Hour 2: ESPN’s Marcus Spears, Chargers-Cardinals Stunner, plus OSU-Texas Reactions

22:07Marcus Spears:I mean, I would love to go with probably everybody, the Chargers, would probably be the most disappointing. Carolina made the playoffs, but everybody was a little speculative of how good that team really was. But the Chargers, to me, was the one, man, where you just scratch your head and say, and I know Biotis got hurt and they lost him, and that was a big deal for Harbaugh. He talked about that in the offseason leading into the season. But it just was stagnant. The offense with Mike McDaniel, the excitement of him and Justin Herbert potentially working together and being super explosive. Ladd McConkie gets hurt, goes out of the game.

22:51Marcus Spears:It doesn't seem like they trust anybody else on the outside. It just was a loss is a loss. But a performance and how you lose matters. And I think how the Los Angeles Chargers lost and how they looked in the loss is probably the most concerning one of the weekend.

23:10Rich Eisen:But shouldn't we give them the same grace that it's a new offense that you gave to Dallas that it's a new defense?

23:15Marcus Spears:Yeah, look, we all in media now because of how fast we want stuff to happen. I almost said the S-H-I-T word, Rich. How fast we want stuff to happen. everybody sucks that lost week one and everybody that won uh are that those are the teams to beat um there are some things that happen in the nfl that's just reality man like do we think the rams are gonna lose a lot of games do we think they're gonna look that bad i know miles is out but offensively they probably do well but you can believe that san francisco is going to be a good team. That's an honest assessment that those two teams, when they play again, the game may not go like that, but it's going to be a hell of a game and a tough game for either one of them to win.

24:06Marcus Spears:But I just, you know, is Arizona good? That good? Are they going to continue to play that way? Or what? That is the point of all of this crap when it comes to early in the season, right? That's why I hate this damn predicting Super Bowl winners. I know we have to do it. We hate predicting schedules and Super Bowl winners and all of this stuff. We already seeing one attrition in the NFL, right? Miles Garrett on injury reserve. The Zay Flowers hamstring, don't know how long he's going to be out. Lane has got a risk on our – there are so many variables. With all of this damn cool guessing that we do and fans want to knock our head off when we in the airport because we didn't pick their team to win the Super Bowl.

24:56Marcus Spears:We don't know a damn thing. Nobody in the world thought that the Houston Texans would give up 36 points. We all knew Josh Allen was good. We all knew Josh Allen is arguably the best quarterback in the league right now, and I think he is the level that he's playing at right now. But we didn't think Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills was going to put up 36 on the defense that was supposed to be the Green Goblins and all of this type stuff. So the NFL has a lot of unknowns. Take the Cincinnati Bengals-Tampa game, right? Tampa, you let fans tell it, Tampa lost that game by 50. They lost it by six or something like that.

25:40Marcus Spears:So again, this is the NFL. This is the way it goes. Things will sort themselves out and we will start to see week in and week out who can consistently play at a high level. And those will be the teams that we start believing in.

25:57Rich Eisen:Hey, that's why I love having you on is, you know, there's a nuanced take. Not everything needs to be on one side or the other, that there is some gray area. But in the long run, your answer is thoroughly unacceptable, Marcus.

26:07Marcus Spears:Well, I get it. I get it. And I know why I know why it's unacceptable. but I want to live in that lane of some common sense. Yes, we do that every day.

26:18Rich Eisen:We try to do that every day. I understand. So then let's put things in a little bit more of a I mean,

26:25Marcus Spears:outside of the New York Jets going to win the Super Bowl because they won beat the Titans. Nothing else was exciting about football yesterday.

26:36Rich Eisen:Okay, let me cross that one off my list.

26:39Marcus Spears:Yeah, cross that one off my list. Jets playing in Cali at the end of the year.

26:43Rich Eisen:Let's put things now in a week-to-week box then, based on your answer there, Marcus. So let's just say Kyler Murray comes out of concussion protocol this week and he is ready to play week two against the Bears. Do you think Carson Wentz should still start?

27:00Marcus Spears:I think Carson Wentz should still be in. When they have the conversation in that meeting with the coaches, Carson Wentz name should be involved in who will start this week. One, I think Kyler Murray is probably going to be out longer than a week. But to your point, Rich, the things that he showed and the connection that he had with Justin Jefferson was super impressive. Problem is, when you name a starter, all right, these coaches don't like going back and forth and flip-flopping. They don't like that. And I don't know if Kyler, I don't know if they would go into that meeting saying Kyler Murray didn't do enough to continue to be the starter.

27:34Marcus Spears:He got a concussion. He got injured. and I don't think the injury this early should supplant him. Now, we can get excited about what Carson Wentz did, but we also can have some revisionist history about what Carson Wentz does at times. So, again, there's always going to be that conversation. And, Rich, I tell my kids this all the time, right, when they're asking me questions about football. You know who the most popular football player on every football team is? You know the answer to this. Who is it? Backup quarterback. You're damn right. You're damn right. I remember a couple years ago, the Dallas Cowboys wanted Cooper Rush to continue starting.

28:13Rich Eisen:I remember that. We were talking about that just last week. Because, well, Jerry also lit the match when he said, you know, I can't wait for him to give me a problem with all his winning. You know, like Jerry lit the match.

28:24Marcus Spears:It's just like this, Rich. This is why we're going to have so much fun on Mondays. Because, you know, I'll say things that just need to be said. Correct. Here's the other thing. Cleveland, right? Since we're talking about quarterbacks, I'm going to get back to what you asked me.

28:40Rich Eisen:You know, Schefter already said, your new colleague on Monday Night Countdown, on Pat's show, he said that he, Schefter already said, he doesn't know if Deshaun's going to start this week, that he thinks Cleveland could go to Shador right here and right now. And to be honest with you, Marcus, the rest, like, I don't, I understand why Deshaun got a week one start. and I understand why the Browns want to see something from him, but you've traded Miles Garrett out here to Los Angeles. You have officially started a youth movement within your building, and you've got more kids to come too next year.

29:16Marcus Spears:Rich, we all know damn well that there are 230 million reasons why Deshaun Watson started. There is no going back to Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, regardless of if he plays the rest of the way. There is no going back. You have nothing to show for that trade, that money. And you got a young quarterback that could actually be solid, that would quiet a lot of noise, and you can put him in and see what happens. You're not going to the playoffs. You're not going to win a Super Bowl. You're not going to be a different team with Deshaun Watson playing, in my opinion, than you would be with Shadour. So, again, like there is there is an unsettling disposition with this front, this ownership in Cleveland that just won't let go because they spent two hundred and thirty million dollars.

30:12Marcus Spears:That's why the show Watson is starting. So, again, like we we have conversation after conversation again, it goes back to also the backup being the most popular. I know every person I do. I know everybody in Cleveland want to see Shadua Sanders start and play and see what he can do. But again, we can go team by team, whether that starter had a good performance or whether the backup came in and did some good things. And there will be a separation of, well, we should see what this guy has. I'm not buying it in the Colin Murray, Carson Wentz situation. I think it will be a conversation. But I think when Colin Murray is back healthy, he'll be starting.

30:49Rich Eisen:Marcus Spears here on the Rich Eisen Show. A few minutes left before we send him off to Arrowhead for tonight's Monday Night Football, Monday Night Countdown on ABC. I'm so hype.

30:57Marcus Spears:I'm so hype about it. Yeah. I'm so hype about it.

31:01Rich Eisen:I have one last thing I want to ask you about the weekend before we get to that, if you don't mind. The Eagles and the Commanders. The Commanders looked like they couldn't move it a lick all day long. Jaden Daniels with a drive at the end of the game that I got to be honest with you. I'm watching it. I'm like, there it is. There was two years ago. Finally, there it is. And Jaden Daniels starts, he finds McLaurin. He starts finding his receivers. They're moving around. And it was a nice clip, a nice rhythm to it. He finds Steph Diggs over the middle to make it a two-point game. Diggs jumps and hugs the upright, which is a penalty.

31:39Rich Eisen:And the 15-yarder results in them not being able to try for two to tie the game right there. And Jaden Daniels had this to say after the game. Roll it.

31:50Marcus Spears:We just got to be smarter. You know, we got to know situation, situational football. You know, that's on me for not reiterating that in the huddle. So, you know, we just got to be smart. You know, this is a time and place for everything and celebrations. I'm pretty sure at that point we went for two. You know, had to settle for the extra point. But, you know, as the leader and the captain, man, I put that on my, I put that on this on myself for not reiterating that in the huddle. knowing that we had the potential to score on the play while we're in the huddle and just reiterating the score we're going for two.

32:23Rich Eisen:So here's the way I took it, and I'd love to hear if you could interpret for me that, you know, listen, it was Jaden's time in the barrel with his whole number thing with the college and all that business, but the one thing you can't say is that he's a fool. He's a really smart, sharp. Wise beyond his years. Right kid. And he criticized Diggs and then said, it's on me. You know, like to sort of paper over the fact that he rightfully called his veteran receiver out. Marcus, why? Why do you think he did that?

32:58Marcus Spears:Because it's important to let Stephon Diggs know that that was terrible. But I'm also with you. I'm in this with you. And I'm going to take the brunt and the bullets when I need to for this football team, because I'm the leader. And I think this goes further than just football. It goes about accountability. Because if I'm Steph and Jaden goes up there and says that, when I have my next conversation with Jaden, I would hope that Steph Diggs goes to him and say, bro, that's on me, bro. And I know you said I should have reiterated that and you should have reiterated that in the huddle and all of that.

33:37Marcus Spears:But I can't make that mistake as a veteran that has played in big games, that has performed at a high level, that's on me. And that builds respect, that builds responsibility, and that builds relationship. And I think Jaden understands that, and he knew that while he was standing at that podium. Yes, I'm going to say publicly that Stephon Diggs made a bonehead decision, and we can't have that in those situations. But I'm also going to make sure that me and Steph Diggs are the conversation and not just Steph, because I'm not going to hang him out there to dry. I respect it in a major way. And I think it builds not only trust, it builds respect.

34:18Marcus Spears:Because now, look, man, the reality is these quarterbacks that's getting paid quarter of a billion dollars to play the position and they're playing it at a high level, you would love for them to be the leader. You would love for them to be the voice. Rich, I got news for people. Everybody ain't that. Every quarterback that's even good ones, they ain't looked at in the locker room as the leader. or a guy that everybody is going to rally behind every single game. It's some other guys. He may be a part of it, but he's not the stop in the beginning. I think Jaden is solidified that I'm the front-facing guy of this organization, and when things go bad, I got to take responsibility, and behind closed doors, I'm going to get at y 'all.

34:58Marcus Spears:And sometimes in public, like he did, I'm going to talk about our responsibility as teammates, as guys on this team, but I'm also include myself in my part or being responsible. Now in the locker room, Jay probably like, man, I ain't have a damn thing to do with that. You can't do that, bro. But publicly what he said, it takes everything off of, of an individual and it puts it on him and the team, which is the way I think you lead when you are that guy.

35:28Rich Eisen:Man, I love that. And that's why I asked you about it. I knew you'd have a take like that. And what a game, Washington at Dallas for the right to not go 0-2. It's going to be a lot of desperation in just a week two game. It's great. Before I send you off to the stadium, I give you the floor on tonight's game. What are you looking forward to seeing? What do you think, Marcus?

35:50Marcus Spears:So I'm big on Eric B. and me being back with Kansas City because I think he establishes an attitude that I think Kansas City got away from. As much as we talked about the passing game and no receivers, I think if people go back and really look at Kansas City when they were winning Super Bowls, and obviously Patrick, him and Travis dominates the conversation when it comes to the offense and the things that they did. I think Kansas City is going to remind people that they were a physical football team at the line of scrimmage, that they wanted to run the football. They wanted to be dominant at the line of scrimmage, along with Patrick Mahomes doing phenomenal things and obviously pushing the ball down the field.

36:33Marcus Spears:I think they lost that a little bit, that identity of trying to be so explosive and score so many points. And if you've been around the league and league circles, you know that Airbnb EB wants to be a physical at the line of scrimmage guy and believes that if you can't run the football, you don't have a really good offense. So I'm excited to see that. And plus, with this matchup, your ass don't want to be dropping back with two tackles against Denver like that all the time anyway. So so go and get Kenneth Walker solid trying to solidify the interior and paying Trey and all of this stuff. I'm expecting Kansas City to try to come establish the line of scrimmage.

37:13Marcus Spears:Now I'm expecting Denver to fight like hell because they tough, too. And they they not know pushovers at all defensively. But I think we'll see a little bit of physicality that that has been missing, in my opinion, from the Kansas City Chiefs offense, which potentially could turn into them being explosive down the field. But that'll be something that I'm super focused on. And then from Denver's standpoint, this year is a year of expectations. Last year, he ran up on people. Bo Nix played well. We know Sean Payton understands what it means to be there. But now it's a different approach when teams are coming in knowing who you are and what you can do and the level you can play at.

37:53Marcus Spears:So I'd be interested to see their response as well to success. this is going to be a hell of a game tonight I truly believe that I believe Kansas City got a lot on their mind they want to reestablish who they are and Denver also wants to continue to establish that now we're here and we're not moving aside because y 'all are Kansas City Chiefs and y 'all dominated this division for a while it's going to be hype man it's going to be super hype and I can't wait I'm actually shaking my leg right now because I just get excited about football dude dude love it

38:24Rich Eisen:Can't wait to watch you in the new desk this evening.

38:29Marcus Spears:I'm telling you, bro, between me, Pat, Jason, Kelsey, and I don't know if people know that J-Mac has a lot of stuff to him. Oh, yeah. Like he can, you know, he can fix it up. I worked with him for years. Yeah, so I just, you know, I want everybody to collectively say a prayer for Scott Van Pelt tonight for hours six through eight.

38:52Rich Eisen:SVP's got it. I'm sure you know that, too. He got it. And then you're out here next week. Talk about a week two game two. Giants, see if they can follow it up against a Rams team that will have another week of hearing about what happened in Australia and their decision to fly last second. They're going to come out. It's going to be awesome, and I can't wait to see you out here in Los Angeles. We'll see you soon. Yeah, man.

39:15Marcus Spears:I'll see you soon, brother.

39:16Rich Eisen:I'm going to come to the studio next week. That's it. Boom. We got you covered. We'll get on that logistics right now. Broncos and Chiefs tonight on ESPN and ABC. You see, that's Marcus Spears, who's on Monday Night Countdown. He didn't spell out the S word that time. No, he didn't. He said it with his chest. He did say it with his chest. He said, oh, I love it. That's awesome. It's going to be great every Monday. That's the man right there, Marcus Spears. Did you know every 36 minutes in the United States, a child, it's awful, diagnosed with cancer, which means some of the bravest warriors you'll ever meet aren't professional athletes or superheroes.

39:49Rich Eisen:They're the kids in this fight. That's why I'm proud to support Hyundai Hope on Wheels. For the past 28 years, with support from Hyundai, their dealers, and every new Hyundai sold, Hope on Wheels has contributed over$300 million to childhood cancer research, helping save more than 40 ,000 kids. Join our fight at HyundaiWarriors.com. When we come back, more of your phone calls. Our three is wide open and my best day in college football in a while. Coming up.

40:20Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in. gusto is online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses it's all-in-one remote friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay hire onboard and support your team from anywhere automatic payroll tax filing simple direct deposits health benefits commuter benefits workers comp 401k you name it gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget and it's all built to save you time with built-in automated tools for offer letters onboarding docs direct deposit, and more.

41:14Rich Eisen:Plus, you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash rich and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. Did you know every 36 minutes a child in the U.S. is diagnosed with cancer, which means some of the bravest warriors you'll ever meet aren't professional athletes or superheroes. They're the kids in this fight. That's why I'm proud to support Hyundai Hope on Wheels. For the past 28 years, with support from Hyundai, their dealers, and every new Hyundai sold, Hope on Wheels has contributed over$300 million to childhood cancer research, helping save more than 40 ,000 kids.

42:01Rich Eisen:Join our fight at HyundaiWarriors.com. the rich eisen show the podcast personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible and that's overcoming high interest credit card debt walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed rate monthly payment no fees required and as soon as the same day funding that's right pull off your own debt defying stunt with a sofi personal loan visit It's SoFi.com slash trick to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank, NA member, FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. All right. So my college football Saturday, as you know, the backdrop was the extra second and Michigan surviving Western Michigan and Michigan now being the scourge of college football, even though he had nothing to do with the extra second.

42:57Rich Eisen:All they had to do was just he've won 60 yards in the air with now no time left on the clock for sure and pull off a less than 1 % chance to win, and they did. And now in comes Oklahoma with a defense far more stout than Western Michigan's with Brent Venables, the head coach of Oklahoma, dialing up all the evil that he could create for Bryce Underwood, who 1 ,000 % in last year and in the first game against Western Michigan was having problems pre-snap, post-snap processing what's in front of him. And man, that's why it's football week to week. You can improve. And Bryce Underwood improved. He showed a resolve.

43:45Rich Eisen:And all the stuff he heard and hearing that the head coach said his job's not infinite. And that's correct. I could say that about anybody in any profession, right? And this is a profession. The kid is being paid like a professional. And that's unfortunate for somebody whose age matches his uniform number, 19. And that's just the way it goes now in college football. But they had a great game plan, which was to run him. Now, you could equate it to simplifying the playbook or whatever. but if you run him and you're successful running him and running the football, then he's not dropping back and saying, what am I seeing in front of me?

44:31Rich Eisen:And it worked. And Michigan's defense lights out. Lights out. And yada, yada, yada with Oklahoma having a terrific third quarter and fourth quarter, Michigan came up with an interception of John Matero had a long day and um and set up michigan for the game-winning jordan marshall run and the defense stood up and kyle whittingham's team with a massive w massive w outstanding and it was i was buzzing all of my uh fellow michigan friends and alums buzzing buzzing buzzing and we're like this is This is great. This is what we want. Not weird. Not controversial. Right, right. Not asterisk, scandalous.

45:22Rich Eisen:This football. Like, let's coach them up. Let's be physical. And let's win and protect the home turf in front of 111 ,000. Can't get any better than that until Ohio State blows the 20-point lead to Texas. Now, that was. I didn't see that one coming. and not just put the scarlet and burnt orange cherry on top. And as I Instagram down having a glass of red, I just want to tip my cap to McConaughey and Sark and Arch and Bevo. And yeah. Oh, yeah. Ron Powell. Oh, keep going. KD was there. All of it. Yeah, Durant. I'll just see my nephew Arch. Fantastic. Michigan beating Oklahoma. Ohio State blowing a 20-point lead.

46:11Rich Eisen:And God bless it. You having an Arch Manning card. I love Arch too much. And that's more valuable now. That's what we call a win-win-win. Put me on the boat, baby. And as you know, I'm an unofficial Manning. That's true. That Papa Arch called me. Here's my brother talking after the game.

46:38Marcus Spears:You dream of playing in games like this, hosting the number one team in the country at home. I mean, how about that? And getting a win at one point? Let's go, baby.

46:48Rich Eisen:Let's go, baby. I guess he's my... He would be your nephew. My nephew? Yeah, that's my nephew. Yeah. Archibald Jefferson Manning. Yeah, that's my nephew. I can feel it. Oh, God bless you. Hollywood Smothers. Hollywood Smothers. What a great name. The greatest name in college. Hollywood Smothers. I hate for the group chat to say that. I love Hollywood. I live out here. Right? I love the Smothers Brothers growing up, which was my version of Hollywood back when I was younger. You keep running, man. That was fantastic. Oh, by the way, death taxes in Ohio State has problems in the kicking game. These are all, oh my God.

47:26Rich Eisen:That was, honestly, let's freeze dry that Saturday. College football. I didn't care about anything else going on. Like Han Solo? You want to be in the carbonite? I just wanted to write in carbonite. It was a good Saturday. That would be Ohio State in Texas. Like, freeze them. Oh, fantastic. Hollywood. God bless. I love college football. Hollywood smothers. Certainly on a Saturday like that. Just the best.

47:50Marcus Spears:Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast.

47:52Rich Eisen:You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app.

48:00Marcus Spears:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

48:09Marcus Spears:Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile with your summer price forecast. Now, unfortunately, we're seeing rising costs across the country with possibility that big wireless hates you 100%. Now, over here at Mint Mobile, we're seeing sunny skies and dropping prices. Every plan to just$15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms