In short
Hour 2 of The Rich Eisen Show focuses on college football analysis with ESPN CFB analyst Josh Pate, plus “Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday,” and talk of upcoming LSU-Ole Miss.
Key claims
Michigan is 2-0 and looks like a “foundation” team after beating Oklahoma; Ohio State’s Texas loss is survivable and doesn’t end playoff hopes, with a lesson to not “let up” until triple zeros; Oregon is a prime candidate for a “failure to launch” narrative due to unprepared starts (0 points in first five drives vs Boise and again vs Oklahoma State) and complacency; LSU-Ole Miss is “theater/spectacle” but also features elite football (Lane Kiffin’s entertainment approach, plus strong QBs and coordinators).
Notable examples
Texas’ fourth-quarter double-digit snap drives; Ohio State’s freshman WR rotation (Chris Henry, Legend Bay); Lane Kiffin bringing influencers; Oregon’s early drives; Michigan’s defensive preparation and special teams vs Oklahoma.
Guests
Josh Pate (ESPN college football analyst; hosts YouTube show; appears on ESPN’s “Bustin’ Guys” Fridays). Also mentioned for later: Steelers DT Cam Hayward and comedian Joe Coy.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VODiscussion with Josh Pate on College Football
2:26 to 3:56
Rich and Josh Pate discuss Michigan's success and Virginia Tech's performance.
“Hour number two of the Rich Eisen show is on the air.”
Texas vs. Ohio State Game Analysis
3:56 to 7:26
Analysis of the recent Texas vs. Ohio State game and its implications.
“make them notice you on Monday at the press conference.”
Postseason Formatting and College Football Dynamics
7:26 to 10:16
A discussion on the current college football postseason format's urgency.
“They could lose even two more times and still be considered for the 12 spots to get in college football's playoffs.”
Preview of LSU vs. Ole Miss Game
10:16 to 14:00
Previewing the highly anticipated LSU vs. Ole Miss match-up and its impact.
“You want to take a crack at the AI comments and what's going on with Arch right now and what you think Texas is doing as you and I are talking right now?”
Analyzing Oregon and College Football Trends
14:00 to 20:40
Insights into Oregon's performance and current narratives in college football.
“And so, you know, people's minds remember LSU blowout, Ole Miss taken to the wire in week one.”
Sponsor: LinkedIn Hiring Pro
20:40 to 21:30
Promotional segment for LinkedIn's hiring services.
“That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in.”
Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday
21:30 to 24:00
Discussion on overreactions in sports and upcoming segments.
“When we come back, it's Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday.”
Fantasy Football Advice and Listener Interaction
25:35 to 28:00
Discussion on fantasy football strategies and listener calls for advice.
“I'm only going to put a few bucks down because I need to save my money for later.”
NFL Rules Controversy and Intent
28:00 to 31:51
Explore the inconsistencies in NFL rule interpretations regarding passing and tucking the ball.
“So I totally understand why you feel like you're hosed.”
Listener Ideas for NFL Structure Changes
31:51 to 34:25
A caller proposes an innovative idea for reorganizing the NFL structure to increase competition.
“on a tuesday when we come back how does that sound um okay let's go to mike in arizona mike What's up, Mike?”
Show all 15 chapters
Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday
34:25 to 35:51
The hosts dive into overreactions from the previous NFL weekend's games.
“I'm thinking, this is not going to work out well, but I'll take the call anyway.”
Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday
36:31 to 37:23
The hosts dive into overreactions from the previous NFL weekend's games.
“If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible with a SoFi personal loan.”
Continuing Overreactions in NFL Analysis
37:36 to 42:00
Discussion of further overreactions and insights on NFL teams and players after week one.
“It's a Tuesday during a football season.”
NFL Overreaction Tuesday Analysis
42:00 to 46:44
The hosts discuss NFL team's performances and the implications of early season losses.
“You know, so I know you said we got punked and I'm still not.”
Debate on Running Back Rankings
47:04 to 47:55
A deep dive into the all-time running back rankings and the impact of Derrick Henry.
“I'm not taking Emmitt off my list, so it would vary.”
Transcript
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1:21Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.
1:50Now, on with the show. All day, let's go, all day. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Once you put him in the game, he's gonna play. Touchdown! Nine minutes after ACL surgery, Patrick Mahomes.
2:04Rich Eisen:From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate. Coming up, Steelers defensive tackle Cam Hayward. Comedian Joe Coy. And now it's Rich Eisen. All right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen show is on the air. We've got Cam Hayward in his usual Tuesday spot and joining us as he did last Tuesday and this Tuesday and the Tuesdays after this. Josh Pate's college football show is out there for you to check out on YouTube. And of course, he's hanging out with the busing guys every Friday on site at two o 'clock Eastern on ESPN. Josh Pate is here on the Rich Eisen Show.
2:51Rich Eisen:Yeah. Hey, Josh. Buddy, Michigan's 2-0, just like we thought. They're 2-0, just like we talked about in August. All's well. You look younger than you did last week. So I assume some things changed in your recreational life, your personal life. You seem sprightly. You know how rarely I use that word, but you seem sprightly today. I appreciate that. But the only way I could follow up with you is, hey, Josh. Don't you Franklin me. Hey, Josh. Don't you Franklin me. Hey, Josh. Hey, Josh. Hey, Coach. Hey, Coach. How are you? Was that so tough to respond? Shame on these idiots on Zoom with their delays and their videos turned off.
3:34What's wrong with these 19-year-olds?
3:37Rich Eisen:Hey, Josh. I mean, you want to read that one for me? Is there what that was about, Josh? Well, I think what's happening right now is Virginia Tech has started 2-0. Yes. Not enough people have maybe noticed. And so if they don't notice you on Saturday, as Mima always said, make them notice you on Monday at the press conference. So James Franklin is choosing the latter instead of the former. But I do want to say, yes, they're a very, very strange, short, three and a half point favorite against Maryland this week, but I don't want to look at the here and now because I'm not a coach or player. I can afford to look down the road.
4:13You know, Pitt's undefeated too. Okay. I know you brought me here to talk ACC football, mid tier SEC or ACC football at that. There's a Friday night game coming up, Rich, and in three weeks between Pitt and Virginia tech. And if they're both undefeated, that's going to get a lot of national attention. And that is James Franklin's opportunity. If the kids, coaches, and officials don't screw it up between now and then, that is James Franklin's opportunity.
4:39Rich Eisen:I love that, how you put it there, kids, coaches, and officials. All right, let's talk Texas-Ohio State. Your main takeaway from that game is what? I think I would have ended up being more comfortable, if I'm an Ohio State fan, if we only went up 14-3. I think going up 23-3 could very well have led to us taking our foot off the gas. I was at the Miami FSU game last year. Miami gets up big. They let the foot off the gas. FSU didn't come back and win, but they came back and they kind of semi-made it a game. And their offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson, walks up afterwards and he just goes, never forget, it is tough to rev the engine twice in this sport, in these games.
5:20If we rev it once, that's great. We can't rev it twice. And Ohio State couldn't rev it twice. Texas went on three different double-digit snap drives, I think, in the fourth quarter. So the final score being 24-23, that's not shocking. Obviously, the way we got to it is shocking. But I got to be real with you. Sarkin needed that thing, man. Texas needed that. I know there's been a whole lot of weird off-the-field stuff after that, but just the football piece here, Sarkin, those guys needed that. Now, it should be noted, everything they tried within the framework, within the structure of their offense failed.
5:55It wasn't until they kind of took that thing in the backyard and let Arch Manning just play football, you know, tale as old as time, that they started to move it. And Ohio State folks, they'll say, oh, we let it happen. We imploded, whatever. It's football. So it happened. That's all I know. Moving forward, you know, they're still going to be in a pressure cooker four or five more times. I really wonder if this is a springboard effect or if this was just an outcome, but there are still little question marks here and there. On the Ohio State side, and I've talked to a lot of Ohio State fans who push back on me.
6:27It's this weird place where I'm trying to defend Ohio State. and Ohio State folks are saying, shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, we're terrible. I think they may still be the best team in the country, Rich. And I really think down the road, when Chris Henry ends up getting in the wide receiver rotation more, when Legend Bay ends up touching the ball more, these are both true freshmen, but they're supremely talented true freshmen. When it's November and Ryan Day and his staff are comfortable enough and have enough trust in those guys to have them on the field, you put that layer on the sandwich and you also add the layer that they just learned one of the most important lessons in this sport, which is do not let up until it's triple zeros up there.
7:04Do not let up. No one's really going undefeated anymore. So this is like Miami losing to SMU or Louisville last year. That didn't derail them. If anything, it propelled them. So the difference between Miami last year and this Ohio State team is they also got some high hurdles in the future. But I loved it. It was a great high-level football game. Wish we had more of them and i think i am a a net percentage point higher on both teams in the aftermath well just a push back in a conversation then um the teams do go undefeated indiana and michigan did around
7:43Rich Eisen:ohio state and that may be what is what's sticking in buckeye craws is that two big 10 teams including the one they hate the most did it but that being said Buckeye fans are looking at it in a way that um I think many people need to learn to stop looking at it we're we've professionalized this now right like the only thing that's missing is an actual commissioner that means anything at the top and unionizing so the players can get the max right and who knows what's happening with this bill that's being voted on yada yada yada but um you do have to look at it like in the nfl the rams just lost week one is the season over of course not you know what i mean the broncos last night didn't look great there's still a whole bunch of games to go ohio state lost in a very difficult spot against a really really good and talented team so what they could lose i think maybe even two more times, Josh.
8:46Rich Eisen:They could lose even two more times and still be considered for the 12 spots to get in college football's playoffs. That's the way you got to look at it now. It's a long run. You know this conversation you and I are having right now is the perfect case study for why the postseason formatting college football is the perfect size. Because on one side of the fence, you got people freaked out that they lost a game. Because they're scared to lose games because they know there is that urgency in this sport. But then on the other side, you're making the point that you're making. Both of them are valid points, by the way.
9:20And that is, well, you can afford to lose a game. Now, you can't afford to lose four of them, but you can afford to lose a game, especially when you play that type of strength of schedule. I went at somebody about this Saturday night because they kept saying, boy, if we expand to 24 teams, imagine how many more of these games we'll get. You won't get more of those because you can't duplicate that urgency When you know the loser of this game can lose three more times and still be safely in. So we're in a proper balance right now of access and urgency. And I don't want that to be lost in the conversation because as you and I are talking behind some back door somewhere, the cigar smoke because they do still smoke in these rooms.
10:00It's very old school. They're trying to expand this thing to 24. And I just I hope people remember how tight they still felt Saturday night. You know it's not over for either team if they lose, but you've still got that Saturday field. It's a really good balance we have right now. So, of course, let's try and screw it up as soon as we can.
10:17Rich Eisen:Josh Pate here on the Rich Eisen Show. You want to take a crack at the AI comments and what's going on with Arch right now and what you think Texas is doing as you and I are talking right now? Have they issued the apology yet? I just assume any second it's coming. Not yet. Not yet, no. Yeah. So I had a day. Monday is always my day to get everything in my personal life done that I could possibly get done. So when news happens on Monday, it's kind of hit or miss when I see it. This was one of those things where I kind of was aware that it was happening. I hadn't seen the video yet when I saw the little clip or whatever.
10:56And so I kind of went on about my business, circled back later, saw that it had blown up. And I mean, do we do we need to state the obvious? I was watching you when you went to break and you were like, do we do we even need to say this? Right. You probably don't need to laugh at that. People in the room don't need to laugh at it. On the other side, it's A.I. Why is anyone even giving this the time of day? Why is it even getting oxygen? Why are we wasting two seconds of our lives talking about it? Like, is anyone is anyone taking a pro stance on what was depicted in that A.I. video? If they are taking a pro stance, are they worth listening to?
11:32To me, it's just stupid.
11:33Rich Eisen:Josh Pate here on the Rich Eisen Show. This game coming up, LSU and Ole Miss, is going to be quite something. Are you going to Oxford? Is that where you're going on Friday? I'm going to be at Auburn for Florida-Auburn because I've got opportunities down the road to see Ole Miss several times. Already seen LSU, and there will be other moments. But yeah, everything you just said about this game, this is the kind that your aunt who loosely cares about sports will be glued to. This is the one where your sister, who really couldn't even tell you the mascot at Ole Miss, she'll be glued to it. This is going to bring in a lot of drive by fans.
12:15This is theater. This is spectacle. This is storyline. This is reality show. It's Lane Kiffin's wheelhouse. In other words, is what I'm trying to say, Rich. The beautiful part is Lane doesn't even lie about it. He just leans into it. He's like, yeah, I kind of do live for this. I also happen to be a pretty good football coach. But you know what? He said last week, hey, I bring entertainers off the bus with me. I bring influencers into the stadium with me because this is the entertainment business. I just happen to be a football coach in the entertainment business, which, by the way, may make some people's blood curl.
12:47But he's not wrong about that. You don't get paid$10 or$15 million a year because you can diagram plays well. You get paid because this is the entertainment business, and a whole lot of people love it. I will say this. Me personally, when I look at this Ole Miss LSU game, I get really captivated by the football part of it. If these were two 7-5 caliber teams, I'd be captivated by the storyline aspect. But these are two of the 10 best teams in America, maybe even loftier than that. Sam Levitt was incredible in week one. Trinidad Chambliss just is incredible. By the way, Rich, the argument could be made, the two best quarterbacks in the country are in Mississippi right now, but that's a side conversation.
13:25But this one's going to be incredible. I will say the whole Charlie Weiss Jr. piece of this all, the OC at Ole Miss that came with Lane to LSU but stayed at Ole Miss to coach through the playoffs, that dude's going to be a head coach in very short order. In fact, if that Florida State job opens up, I don't know who's going to be running the ship down there because they just fired the AD. That's who I'd call. But we're not a search firm, at least not yet. So back up on the main road, there's so many football pieces here. There's so many things that you think you know about LSU after week one. But week one lies to us all the time.
14:02And so, you know, people's minds remember LSU blowout, Ole Miss taken to the wire in week one. 38 hung on that Ole Miss secondary. Boy, imagine what LSU is going to do. I guess if it's a wrench repeat of week one, then yeah. Yeah, but hey, if week one to week two was rinse repeat, would we have seen Michigan beat Oklahoma? Would we have seen a lot of things? Now, Oregon, to their credit, they were rinse repeat week one to week two. But there's still a lot of craziness and unpredictability here. The football piece is great. The theater is just like the cherry on top for me.
14:33Rich Eisen:So are you concerned about Oregon? Yes, I am. Yes, I'm concerned because. So we're fresh off a season where we saw the failure to launch mode with several top 10 teams. The Clemson thing, the LSU thing, the Penn State thing. So, you know, the new narrative in college football is who's this year's Penn State? And Oregon just happens to be the first prime candidate to be this year's Penn State. It's like you got the stack of wood here, but it won't light because the wood's wet. Whatever. Choose your metaphor. I don't think it's too late for them to pull the nose up. But you know what they reek of?
15:07they reek of a team that won it all the year before and they've come in complacent little lethargic taking things for granted the difference rich is they didn't win anything last year they got blown out by indiana the year before they got blown out by ohio state so they've got all the trappings of complacency without the prize to show for it in the rearview mirror um i don't know it's like watching a bunch of ingredients that should make a good meal but no one's making the meal. They were very, very unprepared. I'd say in the past two weeks, I know that staff very well, man. I've been in that building.
15:40I've sat in team meetings. I've sat in staff meetings. I know how militaristic they are about this, which makes it mind boggling when you see the outcome here. But dude, their first five drives against Boise two weeks ago, seven offensive points, their first five drives this past weekend, zero offensive points. They got dominated. You change one or two things about the beginning of that game, and it's 24-0 Oklahoma State. That's one where Oregon's lucky to be in that thing. So they got USC coming up on the road in a couple of weeks, and that'll define a lot of things because if they go down two losses already and you know they've still got several big-time Big Ten hurdles, I don't feel great about it.
16:23Remember, this is a team replacing both coordinators, but that roster is a ready-made winner on paper. We don't play the game on paper, though. That's a big problem sometimes. We do not play this thing on paper.
16:34Rich Eisen:They play them inside television sets, as Kenny Main once said famously. Before I let you go, what is your take from Michigan, Oklahoma? What is your takeaway? I was so disappointed only because I bought into John Mateer. I bought in hook, line, and sink. You know, I even put like$10 or$20 on a Mateer Heisman ticket, mainly because I thought it was good content. But still, I did spend$20 American dollars in this economy on a John Mateer Heisman ticket. And I, man, I don't know, like he got hurt midway through the year last year. And so there was the whole pre post injury stat line. But, you know, he was he was he was front squatting 500 pounds in the offseason, which is, as we all know, that's that's integral to a quarterback's mechanics.
17:14How much can you front squat? And people made fun of me. And they're like, man, he's he's the same John Mateer. Doesn't matter. You can't bench press a touchdown pass. And I'm like, you'll see. and we went up there and I saw they didn't see I saw a lot of people are piling blame on like Ben Arbuckle who's the OC at Oklahoma which I don't know what he could have schemed like I don't know how you work around a guy with accuracy that poor I will say maybe the biggest surprise is the coaching staff seem to be as shocked at the production or lack thereof as we did and that's a problem because normally when the public is seeing it the coaching staff has known it for weeks or months.
17:53And the reason I say that is because if you knew he was going to struggle that bad as a passer, you wouldn't have scripted him up to throw as many passes in the first half as Underwood did the entire game. I'm sitting there mid-second quarter talking to Ian Fitzsimmons, who works for ESPN Radio, and I said, does it not seem to you like Michigan is running the offensive game plan that OU should be running? You look at Underwood's stat line running the ball this game versus my tears from last year's game it's nearly identical so i got what i expected it's just the opposite team did what i expected them to do yeah i mean i guess i should have been
18:28Rich Eisen:more uh fine-tuned in my question i don't care what you thought about oklahoma what do you think about michigan my bad what a sick sick individual that's me i all right so so i'll be real with you this is just you and i talking no one else is listening right everybody earmuffs we were there Friday. We were in the building Friday. Michigan was great to us, by the way, man. I love those folks, so I appreciate them. Me too. I have been around a lot of places Fridays before a big game. I've been around a lot of places after they lost and they're going into a big game. So I've got a lot of historical case study for this.
19:05The vibe around Michigan was not that of a ton of confidence. Now, I have not been around Kyle Whittingham teams a whole lot. So I chalked it up to maybe maybe this is just the way a Kyle Whittingham, you know, a building organization feels before a big game. But I couldn't help but juxtapose that to how supremely confident OU was. So when Michigan came out and just took the fight to him, that that's what I don't know if I'd say shocked because I knew Michigan was a really good defensive team. But it surprised me. But the other thing is you talk about preparation. how many was it six OU drives that had to start inside their own 20 two of them started at the one yard line they dominated in special teams they forced Mateer into making a mistake that they could benefit from they ran Underwood they did everything you and I talked about last week bullet point after bullet point that they'd need to do to win the game so huge amounts of credit like you don't I don't think anyone leaves that game saying well all my questions have been answered about Michigan, but they're 2-0.
20:10That's what we know. They're 2-0, whole season ahead, and that game we saw last week, that's a foundation game. I can build on that. I can stand on that. I didn't have anything to stand on after the Western Michigan game.
20:21Rich Eisen:No doubt. I'm with you. Josh, always great to catch up with you. Josh Pate's college football show on YouTube. You at the Bustin' Guys on Friday 2 Eastern on ESPN. And the only thing I have to say to you is, bye, Josh. hi coach that was simple now we can get off the zoom thank you that's josh paid everybody let's see you bud bye josh sometimes you just got to be direct yeah what do you think of michigan i don't care what you think about kohama i shouldn't say that well of course i care what it is it's about oklahoma because it's good for michigan running a small business means every hire matters a bad hire costs time and money but the right one helps your business grow The challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes.
21:09Rich Eisen:That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eyes and terms and conditions. Apply. When we come back, it's Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. Cam Hayward and the comedian Joe Coy are also on the horizon.
21:46Rich Eisen: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. Join our fight at HyundaiWarriors.com. Need parts fast? O 'Reilly Auto Parts as fast. Need them now? We've got now. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it.
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22:49Rich 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 benefits 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.
23:25Rich Eisen: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 plus you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price no hidden fees no surprises try gusto today at gusto.com 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. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.
24:08Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH, number to dial on the program. Taylor in Arkansas has some fantasy questions for us apparently. What's up, Taylor? Hey, Rich, how are you? What's on your mind? Hey, so me and my friends were doing a guillotine league for the first time. I heard y 'all talk about it all the time last year. They're fun. They're fun. And if you're looking for advice, you've come to the right place because T.J. Jefferson had a shot of being potentially chopped in week one of our league, but was smart enough to just bench Cortland Sutton last night because if he had fumbled twice, you'd have lost. You'd have gotten chopped.
24:50Rich Eisen:It's not my first word. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So, TJ, honestly, we're all over whatever you need. What do you need? Yeah, there's just so many different strategy ideas. So, I was getting close to getting chopped, but I had Isaiah Likely, so that saved me. Okay. And I had A.J. Brown, so that's not looking too good. I agree. A team that got chopped has Jalen Waddle and D.K. Metcalf. So, like, I was wondering how much, like, money should I spend on someone like that because I don't want to spend too much for someone like Waddle, but I also only have Matthew Golden and Casey Concepcion as my wide receivers.
25:25So I kind of need some help there, so I don't know what to do. Taylor, here's the deal, man.
25:31Rich Eisen:30%. You've got to go get one of those guys. Yeah, it's survive in advance, right? Yeah, survive in advance. You can't sit here. I'm only going to put a few bucks down because I need to save my money for later. There's no later in the guillotine. Yeah, if you're close to the block, you've got to improve your roster at any cost. Yeah. How does that sound? So, like,$100 would be too much? No, I mean, what's your budget? Yeah, what is your budget? It's$1 ,000. Oh. Yeah, I think$100 minimum. Those guys are going to get snapped up. Yeah. But you also don't want to put yourself in a position where you spend too much early.
26:00I know this from last year. And then you keep advancing, and now you've got nothing. So you've just got to kind of be smart about it. Oh, I think we just gave him. Puka Nakua was almost chopped, but the guy in last place needed four points from Waddle, and he got nothing there. So Puka was almost available. So I'm going to break the bank for him.
26:16Rich Eisen:That would have been$600,$700. Taylor, thanks for the call. There you go. Look at us, RAS Consulting Unite. We're here for you. You're there, we're here. Let's go to Lloyd in Louisiana wants to talk. What's up, Lloyd? Lloyd. Lloyd. How we doing today? Lloyd. Lloyd. I appreciate y 'all taking my call. I have an opinion, and I was kind of mad that yesterday no sports shows, no news media talked about this, but I guarantee if it was a bigger game, everybody would have talked about it. What? about the second quarter play between Detroit and New Orleans. We talked about it, Lloyd. The fumble that didn't happen.
26:55I got overturned to an incomplete pass and explained so stupidly by Mike Pereira. Well, Lloyd.
27:02Rich Eisen:I need to get your opinion on what you think about that play. Lloyd. I could have changed the game. Here, I'll give you the beats, if you will. We did talk about it yesterday to the point where we had a quote from the league's vice president of Instant Replay. His name is Mark Butterworth, Lloyd. I don't know if you know any Butterworths. No. Okay. Other than food. Okay. Exactly. But long story short is that's the appropriate officiating of what's in the rulebook. That really is. I don't know why it's in the rulebook. It's so confusing to me. It makes no sense to me. That looked 1 ,000 % like a backwards pass.
27:47Rich Eisen:And if it wasn't a pass, it was a fumble, period. The ball went backwards. But there's something in the rulebook that says if your arm's going forward and the ball goes backwards, it says if it's going forward, which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So I totally understand why you feel like you're hosed. Totally. I still believe that the NFL still hates the Saints go back to the NFC championship game versus the Rams with a non-pass interference that this right here could have changed the game. We don't know how the game would have been a week one. Well, it would have been 7-7, you know, and instead of being down 21-0, you know, it would have been 7-7, you know.
28:27Rich Eisen:So I understand that, but it was appropriately called, and I appreciate the call, Lloyd. And that's the other thing that I wanted to kind of hit yesterday, but we were at the end of our segment time. Why it's in the rule book that way? Why? you know because i i asked that of perera back in the day about the tuck rule and he goes well there's too much gray area so you have to make there's less gray area by having the taking the football down as a pass and i'm like gray area like you just created the gray area because this looks like you don't want to pass anymore you want to run it and you're calling it a pass so So you've created a gray area of this hand moving forward is a pass.
29:14Rich Eisen:This ball tucked underneath an arm is a run. And the process of tucking it is not now considering it a run. It's considering it a pass still. Why? Makes no sense. Because it looks like when you make a move with your arm that you don't intend to throw it anymore. why are we still calling it a pass you're creating the gray area you're making me feel ridiculous with my two eyes or say they're lying but they're not that's what this thing is ball goes backwards backwards right so even if it is a forward pass it's it's going backwards even if you're even if that means we're intending it to pass right then the intent is to pass and the ball goes backwards, that's just the way it should go.
30:09Rich Eisen:Not like, oh, the intention to pass means I'm intending to throw it forward, thus it's now this move means it's an incomplete forward pass. What? Yeah. Did you see Brian Fitzpatrick's tweet yesterday? Which was? He quote tweeted Pereira's video of breaking down the whole explanation and the intent and all that, and he goes, per this ruling, I'd like the league to review all 169 of my interceptions my intent was clearly to throw it to my receiver and the rule book very funny brings about an appropriate amount of snark yeah and sarcasm that is an appropriate answer because the rule book is written in a way that makes me feel stupid when i think me you the american people listening and watching us the international community that watches us later you us um we all collectively look at that and say that's a backwards yeah clearly a fumble or a backwards pass right one or the other no no no no no sorry the rule book says that if the hand makes that certain motion we're just assuming you intended to throw it forward so we're just going to rule it is such why why like we're trying to protect the people who are throwing the football from what
31:40fumbling because that's what that was or a backwards pass because that's what that was it makes no sense all right we'll take one more call and then we'll do overreaction monday on a
31:51Rich Eisen:on a tuesday when we come back how does that sound um okay let's go to mike in arizona mike What's up, Mike? You there, Mike? Hello? Hi, I'm a... Hello, how are you guys doing? You're on the air, sir. What's going on? What's up, man? Mike. Hi, I've got a 54-year-old dad from Queen Creek, Arizona. I've been a 49ers fan since 1980, since Arizona didn't have a pro team until about 87. I've grown a little bored watching my team. You know, they haven't done so well as the glory years, of course. And so, with some extra time, I've sat around and thought of a couple ideas that I think would benefit the NFL.
32:29Kind of like you guys to... Give me your best one.
32:31Rich Eisen:I have time for one. Give me your best one, Mike. Okay, the Open NFL concept would be reorganizing the league to a flat Open NFL with no divisions, no AFC, no NFC. And the benefit is every team would play every other team every two years, and you would get every team in every NFL stadium every four years. The best records would determine the playoff seating, and the home games, and any two teams could meet in the Super Bowl any year, including legacy rivalries that have never been possible. And the idea would lend itself to expansion, so you could add one team, you could add two teams, you don't need to worry about eight divisions being balanced.
33:13And I think it's a pretty exciting idea.
33:16Rich Eisen:So it could be a Jets, it could be a, like what? Like a Packers-Bears Super Bowl. Like a Packers-Bears Super Bowl. I don't hate this idea. I don't either. Right off the bat.
33:28Rich Eisen:I'm going back and forth as to why the league would do that. I think it's not broken right now. So I think the expandability argument is fairly strong. Right now there's 32 teams, so there's 31 opponents for every team, meaning 31 games. So the current 17 games schedule lends itself to 34 games every two years. So you'd have three competitive balance games on top of the mandatory playing every other team. So that could work, you know, strength of schedule and try to balance things out, maybe play rivalries a little more often. But that expandability, there's not these major, you know, 10, 20-year leaps that you need to add eight teams to balance the divisions or something like that.
34:09It could be very incremental. The number of games per season could be incremental. And, you know, if you're a fan, you're guaranteed to get every team in your stadium every four years, which is pretty exciting for season ticket holders.
34:22Rich Eisen:Mike, in Arizona, frequently when I look down at my call screen, it's like an idea for a rule change or the league. I'm thinking, this is not going to work out well, but I'll take the call anyway. But you might be on to something here. Just put a pin in that and we'll see how it works with the NFL moving forward. I don't think there is going to be much, thanks to the call, NFL ownership, membership. there would have to be a massive influx of weirdness that goes down on a field or in division or a massive influx of under 500 teams winning divisions over and over again for them to make a change like this.
35:05Rich Eisen:You know sometimes that ownership has got to be talked into doing it five, six, seven, eight, nine years in a row. but the expansion idea that's the one you just add one yeah but yeah to his point exactly you don't you have to do it keep the division even number teams right right you'd have to do two four six now you're just like we can add a team every couple of years and have one big group i don't know not bad interesting it's in a weird way you don't really want to call it copy college football right now but in a weird way it's like the college football model where it's just well It's like your fantasy league, too.
35:39Rich Eisen:Right, exactly. Put 12, 16 teams in. But our fantasy teams aren't 30 deep. I know that. Let's take a break. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday when we come back before we welcome in Cam Hayward on a Zoom and Joe Coy in person.
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37:13Rich Eisen: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 SoFi.com slash trick to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank and a member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. All right. It's a Tuesday during a football season. That means it's Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday presented by Marriott Bonvoy. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. It's presented by Marriott Bonvoy and it's Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday.
38:01Rich Eisen:Chris, I imagine you had so many in the chamber for the podcast itself that, by the way, has gone over 350 ,000 views in just 24 hours. It's a record for us. I imagine you have some left for this segment. And I got a couple from last night. So let's start there. The Chiefs signing Kenneth Walker III will go down as the best decision of the 2025 offseason. 2026 offseason. So what are we comparing it to? Well, I mean, A.J. Brown and Jalen Waddle so far. Every free agent move, every trade, Miles Garrett, Jalen Waddle, A.J. Brown. The number one offseason move. Week one, right? We should not overreact.
38:49Rich Eisen:Why am I sitting here thinking about it? Normally, I would just immediately spit back. It's week one. TJ this morning said that he's going to win back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs. I said, could you just imagine? Wow. Chiefs go on to win the Super Bowl. What an idea. I didn't even think of that. Well, again, A.J. Brown's going to be out for a month. Probably more. Six weeks. Miles Garrett's going to be out for a month. Maybe more. Let's see what Aaron Donald does. Is he going to play at all? I don't know. At all, he will. I'll just call this an overreaction for the moment. Because that is exactly what.
39:28Rich Eisen:He certainly was that in week one. He's on a pace for 3 ,000 rushing yards. He certainly was that in week one. All that in the biscuit. What else you got, Chris? This guy was hinting at a decision in the halftime interview. If you guys picked up with Sean Payton. You said ask me in a half? Sean Payton's going to take back play calling for the Broncos before the end of this month. Before the end of this month? How about before the end of this day? Again, you're referring to Laura Rutledge asked him at halftime coming out, right? Coming out. Coming out. Coming out of the halftime. How's it been not calling plays?
40:04Rich Eisen:Great question, by the way. Great question. Superb question. And he said, ask me in a half.
40:16Rich Eisen:Which I think was his way of just being funny and cutesy and getting out, getting back to the, giving a quick answer so he can get back to the sideline, which is where all coaches want to go.
40:30Rich Eisen:Before the end of September is an overreaction. Sometime this season, if you just put it that way. Halloween.
40:41Rich Eisen:I don't know. I don't think that's an overreaction, but that may be way off. You could be sitting here this morning going, you know what? I know we lost, but the guy did a great job. It's exactly what I would have done. I wouldn't have done it too much differently. and I feel better today than I would normally coaching after a game. I don't know. We have no idea. But I'll call this an overreaction. What else? TJ, sorry, not sorry. We're all idiots for hopping on the Cowboys bandwagon this summer. I mean. It's an overreaction. I'll answer it for you. What were we thinking? What were we thinking?
41:21We thought, oh, Jerry Jones isn't talking much. So that means everyone's more locked in. move here move there George Pickens franchise tag Dak looks great no it's the exact same thing
41:36Rich Eisen:still an overreaction it's week one man it's week one end of story let's see how these kids on defense get coached up and how quickly they can get up to speed you saw my guy Barham he jumped off sides once but then he also went in the backfield and got those five yards back yeah you can tell he's going to be a dog Also, you know, like to not overreact, there were a few fumbles that if we get that game's different. You know, so I know you said we got punked and I'm still not. That's not sitting well, but I don't think we can overreact too much. What else, Chris? The bounces did go the Giants way, TJ.
42:11You're right on those fumbles. Week one, the way week one ended in Houston showed the Texans were right to wait on Stroud's future. Why? Because he fumbled at the end?
42:23Rich Eisen:What was the issue in the playoffs? Dude. All this guy did was fumble. He had a terrific week one. Wait a minute. So is his fault the fumble and not the right tackles? Yeah, exactly. This guy. That's an overreaction. I thought he played a terrific football game. You didn't? He went toe to toe with Josh Allen. And if Kiwami Lassiter snags a, you know, gimme. No, I shouldn't say that. Pardon me. Hit him in the hands. A gift opportunity. How about that? It's what Josh Allen does. He gives them to you. I know. So, come on now. Give this guy a little bit of grace. I know the way it ended. And I know that they didn't give him the contract.
43:10Rich Eisen:But that does not prove. And they're waiting until the end of the year. I don't know. What else, Chris? He's finally listening to me. I'll dispatch this one. Nick Casario on line one. All right. We talked about it, and I'm doing it here, TJ. Derrick Henry will finish his career on the Mount Rushmore of running backs. He already's there, isn't he? Ooh. Already there? Already there? What? Whoa. Chill.
43:34We're gaming this out, right? Jim Brown. Walter Payton.
43:39Rich Eisen:Emmett. Emmett. Derrick Henry? No Barry Sanders. Chris, there is not a person, I think, on the planet. No Emmett? There are far more people who would not put Emmett on their hall in favor of Barry than there are of anyone leaving Barry. They're wrong, by the way, but leaving Barry on. Obviously, Mount Rushmore is a subjective thing. It's a subjective thing. Of course. Okay? Jim Brown stays on. but Derrick Henry as you know is going to he's going to take Emmitt's record of most rushing touchdowns he's going to do that maybe this season that would be a tall order very tall order he's going to pass LaDainian Tomlinson very soon he's going to finish if he stays healthy and keeps doing what he's doing 6th on the all time rushing list and if he has a 2 ,000 yard season just if he really goes crazy.
44:39Rich Eisen:Fifth. Oh, sorry. He'll pass Tomlinson this season. Right. Maybe. Fifth. So, and then he keeps going. I'm just saying. It's going to be close. I can't. You know how I feel about him, so. I know. It's not an overreaction. What else, Chris? Last one. If either the Rams or Chargers lose this week, they're out. Not making the playoffs. That's so silly. That's silly. In the history of the NFL, only three teams who have started 0-2 have won the Super Bowl. Okay? So if one of them loses this week, kiss the Super Bowl goodbye. I still think that's crazy. It's crazy, man. Come on, man. 0-2 teams. And 0-2 started two of the hardest divisions in the NFL.
45:30Rich Eisen:It's a 17th regular season game. Now, listen, if the Chargers go to 0-2 by losing at home to Arizona and Vegas, then I'll sit here and say... You're going to hit the panic button finally? I'll sit here and say they're in massive trouble, but you can pull it together and then all of a sudden, out of 15 games, you win 10 of them. You know, you're 10-7, you got a shot. Out of 15 games, you win 11 of them. You know, I mean, seriously. the Rams, they're too damn talented. I'm never going to jump off them. Oh, we know that. You do know that. I do. I do know that. Yeah, I'm just, I'm not going to do that.
46:14Rich Eisen:Okay. It's just still too early. The Bears in particular. Again, I know they didn't make the Super Bowl, but they made the playoffs, and they made some hay in it, too. The Bears made the playoffs. A lot of one-score games that went their way. They had to pull a lot of rabbits out of hats. But they had the hats and the rabbits, and they pulled it.
46:37Rich Eisen:So, is that all you got? All right, that's a big finish you had right there. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday presented by Marriott Bonvoy. If you're an NFL fan, you're probably in a long-distance relationship with your team, and that hurts your heart. Luckily, Marriott Bonvoy has hotels close to nearly every NFL stadium, which helps your heart. Check in for game day with Marriott Bonvoy, the official sponsor. of the nfl you didn't answer that question i answered it what do you get i'm really deep in this running back mount i know we were talking about yesterday i was kind of like adding up stats so i didn't really who's your four right now right now uh jim brown walter payton emmett smith barry sanders and who would come off if derrick henry gets the all-time rushing record.
47:34I'm not taking Emmitt off my list, so it would vary.
47:37Rich Eisen:Yeah. Man. But again, I'm obviously because I've been fighting this fight since I was 11 years old about Emmitt Smith. Sure, sure, sure. So, like, I've made, yeah, I just, Emmitt's my guy. Cam Hayward's coming up next hour. Joe Coy in studio as well. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast. 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. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
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From the publisher
ESPN’s Josh Pate and Rich break down the biggest storylines coming out of college football’s Week 3 including how Ohio State’s loss to Texas could impact their College Football Playoff hopes, the Arch Manning AI video controversy, how concerned Oregon fans should be about the 1-1 Ducks, the early struggles of Oklahoma QB John Mateer, and what Michigan’s win over the Sooners means for the Wolverines’ confidence level. (1:25)
Rich and the guys revisit the controversial “was-it-a-backwards-pass” controversy from the Saints vs Lions Week 1 game. (22:45)
In ‘Overreaction Tuesday’ Rich weighs in on Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker III, if Sean Payton regrets giving up the Broncos’ play calling duties, the Cowboys’ disappointing defense, Texans QB CJ Stroud, the ageless Ravens RB Derrick Henry, and the Rams’ and Chargers’ dire need to avoid starting the season 0-2. (33:04)
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