Hour 3: Guest Host Tom Pelissero, Jekyll & Hyde Cowboys, Belichick’s UNC Future

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1:27Now, on with the show. To T-T-Taste some hill This is the Rich Eisen Show K-Back with his first career touchdown Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles Daniel Jones to Tyler Warren Touchdown The Rich Eisen Show With guest host Tom Pellicero Earlier on the show NFL Network insider Mike Garofalo Coming up Latest news and more And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Tom Pellicero.

2:00Tom Pelissero:Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show final hour here on an eventful Monday already. As we are live, Tom Pellicero in for Rich. The news within the last few minutes, Brian Callahan out as the Tennessee Titans head coach. Just one season and six games into his tenure. No word yet from the Titans in terms of who the interim head coach is going to be. Whoever it is, their debut will be next Sunday at home against Mike Vrabel's New England Patriots. Brockman, you're viewing this from the other side right now. Yeah, man. The Vrabel Patriots experience. I'm excited to take the Patriots in Survivor this week.

2:48Tom Pelissero:it's it's a hard it's it's a hard thing when you know the people involved here and brian callahan is a good dude who has dealt a pretty tough hand when you have the number one pick though and the offense is this punchless when it is struggling this much it did feel like this was a matter of time i i believe that it was going to be at least another week or two before they got to that point. Instead, it is before the visit from Vrabel and the Patriots, a game that certainly you know that ownership in Tennessee had circled on the calendar for a variety of different reasons. We got the phone lines open 844 204, Rich.

3:35Tom Pelissero:We're still going to get to the sound from today on Mike Tomlin talking about the Joe Flacco trade in the division ahead of a Thursday night game between the Steelers and the Bengals. Bill Belichick answering questions about the flood of reports that came out while he was on, as I saw People Magazine describe it, a romantic weekend getaway to Nantucket during the Tar Heels bye weekend. Let's go to the phone lines right now. Terzo in Iowa has been waiting for a very long time to jump on here. Terzo, it's Tom and the boys. What's going on? What up, man? What up, Tommy P.A., man? We talked on Friday, and I was in a little bit better spirits, that Fred Warner injury.

4:20Man, that one hurt. He's such the heart and soul of that team. And to see him go down like that and us lose him for the year, that's going to be big.

4:30Tom Pelissero:There's no doubt. I guess the question then would be, if you're a 49ers fan, how do you feel about the chances, Terzo, for this team to withstand another just absolute gutting injury after already losing Nick Bosa from that defense? Well, so this is kind of where I sit right now. If we have a favorable schedule going forward, we have Atlanta this Sunday night. If we squeak past them and stay afloat, I would say and suggest that we try and make a move for one of the defensive ends that we've been linked to. But if the wheels start to fall off and we're not really competing on the defensive side, I don't think we should be giving up any draft capital and look for the future and might have to pack it up and look for next year if it snowballs as well as the way I might see it going.

5:26Tom Pelissero:Anything else on your mind on a Monday morning here coming off of week six? I feel like we should give you more than 90 seconds for your two hours on hold here, Terzo. No, but watching Baker Mayfield, as we talked last week, that was a gutty performance. And right now, if that team gets healthy, they're going to be a tough out in the playoffs. And at this point, they're in the driver's seat for the number one overall seed. And I think that they have a great chance of making a really long run in the playoffs, especially if there's issues in Philly. and I think the Lions are going to have a tough time keeping pace with them after dropping that game last night to the Chiefs.

6:11Tom Pelissero:Terzo, thank you very much for the call. Appreciate you as always here. That was MVP caliber stuff from Baker Mayfield yesterday. One of the plays of the year so far, the stumbling, bumbling, somehow pick up the first down run. Layout. Followed, what, two plays later? By the dot to undrafted Tez Johnson, seventh round pick, whatever he was. who hadn't had a catch. Unbelievable throw, unbelievable catch as well. Yeah. And he's doing that without... Remember, it's not just he loses a mechabook in the game. Mike Evans has not been out, though. Todd Bowles said Evans back at practice this week, maybe can play.

6:49Tom Pelissero:Chris Godwin, not going to play again this week, dealing with another injury. Jalen McMillan at last check was still in a neck brace. So that's your top four wide receivers. I mean, you're throwing to the JV squad out there. Yeah, Bucky Irving out the last two games. Todd Ball said, not going to play Monday night against Detroit. Very shorthanded, and what Baker Mayfield's doing is just tremendous. What a throwdown that's going to be. Bucs, Lions, two of the grittier, more physical football teams in the entire NFL going at it on national TV. There are those teams that we've seen so far this season that you just have that feeling when they get into January, they're going to be a tough out.

7:28Tom Pelissero:Regardless of where the game is, they're going to play you tight. There's other teams that I think we're still trying to figure out. One of them being the team favored by the gentleman in the corner here. The Dallas Cowboys, TJ. I'm curious. They've clearly been producing offensively. Even yesterday, they scored. But putting the entire package together. Right now, they are very much a middle of the pack. They're 2-3-1. What do you make of your Cowboys right now? It's so hard. to really give you an answer on that. Because like you said, the offense is clicking, seemingly, without CD in there. Dak is playing amazing low-key, or even high-key, I guess, statistically speaking.

8:15He's been great. This defense is just trash, man. You know, now Dallas fans are screaming for Eberflus to be shown the door based upon some of the defensive sets that happened yesterday. I mean I try not to get overly Emotional anymore About this team you know what I mean Like these guys want me to sign this This letter that gives up my fandom I don't want to do that But I'm also I'm past The point in my life where like I'm Going to let it ruin the next 48 hours of my life which For decades it did you know And it's just now I sit back and Just watch and scratch my head sometime It's the Carolina Panthers, and respectfully, you should be beating the Carolina Panthers.

9:06Tom Pelissero:Rico Dowdle called his shot. Rico Ruse? Is that what you're saying? Babe Dowdle? He went in there and told you what was the deal, what was going to happen. I am going to be the one to beat you. Buckle that chin strap. This guy run up your chest and down your back, right? Man, it was a tough watch. I don't know where the relief comes from. The back end of the defense is terrible. I don't understand how you could go from Trevon Diggs and Deron Bland looking as great as they did a few years ago to what we see every Sunday now, man. It's just, like I said, I'm trying to remove my emotions out of this without losing it, but, man, it's just sad to see.

9:50Tom Pelissero:Well, let's revisit here, too, what Rico Dowdle had to say in reference to going up against his former team. Rico, if your message last week was buckle up to the Cowboys, what's your message after the game? Everyone buckled up.

10:13Tom Pelissero:Fantastic line. Fantastic. I also would have accepted they did not stop the run. That was the rallying cry after the stunning Micah Parsons trade. It was, I believe, the first thing that Jerry Jones said in an hour-long press conference explaining why you're trading something that every team dreams of, which is a young pass rusher in his prime who's on your team and trading him away for picks and Kenny Clark, a nose tackle. And Jerry said over and over, a big part of this trip, we didn't even talk to teams that couldn't send us a nose tackle because we need to stop the run. We haven't been able to stop the run.

10:54Tom Pelissero:What happened yesterday, TJ? The run was not stopped, Tom. They did not stop the run. It was a lot of running. And by the way, also not a lot of pass rush. And that's where I understand where a lot of the focus goes to Matt Eberflus in these situations. And there were questions asked after the game to Brian Schottenberg. Do you have the personnel to run the system? He said, yeah. Do the players believe in the system? That's where he said, well, that's a question I would hope. Yes. whatever is happening here defensively, there is just a roller coaster ride that they're on. Iberfaluz has been a top coordinator for years.

11:32Tom Pelissero:Even when he was in Chicago, people talked about how hard his defense was to go up against. And part of that was just they were so disciplined. They played so hard. They flooded to the football. I don't see that consistently right now for the Dallas Cowboys. And as much as Jerry has talked about, hey, we got all these picks. We might go out and do something. We might go out and make a move to help our team. Who are you going to get, Jerry? I don't know that this is the type of team right now that you're thinking you're one player away from being a factor. Now, offensively, again, I would say they've exceeded reasonable expectations.

12:08Tom Pelissero:No C.D. Lamb. They scored, prior to yesterday, they scored, I believe, 77 points over the previous two games. And yesterday, they still scored 27, right? Yep. So you're giving yourself a chance. Absolutely. Offensively, I get where you could talk yourself into, hey, we're getting healthy. C.D. Lamb, I was told 50-50 to play this week. They're going to get Tyler Booker back in practice this week. This offense that has been producing at a high level, and again, George Pickens has made himself as much money as anybody in the early stage of this season as a guy who is eligible for free agency. At this point, it would seem like a no-brainer to franchise tag, but that's a different conversation.

12:47Tom Pelissero:But are you close enough from a programmatic perspective that you think, you know what? We got those extra picks next year. We got an extra one next year. Let's use it now on a player that can help this team. I don't know. Jerry turns 83 today. Happy birthday, Jerry. He got a loss to the Panthers as the early birthday gift. But if you're Jerry and you're looking at this 22 days out, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he wants to be aggressive. I would not be surprised at all if he sees enough offensively, culturally to say, I think we can be competitive. The Eagles have stumbled here. The commanders who play tonight against the Bears, they've not been perfect.

13:27Tom Pelissero:The Giants are coming off the biggest win they've had in three years, but they're still a two and four football team. Why can't we put this thing together and make a run? Yeah, I mean, when you put it that way, Tom, there is no one team, right, especially NFC, that's standing out like this is the team going to the Super Bowl. So I guess in theory, yeah, right? You feel like, all right, it's still wide open, But I don't know if that's reality. Dallas has scored the third most points in the NFL, given up the second most. The teams right now with the most wins in the NFC, as I'm just pulling this up here, your top teams for wins.

14:06Tom Pelissero:A lot of teams with four. The Bucs are 5-1. They've got all kinds of injuries, but they just week in and week out. They find a way. And incrementally here, they should be getting some people back, right, in the coming weeks. You got the Packers, who are 3-1-1 at this point. By virtue of win percentage, that's the order I'm going on here. They look like a tough team. They've had a couple bad defensive games before the bye. Came back, played better yesterday. The 49ers at 4-2. Again, your best two players on defense are out for the season. The quarterback situation remains fluid. Purdy should be back sometime in the next couple of weeks.

14:43Tom Pelissero:Mack Jones is clearly not playing at 100%, but has found ways to keep him in games. I think you saw the limitations, namely from the injury, pop up a little bit more in the game yesterday. The Eagles are 4-2, and we're talking about them like they're 0-6, but they're not a perfect team at this point. The Lions, last night, that was a weird game. TJ and I were watching when the Jared Goff touchdown got overturned as slowly as any overturn we've ever seen. It was like five minutes after we were looking like, wait a minute, they have three there. What's the problem? I read the pool report and they literally all the officials were like, we had to piece the thing together because Jared Goff, according to the officials, established himself under center as the quarterback.

15:26Tom Pelissero:And then went in motion. If you establish yourself, then you have to stop. But Jared Goff said he and the coaches have never heard that rule. He thought as long as you don't go under center, then that's not supposed to be called. Because all he did was kind of, he looked, he kind of gave a tap on the rear to the center, and then he rolled out. Right, so what is the threshold? Establishing, I thought, was putting your hands under there. How far in there do your hands need to be until you are officially a quarterback? That is going to be an interesting conversation between the Lions and the league office for the course this week, but they're 4-2.

16:00Tom Pelissero:I think we look at them as a dangerous team. The Rams at 4-2, they could be 6-0. They've had a couple games to get away from. them. And then you got Seattle, the team that nobody talks about, but one that I don't want to see right now. I don't want to see the Seahawks in the playoffs. They went down to the wire with the 49ers. Obviously they had another tough loss along the way, but the Jaguars were the fun story and the Seahawks took it to them a little bit on the road yesterday. Granted Jack's fell in a short week and all that, but that's a, that's a really sound team that Mike McDonald is coaching the heck out of.

16:33Tom Pelissero:Sam Darnold has played really well, but for that one interception late against Tampa, we're talking about Sam Darnold potentially as an MVP candidate right now, and we should. That's how well he's playing. If the playoffs began today, and they don't, we are one-third of the way through this season. If they did, the Vikings would not be in the playoffs. The Commanders would not be in the playoffs. Obviously, the Cowboys would not be in the playoffs. But I don't know. With the number of situations with those teams above you, I certainly think Jerry Jones can convince himself that we can be buyers, not sellers, and give ourselves a chance.

17:13Tom Pelissero:22 more days, and we shall see. Again, big news within the past hour here. The Tennessee Titans firing their head coach, Brian Callahan. We will get into that more. Let's also, though, after this, talk about what Mike Tomlin had to say about the Joe Flacco trade as he gets set to take on a quarterback who was just traded within the division Thursday night in Cincinnati. A lot more to come as this edition of the Rich Eisen Show rolls on. Tom Pellicero in for Rich.

17:50The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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19:30Tom Pelissero:Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show on Disney Plus, ESPN app and ESPN radio presented by Progressive. Brian Callahan out as the Titans head coach. We continue to await word on exactly what the plan is from here. A lot to take in, especially with your number one pick, Cam Ward, now thrust into a chaotic type of a situation for the rest of the season. I hate that for him. And his development. We've seen that, like you mentioned, a few years. Go back even a year before Bryce Young and Frank Reich. Trevor Lawrence and Urban Meyer, like these number one overall quarterbacks, you put all your faith in them as the franchise.

20:12They're going to turn it around for you, and then they can match up with a head coach who gets axed year one.

20:17Tom Pelissero:Three years in a row. Tough spot. Three years in a row, the head coach of the number one pick has not made it through the season. The question is now, can it get worse? It's been pretty bad in terms of just the offensive inability to move the football. So we'll see. Again, we await word on that. We also did get word this morning from Mike Tomlin, who normally is a Tuesday talker during the week. He's coming off of a win short week against the Bengals. So he was at the podium today. He was asked about the trade of Joe Flacco to Cincinnati since they faced the Bengals on Thursday night. And Tomlin had this to say.

21:01You know, to be honest, it was shocking to me. Andrew Barry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn't make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening day starter to a division opponent that's hurting in that area. But that's just my personal feelings.

21:20Tom Pelissero:When the Bengals acquired him, knowing what you know about Zach and how he likes to win his offense, from Cincinnati's perspective, did it make sense for them? It certainly made sense from Cincinnati's perspective. All right, so that's a pretty blunt, honest answer from Mike Tomlin right there. Amazing. Literally laughing about whether it made sense for the Bengals. I mean, you don't you don't see intra-division quarterback trades hardly ever. You know, Donovan McNabb, once upon a time when the Eagles moved on from him, sent him to Washington. But that was also, you know, late career Donovan McNabb.

21:55Tom Pelissero:And they probably felt pretty confident that this was not going to be a net positive for the opponent. That this was not going to be something that was suddenly going to take the Washington football team of a different name at the time and make them into contenders where it seems like the issue becomes here. Well, there's multiple issues for Mike Tomlin, but one of them being the Bengals were in dire straits. They called all over the NFL. We talked about this yesterday on NFL Network. They called everybody and tried to figure out what quarterback would be available. The one guy that they called on and they actually got traction on was Joe Flacco.

22:31Tom Pelissero:In other words, if not for the Flacco trade, it might well have been Jake Browning again. And it wouldn't have mattered big picture yesterday because they still lose to the Packers. But the offense did look more functional. Now it's a short week. You have Joe Flacco again coming off of what I would say was an overall encouraging performance. We know what Joe Flacco is. We know what he's not. It's not like he was going to come out and throw for 500 yards. He's a four-year-old quarterback who is good enough to be accurate and play on time and throw the football to your best players. Jamar Chase might have the catch of the year.

23:06Tom Pelissero:Joe Flacco is the one who puts that ball on him. Yeah. And gives him the opportunity. So if you're the Steelers, you're going, why would you do that? We're the team in first place here. You're hurting yourself, too, because now Flacco, if he goes and plays well, doesn't that kind of look like the Browns were the problem? It being totally fair to Cleveland, they don't have Jamar Chase. They don't have T. Higgins. They have Jerry Judy, who's probably not a true number one. He's probably number two receiver in the league. Bengals have two ones. That's going to help a lot of quarterbacks look better.

23:42Tom Pelissero:Both teams have offensive line issues that they continue to work through. But it does create this awkward dynamic of if you give your starting quarterback that you began the year with, that you name the starter and you hand him over to a division rival and that team then makes a playoff run. This doesn't reflect great on anybody involved on that from Cleveland's side. I certainly understand why they went to Dylan Gabriel sooner than they had anticipated. They did not go in going, you know what? We see if Dylan Gabriel is first start week five in London against Brian Flores, his defense. That's going to help.