Hour 2: Jonathan Taylor is MVP, Patriots are Legit, the Bengals Blew It

21:50Rich Eisen:after yesterday's exhibition of throwing deep balls, he was two or three for 83 pass yards and a touchdown on deep passes on Sunday against Cleveland. This season, on the 20-plus air yard attempts, he's 13 of 17, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 157.5. Almost perfect. How's that for handoffs, basically? deep ball handoffs. And in terms of his efficiency, passer rating is very difficult to figure out. It's kind of like, you know, OPS in baseball. You know what I mean? Like, what is it? I don't know. All you just need to know is a certain number over a certain number, you're really good.

22:36Yeah, right. Okay? And 100 passer rating is that level of consistency. Best passer rating is 158 and change. Don't ask me why it is. They should just make it an even number like 100, but they don't. I don't know. It's math. I was told there'd be no math. I'm much more verbal. That's why I do this for a living. That's all of us. Thank you. Brockman can count a little, but... Oh, no. Coop is really good at math. Zan's really good at math, too. I've got math kids. I don't know where he came from. Neither does Susie. Their mom. No. Their mom is mostly verbal as well. I digress. She's verbal. ESPN came up with their QBR stat, which is on a 100-point scale.

23:14There you go. At any rate, I'm being company-friendly.

23:18Rich Eisen:200 200 pass yards and 100 passer rating in seven straight games now for Drake May. Is that good? It's tied for the longest such streak in NFL history by any quarterback, 23 or younger. And every other quarterback with a streak of seven-plus games are named Mahomes. He's good. You've heard of them. Yeah. And, oh, Dan Marino. He had six of them in 84. What did they do in those years, Rich? They won the MVP, Christopher. And you can see the information on the screen there. That's what he's doing. It's crazy. It's really crazy. How about this one? Every single thing he does is either something Brady was the last to do or Brady never did.

24:06Rich Eisen:Are you noticing that? Yeah. No, I am. Well, they're not going to compare it to Matt Castle, but you get what I'm saying. I mean, for him to catch a stray. Three passing touchdowns and no incompletions and a perfect passer rating in the second half against Cleveland. Mays, the first Patriots quarterback to do it this century. In a single half. Either half. Choose your half. First or second half. You get a half. You get a half. You get a half. And only 14 such instances league-wide this century. He's that good, man. Defensively, they're all over it. And I don't know, you know, New England is, if this wasn't your team, Chris, you might be leading the yeah, but who have they really beaten, Charles?

24:48Rich Eisen:Then I'd have to push back and go, oh, they won in Buffalo on a Sunday night. But other than that, man, you know, the teams that they've beaten. You have to beat. And the way that they're doing it is what good teams do. Correct. You got a bad team in your house, spank them. You go on the road against a bad team, spank them, handle it. And they've been doing that. Yeah, who have they beaten? Sure, I get it. But they went to Buffalo and win, and everyone thinks they can go to the Super Bowl. And that was a really, really good Browns defense. that came into Foxboro. That's true. As a matter of fact, if I may jump in here, all these stats I just gave you, Drake May was not sitting back having a sandwich and a smoke in a rocking chair.

25:28Miles Garrett was in his lap all day. Miles Garrett had five sacks. He had Miles Garrett. He was the Grimman. I mean, Miles Garrett created an entire lawn for his Halloween exhibit for Friday with Drake May. $8 million per sack yesterday. Nice. We'll talk about that in a second. Atlanta's next. at home and Atlanta hasn't looked very good in the last couple of weeks. The real test that I think might get some people paying attention is at Tampa in week 10.

25:57Rich Eisen:They have a Thursday night home game against the Jets. A trip to Cincinnati. A Monday night home game against the Giants before they're late by coming off of it. They're nice and healthy for the Bills to pay a visit. They have to go to the Ravens and then they've got the Jets and the Dolphins. That's a playoff team right there, people. That's a playoff team and potentially a division-winning team, and potentially, who knows, they don't play the Colts, a team that can be in the mix for a high seed. Let's just put it that way. In the mix. So congratulations to your... And it's all much sooner than anyone in New England, I hope, would admit.

26:35Let me just say this about Myles Garrett. Guy's a Hall of Famer, okay? So I just want everyone to hear this, and I know he came on our show, and he's like, I'm not playing for the Browns ever again, and then he took a fat contract, and now he's playing for the Browns again. So you might think this is me axe grinding. It is not. I know so many Browns fans who want – I feel for them. I want them to win. I think this league is better when the Browns are really good. How does that sound, okay? But it's tough for me to hear this soundbite, quite frankly, although I do feel for the guy. Hit it. It doesn't get any easier each week you ask me.

27:14Does the loss diminish how you feel about your performance today at all, I guess?

27:18Rich Eisen:I would throw the whole performance away for a win. And I totally respect him. I do. But it's like full Don Draper, Mike. It's a full Don Draper moment right here. Because he had 100 % the exit strategy all mapped out when he came on our show at the Super Bowl. He did a whole tour. He had the whole exit strategy mapped out. But right now, it's very difficult for me to sit here and think anything else. But if you got it, Mike. That's what the money is for. That's it. No, boo-hoo. No, no, no. Come on, man. I understand it. You signed up and wanted this. It still can't be easy for him to get through it.

28:10So I'll give him that. But the bottom line is Micah Parsons got his exit visas, got more money than Miles Garrett, and he's on a 5-1-1 team right now. And I'm just wondering why Miles Garrett, with his finger on, I think our buddy Albert Breer called it the eject button, why he didn't push it. Because what do you think? Who is the quarterback going to be? The quarterback was going to be some rookie or some veteran. Like at the time when this happened, obviously he didn't know that the guy who was going to take the victory formation of that Super Bowl in New Orleans was going to be his teammate.

28:50But he knew it was just going to be some veteran that they went ahead and got and some rookie they were going to draft. He knew that there was a rebuild coming. But he took the cash. And I'm just wondering if he goes home like Huell, right? and he's lying on his stacks of money on his bed. And I'm not saying I'm above that and wouldn't have taken the cash if I was in his shoes. I hear you. You don't get to go up there and then, you know, expect us to feel bad for you.

29:17Rich Eisen:Career high and a team record for sacks. He's now got 10 on the season. He had five coming into the game. Yeah, he's dominating. And he's got 10 on the season. 20th time since they started recording sacks that a player's had five or more in a game. He passed Reggie White for the most sacks by any player prior to their 30th birthday. He's Hall of Fame, first ballot material. He's going to have, he's going to, he'll finish in Ohio. I just thought he, I thought he would go somewhere other than Ohio. But instead, again, Miles has got to be like watching Micah on a Sunday night, sacking Aaron Rodgers for a team going to 5-1-1, cashing bigger checks and wondering maybe, why did I stay?

29:58Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH, number to dial. Two wins in the AFC, so you've got to give it up. Got to give it up. First one to Miami Dolphins. I did not see that one coming. Did anybody? Bueller? Bueller? No way. Hey, anybody thought that Mike McDaniel lost his locker room or whatever? They went into Atlanta and put the bang thing on the Falcons. And this is an instance when two is turning the ball over, over and over and over again. He admits it. McDaniel's like, hey, we got to start him. And just hope he doesn't throw 10 picks. honestly right you know how's two are gonna handle that and he's just like you know this is my bad i'm gonna play better and you're just like this thing is circling the drain and when's he gonna get fired and then they show up and he was terrific the offense was terrific and the defense balled out that was a terrific performance in the national football league on the road when the seasons i mean you could say that on a crossroads they had a two three game win streaks wrapped around a monday night win that was a tough one to get against the jets at home and they bottled up bijon and they uncorked tour in atlanta i guess is it is it that building is that what it is i don't know so mike mcdaniel let's do this we we've been playing him like over and over and over again like all is lost the sky is falling let's let's give him let's give him a victory uh a podium hit it i mean have um an embarrassing outing in the national football league from a as a team um the you go uh one of two ways and i didn't see the um the uh the negative way being a uh something that was on the table for our locker room uh so generally if you can if you can sustain through tough times um and continue to build momentum uh in your game without results um the results do come okay there you go same guy in a loss as he is with a win which is talking the way he talks.

32:27Rich Eisen:Jalen Waddell killing it. Devin Achan. It's his 13th career receiving touchdown yesterday. He is so good. It's tied for fourth in the Super Bowl era for any running back in their first three seasons. The aforementioned Chuck Foreman, Christian McCaffrey, and Austin Eckler are the only ones with more. And then they allowed a season low 10 points and 11 first downs. Complimentary football, as they say. Kudos to them. And then, there's the New York Jets. Talk about not seeing it coming. Garrett Wilson doesn't even get on a plane. Josh Reynolds isn't going. The top two guys targeted at the wide receiver position.

33:12Out. Gone. Sauce. Didn't play. Out. Joe Flacco man of the moment from in the pocket

33:23Rich Eisen:to at the diner by himself everybody's talking about him right and then this is crazy I'll be honest with you I started watching other games there were seven on at once I started watching other games when Joe Flacco ran one in I mean I'm like okay Okay, is Joe Flacco going to be the one to throw one in and run one in in this game and not Justin Fields? Is that really what's happening right now? Joe Flacco, 17th rushing touchdown of his career, oldest man ever to run one in in the history of the National Football League from scrimmage. Unbelievable. Pardon me, for Cincinnati. He's the seventh player over 40 to run one in from scrimmage in NFL history.

34:17Rich Eisen:19 targets of Jamar Chase. It's all working. It's all working. They're up 31-16 in the third quarter. The Bengals' 16-point margin. And that's when the Jets said, you know what? We have no wins. We have an owner with no confidence in the quarterback. I mean, Woody Johnson's comments on Justin Fields at the NFL owners meeting this week are a new threshold. a new threshold for owner criticizing player. I can't recall an instance where, you know, the owner is like, well, our coach is doing well enough, but essentially saying, that's the way you're going to look with a quarterback doing that stuff.

35:04He said it wasn't jiving. I heard that. Yeah. And I also heard him basically say, you know,

35:10Rich Eisen:it could complete a pass, things like that. Justin Fields told us in London that he took all social media off his phone. That's what he told the broadcast team before Jets Broncos, in which he had negative 10 net throwing yards, looking awful. Then coming home, getting hurt, looking awful before he got hurt, leading to Woody's comments. And he said that he had tears. Well, it wasn't a football version of tears, but still he was affected by it. And then he shows up and the Jets offense shows out. And that offensive line led the way. Much maligned, but the Jets are one of the few teams in the NFL who are starting the same five more often than not, if not the entire season.

35:57Rich Eisen:254 rush yards. Fields wasn't sacked. Brees Hall, man, 18 carries, 133 rush yards, and two rushing touchdowns. 800 rushing yard. 100-yard rushing game of his career.

36:16Rich Eisen:And a touchdown pass to Mason Taylor pulling out the old bag of tricks to take the lead, 39-38. And I'll tell you what, that's when I got some texts from people, are you watching this thing? Rack it back, start watching it, caught up to speed. Man, everybody's thinking the same thing. This is just another gutting loss. Yeah, how are you going to blow it? The old Jet fan in me was just like, there's a trap door, and I could see it was all stripey, that stripey B. I hate this team. That'll be the trap door. That'll be the trap door from which the game-winning field goal will come in from 60-something yards and end it.

36:55But the defense held, and the Bengals lose. and this is fitting fitting result for Justin Fields and Aaron Glenn who are trying their asses off and congrats to Aaron Glenn the team doesn't give up which is another reason why you need to stick with him and let him get his culture going and find the guys for him

37:22this is Justin Fields after the game I'm going to get pretty boner right here but But this week I kind of, you know, I found myself in my closet crying on the ground, laying down. Not because of the hardships, not because of the troubles. I felt like, you know, I was built to handle that and I was put in place to handle this situation. But in that moment when I was talking to my best friend, you know, how hard it was and just, you know, not wavering faith wise. I just had gotten a text from my sister and my stepmom. And it was just an encouraging text on, you know, just keep going and keep spreading the faith.

38:07And they just sent me a link on social media. And I tell you guys all the time that I'm not on social media. So I didn't see it. So that was just a it was just a sign from God for me to keep going and that, you know, I'm in the right place. Yesterday I was just praying over and over and over again, like, yo, like, this is just one win. And, you know, but all that to say is that, you know, God is real. God is good. And everything that we go through in this life is for a purpose. So, yeah.

38:37Rich Eisen:What a gutty, gutty performance and a win. Do you know, for quarterbacks who have played at least seven games this year and has thrown at as many attempts as Justin Fields, We call that a qualified quarterback. Do you know there's only one quarterback in the NFL who has yet to throw an interception? You know who the name of their player is? I'll give you a hint. His name's Justin Fields. No interceptions. Didn't turn it over. Wait, what? He has zero interceptions. The only qualified quarterback in this category in the NFL. He's got to throw one. And, you know, listen, you could say, oh, they ran it, they ran it, they ran it.

39:14Rich Eisen:He didn't turn it over. Making all those runs mean nothing. for the owner to say what he said, I understand he's not on social media, and for him to hear it, and for him to obviously be affected by it to this point, and then rely on his faith to get him through this game in this fourth quarter and come up with their biggest comeback like this with 23 points in the fourth quarter, their most points in the fourth quarter since that big 30 point fourth quarter on the monday night against miami remember that one al michaels came and talked about it hey man that's a big w for the jets and there's no more winless teams in the national football league kudos to all of them and i understand i uh jets fans and dolphins fans you'd rather be in the position of that patriot fan right there but for one week feel good about it they're not easy in the nfl it ain't easy and maybe you're just one year away from from uh that guy being in the position of the patriot fan over there when you are just handle it a little bit more more class

40:35Rich Eisen:844-204-rich number to dial here on the show your phone calls in a full hour three of just us coming up.

40:45Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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41:44Rich Eisen:Back here on the Rich Eisen Show simulcast, sitting here on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. The Hyundai Hope on Wheels program I've been telling you about, please check it out. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search up Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more about this incredible program that's lasted over 27 years during that time period every hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research don't know if you know that together with over 850 dealers nationwide they've raised over 277 million dollars supporting 20 over 25 000 kids in their fight against cancer at hyundai hope isn't optional it comes standard so just mentioned to you all about the jets comeback win on the bengals the bengals had it right there a 15 point lead at home in the fourth quarter to go to 500 this is what they brought in joe flacco to do to win these games that jake browning was not And they had it right there in front of them against a winless team that was just running the football because they didn't have the horses at receiver.

43:06No Garrett Wilson, no Josh Reynolds. Those were the top two targeted people at the position for the Jets not playing. And they had the ball jammed down their throats. Jammed. And lost it. because the defense again this is the problem for this team as we know the defense couldn't get it done

43:34Rich Eisen:the 38 points is the most scored by Cincinnati

43:42Rich Eisen:in a loss and tied for the most in a Cincinnati loss since week 2 of 2007 that's how they lost it most in a loss this year, most by a Cincinnati Bengals team in a loss in almost 20 years. And after the game, I mean, the head coach essentially said, can somebody step up on defense? Zach Taylor said, hey, we got to find somebody to take the lead there. Certainly with Trey Hendrickson in and out of the lineup, somebody's got to make a play. And somebody then went to Jamar Chase with that and made it sound like he's just talking about the team writ large. It didn't go well. Zach just said one of the messages to the team in the locker room was that somebody needs to step up.

44:32What do you think of that? I play offense. I'm not worried about what the defense got to do. I'm just making sure I'm just chaining them on every play. He didn't take you off. At least us, he didn't take you off. I don't know. No comment for that. 19 targets, 12 receptions, 91 yards for him. 28 receptions in the last two weeks is tied for second most in a two-game span of the Super Bowl era. Three and five. That one's just got to sting more than any of them else. They had a four and four record. They would have been a half game behind Pittsburgh. And instead, they're three and five.

45:09Rich Eisen:And a half game right behind them is Baltimore. in the same way that I said hey the the the home games and road games that their division games are right there in front of them Cincinnati as we all know is already held serve against Pittsburgh they're at Pittsburgh after their bye they play the Bears at home this coming week and then have a bye and then have Pittsburgh two games against Baltimore but I mean they can't stop anybody If you put that up again one more time, if you don't mind, take a look at the opposition. 39, 31, 27, 37, 28, 48. And their wins with Burrow, 27. I mean, they gave up 16 points in week one, but that was Cleveland with Flacco.

46:06We said this earlier in the year. This season looked like it was just mirroring last year in the way the defense was playing. But they started 2-0. That was the difference. That allowed them, and that's why they're only 2-under right now. Right. As opposed to seasons over.

46:23Rich Eisen:But that one was, I mean, that's going to leave a mark. That's going to make people dine by themselves, staring to the distance. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. MLB.TV on ESPN is your home for every out-of-market game. live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players, plus MLB Network and ESPN app features like Multiview, syncing your stats, key plays, bets, and fantasy, all in one place. Sign up now for MLB.tv and the ESPN app. Separate subscriptions required, blackouts, and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.com slash MLB TV for more information.