Hour 3: NFC East Breakdown, Lions & Colts Rolling, and Bengals Should Trade for Jameis

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0:44Sign up now for MLB.tv in the ESPN app. Separate subscriptions required, blackouts, and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.com slash MLB TV for more information. 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. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Taylor Deverson and then the football came out.

1:32Who recovers? Tennessee for the touchdown. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Good. And the Patriots have the lead. Earlier on the show, former NFL general manager Mike Mayock. Coming up, your phone calls, latest injury news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

1:56Rich Eisen:Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air, taking you to that Monday night football game at some point today. Good times this evening with the Chiefs and the Jaguars playing each other. It is going to be a big game for both. Obviously, the Chiefs have not been above 500 all year. They can do that with a win tonight in Jacksonville, which is going to be cooking. That stadium is going to be lit, everybody. That's going to be tonight on Monday Night Football. As the Jaguars would love to say, hey, we're 4-1 just like the Colts. We're 4-1, and we just beat the Chiefs, and we have a shot at the conference and our division.

2:35Rich Eisen:That's what's at stake tonight. We already spoke to Mike Mayock. uh if you missed that don't worry we re-air uh by your clicking the tile at the bottom of our disney plus page to watch us whenever you want and then there's our podcast all three hours there's our youtube channel youtube.com slash rich eisen show uh we're here on uh as i mentioned disney plus the espn app everywhere and espn radio presented by progressive insurance 844-204-rich is the number to dot have a conversation with us here on the program so we're through five weeks I mentioned how the win by the Patriots last night knocking the the Bills out of the ranks of the unbeaten, just like the Broncos did to the Eagles earlier in the day, made this a wide open affair in the American Football Conference and a wide open affair just overall.

3:25Rich Eisen:and anybody can win it. Truly anybody can win it. And there's one team though that I believe through five weeks has played complete football games better than anybody else. And there's one in the NFC and there's one in the AFC. And the one in the NFC, I will start with here, that's a Detroit Lions. after losing to Green Bay and it's kind of quaint it was a month ago we were all wondering if their coordinators Johnny Morton on offense Kelvin Shepard on defense were going to be their undoing because that's what happened to the Eagles after they made the Super Bowl and they lost two coordinators and we were all wondering what happened to that team from the year before and I know the Lions didn't make the Super Bowl last year and as a matter of fact they were one and done by a commanders team that had a huge win in Los Angeles yesterday which we'll get to in this hour a little bit more than we already have.

4:23Rich Eisen:And the Lions, all they did after week one losing to Green Bay is destroy everybody. The only team that came close were the 1.0 Ravens of 2025. The 2.0 is like a shadow of their former selves. But the Lions have scored 161 points over their last four. That's the third most points in any four-game span in Detroit history. And if I'm going to talk about Baker Mayfield as an MVP candidate, you've got to say the guy right next to him is Jared Goff. Goff. I thought you were going to say Tesla. That's your first sports editor. You know, which is what the Scottish call golf without the other. Seventh career game with a completion percentage of 80 % or better and three or more passing touchdowns.

5:14Rich Eisen:That's tied for fifth all time. The only ones who have a better such mark are named Rogers, Brady, Breeze, and Manning. Peyton Manning. Or Debate Manning, depending on when you see him on your screen right now. Motivate Manning. Motivate Manning. Peyton Manning. All that stuff. Although I'll be straight up with you.

5:40Rich Eisen:I've already seen Eli and Danny DeVito quite enough. fifth game of the passer rating of 150 or better since 2024 that's two more than any other quarterback jared goff goff and uh gives him montgomery sonic and knuckles did it again a touchdown in the same game for the 14th time that ties emmet and daryl johnson moose was on the call actually when when he watched that happen oh and uh and uh montgomery threw for a touchdown yesterday as well i'm on rossst brown 100 receiving yards again 25th career game with eight or more receptions only Michael Thomas can't guard Mike had more such receptions in his first five seasons are so rich really cool about Montgomery his older sister had been paralyzed in the car accident yeah and that was the first time she's watched him play in person oh wow that's awesome her accident yeah they kept cutting away to her in the game uh Kirby Joseph with an interception he now has 20 in his first four seasons he became the sixth player this decade to do that

6:41Rich Eisen:destroyed them and once again what they do is they leave you wondering if you can play football anymore that's that's how they're beating you again um chicago felt that way after they took care of chicago in week two uh baltimore um after that game definitely when baltimore uh the next week went to Kansas City that's where it all began to go downhill right some of the injuries that Baltimore began to suffer on that short week after the Monday night loss at home to Detroit Cleveland changed their quarterbacks now Cincinnati's everyone's wondering what's up there Detroit is destroying everybody right now and the next game is a Sunday nighter at Kansas City here Here we go before a Monday night or against Tampa.

7:33Rich Eisen:Rubbers meet and rode about what I'm saying. The Lions are the best team in the NFL right now. And I'll tell you what, my power rankings lost one versus two. You know, one and two, sort of like the top 25 preseason in college football. Texas and Penn State out. Philly and Buffalo lost. The Lions were three. Tune into my power rankings on Wednesday. I'm now teasing a segment that you guys forced me to do years ago that I'm kind of into now. Force that you really enjoy. All grown stuff. And then they have a bye. That's how the Lions are playing right now. Let me talk to you about Cincinnati real quick.

8:07You sure?

8:08Rich Eisen:Yeah. I said Jake Browning, the season's not over. Jake Browning is going to play just like the Jake Browning who won four over seven starts in the place of Joe Burrow two years ago. And I'm still waiting for that Jake Browning to show up. Don't be fooled by Jake Browning's final line right now. I mean, that fourth quarter of the game was over. I know Jamar Chase got his in that fourth quarter, which definitely helps the people who drafted him first overall in fantasy that probably lost the last two weeks or three weeks. I said it with such conviction, it didn't sound like I had my finger on that chess piece, but if I may, before that move becomes official.

8:51Rich Eisen:If I'm the Bengals right now, I am absolutely calling the Giants to say how much for Jameis Winston? Yep. Oh, no. That's the... No, I do. I do. Now I would because I'm not seeing the Jake Browning of two years ago right now. I'm seeing a Jake Browning looking at headlights. That's what I'm looking at right now. That's what I'm seeing. Some of the throws, the one that he made right to Anzalone. I mean, even Moose was saying, he's right there. Sometimes guys throw interceptions, you're wondering, how do you not see him right there? Stared him down, made the throw. It was terrible. killing the team all three of his interceptions were on his side of the field short fields for the lines and the Bengals defense you got to give it up they were they were they were they were not breaking they were bending a little bit but they didn't break they kept they kept the Bengals in this game if Browning from two years ago showed up they could have won it you know but as I said the Lions are playing the best football in the NFL and if you're making the mistakes they're gonna they're gonna beat you up with it and eventually they did and uh and if i'm the bangles i'm calling the giants and saying what do you what do you want for jamis he's your third string guy you know clearly you're gonna be starting dart and if and if there's any way shape or form that dart goes down you know then you're gonna put in russ and if there's any way that he goes down then you're gonna want a top five pick anyway you know that's that's i would just how's that for a pitch to Joe Shane well what do you want for Jameis because Kirk Cousins coming in it just doesn't sound to me like the bangle I know Mike Mayock said they should have made that call that's a lot of money and again do you have that Mike Brown um drop that we have that was going to be played whenever Trey we knew Trey Hendrickson was going to be I think I've mistakenly called him Henderson last uh last hour Hendrickson Hendrickson that's the guy trey hendrickson you know yeah the fulcro yeah yeah please that's that's our soundbite for any time the bangles make a signing for good reason uh and and and and cousins costs them money next year too there's some guaranteed money for next year when you know you're not going to use him next year but if he's the right move for this year and i just don't think he's the guy that you you you could really give up a lot of capital and cost a lot of money if he's expensive for a reason but you get what you pay for and for me jamis can light it up can you imagine jamis throwing to chase and higgins the games would be much more watchable well that's not what you're playing for you're playing to try and salvage a season before burrow comes back that's the other thing too what are you going to tell cousins you're sat when burrow comes back well you're also saying don't even bring burrow back i know you're saying that the line played better the line gave some time and i know jordan palmer our friend said that you know his his protege was a perfect nine for nine when given a clean pocket in his two games when he was otherwise looking uh poor but he had some time yesterday what would the record have to be if your burrow to be like yeah i can come back and make a difference any any record he's going to want to come back it's that simple i'm not sitting there and i mean if they if if they lose is if they start losing three out of every four then he won't come back and i'm basically giving them a win this week even though they they're probably not going to get it at green bay you're giving employment i i just said that just as a as as being a friend i think they're going to lose their fourth and i mean he can't there's no way off of by green bay if Browning makes these mistakes is going to lose that game.

12:34Rich Eisen:It's just not going to happen. This is what happened. Then there's a short week against Pittsburgh. Maybe you show some magic, and then you got the Jets coming after that. And again, the Jets, as we all know, could be 0-6 after we see them on NFL Network against the Broncos on Sunday. Listen, I know what I said about Browning. It's not aging well at all, and I'm definitely seeing what they're saying. how he's playing and I would call the Giants for Jameis again he's not he's he's your third inactive guy you're playing dart that's the end of that we know that like you're all about dart getting all his time right now and you're not going to pull dart for Russ you're only going to put Russ in if dart can't go and if heaven forbid Russ gets hurt then how why are you going to miss Jameis at that point in time you're trying to get your best draft choice you possibly can

13:29Rich Eisen:I would ask for Jameis. I hate it. Now for the team that's playing as well in the AFC as I think the Lions are playing in the NFC. And I mean this when I say it, with all due respect to the Bills being 4-1. But how about your 4-1 Indianapolis Colts right now? Yeah, buddy. Shocking. They're just destroying everybody also. Their win this past week was, as we know, a destruction, an absolute dismantling of the Las Vegas Raiders. They turned Gino over again and again and again. They've got a massive problem the Raiders do with the number of interceptions Gino is throwing. That's nine now this year.

14:14But Daniel Jones just, he looks cool as a cucumber.

14:21Rich Eisen:he steps back and he's not making stupid decisions he's not he's not he's not making some of the the mind-boggling moves that you saw from sometimes at the Giants like why would you throw it there do you not see this what's happening he's got a clear vision of what's going on pre-snap post-snap you know what helps you bring some focus in is a guy who can run the football like Jonathan Taylor dude crushing it he's the only player with a three touchdown game this year and he's got two of them in the last three weeks 17 carries 66 rush yards he wasn't lighting it up in terms of yards per carry but what he was doing was just getting it in the end zone and the colts defense was turning geno over and giving some short fields to daniel jones who's throwing and not turning it over himself and voila 163 points through the first five games of 2025 which is um you know two more than the lions have had the last four games and um that's the second most by a colts team of the super bowl era peyton manning's 2017 at only one point more through the first five games they've now won three games by 20 or more points this season in five contests that's the most in the nfl do you know how many wins they had dj jefferson i I won't ask Chris because I mentioned this in the Overreaction Monday pod that we've already recorded wherever you get your podcasts.

15:48Rich Eisen:Or, by the way, it airs on ESPN2 at 4.30 Eastern time, or at least to say. You know how many 20 or more point victories the Colts had? I'll give you the last three seasons combined. One. Zero. They didn't do it at all. They had three wins by 10 or more points in that span. Do you know how many such 10 or more point wins they had just last season? I'm going to have to say zero, Alex. That's correct. You win both showcases.

16:22Rich Eisen:Then you look at the Colts' schedule. You want to pop that up, everybody? Let's pop that up, everyone. The Indianapolis Colts' schedule. They're on for Arizona. And the matchup between the two teams this year that had guys who just mindlessly flip the ball away before scoring. So if you know there's going to be one game next week where nobody does it, it's this one. Right. Just hold on. And then they're at the Chargers, home for the Titans, at Pittsburgh, man. They can win that game 100%. And then I'll be straight up with everybody. Straight up. When we got the international schedule at NFL Network and we're seeing, okay, that game's in Ireland, that's a good one.

17:07And we saw a game in the Jets and the Broncos.

17:12Rich Eisen:Like, that's a good one. We saw some other ones. There's a one in Spain between the Dolphins and the Commanders. Like, that's a good one. The one in Berlin where it's like Falcons and Colts were like, oh, that's nice. Berlin's nice. How's that one looking now? Then there's a bye week. Colts at Kansas City is going to be awesome. let's see what Daniel Jones does in that crucible at Seattle Monday night or home against San Francisco which is one of those primetime games that technically ESPN could flex out of you know what they're not doing they finish up home against Jacksonville and at Houston AFC South once upon a time was just you know one team and then everyone else not anymore fun stuff going down in Indianapolis fun stuff so right now what are the odds for a Lions Colts Super Bowl oh Rich Eisen speaking my language what about them apples I was looking up Patriots Bucks earlier because that was fun that's 200 to 1 Colts and Lions is going to get you 43 to 1 I was going to say 50 right now they're the two teams playing the best football through five weeks.

18:32Rich Eisen:Again, they could have won that game here in Los Angeles against the Rams. The Lions had no shot against Green Bay week one. They just got pounced on. It happens. It does happen. And they haven't lost since. They looked like a completely different team this last month. Also, let's be honest. Kind of cool that, you know, obviously not cool that Mr. Ursae passed, but kind of cool that his daughter's running the franchise now and they're doing so well. There's some kind of dope about that. I hear you. So Colts and the Lions, they are playing good football. And the best, right? Name me another one.

19:08Rich Eisen:Name me another one. And is it true, did I see that the Steelers are, the Ravens are still favored to win the AFC North? Yep, that is absolutely true. In 2025. Right now, since you were talking about odds in a town where Mo Green, still, despite founding the town. I mean, that's so disrespectful. There's no plaque or a signpost at all to commemorate his memory. Maybe Moe didn't do the things that Moe claims he did. We've never taken that into consideration. Once upon a time, he talked to Michael Corleone in a way that he's normally used to talking to. Hence why there's no sign. His brother Fredo was doing something two at a time that prevented people from drinking at a table.

19:50Fredo's been a fish over there. Company shout out. This is courtesy of ESPN Bet Odds. Baltimore Ravens are even money to win the AFC North. The Steelers are plus 110. Despite what the current reality is. Yeah. Who's making these odds, Chris? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And to win the Super Bowl. Somebody named Baltimore Mike. And to win the Super Bowl, by the way, to hold the trophy at the end. You guys know they give out a trophy when you win the season. I remember years ago. The Ravens have the sixth best odds. Still, right now. Right now. They're 1-4. They're 15-1. They're going to be 1-5.

20:23I mean, honestly, a little Cooper Rush from Dallas walks through that door.

20:28Rich Eisen:There's still three quarters of the season left. They have better odds than the team that's going to beat them on Sunday, the Rams. The Rams are 16-1. The Chargers are 18-1. Niners, 18-1. Do you even dare, if you're Sean McVay, spending a split second talking to your team about that? I would absolutely bring this up. Yeah. Why wouldn't you? Here's the deal. Every week we're seeing this happen. There's no guaranteed dubs in the NFL. Well, just look at this past week. Yeah, so you may think they're going to definitely lose, but I don't know. Don't you think the Patriots beating the Bills and the Titans beating the Cardinals cleaned out many survivor pools around the country?

21:05In the survivor pool that I am in, 24 % took the Cardinals this weekend. Another 20 % took the Rams. Bye-bye. That's half a fan.

21:18Rich Eisen:I took the Colts. Still alive. Still alive. Still alive! You've taken five bullets. Like Rich and I in guillotine. Still alive. Yeah, you got to hang on. Hang it on. TJ, you're... Is your neck under the knife this week? Nah, I'm safe this week. You are? Oh, yeah. I believe it's somebody who knows somebody in your house that's in the... Oh, no. Is it Megan Gailey? Yes. She might be. Oh, no. I'm a Colts fan. Guess what? She'll have a lot to watch.

21:53Rich Eisen:She's the Marie Antoinette of this week, I believe. If I'm not mistaken. Oh, no. Poor Megan. Yeah, which, by the way, puts Josh Jacobs and Josh Allen. Two Joshes will be back in the Pasquantino pool. Are you going to unload the fab dollars for Josh Allen? I don't think I'm going to divulge anything publicly. We have Jared Goff, right? I've got Jared Goff. I'm very happy. You know what I have on the backup? Jake Browning. Laugh all you want, pal. We are. Why are you? You don't have to hold on to this. You know who had more fantasy points this week than Jared Goff was Jake Browning. Just throwing it out there.

22:36Rich Eisen:Wow. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We'll take your phone calls. When we come back, we focus on the National Football Conference Eastern Division. Yeah. How about them?

22:49The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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24:33Rich Eisen:ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance. They make the claims process easy, so you can get back on the road in no time. It's why over 43 million drivers trust Progressive. See for yourself at Progressive.com. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's go to Austin in Shreveport, Louisiana. What's up, Austin? Shreveport. Hey, how's it going, Rich? Thanks for taking my call. Thanks for making it. Man, I just want to talk about just how when I think we got something going good, my Cleveland Browns find a way to disappoint me yet once again. Just when I thought Dylan Gabriel, he did look good the whole game, 19-33, 190 yards, I think two TDs.

25:19Judkins is a dog and I just can't figure it out. I don't know, man.

25:25Rich Eisen:Austin, if you had told me going into the game that we would see Dylan Gabriel have as many passing touchdowns against the Vikings as Flacco had over the first four weeks of the season, that his passer rating would be 34 points better than Flacco through the first four weeks of the season, that Quince Sean Judkins would have a career-high 110 rushing yards and 128 scrimmage yards, and that he would become the first Browns player with 95 or better scrimmage yards in three straight games in a single season since Nick Chubb three years ago. And we would also see Miles Garrett chasing down and knocking out Carson Wentz for a brief bit.

26:08Rich Eisen:I would have thought, there we go. That's a win. And then it was not. lo and behold is they gave up a a go-ahead touchdown to a guy who was benched for the first quarter due to a coach's decision that we still don't know about and Kevin O 'Connell for Jordan Addison so I guess that might be the most Browns thing we've heard this year Austin and Shreveport, Louisiana Kevin Stefanski, I don't understand in the last three minutes of the game you call two back-to-back up-the-gut run plays zero yards come out of it and then you have to punt away to the team that has the potential with Justin Jefferson to go down the field and score like they did and toss us the game.

26:52Rich Eisen:Thanks for the call, Austin. But at least Dylan Gabriel, I thought, did well. Right? Much better against the Vikings defense than I thought was blitzing from jump. Yeah. Helps zone through a couple of tutties. Got the tight ends involved. Yeah. Judkins is an absolute monster. I think this draft class, Fannin and Swechinger and Graham. Yeah, they killed the draft. And I think the draft looks good. Add on the two number ones they got. I mean, there are some Browns fans that want Stefanski gone. He's a two-time coach of the year. I don't think that would be helpful at all. Be helpful or beneficial at all.