NFL Week 11: Lions-Eagles P.I. Controversy, Bears Up, Chiefs Down, and more

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0:32Rich Eisen:It is time for another edition of Overreaction Monday with most of week 11 in the books. I am Rich Eisen. That is Chris Brock. Hello, Rich. We say hello to everybody taking this show in either with their eyes on the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel or the cut down version on ESPN2 on a Monday, which is perfect because it's in the title of the show. And if you're listening to us, however you take in your podcast, we greatly appreciate that as well through the ESPN PodCenter and all those good folks that push out our content. Good to see you, Christopher. Good to see you, my friend. How are you? I am well.

1:09Rich Eisen:Let's hit it. Let's get right to it. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction. Mondays. Monday. All right. It is all up in the air. The National Football League 2025 regular season chess pieces are all in the air. What do you have for me over there? I want to get this out of the way first, because you always like to say when it comes to rule stuff, it's got to happen on a big stage with a lot of people watching in order to have something change in order to get some change. And I think Sunday Night Football qualifies with the defending Super Bowl champions.

1:42When a flag is so obviously called wrong on the field, Sky Judge has to be able to overturn it.

1:47Rich Eisen:They will never get into pass interference being reviewed, whether it is by Coach Challenge or Sky Judge, as you referred to it, the replay assist. Replay assist. It will never happen again. May there be no return to what happened after the pass interference malfunction that occurred in the NFC Championship game between the Saints and the Rams. place i understand that their heart was in the right place you can't have chris collinsworth calling it one of the worst calls he's ever seen well it was accurate in terms of being one of the yeah he was right i don't know what else to say other than the fact that human error will be part of officiating forevermore yeah it doesn't have to be i totally tvs i get it but pass interference at its core is something that is subjective.

2:46Rich Eisen:It is the way you would view a piece of art if that's something that you're captured into going to a museum at any point in time. Not often, but sometimes. But what I'm just saying is it's, I see this in that painting. No, I see this in that painting. That's instant replay. That is a pass interference. Okay. Okay, an instant replay, taking a look at, Well, it did kind of grab his arm. Well, actually, A.J. Brown is the one who pushed off. That's what I'm talking about. But that's what happened. The subjectivity. Now, this was so obvious. The fact that, here's what upsets me. I always say this as well.

3:27Rich Eisen:Play better than the ref's ref. Of course. Rod Woodson told me at the very start of NFL Network when he first arrived, back in the early to mid aughts is that when it all came down to it, Chuck Knoll would tell the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room, the refs are going to at some point screw something up. At some point, the refs will wind up doing something that screws us over. Play better than the refs ref. The Detroit Lions went 0 for 5 on fourth downs. They also got some good play from Jameer Gibbs, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. The Eagles defense played better in the moments that they had to than the Detroit Lions offense.

4:20Rich Eisen:So at the end of the day, the Lions were in position to get screwed over by a terrible pass interference call on a crucial third down that would have given them the ball back for a chance to go down the field to tie the game or more likely than not have Dan Campbell go for two, which is the way I felt robbed last night. Again, these are all, if you will, first-class problems for somebody like me. My call time on Sunday morning was absurd. I get it. The pregame show that I hosted prior to the final international game of the year between the Commanders and the Dolphins. I really enjoyed that stadium.

5:06Rich Eisen:Was four in the morning Pacific time. I was barely keeping my eyes open because I needed to see the end of this game knowing I'd have overreaction Monday and the Rich Eisen show. Was the officiating crew with you at NFL Network? Because it seemed like they had places to go as well. I'm just saying I was one of the people maybe similar to out here on the West Coast, similar to East Coasters, staying up damn near to midnight to see how this game ends. And the fact that it ends in such an unsatisfying way and also equally infuriating way that we had a chance to see the Lions get a game tying opportunity.

5:49Rich Eisen:Or in the case of Dan Campbell, going for it with no time left on one single play from the two-yard line, and we were robbed of it. Now, Eagles fans can also say, we were robbed of that opportunity in a Super Bowl with a holding penalty. Yes, that too. Okay. These are all subjective calls that hopefully will never be put into an instant replay machine ever again. One last quick thing. In the World Series this year, okay, when IKF decided to slide in with his feet, even though it was a forced play at home that Will Smith, the catcher of the Dodgers, had his foot off the plate and then back on the plate again.

6:32Rich Eisen:At one point in time, the entire World Series, the entire baseball season was in a replay machine for a crucial decision. At least that, it's like, is there a foot on the plate? Is there a foot? Black and white. Is there a ball and a glove with a foot on a plate? Sure. This is subjective. That's not. That's as plain as day. Do we have enough visual evidence for something that is clear and obvious, not something that is, oh, I see it this way. You could see it that way. I mean, the 100-time Emmy winner said it was pretty obvious. An overreaction to start our program. Interesting. All right, let's stay in this game.

7:13it seems like we're the AJ Brown social media stuff is over. Apparently we're after a meeting with the owner,

7:19Rich Eisen:the closed mouth that wasn't fed, but he is still right. The Eagles offense is pretty bad. And no matter how bad it is, it's going to be the defense rich. They're the best in the NFL. They're going to carry them to the NFC championship. I don't think this is an overreaction. I think having Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter to monster individuals in the middle of this line who are also freakishly athletic along with now Jalen Phillips and Brandon Graham rushing the passer and also Nolan Smith rushing the passer when healthy and also with these linebackers behind them the Kobe Dean has now been added to Zach Ballon and the guys on the back end if the front end is working making it even easier for two guys in Mitchell and to do what they're doing.

8:13Rich Eisen:I don't argue that this is a top-notch championship defense that is making up for an offense that still hasn't come up with an all-world game. And part of that might be, well, our measuring stick for the Eagles offense is Saquon going off for a 2 ,000-yard season. But it should be more than 16 points when the Lions kind of gift-wrapped a lot of that last night. I'm with you on that. But my point on this front on the offense is I'll go here, and I will on the flagship show on Monday on Disney Plus and ESPN app and ESPN Radio. Look at you. Do we even have a great offense in the National Football League this year?

8:57Rich Eisen:Oh, interesting. Anywhere. Like top to bottom? Top to bottom, left to right. I just went easy reader for those electric company fans. I think a team we're going to talk about later on. I would say the only one that comes close to it this year where the offense is clicking, running and passing with a top-notch quarterback at the top of his game of the Rams. They're down the street, right? That's about, like, name me another one. Name me one in the AFC. I guess you could say the Bills when they're cooking. Oh, the Colts. The Colts, a top-notch offense. I mean, they were putting it up. Maybe not against Pittsburgh, but the rest of the season.

9:35Rich Eisen:But a great offense. Like a great one that we'll be talking about. Well, the Colts don't have like the sexy name receivers, but they've been getting it done. We might just be in a defense wins championships. Finally, not, you know, Warren Sapp would always tell us on NFL game day morning, defense doesn't win championships. Offense does. Defense gives you a chance. Right. I'm just wondering if that at the end of the day, which would be interesting in a, a, a 10 year, if you will anniversary of Super Bowl 50 in the same stadium that Super Bowl 50 was in, that Von Miller was the MVP of Super Bowl 50.

10:13Rich Eisen:And this was at the very tail end of Peyton Manning's career. We're all wondering, can the offense even do it against Carolina and keep up with MVP Cam Newton, that we may be in that situation again for Super Bowl 60? I wouldn't be surprised if Denver does go also due to their defense. I mean, you could put your Patriots on that offensive category because Drake May is balling out, and Travion Henderson is now scoring a ton of touchdowns. We have not a lot of sexy names. Not a lot of sexy names. So the Eagles winning in a season where we're talking about a defense taking you as far as it can take you.

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11:34Rich Eisen:call 1-800-GRANGER click granger.com or just stop by makes sense and this is not an overreaction let's go to the other side of uh sunday night football but i want to talk about the nfc north at large interesting division right now the nfc north is only getting two playoff teams and one of them is the bears well i mean the fact that the bears entering week 12 are leading this division after starting 0-2 in it is kind of wild. Don't forget losing on the first Monday night to Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy and almost doing it again yesterday and then losing the next week by giving up a 50-burger to the Lions, who they have now surpassed because they're 7-3, makes sense that the Bears would be one of them.

12:20Rich Eisen:But I know what you're saying, what is infused. This is what makes you so good at the overreaction Monday, Christopher. Thank you, Rich. is what's infused in this question is that, is this still the Packers and the Lions division to win? And the Bears now want to lose. That's a great question. Let's see what Josh Jacobs comes out of any MRI machine on Monday. Yeah. Or Tuesday. Keeping our eyes peeled on that. Let's see about that. And let's just see if the Lions, like the Chiefs, who I imagine are on your rundown at some point in time. It could be next. sitting there at five and five. Yeah. If they can make a run.

13:00Rich Eisen:And invariably, somebody always does make a run from the week before Thanksgiving and not Thanksgiving week all the way to the end. That's the old Bill Parcells axiom that the season essentially begins on Thanksgiving. Yep. Let's see. The Bears' remaining schedule, because that's what you're talking about here, that the Bears are going to be one of them. Fascinating game. They're home against Pittsburgh next, which might be Mason Rudolph coming into town, not Aaron Rodgers, which would be a massive bummer because that's something that we've been looking forward to for weeks in terms of his Rodgers' reunion and farewell tour to the division that he ruled from his Wisconsin throne for so many years, especially the Bears franchise that we all know he says he owns.

13:48Rich Eisen:It doesn't look like he's going to be making that start in Chicago. This is a winnable game for Chicago. We'll see if the Bears now start to win games they're supposed to. Their next game after that is a day after Thanksgiving against Philadelphia. Amazon Prime is psyched that this is the circumstances for that game. Then they're at Green Bay, first of two against Green Bay, with Cleveland coming into town. And we all know the Grim Reaper is off the charts right now in a Defensive Player of the Year campaign with Miles Garrett. At San Francisco, which could be a massive game if the Bears don't win their division.

14:21Rich Eisen:and San Francisco's looking to get the same wild card spot as Chicago. And then they finish up with a home game against Detroit. That is quite the gauntlet. If they are one of the playoff teams, they will have earned it. They will have earned it. Right now, all of these games that they're winning are by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin. It sure is. Because there's an orifice from which Caleb Williams is winning these games and pulling it out. And I'll just give you this number as well. He's doing the USC stuff, man. He's making stuff happen, and he's making plays. He's keeping plays alive. This is what's pretty damn impressive about Caleb Williams and the Bears right now, because you can go either way.

15:00Rich Eisen:It's like, well, man, they're not looking too impressive, and then they've got to pull it out. Or we don't see any pictures in the seven and three standings, and they keep on winning. It's his fifth game-winning drive of 2025, what he did after J.J. McCarthy gave the Bears the lead. Now the drive was also helped by a kickoff return after the Vikings took that 17-16 lead that I'm sure the special teams unit in Minnesota is throwing up all over themselves about this today. But that said, it's the most, by the way, five game-winning drives in one single season. That's the most by any Bears quarterback in a single season ever.

15:40Rich Eisen:Ever. And then the Bears won their fifth game of 2025 after trailing with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. that's tied for the most such wins in a season in NFL history. So they have the belief. They have that feeling. I am just, for whatever reason, and I know I'll get some blowback on this, I can't quit the Lions and I can't quit the Packers. Also the problem is in that Week 17 game, Bears and Niners might be the answer as to which division gets three in or not. Potentially, yeah. Okay, so I'll just put a pin in this right now and say at this point in time, this is not an overreaction.

16:19Okay.

16:20Rich Eisen:Okay. But I think at the end of the day, the West will get three in, the North will get two in, and the Packers and the Lions will be the two. Oh, wow. Because the Bears need to take the ball away in order to win games, and that might be a feature rather than a bug, but that's also something you can't count on. These are two things that you can't count on. We're going to keep taking the ball away, and we're going to keep beating you when we're down in the middle. fourth quarter. But then we need three of the last seven weeks to get a win, to get to ten, which should get you in. Two against Green Bay will also decide it.

16:53True. What else you got? Let's talk Chiefs. I saw a headline this morning on the network that we're on. Whatever you're about to say is an overreaction. The Chiefs are

17:01Rich Eisen:making the playoffs. The Chiefs are making the playoffs. I don't know, man. The Chiefs are making the playoffs. The Chiefs aren't going to win more than nine games and are going to miss the playoffs. Look at the schedule. They're five and five, man. I know. And they're also five and five for the first time in the Mahomes era. They need to at least go five and two down the stretch. Let me just say, I totally get why you're saying this. They also look terrible. I will say this. The Denver defense is pretty amazing. I get it. They are championship quality in the same way that the Eagles defense can take the Eagles as far as they take the Eagles.

17:37Rich Eisen:The Broncos defense can take them as far as the Broncos defense can take them for Denver. and I understand that the Chiefs are currently ninth in the American Football Conference playoff picture. They dropped a spot. They've even worse, the current three occupants of the wildcard positions, the Bills, the Chargers, and the Jaguars, the Chiefs, have lost all of them. So they have tiebreak issues against all three of them, and the problem is two of the three are not in their division, so they're not going to play the Bills, the Jaguars again, as they will the Chargers to potentially even up that deficit that they walked into the season with after losing week one to the Chargers in Brazil.

18:18Rich Eisen:Chargers have their own issues. It's only the third time in Mahomes' career that he's lost five or more games in a season. They have never, never been 500 this late in the season in the Mahomes era. They are also, their main reason, their engine to get to the Super Bowl last year was winning one-score games. They were 12-0 in one-score games. This year, they've had five one-score games. They've lost them all. They are still the Kansas City Chiefs, and I know this is definitely – I just gave you facts. Yeah. And I'm about to give you feels. Okay. I just won't quit them. I can't quit them. I mean, I understand.

18:57Rich Eisen:Put the schedule up. I understand, but your eyes are not lying to you, man. I understand. They've got the Colts next, then they've got Dallas on Thanksgiving. They're home for Houston. They're home for the Chargers. They're at Tennessee. They get Denver one more shot. and then they're at Vegas. They have to win five of those games. Absolutely will. I absolutely will. Don't see it. Absolutely will. I think that Kansas City offensive issues are really plaguing them. The Holmes has not been great, but they really messed up not getting a running back at the trade deadline. Man, I would have flipped the three for Brees Hall.

19:29If that's what it was to just needed help in the backfield. I did not get it. And it's really showing.

19:37Rich Eisen:It would be helpful. I hear you. You've given me facts and your eyes are not lying. They're not. But I think my eyes are telling the truth as well. Won't quit them. Next. My eyes are telling me this because I saw it yesterday with my two of them with my son. The Rams are the best team in the NFL. I don't think that's an argument. I don't think that's an argument. Because we're all talking about how Stafford, 27 touchdowns. Now the favorite. Now the MVP favorite. 27 touchdowns, two interceptions. Okay. The last guy to do that, by the way, did not win the MVP. It was Mahomes in 2020. Oh, interesting.

20:19Rich Eisen:Okay. Who lost the MVP to Aaron Rodgers that year. And Brady was awesome that year, too. And Aaron Rodgers that year, I have the numbers. Give me one quick hot minute here. Aaron Rodgers in that season had 29 touchdowns as opposed to 27. And went to the NFC Championship game. Yes. I have these numbers right here. And he won the MVP that year. He did. And so Stafford is better, but the last guy who did it lost to an MVP quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. So Drake May might be able to best him, but I don't think Drake May is going to have his gaudy numbers like that. It doesn't appear so, no. Yeah, Rodgers had 29 touchdowns and four interceptions through the first 10 games of his MVP season.

21:10Rich Eisen:Rodgers also was 28 touchdowns and three interceptions in 2014 when he won the MVP. By the way, Rodgers in 2011 through 10 games, he had 31 touchdowns and four interceptions. Stafford's doing it, and then we all know Devontae Adams, by the way, now has 10 receiving touchdowns. A guy has 1 ,000th career reception on Sunday as well. Puka Nakua lost his first fumble of his career, but still led the team in receptions. Kyron Williams is off the hook. Touchdown machine. All of these tight ends are doing what they're doing. And then the defense also picked off Sam Darnold four times. Four times. Right.

21:46Rich Eisen:And also when Darnold did get in the red zone or did get closer, held him to field goals. Every time. And now the punter is putting it inside the half-yard line when he has to, and they're not missing kicks. I cannot disagree with this assertion right now. They're playing as great in all phases, and I said earlier on this show, I think they have the best offense in the NFL in a season when not many people are efficient on offense and scoring when they're supposed to and keeping the ball when they need to and not turning it over and taking it away when they have to and keeping you out of the end zone so your field goals don't beat their touchdowns.

22:28Rich Eisen:It wasn't pretty. Both of these defenses are really freaking good. Yeah, that's true. And it just turns out, though, in that in a division that has the best aggregate record of all divisions in the NFL through 11 weeks, that the Rams are leading this division. That's not by any mistake. And thus, I agree with you. The Rams are the best team in the NFL. This is not an overreaction right here on the week 11 overreaction Monday. I want to stay in the NFC West because the Niners got a big injection of life yesterday with the return of Brock Purdy. We've seen Kittleback. How about that? What he's been doing.

23:06Rich Eisen:You can't just gloss over it. I'm not because I'm going to talk about them. No, but you see the return of Brock Purdy. Yeah. Oh, okay. Can I finish? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, thanks. So you're not glossing. I'm not glossing. You're lingering. I'm lingering. Very good. And we're going to talk about it at length here. Okay. Because the 49ers, with a healthy Brock Purdy, are a real threat to win the NFC. So good, so good, so good. New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60 % off brands like Rag & Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordic Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more.