Hour 1: Rams-Falcons Reactions, Stafford’s MPV Odds, plus the MMQB’s Albert Breer

24:38Albert Breer:Has anything happened over the last month? I don't know.

24:41Rich Eisen:There's been a lot of football. And then things off the football field. Yeah, there's been a lot going on there. No, and you have every reason to, you know, crap all over what's going on at Michigan. You have every right to do that. But I won't. But I won't. Well, I mean, we hired one of Urban's guys, so it'll be interesting every November for the next few of them. Interesting where you guys turn when you're in trouble.

25:05Rich Eisen:Thanks for coming on, Albert. We're out of time. Look at the time. Look at the time. All right. So where do we start? Where do we start with you here? I guess we need to start with what your impressions of last night's game was and what you think is up with the Rams fixable. You've actually got to get some people back. I mean, they went from being in control of their own 1C destiny up 16 points with 10 minutes to go in Seattle to now staring a six seed right in the face. Albert.

25:37Albert Breer:Yeah, I think Sean McVay told us last night, you know, what what he thinks. You know, I think you can look at his actions over the last few years, his actions, particularly last year when everyone was screaming this week last year was screaming that he needed to go all out to get the three seed instead of the four seed and avoid playing the 14-win Vikings in the first round, and he chose to rest his players in week 18, and it paid off, right? Like, the Vikings team went through a war, came into that game beat up, and the Rams ran them right off the field, right? So he used that approach last year, and it worked, and yet last night, after losing the way that they lost, he stepped to the podium without even knowing the implications and said everyone's playing next week you know and we need to play better football and I think that that tells you that maybe it's a little more than just not having Devontae Adams not having Alaric Jackson not having Kevin Dodson and those are huge absences for them to be clear right that your two best offensive linemen and you know a receiver who obviously his reputation precedes him.

26:48Albert Breer:So you have excuses readily available there and they weren't taking them. And, you know, Sean got up there and said, everyone needs to play next week because we need to be better than this. So look, they were my pick to win the Super Bowl going back to the summer. I picked them again in midseason. I still think that when they're at their best, they're the best team in football. But very clearly last night, there were some things that weren't the way they needed to be. And Matthew Stafford turns the ball over three times. That's obviously a big piece of it. B. John Robinson had a monster game against that vaunted Rams defensive front.

27:29Albert Breer:That's a problem. So I think that there's definitely some soul searching going on there, and there will be over the course of this week. We'll see what it looks like Sunday against the Cardinals, but I just think that decision, rich that decision that he made in the moment to say everyone's playing this week tells you everything you need to know about where his head's at on where his team is i'm gonna ask you a

27:53Rich Eisen:question that um i've never asked um certainly involving a ravens stealers game are yeah are

28:01Albert Breer:these coaches coaching for their jobs it's weird right i mean it i i can tell you i i just having talked to people in both those places over the last few weeks, it just, it doesn't feel quite the same. And, you know, I, I, I personally think it'd be more likely that there would be change in Pittsburgh than Baltimore. But, you know, this conversation has, you know, as has been amped up again on the outside and where are the owners heads on it. And I think that there is like a distinction between the two and this would be it like I think with Baltimore you do have big picture decisions coming this offseason right the biggest one is like like Lamar and his contract after Josh Allen got his contract correction last year they had discussed the idea of doing that correction with Lamar the same sort of correction with Lamar and they wind up not getting it done and so now do you have that conversation again this offseason I think Lamar obviously would like to have that conversation.

29:06Albert Breer:So, you know, you do have some big decisions coming for the Ravens. However, if you look at the setup of the Steelers and you look at the age of some of their key players, it's Aaron Rodgers, but it's also Cam Hayward. It's also Jalen Ramsey. It's also TJ Watt. You know, you look up and down that roster and there are older players in key spots all over the place. And so just by organically, there is a reset coming, and that is going to naturally invite big picture questions when your coach has been there for 19 seasons. For Mike Tomlin, it's do I want to go forward with this? Do I want to go through a full rebuild where I don't know who my quarterback's going to be when there might be other opportunities out there?

29:50Albert Breer:Maybe I do TV for a year and I go to a place with an established quarterback. Do I really want to go through a full rebuild. And then for the Steelers, it's, you know, do we have the right people in the building for right now? Now, that doesn't mean they don't respect the job that Mike Tomlin's done. Of course they do, you know, but you know, it's all right. Do we go forward now knowing that this is, this might take some time. And do we feel good that Mike Tomlin's going to be here in year 22, in year 23, you know? And so I think organically, because of the way the roster is right now for the Steelers, that's more of a pressing thing for them than it would be for the Ravens.

30:27Rich Eisen:So then how does that departure, what does it look like?

30:31Albert Breer:Yeah, I don't think there will be a firing, to be clear. I certainly don't think there will be a firing. It could happen a number of different ways. It could happen with Mike walking away. I don't have any information that he's ready to do that, But that's certainly something when a guy's been in one place for 19 years, you have to consider. The other thing that could happen, and I think that this has always been the thing with Tomlin, is he's so attractive to other teams. The idea of bringing him in when your organization is a mess, like he's the ultimate culture setter, right? Right, yes. I mean, I don't know, Rich.

31:10Albert Breer:Like, if you're one of these teams, I think the market is so different this year. and the way I look at it is like this at this point last year I would have told you Ben Johnson's getting a job Mike Vrabel's getting a job I couldn't tell you like and I think every year we have like one or two of those right do we have one this year I don't know of one no sir right so like if there are teams out there that are looking at the coaching market and saying what do we do you know we want to energize our fan base we want something that people can get excited about i mean being in this sort of market would probably force you to think creatively and if you're thinking creatively are you picking up the phone and saying like hey would you be interested in trading mike tomlin to us so that's the other way it could happen you know so i think that like there's a number of different ways it could happen with with with guys like tomlin and harbaugh um but it's it's harder it's tough for me to see a scenario where the Steelers just outright fire Mike Tomlin I don't think that's happening well

32:12Rich Eisen:Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show you just mentioned about Lamar's contract uh needing attention from the Ravens in talking about the Ravens decision making process over the next few weeks once the season is over the last time Lamar's contract was on the table interestingly enough he was injured towards the end of the season Snoop Huntley took some very important starts for the team and then the conversation coming out of Baltimore was chock full of Lamar doesn't take care of himself Lamar doesn't show up on time Lamar yeah is this that and the other thing and it sure seems like we're revisiting that stuff right now um there was a column in the Baltimore Sun that put it all out there for everyone to see um so what's up with that Is it possible that Lamar winds up on another team?

33:02Rich Eisen:Is that feasible right now?

33:03Albert Breer:I'll go like a little inside media on you here. He doesn't have an agent, right? So I think you and I both know sometimes the stuff that involves players specifically gets out there. A player side gets out there or can get out there via the agent, right? And so I think in a lot of these cases, there hasn't been anybody kind of putting themselves out there to stick up for Lamar, to further Lamar's agenda. And Lamar isn't the type of guy who's going to do it himself. You know, like he's just I think he kind of he is to himself that way. And I thought there was something interesting that John Harbaugh said last week.

33:48Albert Breer:If you go back and you watch one of his press conferences, it's easy to access. He went into great detail on what Lamar's injury was and that this wasn't something that he could have just easily played through. And I thought that was interesting because John Harbaugh doesn't do that a lot with injuries. And to me, that was John Harbaugh taking up for his player because he knew that if he didn't, there really wasn't anybody else to do it for Lamar. And so, like, I think that, A, tells you where John Harbaugh's head is with Lamar Jackson, that he wants him to be his quarterback, right? B, I think it does sort of illustrate that it has been a little tenuous there because of the contract a couple of years ago, because of everything that they went through there, and now where they may be again going into the offseason with this contract situation.

34:47Albert Breer:So I think like, I think the Ravens intention is to go forward with Lamar Jackson as their quarterback. They don't know how the contract situation is going to play out over the next four or five months. They also don't know what teams are going to call them and they don't need to put Lamar on the block, right? Like if, if any of these teams like smell, like sniff around and like smell that Lamar Jackson and, and, and the Ravens might not be on the same page and there's trouble in paradise. Those there's nothing stopping those teams from picking up the phone and calling the Ravens and saying, hey, how about two first-round picks?

35:20Albert Breer:How about three first-round picks? So that kind of stuff can happen organically. And, you know, I don't think it's the Ravens, you know, I don't think it's the Ravens' strategy or plan to go out there and move on from Lamar after, you know, after this season as we go into the offseason. But a lot of things can happen, you know, when a contract negotiation is looming.

35:45Rich Eisen:Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show. I don't know if you guys in the studio or anybody at home have picked up on this, but it's the time of year when somebody of Albert's stature and information base, where we're starting to look at teams that didn't make the playoffs. I just kind of went Ravens-Steelers because that's an important game this year, and already that has also implications about what happens in the next few weeks. So in the few minutes I have left with you, the two one-seeds from last year are out. It's only the seventh time that's happened in the Super Bowl era, one at a time here.

36:17Rich Eisen:Let's start with the Lions, what the next few weeks are going to be like as they pick through the ashes in Detroit.

36:23Albert Breer:Yeah, a lot of a lot of self-evaluation, I think. You know, I think what they do with their offense is the front burner topic going forward for them. You know, I I can't imagine they run it back with Johnny Morton. You know, they obviously like I think fell on the sword, admitted that mistake when when Dan Campbell took play calling back. And so, you know, I think that that's when we watch the Lions, they scored a million points still this year. But there was something about it that just wasn't quite the same. So, you know, I think with the Lions, the first question is what you're doing on your coaching staff.

36:59Albert Breer:You know, and then I think that there's also a discussion to be had now with so many players in the prime of their career, entering the prime of their career. You know, there's guys who are going to be up, you know, for for for for contracts like you've got to take care of guys, you know, like Jameer Gibbs and Brian Branch and Jack Campbell. And there's lots of those. And that's a champagne problem to have. That means you've got good players on your roster. So I think as you're doing that, the question becomes, do we shift now from being this draft and develop machine to, OK, we're going to pay these guys.

37:35Albert Breer:Now we're in this window with this core of players. Do we do some things that are maybe just shots at going and competing for a championship. And it's, I think for Brad Holmes, that's a interesting question because his background was with the Rams and he was with the Rams during the FM picks era, you know, like when they were trading for Jalen Ramsey and Matthew Stafford and going all in. And he's really been patient about the way that he's built in Detroit and he hasn't done it that way. Is this the pivot point for them where, all right, like now we've got our core players. This isn't going to last forever.

38:13Albert Breer:Jared Goff's in his 30s. Is this the point where we say, okay, like, we're going to sign a bunch of these guys. We're going to mortgage some of these contracts to create salary cap space. And we're going to make a real run at it. I think that's an important question for them to ask in the offseason.

38:27Rich Eisen:And what about the Chiefs? Talk about changes. They're moving to Kansas in short order. Long live arrowhead, Rich.

38:35Albert Breer:Long live arrowhead.

38:35Rich Eisen:You know, and then Mahomes, he's already had knee surgery. We're waiting on what Kelsey's going to do. And Andy Reid was like, if they'll have me, I'll come back. What are the next few weeks look like for the Chiefs before I let you go on your Tuesday?

38:49Albert Breer:Yeah, I think this is like a lot like, you know, Tom Brady got hurt at the same age. Right. And I think if you look at the history of that, eventually it became a pivot point for the Patriots where it was OK. Like we really got a sort of and Bill literally took like evidence of championships off the walls in 2010. And they, you know, Brady came back in 09. They had a really sideways season. And then in 10, they went all in and they had a really good draft that year. And just, you know, like, hey, we're going to build this back up from the ground up. And that first draft, they they they they had they got Gronk.

39:28Albert Breer:They got McCourty. They got Aaron Hernandez. and that wound up being the basis of you know where they were going going forward drafted really well from then on and I think that that's sort of where you are if you're the Chiefs now you know I think the fact that like we're not sure if Mahomes is going to be back for week one because of the fact that this is a multi-ligament injury and we'll see you know it's too early to tell on that you know I think and you're not sure if you're getting the full Mahomes yet and I'm sure he would clip this and you know that's bullet board material for him he's going to work his ass off I know who he is you know but like it's a reality um year one coming back from this sort of injury can be a little bit different and so like I think it puts the Chiefs in a position where you're looking at and saying do we you know start to look at like not just 26 but 27 and beyond what does that mean for Chris Jones what does that mean for Travis Kelsey he might make that decision for himself um what does that mean for some of the younger players on our team some of the young defensive talent that we've built up.

40:28Albert Breer:Karloftis and Bolton are already on new contracts. McDuffie is going to need one this offseason. You know, I think it just kind of puts the impetus on them to get younger across the board. And again, like, you know, hit that pivot point the way the Patriots did. And maybe now you look at it and you say, OK, we've got to build up some draft capital. We've got to hit on more of our picks. and this gives us the chance to kind of evaluate all of that as a pivot point and trying to maybe go from Dynasty 1.0 with Patrick Mahomes to Dynasty 2.0.

41:02Rich Eisen:Albert, appreciate it. I've got 60 seconds left, way too short an amount of time to ask you this question, but I'll ask it anyway because one week from now, a lot of openings will be apparent and we're talking about coaches' lives and things like that. But you want to take a stab at the number? uh one week from seven jobs will be open i think seven yeah i would say seven so five more come

41:25Albert Breer:open you have two already right like i think arizona potentially comes open um you know i i miami's 50 50 i would say um you know i just like looking across the board does indy do something i don't think so but there's a little uncertainty there because of ownership like that's ostensibly new ownership you know it's the same sort of um uncertainty i think you had in seattle after after the passing of of of uh of paul allen there um so i i think you know atlanta like does does this like surge at the end does this does this change the dynamic they already have consultants in there sportology to look at it like matt ryan i know like that got out there over the weekend like he's going to be i think if they wind up doing it would be in like a chris spielman type of role trying to align the organization.

42:15Albert Breer:There are a fair amount of teams out there that have these questions. So I think we probably get to about seven. Vegas, our guy Pete? Vegas, yeah. I think Vegas is one. And Vegas will be interesting because, you know, Brady's been pretty involved there. And, like, I think, you know, how that's structured, Brady, Alex Guerrero, the GM, John Spitek going forward, that will be an interesting one. I do wonder with them. They had to do a lot last year to convince Ben Johnson to come in and interview. And I do wonder how Ben Johnson's success in Chicago now, after they did so much to get him in the room but didn't wind up hiring him, I do wonder how Ben Johnson's success affects the way that they approach the next few weeks.

43:05Rich Eisen:Albert, thanks for the time. Happy New Year. All right, thanks.

43:09Albert Breer:I know you're wishing us luck tomorrow. I am. I wish you guys luck tomorrow, too. Thank you, sir. I know it's not the same level of game.

43:15Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, Albert Breer has every reason to plant the flag on me right here. Got to take a break. We're up against it. Well done by Albert Breer. Back in a moment.

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44:32Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio program I'm talking about all the great running backs in the history of the NFL. And I'll be honest with you, watching B. John Robinson on Monday Night Football, I thought to myself, I'm finally seeing Barry Sanders 2.0. I know what I'm saying here. But with more power. Well, what I'm saying about Barry, okay, is I've never seen more entertaining three-yard games in between the tackles. All right. Where dead to rights, you're dead to rights, he's dead to rights, and then he'll make a move in traffic, in trash, in between tackles.

45:24Rich Eisen:And every single time when he finally is taken down, that's where the power comes in he always falls forward you never knock him backwards he's the king of keeping you on schedule and then of course there's the ripping off a 93 yard touchdown also that you know that there's that where he runs away from you he is that good uh and and he personally took care of the rams last night in a way that saquon did last year twice where it's just yes kirk cousins is playing better and drake london's back and kyle pitts is playing better mooney caught some uh sills caught some crucial balls but it was it was bijan last night end of story and and they're giving him the ball in a way that we hadn't seen before from a lot of previous Falcons administrations.

46:28Rich Eisen:Eight targets last night, five catches, 27 touches. But not the last three when they were trying to make sure, I guess they put in Algier to set up the game-winning field goal because he hadn't fumbled in his life.

46:40Albert Breer:Joe Buck said that over and over again, trying to prove no announcer jinx, I guess. I don't know.

46:45Rich Eisen:But it's also describing why the king of scrimmage yards for the Atlanta Falcons got it done. I believe the coach was rightfully gushing about his guy last night. I mean, I said this 18 weeks ago. He's the best player in football. I mean, it's just as simple as that. He's unbelievable. I mean, everything he does for our football team, from running the football to catching the football to protecting, to being a leader, he's also our chaplain.

47:18Albert Breer:He does it all.

47:19Rich Eisen:He's unbelievable. Yeah, he's also the chaplain, which is the reason why the Rams' defensive prayers were not answered last night. Just like, yeah. They couldn't stop him. They couldn't, as Dan Patrick would say, only hope to contain him. Couldn't even do that. As he became only the second player to have 200 or more scrimmage yards in back-to-back Monday night football games because he did it against Buffalo in week six. The other player's name is Jerry Rice. that's how good he is to wrap up our our number one coverage on our simulcast the rich eisen show podcast from 30 for 30 podcasts

48:07Albert Breer:Brian Pata senior defensive lineman from Miami gun down the key to this case it's Brian an hour before he died he was on the phone arguing with somebody this might be a hit you want the truth they just want a conviction being placed under arrest

48:23Rich Eisen:we had a killer amongst us murder at the you listen now