Hour 2: NFL Week 15 ‘Higher Register,’ plus NFL Network’s Kurt Warner

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0:56Rich Eisen:This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney +, 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 richeisenshow, and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Come after me, I'm a man. Rich Eisen. We're talking about practice. From the Rich Eisen Studios in New York City. Thank you, Sarah, everybody. Earlier on the show. ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark.

1:43Rich Eisen:Coming up. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Hosts of Bussin' with the Boys, Taylor Luan and Will Compton. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen show is on the air. Day number three of our four-day residency here in New York City. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We're here in Lower Manhattan, the Disney wonderful world of studios. It's unbelievable. I can't believe you just say those words every day. It's awesome. It's beautiful. It's awesome. You know, I mean, very rare can I say, Well, my morning started with Good Morning America, which is down the hall. Right?

2:23Rich Eisen:It's unbelievable. At any rate, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Taylor LeJuan and Will Compton, fresh off the Get Up set, are going to be here on the set. And we also, we just said goodbye to Ryan Clark, who is here in hour number one. Joining us here to kick off our second hour of this day is my Hall of Fame friend, Kurt Warner. Good to see you, Kurt. How are you, sir? Hey. I'm good, my man. How are you? I am doing fine. I don't know what to start with you, so let's start with Phillip Rivers. What went through your head when you heard Phillip got the call from the Colts and he said, sure, and he's going through this?

3:03Rich Eisen:What's going through your mind about this one, Kirk? I mean, I think what's going through everybody else's mind, I mean, it's crazy. You know, I will take you back. I remember I was a few years out of the league when the Cardinals had some struggles at quarterback. And they never ended up calling me, but there was just speculation. People talking about, hey, they should call Kurt. And I remember running out in the backyard and start throwing the football a little bit and taking some drops. And like, OK, if they do call, could I do this? You know, could I come back and play? And the biggest thing was I'm not as worried, you know, from a physical standpoint in terms of throwing the football.

3:42Like that's something that, you know, when you know how to do it, you don't really lose it. I know Phillip's been around football, obviously coaching and stuff the last few years. So I'm not as worried about him being able to throw a football. You know, my biggest concern, and I really had two of them. The first one was just the mental speed of the game, not being around it, not being in it. And thinking that after a couple of years out, I could actually step back onto a football field and play anywhere close and process anywhere close to what I was doing when I was playing. You know, after having not done that and been in that kind of setting for a while.

4:23And so that was the first thing that I was thinking. And then the second thing I was thinking was, man, the one thing I wouldn't want to do is come back and then have something, you know, dumb. Like, you know, I pull my hamstring, you know, trying to move out of the pocket because I'm an old guy trying to play. And then it just becomes this, you know, kind of wasted, you know, whole scenario that plays out. And so those were a couple of the thoughts that went through my mind. There are obviously some things that I'm thinking about with Phillip here is that, you know, I think he'll be fine throwing the football.

4:56But, you know, when you put yourself out there with these athletes, you know, that are playing and the speed of the game, if you're not giving yourself the best opportunity to succeed mentally and seeing it and processing it, you know, it concerns me a little bit. So, you know, that's kind of what I'm going to be watching on Sunday if he actually gets in there and plays or starts in this game. Going to be a huge challenge. And I think like most people, I just want to see it go fairly well or average or some good things out there. I just don't want to see this as kind of a crash and burn situation.

5:34Rich Eisen:Yeah, he's in Seattle where the defense is there, Kurt, over the last month have been wrapping the game up by the second quarter. You know, like they've given Sam Darnold a couple of afternoons or evenings off in the second half. And that's the question about, I mean, neck up, no questions about Phillip Rivers. And as you said, arm strength, ability to throw the football, not so much. It's all the other stuff and timing, I would imagine, as well, right? I mean, that said, though, do you really think it could go well for him to step off of, you know, an airplane for after sitting around? and obviously coaching is another thing.

6:16Rich Eisen:And playing the Seattle Seahawks, Kurt, could be one of the best teams in the NFL at the end of the day. I mean, I think there's two. I feel stupid asking somebody who's Mr. Magic Carpet Ride, can it happen? You know what I mean? Like you are the embodiment of anything can happen. But, yeah, I mean, I think there's two sides of it. That I respect Phillip Rivers and who he is as a player and this whole thing enough to not just go into it and say, oh there's no chance he's going to have any success because a great player and um you know and putting himself out there like this i respect him too much for that but i also respect the game a lot as well and what goes into playing this position uh at this level uh with the athletes that are on the other side of the field and and all the different nuances that go into playing the position i respect that so much too that um that that i don't know how a guy comes off the couch after five years of not being a part of it and not being in it and not doing it, um, and having success or a high level of success, uh, in such a short period of time.

7:24Um, and so, you know, I fall on both sides that I, I really don't know. Um, I do think it's going to be really, really difficult and a huge challenge, um, and not something that I'm expecting him to come out and, and have great success. but I'm hoping he does. I'm hoping that this is an unbelievable story and I hope that he can come back and do some really good things for this team and maybe give him a little bit of hope down the stretch.

7:54Rich Eisen:Did I really just ask the can this be possible question to a man who's got a Sports Illustrated cover of who is this guy from his magic carpet ride flex in his bust replica behind him. Like I just did that. You got to get those centered. A lot of people probably thought I was sitting on a couch until I showed up in 99 with the Rams, but I was playing a lot of football, a lot of football. You know, even when nobody knew I was playing football. So it was not like I was just coming out of nowhere, having not played football and just showed up and, and jumped on the scene in the NFL. You know, I, again, And I'm fascinated to see, like everybody else, how this is going to play out.

8:39Rich Eisen:Yeah, you were an Arena League couch, a European League couch, you know, and I guess that's now's the time, I guess, for us to uncork the, is this the latest sign that the NFL has a quarterback development problem? That a team that does suddenly have to get down a quarterback through who might be hurt. Now, obviously, that might have something to do with it. Riley Leonard might not be able to go. But they're calling Phillip Rivers up and saying, What do you think? What do you got left in you, Kurt? Is that a sign of a problem still on the quarterback development front? Yeah, I mean, I think it's twofold.

9:13First of all, it's a sign of the difference between starting-level quarterback play and then, in most situations, the drop-off from that. Is that there's not a lot of guys that are in those backup roles that teams say, okay, this is the guy that can carry us and carry a good football team and take us where we want to go. And so it's trying to take one of those guys from the past and see if you can recapture a little bit of that magic. And so, yeah, it can be the developmental part of it. But obviously, with Indy, it was a couple of crazy situations with Anthony Richardson and then obviously a young quarterback that's still getting up to speed in O 'Reilly Leonard that would be in those spots anyways.

10:03But yeah, I mean, I think it just shows that teams are always on the lookout for good quarterbacks, and there can't be enough good quarterbacks. And so you have to uncover every rock, and you've got to try to find a guy that can give you a level of success beyond your starter if your starter goes down. But we know it's often a struggle to get 32 guys, to find 32 guys that are bona fide NFL starting quarterbacks. And so when you get beyond that, it just shows you teams are looking for that next guy or trying to bring a guy along, and they're just not there yet.

10:40Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. So we saw Joe Burrow and his press conference on Wednesday sound, quite frankly, downright Andrew lucky, Kurt you know where I'd love for you to translate for me since you speak fluent quarterback what what you thought made of Joe Burrow's comments on Wednesday um yeah I don't know I mean I I hate to speculate on what specifically he was talking about was he talking about you know more of the Andrew Luck thing where it's been a rough go and it hasn't been as fun playing the game because of the injuries and getting banged around and having to play through injuries.

11:22It hasn't been as smooth and easy as I thought it would be. So that's taken away the fun. Is it more, you know, a shot at where the organization is and the limitations that we've seen inside the organization, whether that be, you know, the struggles on defense where they can go out and play well and still not win games, play well offensively and still not win games? Is it some of the hits that he's taken over the years because the offensive line has never really been solidified? And so those things, not winning and not having the level of success or having personal success but not team success like he wanted, is taking away some of the fun in this.

12:05So I don't know which way to read it. But I do understand to a degree, you know, how those things make the game a lot less fun when you're a competitor, especially when you're playing well and your team's not having success. And you're at this stage in a season after having made some runs in the playoffs at this stage in the season. You know, I got four games left and four weeks left in the season. We got nothing to play for, you know, and it's not fun. You know, once you've been there, when you're a young guy and you just love playing and you're trying to prove something, that's one thing after you've gotten to the to the Super Bowl and after you've played well in the playoffs to be out of the playoffs early in a season is kind of like, man, can we just start the season over and let's let's do this again?

12:52We don't really have anything, you know, to play for from that standpoint. So there's a lot of different directions I think, you know, his comments, you know, could lead us to. I'm not sure which one it is, but I understand it from any of those sides that it's not fun to play the game and not win and just be getting beat up and to go through injuries and struggle through that. And, you know, maybe to be on a team that just doesn't have the pieces that, you know, meet your level of play to allow you to, you know, to thrive the way you feel you should be based on the way you're playing.

13:30Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's talk a little QB confidential all 22. Since we saw the Jaguars in the London game, they've lost only once. And that was a game in which they led by 19. against the Houston Texans. They've really come on strong, and they're now 9-4. Are you seeing anything different out of Trevor Lawrence over the last month or a half? I think Trevor's playing really well. Some of his better games the last couple weeks, I've felt. And the thing, and we talked about it when we were in London, the thing is Trevor is a really good quarterback, and he can make every throw, and he can wow you and probably will wow you with some throws every single week.

14:14The biggest thing with Trevor through this point of his career is that there's always moments in games, four, five, six times in a game where he misses a read that's just like an easy read that he's made a million times and he just misses it and it leaves you scratching your head. Or after watching him make an incredible throw, he misses two layup throws that you're just like, how does this happen? How does somebody so talented and who's done so many good things miss this many what we would call easy things in the NFL? And that's really been the one thing that's held him back, in my opinion, from becoming an elite type quarterback in the National Football League.

14:55And I feel he's gotten more comfortable and been better in those areas during this stretch. Their defense has played great. Brian Thomas has gotten more involved. Jacoby Myers, I think, was a great addition for them. But they just look like a complete team right now. He's not having to carry them as he has in the past. And I think because of all of that, he's playing more solid football from top to bottom during this stretch. And the team's playing more solid football.

15:25Rich Eisen:And there was much made before and after the Eagles' loss in Los Angeles on Monday Night Football that Nick Sirianni took more of a role in the offense leading up to the game, and they were talking about it afterwards. Anything that you saw on film, any different concepts that the Eagles ran on Monday night, Kurt? Not really. A lot of the same base concepts that they run. Again, I mean, I don't mind their concepts. I know you might say they don't have a lot of them, and so you may call it a little more simple, elementary from that standpoint. But I still think they run good, solid concepts. Like, I don't look at their plays.

16:05Like, there's some teams out there where I look at their plays and go, what in the world are these people doing? Like, what are they trying to do? What's the quarterback supposed to think? You want to share? I'm not sharing those right now. Come on. Maybe at another time. Maybe we'll get into that. Okay. But I don't think that when I watch the Eagles play. Like, I watch them and I'm like, hey, it's a good, solid concept. It might be a simple concept, but they've had great success with that concept over the years. It's a concept that should work against the coverage that they're going against. And so I'm fine with it.

16:40And in this game, there were a lot of opportunities out there. I thought Jalen made a number of plays in this game and a number of plays that guys on the other end didn't make that could have changed the complexion of it. He missed some plays in this game, which we see. the four interceptions. I'm actually just posted it on QB Confidential. I broke down the four interceptions. So if somebody wants to go and watch that and see kind of the little things that went into that and, you know, some on Jalen, some on other parts, some on the defense as always. So, but yeah, I didn't see a dramatic change in anything that they did.

17:18You know, but again, it wasn't bad stuff. I didn't, you know, go watch a film and oh gosh, nobody's open, there's nowhere to throw the football. There were opportunities out there, some made, some not made.

17:30Rich Eisen:And Travis Kelsey went on his pod with his bro on the New Heights pod and said that he's struggling finding the answers to what ails, what can be fixed. What are you seeing, Kurt, from the Chiefs? Yeah, I mean, I just – well, yeah, the Chiefs in general, I think are struggling offensively with a lot of different issues. You know, up front, they had a number of issues, you know, to Travis's point. You know, he'd always been that guy for Patrick in the past. You know, the guy that, hey, when I need to play, he's going to make it for me. I can look his direction and we're going to have this connection that we're just going to find a way.

18:12And Travis, you know, by his own admission, he's not that guy anymore. He's not creating a separation, that feel for the game or the ability to just find ways to get open is not happening like it has in the past. I think that the age and the wear and tear just isn't as explosive and elusive as he once was. And now that puts the onus on some of these other guys to be that for Patrick Mahomes. And as we talked about on game day last week, I don't believe these players are that. They've got some good players, but I don't believe they have number one difference makers, and especially when it comes to being route runners.

18:53They might be great if you can get the ball to them in space and they can make someone miss and run. But if you're asking somebody to dial up a great route and to beat some guys in one-on-one and to be that go-to guy that you can build around, I don't believe they have that guy in their offense in the passing game since Travis isn't there anymore. And it shows up and especially shows up when you're playing against great defenses like the Texas.

19:20Rich Eisen:In a couple minutes, I have left with you, Kurt Warner, the two 11 win teams with second year quarterbacks that are surprising with the Patriots and the Broncos on big fat win streaks. I have their hands full at home this weekend, the bills coming in trying to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Patriots who could wrap up this division with a win. And then there's the Packers taking on the Broncos. What are you looking to see out of May and Nix in these games? What do you want to see from them, Kirk? Yeah. I mean, when it comes to Drake May, I don't really need to see him do, you know, anything different than he's been doing.

19:58He's been playing the game extremely well. He's been seeing it. He's been making the throws. He's manipulating things. I guess, you know, the one thing it's probably going to take in this game is a couple of those special downfield throws that he's been making all year long. You know, it's hard to be as consistent throwing the ball 35, 40 yards down the field as he's been. But that's been a big part of just about, you know, every one of their wins. There's one or two of those big throws. I think he's going to have to have a couple more of those in this game for them to get a win. But just keep doing what you're doing because he's playing really, really well.

20:36On the other side with Bo Nix, uh Bo's doing a lot of really good things too um the one thing that I continue to see with Bo is that um he often plays a little bit too fast and you know like this last week I think he was 31 of 38 against the Raiders which the numbers are obviously great and he finds positive plays whether that's with his legs running or finding checkdowns but there were a number of big throws in that game that he missed big opportunities in that game that he missed by playing the game a little bit too fast and getting to his check down instead of staying in the pocket, settling in and reading the plays out.

21:14And I just feel like against a good Packers team with Jordan Love making as many big plays as he's been making on the other side, that Bo is going to have to make some of those plays in this game if they're going to come out of there with a victory. you know so that's that's kind of the one thing that that I want to see Bo take that next step in that area on top of all the other good things that he's doing all right and lastly who gets the

21:41Rich Eisen:QB confidential MVP all 22 player of the week what do you got this was a you know this was a good week you know your guy in Minnesota JJ McCarthy played well Jordan Love played well obviously obviously had a good game yeah uh jared goff played well uh but to me it came down to the two guys um and it came down to matthew stafford uh and josh allen again this past week um and staff you know did what he's been doing uh just playing great football three more touchdowns and uh just some great throws him and puka were awesome break that out a little bit this week on on game day But I'll give the edge to Josh Allen, you know, because I thought he played a really solid game.

22:25And then he put on the cape a couple times when he needed to. You know, kind of what we were talking about on game day. That I believe the best version of Josh Allen is when he plays on schedule and in the pocket and plays the game and allows the offense to work for him. And then when there's a couple plays, a fourth down play where you got to throw it in between three defenders and hit your guy for a touchdown, put on the cape. when there's a time where there's an unblocked defender coming at you and you've got to find a way to make a miss and run 45 yards for a touchdown, you've got to put on the cake.

22:55And that's exactly what he did in a game where they found themselves down and maybe outplayed early on. He made a couple of those special plays along with being solid in all those other areas to help get him a big win.

23:09Rich Eisen:Kurt, you make it fun for me, so I think I'm going to keep doing this for a while. So thank you. I really appreciate it. I like that you're having fun. I have fun with you too. It's why we show up every Sunday and we love what we do. So yeah, I think I'll retire too when I stop having fun. All right. Very good. Kurt Warner, everybody. Thanks again, man. Great to see everybody. Check out QB Confidential, which is Kurt's must follow YouTube channel. And of course, we'll see Kurt on NFL game day morning for week 15, leading up to a host of games in the one o 'clock window in week 15. And that's a fun segment, as always.

23:48Rich Eisen:Love it. All right, we'll take a break. You must be loving that. Oh, just Drake may just show up and just be you. Unbelievable. Yes, that's facts. You can confirm. It is great. Pretty cool stuff. Back from New York in a moment.

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