Hour 3: Rams-Panthers Takeaways, Patriots Demolish the Chargers, plus O’Shea Jackson Jr.

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1:40Rich Eisen:Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. So much to talk about on today's program, Overreaction Monday, the podcast that we record every single Monday prior to the show. It's up for you to take in either on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show, or however you take in your audio podcast. It's sitting out there. So much to discuss with you at 844-204-RICH-NUMBER-A-DOLL. We're going to hit two more games that we've hardly hit over the first two hours. We've been very Bears-Packers-centric, and why not? It was quite a game on Saturday night, And there's a lot of Packers fans that think they should bounce their head coach right now.

2:20Rich Eisen:Adam Schefter, our colleague at the good, wonderful world of Disney, is saying that the Packers are already entering conversations to extend Matt LaFleur's contract. I think that would be the right move. It doesn't mean it's going to actually lead to a contract extension. We'll have to keep an eye on all of that. And I had mentioned earlier in the program that Packers fans pining for John Harbaugh, The same things that you think Matt LaFleur isn't delivering is the same things that Ravens fans thought that Harbaugh wasn't delivering and led him to finally, I guess, run out of time there in Baltimore with the owner thinking a new voice is necessary.

2:55Rich Eisen:And maybe the Packers feel the same thing with LaFleur. Again, I just don't know if firing LaFleur for John Harbaugh is going to fix the things that Packers fans think that needs to be fixed. It could. I don't know. personally I think the best fit for John Harbaugh would be the New York Giants man I mean sending him to the New York market to sit there uh atop the Giants flow chart is exactly what the Giants are looking for they're looking for a guy who also knows that if it did the the division don't forget he came from the Eagles the Ravens took him from the Eagles brought him to Baltimore he had 18 highly successful remarkable seasons won a championship he's been there and done that he's brought um he's brought dynamic young quarterbacks along he's brought a championship to a city he also has a culture tone set that Giants fans are dying to to have set on their behalf you know I mean they go with Pat Shermer who never done he's never done it before they went with Ben McAdoo had never done it before they go with Brian Dayball who wins coach of the year but technically you know he had never done it before either bringing in somebody who's been there and done that with john harbaugh's um capabilities resume personality skill set that is that's it i mean if i'm the giants i i make sure he doesn't he comes to us this week first and you don't let him out of the building end of story rich huh that's kidnapping they can't no you just don't i i know you're so sorry the doors are locked john you know i don't know i don't know where you're going teterborough where you going not north not either we're not letting you hop a flight to atlanta treat like a moach hotel once he checks end of story but you know bouncing your current head coach in green bay for him I don't know if I'd do that because again folks you're asking him to come in now you got to get a new play caller for Jordan Love now you're starting from scratch with Jordan Love in terms of a scheme in terms of everything or you just keep it going honestly I know four punts in a row that drive you nuts that cost you a game in Chicago Jordan Love four touchdown zero interceptions

5:28Rich Eisen:I mean I just wanted to clarify that I just don't want you know anybody to sit here think that I'm denigrating John Harbaugh I'm just pointing out to Packers fans what you think LaFleur's faults are to the point where you want a new voice is exactly what led to Baltimore think maybe it's time for a new voice except LaFleur's only been there about what seven years This guy was there 18 years in Baltimore.

6:00So, not saying that he wouldn't fix Green Bay's problems

6:06Rich Eisen:and bring another title to Titletown. I'm sure John Harbaugh would not mind having a street named after him down the street from Holmgren and Lombardi. I mean, that's something that I would sit around and wait and see if he could get, take his time, which is why he's taking his time. He's going to have his options. And isn't his agent? It's Bob Harlan's son, Kevin's brother. Yeah. Yes. I mean, there's a lot of connections. It's like it's lining up a little too perfectly. No, there's a, unless they, I mean, again, Bob Harlan is now, what, twice removed from his job there? I'm sure he has some influence, but it's not like, let's hire the client of bob's son it's just let's just say bob's son knows who to call and i don't think he's calling anybody i think he's sitting back waiting i think the phone calls are coming from from elsewhere yeah they're coming to him as well they should absolutely you know as well they should 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the program the playoffs began with a corker of a game you know the Rams and the Panthers and the Panthers man have got some players and one of them's their quarterback and one of them is the potential offensive rookie of the year in Tedaroa McMillan and another one is JC Horn who unfortunately got knocked out of the game.

7:39Rich Eisen:And, you know, Derek Brown in the middle. There's a lot of guys, man, that are balling out for that team. And it was their first foray into it. And Dave Canales goes four and out to start. I don't know what, I don't know why you're going for it. I don't care what the analytics say. I don't care what Greg Olson was saying about, you know, this is who they were going in. It's the playoffs. It's the playoffs. It's fourth and short. It's the Rams in your house. And they gave the Rams a short field right off the bat. Pukunakua catches an easy one. He winds up running another one in and another record for Pukunakua, or at least joining another outstanding Los Angeles Ram, a Hall of Famer.

8:31Rich Eisen:There's only two players in Rams history with a rushing and receiving touchdown in a playoff game. you can guess who the other one is. We don't even need to say it. I'll say it. It's Marshall Falk. And he's the sixth wide receiver to do so in playoff history. And all of a sudden, the Rams go up in this one early, 14-0. And that's when the Carolina Panthers started doing their own thing. They marched down the field to make it a 14-7 game. Mistakes getting made all over the place. by both teams. It wasn't pretty at times. The Rams went through a stretch of this game where they couldn't move the ball a lick.

9:16Rich Eisen:And I'm sure there were a bunch of people saying Matthew Stafford's not the MVP of this league. I hope he's not the MVP of this league. There he's going to go down again in Carolina. And sure enough, lead changes galore. Four lead changes in the fourth quarter of this game. Four of them. It went from tied at 17 with the Rams up 20-17. The Panthers are up 24-20. Then the Rams go up 27-24. And then that Bryce Young throw to Coker in the end zone was spectacular. Just a special throw. Look at that picture on the screen, guys. Right there. Dime. Where only Coker could get it, right? and now the Rams are losing and the entire season is potentially going down to tubes here in a game that again was the Rams to win up 14 to nothing in this game.

10:23Rich Eisen:And that's when Matthew Stafford took to the huddle and drove his team down the field and hit Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds to go in a gorgeous throw that only his tight end could high point and then turn around because he led him to the sideline. Pirouettes gets in the end zone, touchdown, Rams win. 34-31, two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, 12 of 15, 143 yards in the fourth quarter. That's what you want from your MVP quarterback who took the huddle and had this to say after the game about what he said to his team. I walked behind Tilly on the way out and was like, before that last drive, I forget what I said to him, but I was like, let's go snatch these guys.

11:04You know, let's go snatch this one back, man. Let's go.

11:06Rich Eisen:Well, that's not exactly what he said because Devontae Adams gave a little bit more of a meat on the bones about what he said. The words, you know, snatch was in there, but hit it. Yeah, I think he said, let's go snatch these guys' hearts. And that was pretty cold. just to hear that and I actually like literally smiled in the moment because I thought that was like one of the most gangsta things you could say in that moment honestly and to hear him say that and look on his face and then throw the touchdown and then the look on his face after that was just like MVP stuff. It is MVP stuff. First three quarters look brutal 12 of 15 two passing touchdowns and a passer rating of 146 it's the third career playoff fourth quarter comeback drive for him.

11:54Rich Eisen:And the two previous ones were in the Rams' Super Bowl run. 10 catches, 117 yards for Pukunakua, and that rushing touchdown. Kyron got in the end zone. This is why I think the Rams are the best team in football, is that they've got that ability. Defensively, they can stop you, although Bryce Young was unstoppable at times. their only problem the Rams only problem you know it I know it we see it all the time that kicking game and that special teams I don't know it looks like they have fixed their kicking problem with Mivas okay he's been good but the punt is just what the hell was that I don't know.

12:41Rich Eisen:What was that? I don't know. And that's what led to the final touchdown for the Panthers because the Rams were punting the ball away because that's the other thing too is sometimes when the Rams get the ball and all they need is a few first downs, they somehow can't string that together. I mean, everybody's team you can nitpick these days, but they're forced to punt and you're thinking, All right, so now if the Panthers are going to win this football game, they are going to have to go the length of the field to score a touchdown. Instead, they only had to go 30 yards. And remarkably, they weren't even forced to a fourth down to go for it on.

13:25Rich Eisen:So now the Rams go to Chicago. That's going to be so much fun. It's so fun. Let's see what the weather is going to be. I mean, this just in, it's going to be cold. In that cold weather, it was cold. And the Rams are still alive. Again, I've chosen them to win the Super Bowl. The offense, Devontae Adams really didn't do all that much in this game. Five catches for 72 yards. He had a crucial drop at one point. It was so jargon. When he drops a ball, same thing with Nakua. That one on the – when Stafford, by the way, has a sprained finger. Remember, he followed through. and it looked bad. He had DJ Wanham's arm.

14:06Rich Eisen:Yep. And you're wondering, how's it going to affect him? Then he hit Puka Naku in the hands for what would have been a touchdown and he dropped it. Just how many times is that going to happen for the Rams where the Puka and Devontae Adams drop a ball in a game? I don't think too many times. But they overcame all of that to win. And I'll say this. The Carolina Panthers were my sleeper team coming into this year. and I chose them for that because of the way they finished last year plus I right I had a front row seat to seeing them I keep mentioning this game I don't know not many people remember the Panthers Giants game in Munich I do because I called it with Marshall I mean with Marshall with Kurt Warner sitting in the in the in the booth there in Munich and um you know had a front row seat to Canales and what he's selling and whether it was being bought and it was definitely being bought by Horn and being bought by Bryce Young who I was sitting there with in the meeting room before the game and don't forget he was benched by this guy and we were saying on this show he's got to just leave demand your departure you're never going to hit it there and they put him back in they finished the season strong they were scaring the heck out of didn't they scare both the chiefs and the eagles at the end of the year last year and i thought okay let's see what they can do this year i know they went eight nine um but bryce young can play football in the national football league he's tough to put on on the ground he is really good they got two running backs although rico daddle didn't like the way he was used towards the end of the year he disappeared i know he's not happy he's correct not happy not happy mcmillan is the real deal yeah he's the real do you add a few more weapons and the panthers are going to be a threat to win this division in above 500 and one thing that they did do strike a blow for was uh for uh division winners with a sub 500 record hosting a playoff game because there are many including somebody who's sitting across from me in the room that thinks that those teams should not host a playoff game those days need to be over or this was an actual great playoff game that they almost won and bryce Young and the fan base, the Carolina Panthers should feel very proud of this fact.

16:21Rich Eisen:Bryce Young went toe to toe with probably the most valuable player of this league and a future Hall of Famer. He went toe to toe with Matthew Stafford in this game and made a game of it. And if it was going to be a total, complete blowout, I totally understand there would be a conversation in a couple of months from now for the owners meeting when everybody's getting together that we should make a rule change that it doesn't matter if you've won a division. you do not host a playoff game if you're sub 500 so what would that have been do they would have been out no division winner at all or they're a division winner they're just the lowest seed yeah division winners make the playoffs right but you reseed through based on record so carolina top four home game carolina go visiting uh chicago that would have been a that would have been a tight game for you sure okay it probably would have been all right i don't know but you don't deserve a home game eight eight nine home game get out of here well they certainly uh did well enough they certainly did well enough and almost came up with the win so panthers fans you should feel good about yourselves moving forward that was pretty impressive and the rams they survived it and they advanced and now they're going to chicago again the last time uh mcveigh's oh and two in chicago they have not won there and uh the rams are going to pack their cold weather gear and the neat thing for them is that if this is a run game, they got a Notre Dame kid and a Michigan kid who knows how to run in this weather.

17:50Rich Eisen:Oh, baby. Sunday forecast, prelim, we're six days out, 18 degrees, 20 mile an hour winds, 20 % chance of snow. That's right. And Stafford knows the building. He knows the building. Puka doesn't know the cold weather, though. That's for sure. Well, he thinks they plan to do it. Don't you remember? He wore the, The shiesty. Yeah, the shiesty indoors because he thought the Lions were playing outdoors until he realized they were indoors and he took his shiesty off in the second quarter. He went to stay ready. That was two years ago in the playoffs. But again, it's a kid who played at Notre Dame and a kid who played at Michigan in that weather.

18:27Rich Eisen:Did pretty well, both of them. Here we go. Rams-Bears, can't wait for it. I bet you that's going to be the afternoon game leading to the Sunday night or it could be the Sunday nighter, which would make it particularly cold. Yeah, give me Sunday night for that one. Yeah, give me Sunday night for that one. Okay. 844-204-RICH, number to dial your phone calls and so much more. We'll talk about Brockman's Patriots. Oh, yeah. Or Cooper's Patriots. Hey! That's a really different way I say it. Why is it better for him? Because he's my son. You have one more. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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21:07Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Let's take some more phone calls here on the program. Kyle in Florida. Take it away, Kyle. What's up, sir? Hey, Rich. How you doing? How's everybody doing? What's on your mind? What up, man? so I hear you talking about the Rams and Stafford I just wanted to double check are you so certain that Stafford's still an MVP shoe-in and what exactly is going on with the Rams at the end of the season you know it seems like he's really struggling against losing teams dropping some winnable games and you know if we're talking MVP and strength of schedule matters for me I believe it should matter too you know what I don't know what is his shoe-in um he did win first ballot all pro but you know who did last year too was lamar jackson right and then josh allen wound up being the mvp so i i have no idea how my other fellow voters did i know how i voted uh the associated press has asked me to keep that off of this show until the the uh nfl honors announcement the thursday before the super bowl so tune into friday's super bowl show uh to find out how i voted if that actually matters to you but i mean um listen there's so many metrics as to why Stafford is the MVP, and there's many metrics as to why Drake May is the MVP.

22:24Rich Eisen:Stafford got it done yesterday, I mean on Saturday, at the end of the day, and Drake May did what he did too, Kyle. I know that that's probably not a very satisfactory answer for you, hanging on as long as you did, but that's just the only thing I can tell you right now. Wow, that's understandable. It seems Stafford and the Rams are just kind of faltering near the end of the stretch here and just kind of wondering, do you think anything's going on? No, I don't think anything's going on other than the fact that they play in the toughest division in football. And I will say this, and this is not any slight against Drake May by any stretch of the imagination.

23:06Rich Eisen:Had Matthew Stafford played at the New York back up the U-Haul, looks like we're quitting on our coach Jets in week 17. He might have had five touchdowns and been sat out by halftime also, as opposed to the Atlanta Falcons. Well, he did it against the Cardinals, who were backing up the U-Haul. But then he did actually win the football game with 300-plus passing yards in the same way that he did this past weekend. And thank you for the call, Kyle. Watching the Patriots on Sunday night, every single time Drake May took off and ran for first downs, Cooper did look at me, my son, in his Drake May No.

23:38Rich Eisen:10 jersey that Susie and I secured for him for Hanukkah, he did say to me, Matthew Stafford can't do that, Dad. Saying that over and over and over again. What does Matthew Stafford do? He can't. You know? Matthew Stafford had one rushing yard this year. Well, Matthew Stafford doesn't have the same game as Drake May. He's also 37, and May is at 23, and is growing and groans up and dropping his huggies week in and week out. and he now has a playoff win under his belt. And last night, the Sunday night game, was the first game of wildcard weekend that felt like the final score did not indicate how badly a team got their behinds beat.

24:26Rich Eisen:The 13-point game that the Patriots won, it was the first of all the only game in which there wasn't a fourth-quarter lead change. It was the only game where it was a double-digit margin of victory. And, you know, again, watching it with Coop when it was 6-3, he goes, Dad, you know, if they score a touchdown, do you think this game is over? And I'm like, yeah, I do. Yeah, I was saying that too. I do. Yeah, first team to score a touchdown. Felt like they were going to win last. Well, even if the Chargers did get in the end zone, the Patriots were just the better team last night. And the one thing that I think Patriots fans should 100 % feel great about is the fact that their defense looked championship quality on Sunday night.

25:09Rich Eisen:Because that was the question coming in, is can they play defense well enough to win a playoff game? Now, you know, listen, the whole business of they didn't play a team with a winning record quite a bit, et cetera, et cetera, you can only beat the teams that you play. That's the old axiom, and it's the truth. And what they did was not only beat them, And they frequently beat them up and began to get enough confidence within themselves and began to get enough confidence with their systems and with their coaching, with everything, that when rubber meets the road, it's now winner-go-home time. What will you do?

25:47Rich Eisen:And what they did last night was just absolutely destroy the Los Angeles Chargers on their offensive side of the ball. and what you need to do in the playoffs is take an opponent and break their will that's what you need to do and if you have the added benefit of having an opponent in your house that's an added benefit and the extra added benefit of that opponent coming into your house with some ghosts in their own past recent past then you make them see those ghosts again and that's what they did with Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert, once upon a time, had a 27-0 lead at halftime of his first playoff game of his career, lost it.

26:32Rich Eisen:So if he's up big, you want to come back on him, you want to start making him see the ghosts of losing a big lead, you can do that, sounds good. His second playoff game of his career, one and done, four interceptions. So if you start picking him off, you start making him see those ghosts again, all the better. Well, the Chargers never had a lead, and that one was kind of surprising to me. I thought Jim was going to take the points. Harbaugh's been taking points all season long. He does go for it on fourth down every now and then, but he went for it on fourth down after the Chargers got the first takeaway of the game on a tip ball up in the air.

27:13Rich Eisen:They were all over Drake May to start this game, and they couldn't get it in the end zone inside the 10-yard line, and I thought to myself he's going to take the three and at least take the lead and play defense again and tell the young buck, now try it. Down 3-0. Instead, they went for it, didn't get it, didn't also expect, I'm sure, to have Ramondre Stevenson rip one off of a dump-off pass, take it all the way to midfield right away. But it changed the tenor of the game at that moment. And then what the Chargers did was they didn't come back on Justin Herbert to make him see ghosts, and they also didn't pick him off to make him see ghosts.

27:55Rich Eisen:What they did was get after him in the second half to make him see the ghosts of this entire season and then start to feel like it's not my night in general. And that's what they did. And they did it so effectively, and they did it with so many players all over the place on every level of the defense, all of it, front to back. What a tail kicking. but an absolute tail kicking and then drake may after those mistakes he also got picked off a second time in the other fumble in in this game fumbled he fumbled so he turned it over twice and each time just a resiliency to the point where he had a great second half his throw to hunter henry over derwin james jr was spectacular yeah spectacular with people draped on him too because they were getting to him the the chargers pass rush showed up in this playoff both defenses were there over 10 sacks in the game correct and i you know you know and and i thought it was rightful to say that he's not seen a top five offense defense all season long what's going to happen this time around what he did was just what he's done all year which is take off when he needs to keep his eyes up down the field when he needs to at one point josh mcdaniels called for a fake pitch keeper he was oh on khalil mack of all people that i believe he he uh pants on that a reverse pass too where he was open and the pass just kind of sailed over his head i didn't like that call by the way i thought that you know cute but he was open everything else was working man but that said you know kudos every every step of the way and now they've got a home game against the winner of tonight's game Aaron Rodgers coming in or it's the Houston Texans I bet you want the Steelers I want the Steelers I bet you do the worst way yeah yeah in the worst way yeah because the pass rush that got home last night for the Chargers I called Chargers versus Texans I didn't call Tui Pelotu's name once in that game and obviously he had a better night last night Yeah, the tip ball in the ball.

30:03Rich Eisen:I call Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter's name and Lassiter's name and Derek Stingley Jr.'s name and Jalen Petrie's name and Aziz Alshire's name. I called all their names in that game. But, again, they might not see him. The Steelers might take care of business tonight. This is really about the Patriots for the moment. Patriots can win the whole damn thing. If the defense plays like that. Yeah, for sure. That's a fact. And Travion Henderson didn't do very much. It was a remandre night. It was. And, you know, again, these playoff games are tricky for rookies, even with rookies who have got national championship experience like Travion Henderson.

30:46Rich Eisen:But, again, your coach, man, he's unbelievable. I just think he's awesome. His 2.0, I think, is better than his 1.0. You could say the same. And by the way, did you notice that Vrabel was wearing a hoodie in the first half of that game? I turned to Coop. I'm like, is he cutting off the sleeves, man? He always wears a vest, but that's the first game he went vest over hoodie. He went hood up. And I'm like, oh, is that a nod? Is that a, you know? But he is just a better version of himself that's already won Coach of the Year. He knows exactly what he is doing. Culture-wise, this building is 100 % lockstep.

31:30Rich Eisen:He's got a first-rate A++ play caller, dialing it up in the ear of Drake May, letting him do his job. What's happened on the defensive side of the ball with who's coaching it and why and why not, for it all to be clicking right now, Vrabel is just superb. And Milton Williams, he tried to give him a kiss, and instead he got a headbutt from him, and he's bleeding from his lip. That's why you pay that guy, though. Oh, my goodness gracious. Money, money, money for sure. This is Vrabel after the game about that split lip. Well, we talked to him about being willing to spill some blood out there and that the big dogs come out in January.

32:06And I think Milt took that to heart in the way that he played the game and the way he finished the game. And he came over and got me pretty good. But that's what happens.