorite team yep the whole season visit paypal.com slash p2p sweeps no purchase necessary see website for details including how to enter by mail brought to you by paypal official peer-to-peer payment sponsor of the nfl back here on the rich eyes and show hyundai oh pardon me ladies and gentlemen uh our friends at hyundai want to let you know yeah out there there's the hyundai palisade hybrid get it where you can make every day feel epic up to an epa estimated 619 miles of range on select trims advanced tech, class-leading interior space, hauling kids, gear, snacks, and backpacks.

42:34You know space definitely matters. So does comfort. Just make sure they keep those cleats off the seats, everybody. The all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for details. That's a good read, everybody. I got power rankings. I got power rankings. Power rankings. Of the NFL schedule presented by SoFi. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. This is power rankings. There are many like it, but this one is live. Power rankings.

43:05Rich Eisen:All right, here we go. Power rankings of the NFL schedule presented by SoFi. There's more than 10 games on here. I'm not going to lie. Certainly when you start with 10, number 10 on the list, everybody, is when the Bucs and Falcons play each other twice. I don't care which one. Really? Oh, yes. I got to give some love to the NFC South, guys. I mean, you don't have to. Why? I got to give some love, too. because we all know, I mean, Baker, quote, tweeted out on January 20th after Stefanski got hired by Atlanta, quote, still waiting on a text call from him after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage.

43:44Rich Eisen:Can't wait to see you twice a year, coach. How about that? How about that? So Baker versus Atlanta and Stefanski. Kind of dig it. That's fun. Number nine on the list. Week three, Monday Night Football, Eagles at Bears. Don't forget what the Bears did in Philadelphia last year, day after Thanksgiving. They punked the Eagles. Yeah, that was awesome. In their house. Punked them. So what happens week three? Okay. And we just play the win-loss game for the Philadelphia Eagles. They're home for Washington. They're at Tennessee. And then they've got this game in Chicago. Here we go. Chicago starting off at Carolina, home for Minnesota, then this one.

44:28Rich Eisen:It's going to be big. It's going to be a marker for either one of these teams. Number eight. Week 18, I have no idea if this is going to be Aaron Rodgers' last regular season game of his career. Last game of his career. I do not know. But Steelers at Ravens may be for the entire AFC North shoot match. And I can't wait for it. This is a week 18 game. Steelers at Ravens. I didn't choose the Ravens at Steelers. I chose this one. because it could be for all of the Rogers marbles, all of the AFC North marbles, number seven. Week six, Monday Night Football. It's Micah's old team coming back to Green Bay.

45:07Rich Eisen:It's Rashawn Gary coming back to Green Bay. Kenny Clark coming back to Green Bay. Will Micah be healthy? Maybe this is one of those games where he'll be back. Maybe he comes back just for it. I don't know. But Cowboys Packers, old school stuff. Week six, Monday Night Football, seventh on the list. Number six on the list is Seattle at San Francisco, and I'm choosing Week 12 because the Thanksgiving lineup is so loaded with five games before the weekend that you're wondering what's left on the schedule. And if Week 12 is just one big stinking on ice for the rest of us to sit there on Sunday because the league loaded up everything at the beginning of the week, this is a big game.

45:47Rich Eisen:Another one is Ravens at Houston. So those are big Sunday games. This one in particular, Seattle at San Francisco. Last time this happened, the one seed was on the line, and Seattle punked the 49ers. So that's a big one. Number five on the list, Ravens at Bills Week 8, right there in the middle of the season. Lamar at Josh Allen. Let's go. Fun. Fun stuff. I can't wait to see it. Under pressure bowl, Brockman. Say that again? The under pressure bowl. Oh, that's a good one. Oh, that's a Sunday 1 o 'clock. yeah bills are coming off of a buy in that regard as well number four i put this one here just because again it's a super bowl rematch i already said earlier that i i was disappointed it's not bears at uh yeah at seattle but it is the opening thursday night banner rays 12's going crazy it could be aj brown's first game as a patriot drake may there let's go can't wait week one number three on the list is i think the better game and it's it's in australia i think you know san francisco and the Rams.

46:48Rich Eisen:Let's go. NFC West football. This could be one of, I mean, this is a big one for the Rams because this is their home game against San Francisco. Or, as San Francisco might point out, they lost a home game because it's not being played in so far. Number two on this list, I don't care if it's a cop-out or not. I can't choose one for the entirety of this thing. Come on! Pick one! I mean, if I had to pick one, it's Chiefs-Bills. If I had to pick one, it's Chiefs-Bills. But Packers, Rams Bears Lions Eagles Cowboys Chiefs Bills Broncos Steelers Eagles Cowboys with all do respect everyone else if everybody's healthy these are massive games massive but the number one is is the is the Christmas games the Christmas slate all of them are how can you Packers Bears Buffalo Denver Rams Seattle last time the Rams were in Seattle we all know what happened the two-point conversion all that craziness yeah that's gonna be nuts christmas unbelievable that triple header and those are my power rankings of the nfl schedule brought to you by sofi get your money right back for hour two and tim legler on the nba playoffs the rich isa show podcast you can't reason with the sun trust us we've tried this summer it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute.

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