NFL NETWORK'S KURT WARNER TALKS RAIDERS, CHIEFS, RAMS, CALEB & MORE WITH RICH EISEN | FULL INTERVIEW - VIVENDI

Back here at the Rich Eisen Show in his usual spot, albeit now on Tuesday for this week. Kurt Warner joining us here on the program. How are you, Kurt? I'm good, my friend. How are ya? Where are you? In the set of Severance? Where are ya'? What's going on? I'm actually just getting a quick workout in before I gotta head to Paris today. So it's tough. Only been home about seven days in the first seven weeks. So you just try to get it in where you can so you can stay plugging. Screw it. I'll ask you this on the air. I'm sorry if it puts you in a position, but because I know I'm sure Brenda's asking you, are you being told what's going on in Paris and about, you know, the possibility of this game, Kurt? You know, everything is, you Know, business as usual, from what I understand, obviously, we're aware of all the stuff that's going On in Paris, you Know, so gonna have to try to navigate that and see what it's like on the ground. But all indications for me, you Know, just asking, you Know, up until yesterday was that games going on as as expected in Paris. OK, I'm going to start with you in a way that I normally don't because I usually end with this. Who's the best quarterback you saw on film so far this week, Kurt? You know, I want to say C.J. Stroud. I thought his performance in London in a game that went back and forth and making big play after big play. I mean, he made some really special throws in that game. But, you know, they won that game with offense, not defense. And so I thought he was the best quarterback of the weekend. You know, I love the two quarterbacks in the Raiders-Bills game as well. Josh Allen's playing really good football. But I love that the way Kirk Cousins is playing. I think he's a huge reason why they're competitive each and every week. So those are a couple other guys. And the guy on Monday Night Football last night, Brock Purdy, continues to play good football as well." Okay, so I know, again, the way that you wound up in Arizona, Kirk, is because the Giants said, you know what? Even though we're doing well with a veteran, we need to get started with our first overall drafted quarterback in Eli Manning. Do you think that's a possibility of happening in Vegas with Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza? In my opinion, I don't think they should as of yet. Again, I believe this team is not a great football team, but they've got some key pieces, including Kirk Cusins, that is making them competitive every time out. And I just think it's too early right now with how competitive and how well Kirk is playing to go to Fernando just yet. You know, it may come a time when you feel like this team is, you know, not good enough and not going to make a playoff push and you make that move. But I just don't think the time is right now. And I think Kirk gives them a confidence right now that, hey, even if we're not winning these games, we're competitive every single time out, which I think is really important for that organization right now, for guys like Max Crosby, for a first-time head coach. I think it's really important to be competitive every signal time out. And until that season kind of moves from that mode to, OK, probably not going to be in the playoffs, I think you stay with Kirk as long as he's playing good football. yeah because i mean what was the record when when that happened in new york five they were the giants were five and four right when they said we're five and five and technically you know playoff team at the time we would have been in the playoff so you know that's how a lot of the veterans i think felt in that moment not that we were a great football team but i think we all know that hey you get into the dance and you're playing your best football you never know what can happen and so that was kind of the mindset of of all the players when they made that move And, of course, they were making that move for the future. But so many players are like, hey, I'm worried about the future right now. I'm worrying about now. If we've got a chance to be competitive right now, I want to be repetitive right now." And that was when the Giants made that move to Eli Manning. With you, Kurt Warner, who's here on the show, our radio audience joined in the middle of that answer right there. And the reason why I'm bringing it up again is, you know, the Raiders once upon a time 3-0, now 0-3. You said how well Kirk Cousins is playing. And they got the Rams coming up this week. And I guess it is important when you're building a team, building a franchise with a new head coach that you learn how to close games and be competitive as opposed to getting your brains beaten in like it's been happening the last few years. Right. Yeah. I mean, no question. And again, it's being competitive and then learning. You know, when you're in an organization and I can go back to my time in Arizona, you know, a lot of people look at those first couple of years when I was in Arizona in 05 and 06, where I don't even know how many games we won, five, six games those first few years. years. And everybody looks at it like lost years and Kurt wasn't any good and blah, blah, blah. There's a part of, of learning and growing as a team and starting to believe that you can win and what that means on a week to week basis, a practice basis, when you're in games, finding ways and guys believing that they're going to make the play in the moment. And so I looked at those two years is, you know, it's kind of preparation period and growing is an organization for what would come later in 07 and 08 and 09 and the playoffs and the Super Bowl and things, that there's a growing process that you have to go through to get guys in an organization to believe you can be successful. And where some people look at it and go, oh, they're losing again, I look at the competitive piece and go okay, they haven't figured it all out yet. They don't have all the pieces there. They need to find some more game changers. But learning how to be competitive and when you fall behind in a game, to be able to fight back and give yourself a chance those are real things that don't just come because you have a good football team it comes with understanding and believing when you walk in the building we are going to have a chance every time we kick the football off yeah and next up again for the raiders is a rams team that prior to the season we thought okay this is going to be homecoming but uh the rams are two and four and struggling and now without davante adams and kuna ford they got banged up in that loss at home to the cardinals why are the rams two and four kurt warner um well i think it starts with the fact that you know again you're looking for things that can close out games and and ways that you can really you know solidify yourself in this league is yes they can throw the football and yes they've got good weapons on the outside and reigning mvp at quarterback but you know what made them so good uh in the past and and even last year was their ability to run the football especially when you get down in the red zone to finish drives by running the football and having that physicality up front i don't see that right now i see them trying to throw the ball all over not you know hanging their hat on the run game and then defensively it's the ability to get after the quarterback um and you know and finish games and get huge stops with the guys like aaron donald and you why you brought in a miles garrett but Even in past years, they've had that front four that have been able to get after the quarterback and cause stress. And right now, I just don't see that at the same level with this team. And so even though they're throwing for a lot of yards, that physicality with their offense and defensive line, to me, is where they're lacking. And it's not allowing them to finish drives and finish games the way they have in past year. And to me that's what's got to change if they're going to get, you know, come back from this two and four start. But, you know, you get competitive and you do certain things. But if you don't have those finishers, you know, on either side of the ball, that's where you end up losing games like they lost this past weekend. And now the Seahawks now at 3-3. What are you seeing from Sam Darnold since he's come back from that injury with the new offensive coordinator there that can be fixed or needs fixing, Kurt? I would probably lean into the same thing, is that I think Sam is a good starting quarterback. I don't believe Sam is an elite starting quarterback or a franchise guy from my definition. And my definition of that is a guy that I believe, when all else fails, can carry you with their right arm and make you competitive every single time out. And I think sam is better as a complementary piece. And it doesn't mean he can't make plays, and it doesn'T mean he Can't carry you for a game if you were there. But I don'T know if he can be that guy that'S the central piece of your offense. And right now, that's how they're playing. No Kenneth Walker, no Zach Charbonnet. Their one-two punch that really is what they hung their hat on last year was run the football, run the play action, and then get it to JSN. They don't have that this year. And so more is falling on Sam to have to throw, throw, throw to make the plays that they need on offense, to have the feed JSN because they don't have great complementary pieces in the passing game. And that's hard, too, to think that you're going to get JSN as great as he's been. You know, to be that central piece every single game when teams are focusing on him and stopping him, it's just a different team offensively. And, you know, I could go into the pure progression stuff that I think hurts quarterbacks and is affecting them as well. But I just think their offense is different this year because they lost those central pieces in the power, physical run game as well, made them what they were offensively last year allowing sam to be complimentary and and this year they just don't have that quite the take there kurt warner um because my you know i mean that's but but i appreciate the unvarnished opinion certainly since i think guys did you hear that kurt says left-handers cannot be um elite because he says it's always your you got to rely on the right arm you know you know what i mean okay steve young is on line one kurt i mean you OK, but in all seriousness, when you're watching the Chiefs and and Kenneth Walker do what he's doing there, I was saying yesterday, like one of the most valuable aspects of Kenneth Walker is we don't we have yet to really have to see over and over again. Mahomes do it himself while he's coming back from this knee injury, which is always usually first month or two there. They still need to get up to speed. They're not their same. they basically have gotten a a mulligan on that because of kenneth walker you know a mULLIGAN and if i have one questions about one question about the chiefs moving forward because i think that they may be the best team in football across the board right now but the one question to me is wide receivers that if they have to throw the ball continually and win that way do they have the guys on the outside that consistently make plays for andy reed and patrick holmes and you You know, that's the beautiful thing about this offense is that they don't have to rely on that. Patrick Mahomes in the past game can be complementary to what they're doing running the football. I never saw that coming. I, you know, Walker, good player. I didn't see him being this guy. I didn'T see Andy Reid committing to the run like they have through the first six weeks. I did not see that coming, and so I still felt like it was going to have to go through Patrick Mahoms in the pass game, and I worry about those weapons on the outside. Now to have those guys being complimentary pieces, to have, you know, the worthies and companies have to make, you know, four or five plays a game and use that speed to make big plays instead of having to throw 35 or 40 times a game to win, I think is huge for this football team. And so that's the thing to me that's jumped out is that if they had to throw the football, I don't believe they're 6-0 right now, you Know, or even close to that being that their past game can be complimentary, not just because Patrick's coming off the knee but because of the weapons they have on the outside um man I think that's where why they are where they are and that's what's going to make them so dangerous and I think you just drilled down on um this week's game for the Chiefs because their next opponent is not only equipped to stop Kenneth Walker and try and see if they can throw their way to victory the Chief's but they're also highly motivated to make sure Kenneth Walker doesn't beat them it's Seattle you know what i mean like that is that has got to be like rule one because not only is it a way to beat the chiefs they do not want kenneth walker going into that stadium on sunday night in front of the whole country and doing what kenneth Walker's done for the first five games this year it's just that simple you just don't want that you know i mean no but no doubt because it's it's twofold you know not only did he leave you and he's having this kind of year in kansas city but you've got nobody that's been able to replace him as well and so it gets exemplified on both sides of the ball so no doubt about it and again if you're playing the Chiefs that's what you've got to say right now is it's as scary as it's always a proposition but say hey Patrick Mahomes beat us you know show us that you can beat us with the pass game and to me that's going to be the true test for this Kansas City team when somebody can stop Kenneth Walker that nobody's really done it yet but when somebody Can do that? Can they beat you in other ways? I think they can beat you with their defense or defense is playing great but I'm just talking if they have to rely on that pass game can they do it kurt warner here on the rich eisen show so after missing um three weeks of football it's too bad caleb williams looked so rusty hold on a minute i'm being told he's better than ever wow huh like wow that's the only word you could say i'd imagine that the the the tape film says the same thing it does and you know again you know i had people you know talking to me this week because there was a lot of talk about bone eggs and him you know getting fast to his check downs and only throwing check downs. And then Caleb plays this game. And I thought it was the best game that I've seen him play. But people go back and look, oh, all he did was throw check downs, but there's a difference in why you're throwing checkdowns. You know, if you're showing check downs because you're playing fast and you're not seeing what's up down the field and there's opportunities that you're passing up and you throw in check downs completely different than going through your progressions, playing the game and throwing it to the right guy. If the right guys, guy is a checkup. And that's what I saw from Caleb Williams is, you know, you come back from an injury. And a lot of times guys are a little bit impatient, a little but frantic, trying to get the pace of the game back. I thought this was the most poised and calm that I've seen Caleb Williams in the pocket in his career. He didn't try to force things with his legs. He didn't get impatient. He was reading things out. He got the ball to the right guy at the right time when there were shots down the field. He took them and he made them, but he didn't force the shots he didn't you know you want to scramble and get out and try to do those special throws he just played the position really really well and you see the results what 30 of 35 36 in the game you know started out 10 11 straight I just thought he was in full control of playing the position was accurate throwing the football I didn't know what to expect with him coming back and you know Everything that had been made after the injury, I thought he played unbelievably and really just with his mind playing the football game, you know, because we know the physical stuff will be there and can happen. We saw it one time in the game on the touchdown pass. But he played the game mentally the right way, and that's what was so impressive to me. Yeah, I hear you. He was remarkable, and obviously that makes the Bears a very dangerous team, certainly if their defense plays the way they did in the first three quarters of that game in Atlanta before the game got out of hand. At any rate, last one for you. What happened to Gotti? Should we put up posters to see if somebody sees him? What's happened the last two weeks? Just ran into good defenses, or they've been sniffed out? Kurt, what are you seeing on film about the Cowboys offense, Kurt? Yeah, I think the tough thing about this offense is that they're not dominating up front, and so they're not really running the football very well. And to me, that was always a key cog in what they did, Even last year, I knew they could throw the football with the weapons on the outside with Dak. And we know they could put up a lot of yards, but they had great balance running the football, which makes everything easier on the inside. And right now they're not running the foot. They're not winning the football very well at all. They're Not winning that physicality up front. And so now you're just forced to have to drop back and throw it. And I think it's really put a lot Of pressure on this offense. I think going out and calling yourself Gotti puts a lot OF pressure on your offense, right? You feel like you got to make every play and you got to make big plays and got throw for 300 yards. And I don't think Dak's playing really good football. I think their, their offense at times can, you know, and again, it's, it'S always a tough one, you know, cause you can go back and look at Peyton Manning when he played and, and they would run the same concepts over and over again. And they would have an offense where it was like, Hey, I'm really comfortable with these concepts. We're just going to keep running them over and over again, and we're going to be really good at it. And, and, you're going, and I see the Cowboys offense very similar to that is where they run good, solid, basic concepts, but they don't change it up a lot. They don't do a lot of formations and motions. A lot of times they're just going to line up and say, we're better than you. We're going to beat you. And again, at times that can be really good. At times it can get stagnant. It can be hard on your offense and make it easier on the defense. And that's what I see right now is not a lot changing up on the outside, expecting guys to win one-on-one and to make those plays over and over again, instead of scheming some some simple or easy opportunities for your offense and for your quarterback and so when everything gets accentuated on that passing game and you've got some of those things going on it's looked like a struggle like it like it has the last few weeks for this football team and now it comes the point where you start to press and you start you know want to make every throw and every read and and usually when you do that it leads in the wrong direction and I think that's what i'm seeing right now with the cowboys just a quick nitpick here it's it's not kurt it's not gotta make every play gotta make ever throw it's goddy make every throw goddy it was right there kurt you gotta be better i know it was i i just don't like to do that i just oh oh so you know yeah yeah a guy makes a comment like that and you just you know you just so is is it fixable is it fixable kurt what you're seeing can we can because this division's wide open right it's wide open um it is wide open but i i don't know if it's physically fixable just because their defense i mean i'm watching that game and there's guys running wide open all over the place so that's the first part like you know you can be really good offensively but if you can't ever stop anybody and you make it so easy defensively i donno and then the second part is yeah you know it can be fixable from the standpoint is our past game can look better because we've got these weapons and a good quarterback but fixable to me means can we get back to winning the line of scrimmage running the football having success that way when we get into the red zone finishing it by being physical and then you know all the big plays on the outside i just don't see this team you know again winning in the trenches kind of like i talked about the rams that to me is how you get back to being a great offense is you win in the trenches even if you're throwing the football you win the trenches and this team is losing in the trenches on both sides of the ball right now and so I don't care how good you are on the outside it's going to be a struggle if you can't do those two things all right last one for you in the two minutes I have here should the Giants start J.J. McCarthy Kurt Warner uh yeah I mean I don'T think there's you know I donT think there's anywhere to go and you knowI'VE always been a big Jameis fan uh you know that I don'T think jamis is playing very well uh jamis has really struggled since he's got inserted as the starter since jackson went down um so he's not giving you the things that that you know that i've always believed made jamis special you know i know that you knows all he had the interception problems but he would give you so many plays to be competitive outside of that and right now he's not doing that he's nicht playing very good football um you know jj came in and again i I know the numbers were great. I don't think he played great necessarily in the game, but he gave you something and he gave me a spark and he brought you back and you made this trade for him. You know, Jameis isn't your guy moving forward. So I just don't see a scenario where you say, well, Jameise is playing, you know, really good. So we'll keep him in there, you Know, while we're kind of leading the division right now, Jameisa isn't playing well, this young kids brought in, let's see what you got in this guy because you made the trade. I think it makes sense if you feel offensively he's up to speed and can do what you need him to do from an entire offensive playbook. I do think you make that move and see what you have in the young guy. Kurt, thanks for the time. Travel safe, be safe, and I'll chat with you on Sunday. I'll be in the studio while you and the rest of the crew are in Paris. Enjoy it, Kurt. All right. I miss you guys, so I look forward to getting back in studio, but talk to you then. A bientot, as the French would say. Okay, you can look that up. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single weekday on Disney+, the ESPN app and ESPN radio. And be sure to now check out richeyesandshop.com to see all of our latest apparel and accessories so you can rep your love of the show every day.