Hour 1: Rams-Seahawks Huge Stakes, plus Champ Bailey’s CPF 1st Round Preview

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1:00Rich 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 three 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.

1:34This is the Rich Eisen Show. I think Quinn gives this team the best chance to win. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

1:42Rich Eisen:I'm not happy about it. Something out of my control. The latest edition of Salty Tua. Today's guests, Pro Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey, actor Jason Clarke, actor Matthew Lillard, your phone calls and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hey everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Lots to talk about over the next three hours from the world of sports, pop, culture and more. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial whether you're watching us on the Disney Plus app. Hello, and same to those watching us on the ESPN app. listening on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. Just make sure to turn the radio down when you're hanging on the phone lines, getting ready to chat with us.

2:23Rich Eisen:And the same thing if you're listening on Sirius XM channel 88, 4-4-2-0-4-RICH, again, is the number to call. We've got not one but two actors coming in studio. Matthew Lillard, who's been here before, he's coming in support of Five Nights at Freddy's 2. It's a sequel, which means I have to ask him, is this nights 6 through 10 at Freddy's? Well done. Did nobody learn over the first five nights? and he's also the voice of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. He did that first the last time he was here. Maybe he'll do it again. Who knows? But he's joining us in Studio an Hour number three, and the actor Jason Clarke, who's in a ton of great things, including the remarkable series that's going down on Hulu right now, Murdoch, Death in the Family.

3:10Rich Eisen:He also played Jerry West in Winning Time. He's coming in here in hour number two. Champ Bailey, Pro Football Hall of Famer, who's part of the Turner coverage of the college football playoffs this coming weekend. He's first up. And again, there's you at 844-204-H. Number two, Christopher, good to see you over there. Christopher Ockman. Richard, great to see you. How are you, my friend? DJ Mikey D. Morning, Rich. D's nuts is in his post. And TJ Jefferson, the candles already lit. Good to see you over there, sir. How's everybody doing? What up, man? You're doing great. We have to start with the way week 16 is starting.

3:43Rich Eisen:This isn't just any ordinary Thursday night football game. This is lots at stake. Rams and Seahawks, this has been lurking. This has been percolating. This has been boiling underneath the NFC West lid and the entire NFC lid since these two teams faced each other earlier this season when the Seahawks darn near kicked their way to victory in SoFi Stadium when the Rams and the Seahawks faced each other in week number 11. ball on Jason Myers' foot from about 60 yards away with no time left, despite all of the turnovers that the Rams got off of Sam Darnold again. The Seahawks almost survived. And then the Rams tripped up in Carolina, and the Seahawks now are neck and neck with the Rams, welcoming them into their homes tonight on Thursday Night Football with the NFC West at stake and the NFC at stake.

4:38Rich Eisen:The Rams are one in the NFC. The Seahawks are five in the NFC. And lurking right behind them are the San Francisco 49ers ready to take control of this division and also maybe the conference. Ruining the story and perhaps the dinner and perhaps maybe the evening. To use the phrase from stepbrothers back in the day. This is what it's all about. On top of all that, would you believe this is the first ever Thursday night game? Which is remarkable because Thursday night football has been going on ever since NFL Network essentially invented it. And I went on the road and heard all these folks saying these games stink for about 15 years.

5:31Rich Eisen:and then handing it off to Prime Video eventually after so many other networks were doing it on our behalf at NFL Network. Would you believe this is the first Thursday game ever in which both teams enter with 11 or more wins? Wow. Really? Correct. That's crazy. I haven't seen a game like this before. Also, the last time the Seahawks played a game in December or later, in which they were taking on an opponent who was just like them in the top two records in the NFC. Last time the Seahawks played in such a game was Week 16, 2014, when they beat Arizona. Remember the Arians coached Arizona Cardinals with Carson Palmer?

6:17Rich Eisen:They beat Arizona and then went on to lose in the Super Bowl to Brockman's Patriots. Oh, yeah, that's right. Last time the Rams played in a regular season game between the NFC's top two records in December or later, was 2001 when they beat the San Francisco 49ers in week 13 and then St. Louis went on to lose the Super Bowl to Tom Brady and Chris Brockman's Patriots. Man, we won a lot, huh, TJ? Well, the good news is whoever wins this game and makes the Super Bowl will not see Tom Brady in it. Not yet. Not even calling it. Okay, great. You never know, Rich. You never say never. The Rams already clinched a playoff spot.

6:59Rich Eisen:The Rams have already clinched that spot. They can't clinch the West tonight, but with a Rams win, the Seahawks would need to win two more games. They only have two left. They'd have to sweep those games and have the Rams lose their final two games against Atlanta and Arizona. Seahawks need to win if they want to surpass the Rams. And then, of course, if the Rams lose and the Seahawks take first place, that would be great for the 49ers because the 49ers have already beaten the Seahawks in week one, and they face the Seahawks again in week 18. So the NFC West is up for grabs for the 49ers, regardless who wins this game tonight.

7:38Rich Eisen:It's better for them if it's the Seahawks. And it's not, again, just this at stake and how rare it is to see a matchup like this. Tonight, if the Rams win it, Sean McVay would get career win number 100. He's 39 years old. He does not turn 40 until January. The only other individuals who have won 100 games before they turned 40 are named Curly Lambeau and George Hallis. Heard of them. So McVay, fresh off of having his second baby, and then perhaps seeing Puka Nakua's latest video having a cow, he's got a 90s reference a big milestone up for grabs tonight is the mvp of the league playing in this game well i have about three pages of stats here in front of me that says matthew stafford is in fact playing in this game tonight and he is going to be the mvp he's got a career best win percentage and passer rating he's also leading the nfl in passing touchdowns and passer rating and touchdown to interception ratio is second in pass yards 209 behind your guy dac tj who is about to throw for 4 000 yards as a cowboy yeah boy uh brady and peyton manning are the only players to lead the nfl in passing touchdowns after turning 37 years old and it sure looks like stafford's going to join them because he enters week 16 leading the NFL and passing touchdowns by eight over a guy he just beat last week in Jared Goff.

9:19Rich Eisen:Since the merger Super Bowl era, seven previous players have led the NFL by eight or more passing touchdowns. The last one was Aaron Rodgers in 2020. And the only one who did not win MVP that season of the seven previous players was Dan Marino in 1986 when he led the NFL by 19 passing touchdowns. What? But Lawrence Taylor won most valuable player that year. Stafford's on pace to become the 17th player in the Super Bowl era to outright lead the NFL in passing touchdowns and passer rating in a single season. Ten of those players won the MVP award that season. I could go on and on. He's on fire and has not lost to the Seahawks since becoming the Rams starting quarterback.

10:11Rich Eisen:He's beaten Sam Darnold three straight times. As we all know, Darnold is having a really nice season in his first year with Seattle. He's 11-3, leads the NFL in passing yards per attempt, 8.8. Certainly helps to have Jackson Smith and Jigba going off. We'll get to that in a second. the uh list of players to have 10 or more wins and 100 or more passer rating in the first season after changing teams he has joined vinnie testaverde in 98 for the jets brett farve for the vikings in 2009 peyton manning in 2012 for the broncos tom brady for the bucks in 2020 are you Picking up what I'm putting down here.

11:01Rich Eisen:Matthew Stafford for the Rams in 2021. And he also joins himself last year with the Vikings. Allow himself to join himself. He's now done it twice. I got myself to introduce myself. The only player over the last 15 seasons to throw four interceptions against an opponent, as he did back in week 11, and then defeat them later in the season. You want that list? I do. Oh, yeah. He's trying to join Brady in 2011 against Buffalo, Andy Dalton against Baltimore in 2017, Ryan Tannehill against Houston in 2021, and the 2022 version of Joe Burrow against the Steelers. That's what he's trying to do there.

11:47Oh, by the way, this game between the Rams and the Seahawks, by the way,

11:53Rich Eisen:you're welcome, Prime Video, to set this thing up for you on a Thursday night because it is must-see. The Rams and the Seahawks are the only two teams to have a top five scoring offense and defense in 2025. The Rams are second in scoring, 30 points per game. Third in points allowed, 18.6. The Seahawks are fifth in points per game, 28.9. And second in points allowed, 17.3. This is the 10th December or later matchup between two teams entering the game ranked in the top five both scoring offense and defense since the 1970 merger and one of the two teams in each of the last seven matchups reached the Super Bowl.

12:39Rich Eisen:Are you picking up what I'm putting down? The best sack differential this season. The Broncos, and believe it or not, the Falcons are 1-2 in that regard at plus 41 and plus 27. Then you find the Seahawks at plus 24 and the Rams at plus 18. They sack people. They don't give up sacks. Matthew Stafford has the second lowest quarterback pressure rate faced this season. Just 26 % of his passes, he's been facing pressure. Only Aaron Rodgers has faced fewer, less pressure. Maybe he's getting rid of the ball just like Stafford. Darnold is fourth on that list.

13:19then you've got running backs

13:24Rich Eisen:Kyron Williams and Blake Corum have each had 70 or more rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in three straight games they're the first teammate duo to do that since at least 1950 the only other teammate duo since 50 to even have 50 or more rushing yards and one or more rushing touchdowns in a three-game span. Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell for the Browns, they both made the Hall of Fame. Okay. Zach Charbonnet leads the Seahawks with eight rushing touchdowns this year. He's just one of eight running backs with eight or more rushing touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. Kyron is one of them.

14:04Rich Eisen:In terms of Seattle players to do such a thing this century, Kenneth Walker III, his teammate, did it in the two previous years. Does Charbonnet doing it last year and this year? Marshawn Lynch and Sean Alexander are the only other ones. And then we all know about the receivers in this game. Are you picking up what I'm putting down about tonight's game? Seems like it's a pretty big game tonight. More or less. Jackson Smith and Jigba and Puka Nakua are first and second in the NFL in receiving yards. They're also the only ones to be averaging 100 yards receiving per game in the NFL. This is the first December or later matchup between the top two NFL players in receiving yards since Cooper Cup and Justin Jefferson went at it in 2021 back in week 16, fifth season.

15:00Rich Eisen:In NFL history, that's featured a matchup between the only two players in the NFL to average 100 or more receiving yards per game that season. Last time that happened was Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill in 2022. Before that, Anquan Bolden and Terrell Owens. That's what we're seeing. Smith and Jigba's responsible for 44.7 % of the Seahawks receiving yards this year. And Puka has had 167 yards receiving in week 14 against Arizona and then followed it up with 181 receiving yards last week against Detroit. The last receiver to have as many such yards in a two-game span for the Rams was Torrey Holt in 03.

15:46Rich Eisen:Big game. I think I've laid it all out for you. Take that for data. Thank you, Coach Fisdale. Oh, and there's one other thing to keep an eye on. Puka Nakua if another defender lays a hand on him will the officials use that hand to throw a flag or perhaps as Puka said on a live stream use those hands to type out a text to people hey I'm on TV listen nobody is more joyous to watch in the NFL play football than Puka Nakua. I will put him up there in terms of smiles delivered. Remarkable play delivered. Goofiness for days. I, again, I couldn't have been more stunned about what I heard and saw from Puka on this live stream.

16:48Rich Eisen:Apparently, this live stream, he wanted to set it up reportedly in the Rams facility and McVay's like, are you serious? We got to, we're playing the Seahawks. I just set up what a massive game this is. But this doesn't help. Puka saying this about the refs to these live streamers who are, I guess, very eager to elicit such things because we're talking about it nationally. And so is everyone else because you never really hear a player say these sort of thing publicly about officials. and then on top of it, someone of Puka's remarkable stature. Do you think the refs would be bullshitting sometimes?

17:28Oh, 100%. I'm like, they had a, yes, the refs are the worst.

17:32Rich Eisen:Because some of the rules aren't that, like, these guys want to be, these guys are lawyers and, like, they want to be on TV too, bro. Like, the game is, you don't think he's texting his friends in the group chat, like, yo, you guys just saw me Sunday Night Football? No way. That wasn't PI, but I called it. Seriously, they do that, Matt. I mean, these guys are normal human beings, too. So we will see what happens tonight when the officials are calling this, and I'm going to say they will be professional about it, but they are humans as well. I wonder if one of them will go up to Puka before the game and say, what's up?

18:06Rich Eisen:I don't know. I doubt it. These officials just want to be anonymous. And, you know, again, he's right. The officials are human. And so is he. He's 24 years old. I've had nothing but the most awesome interactions with him. I root for him. My God, do I root for him. So I will also offer these two cents, if I may. Puka, do not do that touchdown celebration that these guys were telling you about spinning a dreidel and making this hand motion. This hand motion I'm making on the screen right now is an anti-Semitic trope. It is awful. To me, it's beyond offensive. It's not funny. It's not fun. It's Hanukkah.

19:01Rich Eisen:And again, I don't want to lay this on you because you may not know. There's never a good time to do it. Right now, it's a particularly dangerous time to do it. Please don't do it.

19:16Rich Eisen:As for the football, go ball out, kid. You're awesome to watch. Awesome to watch. And also, in the community, face forward, keep doing what you're doing, man. But this ain't it. And I can't wait to watch him tonight, on Thursday night. The Rams need him. I didn't even mention Devontae Adams is not playing in this game, most likely. I don't think you're going to see him until the playoffs. Yeah, seems like that. But the last thing I wanted to do is take a minute out for the real life stuff. But I have to. And I always will from this chair when this is the subject matter for sure. So let's just chalk it up to a 24-year-old perhaps not knowing.

19:58Rich Eisen:I hope that's what it is, obviously. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Champ Bailey is going to join us next to talk college football. He's part of the Turner family of networks showing you a couple of college football playoff games. That's coming up next.

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20:54Rich Eisen:Plus receive four times O rewards points now at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or OReillyAuto.com. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Champ Bailey here on the Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience, ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance, is back. And there's two college football playoff games that you can watch across TNT, True TV, and HBO Max. They are Ole Miss hosting Tulane and then James Madison at Oregon. and Champ Bailey part of all the coverage on the family of networks at Turner back here on the Rich Eisen Show. So let's jump into it here, Champ.

21:35Rich Eisen:How are you and the rest of the crew going? Because obviously this is big. College football games are big. Not to get too deep into the business of it, but Turner and ESPN striking a deal for these two games. It's big business for everybody. But how are you going to handle the subject matter of James Madison and Tulane playing games that a lot of people who are tuning in don't think they have any business being in, Champ? Well, here's the thing, you know, and I think we sit in a perfect spot as we're only doing postgame. So understand we'll be reacting to what's happened, not predicting and making assumptions, right?

22:14So for us, I think we have a unique spot to speak on what's happened in the game immediately after the games. and you know i i was a little iffy about it at first i'm like why are we just doing post game well i like it because it gives us sort of a pre-game in some pre-game insight before anybody

22:36Rich Eisen:else can speak on what's coming up next yes sir right you know the the next round of playoffs so here's james madison and tulane with a chance to silence all the critics because i gotta admit i'm one of those people that say we need the 12 best. I said this long before they even qualified for a playoff spot. And I still believe that now they can go prove themselves as worthy of that spot. And they are based off the criteria that exists. But I think ultimately we want to sort of have what the NFL has. The NFL always has the best of the best, right? It's, there's never a question of should this team make the playoffs or not.

23:18That's never in question. Your record is your record. Everybody's schedule is hard. And until we really figure that part out, we're going to be in this place where we're trying to figure out who the best 12 are. And I don't like the criteria now, but it's acceptable as we progress towards what's really fair and balanced across the league.

23:38Rich Eisen:Yeah, because, again, I'm assuming you're doing post-game after both of these games, right, champ? After the JMU game. The final game, the JMU-Oregon game, we'll do post-game live on set in Eugene. So the issue, again, is you'll be able to have your first – you'll then be the crew to have the first crack at, did these teams deserve to be in or not, right? And if I'm the coach of either of these teams, I am 100 % playing the nobody believes in this card. I'd play it as if it's every card in the 52-card deck that's in my hand. right now you know i would do i don't blame them that i mean they if you if you look at the conferences they come from there there's no doubt that they're an inferior group of of colleges but that doesn't mean that they can't win a game you know it's possible but it's unlikely and just based off the strength of schedule and and historically what's happened with these type of matchups.

24:44I mean, look at Tulane, for example. They lose 45-10 earlier to Ole Miss in the season. Now, it's a little tricky now because Lane Kiffin's gone. John Summerall, he's going to hang back before he goes to Florida and coach. A lot of things going on, a lot of distractions. This is a perfect climate for Tulane to have an upset victory in a game like this. I'm looking forward to that one more than anything.

25:11Rich Eisen:So who's the best team in this tournament, do you believe? Is it your alma mater? Could it be Indiana? Because we saw what happened in the Big Ten championship game, and clearly, you know, the Ohio State is outstanding, and last year lost their last Big Ten game, and it didn't matter. They won it all. Yeah. What do you think? Or is it somebody I didn't mention? I do believe the Bulldogs are playing better than anybody right now. and you know everything's clicking at the right time you saw them progress like throughout the year and get better and better week in week out especially on defense which i believe is the thing that helps win championships more than anything it's turnovers and defense if you're not getting stops you don't you don't have a chance now indiana has proven you know they knocked off the defending champs, but I'm a believer in some, you know, you don't, it's hard to beat a team twice.