Hour 3: Michigan Hires Whittingham, Freeman Stays with Irish, Texans-Chargers Takeaways

23:38in Green Bay, Lafley, who could be a terrific head coach too. But that's what I would do if I'm the owner of the Giants. JMC. I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the call. You did it really well, Rich. Thank you, sir. Appreciate the call. But it's not Marcus Freeman. Yeah, I'm just glancing. It looks like there's only about nine defensive first head coaches in the league right now. Go for it. I would say Vrabel played defense. Sean McDermott, Aaron Glenn, Tomlin, John Harbaugh with special teams, but I kind of consider him a defensive first guy. D 'Amico Ryans, nobody in the West. Well, I guess Pete is.

24:18Yeah, well, he's still the head coach. Let's see, Dan Quinn.

24:25Rich Eisen:Me, who almost made the Super Bowl again for the second time in his career. Again, I'm not saying they don't work out or can't work out or aren't great. And then Mike McDonald. Or aren't great, right? And Gannon, about 10. Right. So I'm just saying if you choose somebody, right? But then again, when they hired McDonald, they had Geno there. It's not like you've got a young guy that you need to unlock because you've put all the eggs in your draft basket with him. that's what the Giants currently have and I would want that person and the pushback is easy look at you look at your situation in New England right now Mike Vrabel could be coach of the year that's a twice flamed out head coach who kind of has no choice but has Josh McDaniels sitting there I'm talking about McDaniels right Right.

25:25Rich Eisen:Where he's. But twice McDaniels has been removed from the situation. And come back. And come back because he got his opportunities elsewhere. He might not get a third crack at it. I don't know. Right. Seems unlikely. But if you can get a culture guy, a CEO culture guy with the right OC that isn't going anywhere. Quinn has it with Kingsbury who might go somewhere though. You don't know. No, you don't. you're asking me what I would, he asked me if I was the owner of the Giants, that's what I would do. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Don't go anywhere. We'll take your phone calls, and we'll talk about the Texans and how good they are and what's up with the Chargers and more.

26:09Rich Eisen:Coming up.

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28:20The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show on the radio, ESPN Radio, everybody. We're good, Coop. Oh my goodness gracious.

28:29Rich Eisen:Horatious. Let's go to Terzo and Iowa. What's up, Terzo? All rise. Terzo. Everybody. Terzo, are you there, bud? What's up, fellas? What up, man? Hey, so, Rich, that was awesome last night. As I told Adam, probably at the start of the season or a couple weeks into the season, that we should go to that game. And as I said to him whenever I called in, man, I wish we were there because that was awesome. That was one of the best games I've seen in a long time. Dude, you've got to be ecstatic. Honestly, this is what fans love about a team is when they're plucky and nobody believes in them and they represent your fandom with excellence despite the adversity.

29:15And those fans love teams like that, right? And the 49ers are exactly that right now. Yeah, you know how much I love this team. I bleed red and gold. And to see what Brock Purdy is doing and the confidence that he is showing on the field, that is what we love to see, man. And if you would have told me week seven or when Warner got hurt that we would be in this position still fighting for that number one seed, I would have been a little weary. But each week we keep coming out, finding ways to win. Heck of a team. And I do got a stat for you, Rich. we have the lowest percentage of pressure on the quarterback at 14.4%.

30:00We also have only 18 sacks. And I wonder when the last time, or if ever, a number one seed in their conference had those two stats.

30:10Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, I'll look that one up. And another one I need to basically ask in looking up is, who's the last team to go undefeated in their division and not win it? And the Chargers might do that if they beat the Broncos next week. And so this is just some weird stuff happening this year, dude. But the bottom line is it's wide open and the 49ers could wind up being the one seed and winning the toughest division in football. They might be the one seed in a division that has a 13 win third place team. And that's entirely possible to her. So congrats on your season to date. And we might be seeing you in Santa Clara in six weeks time when we're there for the game, spending our Super Bowl week there.

30:51There would be nothing more that I would love than to see the Niners get that number one seed against the sea chickens and roll all the way to the Super Bowl at home. And that would be a heck of a story, and I would love it. Terzo in Iowa here on the Rich Eisen Show. Appreciate you guys. See you, bud. We had D 'Amico Ryans on the show a couple weeks ago, and I ended my interview with him in, if I may say so, epic fashion. Is that what I'm supposed to say? rack him okay i'm sorry that's what the fans are supposed to call in and tell me about my yeah yeah tell you how great my bad at any rate i entered the interview with him by saying hey at any point in time do you think about where the super bowl is going to be because he got his coaching start with the 49ers and the super bowl as you know is in the home of the 49ers and it's entirely feasible right now as we're sitting here this is not crazy even though neither of them may wind up winning the division but it is entirely possible that the 49ers play the texans in the super bowl oh that'd be a pretty good game it's entirely possible and because i saw the houston texans with my own two eyes on Saturday.

32:19And that right there is 100 % a championship defense. And if this championship defense, they have players on every level, guys, ladies and gentlemen, those two edges. I don't know how Daniel Hunter got snubbed for the Pro Bowl. I don't know what's up with that. Well, he'll probably make up for it by being all pro.

32:40Rich Eisen:For sure. And I saw him with my own two eyes. and I know I've got to vote for All-Pro, and I'm sitting here thinking, how are those not two All-Pro guys that I saw yesterday on Saturday with my own two eyes? And then there's Aziz Alshire leading the linebacking corps behind them, and then they've got four guys with four interceptions apiece. We asked in our pre-broadcast meeting, with all due respect to you, Nico Collins, and everyone else on the team, who's got the best hands on the Texans? We asked everybody that we interviewed prior to the broadcast, and everybody said it was Derek Stingley Jr., who, by the way, might have had the best hands on his college team if it wasn't also on the same team with Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase.

33:32Rich Eisen:He's unbelievable. Petrie hits you. Lasseter. I mean, I could go on and on and on here. they are deep at every level they lock you down like if you're looking for read one and that's locked down by like stingley or lassiter and then you got to go through your progression by the time you're going through your progression you're going to see 51 or 55 yeah you're on your back just to name two of them there's toe toe or toe toe Uh-oh. Good laugh, Jay. Thank you very much. I already made the dad joke that a lot of people didn't appreciate that Jalen Noel, when he was catching a punt for a possession, by the way, he ended with a touchdown and got blown up.

34:25I said it's only fitting that a guy named Noel got lit up on Christmas weekend.

34:31Rich Eisen:Susie said that was a dad joke. You took a lot of unnecessary heat. Dude, so does anybody calling a game, but I take a lot of unnecessary heat when I call a game because I'm truly stepping out of my lane to do it. But I love stepping out of lanes, and certainly that one in particular. Everyone chill out. At any rate, if Stroud can throw two touchdowns, obviously not in the first quarter, not in successive drives, not 40 yards plus, that's not going to happen a lot. You can provide, if they can provide two, three. Seems like they only need about 20 points to win games right now. That's about it.

35:06Rich Eisen:I see a formula. And if you wouldn't mind putting it up, the AFC playoff picture, name me an offense that's lighting it up. Jaguars right now. Your Pats, outside of playing the Jets. Pats have been scoring points this year. But name me somebody that's the best offense in the AFC right now. That's Super Bowl worthy. there are some that can be that on certain days and certainly consistently i would say the jaguars and the patriots have had it more than anybody right now nicks can do it but we need to see it more consistently i'm just saying that that you know in the same way that we're saying things are set up for josh allen in the bills because there's no burrow there's no mahomes there might might be Rodgers instead of Lamar.

35:59Rich Eisen:And if Lamar does make it on Saturday night, Malik Willis looked more like Lamar Jackson against the Ravens than we've seen Lamar Jackson look like Lamar against anybody else this year. That things are set up for Josh Allen, have an open AFC playoff field for him in a way that he hasn't had in his career. I'm just saying things are open for the Texans in the same way, man. That's no joke. And then as for the Chargers, I said it on the overreaction Monday pod. I'll just repeat it quickly here. I was watching that game, thinking it, and then thinking about it that night while watching the Ravens and the Packers because, you know, again, I'm a lead pipe-wielding professional that just can't turn it off.

36:46I kept thinking, what would the Chargers look like

36:50Rich Eisen:with Rashawn Slater at left tackle and Joe Alt look right? they'd be they'd be Super Bowl contenders of the first variety and you know Justin Herbert when we interviewed Jim Harbaugh on the Zoom for this game in advance no surprise he was gushing about Justin Herbert again he's remember he came in here in the summer and he's like you know I woke up tonight I woke up last night looked at the ceiling said we gotta get we you sitting right here I got to get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame. And we're just like, what? You know what I mean? And he feels that way about him. He gushed about him in a span.

37:34Rich Eisen:He went on for like 10 minutes. But in a span of like 45 seconds, those 10 minutes, he equated him to Ethan Hunt of Mission Impossible, Pablo Picasso because he just painted a perfect masterpiece against the Cowboys the week before. And then because he's just a guy that you can count on in any situation to run you over, and he can also think his way through you. He called him a half-man, half-beast. And so we put up a graphic during the game of Tom Cruise, Pablo Picasso, and a minotaur, not a centaur. I thought he meant centaur, really, which is, you know, man on a beast's body, not a beast on a man's body.

38:11Rich Eisen:Anyway, long story short, minotaur, centaur. Learning a lot. Green jacket. Gold jacket, green jacket. Get it. but Herbert is really that there was that one drive where he ran one for like 30 yards and then threw one in bouncing off people he's got a broken left hand that thing is definitely hurting him there's no question about it they were spraying it with like I guess something to to numb his his elbow it's crazy what he's doing Omari and Hampton's really good their receivers are really good, but if he doesn't have time to find his receivers, it's a wrap. But the Chargers can absolutely come into your town and want to done you.

38:52Rich Eisen:That I saw too. They are. They have some real warrior football players and the head coach is plugged into them. Just saying that. But I just thought to myself, if they had those two all-world tackles. Joe got a Pro Bowl nod at left tackle. He was playing right tackle. his rookie season, left tackle is what he played at Notre Dame. He played six games and got the Pro Bowl nod. So if he's sitting out there at right tackle and Rashawn Slater's out there at left tackle, the one seed might already be wrapped up. They're that good. So. Well, they ain't playing. They're not. Yeah. They're not walking through that door.

39:37Rich Eisen:But the Chargers might be walking through your door. Yeah, perhaps. And I think, you know, if you're a Pats fan, you kind of want to see the Chargers. I don't think you want Houston's defense coming to town. They won't. Houston's not going to drop that far. You don't want to see Josh Allen again. No, sir. You're not seeing Houston in the wildcard round. Houston's going to beat the Colts because Riley Leonard's starting, and they're going to be the 5C. They're going to visit the AFC North champion, and they are going to be a massive problem. And that's not going to be one of those games that you see from the Texans in the wildcard round where they're just like, well, they're going to nice job, your consolation prize to make the division round and you're not making the AFC championship game which you've never made because you're not ready yet.

40:16Rich Eisen:That's not the Texas team walking in to a divisional playoff weekend this year. Not by a long shot. Oh, interesting question. Do you think this is the better of the Texans teams we've seen the last two years that have won playoff games? No doubt about it. No doubt. They've got two years of Final Four of the conference experience. Two. And the team before them. Offense may not be as good. Guess what? They're getting better. Two rookies scored massive touchdowns in this game. True. And Woody Marks is running it. And Stroud, you know, just got picked off by the Chargers. He had only one interception in a month going into that game in four games.

41:02844-204-RICH. Number to dial. When we come back. Andy Reid spoke about his future. And we'll tell you how we're, speaking of the future, the rest of the week is set up here on this busy Monday edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

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42:21The Rich Eisen Show. The podcast.

42:25Rich Eisen:Disney, I guess. Back here on ESPN Radio. Let me know if we're still on tomorrow. Yeah, definitely not the same type of procedure. That's a true story. So, it sure felt like that was Travis Kelsey's last game in Kansas City, right? It did. It didn't have that feel to it? It did. It seemed like he was soaking it in a little bit more, player introductions, and then after it was over, yeah, it did feel that way. He is going to play Week 18. Andy Reid said that today. Oh, good. And listen, I want nothing but what Travis Kelsey wants. we met him right when he was not even Travis Kelsey yet no he was that hothead guy wearing Gronk's number or just becoming less of a hothead and Andy Reid's world and and maturing and become he's just one of the my favorite humans I've gotten a chance to meet yeah he's so great to everyone around him and fans and people he's just he's just that you know he's a midwest kid he's just that guy all the Kelseys anyway long story short if this is it for him then and I just wanted that's the way he wants it obviously the way he wants it wouldn't be to go out a 6-11 team or a 7-10 team right it would be nice if they won on Christmas sounds like somebody who had money on it a Patriots fan long story short though that's for again another day He said that now is not the time to discuss it.

44:00And Mahomes being out for maybe the first part of next year might have something thought about it. Maybe he'll say he's out. He'll miss it. He can come back again and again. That's for later in the day. What about Reed? Now, I didn't think at all that this would be a question, but it was asked of Andy Reed about him continuing on in Kansas City, And here was his answer today. I know you've gone through this every year for the last few years, but is there any scenario that you can imagine where you're not back as the coach next year?

44:40No. Listen, I think I'm coming back, right? If they'll have me back, I'll come back. You never know in this business, Matt. So that's a tough one. But I plan on it, yeah. yeah i mean all right that that that read better than the the way it looked on in black and white how would you know the way it read when i saw the quote earlier today it was just yeah yeah i guess if they'll have me and it was like that's kind of an odd thing to say but seeing the clip now and it's like oh yeah of course he's back why is this even a question he was told to leave philadelphia well different uh different circumstances i understand he didn't win all those championships

45:24Rich Eisen:in Philadelphia, and that might have, you know, helped patients be weaning more than not. Different coach in Philadelphia, too. I get it. His point is just like, you never know in this world, but I cannot imagine on planet Earth that the Chiefs organization views this one outlier of a season as an indication it's time to move on. He'll be 68 in March. Got it. as long as he wants to keep doing it'll do it and it'll be up to you know brett veach to figure out how to fix whatever problems happen this year and he's a brilliant general manager and they got a you know a world head coach i just wonder again what the deal is with kelsey and when we're going to find out but it did have that feel to it that that was it did have that feel to it it did yeah Then, of course, I can't wait to watch what his next choices professionally are going to be.

46:24Anything he wants.

46:25Rich Eisen:That is correct. I mean, if he wants to get a cabin in the woods and chill out forever, he could do it. But I don't think that's going to be. I can't wait to see it. That'll wrap up this edition of our show. We're on Tuesday and Friday the rest of this week. We think after that comment you made. No, we're going to be on tomorrow. As long as they'll have me. I'm the Andy Reid of Disney+. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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