Hour 2: Week 1 NFL Power Rankings, plus NFL Network Analyst Kurt Warner

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0:47Rich Eisen:This message is brought to you by Apple Card. With AppleCard, you earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases, like groceries, merch, or tickets to the game. Plus, it can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. No matter your team, no matter where you shop, AppleCard is here to help you tackle game day. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval, AppleCard is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at AppleCard.com. 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.

1:26Rich Eisen:Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. What are you? Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! There's nothing prettier than a fat guy touchdown. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Touchdown Seahawks! Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's gasps. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Ravens running back Derrick Henry. Delaware State head coach Deshaun Jackson. And now it's Rich Eisen.

2:16Rich Eisen:Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Derek Henry is in our rundown. He lurks. He will join us later on in this hour. Deshaun Jackson stops by in studio. He's a new head coach of, he's the head coach of Delaware State football. Yeah, that's really cool. And he's got a new documentary based on his life coming up on Amazon Prime Code called Go Deep, the Deshaun Jackson story. So I'll have a chat with him. My power rankings, the first of the season as well. And he's one of my dear friends. And I'm so pleased to be able to have here back on the Rich Eisen Show for Warner Wednesdays every single week this season.

2:53Rich Eisen:Once again, getting ready to call tonight's game on on Westwood One Radio, as he does on Sunday nights and big games. Kurt Warner back here on the program from Seattle. What's up, Kurt? How are you? Hey, buddy, what's going on? I'm excited to be back. I'm excited to be in Seattle and getting the season started tonight. Man, excited that we did just excitement all around. We did the season preview last night. Let's jump into tonight's game. What's your expectation for this evening's contest, Kurt? I think when you think back to the Super Bowl, everybody felt like, oh, you know, New England was crushed in that game.

3:29Seattle dominated across the board. Now, they definitely dominated on defense, but I thought New England's defense, I just went back and watched the game again. I thought New England's defense really held Seattle in check. I mean, it was 12-0 going into the fourth quarter. they scored 17 points there in the fourth quarter, but one was a defensive touchdown. The other two or the other 10 points came off of turnovers that were inside the 40-yard line. And so the defense did a really nice job. Now it's going to fall on the offense with the new weapons, A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs and Drake May, to have some answers to what Mike McDonald did defensively.

4:10But when you go back and watch it, it was a lot closer game. than maybe you would think when you looked at the score. And so with the new additions, I'm excited to see what this offense can do. And I think this game is going to be closer than a lot of people expect just based off of the numbers or what you kind of remember first impression-wise of the Super Bowl last year.

4:33Rich Eisen:Well, knowing Drake May's game as well as you have covered and seen, what makes the A.J. Brown acquisition so good? for him? Well, I think the biggest thing is you always want to make the game easier for a young quarterback. And how do you make a game easier is, you know, if a team wants to play man-to-man coverage, which is something that New England struggled with in the Super Bowls when Seattle played man-to-man coverage. If you're going to play man-to-man coverage, you know, you've got a guy that you can count on to win against anybody. Him against Christian Gonzalez would be a great matchup if we get to see it numerous times.

5:10But a guy that you believe, hey, I can make the game easier. I don't have to overthink this. I got A.J. Brown on one side of the field. He's in man-to-man coverage. I believe he can win in every situation. Let's just drop back, set my feet, and throw the football to that kind of guy. So that's the thing, I think, if you're going to get man-to-man coverage that you're excited of having A.J. Brown. Now, Seattle last year, when they played against him, they did a lot of what we call cover six. What What that is, Rich, is it means it's kind of a cover to a rolled corner with a safety over the top to one side and a quarters look safety and corner in an off position away from that.

5:49They like that coverage. It gave Drake May some problems last year. So I'm interested to see if they put A.J. Brown on one side of the field over and over again in this game. Does Seattle just say, hey, let's roll a corner. Let's put a safety over the top. let's force these other guys to beat us um in that type of situation so it's going to be a fun cat and mouse game i got a lot of questions going into this first matchup of what it's going to look like um you know for the new england patriots and how seattle is going to attack them with some of the new pieces but that's what makes it exciting that's why i can't wait for the season to start

6:24Rich Eisen:and see who these two teams are what's seattle's offense with a new play call are going to look like do you think kirk i mean you have to believe they're going to try to do the same things um but zach charbonnet coming off of the knee injury um you know you've got price who you've drafted number one you lose kenneth walker who was huge in the super bowl with you know big play after big play and so you want to run the football you want to play action off the run game that's what made this team so good um but will they have the ability to do that will this play caller first time play caller be able to get into that rhythm find that rhythm and keep that balance um you know as they did last year because that's what made them so good offensively and that's where jsn excelled was off the play action and getting those one-on-one situations down the field so i'm interested to see that as well anytime you get a first time play caller it's not just going through a play sheet and you know dialing up you know this number and that number it's about the feel of the game, what a defense is doing against you, those adjustments in game.

7:27And you always feel like there's going to be some growing pains when you've got a guy that hasn't done it before.

7:32Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show getting set to call on national radio. Tonight's Seahawks and Patriots opener. And then comes the Melbourne game on Thursday. You were 38 in your last year as a professional quarterback. Matthew Stafford is 38 as he's waking up, probably figuring out what time it is, what day it is right now in Australia. What do you think's going through his mind knowing the team that he's got in front of him? Kurt? Oh, I mean, first, he's got to be ecstatic. Is that how good they were last year coming off of an MVP-type season? You've got the pieces back on offense. You've got a defense now that can take some pressure off of you.

8:15You know, it's funny. He won the MVP last year, but I remember the year before down the stretch, he had a number of games where he didn't even throw for 200 yards. where they were winning games defensively, and he could just be a complimentary piece. Every quarterback loves to throw it across the yard and throw for 40 touchdowns and all of that. But there is something that's nice about going into games and going, hey, if I don't have this kind of game and I don't play up to this standard, we can still win football games. And take that pressure off of Matthew Stafford, to me, has to have him extremely excited about what they can be and what the possibilities are.

8:55You know, so close last year. Like I said, he had a great year last year. To me, he's got to be going into this season. I don't know how long he wants to play, but man, this is a great opportunity for us to win another championship. And, you know, what a turn of events that would be after all those years in Detroit and not being able to win a playoff game and everybody's saying what they said about Matthew Stafford, to have an MVP, if you can go on and win another Super Bowl and have two Super Bowl championships at this stage, man, it would be pretty incredible, kind of that turnaround and how people see him now compared to, I think, how people saw him when he came out of Detroit.

9:33Rich Eisen:Yeah, man, I mean, a former Lions quarterback and now a former Cleveland Browns defensive end, it sounds like they could toast each other like it's the end of Trading Places, that they're feeling good and looking good and toasting each other because Garrett's never really rushed very much with a lead in the fourth quarter. and Donald though didn't make the flight so it looks like Jackson Dart on Monday Night Football Week 2 might be the first quarterback has got to look over the line of scrimmage and see Donald and see Garrett was there any comparison when you played at all to look over the line you got to check some absolute beast that's right over your center and then you got to look to see where the other guy is on the edge is there anybody like that you could recall I don't know if it's like these two guys I mean, you know, these two guys have been the best at their position on the planet for a while.

10:25I mean, you know, I had obviously Warren Sapp and a Simeon Rice type player who was obviously a really good pass rusher on the edge and what Warren could do. But I don't recall two guys, you know, anywhere close to kind of this pedigree, you know, because I think they're going to go down as, you know, greatest defensive end, you know, we've seen in this era, greatest defensive tackle that we've seen in this era. And obviously they've got their place in the history of the game, two of the best ever plays. So I don't know if anything quite like that, you know, that's obviously rare, good players at different positions over the years.

11:04But if we get the Aaron Donald that we've seen through his career, if we get him to go along with Myles Garrett at this stage in his career, man, it's going to be – I'm going to feel bad for the quarterbacks on the other side every time they've got to show up on Sunday.

11:20Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. And last night on the NFL Game Day season preview show, you and I had the same Super Bowl 61 prediction of Rams over Bills. Why do you like the Bills to win the AFC, Kurt? Well, I think there's a lot of unknowns in the AFC. You know, you got Lamar Jackson and company that, you know, are always formidable. But new head coach, what exactly does that look like? You've got the Kansas City Chiefs, who obviously, you know, been kind of toast to the AFC for so long. But Patrick Mahomes coming back after eight months with that ACL and knee injury. What exactly does he look like?

11:59And so I just think there's some unknowns in the AFC. And Josh Allen, as good as he's been, has his team in the mix every single year. And so if, you know, again, I don't know if this is a sentimental pick, if this is a, you know, solely, hey, it's before the season. I would love to see Josh Allen in the Super Bowl. And I believe he's got a chance this year, you know, just like so many other teams. I think Denver is going to be really good again. You know, probably should have represented the AFC last year. Bo Nix was healthy. And so I think there's a lot of good teams in the AFC. I just don't see one that I say, okay, all the pieces are together.

12:40That's the team that's going to represent the AFC. And so with that, I think Josh Allen is going to be in the mix. I think he's going to play great again this year. And I think he's got as good a chance as ever to beat it.

12:51Rich Eisen:That said, your prediction for MVP was Joe Burrow. Why? Well, I mean, we think back a couple of years that Joe Burrow led the league in passing yardage and touchdowns and all of that. And he's got all his guys back offensively that I just believe he's going to put up incredible numbers. And then if you get a defense that, you know, gives you a few more possessions, you know, can stop some people. Because I think why he didn't win the MVP was because the team didn't win enough that year. If the team can come together and win more games this year, I believe the numbers will be there for Joe Burrow to make a case for the MVP.

13:31and that's why I stacked him up there.

13:33Rich Eisen:Kurt Warner, a few more minutes left with Kurt before he calls tonight's Wednesday season opener in Seattle on national radio, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay, man, so many different ways I can go with you right now. Kyler Murray in Minnesota, Crystal Ballett. I'm fascinated by this one because I watched Kyler a lot, being that he was in my backyard in Arizona and my former team. And we've seen, obviously, incredible glimpses of his talent. And, you know, he played half a season in the MVP race. So we've seen him play really, really well. But he's never put it all together in terms of seeing the game and playing the position the way that you play it, starting from inside the pocket and not just relying on his incredible physical gifts.

14:21You know, with Justin Jefferson, with this offense, with what they've asked their quarterback to do in Minnesota, it has been a lot more play it, more conventional, in the pocket. Get the ball to your playmakers. And so I know we talk about KOC not having a quarterback like this. Is this offense going to look different? Are they going to put in elements to use Kyler Murray's feet more? Well, maybe. But I just think they're built because they've got the weapons on the outside for a quarterback to get the ball to them. So I don't exactly know what this is going to look like. Great cast of characters.

14:56KLC, I love what he does with quarterbacks and the way he's brought guys along. But I don't really know because I haven't seen Kyler put it all together up to this point in his career. And, you know, old dogs, new tricks. Can that happen at this stage? Can he grow into that? You know, is all he needed was a change of scenery and a change of coach to be able to do that. For me, the verdict is still out. Obviously, tremendous talent across that offense, a really good defense. this very easily should be a playoff football team but it's going to depend on what kyler we get and can we get the consistency from him for 17 weeks that we've never really seen uh with his

15:35Rich Eisen:time in arizona all right rapid fire sports talk radio questions before i let you go kurt here we go dart or shuck which one's going to have more of a breakout season i'm going to say shock uh as much as i like jackson dart i'm going to say shot okay you want to i know i gave you rapid fire but I just really like the way he played down the stretch. His comfort in the offense, playing the position. He made big-time throw after big-time throw. Jackson Dart, to me, made a lot of plays, but a lot of it was more the athletic mode as opposed to just playing the position. So I just like Tyler and the way he played the position a year ago, and I think he's going to make strides in that department.

16:14Rich Eisen:The quarterback that could take his team further than they've been. Knicks, Herbert, Trevor, Stroud. Knicks, Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, Stroud. So Knicks and Stroud would be the championship game. Trevor would be the championship game. Herbert would just be to win a playoff game. What do you think? I mean, if it's just based on that, I'd probably say Herbert, but I think they're in a position to win a playoff game. But I'm going to say Bo Nitt. they were the best team in the AFC last year as I said earlier I thought they should have been in the Super Bowl if he would have been healthy I think their team is really really good the pieces around him and I really like Bo I mean he continues to get better he makes big plays he wins in the big moments I just I really like him and so I believe they've got a chance to go to the Super Bowl this year and so you know with all that being said those other guys I think you know are going to have good seasons, but I'm going to say, you know, Bo Nix and the Broncos.

17:18Rich Eisen:All right. Who goes further, Dak or Caleb? I'm going Dak this year. You know, I had them being in the playoffs on our show last night, knocking Caroline out, putting the Cowboys in. Their offense is going to be really good. If their defense can be what I think a lot of people are expecting is a, is a huge jump. That doesn't mean they're going to be a top 10 defense, but a huge jump from where they've been the last couple of years. I do believe they're a playoff team. I do believe they've got the firepower to beat anybody in the NFC. So I'm going to go there. I feel like Caleb and company are going to take a step back.

17:54And it doesn't mean they're a worse football team. I just think they're going to take a step back from how things played out last year. Caleb was so good in the moment, but they won so many late games with heroics that I just don't know if you can live in that world year after year. So I have to see Caleb become more efficient as a quarterback before I believe that they're really that one of those teams that can compete in the NFC. So I'm leading Dak and the Cowboys here.

18:21Rich Eisen:Injured quarterback to look more like himself, Jaden Daniels, Patrick Mahomes. I mean, hey, listen, hold on a minute. I mean, one, you got to say body of work. You know, how can I doubt him? but you know the question is jayden daniels was he the unicorn or the kid that got hurt or can he be the unicorn again and mahon like who's gonna yeah i mean if if i've got to put you know my stake on one of these guys i i'm with you on patrick mahomes is that the body of work comes back in eight months hasn't missed a practice like all of this stuff that you're like this is unreal like this this should not be happening this is not something that you know i I think anybody foresaw when he got injured late in the season last year.

19:06But I just can't doubt the guy. I mean, he's shown us at every turn that, hey, he can do and will do whatever it takes to help his team win and to play good football. And so I'm not really sure who Jaden is. I'm excited to see what he's going to be in year three, if it is rookie or if it's more of what we saw last year. But if I'm picking one of these guys to look more like themselves, you've got to go with the guy that, you know, always looks special to some regard. And that's Patrick Mahomes.

19:35Rich Eisen:Lastly, who starts more games, Shador Sanders or Fernando Mendoza? Ooh, I'm going to say Shador Sanders. I, you know, because of the team and because of how it starts, you know, there's been a lot of struggles with the Sean Watson and, you know, I've talked about it a lot, just his ability or lack of ability to see the field and play the game has been glaring since he's been in Cleveland. And I just don't know how that's going to change. I saw some more of that in the preseason. I don't know how that's going to change. So I think this thing could turn to Shadour fairly early in the season and give him a chance to prove if he can be that guy before this quarterback class that's coming in next year.

20:18And so Fernando, I do believe, will play at some point this year. But I believe when you talk about more games, I think Shadour will have his chance earlier in the season.

20:28Rich Eisen:All right, I lied. More likely to start week three, regardless of health. We're assuming everyone's healthy. More likely to start week three, Michael Penix or Shadour Sanders?

20:44Wow. Again, I'm a believer that Michael Penix is going to play more than Tua, and Shadour is going to play more than Deshaun. If I got to go week three, I'm going to go Shadour. Two games on the road, coming back to Cleveland after everything that's gone down with Deshaun. If things don't go well early, I think they could make a change that quickly in the season. So, man, I can see both of them, but I'm going to go Shadour.

21:13Rich Eisen:You're the man, Kurt. See, we're back. It's like regular season rapid fire now. I can't wait. I don't have anything to go on, though, Rich. I have nothing to base anything on. I'm just throwing stuff out there. But I can't wait for guys to play some football and break down some tapes that we can really dive into. And that's why I hit you with all of these questions you hate to answer because you're so happy football's back. So have a great time tonight with Kevin Harlan, man. I'll see you on Sunday. Bye, buddy. Can't wait. And of course, QB Confidential is Kurt Warner's must-subscribe-to YouTube page.

21:44Rich Eisen:Get it. All of his insights. He's as great as it comes in terms of breaking stuff down. and make you smarter. That was awesome. And game day morning, 9 a.m. Eastern on NFL Network and the ESPN app, just like us. Hey! Oh, my gosh. Nice. No wonder I got the Jiminy Cricket award. All right. All right. 844-204-RICH, number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show. A SoFi personal loan is sitting out there to help you achieve something once thought impossible that's overcoming high-interest credit card debt. Walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed-rate monthly payment, no fees required and as soon as the same day funding that's right pull off your own debt defying stunt with a sofi personal loan visit sofi.com slash trick to learn more loans originated by sofi bank na member fdic terms and conditions apply nmls 696891 derrick henry end of the hour you coming up next along with the latest in the national football league in the u.s open The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

22:47Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. 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? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. 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 eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Rich Eisen here with some advice.