In short
NFL Week 2/Thursday night previews and NFC East/NFC North analysis, focused on coaching/scheme changes and matchup keys.
Guests
Mike Mayock (former NFL general manager and elite talent evaluator; known for long NFL front-office background; Philadelphia native; also discusses Sumer Sports/Sumer Pass analytics). Guest host Colleen Wolfe (fills in for Rich Eisen; leads the hour).
Key claims
- Eagles offense is a “work in progress” after Sean Mannion/O-coordinator change and A.J. Brown’s departure; Jalen Hurts looks solid early, but spacing/timing and offensive line injuries are concerns.
- Giants’ Week 1 physicality reflects John Harbaugh’s culture; Dallas couldn’t get off the field in the second half.
- Bears’ Caleb Williams growth is driven by Ben Johnson’s coaching and a run-heavy, explosive offense.
- Bills-Lions will hinge on limiting Buffalo explosive plays (especially Dalton Kincaid) and Detroit’s banged-up secondary.
- Chiefs’ offense/identity benefits from offensive-minded coaching and Kenneth Walker’s fit; defense will be shaped by Steve Spagnuolo.
Notable examples
- Hurts’ third-and-18 scramble (23 yards) and deep-ball/legs impact.
- Giants’ second-half possession efficiency (12 snaps/74 TD; 13 snaps/70 TD; clock-run final drive).
- Bears’ Week 1: 39 rushes, 291 rushing yards, multiple 28+ yard explosives and rushing TDs.
- Bills: five 30+ explosive plays; three to Kincaid.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOKickoff to Hour Three
1:27 to 2:29
Colleen welcomes the audience and sets the stage for the hour ahead.
“Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show?”
Introducing Mike Mayock
2:29 to 3:08
Colleen introduces Mike Mayock and discusses his background.
“A new fresh hour, hour three of the Rich Eisen show here on this Thursday, September 17th.”
Eagles' New Identity Analysis
3:08 to 6:48
Mike Mayock evaluates the Eagles' new offensive identity and player performance.
“He has a front office perspective and he's a fellow Philadelphian.”
Concerns About the Eagles' Offensive Line
6:48 to 9:35
Mayock discusses concerns regarding the Eagles' offensive line and player injuries.
“Mike Mayock, we're talking to now NFL analyst here on behalf of Sumer Sports, which recently launched some data tracking products, Sumer Pass.”
Giants' Performance and John Harbaugh
9:35 to 12:53
Mayock shares insights on the Giants' performance under John Harbaugh.
“And for those who would like to go deeper into the weeds, you can listen to the Believe in Eagles podcast that Mayock is on.”
Caleb Williams and Coaching Impact
12:53 to 14:00
Mayock discusses Caleb Williams' growth and the importance of coaching.
“And I think the key there is Jackson Dart and his ability to throw the ball off play action.”
Caleb Williams and Chicago Bears Performance Analysis
14:00 to 17:30
Discussing Caleb Williams' growth and the Bears' offensive strategies.
“I think, you know, Harbs is going to go in there, and they're going to be physical and tough.”
Thursday Night Football Preview: Lions vs. Bills
17:30 to 20:00
Previewing the key matchups and explosive plays expected in the Lions vs. Bills game.
“Lions and Bills, both teams coming off wins, although the Lions, it was a little bit more of a nail biter.”
Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes Discussion
20:00 to 23:00
Analyzing Patrick Mahomes' performance and the impact of Kenneth Walker on the Chiefs' offense.
“And right now, the two defenses are not.”
Sumer Sports Data Tracking Insights
23:00 to 24:55
Exploring the innovative data tracking methods used at Sumer Sports.
“and they're going to come back with a vengeance, especially if everyone can stay healthy.”
Show all 18 chapters
Discussing NFL Divisions
29:28 to 30:08
Explore the intriguing dynamics of various NFL divisions, particularly the NFC North and East.
Caleb Williams and Defensive Strategies
30:08 to 32:35
Insights into Caleb Williams' preparation and the challenges posed by defensive strategies in upcoming games.
“If I got to choose a coast, I got to choose the east.”
Vikings Quarterback Situation
32:35 to 35:14
Analysis of the Vikings' quarterback situation and expectations for their upcoming match.
“Well, he saw what happened to Jordan Love.”
Bears Defense and Game Adjustments
35:14 to 38:10
Discussion on the Bears' defense and their ability to adapt during games.
“Whatever it was, they should be taking way more heat for how much they screwed up their quarterback room.”
Upcoming NFL Games Preview
38:10 to 41:04
Preview of exciting upcoming NFL games and matchups to watch.
“I mean, I am always cracking up at the mad dash of the coaches going down to the locker room at the half from the press box.”
Passion Fruit Discussion
43:27 to 44:21
A light-hearted discussion about organic passion fruit and its taste.
“You need a spoon, though, to scoop it out.”
NFL Week One Truths
44:22 to 46:24
Insights and analysis from NFL week one including team performances.
“Truth is, Brockman likes that passion fruit.”
Bears and Chiefs Analysis
46:25 to 47:46
A discussion of the Bears' offensive potential and the Chiefs' changes.
“All right, real quick, I'll just go and say here's the truth.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hey, I've got some game time tips to share with Frigidaire. When you're hosting during football season, you've got to be ready for every kind of craving. Somebody wants fresh pizza. Somebody wants crispy wings. Somebody's asking if there's sliders. That's when you need more than one call in the playbook. Frigidaire offers ranges and wall ovens with over 15 cooking modes so you can tackle hosting with confidence. There's Stone Baked Pizza for restaurant quality pizza in as little as two minutes, Air Fry Mode for crispy favorites, and Air Sous Vide for juicy tender sliders. Plus there's slow cook, no preheat, and more.
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1:21www.espn.com slash sblxi. Void where prohibited. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody.
1:28Colleen Wolfe:Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. 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 richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Colleen Wolfe. Let's go live to St. John's Health Center, Susie. He did have an incredibly inflamed appendix. From The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, pro football hall of famer, Tony Gonzalez.
2:12Colleen Wolfe:Coming up, former NFL general manager, Mike Maya. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Colleen Wolfe.
2:28Colleen Wolfe:Welcome in, everybody. A new fresh hour, hour three of the Rich Eisen show here on this Thursday, September 17th. I'm Colleen Wolfe sitting in for Rich Eisen with the whole crew. Still on Passion Fruit Watch. So we do need a knife, someone. We don't. I didn't bring my switchblade today. Chris Brockman, Mike Delfofo, TJ Jefferson. Same with up to all our new watchers and listeners today that we got from social media yesterday. You're going to love it here. Oh, that's great. Yeah, get comfortable. We have another hour for you. And we have a great guest coming up now. He's an elite talent evaluator.
3:11Colleen Wolfe:He has a front office perspective and he's a fellow Philadelphian. Mike Mayock joins us on the show Mike, I'm like contractually obligated to have a Mike from Philadelphia on every day that I host this show So Mike Garofalo was yesterday, Mike Mayock is today First of all, great to see you And I was talking to your daughter, Lee How's the fam? How is everything? How are things? Everything's great We do share a similar background with the Philadelphia thing And I just kind of felt like, well, I watched that intro. It was a great walk on for Rich. But I would I would vote that when you're a guest host, you should have a similar video walk on and have the ability to choose your own music.
4:00Wow.
4:01Colleen Wolfe:OK, Mike Mayock coming in and the suggestions are awesome. And I think that you should be an executive producer on the show that I have only a small part of. but I'm coming in now to host today. Listen, I don't know what music I would have, but I really like the whole vibe of this show. I like the music. I like the voiceover. It's just like a fun feel. You're co-workers. And now that you're here, I have so many questions for you. So first of all, let's start with the Eagles. And now they have this new identity, which I'm trying to figure out as you evaluate them, what that identity is now with Sean Mannion there as the new offensive coordinator and A.J.
4:48Colleen Wolfe:Brown gone. How do you see them scheming things up? What do you think we will see the rest of the season? Kyle, I was really interested to watch the tape and I watched the whole thing. And I took a lot of time on it, offense and defense. But specifically, in comes this 30-something-year-old kid who I actually evaluated when he came out of Oregon State as a quarterback with no play-calling experience but a really good background with the infrastructure of McVay and San Francisco. And he's got all the right ingredients for what the hot offense in the NFL is today. So I was really anxious to see how the quarterback would adapt.
5:34It's a big change for the offensive line with outside zone. I felt like their two tackles, Maialata and Lane Johnson, are perfect fits. I was worried about the interior offensive line. But mostly, you know, what about Jalen Hurts? He's going to be under center more than he's ever been. I kind of felt like after I watched the tape that I thought Jalen played a really solid game, threw the ball well, especially the deep ball. I thought he won the game with his legs. They didn't call one planned quarterback run, but third and 18, he picks up 23 that sets up the final touchdown on the, I think it was a 40-yard plus touchdown pass to Goddard.
6:17I thought Jalen Hurts had a really good start in the new offense. Now, the nuance is I'm not sure there really are today where they want to be, Carl. I thought the O-line played poorly. I thought the operation with the wideouts, even though they played well individually, I thought they had some spacing problems in the pass game. So I think the best way to put it is after week one, it's a big work in progress for the entire offense. Yeah.
6:48Colleen Wolfe:Mike Mayock, we're talking to now NFL analyst here on behalf of Sumer Sports, which recently launched some data tracking products, Sumer Pass. You guys can go to SumerSports.com and sign up for Sumer Pass and use code WELCOME15 for 15 % off. How nice, Mike. I'd love that. The offensive line in Philadelphia, no Jeff Stoutland there anymore, the offensive line coach who was there for years and really did an incredible job with that unit. Landon Dickerson went on IR. How concerned are you about the line up front on this offense? Before Landon got put on IR, I was concerned. Again, I think the two tackles fit what they're trying to do with the new outside zone scheme.
7:33When you talk about Jeff Stoutland, I'm the defender of the faith. I think he's one of the best offensive line coaches in the history of the NFL. I've known him for 20 years. I've watched him coach. I can't tell you how many practices. However, they wanted to go in a different direction scheme-wise, and that wasn't Stout's cup of tea. So when you ask me how concerned I am, talent-wise at tackle, they're really good. Can Lane Johnson hold up is the biggest thing physically at his age. Landon Dickerson didn't play well last year, Carl. And he's one of the toughest kids you'll ever see, and that's why he played so many games, and he probably shouldn't have.
8:11And then you come out this year, and I watched the tape, and 330-pound guys are crossing his face and getting up upfield. His lateral quickness was nonexistent. So I really wasn't surprised to hear that he had been hurting and put on IR. They're going to turn to Drew Kendall out of Boston College. He was a center at BC, started 30-some games. He's going to play his first game as a starter at guard. I think he'll fit in. He's a smart, tough kid. but again this whole O-line sequencing and timing in a new offense is different for everybody I do expect it to take a little time I thought Saquon Barkley played real well Kyle I thought but the irony is that he averaged over five yards a carry but they had two outside zone plays where he tripped over an offensive lineman and the receiver both of which I thought were going to be big plays.
9:08So I don't want to get too deep in the weeds. Like, you know, I'll bore the hell out of a lot of listeners if I go any deeper. But this offensive line I'm concerned about because Lane Johnson's old. Dickerson's beat up. The center, Juergens, had two holding penalties last week. And the right guard, Steen, is typically average at best. So when they're clicking on all cylinders, they're a top 10 offensive line. But the injury thing worries me the most.
9:36Colleen Wolfe:And for those who would like to go deeper into the weeds, you can listen to the Believe in Eagles podcast that Mayock is on. And it's a great listen. Highly recommend. Let's keep it in the NFC East, though, with John Harbaugh now in New York and the Giants putting on a performance that surprised a lot of people beating up on the Cowboys, being so aggressive in that game and so physical. What did you take away from that first performance and how much of it was also a product of the Cowboys defense? Yeah, great question. It didn't surprise me a whole lot the way the Giants played. I'm a John Harbaugh guy.
10:21Kyle, when he was the special teams coach for the Eagles, we lived in the same neighborhood and his dad was a coach. My dad was a coach.
10:29Colleen Wolfe:What neighborhood did you live in? I got to know real quick. It was in the Newtown Square area. Ah, got it. Cool. Okay, keep going. And we talked all the time. And I helped get him an interview with Boston College to be the head coach. And he knocked it out of the park and they didn't hire him. And he went to Andy Reid and said, Andy, I can't even get a college head coaching job because I'm a special teams coach. You know, either I got to leave and go coach a position or you got to help me get a position. So they moved him to the defensive back coach that year. And a year later, he's the Baltimore Ravens head coach.
11:06And that's a long way of saying that toughness, physicality, culture, I know who he is. And those things still matter. I don't care how young the league trends with the coordinators and everything else. At the end of the day, you still got to block tackle. You've got to be physically and emotionally tough, and that's who Harbs is. So when they came out and ran the ball 37 times for$1.65, that didn't surprise me at all. What I loved, Kyle, and this ties into your second part of your question, what I loved was it's a 14-7 game at half. And in the second half, the Giants only had three possessions.
11:46They went 12 snaps for 74 and a touchdown, 13 snaps for 70 and a touchdown, and their final possession was 12 plays, 37 yards, and they ran the clock out, which means that Dallas only had two possessions in the entire second half. And even though they scored on both of them, it didn't matter. Dallas's defense couldn't get off the field, and Harbs and the Giants pounded them physically. The quarterback played well. This is who Harbaugh is. If he can keep that quarterback that you're looking at right now healthy, if that kid doesn't get too beat up in the run game, they've got a chance, I think, with a good defense to compete for a playoff spot.
12:32Dallas, you know, I'm not going to overreact in week one. They're playing with Christian Parker, who came out of the Eagles system with Vic Fangio. It was not a good week one for them, and I am in no way, shape, or form ready to bury them, but their defense the other day was just about as bad as it was a year ago.
12:53Colleen Wolfe:Yeah, they could not get off the field. And when I look at their upcoming matchup, the Giants against the Rams, whose defense struggled mightily in the Australia game against the Niners, I'm wondering if we might see a little bit more of the same, which would be a lot of the Giants' offense on the field. Obviously, that's what Harbs wants. And I think the key there is Jackson Dart and his ability to throw the ball off play action. I also think a lot of people are overreacting about the Rams' loss. It was an ugly look. You know, the fact that Miles Garrett goes on IR and Aaron Donald's not back yet.
13:35And, you know, I think Les Snead, their general manager, doesn't get enough credit. You know, you and I, Kyle, we hear about Sean McVay 100 times a day, how great he is. And he is. And he deserves it. But nobody talks about Les. You know, Les has that team competing after winning a Super Bowl and trading away all their first-round picks. They still compete every single season. And I don't expect them to come out and play poorly this week. I think, you know, Harbs is going to go in there, and they're going to be physical and tough. but they better be ready because I think LA will be also.
14:11Colleen Wolfe:So more, less love. That's what we need out there. Less need, we got to give them more love. The Bears have been getting a ton of love after their performance. Week one, Caleb Williams just shining in this system with Ben Johnson. How have you seen him grow and change just in this offseason? Obviously, last year, we saw a huge leap from him. But now, coming out and setting the tone with that initial game, what have you seen from Caleb with Ben? I'm a little bit prejudiced, but coaching still matters. I had a buddy of mine who was a scout in the league for 25 years, and he used to tell me that coaching didn't matter.
14:56Whoever had the most talent, whoever did a better job scouting was the better team and would win more games. And then he ended up with a better team, with a better coach. And he called me one day and said, man, coaching really does matter. As it turns out. Yeah, I'm out. Coaching matters. So I look at Chicago and I look at Caleb Williams. And, you know, he and Jaden Daniels came out the same year in the draft. And I had big grades on both of them for different reasons. And year one, we're polar opposites. You know, Jaden takes Washington to the NFC championship game, and Caleb looks poor. And then they flip coaches, and in comes an offensive-minded guy, and he demanded, and I know this, he demanded that Caleb do things his way, okay?
15:46Footwork, eye, vision, where you're going with the football progressions. Everything had to be done a certain way, and they had to break them down a little bit to build them back up. and I did their game last year against the Eagles the day after Thanksgiving. Not only was Caleb impressive, but they ran the ball right up the Eagles' throats. They just knocked them out of the park. And it reminded me of that this past week. I mean, they ran the ball call 39 times.
16:16Colleen Wolfe:39? 291 yards. And listen to this. They had six explosive plays of 28 yards or more. Of the six explosive, four of them were runs, and three of them went for touchdowns. I mean, Manongai went 61 for a touchdown. Caleb Williams went 29 on a scramble, and Swift went 28. When you're running the ball like that and have a quarterback as dynamic as that, no wonder you score 59 points. And it was fun. It was a fun tape to watch, Kyle. It was a fun game to watch. And I know that this offense is going to be fun to watch all season long, especially with Ben Johnson coming out and saying that they're going to be the most prolific offense.
17:01Colleen Wolfe:They're going to put up the most points. And when you talk about that trust with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, I immediately just think about John Harbaugh, not because we just talked about them, but John Harbaugh coming in to the Giants with a very different mentality. and the guys having to buy in. And then when it works, it's like that is this is the fruits of the labor you can see on display. And so coaching, it does matter, as it turns out. Also, I want to get your thoughts on tonight's game, Thursday night football. Lions and Bills, both teams coming off wins, although the Lions, it was a little bit more of a nail biter.
17:42Colleen Wolfe:And the Bills went down to Houston with a statement game for Josh Allen. So what's something to watch for tonight? Where do you think that this game will be decided? I think a big piece of what Buffalo did last week in Houston were explosive plays. They had five at 30 plus. That's a big number. And three of them went to a tight end, Dalton Kincaid. So think about that. A tight end had three catches over 30 yards. And they had two big touchdowns at 30-plus. So I think the big challenge for Detroit's defense, with some beat-up defensive backs and everything, is to limit explosive plays. And that's hard to do against Buffalo.
18:25I love what they did. Their quarterback is probably the best quarterback in football right now. He's certainly one of the four or five franchise quarterbacks in the league. I love the DJ Moore acquisition. Shakir has been their guy, but now it gives them a legitimate inside-outside threat that can play at all three levels. So the Buffalo offense against that Detroit defense, that the defensive backfield is hurting, that both safeties have been hurt. I think that's a really big matchup. And then maybe my favorite guy in football might be that Detroit tailback, Jameer Gibbs.
19:03Colleen Wolfe:Oh, yeah. Like, dude is, he and B. John Robinson, are you kidding me? There's so much. Kyle, do you love watching them play, Kyle? Are you kidding me? And you know what's great is with Jameer Gibbs, every time I look at the screen, he's up playing. He's got the ball in his hands at this point with the amount of touches that he got last week. Yeah, which is scary because, you know, when he came in the league, he and David Montgomery split carries. And I thought they handled it really intelligently to protect the kid as he progressed. Now, Pacheco's hurt. They've got a couple of guys without much experience.
19:38And on the one hand, I love the touches. On the other hand, I just hope he doesn't get beat up over a 17-game season. You start getting too much over 400 touches, and you've got a little bit of a problem for a running back. So anyway, I love Gibbs. I think people are going to have fun watching this game tonight. I think you're going to see a lot of offense. The two offenses are outstanding. And right now, the two defenses are not. So it'll be interesting to see if either defense can make a stand.
20:11Colleen Wolfe:There's going to be some fireworks, a lot of points tonight at the new Highmark Stadium. Also, while you're here, I want to touch on the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, his performance coming back from the ACL injury. We're talking about running backs that we love to watch. Kenneth Walker with Andy Reid. And for years and years, when Andy Reid was in Philadelphia, it was like everyone just wanted Andy to run the ball. And so when Andy does have a good, capable running back and we're seeing how that can work when Andy does run the ball. So how did you evaluate Patrick Mahomes in his return and how much will Kenneth Walker help him in the offense?
20:52You know, there's so many layers here, Kyle, being a Philly person. I mean, you know it. I've known Andy for a lot of years and I used to tease him that he can't help himself like he won't run the football like come on. He just wants to throw that's who he is. I know he wants to throw the football. And I think bringing the enemy back as the offensive coordinator was a big deal. And I know people in that building that love his toughness. I'm talking about Biennemi now, what he demands from his running backs, what that in turn demands from the offensive line. If you throw too often, and I'm the son of an offensive line coach.
21:35If you throw the ball too often, there's a different, sometimes your O-line can get a little bit passive. They're backpedaling all the time. They're accepting. I think you have to have an offensive line that can stick their hand in the dirt and move grown-ass men off the ball. You just have to be able to do that at every level of football. And I think the enemy demands that. Like, we're going to run the ball. The offensive lineman better get used to it. We're going to get physical. We're going to get tough. And Kenneth Walker fits them like a glove. I mean, that kid played his tail off the other night.
22:10What is amazing, Carl, and I think they talked about it in the telecast, his patience and vision really for a young guy oh yeah i think that's somewhat innate you either have it or you don't and you know a couple of times he took his time read the blocks let the linebacker commit made a cut um i think all of that is going to make patrick coming back off an acl have to do a little bit less kelsey looked like he might be uh on the verge of having another good year. And then they got, you know, I think I'm a big Steve Spagnuolo guy. So I think Steve will figure out that defense. So, you know, all the people that think Kansas City is going to be a non-playoff team, watch out.
22:54Colleen Wolfe:Yeah, I mean, absolutely. The way that they performed, I think that last year kind of ate at them because of the finish. And now they know what that feels like. and they're going to come back with a vengeance, especially if everyone can stay healthy. I do have I have a question about Sumer sports. I don't know much about it and I want to know more about it. What like tell me about the data tracking that you guys do. It's kind of crazy. And when they wanted me to come in, they have more data scientists than I've ever seen in my life. And, you know, me, I'm kind of like an old school guy. but I learned a lot about analytics when I was the GM of the Raiders.
23:35It opened my eyes to a bunch of things, made me very acceptant of this new version of what's going on. Sumer, I think, is at the cutting edge. They've got NFL teams as clients. They've got college teams as clients. They finally opened up a consumer section where you can buy their product or at least parts of their product. and if you're into learning more about the game, tracking more of the game, like you could watch the game tonight with the Sumer product and you could worry, say, I wonder how Jamison Williams is doing against the Buffalo corner, number 47, the kid from Villanova. Forget his name.
24:16Benford, you know, what's that matchup look like? And after 23 snaps, you look over at the Sumer data, Edits says they've been on the same side of the line of scrimmage 17 times. They've been against each other 15 of the 17. Press coverage seven times. The average distance of separation for the wideout is 1.8. So he's winning on the separation. And I don't care if you're a former GM or a young person, male or female, looking to learn a little more about the game. It's fascinating and it can help you learn.
Read the full transcript
24:48Colleen Wolfe:Look at you becoming a believer in the analytics of everything. You know what? Because ultimately, we're all football nerds. And we all want to just learn more and have access to more information. And you know what? You're making me a believer. And if you guys are a believer, you can also listen to the Believe in Eagles podcast with Mike and his daughter, Lee Mayock. Mike, thank you for coming by. It's so great to see you. So great to hear your voice and talk with you. I love when we get to do segments together. So hopefully we'll get to do some more work together down the line. But until then, enjoy Philadelphia, my friend, and tell everyone I say hello.
25:29Kyle, it's been too long. Thanks for being so nice to me. Have a great day.
25:33Colleen Wolfe:Oh, Mike Mayock joining us here. What a guy. I love him. He is just he reminds me of my whole family, basically. So it's like it's a Philadelphia thing, I guess. But great, great stuff from him as we are rolling on here. And, you know, I just have a lot to say over here about Pella Home. I don't know if you guys know about Pella, but you should know about Pella. And if you don't, take a look at what we have here for you. We are going to get you all the information you need about Pella. Pella Windows and Doors. We love Pella. There's a great sponsor of us. Oh, really? Right there, the yellow Pella.
26:22Oh, look at that. Look at that. Love Pella, baby. Pella windows and doors, man.
26:25Colleen Wolfe:Yeah, it's great. So we will get you more on Pella on the other side as the Rich Eisen show comes back with more. We have more matchups, more previews for the week two game. And pomegranates. No. Passion fruit. Passion fruit. Brockman. Brockman.
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28:41The Rich Eisen Show podcast.
28:45Colleen Wolfe:Back here on The Rich Eisen Show. And you know, guys, when it comes to your home, Pella Windows and Doors, they are the experts at taking care of you and your home. If you don't know, now you know. At Pella, they find the products that meet your needs and their experts install them. That means working with a company that builds and installs a quality product with real pricing, real simple, really beautiful. And when a trusted name like Pella chooses to partner with The Rich Eisen Show, that says a lot. 0 % financing options are available. Certain restrictions apply. Find your local Pella Windows and Doors showroom today at Pella.com slash Eisen for details.
29:27Colleen Wolfe:Make life brighter with Pella Windows and Doors. Brockman do you wear that Pella helmet a lot yeah I wear it out I take it home for cage oh we play Oklahoma drill in the backyard that's fun I'm kidding oh well maybe you should do that you know we're gonna do we're gonna talk I'm fascinated over the Bears and Vikings I feel like the NFC North the NFC North is intriguing the NFC East is the NFC West what's your favorite division. Oh my god, it's like a favorite kid. It should be simple. Everyone has favorite kids. Only Rich won't admit it. If I got to choose a coast, I got to choose the east. I live out there.
30:11I know.
30:12Colleen Wolfe:So don't go there. Come on now. So NFC East, obviously, like that's home. That's my heart. But if I had to choose a second division that's my favorite in football, I really like the AFC North. And I know that that's an odd, kind of weird one. because it should be like the NFC West is like sexy. They're fun. They're like high scoring. Right. And they have great defenses too. But I like the rivalry that the AFC North has. Those old school rivalries where they really hate each other. And I just remember watching like Steelers, Bengals, playoff games where just people are actually getting into fights on the sidelines.
30:58Colleen Wolfe:Hair is being pulled. Like this was, I just had never seen such hate before. And it goes, and that's what I like about sports. Like the hate? I like the hate. I like the hate. I like the pettiness. I like when there's real emotion in it, because then that makes me buy in even more. But the NFC North has that too. And all four teams are extremely compelling. And obviously it's the beginning of the year. So everyone has hope for the most part. But with this game and Caleb Williams coming off his performance last week, now going up against the Brian Flores defense, I want you guys to take a listen to what Caleb said about preparing for such a test.
31:46It's a game plan defense. And so he's going to game plan all the way up to the tee from first snap to last snap. And, you know, it's a coach called this calls this mental war when you go versus him. And it's that's what it is. You've got to be able to go out there and, you know, things are going to happen. Bad things are going to happen. You've got to be able to fight back and stay steady. And so that's one of the biggest things is not allowing his defense and all of that to flush you and get in your mind. That's one of the first. And then after that, you stay steady and things like that. Now it's time to go make plays and get completions.
32:17And, you know, when the big ones show up, you know, take them and find them. You know, my job is, you know, part of my job is, you know, when those things happen is finding the big ones. And then, you know, when it's not, it's finding the completions. And so that's a big challenge for us, myself, this week. And, you know, I'm going to take it up and, you know, we'll see how it turns out on Sunday.
32:35Colleen Wolfe:So he is locked in. Well, he saw what happened to Jordan Love. And he saw the pressure that was coming from the other side. And that's what we know about these Brian Flores defenses, how talented they are and how much heat they can put on a quarterback. and I look at the points that they were able to put up last week and when, I don't know, these two teams, I just feel like this is a game that it's not going to be as high scoring as we've seen from week one, right? I think not. No. I think the difference, too, between Chicago and Green Bay in this game and what's going to be really hard on this Minnesota defense, the Bears can run the football.
33:22And we know it.
33:23Colleen Wolfe:We saw it over 200 yards last week. Almost 300. 291. Oh, my God. And Caleb, he had two rushing touchdowns. He got in on the act as well. And I think you're not going to be able to blitz as much. We're not going to see that 70 % blitz rate like they threw at Jordan Love. And I think that's just going to open things up. It's going to open play action more for Caleb. And, man, I can't wait to see how the Bears kind of counteract this. It's such a chess match. But I think the Bears being able to run the ball like they're able to, it's going to make it much more difficult. They're not going to be able to pin their ears back and just blitz Caleb nonstop.
33:59Colleen Wolfe:No, uh-uh. And it's like you have Caleb and you have Carson in this game. And how much can you take away from that week one Carson Wentz start? And I don't know for the Vikings, where's your where's your optimism level on the Vikings, considering their quarterback situation is in flux right now. But it never really felt like it was set to begin with coming in to the year. They had this competition going on and that to me, obviously, they're in a better spot than they were last year. but I don't have as much optimism in the Vikings as I'd like to right now. You know, it's no one thought Carson Wentz was going to be an option.
34:47Like the quarterback battle we heard all summer was Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy with like probably going to be Kyler unless JJ comes in and kind of blows everyone's socks off. And now, wait, could he get cut? Could he get traded? Is he the third guy? Wentz is the backup. And you're like, wait, what is happening right now? They've botched this pretty much from jump with letting Sam Darnold go. They just didn't want to pay him. They didn't believe in him. Whatever it was, they should be taking way more heat for how much they screwed up their quarterback room. But when you look at it right now, I think you've got to be optimistic, though, because Wentz proved he can come in off the bench and do it.
35:27Justin Jefferson looks happy. I mean, I know Jordan Mason just went on IR with a broken wrist, but Aaron Jones is still there running the rock pretty well they got this kid DeMond Claiborne who's super fast and put up some good numbers at Wake Forest probably was a sneaky waiver wire ad in fantasy yesterday for some people look they still have enough offense and with the way the Bears play D this game's going to be close it's going to be high scoring and you know if they come out of this 2-0 okay all right I guess we got to take you seriously until with Kyler Murray probably coming back in week three.
36:05Well, yeah.
36:06Colleen Wolfe:TJ, do you feel the same way? I mean, he took two of my talking points. Say him again. Copying off of him from across the room. Well said and well stated. It's just the thing. Like, Wentz came in in the middle of that game, didn't have any idea he was going to be seeing any season. No. So now he's got like a weak tackle. Maybe he's a vet, so it should be a lot easier than trying to, you know, shoehorn a rookie in there. But the Vikings D, low key, man. I don't even know if it's low-key. It's kind of high-key. It's kind of high-key. Maybe this game isn't as high-scoring as everything. No, definitely not.
36:42I don't know. Like I said, I keep going back to this Carson. Because I love stories and I love things that you can point at. And it might mean something.
36:49Colleen Wolfe:Him wearing the jersey as a kid. Him being just growing up as a kid. You have a real soft spot for this. It's not even this. It's just like, sometimes it's just like, all right, there's something you can cling to. I don't know what it is. But we'll see. If they come out and win this game, then I'm really going to be high on this. What's more likely Thursday? We're going to play what's more likely tomorrow, obviously. Higher scoring game. Tonight's Bills-Lions or Bears-Vikings? Tonight's Bills-Lions. Even though it's a Thursday? I don't even hesitate. Yeah. I know. Now, I'm going to be texting you guys tonight like, no!
37:220-0 first quarter.
37:24Colleen Wolfe:Just eating my passion fruit? It's going to be 13-9, and then this Bears-Viking game is going to be like 39-30. Oh, man. Well, the Bears defense, they had a really rough start too. You're going to give up three touchdowns in the first half. Yeah, coming into the game. Yeah. That was week one. But they did, whatever adjustments they made, they did look better after the half. So they tightened up. I don't know how they did it. Which is amazing because these guys only get like nine minutes in the locker room. NFL halftime this. So how do you, how are they even, it's something that always, those speeches bet gotta make an impact.
38:03Colleen Wolfe:They got to land. Right. Like how are you even able to turn something around when you've got so little time in there to, to make adjustments? It's pretty amazing. I mean, I am always cracking up at the mad dash of the coaches going down to the locker room at the half from the press box. They block off the elevators. It's so serious. Like we got, we got three minutes here to get across all of our points from the first half. It's like, it's very intense. Yes, it is. But yeah, without those three takeaways that the Bears have, they may have been, I mean, up against the Panthers in a really tight game for all four quarters.
38:38And they had an insane turnover early in the game. Ben Johnson goes for it on fourth and one from like his own 25. Doesn't get it. And you're just like, why are you giving away possessions like this? Nope, didn't matter. Right? 59 points. Yeah. Running wild, throwing bombs. Didn't matter. I wish we would have went for it. Your game was over the second you painted.
39:01Colleen Wolfe:Yeah. Was it a lie or was it a truth? I mean, not going for it? Well, just that the game was over before it started for the Cowboys. I mean, it's kind of a lie, but, you know. Well, let's go around and do some truth or lies, right? Let's do it. You want to do it right now? Well, or we could wait. We could wait. We could, we can, you know. All right, let's do it next break. Next break. All right. What other games here are we excited about that? I feel like we've talked about a lot of the ones, but just kind of looking at some of these games that we haven't hit yet, because we haven't really talked about, I mean, I love the Baker Mayfield Bucks, Browns revenge story.
39:48Colleen Wolfe:And I mean, the Steelers and the Patriots, It doesn't really. I'm sorry, Brockman. No, I'm going to be the only one in America watching that game. I'm really worried about your offensive line with T.J. Watt. I'm worried about Drake May. Or Morgan Moses. Yeah, yeah. And then the Packers, they're playing the Jets. Bengals, Texans. Maybe Jordan Love will get a little. Unlove. I don't know if he can settle down, come down from last week's outing on the road here against the Jets. Looking forward to the Bengals and the Texans. Yeah, Texans Bengals, Vikings Bears. Those are the cream of the crop of the early games.
40:28Colleen Wolfe:Ooh, that's going to be a great window. I have to figure out how my configuration is going to be. Your multi-box? Yeah. I have a projector that I put on the wall. Oh, you're fancy, huh? Is that why you couldn't come to the draft? You were putting up the projector? Yeah, you know. No, I only do it during football season and then it goes away for the whole rest of the year. But I've every iPad I've ever had, I've spilled stuff on like immediately fried. So I just can't be trusted with electronics right now. I can't even charge my phone. Liquid is detected. OK, we're going to come back with some truths and some lies from week one.
41:03Colleen Wolfe:What do we believe in? Find out.
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43:27Colleen Wolfe:so let's get back to the passion fruit uh did you did you try it yet or are you just at it first off i i imagine like aliens are real now we've yeah that's what it looks like right this is what i imagine like alien eggs would look like oh okay oh yeah but so you're supposed to that's how they put the chip inside you so now yeah look at the inside of this is disgusting Okay, but you didn't try it. You need a spoon, though, to scoop it out. Listen, this was grown in my backyard. There are no pesticides. Yeah. It's completely organic. So organic. Can't get more. Some sisters eat these? You ate day-old chicken soup yesterday.
44:05Colleen Wolfe:And you ate a hat. Which was gross. You ate a Del Tuvo peanut butter hat. Oh, wow. You made a mess. You're going to like it. I made a mess. It's actually pretty sweet. Exactly. Exactly. See, don't judge a book by its cover, everybody. They're crunchy. Yeah, they're seeds. it's like it's tart it's sweet it's so good for you so you're welcome all right i'm in sorry about the light but you can get it i'll bring you all the passion fruit you need for that light what is that yellow juice on the inside what is that that's the passion fruit oh that's that's no the whole part of it you don't do anything with the outer probably should cut it more at the top and you can like drink the juice or no you probably could yeah passion fruit's a drink that's a yeah You can make drinks.
44:50A lot of things. That's also a song by Drake. Wasn't it a Drake song? It's a Drake song, yeah. And that, too. Good job. It's what I'm here for.
44:59Colleen Wolfe:Bad job by me. Truths and lies. Truth is, Brockman likes that passion fruit. Kind of do now. He'd be lying if he said he didn't. But let's go around. We'll do some truths and lies that we saw from week one. Okay, I will start. And when I look at what happened week one, I really loved what I saw from the Bengals defense. And to me, that is a truth. They upgraded their offensive line. They brought in some serious talent. They brought in Dexter Lawrence. Yes, they lost some talent. But I think what they gained and the skill positions that those guys play, like the puzzle pieces fit together better now.
45:45Colleen Wolfe:They signed their star edge rusher and Boye Mafé, who's coming off the Super Bowl win. You have Jonathan Allen there now. And also, I like Brian Cook, who that's going to help with their tackles because the Bengals struggled mightily last year and for years past without tackling help. And I just like I like the guys that returned. I like what Al Golden's doing. I think that they can play these guys in waves and they can rotate them. And finally, they have a defense that can support this offense when obviously now with Joe Burrow and the back tightness, he's going to need some extra help. So I think that this is a truth.
46:27All right, real quick, I'll just go and say here's the truth. The Kansas City Chiefs really missed Eric Biennemi.
46:33Colleen Wolfe:Oh, yeah, that's a great one. You know, the way they ran the football, the way they looked. But in the time that he was with the Chiefs, they averaged 493 points per season. Once he was gone, that went down to 373 points per season. Now, yeah, they did go to Super Bowls. They were 1-1 as opposed to 2-1-1 with him. But something feels different. It feels like it's right that he's back with Kansas City. Because some of those Super Bowls, that was the defense. That was Spaggs' defense that was getting them there at the end. My truth, the Bears offense. That's the truth. they're not going to score 59 every week but i think 30 is the floor on a weekly basis i think caleb looks completely locked in mvp conversation all week they can run the football and colson loveland like we said over and over had zero receptions that is not going to be the norm wait till he gets involved uh look out love the bears i we didn't get to a caller earlier who was calling in and said that he doesn't know how to deal with a great bears offense and uh figure it out.
47:37Colleen Wolfe:Figure it out fast because you're going to have to deal with it. Happy, bro. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know if we have time to get to our lives. We'll do lives in the TV only. Okay. Hey, radio. Great job, Colleen. Thanks for listening. Maybe see you tomorrow, maybe not. Bye. 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. FUN B Explorer McCOOOO Subscribe here for more!
From the publisher
Guest Host Colleen Wolfe is joined by former Raiders GM Mike Mayock to discuss his concerns for the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense, why the New York Giants are legit contenders to reach the playoffs this season, the Bears’ outlook after Chicago’s 59-point Week 1 explosion, the keys to who wins the Bills vs Lions Thursday Night Football matchup, and what the addition of Kenneth Walker III means for the Chiefs’ chances to return to the postseason. (1:42)
Colleen and the guys discuss the Caleb Williams vs the Vikings’ blitzing defense Week 2 showdown. (26:38)
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