NFL Week 12: Rams Roll, Eagles' Panic Time, Gibbs Goes Off (Again)

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0:31Rich Eisen:All right, it is Thanksgiving week. Welcome to this edition of Overreaction Monday on the Monday of week 12. Prior to the Carolina Panthers potentially getting a foothold atop the NFC South, taking on the San Francisco 49ers. Rich Eisen along with Chris Brockman prior to that. Good to see you, sir. What's up, brother? I just thought week 12, that early window of games, just was chock full of playoff implicating action and a lot of movement. And it was really, really intense in the early window. Then came the Eagles and the Cowboys. And then that Sunday night game just up the road here in Los Angeles, California.

1:06Rich Eisen:We say hello to everybody out there watching us on our Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel or listening to us on our podcast network or maybe watching the cutdown version Monday afternoon on ESPN2. You ready to roll, Christopher? Let's do it, man. Let's do it. Hit it. Hit it. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This play sucked. Overreaction? Monday's Monday. All right, Chris, what do you have for me over there? Let's start out. I have a plethora of topics today. Just really quick, just in case anybody's wondering, new to the show, long-time viewers or listeners, I have no idea what's on that piece of paper.

1:42Rich Eisen:Zero. There it is right here. I mean, well, there's words on it. There you go. Thank you for showing the words. There are words. I have no idea. So what do you have over there? First up, let's talk about Sunday Night Football. I was there last night. You were. It was spectacular. The MVP chance for Matthew Stafford. So far is rocking. and Super Bowl 60 is the Rams to lose.

2:02Rich Eisen:If that's another way of saying, are the Rams the best team in football? Is that another way of you saying that? I don't think it's a question that the Rams are the best team in football. Kind of by a wide margin. I'm saying they're winning the Super Bowl and it's theirs to lose. Well, the way that they're playing right now, but the Super Bowl isn't now. It's the same way when you take a presidential election snap poll a year before the ballot box is open you know what i mean six weeks in the nfl a lot can happen injuries can happen crazy things can happen of course and and so but going into those final six games going into that final stretch of games the rams are the best team in football so i can't sit here and say super bowl 60 is for theirs to lose because they are playing complimentary football better than anybody else and that's the phrase of saying you know pound for pound best boxer right great offense great defense great special teams with the thicker kicker now appears to be settled because again the reason why they are the best team in football right now is because of all these three phases but having the best record in the nfc right now is because one game ahead and being the one seed of the Eagles is because they lost that game to Philadelphia due to their kicking game, right?

3:23Rich Eisen:Okay. So they've checked all the boxes right now. Stafford is 100 % going into Thanksgiving week the MVP of this season. He is. He has played the most consistent football. And amazingly, just to bring it all full circle, I call that Rams-Jaguars game in London. that was the game after which Puka Nakua got hurt in Baltimore. And he was out of that game. And Sean McVay told the broadcast crew, us, prior to the game, saying, you know, we love Puka. Puka is so crucial to our team. But we're going to look at this as a test for us because we've been so Puka heavy, Puka dependent, that we need to learn how to play without him.

4:10Rich Eisen:and we also need to distribute better. Stafford's been better since that moment. He has. Stafford's taken another leap. Has he thrown a pick since then? I don't think so. He has been spectacular. And in terms of that, interesting that you mentioned that, I have a statistic for that sort of exact thing. I knew that you would. I do. I do have one right here. He has thrown 27 consecutive passing touchdowns without an interception. What? That ties Tom Brady for the longest such streak in the history of the National Football League when Brady did it from week seven of 2010 all the way through the opening weekend of the following season.

4:46Rich Eisen:Brady won MVP in 2010. And he is one more touchdown pass without an interception shy of setting a new mark. And the Rams next game is at Carolina, which is an interesting game because they might be could be a couple of Rams. Well, I was about to say, taking on a first place team in the NFC South in back-to-back weeks. Yeah. So they've got six to go. Visiting Arizona, a home date with Detroit, their second game to potentially sweep Seattle and maybe nail down the NFC West with two weeks to go with a visit to Atlanta and home for Arizona. Winnable games throughout. And so I'm going to call this an overreaction because it is disrespectful to everybody else in the National Football League that has a chance to win it.

5:35Rich Eisen:your team in New England, Denver as well. We also see Philadelphia lost. I get it. But they're still a championship quality team, I believe. There's the entirety of the NFC North minus Minnesota right now. So, and I'm also leaving out what the Ravens have looked like and the Bills maybe planting a foot and pivoting with six weeks to go. The Chiefs are still out there now. At this point, would you be surprised if the Rams don't win the Super Bowl? No, I wouldn't be. Because, again, I've seen too much happen in the NFL. I've seen way too much happen. Look at the Bucs. A perfect example. The team the Rams eviscerated on Sunday night.

6:17Rich Eisen:We're going to talk about the Bucs later. I know. Just because it's germane to our current conversation right now, they were 5-1. They were 5-1. They're now 6-5. They lose Evans. they lose Godwin get him back they haven't seen Bucky Irving and now Baker's got his arm in a sling this is again not speaking I'm not speaking anything into existence I'm just stating facts Stafford's MVP campaign is unbelievable thanks to the numbers but it's also built out of a foundation of a guy that couldn't get out of bed in August it's unbelievable well we're still we're still believing that okay yeah we're believing that really I don't know but I don't know at this point i don't know why you would think that they're making anything up there was the weird airstream i don't know what was going on in there all i'm saying is way too much can happen and uh but right now it's uh trading places jiff for sure looking good billy ray you know what i mean so what else you got over there yeah yeah and kind of just piggybacking off of the rams being clear number one in the league we don't know who the second best team in the nfl is right now i I would agree.

7:28Wide open.

7:30Rich Eisen:Wide open. I don't know. You look at all the teams that you mentioned earlier. New England, okay, lost half their offensive line, the whole left side on Sunday in Cincinnati. For who knows how long. For who knows how long. At least maybe a month for Will Campbell. Denver has serious issues that we've seen all year. They can only really put together, what, a fourth quarter kind of each week. Philadelphia, we've seen the issue. We're going to talk about them soon. Philadelphia, we've seen their issue. We've seen Baltimore go from 1-5 to 6-5. Exactly. We've seen the Steelers go from 4-1 to 6-5. Obviously, the Colts have lost two of their last three.

8:06Rich Eisen:Colts look terrible. Needed overtime to take care of Atlanta in Berlin. You know, we could poke holes through. Lions almost lost to the Giants yesterday. The Packers now 7-3-1, but they're not lighting up any. Jordan Love has had zero touchdowns in three of his last four games. They're not blowing me away. He had four such games in his entire career leading into the season of zero touchdowns in a game. So we can poke holes through a lot. And we don't know who the second best team in the NFL is. I totally agree, which is part of the reason why there is definitely going to be somebody in this we don't know mosh pit over the final six weeks of the season.

8:47Rich Eisen:And Bill Parcells famously said, and we'll say this next week when we're doing Overreaction Monday after most of Thanksgiving weekend, that the season begins when Thanksgiving hits. That's when the season begins. Right. You know who you are at this point in time. Everybody knows who they are at this point in time. And the season begins. But do we know who a lot of this league is other than the fact that we have a chance? Again, the Chiefs are 6-5. They came so close to being five and six for the first time since the year before Andy Reid arrived. There was so close to that happening on Sunday.

9:24But it's the difference between winning and losing in the NFL is such a small margin.

9:30Rich Eisen:And over the final six weeks, I have to believe somebody is going to rise and start playing such significant football. And it could be the Ravens. I'm telling you, man. Someone's going to rise from what? Whoever has six wins, seven wins right now? One of those teams? to me. Absolutely. And I told you, I think the Ravens are going to go into that week six team and game against your Patriots in Baltimore on an eight game win streak. I get it, but to talk about the Ravens for a second, what are they doing that's kind of blowing you away? Lamar Jackson, what is going on with him? Their offense looks really stuck.

10:03Rich Eisen:I don't think he's fully healthy, but at least they're, I don't know, do we have any Ravens? No, we don't. Okay, so let me just hit this for you right here. They do have Derrick Henry. They do have Derrick Henry, and this is the time of year for Derrick Henry to start even sledgehammering more people because they are playing terrific defensively and they can be somewhat conservative offensively. If Lamar is somewhat banged up, he's not going to be apparently practicing on Wednesdays for the rest of the season. They don't do that just because they want to, you know, give him some time to binge watch a show.

10:34Rich Eisen:Derrick Henry, with his two rushing touchdown contest against the Jets on Sunday, joined Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson as the only individuals in the history of the NFL with 30 such games. Okay, he's now six behind Emmitt with his 30th. Emmitt has 36 and eight behind LaDainian Tomlinson. And on Sunday, Derrick Henry surpassed Marcus Allen, Edron James, and Marshall Falk on the all-time rushing list to get to 12th all-time. and he is now just 18 yards shy of tying Jim Brown for 11th. Wow. So they have him. I get it. And we're going to see him on Sunday, on Thursday night, on Thanksgiving night, and we'll see if Burrow's there as well because if Burrow's there slinging it around with Jamar Chase back, Derrick Henry might not be enough if they're trying to go point for point.

11:30Rich Eisen:He's enough to keep Burrow, Chase, and if Higgins is healthy, off the field. Yeah, I don't know if I can see T. Higgins. So those are my two cents. You're correct, though. This is definitely a proper reaction. We do not know who the second best team in the NFL is currently. I want to combine two teams here. Obviously, Dallas, amazing comeback win in Philadelphia. And I want to combine it by talking with the Steelers. The Steelers trading away George Pickens was a far worse move than the Cowboys trading away Michael Parsons. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, that's that's 2020 hindsight. That is all.

12:03Rich Eisen:That's the benefit of seeing what George Pickens is doing right now, which is amazing. Who is what? He's probably maybe the third best receiver in the NFL this year. Dude, changes of scenery help players. Also, Dak is a way better quarterback than Russ or Justin Fields was last year. Or anybody that they were fielding since George Pickens was coming off the campus at Georgia. I think they knew they were going to get Aaron Rodgers this year. So why wouldn't you want George Pickens for Aaron Rodgers? Because, listen, we had Jerry Dulac, who's covered this team forever and a day, talking about how he was late for games.

12:37Rich Eisen:He made Mike Tomlin look ridiculous. He could show up right at kickoff for all I'm concerned. Look how amazing he's been. I get the talent over everything sensibility, Chris. Talent over everything, man. I totally understand it. It's 20-20 hindsight seeing how he is blossoming right now in Dallas. He's got a terrific spot where he doesn't have to be the guy either. I mean, he's made CeeDee Lamb more like the second fiddle. he's the best receiver on that Cowboys team dude I I understand on Sunday and over the last two three weeks he has made CeeDee Lamb into his own Alvin Harper I get what you're saying I see what you're saying okay without question I see what you're saying but there is a how about this okay instead of by the way listen have we heard Micah Parsons his name this year really What are you talking about?

13:28Rich Eisen:Dude, he's all over the place. Dude, he might not be all over. I've got a stat for this one, too. I would like to hear it because. Here you go, dude. You know how he kept saying. I was told he was a lock for defensive player this year. First of all, Myles Garrett is called game on that right now, as we all know, right? Yes. He is absolutely called game on that. But here you go. because you know how we heard this stat over and over and over again when during the summer, Michael wanted to be traded and it looked like he wouldn't be, then it looked like he could be, and we were hearing all this, and we certainly heard every single human being in the National Football League media tell you the stat after he was traded that he's the only guy other than Reggie White to have 10 or more sacks in his first four seasons of his career.

14:17Rich Eisen:This is a season five. Well, I'm happy to now tell you as he's joined Reggie White as the only players with 10 or more sacks in each of their first five seasons. He's now joined him in that regard because he had two sacks, three quarterback hits, and three quarterback pressures, and two tackles for loss in the victory over the Minnesota Vikings. I'm not watching Packer games. I get it. He's making an impact. I got you. Yes. But, and you don't trade people like this, but how about let's give Dallas credit for, yes, Kenny Clark was a piece back that wasn't nearly as equivalent as Micah. But when you add Quinnen Williams next to him, and you're able to trade for Quinnen Williams because you have multiple first-round draft choices in your back pocket, and you do go trade for George Pickens before the season, and you do get Javante Williams off of the Denver scrap heap, and you do choose Brian Schottenheimer as your head coach, and you do get DeMarvian Overshone back, at 5-5-1, Dallas, this is a terrific base of operations for them to make a run and be the aforementioned team, as we said in our first segment, to come out of that, who of the 5-6 win teams can come out of the mosh pit and make some hay?

15:37Rich Eisen:And this Thanksgiving game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Monster. I will say this on the flagship show on Monday as well. So for those who are watching and listening now, and you'll hear me repeat it, I think the Thanksgiving game gained five rating points based on Sunday's results. Just a chef's kiss. So because the country in the early window on CBS saw Chiefs and the Colts, and we also had Fox show you the Cowboys and the Eagles to the entire country there. Now comes Chiefs at Cowboys, which the NFL schedule maker said going into the season was going to be the biggest rating of any regular season game they've ever put together.

16:23Yeah.

16:24Rich Eisen:So we'll see now. We get 50 million. And it's six and five Chiefs against five, five and one Cowboys. Throw the records out. But you can't because this is that crucial for both of them. Yeah. It's huge. To make a run. I love it. What else, Chris? Study and play. Come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the Unreal College Deal. Everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn more at windows.com slash student offer.

17:03While supplies last, ends June 30th. Terms at aka.ms slash college pc. MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every out-of-market game, live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players, plus MLB Network and ESPN app features like Multiview, syncing your stats, key plays, bets, and fantasy, all in one place. Sign 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. It's panic button time in Philadelphia. Just talking to 8-3. They're 8-3.

17:46Rich Eisen:I know. Listen, they have PTSD. They have PTSD there. They have PTSD from everything they've ever dealt with with adversity. Rooting for the Eagles in the history of their lives that have been passed down from generation to generation. I know the way it works in Philadelphia. what is it WP it'll be the greatest week in the history of that radio station I get it I think I saw our ESPN colleague Mina Kimes say it on threads that the results from Sunday is going to make the Red Wedding look like a romantic comedy which is a great line okay I get it I understand the PTSD you wanted the ball you got the ball you lost he didn't get the ball enough in the second half listen I understand there's PTSD from 10-1 to being out of the playoffs one and done.

18:36Rich Eisen:I understand that that still resonates. I get it. You're 8-3 for crying out loud. You'd lead this division. The second best team in the division is a record of now 5-5-1. You split with them. There's no tie break. That tie that the Cowboys have is absolutely going to handicap them to try and surpass Philadelphia. Come on now, man. Man, everybody just take a chill pill. I understand it was a brutal loss. I understand the 21-point loss, the 21-point lead that they blew, it's difficult to blow in the NFL. I understand we don't see that often. I understand it's the second, by the way, it's the second worst blown lead in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles since the 22-point blown lead that they had in losing in Andy Reid's first game as coach of the Eagles in Doug Peterson's first game as quarterback of the Eagles.

19:36Rich Eisen:Oh, wow, good stuff. And Andy Reid went from there to being one of the greatest coaches in the history of the franchise. I know they went to the Super Bowl, but didn't win it. I get it. Everybody just relax. Let's see what happens against the Bears who are coming and feeling great about themselves, feeling high. They're the ones with the pressure to come into Philadelphia and try and keep winning for themselves because they might lose their division lead. Not you in Philadelphia. Everybody relax, but I know that's not their default. I totally get it. This is an overreaction. Everybody take a chill pill.

20:07Rich Eisen:You won the Super Bowl last year. Most of the players are still there. Honestly, man. And again, I know the offensive line isn't as good, okay? and I know Saquon only ran for 22 yards. It's terrible. It did not look good. There are reasons to be concerned about your long-term viability, but panic? Panic button? Come on, man. There was so much drama after wins. Now they have actual reason to have drama after a brutal loss. What else you got? All right, I'm moving this topic up because it's germane to the Philadelphia Eagles. winner of Bears Eagles on Friday will be the NFC two seed. I don't agree with that.

20:55Rich Eisen:I don't think the two seeds going to come from the South anymore, which was a chance that it could over the first half of the season. It could certainly come from the NFC. North. It can't come from the NFC West because the Rams are going to win it. I think whoever wins that will stick the obviously second place team there in a wild card spot. It has to be a division winner. And you're saying basically that the, the bears are going to win the NFC North. Yes. By the way, their chances of making the playoffs went up from 60 from, if they had lost that game, the Pittsburgh would have been down to 45%.

21:34Rich Eisen:It's up to now 66%. Much better than the Bears are in right now. Bears are in bears are being in the playoffs. I don't know, man. I think the Niners, if they beat the Panthers, they're eight and four. They're 8-4, and the Packers at 7-3-1 are the seventh seed. So, you know, the Bears can go on. The Bears have a tough stretch starting with the day after Thanksgiving, a short week game having to go to Philadelphia with them all frothed up and pissed off. And then the Bears after that have got to go to Green Bay, who they play twice in three weeks. And then there's Jador Sanders coming into their house.

22:12Rich Eisen:Perhaps. It better be. And then they have to visit San Francisco home for Detroit. Okay, pal. Even if they win it in Philadelphia to feel great about themselves with five straight wins going into Green Bay. Come on now. It gives them a tiebreaker over the Eagles for the two seed. Overreaction, overreaction. Like I said, six weeks to go. Baker Mayfield is in a sling. I mean, the Bucs went into that game in Western New York against the Bills saying, who knows what can happen for us this year? We'll get Godwin back. We'll get, you know, Bucky back. We'll potentially get Mike Evans back late. And now we're wondering, Teddy Two Gloves is now running your team for who knows how long?

22:55Rich Eisen:Anything can happen. This is an overreaction. But I appreciate the question, Chris. And Bears fans have got to be just genuinely jacked about what they are saying. But there's still a long, long way to go in the 2025 season. All right, let's talk about that Raiders-Browns game, but I want to do it from the Raiders' perspective. Sure. Chip Kelly fired as the offensive coordinator after the game. Yeah, they lost their special teams coordinator earlier this season. They fired him. Interesting way of saying fired. They didn't lose him. Yeah, yeah. They told him to get lost. First time Pete's ever fired coordinators during a season.

23:30I think this goes back upstairs. The Raiders won't be truly competitive until Tom Brady focuses 100 % on being an executive. Hmm. um i i i don't know what that means i mean it means run the team stop stop uh calling moonlighting as a broadcaster and if you're going to be meaning what five to ten percent owner and have the full control that we we think he's making decisions make decisions be an executive run the raiders commitment to excellence you know what he becomes he because i mean he's the face of the franchise i mean i i i honestly don't know how this man

24:12Rich Eisen:multitask i can only assume he's terrific at it i don't know if he wants to i have no idea well then why then why are we seeing you earlier in the season with a headset on in i don't know in the box i don't ever want to speak for him i just think he's getting better as a broadcaster and by the way um 37 and change a year is not a bad way to travel the country see all the teams stay current and chime in when you want. But are you pulling strings for this organization or not? Who's in charge? Who's running the ship? I mean, the general manager who he's hired and the coach that he hired and the owner of the team sitting there in Vegas.

24:46Rich Eisen:But it's a disaster. They're clearly the worst team in the NFL. Because they don't have an offensive line, Chris. You knew. I mean, you want to talk about, I understand the horror movie references in Vegas are all born out of the pre-snap stance of their running back. But in terms of the calls coming from within the house, in terms of a true horror movie reference, we all know when you see a horror movie, you're wondering why in the world are you doing this? Because you know there's the guy with the axe right there, right? Right, sure. Miles Garrett showing up into Vegas, rushing this quarterback behind that offensive line in the scheme that they've been running.

25:26Rich Eisen:I'm shocked he had three sacks. Did it surprise anybody that the Browns came up with 10 sacks of Geno Smith on Sunday? Did it surprise anybody? Of course not. It surprised no one. Now, I know Chip Kelly has eaten it, but the offensive line is absolutely brutal. And I'll tell you, you can't throw behind an offensive line like that. You just can't run an offense if you cannot protect your quarterback or somehow stave off the rush with a running back who the drafted seventh overall. And again, I understand J.J. McCarthy has looked brutal. OK, and I understand the stats that I saw about my guy, J.J., with a passer rating so low that it's lower than what the passer rating of a quarterback would have been.

26:18Rich Eisen:I read if he spiked at every snap, that's how bad of a quarterback rating he had in Minnesota. But if you can't be protected, that offensive line, it was the first time all five of them were in front of him all season long. So it's the lifeblood of an NFL team. You want to blame Pete for it? Will he eat it? One and done? I don't know. That is up to Tom Brady, I would have believed. Because if I'm Mark Davis, I'm like, all right, Tom, this was the idea that we all had coming in. Pete, your general manager, you handpicked from your time When you saw him down there in Tampa, back from your Michigan days.