Hour 1: Steelers’ Big Rodgers-Tomlin Questions, Texans’ Defense, plus ESPN’s Alex Smith

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0:31Rich Eisen:Every soda's got something to say Colas brag Probiotics give TED Talks Then there's Mr. Pibb No pitch, no promises Just bold cherry bringing the flavor Bold kick of cherry Hey yo Mr. Pibb 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.

1:17Rich Eisen:That Texan's defense is no joke. Ball is out. Rankins picks it up. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Hot seat. Mike T has had more success. and anybody in the league. Today's guests, ESPN NFL analyst Alex Smith, Fox Sports NFL analyst Mark Schlereth, comedian Kevin Nealon, and now it's Rich Eisen. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. We're live in Los Angeles, California. We've got a lot of fun guests, and we've got time for you. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. It's an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday because this just in, it is Tuesday. And we're thrilled to have you here on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM, Channel 80.

2:06Rich Eisen:However you're taking this show in, we thank you. Same thing with our podcast listeners. All three hours available through the podcast network thrown out there by ESPN for you to take in this program. We love it. Again, 844-204-RICH-NUMBER-DOLL. Good to see you, Chris Bachman. Hey, Rich, how are you? DJ Mikey D. Good morning, Rich. He's nuts in his position. The candle appears to be lit over there. Good to see you, TJ Jefferson. Truly is. And we now have the field of eight set, the final eight, the elite eight of the National Football League. The final four in each conference is set after the Monday night football game went down in Pittsburgh, PA.

2:42Rich Eisen:And it just was a total and complete beatdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter. The dam broke, the levy broke, however you want to put it on. However, the Steelers were holding off the marauding Texans defense for three quarters. Couldn't put a touchdown on the board whatsoever. And at the end of the day, it was a 30-6 final score washout. In a game that the Steelers had for the taking, if they could only put enough together on offense to somehow, someway, pop one in the end zone. And sure enough, the final touchdown of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers was the one that helped them beat the Baltimore Ravens on the final night.

3:28Rich Eisen:And all that it served to do was, yes, give them a division title, which is obviously something you want to have. And yes, a home playoff game, which is obviously something that you want to have. But all it did at the end of the day was just delay what everybody thought would have happened in Pittsburgh, PA, had Tyler Loop of the Baltimore Ravens split the uprights rather than miss one to the right. And that is what is happening in Pittsburgh now that Mike Tomlin has lost a seventh consecutive playoff game. Now that Aaron Rodgers completed the first season in Pittsburgh for him, age 42. Now what happens to them?

4:14Rich Eisen:And I understand, again, that the Houston Texans won this game. And I'm going to give them their flowers moment terribly. But at this point in time, we were wondering how this Pittsburgh season would play out from the way that it ended last year to the fact that Aaron Rodgers was targeted by Pittsburgh the minute he flew across the country. Just to be told by another Aaron, your services are no longer required. He took his time. There was a lot of conversation about whether that time would be up in time for the draft. It wasn't. Everyone was wondering when Rodgers would make a decision. He finally did.

4:58Rich Eisen:He goes to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And the question is, would he be able to somehow, some way, under the circumstances in Pittsburgh, get the Steelers to the playoffs? check that box would he be able to get them into the playoffs in advance for the first time in forever and that box was unable to be checked and now comes the questions about what should be done in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and I already know what's going to happen I feel I know but in this day and age one never knows did not think John Harbaugh would be made available didn't know that then Mike McDaniel would be made available after being told essentially, you know, go about your business and giving exit interviews to the media and your players only to be fired three days later than what normally happens.

5:56Rich Eisen:But I'll hold that in abeyance for the moment when this is how it all went down after the game with Aaron Rodgers and the media about his future. Aaron, does that game affect your decision for what to do next year? in any way? No, I mean, I'm not going to make any emotional decisions. Disappointed, you know, obviously, such a fun year. You know, a lot of adversity, but a lot of fun. Been a great year, you know, overall in my life in the last year, and this is, you know, a really good part of that, coming here and being a part of this team. So it's disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.

6:33Do you want it to be here? I'm not going to talk about that.

6:39Rich Eisen:shutting it all down basically not even saying if i'm playing i'm going to be here why would he cut anything off at the pass right now why would he say i'm only playing here when that might not be the case especially since i don't think he'd be playing there if mike tomlin's not there i could say that with about 99.9 michael jordan's not walking through that door certainty unless it's somebody from his past who he absolutely loves and would love to get started on a 22nd year with him because he's got to sit here and say to himself if i have the temerity to actually get inside him his skull and be careful think about what what he's going to say or what he is thinking he's got to sit here and think i still have it in my arm and uh I still have it neck up to the ability where I was able to avoid this rush for three quarters until the roof caved in um leading to by the way the first ever return for a touchdown in the history of the National Football League with a ball on the ground by a defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins is the first defensive tackle to return a fumble for a touchdown and then of course this is another reason why a lot of people think Rodgers will not be able to walk away because his last throw his last snap in the National Football League was a pick six and Tom Brady's last snap as a New England Patriot was a pick six in a playoff loss orchestrated by wait for it Mike Vrabel and he didn't walk away he went somewhere else and had a final few couple of seasons till he was 45.

8:27Rich Eisen:So he walked away north of age 40 from New England and finished up his career and got another trophy. And maybe that's something when Roger stares out at the Malibu sunset, he'll be thinking about. So I don't blame him for saying, you know, I'm not answering it right now because everything is highly emotional. You saw him on the sideline swearing like a sailor, upset about certain things. he has to be sitting here thinking is this the way it's going to end I'm sure it did not it was not easy for Mike Tomlin and him to put their heads together and make a decision about him not coming out for that last mop-up duty that was Mason Rudolph's gig because somebody who's a first ballot hall of famer doesn't hold a mop in his hand the whole thing kind of sucks for it to end that way and we'll see what happens I have no idea about a sense of timing or anything like that I'm sure everyone's going to want to know and the first step is what's going to happen with Mike Tomlin and this is what he had to say about his future afterwards I'm not even in that mindset as I sit here tonight I'm more in the mindset of what transpired in the stadium and you know certainly what we did and didn't do not a big picture mentality to sit here tonight so here's the way I think that one's going to go it's going to go in a way that I don't think some Steelers fans who have had enough of Mike Tomlin for whatever their reasons is going to go.

9:55Rich Eisen:It's going to go with the Roonies saying, what do you want to do, Mike? More than likely. I think so. That's what everybody says. That's the way it normally goes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There's a reason why, again, I'm age 56 and they've had only three head coaches and it's going to go, what do you want to do? Does he want to do it anymore? I don't know. He might look around and go cam hayward's got gray in his beard so do i tj watt still has the the 100 motor giddy up of anybody who's going to be a first ballot hall of famer like that um i do like some of the other young players around here but offensively what are we going to do here because i just saw the future and the future is the houston texans defense that's not going anywhere and the denver broncos defense and this is the sort of issue we've got on the offensive side of the ball how are we going to score points again last night the the Steelers defense was de-cleaning people and they were all over CJ Stroud but offensively this was the question we were going to have even with DK Metcalf coming back is where are the chunk plays going to come from where are the points going to come from would they be able to affect things on the ground I mean the first run by Jalen Warren last night 10 yards that augured well that boded that bode well until Still, it didn't.

11:13Rich Eisen:What's he want to do? There's rumors that he has a TV gig in his back pocket. We had him on this show one week ago tomorrow, and he was as honest as they come, which is, I don't have an outside noise guy. I don't pay attention to that sort of stuff, but he must have somebody that does receive offers for him. Does he want to go to TV? This guy strikes me as a, he's his ball coach as they come. He wants to be in a building. He wants that challenge. I don't think he wants to sit on a television set, to be honest with you. He doesn't strike me as a guy that's just like, you know what, I'm going to win every week just sitting on a TV set.

11:47Rich Eisen:I don't need to be in a stadium. I'm happy to tell you what I think about somebody else's job. I'll be part of the outside noise. That doesn't strike me as him. Again, I only know him for covering him for 19 seasons. I only know him from the times when I've chit-chatted with him. I have a massive soft spot for Mike Tomlin, as Pittsburgh Steelers fans and media in the western part of the state love to point out. But even he will say, essentially, the results are not there. He's no rube off the turnip truck here, to use the phrase. He gets it. He understands it. And so do the Roonies. And they're going to sit down and talk.

12:34Rich Eisen:and it's going to take at least the rest of this week. We all want answers now. As Aaron Rodgers pointed out, when this was all brought up to him in his post-game press conference about futures other than his involved. And of course, that's Mike Tomlinson. I mean, this league has changed a lot in my 21 years. You know, when you hear a conversation about the Mike Tomlinson of the world, Matt LaFleur's of the world, Those are two that I've played for. When I first got in the league, there wouldn't be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat. But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there's snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they're talking about, to me that's an absolute joke.

13:32and for either of those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we're at as a society and a league because obviously Matt's done a lot of great things in Green Bay and we had a lot of success. Mike T has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years. And more than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change. But there's a lot of pressure that comes from the outside. And obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it's not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.

14:13Who have you learned from being with Mike for a season about him? I've answered that a number of times. I've talked extensively about how I feel about Mike. and I just didn't have a f***ing answer. Thanks.

14:30Rich Eisen:And that's the way Rogers' final press conference is a professional quarterback if he retires, ends with an F-bomb. Although, again, I hear that answer and I think to myself, do we in the media really influence owners' decision-making based on the outside noise? and um and is it fair to say it's the media that is turning owners against certain coaches who have won a lot um and then i hear the last question is like what have you learned from mike tomlin and he gives the kind of look basically did you not just hear what i said about my answer about mike tomlin and i've also said that over the final few weeks which kind of lends credence to him having an issue with the outside noise.

15:20Rich Eisen:It's all just one big, you know, microcosm of the way at Rogers talks with the media and also gives them a very thoughtful answer. I don't know if you saw Mike Silver of the athletic or our longtime friend was there and he wrote about Rogers's last night. Cause you know, he goes back with Rogers. They're two Cal bear guys. Remember after the fail Mary that Silver was right next to Rogers doing a WTF? Remember that viral moment? So at any rate, it's only fitting that he's there for Rogers' last night. And he got a text. He reached out to Matt LaFleur saying, did you hear what Rogers said about you?

16:01Rich Eisen:And LaFleur texted him back saying he was totally blown away by it. It's one of the greatest compliments he's ever gotten. so um you know and everybody's like wondering did Rodgers and LaFleur get along and all that sort of business and there there's your answer um listen that here's I totally understand why the outside noise in Pittsburgh is the way it is Tom is now 1-11 trailing at halftime in his postseason career um and he's now gone nine straight seasons without uh winning a playoff game and I can't believe this is on his resume um the Steelers are the first team in NFL history to lose five straight playoff games by double digits so these are the ways in Pittsburgh PA where they're used to hanging banners they want banners they but Rogers's point is this as well and the same thing with LeFleur if you have the culture right in the building let's get the players right it's not like the players are 100 % right and Tomlin is just incompetent and fumbling the bag.

17:03Rich Eisen:At the end of the day, it is just a team effort. And there are times when I'm sure Tomlin's decision making and Steeler fans could call me up right now and give me five different instances of where he blew it, he blew it, he blew it, he blew it, he blew it. But you get the culture right, and you get the players right, you wind up with the 2026 New England Patriots playoff team. You know, you wind up with the 2025 New England Patriots. You wind up with the 2025 Denver Broncos. You wind up with the 2025 Seattle Seahawks. You get the culture right. You get the players right. You get the quarterback right.

17:39Rich Eisen:My God, you get the quarterback right. And off you go. The problem is he's really whiffed on picking that quarterback since Ben left. Well, it's not just his choices either. I mean, you know, I think they need to draft one and get that one right. Duh. I mean, you can say that about every team that's now out of the playoffs or is in it look at the top six teams in the draft you know you're wondering who's got the quarterback right or not who's gonna have to draft somebody and five of the six teams have fired their coaches and started from scratch so the way it's going to go is this Steelers fans they're going to take their time they're going to ask Mike Tomlin who wants to do and we have no idea what he wants to do and in terms of Rodgers Tomlin comes back is the door open again there were some throws that there was one that DK Metcalf right well not just the one that looked like the A.J.

18:30Rich Eisen:Brown one, not to go Ole Miss teammates on you here, but there was one that Rodgers moved to his left and threw a dart through about three C of Texans' hands. It hit D.K. Metcalf right in his hands, and it was a bullet. I mean, it's not like he's lollipopping this stuff in, and it's not like he can't take care of himself back there. He just survived all of this stuff for this season. but you know or do you say to Tomlin we're done we're getting a new coach in here who and and and it would be the the envy of anybody in the coaching community to take a job with somebody that holds on to their coaches for two decades and and you know I don't know you draft somebody you go tell Malik Willis come here remember I that was what I said after the week 16 Packers loss to Chicago that he almost pulled out of his hat or that week 17 loss that they had against the Ravens.

19:28Rich Eisen:I don't know. I don't know what they're going to do, but I think they're going to keep Tomlin, and I don't know about Rodgers. I have no idea. I just don't know if he wants to end on a pick six. Well, that doesn't even matter to him. I have no earthly idea. I've already opined enough on what I think he's thinking. Now let's talk about the Texans, then Alex Smith is going to join us. headline for the Houston Texans they can win it all this defense I've been fortunate enough to be around the NFL since 2003 this is my 23rd postseason with NFL Network the first Super Bowl I ever attended was the one that the Ravens won with with their defense and Trent Dilfer and Brian Billick and beating up the Giants and this defense of the Houston Texans is up there with that one.

20:20Rich Eisen:I know I'm talking about one of the all-time greats. But again, I saw what they did last night. I saw it in my own two eyes calling the game between the Texans and the Chargers on NFL Network and that week 17 Saturday after Christmas. This is no joke, folks. They just come at you, and they keep coming at you, and they keep coming at you. Young and veteran, all of them, all three levels. My God, all three levels. They've got guys on the back end that's baiting you to pick you off or somebody like Jalen Petrie up there with his guardian cap just throwing his body around like he doesn't have one on his head.

21:00Rich Eisen:And then Aziz Alshire right there in the middle, the pro bowler. He's one of the fastest sideline to sideline backers I've ever seen. Toe, toe. Obviously, you got the two guys on the ends as well. The guys in the middle, Sheldon Rankins, again, first defensive tackle in the history of the NFL to return a fumble for a touchdown in the playoffs. They were all over the place, man, all over the place. And when their quarterback couldn't hang on to snaps, everyone's wondering what what was going on with C.J. Stroud last night. Now, the Steelers defense is no joke as well. okay like that that'll that'll make you look at the the rush instead of down the field make you think about do i have the snap or not uh i i don't know what was going on with cj stroud and that'll be the conversation between now and kickoff chris of that game in in foxborough on sunday is is stroud going to be good enough to overcome what inevitably will be some sort of um remarkable athletic achievement scoring play by Drake May, Travion Henderson, name the playmakers there.

22:14Rich Eisen:I think the wideouts are going to have a tough time getting open on this defense. Just my first blush reaction of how that first game of Divisional Sunday is going to go. Agree. But is Stroud going to be putting up enough points on the board? Nico Collins got carded off. Again, not to go too deep on a preview here the day after the wild card Monday ended. But defensively, holy crap. I mean, that's the headline. They were good all season long. And they were exactly what the doctor ordered last night when Stroud came up with, by the way, I mean a fumble a fumble-itis that he had all last night is exactly what they needed and after the game D 'Amico Rhines I think we have him talking about his defense this is what he had to say about that side of the ball.

23:09It was an outstanding defensive performance one of the best that I've seen versus a really talented offense a talented quarterback who's

23:18Rich Eisen:played at a high level for a long time so I'm proud of our defensive performance I think this is the best performance we've had in our team history. So I'm proud of our guys for that, to limit the points, to take the football away, not only just take it away, but to go score. You get two defensive touchdowns, that's a big deal. It doesn't happen much. And those guys did what they have been doing all year, playing disruptive, playing violent up front, and it helped us to win the game today. And again, C.J. Stroud last night found enough offense, just enough offense. and Christian Kirk what an addition the former Jaguar and Arizona Cardinal exactly what they needed certainly with Nico Collins knocked out with a concussion eight catches 144 receiving yards and that receiving touchdown that put them up and that one point lead that they had on Pittsburgh felt like a 10-point lead because of this defense and Stroud have this to say afterwards you know we have some problems with the snaps me catching them you know got to find a way just to catch them and then take care of the ball.

24:20These games, the playoffs games, from my experience, they're going to make plays, we're going to make plays. It's all about moving forward and trying your best to flush it and keep going. I thought every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays. I'm proud of our guys for having a little bit of resilience in those moments. To finish a game like that was really dope.

24:38Rich Eisen:Well, you know how you learn resilience? You start 0-3, you make the playoffs anyway and you win a playoff game. The only other team to do that was the 1992 Los Angeles or at the time San Diego Chargers. That's resilience. You go 0-3 and make the playoffs. You win a playoff game, you go to the divisional round. Anyway, for the third straight year, I might add, and interestingly enough, C.J. Stroud, if you remember last year in the game against the Chargers, they were losing that game and the momentum was all about the lightning bolts until he fumbled a snap, picked it up, made a remarkable offensive play.

25:07Rich Eisen:The whole momentum changed. I was waiting to see if any of those fumbles would lead to that. It didn't because the defense needed to come up big. and it did. It's a championship defense that can take the Texans the whole freaking way. 100%. I don't think I'm stuttering when I say that. Those cats were nasty last night. They're out there playing with bad intentions. The V-backs are out there blowing you up. You look at Daniil Hunter and you look at Wooderson and they look like they should be, Chris, they look like they should be the WWE tag team champion. They're literally built like someone you just draw.

25:45Rich Eisen:They don't seem real. This team's a problem, man. 100%. Yeah, and they never played Drake May. We're going to find out. We're going to find out. Drake May's never played them. That's for damn sure. But, but, but, but, the defense that showed up and was all over Herbert needs to show up. Because if they're all over Stroud like that, May's going to make more plays than Rodgers. Because he's got more weapons and he's got the ability to use his legs in a way that Rogers used to. Yeah. Don't forget, as we all wonder about Rogers not coming back for season 22, what he was like in seasons one through about 18 or 20 of his career.

26:25Rich Eisen:Sensational. Oh, my God. First ballot stuff. Let's take a break. Alex Smith is going to join us next. What does he think about Rogers maybe retiring? He was first overall in that draft, by the way. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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