Hour 1: World Series GM4, Hutch Gets Paid, plus NFL Network’s Kurt Warner

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0:30This summer, serve up the cookout classics, Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs and Heinz Mustard. Grill up a dog, add classic yellow mustard, or loaded Chicago style. We all know it's not a cookout without Oscar Mayer and Heinz. 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.

1:14Ladies and gentlemen. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here they are. The Rich Eisen Show. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. puts them in the lead with a two-run shot. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests, Pro Football Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner, ESPN MLB announcer, Boog Shambi, actor Keegan-Michael Key, and now it's Rich Eisen. That's right. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show, Disney Plus, the ESPN app everywhere, ESPN Radio 5, presented by Progressive Insurance. My Hall of Fame friend, Kurt Warner, is going to be first up here to talk about what we just saw and witnessed in week number eight.

1:57He called the radio call of Monday Night Football of the Chiefs dispatching of the Washington Commanders. He's also, as you know, Mr. QB Confidential. He looks at every single piece of film that's out there. So we'll come through week eight. We'll preview week number nine that starts on Thursday night between the Ravens and the Dolphins. And then tonight, game five of the World Series here in Los Angeles, California. It is one of those proverbial pivotal games as we are now tied at two games apiece. Boog Shambi, who's calling that action for all of us on ESPN Radio, is going to join us in studio in hour number two and then in hour three.

2:32I wouldn't miss it. Very funny and talented, hilarious and awesome. Keegan-Michael Key stops by in studio and it's always an A-plus event when he does that. We have some fun in store and planned for him when he joins us in hour number three. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you, sir? Rich, I'm excellent. How are you? TJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. It's back in his chair. Good to see you, sir. And TJ Jefferson, I see the candle's already lit over there. Good to see you. How are you doing? I'm doing fine. We also have a follow-up on what we discussed on yesterday's program about would you take your bestie to a game, like a playoff game, like, say, a World Series game.

3:11Just would you take a good friend to a game if they are rooting for the team that is preventing your team that you're going to see from moving on in life. And guess what? Ashton Kutcher has, in fact, chimed in on that front because we talked about it yesterday. That's later on in the show. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We always love hearing from you. The World Series is now tied at two games apiece because the Toronto Blue Jays woke up on short rest and heard the entire free world talk about what a unicorn Shoei Otani is. and I don't know if they internalized it and said to heck with that.

3:47Also, it helps when, you know, their lineup is mostly intact. George Springer not in there, but it wasn't like the game was on the line and all of a sudden a bunch of guys who weren't starters were in the game because the game is now 19 and a half hours long and they're running out of baseballs. And they also had a pitcher of note of their own, albeit not an all-star all-world hitter in his own right, But Shane Bieber had a lot to say about last night's action. Don't forget, he's a Sion Award winner. He's been there and done that, except a World Series start. And sure enough, when Shoei Ohtani stepped to the plate after getting the Blue Jays out in the top of the inning, he wasn't intentionally walked, although it looked like it was one of those intentional, non-intentional, intentional walks, right?

4:39Sure. He did, in fact, get on base. accidentally on purpose to start the game for 10 consecutive plate appearances to put himself on base but uh Bieber got out of that and the Blue Jays wound up falling behind again only to have Vlad Guerrero Jr. step to the plate and get a spinner of an Otani mistake right around the letters and he just smoked it into the left field stands to give the Blue Jays a lead that they would not relinquish because they are a team that is equipped to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in a way last year's American League East opponent for the Dodgers in the World Series were not.

5:32big to do in New York City when Buck Martinez, long-time major leaguer and long-time Toronto Blue Jay announcer, said the Yankees weren't as good as the Blue Jays or weren't as good as many people in the Yankee organization or New Yorkers thought that they were because they don't put the ball in play. They strike out too much, and if they don't homer, they lose. And I understand last night the Blue Jays homered and won, but the Blue Jays keep showing you why they are a better team equipped to beat the Dodgers than last year's New York Yankees and it's not just because they officially now have more wins in this World Series than the Yankees were able to get against the Dodgers last year it's because the Blue Jays do put the ball in play they've got guys who can get base hits not just seeing eye base hits they have guys who can come up with an extra base hit now and then and also put the ball in play instead of striking out like most of the Yankees aren't I know I'm making it about another team right now I'm just trying to compare and contrast the two teams that come from the AL East over the last two years to take on the Dodgers in a World Series and the Yankees didn't last year didn't have to deal with Otani being a healthy b off the hook and c a pitcher and you know andres jimenez was a perfect example last night he's down in the count winds up getting the count in his favor and loops a base hit to left field instead of striking out and guess what happened the blue jay scored a run and then the next uh guy gets up and has a productive out to knock another guy in and then another guy gets a base hit and another guy has a productive out and then you get into the dodgers bullpen a day after the pen has been used excessively and suddenly you can break this thing open a little bit and blake trinan who i think is maybe the last guy other than tanner scott that a dodger fan wants to see in the game right now he comes in he gives up a couple of extra runs and that's all she wrote and the blue jays don't even have to use their closer jeff hoffman because they didn't want to if they didn't have to because he pitched two innings the night before.

7:48So now they're kind of set up for tonight's game five. Now, obviously, the Dodgers didn't use Sasaki either last night, but the Blue Jays come away with the win against Otani when Otani is just as on fire as he could possibly be. And Dave Roberts admitted what we all do know, but sometimes it's tough for us to see, certainly in the media, that Joey Otani is mortal. He's mortal, but there's also a lot of energy, obviously, on the pitching exerted, but they made good pitches. There were some backdoor cutters, some breaking balls, crowding them a little bit, and I thought his intent tonight at the play was good, but you look back at those at-bats, they made good pitches on them.

8:37They really did. Do you think it's unfair to put that much pressure on them to expect him to do those extraordinary things every night? You know, I know he doesn't see this pressure. I would say that's what he expects from himself. It's part of, you know, being a fan and seeing great things from great players. So, you know, every time he steps up, I expect great things to happen and maybe unfairly. Okay, so the Blue Jays are now, even with the Dodgers in the series, they're 2-1 in World Series games that aren't wildly off the hook and take 90 hours to finish. So they got to feel good about themselves going into game five tonight.

9:20And this is a fun World Series. I hope everybody out there is tuning in. Certainly the ESPN radio, Boog Shambi is going to come in. Boog Shambi is coming in an hour number two to talk about it. And whether you're watching it or listening to it, this has been wildly entertaining. And George Springer, you know, John Schneider, let everyone know during the broadcast last night, He thinks that it's possible that Springer could come back tonight. Wow. Which would be something else. Mr. October for Game 5 tonight in Chavez Ravine. Again, we'll talk about it in hour number two with Boog Shambi in studio.

9:56Some NFL news to get to. It's very rare to see a big fat contract signing announced in between weeks eight and nine of an NFL season. Usually if it's not done before week one, it gets tabled for the rest of the season, but not in the case of the Lions and Aiden Hutchinson. Aiden Hutchinson, who at this very point last year was overcoming an injury that maybe Cam Skadaboo is going to have to overcome. Again, I'm not a doctor. I don't see any x-rays or MRI, and it wasn't in the operating room with Cam Skadaboo in Philadelphia, although Big Dom might have been. Do you think, did Big Dom scrub up for that one?

10:37Wouldn't shock me. Big Dom can do anything. Did you see, though, that he did stop by and give Stadaboo some Philadelphia goodies? Yeah, pizzas and cheese sticks. I love that. Love it. But at any rate, at this point last year, we're wondering when Aiden Hutchinson is going to come back, if at all, from a horrifying injury to his leg. and now one year later the lions are five and two coming off of a buy getting ready for the minnesota vikings at home and aiden hutchinson has a new four-year deal worth 181 million dollars did i get that number right here it just happened but just before we came on the air here uh on on our program yeah well i think 180 and 180 yeah 141 is the guarantee a four-year contract extension yeah and um all aiden hutchinson has done is just be awesome since coming off of the campus at michigan obviously i'm biased when it comes to him he is a game changer he was absolutely the first guy along with in harbaugh's program to plant the flag and say it changes now and he has been nothing but terrific for the detroit lions when healthy drafted second overall i mean the jacksonville jaguars let him go to the detroit lions and choosing javon walker instead out of Georgia and what he is is an absolutely perfect avatar on the field for what Dan Campbell wants grit determination and unstoppable he plays like he's coming for your kneecap after taking a bite of x y and z right and um and the Lions as you can see are spending he is now the fourth guy on the team to have a nine-figure deal.

12:37Panay Sewell, Amon Ross St. Brown, and Jared Goff are the others.

12:45And also, the way that he has been balling out this year, you got to also be, I don't know if amazed or surprised is the proper word. It might be a little bit of an exaggeration. You know how negotiations go. I mean, at some point, they're a little bit spinning sideways. And it's just like if you've ever been fortunate enough to buy a house or a car, you think the deal is going to fall through. It's going to be over. Like at least once, twice, three times in those deals, it looks like it's not happening. And he was able to just nobody knew this was going on. I mean, I'm sure the insiders in Detroit might have known or only the people inside the building.

13:28Yeah, this kind of popped up out of nowhere today. It's just very rare for it to happen. And just the latest example, I'm sorry to do it, but I have to do it. Anytime somebody at this position signs for the amount of money like this, and again, the guaranteed dollars are significant. I think about where Miles Garrett is today. You know, on his bye week with his team absolutely adrift, on their bye week at 2-6, coming off of a five-sack game of New England's revelatory Drake May, sitting by himself at the end of the bench in new england with a team record that doesn't matter to him you know he's getting ready to put his tombstones on the front lawn and you know one of those tombstones i'm sure that won't be out there was here lies the 2025 cleveland browns because their season is is particularly um cooked adrift i'll i'll be i'll be nice about it a better way of saying that yes and there's two guys now at this position game changers who miles garrett could sit here and say i'm better than them and i have been better for them than them for a very long time longer than they've been in the league you could stack both of them on top of each other in terms of the length of their careers and it's you know the length of mine that i have been dominating since i came out of Texas A &M first overall for Cleveland.

14:59And they're now making more money than me. And they're 100 % in the mix for the Super Bowl. And I am not. And I had my finger on the eject button and I didn't press it. I stayed in Cleveland. And I'm just wondering what he's thinking wherever he is right now. He's probably at Turks and Caicos on the beach. No, I understand. And his life is great. He's set up forever. His descendants are set up forever. And he's also, regardless if he does ever leave Cleveland, he's going to finish in Ohio. No doubt. You know, with a first ballot Hall of Famer. And he's going to be one of those Hall of Famers who show up as a 50, 60-year-old man, knock on wood, who looks like he can still give you some snaps.

15:54and that gold jacket is going to fit him perfectly. Him and Mel Blunt. Yeah, Micah Parsons and Aaron Donaldson. 93.5 career sacks combined. Miles Garrett, 112.5. Yeah, I mean, we're not even talking about his resume or in terms of being in doubt here. It's just... We'd like to see him get a different type of ring. Sure. And I'm sure he does too, and he had it set up. and for whatever reason he decided not to do it he might actually like it living in in his house in ohio and he didn't want to leave it really and he just wanted the bag he got the bag um but so now does micah and hutchinson and on thanksgiving day they're going to be on the same field in detroit with the division and um seating for the conference on the line and um just um this is what I think of whenever I see these guys hit it like that so congratulations to Hutchinson and the Lions for getting it done and also um to um JJ McCarthy you're back and there's a fellow Wolverine on the other side who's going to make your day long if he has anything to say about it on Sunday 844-204-RICH number of dollars got my um power rankings um I believe if I'm not mistaken after beating the Knicks.

17:24Giannis Atetokounmpo is here in studio today off of just one dribble. He made it all. He traveled all the way to here. We'll talk about that. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Kurt Warner is going to join us next to break down what we saw in week eight, what he saw on film, and preview week nine.

18:15O 'Reilly Auto Parts

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19:21ls-696-891 fast funds terms apply at sofi.com slash debt play we're back on the espn radio feed presented by progressive insurance i just asked you kurt warner have you ever lost your confidence at any point in your career you know i i never did but there were definitely times where i questioned um what i was doing um because you know there's times you go through stretches you know I remember kind of my last year you know starting with the Rams you know started you know six or seven games you know that season before an injury and it was like three touchdowns and like 11 interceptions in that short period of time and you know I would go back and I would watch the tape and I would go okay what could I have done different should I have done something differently you know if I was doing this all over again or if I was somebody that was, you know, not in my shoes and just watching this, would I tell my quarterback to do something different?

20:19And, you know, obviously there were times that obviously you go, yeah, it's a dumb decision. But for the most part, it was just like, this is crazy. You know, I'm completing almost 70 % of my passes, you know, seven out every 10 passes. It just seems like every time I make a mistake, it's an interception. And, you know, I've dealt with the same thing with my son, EJ, is that, man, he can play great football and we can talk about it. And then he's like, dad, but every time one thing goes a little bit off, instead of the ball hitting the ground, it finds its way into the hands of the opponent. And so I've gone through stretches like that where where you struggle with why is this happening and how is this happening?

20:58And is there really something I could do differently? And every time I went back and studied myself, I always came to the same conclusion is that sometimes things just don't bounce your direction. You know, whether that's, you know, a little bit something off with your communication with your wide receiver or every time the ball's tipped, it gets intercepted instead of hitting the ground or, you know, you're anticipating something and the defense does something a little bit differently that you don't really know until you throw the football. And so there's just so many things that go into it. And I think that's part of that confidence thing is you have to be able to realistically go back and watch what you're doing.

21:37and when I say realistically you have to be able to say you know what that was that was a bad decision and this is why that's a bad decision and you have to avoid that decision and then on the other side you have to be able to go you know what I would do that every single time and I know it didn't work out there and I know it ended up in the hands of the the opponent but that's how I've always played and I understand why I did it and I would do it again and so you have to be able to go out there and go, I'm not going to worry about that part of it. You know, there's just so many different aspects that go into it because, you know, you can talk about, you know, I was talking about the interceptions that happened in the Monday night game, you know, and, you know, late in the game, Marcus Mariota throws an interception as they're trying to come back.

22:22And, you know, there's things like that too, where it's like, I would never make that throw in a regular situation. But when I'm down two touchdowns late in the game, I've got to put the ball in harm's way a little bit more and try to make a tight throw a little bit more than I would otherwise. So you also have to take into consideration the situational football and what was presented to you. And so I think there's so many elements that go into it. But if you don't have a realistic viewpoint of what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, I think it's easy to get kind of mixed up and mess with your confidence, either being overconfident thinking oh it doesn't matter just keep doing what you're doing you know that can't always be the right decision and then other times uh to get tentative when you really shouldn't be tentative and you've got to just let it rip and play because you're not necessarily playing bad football kurt warner here on the rich eisen show my nfl game day morning compadre and also qb confidential is his spot on youtube check it out it'll make you smarter listen in terms of all um impressive of performances.

23:28Let's, let's say Jordan love here. You just got to sit here and wonder, Kurt, when he's sitting there waiting for Rogers to be done with his job, essentially, right? I mean, it's just one way to put it right. Waiting for his shot, waiting for the time where they were going to turn to him. He had to think to himself at some point, I'm going to start here. At some point Rogers is going to go somewhere and still be the hall of fame, Aaron Rogers. And I'm going to maybe play against him. I'm going to be on the same field as him. And for him to have that opportunity on Sunday night football and come up with a 360 yard, three touchdown, no interception performance that included 20 straight completions to make him, as he was just named 20 minutes ago, NFC offensive player of the week.

24:11What a dream come true for him, right? Honestly. No, no, no doubt about it. And I tell you what was most impressive to me was the way that he played that game. You know, if there's been one thing that we talked about with Jordan Love, I talked about it with him, you know, on our sit-down on game day morning, just about the gunslinger mentality is that he's kind of got that gunslinger mentality. Like, I can make the big throw and I can make the big play. And there's been stretches in his career where he's tried to do that and force some balls and thrown some interceptions. And so here he is on the biggest stage, you know, in this moment, But like you're talking about, you want to show everybody, hey, you know, Packers made the right decision at that time to go with me.

24:53All of all of that stuff. And I thought he played so well with it. I mean, there were even times in this game where I thought, man, why didn't he push that down the field? You know, like I thought he had an opportunity, yet he was playing a very intelligent, smart football game. He didn't let the hype and he didn't let all of this. I got to outperform Aaron Rodgers. and I got to show people on a big stage, you know, all of that stuff. It was, no, I just need to go out and play the perfect game for my team. And he was taking checkdowns and taking the shorter throws and not forcing things down the field for the most part.

25:27And so I was just really impressed with the maturity on that side of it because I could – I mean, I've been in those situations where you want to go out and you want to throw for 360 yards and three touchdowns and you want to do it in wow fashion and you want to make big play after big play. And you can get outside yourself at times. And I thought he handled that game perfectly, made the throws he was supposed to make, didn't put the ball in harm's way, didn't try to do too much. And in doing that, he shined brighter than anybody else on the field. And then in terms of Rodgers, I mean, we established on NFL Game Day morning this Sunday, you know, for those who missed it, you, Kurt, were showing some wow throws from Rodgers that looked like he's turning back the clock.

26:12and he's also moving out of the pocket in those same ways. That said, just struggling in the red zone, the high red zone. And what ails the Steelers' offense right now, Kurt? I mean, what ails them for me is playing on schedule and on time. And whether that's just looking at the weapons and the offense and being able to create some easy opportunities within structure and within their scheme. I think Aaron continues to be a little uncomfortable in the pocket. You know, what I showed on Sunday was a couple of those big throws from inside the pocket that I hadn't seen earlier in the year. And it was kind of like, man, you're hoping that maybe he's getting more comfortable with his guys and in this offense.

26:56So he's more comfortable in the pocket. But I think there's some missed opportunities on schedule. I think there's some lack of opportunities on schedule. And so a lot is falling on Aaron to have to be more creative or, you know, forcing him to be more impatient in the pocket and want to get out of the pocket and where he's been really good, whether it's the design naked bootlegs or whether it's him creating on the out of the pocket. He's been really good in that facet. I just think they have to get better on schedule. That's Aaron starting, being comfortable and making some of those reads and throws.

27:30And it's scheme-wise and it's player-wise creating some opportunities on schedule. Because it's just, I don't care who you are. It doesn't matter what player you are. Trying to live in an off-schedule world in the NFL does not work very often. They can work three or four times a game and it can be great. But it is hard for it to work for 60, 65 snaps a game for 60 minutes. So they've got to get better on schedule in their passing game. It's Kurt Warner Wednesday right here on the Rich Eisen Show. All right, Kurt, you saw and called the first Chiefs game of the year. I was next to you. You saw and called the latest Chiefs game.

28:06I imagine it's Kevin Harlan sitting next to you for the national radio call. I don't think there's any question the Chiefs have turned the corner. It's now about how far they're going to go. And what a big game this Sunday against the Bills. Walk me through how you see the 10th all-time meeting between Mahomes and Josh Allen going and how they need to play to win. Yeah, I'm with you on the Chiefs. They're just back to doing what they've been doing for the last couple years. And it's a really hard thing to stop because it's hard to create negative plays against them, you know, because their offense is so much, you know, short throws, yards after catch, finding creative ways to get their players the ball in space.

28:50And so if you can't get them in negative situations where you force them to have to hold the football and throw it down the field, they are a tough team to stop because, you know, Patrick's as good as anybody at dealing the football and creating positive plays when there's not a lot there. I'll even say this is that I don't think Patrick is playing his best football yet. Now, he's playing great off schedule. But in that game on Monday night, I thought there was a number of opportunities in front of him, you know, within the scheme of the offense that he missed. But, you know, the offensive line gave him time.

29:26And when you give him time, there's nobody better off schedule than Patrick Mahomes. And I feel like a lot of this season he's been playing more off schedule than on schedule. And part of it was because of the issues early on and the lack of comfort with the guys around him. But, you know, that's the amazing thing is that they're playing well. And, you know, Patrick's playing great, you know, off schedule. And those guys work so well together. They got their weapons back. But I think they can even be better. Like, I think they're going to get more comfortable. And Patrick's going to settle back in more because he's gotten into this mode of having to create more, I think, over the last year and a half.

30:02And it's taken him a little bit away from, you know, some of the things that he does really well in terms of processing and seeing and getting the ball out on time. that I think this team can get even better than they are right now. And so it's pretty amazing with what we saw week one in Brazil to the way that they flip things now. And I think most people see them as the team to beat in the AFC, even though they just snuck into the playoff picture. I think it's going to be ascension from here. And then on the other side with Buffalo, I like what they did last week, of course, you know, the big win and getting back to running the football and establishing the run.

30:40You know, Josh is another guy that I believe is playing too fast this year. I think Josh is awesome when he plays on schedule and in the pocket and he settles in the pocket and reads it and throws it. I feel like he's gotten really impatient. And again, is it the weapons on the outside and the lack of the ability to create separation? But there's oftentimes where you'll see him drop back and it's almost as soon as his back foot hits on the top of his drop, where he's moving and his feet go sideways and he's looking to run or, you know, or get on the move instead of let, letting the play work for him.

31:16And so I think he's got to do the same thing. He's got to settle back in and trust the offense in front of him. I think part of that is, you know, getting back to running the football, which is, which made them so good a year ago that it wasn't all about Josh Allen making plays. But yeah, I think he's got to, to slow things down a little bit and get back to playing some of that MVP football that we saw a year ago who was the quarterback when you were playing kurt that you knew leading up to the week i need to have my best game period end of story because i know he is too in the same way that potentially both alan and mahomes are thinking about this week who was that guy i mean yeah i mean i i mean all the all the great ones like anytime you you you went against the guys you know that would be you know the mannings and um you know barb at the beginning of you know of my career well far far far is because the Packers cut you too right Kern I mean like that was there was a there was a little bit of a of an edge to that one uh I mean always always an edge come on I want one I want one like one guy that you knew because I honestly Allen and Mahomes know right now with all due respect to everyone else yeah I mean Lamar's maybe another one yeah i just don't know if i had there was i don't know if i had a matchup like that i mean for me it was more uh certain defenses and so for me it was like when i went up against tampa's defense that i knew that the only chance we had to win was if i played you know my best game and you know that was to me more the matchup i didn't have a brady manning type matchup or you know like you're talking about uh mahomes against allen i didn't have something like that that was ongoing necessarily in my career, especially as I bounced to some different teams.