Hour 1: Live from London, Steelers-Bengals Preview, plus NFL Network’s Sara Walsh

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0:56Rich Eisen: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. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Adversity makes you dig down even deeper. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studios in London, England. Gone! Home run! Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Today's guests. NFL Network reporter Sarah Walsh.

1:44Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. 11-time Pro Bowl receiver Larry Fitzgerald. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

1:57Rich Eisen:Well, hey, everybody. Live from London, England, it is this Thursday edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Thrilled to be here streaming with you from London on Disney +, also on the ESPN app where you can get anything ESPN everywhere. And this show is a testament to that coming to you from London. We're also on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. As always, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the show. I've been out here for over a week called last week's Jets-Broncos game that doubled me in age. And getting set to call the Rams and the Jaguars, which we can only hope will be a better game.

2:38Rich Eisen:And as a matter of fact, it's a very low bar to clear. So that's going to be coming to you on NFL Network on Sunday. Sarah Walsh, who's doing the sidelines of that game with her top-notch reporting, will be on this show coming up in just a couple of minutes. And then Kurt Warner will be on this program, top of our number two. He will be in the booth with me for that contest. Lyra Fitzgerald will be on this show long after Kurt has already left to go, apparently, to the theater tonight because he's a very cultured man. The voices you hear are, in fact, Chris Brockman and TJ Jefferson, who have made the flight across the pond, as we're mandated to say, as American sports broadcasters calling this what we know, which is a transatlantic show.

3:23Rich Eisen:Good to see you guys. How are you, Chris? Great to see you, friend. Great to be here. Got my pinky out up, TJ. Okay, you got your T? Govna. Okay. And is Del Tufo in his spot? I don't know if we have a camera on him. Yes, I am. Hey! Wow! Have fun, you guys. What's up, Mike? How are you guys doing out there? Oh, thanks. Oh, thanks, Mike. We were actually having a terrible time, but now we've got the green light. Thank you. I know it's fine. I'm glad to see you, Mike. You could still chime in, still do your job and have the drops. Still not hit drops. Oh, no, no, no. Don't say that. We've got a lot of...

3:59Rich Eisen:Did anyone light the candle? We've got a lot of catching up to do on this show. And I want to thank Tom Pelissero for expertly steering the ship all week long, and Susie for hosting the show last Thursday as well. I did not do Tuesday and Wednesday's show. We noticed. We noticed. So no overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. Nope. So we'll have overreaction Monday on a Thursday for the first time, I believe, later on in this program. From the UK. It's a higher register Thursday. Absolutely. And it's also a power rankings Thursday. Oh, we are playing the hits. Because I didn't do the power rankings on Wednesday.

4:33Rich Eisen:We're just catching up. We're just catching up. Um, so that's how we're rolling again. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Sarah Walsh will join us shortly, uh, in studio here in London. So, uh, lots to talk about with week number seven afoot. There are five games that feature teams above 500, uh, against teams, uh, above 500. And one of those games, thankfully is a game that I'll be calling on NFL network this week between the Jaguars and the Rams, both four and two. There are three division games, three division games this week. the commanders and the Cowboys are facing one another. The commanders just ate it against the Chicago bears who have won three in a row.

5:13Rich Eisen:And they're going to go for four in a row by taking on a saints team that comes into Chicago one in five. But I mentioned commanders and Cowboys because that's also, as I mentioned, one of three division games that's going down in week number seven, first time Dak and Jaden Daniels will have facing off. Oh, that's right. because Dak missed both of those contests in Jaden Daniels' stellar rookie season. His sophomore campaign is off to an injury-marred 3-3 start. The Raiders and the Chiefs are playing a divisional contest in Kansas City as the Chiefs are looking to go above.500 for the first time this year.

5:48Rich Eisen:Raiders, however, coming off of their first win against the Tennessee Titans, who fired their coach. And now, the reason why I'm bringing all of this up is to preview tonight's Thursday night football game, the third divisional game of the week, the Steelers at the Bengals. There's a lot at stake in this contest. And it's very simple. If the Cincinnati Bengals have any desire to turn their season around after starting 2-0 and going 0-4 since then, with three Jake Browning starts leading to one Joe Flacco acquisition and start, and four straight losses, if they have any desire to turn their season around, tonight is what we would call a must-win game.

6:30Rich Eisen:because two reasons. One, you don't want to lose a division game at home. That's easy, but it's very obvious. That said, you can always state the obvious when it's easy, and it's important because if they lose this game, they're 2-5 and they lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, and the Steelers are the only team that has a chance to win this division at present with the 1-5 Ravens off and the 1-5 Browns getting set to start Dylan Gabriel for another contest taking on the Miami Dolphins, hoping for them that they can win this game. The Dolphins, however, need it just as desperately. But the Cincinnati Bengals need to win this game.

7:09Rich Eisen:And on top of it, I have this handy-dandy chart, gents. Oh, look at that thing. What you got there? From NFL Network Research Department, the statistics that you've acquired, if you start 2-4 and you go 2-5, you have a 6.3 % chance of making the playoffs. Only 11 teams that started 2-5 out of the 174 since 1990 to start that way have made the playoffs. I'm shocked it's that many. If you go 3-4, you pop up to 19.2%, a 1-5 chance to make the playoffs, as opposed to a 6 % chance of making the playoffs. The math does not math very well if you are the Cincinnati Bengals. And then on top of it, you've got the Pittsburgh Steelers, as I mentioned right now at four and one.

7:56Rich Eisen:They're the two seed in the AFC entering week seven. They are the only team above 500 by far and away in the AFC North. As a matter of fact, the four wins for the Steelers are the exact amount of AFC North wins from the other three teams combined. Two from the Ravens and one each two for pardon me, two from the Bengals and one each from the Ravens and the Browns. and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the past, when they take this big of a lead in division, Mike Tomlin, a two and a half game lead entering tonight's contest. He's been two and a half games above the field in the AFC North in five different seasons in his tenure as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.

8:39Rich Eisen:They went on to win the AFC North in three of those four previous seasons. so they would have a three and a half game lead if they win this game tonight and then of course there's just the interesting aspect of this evening as well which is two 40 year old guys going out and i believe cam hayward's what is calling this the icy hot bowl okay the icy hot bowl the cold tub bowl whatever you want to call it um break your hip they are the break your hip ball. That's not bad, too. I love it. Ah, good job, Mikey D. Del Tufo, you're listening. Rogers and Flacco, a combined 82 years and 226 days old. That is the fifth oldest combination of starting quarterback matchups in a game since 1950, including the playoffs.

9:30Rich Eisen:Tom Brady was involved in the other four older than that. The three times Brady faced Drew Brees in that 2020 season, including the playoffs. and then Brady taking on Rodgers in week three of 2022. That was the only other times we've seen an older gentleman match up in this contest. It is the fourth time that Flacco and Rodgers have met as starters. Rodgers is 3-0 in this department. Also, you could see how Rodgers has a milestone moment this evening. Yes, sir. What is that, Christopher? He's 115 yards behind Big Ben for fifth all time on the career passing yards list. And he's interestingly enough, as I got this stat just before we got in, how many yards is he shy?

10:17Rich Eisen:115. 115. He's 115 yards shy of Ben Roethlisberger, exactly, on the most passing yards on Thursday night's all time list at 4 ,000, 2 ,022. Wow. 115 behind Big Ben, exactly in that category. that's why i thought you said we saw the same stat no of course tom brady leads all of that and in terms of some other interesting aspects of this evening um quarterbacks with most passing touchdowns to the most different receivers in the history of the nfl joe flacco broke a tie for fifth place on the all-time such list with matthew stafford when he hit both tanner hudson and jamar chase for touchdowns last week he trails vinnie testaverti next on that list rogers is 10th on this list with 60 and uh brady leads i was gonna say brady has to win 96 but here's the one that brady um truly leads more than ever and will never get caught rogers last week when he threw for a that touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, who's gotten a touchdown pass in four straight games.

11:26Rich Eisen:And as a matter of fact, he's got seven touchdowns on Thursday nights, which is the most of any player since he came into the league in 2019. Aaron Rodgers threw his 38th touchdown pass as a 40-year-old. That's third all time. Behind Drew Brees is 51. Tom Brady leads this list. You want to guess? 130 something? I'm going to say two. How about 193? Oh, jeez. So we'll see what happens tonight when these two elderly gentlemen have at it in Cincinnati. This is a must-win game for the Cincinnati Bengals. If they lose it, they're 2-5. And you're now wondering why they went ahead and made this trade, which is exactly another side aspect of tonight's contest.

12:09Rich Eisen:Mike Tomlin being as vocal as he was about Andrew Barry trading a quarterback in division. You could see, like, he's pissed that he's taking on Flacco tonight. Yeah. I mean, yeah, not that Flacco's, you know, maybe in his mind, appreciably better than Jake Browning. He wanted to take on a guy that was having difficulty finding his own receivers and Jake Browning. I just think it made Tomlin just angry just as a coach, just as an old school mental mentality coach in this league. We did yesterday with Tom the whole opening segment about this yesterday because we didn't really hit on it earlier in the week because I think Mike said this on Monday.

12:47right and you could just see and that was kind of our our consensus yesterday that tomlin in a rare moment of just pure honesty where he was just so upset you know taking mentioning first off you don't see a head coach mentioned another team's general manager tom said he's never by name right and then just the look of disgust on his face like i can't because again you you have to wonder if he

13:09Rich Eisen:was good as tomlin said if he was good enough to be your week one starter then he's suddenly bad enough that you could trade him away but to your own someone in division at a a a position of need and then they immediately start him yep well here's the stat as to why the Steelers should win tonight um and we'll see if somehow some way the Bengals could do any better but you're you have the team that leads the league in the NFL in yards after the catch 71 71 percent, 71.8, so say 72 percent of Pittsburgh's passing yards in 2025 have come after the catch against the defense that has allowed the most yards after the catch in the NFL.

13:52Rich Eisen:Oh, man. OK, so you've got the team with the most yak and given up the most yak. And so yakety yak. Don't talk about it. It does appear that the Steelers are positioned to win this short week game coming into week seven. And if they do, they're 5-1 with their feet up on the desk, watching the rest of Week 7, including the Colts having to visit the Los Angeles Chargers. I'm wondering if A.D. Mitchell's going to have a little bit of flashbacks walking back into SoFi Stadium, which is where he flipped the ball too soon. Might have some stick-em on his hands. The Colts, if they lose that game, the Steelers could wind up being the one seed entering week number eight in the NFL, which is exactly where you want to be.

14:42Rich Eisen:And there are no pictures in the standings. And say what you will about the Steelers, and we'll talk about them on Friday coming off of tonight's game. But they are set to be 5-1, and the Bengals 100 % need to win this game. It is must-win territory already. So we're off and running here from London, England. Later on in this program, you guys went off the air. before Tua Tungo-Vailoa spoke and apologized for his shocking. You want to talk about honest comments from the podium on Monday, calling out teammates of his who blew off players-only meetings in his response in an apology is an interesting thing that will play back for you and give you our two considerable sense on that.

15:25Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner will be joining us. We'll ask him about that in the rest of week number seven. And then, of course, Larry Fitzgerald on top of it. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. And on top of that, Overreaction Monday on a Thursday. Our Higher Register Thursday is going down as scheduled. And then a day late, but definitely not a dollar short. My power rankings entering week number seven. Rich, it's a pound short. Ah, my bad. I forgot the conversion rate. Thank you so much. All right, we're off and running here or galloping. Oh. Sarah Walsh coming up.

16:04Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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17:31Rich Eisen:we're back here on the rich eyes and show is one big happy simulcast family we're here on espn radio presented by progressive insurance see why over 43 million drivers trust progressive to stay protected on the road see for yourself at progressive dot com back here on disney plus the espn app and espn radio presented by progressive insurance as I mentioned my colleague from NFL Network who will be performing her terrific duties on the sidelines of a game that will have more first downs than we promised than ever before. The Jaguars in the Rams, Sarah Walsh here from NFL Network. Good to see you, Sarah.

18:09Rich Eisen:How are you? Performing. I'm like, you know, I kind of feel like, you know, you deserve a raise having been on the sideline of the Vikings and the Browns prior to the Jets and the Broncos. You have been here for coming up on three weeks right yeah three weeks you know it's a cool a cool caveat to that is two weeks ago when i was here so before you and kurt got here greg newsom was here with the browns yes he's coming back with the jags that's right which is wild so think about this and i talked to him so he gets home uh from london he's like i knew i was going to be tired because they didn't take the buy the browns did not take the buy he's like i knew it was going to be a long week he told me he gets a call wednesday night from his agent late and he goes oh i'm getting extended like this is my extension and he's like hey you're being traded to the jags gets he's already like tired gets on a plane the next morning goes to jacksonville plays for the jags gets on an international flight back here so you want to talk about i mean i've been here but i've been you know that's one flight over yeah this guy has now made two international trips in three weeks two different teams that's a wild story that's a lot of frequent flyer miles for sure And so, you know, I guess there's many different ways to start with you here.

19:19Rich Eisen:But, you know, the Rams at 4-2 could be 6-0. We had that conversation with Sean McVay today when we were chatting with him in our broadcast meeting. The Jaguars started off at 4-1. They come off of this loss. And they kind of know each other pretty well because Cohen comes from the McVay staff. Their general manager comes from the Rams front office. So they're kind of in a similar mode if you look at these two teams. Yeah, definitely. And even just talking to Sean about Liam. I mean, he said he's talked to him throughout the course of this regular season, but not this week, obviously. One of the things I think that's interesting about Liam, and I was talking to one of his guys about it, Foye Oluokon, said he's got an edge to him.

20:03And he's like, he's got something to prove, which is, you know, he's coming in. this is his first job as a head coach. And so I thought it was interesting that he's coming in. He basically said like with a chip on his shoulder and wanting to prove stuff and feels like this isn't, he told me they get the sense from him. Like he doesn't feel like, well, I'm working my way through some of these like first year head coaching things that he comes in with this mentality of like, no, we should win now. But I think the Jags are really interesting because while there's pieces there, their offense has been weird in terms of getting in a rhythm.

20:31This is potentially a bounce back for them, probably a heavy dose of ETN, But I don't think that they have hit their stride. But again, this is all a new system. I saw the Bucs deal with this with Liam a year ago. And so I definitely don't think Jacksonville has hit its stride in terms of feeling like Trevor's in rhythm. I mean, he got sacked a ton. We saw, obviously, we saw a lot of sacks last week. But Trevor got sacked a ton a week ago. And so I think this is an offense that's still really trying to either, one, learn under Liam and find its rhythm. So clearly Sean and Liam have a familiarity with each other.

21:06I'm not sure where the Jags are in terms of how comfortable they feel yet in this offense, which I think is still evolving.

21:14Rich Eisen:Well, they have a chance to win their division as we're entering week seven. I mean, with the Texans coming off of a bye and still under 500, taking on Seattle on Monday night, one of those two games on a Monday night to wrap up this weekend. And, you know, and and the Colts at five and one are sort of running away with it right now, if not for Jacksonville. So they really have a chance to do that. You know, and then speaking of Monday Night Football, Tampa Bay at Detroit is just the biggest game of the week. And you just mentioned, again, Liam Cohen leaving Tampa. It is. I mean, just how good is Baker Mayfield?

21:51Rich Eisen:Right. I mean, he loses Canales, then gets Cohen, has a better year, now loses Cohen, and is having the best year of his career. He's unbelievable. There is this narrative we talk about, right? Consistency. And for the longest time, it was like, poor Baker. He doesn't have any consistency. Maybe Baker doesn't need consistency. I mean, maybe the key to Baker is like, bring him in, bring him in, line him up, and I'll get these guys going. He has turned into a head coachmaker. So when I was talking to Josh Grisard, his latest offensive coordinator. And, you know, let's go back. So Dave Canales is there.

22:21it's his he gets this shot and it's like oh my gosh he's never been an offensive coordinator even before how's this gonna go um he does so well he goes to carolina and then it's the same story oh liam cohn now here's your shot this last guy he was here for a second gets a head coaching job is the same gonna happen to you like ha ha like that's probably not gonna happen it happens and so then grisard before the season started i go hey man like no pressure but this is kind of awkward if you don't get a head coaching job next year right like it's a little bit awkward But I have to say, I think he is doing by far and away the best job of the three.

22:52And this is no disrespect to Dave or Liam, but neither one of them had to deal with the injury situation that they are dealing with in Tampa. And I know every team is going to say they're injured. It has been monstrous. I mean, they started the year, the line complete disarray. They're signing practice squad guys from their practice squad, from other practice squad guys to play line. And then you take out, if you look out a week ago, no Mike Evans, no Chris Godwin. And now no Emeka Abuka, who's come out of, well, I don't want to say nowhere. He's their first round pick, but he's sort of taken over.

23:20No Bucky Irving. They started the year without. These are like, let's just go down the list of stars that they have all out. And they find a way every week. I mean, in fairness, every week, I'm like, there's no way. How are they going to pull this out? And it's Baker. I mean, that is Baker putting the team on his back, making receivers that you didn't even hear of two days prior, touchdown makers.

23:39Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, some of these third downs that Baker's picking up with his legs is kind of the personification of what you just said. Like every single week you think, how are they going to get out of this? And it's the same thing about these plays. Week two against the Texans last week, third and 14. How's he going to get out of this? And he does. And he just keeps leading everybody down the field. And interesting how you said, you also just said, Sarah, I got Sarah Walsh here, NFL Networks, Sarah Walsh on the Rich Eisen Show. Interesting that you just said what you just said, that he's a coach maker.

24:11Rich Eisen:and that like well honestly i really like that but he used to be a coach killer like that was his that was his reputation that he's brash he's obnoxious he's immature now as he was even joking about from the podium a couple weeks ago now i've got moxie now i've got an edge dog and now i got a dog in me and he's now a coach but he hasn't he hasn't changed you keep on mentioning like what is the constant he's the constant he is the constant we're just all changing around him and thankfully for him the circumstances of his career have changed i gotta tell you i did i think his first start in cleveland years ago and i remember he came into the production meeting and this idea this idea that he was cocky and he's this i mean he has a swagger about him i always took my meetings with him i'm like i like this like this is the guy i would want right i didn't I never took it the way, like, I'm sure there's certain things in Baker's career.