Hour 3: Guest Host Tom Pelissero Previews NFL Week 6, plus Giants LB Brian Burns

0:00As soccer takes center stage this summer, Comcast helps bring the experience home to America. As the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the U.S., Telemundo is set to present its most expansive coverage ever. 700 hours of programming, live on-site presence at all 104 matches, and with multi-view and real-time 4K, Xfinity will deliver the most innovative and immersive sports viewing experience for fans watching on Telemundo, Peacock, Fox, and FS1. Learn more at ComcastCorporation.com. Heat up your 4th of July at The Home Depot with our wide variety of grills under$300 and make every gathering one to remember.

0:38Give your outdoor space a glow up. Whatever your budget is, with savings on seasonal plants starting at$5. With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party. Start celebrating with low prices guaranteed at The Home Depot. Prices may vary by store. Exclusions apply. See Home Depot.com slash price match for details. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime.

1:17But 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. All I give a damn about Got to move the back God, I love that guy This is the Rich Eisen Show With guest host, Tom Pellicero Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles Cahez grounds it back to Kirkree He can't find it He throws home It's won Earlier on the show Jason McCourty Ross Dellinger Coming up Giants linebacker, Brian Burns And now, sitting in for Rich It's Tom Pellicero

2:00Tom Pelissero:Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. It is indeed Tom Pellicero in for Rich today. He is in London getting set to call the Broncos and Jets game. And by getting ready, I mean at dinner, I believe right now. Have we checked to see whether the Instagram stories have been updated? Great question. We will get to that. We are on Disney Plus. We are on the ESPN app. We are also on ESPN radio presented by Progressive Insurance. Brian Burns, one of the stars of the Giants breakthrough game last night, knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs. Can be joining us in just a little bit here. We got a whole chock full slate of games coming up, too, on Sunday.

2:45Tom Pelissero:I'll be back next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but specifically Monday. They will have a ton to break down, including the imminent debut of Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengal. His star receiver, by the way, Jamar Chase, officially going to be listed as questionable. Came down with an illness last night. So for all those reps, you don't have a lot of them in a game week. Just slice that now by one third. There's even fewer opportunities for Joe Flacco and Jamar Chase to kind of try to work out the rhythm and timing. But Joe Flacco, just a short time ago during the show, was at the podium, talked about the moment that he heard he had been traded within the state of Ohio from the Browns to the Bengals.

3:30Crazy business. You know, you have to be ready for anything. That's kind of what it was. You know, definitely didn't have this on my list of things that were going to happen. So, but hey, that's this league. And I'm a player. I think most players would say the same thing. I mean, you know, I like to play football. And if that's in Cincinnati right now, then, you know, I'm all for it. Two years ago, right now, Joe Flacco is out of the league.

4:06Tom Pelissero:He's on his couch. No one has signed him. He's trying to figure out, is he going into broadcasting? What's he going to do for the rest of his life? The Browns go through a bunch of other quarterbacks. Everybody gets hurt, leads them to the playoffs. Think of this. In a 24-month span, has come off the couch, led the Browns to the playoffs, gone to Indianapolis, backed up Anthony Richardson, gotten to take over for Anthony Richardson before they went back to Anthony Richardson, returns to Cleveland, wins a sort of quarterback battle where basically everyone else was hurt through the course of camp and there wasn't a whole lot of options, but they also liked Flacco enough for him to be the guy.

4:42Tom Pelissero:now gets traded to Cincinnati and will face the Packers on Sunday, literally five days after he got traded. Here's what Flacco had to say about that preparation time. You honestly just have, like I said, it goes back to just, I think my personality probably ends up helping me here, but you just kind of have to go with it and embrace whatever it is and meet it head on. And then also, like, when you're in these situations, it's a good reminder of the fact that we get to play a game for a living and you know try not it makes it almost a little bit easier to not make it bigger than it actually is all right so joe flacco walks in the door to a bengals team that had such high expectations right you think through their entire off season you re-sign jamar chase and t higgins you get trey hendrickson back after a protracted back and forth.

5:39Tom Pelissero:Joe Burrow is finally healthy. He's got a normal offseason. He's got everything in front of him. I sat down with Joe in training camp, and I was asking him, what's the next step? And he basically said, it's perfection, and I think I'm pretty close to it. This is a guy who we're talking about as an MVP candidate. Gets hurt almost immediately, week two of the season. Jake Browning, who you would have regarded going into the season as probably a top 10 backup in the NFL. nothing goes right three games riddled with turnovers three losses two and three and now in comes joe flacco who has a foundation in the offense but if you go back through the course of time when we've had trades when we've had signings it is really really rare to acquire a quarterback more than any other position and start them that week whether it's when the Vikings acquired, you know, Sam Bradford, when it's, you know, any number of other, those types of deals, usually you need a week just to acclimate.

6:39Tom Pelissero:Right. But part of the challenge for the Bengals was next week, they don't have a normal week. Next week is a Thursday night game against the Steelers. So if you don't give Joe Flacco all the reps, and again, he misses out on a day of them with his top receiver. But if you don't give them all the reps this week, the soonest you would give him a normal week, we'll be going into week eight. And by that point, you might be two and five. And it doesn't matter anymore because the season's over. So Zach Taylor comes out yesterday and says, like, Joe is starting. Like, that's the plan. He is going to be the starter on Wednesday.

7:15Tom Pelissero:That's kind of out of necessity here. You need something to jumpstart you. You're in a hostile environment in Green Bay, a Packers defense that has already seen you once and essentially shut you down for 50, what, 57, 58 minutes. The Browns offense did not score a point. Did not score a touchdown anyway against the Packers. They only get the opportunity on a short field because Jordan Love throws a terrible interception that allows them to flip the game and they punch one in. It's not like Joe Flacco lit these guys up. Yeah, it was his one win this season with the Browns. But it was the defense that drove that game.

7:51Tom Pelissero:Flacco played well enough out of the gate against the Bengals that but for a missed field goal, they're winning that game. I understand why Cincinnati has to do it. his physical skill set is a fit because of the processing ability see it rip it he's always had great arm twitch very subtle fine mechanics that help him fit into an offense like that but he's 40 i mean the last time we saw joe flacco it was a game that was so bad that the browns had to go to dylan gabriel sooner than they wanted to right going into this season we were going to see dylan Gabriel or Shadur Sanders at some point. You did not want to start, if you're the Browns, you're Kevin Stefanski, Dylan Gabriel in the initial gauntlet of your season.

8:39Tom Pelissero:Flacco was so bad in the Lions game, they basically went, all right, we got to, yeah, we're facing Brian Flores in London this week, but we got to do something different. Because when you don't, when you continue to play somebody who's not playing well, just like with the Giants when they went to Jackson Dart, ideally you would have gone longer with Russ. but you get to a certain point the locker room always knows and if you got a guy who's throwing the ball away he's not making plays you can't stick with him which exactly what's happened in Cincinnati too they've seen Jake Browning have a lot of success but the Jake Browning last week that throws three picks and puts you in another hole you can't go on like it I know this is the question Susie asked me on this show yesterday was is this an upgrade I don't know that's the honest truth it is going to be dependent on how joe flacco comes out and plays he's not going to extend plays like jake browning he's not going to get outside the pocket he's probably going to be a little bit better at playing on rhythm but is he going to protect the football better he didn't do it in cleveland that's why he's at the starter there now let's see what type of plan they got good coaches there from zach taylor to dan pitcher they've got guys who know that position let's see what type of game plan they put out there for him.

9:51Tom Pelissero:Again, going into a place that's really, really tough to win against one of the most talented defenses in the NFL, right out of the gate. Yeah, Vegas isn't expecting much. They're two touchdown underdogs to the Packers. I mean, Micah Parsons, the defense is healthier. The offensive line is healing up for Green Bay. The biggest issue the Packers have is Brandon McManus, the kicker's got a quad injury and might not be able to go. McManus says he can go. You don't want to be, I mean, ask the Browns, any number of teams about that. Go with a backup kicker? Not great. Could be, you know, a challenge at times.

10:25Tom Pelissero:But on paper, there's every reason to think this should be all Packers. But you're just trying to get, hey, let's get some juice going here. Let's maybe be able to play a little bit differently than we were with Jake Brown. That is, to me, that is one of the games of the week. We've got the Broncos at the Jets. That's the game Rich will be calling over in London. I am interested in this game. because as much as, and you heard it from Rich, they're saying the right things about, hey, this is like what it was in Detroit in the early going with Dan Campbell. That took a year and a half. Not only did it take a year and a half to start winning, the owner had to talk to reporters at the bye week that second year and basically be like, hey, I'm not firing the guy.

11:04Tom Pelissero:There were real questions like, are they going to fire everybody? And to her credit, Sheila Hamford came out and said like, these are our guys. We believe in them. We believe in the culture. This is what we're doing. Because they were seeing it behind the scenes. The last thing we saw from Aaron Glenn was him, you know, yelling at people in the locker room so loud that people could hear it. The defense has been a disaster. And this Jets team, I don't think that it's outlandish to say, it's probably more talented than what they had in Detroit in the early going. They had a more veteran quarterback in Jared Goff, who had won more games than Justin Fields.

11:39Tom Pelissero:But I also look at this as like a Justin Fields type of problem. They got a lot invested in that defense. You paid Sauce Gardner. You paid Quinnen Williams. You've invested on that side of the football. They get Jermaine Johnson back this week, which should help. You should not be statistically one of the worst two to three defenses in the league. And that's what they are right now. So can the Jets come out? I guess the Broncos offense, that's kind of, it's been a little bit up and down through the course of the season. Yeah, Bo Nix, maybe a little bit of a second year regression. You know that Denver's going to have a plan.

12:11Tom Pelissero:And Vance Joseph did a hell of a job in the second half last week. They're going to challenge this Jets offense. But can the Jets defense show up? Can they actually create a turnover? It should not be this difficult to take the football away. It has been for the Jets. Let's see. I don't draw a lot of corollaries to last year where Robert Sala was several years into his build. And Woody Johnson, who was over there having events with his buddies from his ambassador days. obviously was already frustrated with the team and fired Saul on a Tuesday morning right before we're about to do this show. But I would say for a team that probably had higher expectations, certainly than 0-5.

12:53Tom Pelissero:We didn't expect 0-5. There's going to be real questions and issues that they're going to have to answer here in the coming weeks. Beyond just how do we start winning games, it's also do we need to start trading people? If this is a bigger build than maybe we were even thinking, do we need to be sellers at the trade deadline do we trade breece hall can we trade an alan lazard can we trade some of those other pieces that might not be the greatest fits in the big picture they're not trading sauce they're not trading i wouldn't think they're trading quinn and williams so certainly they'd have a market if they were going to listen they're not trading garrett wilson but are there things that you can do those the questions that the jets are going to have to answer for the Broncos it's keeping pace and what right now looks like a wide open AFC West everywhere except Las Vegas at least the Raiders take on the Titans at home that's not going to be I don't know what percentage of the country is seeing that game I doubt it's high but to me that is a fascinating game we're not going to get a lot of Hanson updates on red zone from that game or it is all dependent on exactly how many times that ball crosses the 20 yard line but I would think that This is not a game a lot of people are paying attention to, but it is significant.

14:07Tom Pelissero:Pete Carroll has been the number one advocate for Geno Smith during his career renaissance. Not only gave him the opportunity in Seattle, stood by him, was willing to trade away Russell Wilson and give Geno a shot to be a true starter. But then traded for him again this offseason, gave him a raise. Geno Smith is making$40 million guaranteed this season. I misspoke slightly yesterday. There are no guarantees beyond 2026 in this contract, but even the guarantees that are there for 2026, it's 18.5 million. This is not like a Russell Wilson style. We got to eat two years of salary type of thing was the point that I was trying to make.

14:46Tom Pelissero:If this thing needs to pivot away from Geno Smith, it can happen. And no amount of the good graces of Pete Carroll is going to keep him in the lineup. If you get to that point, like we're talking about with the Bengals or the Browns or the Giants, where guys look around and go, we can't win like this. I've been baffled by what's happened to the Raiders because I was there week one in Foxborough. Right. Where Gino in the second half of that game played well. Lit it up. Obviously the thread here is he had Brock Bowers until the fourth quarter of that game. Brock Bowers has not been the same since.

15:19Tom Pelissero:Didn't play last week. Doesn't sound like he's playing this week. That's going to make a bigger challenge when you're talking about this is the centerpiece of the entire offense. But just reading into the public comments and knowing how bad it's been, you must be not thinking Kenny Pickett can be an upgrade. Otherwise, I would think you might even be entertaining making the move now. But when you're saying, hey, how do we get Geno better? We got to run it more. That, of course, has been Pete Carroll's philosophy the whole time throughout his time in Seattle. But it also speaks to we got to take the pressure off the quarterback as opposed to just counting on the quarterback playing better.

15:55Tom Pelissero:Yeah, according to the Google Gemini, Tom, about 12 to 15 percent of the country is going to get Raiders Titans on their local Fox affiliate. That seems high. That does seem high. Rams Ravens, the other the other huge one here again, does not sound like Lamar is going to go. John Harbaugh has not officially ruled him out yet, but you haven't seen him on the practice field since he suffered the hamstring injury. It's a huge game for both teams. It's the Rams opportunity to get one here. They could easily be 5-0. They've let a couple of games get away from them late, including the Eagles game. and the game last week on Thursday night.

16:26Tom Pelissero:They've had a longer, you know, the mini-bye to rest up, and they're going against a Ravens team that is going to get some people back. Doesn't sound like they're getting the quarterback back, and they are battered right now. So huge games ahead coming up on Sunday. We got Week 6 kicked off of the bang last night. It was all Giants against the defending Super Bowl champs, and our guest on the other side of this break was a massive part of it. Brian Burns, co-leader in the NFL in sacks. He's with us live next on The Rich Eisen Show.

17:03Save$2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Coverall tire dressing. Plus receive four times O rewards points now at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or OReillyAuto.com. Rich Eisen here for gusto. After all these years talking to athletes, coaches, entertainers, and people at the top of what they do, one thing is pretty clear. Success usually depends on getting the details right. For small business owners, that includes payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, you know, the work that keeps everything moving, even if it's not the reason you started the business in the first place.

17:40That's why there's Gusto. 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. 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.

18:15No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash 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. 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.

18:52Join 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.

19:11The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

19:13Tom Pelissero:The Rich Eisen Show across Disney +, the ESPN app and ESPN radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. We haven't taken a call throughout the course of this show, which Terzo knows because he's currently two hours and 23 minutes on hold. Let's bring him out. Brian Burns will be here momentarily. But Terzo in Iowa, what do you got, sir? All rise. What up, Terzo? What up, guys? What up, Tommy? It's always a pleasure to talk to you, my man. Hey, so talking about the Niner-Buck game on Sunday, it's interesting if either one of these teams, I think whoever comes out, and depending on what happens with Detroit, might very well be in the driver's seat for the number one seed in the NFC, given the fact that the Eagles lost last night.

20:04So that's kind of interesting there. And I think with the Eagles right now, they have a lot of issues in that locker room, And I think it's really just starting to bubble up. And it's tough to see that happen to these teams at times, especially after winning the Super Bowl.

20:19Tom Pelissero:Here's the thing with the Eagles. We've been down this road before, Terzo. Like the reports on the dynamics and players not getting along and people don't like the quarterback. We've seen this movie so many times that I feel like, at least personally, I am girded toward they're going to figure it out. It's going to work out. But you raise a fantastic point, which is if it's not the Eagles, if they're not the team to beat, Rich said earlier this hour, it's the Lions. Who is the team you don't want to see? If it's the 49ers, they're down Nick Bosa. He's not coming back. At some point here in the not-too-distant future, Brock Purdy should be back.

20:59Tom Pelissero:The wide receiver core has been completely decimated. Incrementally, guys should get back. Brent Ayuk still a ways out, but you'd think they're getting players back. Tampa's been gutted, too. Tampa's the team that right now scares me because they can score. And if they figure it out, Terzo, I would think that Bucs team would be one that nobody is going to want to be seen just because they seem like, regardless of circumstances, regardless of who's out, they can generate points on a week-in, week-out basis. Yeah, and I have to completely agree. And I think it's going to be a pretty good game on Sunday.

21:34and just hoping the Niners can pull it out and continue to be in that first-place spot in the NFC West.

21:41Tom Pelissero:Terzo, thank you very much for the call. We appreciate you here. See you, buddy. One other injury note, by the way. Saints running back Alvin Kamara dealing with an ankle. Officially questionable on the injury report. Kendray Miller season. Doesn't necessarily mean he's not going to play. We have seen more of Kendray Miller recently. Kamara's still a core part, though, of the operation. If you have him plugged in as your flex, like I do, almost weekly in fantasy, you're hoping that you're hoping he's going to be able to go. Week six got going last night. It was a heck of a night to be a New York Giant.

22:19Tom Pelissero:And one of the guys who you saw all over the screen was Brian Burns, two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher, well on his way to a third, tied for the NFL lead in Saxony. He joins us right now on The Rich Eisen Show with me, Tom Pellicero. Brian, great to see you, man. What's it like? Dude, there haven't been a ton of these moments since you got to New York. What's it like waking up today after a win like that over the defending champs? Man, it feels great. You know, just to do it in prime time Thursday night and against the Eagles just makes it all better. So in the second half last night, you guys shut them out.

22:55Tom Pelissero:It was unbelievable. Were there adjustments you made? Were there things you saw in the first half? or how did you guys lock it down to the extent that you did after halftime? We really just kept the emphasis on shutting out the run completely, making sure we were tight in the back end and trying to disrupt Hurts as much as we can. Everybody was just on one accord. We was all on one page, and everything executed well. How about Cordell Flott? I don't know how many people your average fan watching last night on Prime Video have that name at the tip of their tongue, but the dude's been making plays for you.

23:29Tom Pelissero:That's a huge play swing in that game last night. Yeah, man. Flop been balling left and right. You know, all year he's been pretty locked down. He's been good tackling on the perimeter. Yeah, I ain't gonna lie. I feel like that was the dagger of the night. Like, that just sucked out all the air from the Eagles. And after that, it was over. So there's a lot of people, maybe even some people in this room, Chris Brockman, who were surprised by the outcome of the game last night. You guys in the locker room. It's a short week. Thursday games can always be a little bit weird, but were you guys surprised at all that you played the way you did on that stage?

24:05No, man. I knew we were always capable. We were always this close, but this was the first time that every phase was pure dominance, in my opinion, from stretchers teams to offense to defense. We all had our splash plays and our moments, and it was a sight to see.

24:22Tom Pelissero:Tell me about your quarterback, Jackson Dart. He is his own guy. You see it in the celebrations. You're already laughing. Just tell me the experience of knowing and playing with Jackson Dart. Man, Dart brings a lot of excitement to the game. He's electric. You know, the amount of focus he has is uncommon for a rookie to have that. And, you know, I think that kid's going to do a lot of special things in New York. But, yeah, the combo with him and Scat, like both of the boys are crazy. They're actually insane. but I love them, bro. They bring you straight juice and they fearless. I don't know if you can see the photos we're showing while you're talking.