Swagu CANNOT BLAME Tua Tagovailoa for the Dolphins’ poor start 👀 | The Rich Eisen Show

Swagu CANNOT BLAME Tua Tagovailoa for the Dolphins’ poor start 👀 | The Rich Eisen Show

Marcus Spears back on the program. How you doing, Marcus? What’s up, brother? What’s going on, man? Good to see you. Ah, good to see you, too. Uh, that LSU thing behind you. That’s Is that magnetic? That thing is hypnotic over your left shoulder right there. Look like it’s look like it’s floating. Actually, when I was with SEC Network, man, this guy had a company and I saw that thing and was like, I have to have it. So, it’s been with me for a long time. So, it actually is a good product. It works. Or or is that just trying to intimidate me to ask the right questions of you because or is that just a Brian Kelly thing? It’s not all LSU people. Just want to make sure sometimes we get a little tested. Okay. I just want to make sure they ask the right question. I don’t want to be yelled at. You know what I mean? The gumbo and the jumbo eye is not good. We get we get mad. I get that from my children enough. You know what I mean? All right. Let’s let’s uh let’s jump into it. Uh what do you think is happening in the Dolphins locker room right now, Marcus Spears? You know, Rich, it’s funny, man. It’s it’s probably hard to to dissolve as a football team because they actually played well up until the end of the game. You go on the road against Buffalo, you in position to have a chance to tie the game up and and presumably try to win the game and obviously Tua throws the the the big interception late and and OB Josh comes out and seals it. But, you know, last week obviously we it was so much talk about those guys having a players only meeting and um having these conversations, but ultimately this thing is about wins. And I know people say no moral victories, but they they they showed up in Buffalo against a divisional opponent and played well for three and a half, three, three and three4s of a quarter. Um but I got to imagine, Rich, with all of that positivity that I just gave you that they’re reeling a little bit. Um, especially when you get to a certain point where you’re trying to decipher between if your team is good enough to make the playoffs or should we blow this thing up and start all over. And I’m not sure if that involves Tua. I’m sure that involves Tyreek Hill and trying to figure out the direction in in which this organization is going to go. And these type of games are actually make it harder. Now, hear me out, Rich. Yep. when you go and have a really good performance like that and the guys that you’ve paid a lot of money played very very well in the game and you think about all of the things that you would have to do if you were saying all right we’re going to disband this thing and try to rebuild it one you obviously going to take a step back on offense I firmly believe that unless you telling me they going to get another prolific guy like Tyreek Hill in the building two defensively we all see that they got to get better on defense. So, it’s kind of like a reset button there. You got some good really good players on that side of the ball, but you going to have to do a lot of work to improve that unit. So, again, man, I think it’s a very perplexing situation. I think last night made it more difficult for you to just say, “Look, we going to blow it up and get ready for another season.” But I also believe that how long do you want to waffle in this parts unknown? Shout out to my man um Anthony Bournain. rest in peace. But again, brother, I I just think it’s a difficult time to be a Miami Dolphins and a fan because Rich, you’ve been doing this longer than me and I’ve been doing it long enough to know when you really don’t know the direction of an organization and a team, that’s probably the worst place to be. You either need to be bad so everybody acknowledges that we need to completely do something different or you need to be a couple pieces away potentially where you can try to go and add those in free agency in the draft. But to kind of be waffling in the middle with some really good players on offense and defense. You got rid of some really good players on defense as well and kind of you in that gray area and that’s the worst place to be to me as a team in the NFL. Well, again, you know, I was talking about at the top of the show here, Marcus, is that two of Mike McDaniel’s captains, uh, for the lack of a better phrase, let him down. You know, where where, you know, Zack Cer, um, puts Josh Allen back on the field with a roughing the punter penalty. It’s a a de facto turnover. I mean, that doesn’t show up in the turnover column, but it was a turnover. And and then Tua, I mean, Mike McDaniel said in his own way, you know, he he made the wrong throw. It should have been the flat. He threw a brutal interception. And otherwise, you know, the question about whether McDaniel has the locker room. They came out and hit the Bills in the mouth also with a a brilliant first half closing drive. And they they have the game right there. So, I I don’t know what you do if you you got to stay the course if you’re the Dolphins right now. And I understand that that that that is an issue. Uh if you’re if you do need to rebuild you or you you want to hit that button, but the last thing you want to do also is fire a coach, fire a GM, and then start from scratch. No, no, no wants to go through, you know, a search and all of that sort of business and also admitting that they were wrong. You know, no one wants to do all of that. I you know, Rich, it’s it’s like the way you just explained it is why I think it’s so difficult. Right. Right. Like you look in your division, Buffalo is going to be good for a long time. And it looks like New England is starting to kind of show them signs of trying to get back right. We know when they hire Vrael, this team is not going to take long to get really really good. And I think sometimes we talk about and obviously the Jets and with with Aaron Glenn and we’ll see in which direction they go. I think they get a quarterback, they can start to to kind of count on things with them as well. Well, you you kind of hit that which is the ultimate third rail conversation that instead of throwing an interception at the end of the game, the Dolphins need the Tua that finds Devonte Smith for Nick Sabin to show up. There you go. And the question is, is he the right guy? Is that a fair question to ask right now? It is. It is a it it is a very fair question. And Rich, it’s so you know, it’s so sensitive on tour because we’ve seen him go through all of the concussions and we’ve seen him miss time with some catastrophic things. And also we see those times of brilliance like last night. There were times when Tua looked, you know, when he gets in that rhythm and he’s just in a free flow and pushing the ball down field. He made some plays with his legs last night. I was actually more impressed with him evading the rush and being able to push the ball down the field at times in that game as well. So there there are things about tour that is always going to be tanalyzing and enticing, but obviously like I don’t know it right in front of me, but I think he’s at like four interceptions on the season already and we threw week three, which is not a good sign um for for what you’re trying to do. And especially in offense and and think about how far we away from this, Rich. This team put up 70 points in Denver at the beginning of the season. Was that last year or two years? Two years. It was McDaniel’s first year. They came out of the box really really you know coming back on the Ravens and doing stuff like that you know. Absolutely. So you thought the trajectory especially offensively and the way that two have played and the way that they paid him that this was going to be a constant with this football team and the outing hasn’t been bad the last two weeks and obviously the crushing interception but ultimately man it’s like I don’t think you can get rid of the quarterback. I think he plays well enough for you to still feel like you can get something going. And then too, like this part of it, Rich, and what they were doing successfully, and you know, I got to get to it at the line of scrimmage. Miami doesn’t run the ball well anymore. And I think people forgot how good they were on the ground when they had Moster and they drafted Han. Remember, we talked about all of the speed and the track runners. That’s that’s when that offense was absolutely phenomenal. And they had some runs last night that was really good. physical runs, but it it feels like this offense has become one-dimensional a little bit and they depend on obviously Tua making throw after throw after throw and trying to get the ball in Jaylen Wadd’s hands and trying to get it in Tyreek hand and see if they can be dynamic and that’s something that Mike McDaniel is going to have to fix as an offensive coordinator. That’s something offensive line with Chris Greer. You’re going to have to figure out if you got the right guys up there or if you need to retool the line of scrimmage. But I don’t think Tua is the issue. I hate the interceptions that he’s thrown um at at this point in the season. But I think you still have enough faith, especially last night for a large majority of that game that this guy can win games for you in the NFL minus these mistakes that he’s been making uh this particular year. Miami, like I said, Rich, you think about how long we’ve been in this conversation. It’s a ser it’s a conundrum a little bit man. It’s not as simple as saying let’s do this and let’s do that and now we back on track. It they’ve had they’ve had the player stuff. They’ve had the if Mike McDaniel has the locker room like you just asked like everybody is asking. The defense didn’t look good at all last night. But again, you probably give them a little credit cuz that’s Josh Allen and you know all of that. But but at the in the same vein, the fear is is that the rest of them catch up cuz remember we thought this division was just really Miami and obviously the Buffalo Bills. Well, it’s once it turns and you still kind of running in the mud now you vying for a third or fourth spot potentially as opposed to your conference just I mean your division just being down and you by default getting a second getting second place in that. And I think that’s the fear that they have to have right now as far as if they going in the right direction. Marcus Spears, our colleague from ESPN here on the Rich Eisen Show. Um so the Bills have now won three different ways. Uh a track meet comeback against the Ravens. Um a 20point beatdown on the road of the Jets despite Josh Allen accounting for zero touchdowns. And then last night, um, a gritty, sort of grinded out home game against an opponent that you think they have to beat, but it’s a division game. They also didn’t have two very strong Warriors up the middle on defense. They won without Ed Oliver and Matt Milano. Where do you place the Bills now? Um, overall, Marcus, I think they’re the best team in the NFL. And look, I don’t say that easily because I think the Baltimore Ravens are still right there. But obviously, you got to give them benefit of the doubt for being able to come back and win that game. And I think that’s the only thing and the only reason that I would put Buffalo number one or for me it would be Baltimore. Baltimore looks more do when they’re dominant, they look more dominant than anybody in my opinion. even in that Buffalo game for a large majority of it. But it speaks to the to the brilliance of not only Shawn McDerman, but I don’t think this guy gets enough credit for what he’s been able to do and get Josh Allen to buy into, and that’s the offensive coordinator, Joe Brady. Now, I’m fond of Joe Brady cuz in 2019, he was a member of the LSU coaching staff that gave me the greatest college football season ever. Joe Borrow 60 touchdowns. You know, I I was just talking about it with uh with my kids, too. Um, you know, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase were teammates of Joe in college. Embarrassment of riches. I mean, it was, you know, so Odell wasn’t the only one making it rain, but um, you know, postgame, I know we’re supposed to, you know, bury that. Uh, but you What about the Packers, though, Marcus? The Packers have have looked pretty darn u dominant. two home wins, but against uh playoff opponents, one they’re going to have to beat to win the division in the Lions. And then obviously what they did to the Commanders, they they may have put Jaden Daniels on the shelf on top of all of it. Five team in the NFL. I look, it it is so hard, especially in the regular season, for me to look at football right now and think that anybody is better than the Bills in Baltimore. That’s just where I am. Um, and then how you perform matters as well. And I think they’ve had dominant obviously defensive performances in Green Bay. Jordan Love looks as comfortable. They got Josh Jacobs in the back field. They are a complete football team. And if they represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, I don’t think anybody is going to bat an eye. And obviously the mega trade that was made, unfortunately for me as a fan of Michael Parsons going over there. So, I think a lot of what I’m waiting to see with Green Bay is can Jordan Love keep this consistency. He’s been up and down a little bit to me and you just want to see him kind of stay even kill now. He looks much more comfortable in this offense and Matt Laflur for like wants him to push it down field. They want to be explosive as an offense. And I think sometimes last year, if we’re being honest, we watched him struggle early in games, turning the football over, and then you could see those glimpses of, man, this dude going to be really, really good, and this team going to be really, really good. They came into the season with high expectations before Michael Parsons. So, I think they are one of those top tier, top five teams in the league. Um, I just think Buffalo and and Baltimore have been doing it a little bit longer, so I’m going to give them benefit of the doubt. But if you were asking, I would probably put them behind Philly at four. Philly would be the third best team. I haven’t really loved all of Philly performances, but how in the hell do you take away from a team that just wins any way they can? That’s right. And and and they feel um invincible, um to use that, you know, the Vince Papali phrase for Philly. And they do feel that way. and they, you know, as I was saying last week, the Chiefs and the Eagles may have swapped places where the Chiefs are the the the team that uh can’t afford to make the mistakes and the Eagles are the team that if you make one single mistake against them, they will beat you over the head with it. And they did that in that moment where Mahomes and Kelsey didn’t connect. Uh few minutes left here with with Marcus Spears here on the on the Rich Eisen Show. So, uh, which 2 and 0 team? Colts. I’ll throw you the NerS. Um, I’ll throw you, um, another 2 and 0 team. And I’ll throw you the Bengals. Tampa. Well, Tampa, I think I think Tampa is Super Bowl worthy, you know. I think we know who they are. I I really do think, you know, I’m concerned about, you know, uh, KY being out. Where are they going to get some pass rush? I I I get it. But, I mean, I’m I’m I’m not worried about them. Which one is realer? You know, the ners despite their injuries being 2 and 0. Um the Colts at 2 and 0. Um the Bengals, I know they’ve lost Burrow, but um I I I always say I know you believe in Jake Browning. Oh, I I know it’s I know it’s provided some topic bars for for for some television shows, but I mean, honestly, Brownie went went one game above 500 in his sevename stint when Burrow got hurt significantly a couple years ago. Well, all he’s got to do is go one game over 500 and I know it would be a longer period than just seven games. That would be a 10 and seven season and maybe the Bengals get Burrow back. Who knows? You know what I mean? Like I I don’t know. Listen, I I I completely disagree with you that he going to play well, but I would not be shocked here. Here’s what people have to understand, and this is why there is some validity to what you’re saying. Jake Browning has been in this organization. He understands what Zack Taylor is want to do offensively. I don’t think anything is going to change. Now, can he be as dynamic with the ball as Joe Baroque over a consistent time is what I would love to see because I’m with you. If he can, obviously, we know Jamar and T is out there. He has significant playmakers. Uh Cincinnati has shown some life on defense a little bit, but I’m just I just have to be convinced that Jake Browning can perform well enough because this team still is about scoring points and a lot of them. They not going to win 20 to 17. That’s not the type of games that they are going to play. They they going to have to be a high power prolific offense. I don’t think that defense is just going to stand up over and over again as the season goes along. the the the the realer one to me with this 2 and 0 start would probably be out of the three teams that you just gave me, I would probably have more confidence in Kyle Shanahan. And it’s uh I I love what Robert Salah is doing now defensively. San Francisco look like that fire is back. Um we know how good Fred Warner is, brother. I’m telling you right now, I know, right? We just don’t talk about him enough. I like I even feel bad for not talking about how this dude is great at football. Um, and I think I think that matters when you start talking about kind of San Francisco and who they are and what they’re going to be. I love Brock Pury and the way he’s he’s he’s played and shown that he is the guy, but M. Jones when he was coming out, I was veheminently against him going third overall. I just didn’t think he was a third overall talent. Obviously, Trey Lance didn’t end up being that either. But I think M. Jones obviously fits what Kyle Shanahan wants to do. He’s he’s a he’s a cerebral quarterback. If you can get him to take care of the football, his eyes and his all of that stuff goes to the right place. And Kyle is obviously um Kyle is not bringing quarterbacks in to back up his starters that he doesn’t believe he can win with. Um so yeah, I think the I think the 49ers are going to be something to be reckoned with and obviously with being able to get their guys back healthy as the season goes along is what you hope cuz it’s been a team riddled and decimated by injuries. They’ve been probably more unfortunate than anybody when it comes to to dudes missing time and not being available. And we not just talking about some guys that back. We talking about the superstars for their football team. So hopefully they can get rid of that injury bug and they they’ll be a team to be reckoned with as the season goes along. Yeah. I like to do top five lists around here, Marcus. If I did a top five list of guys in the NFL who I think there are two of on the field at once, Fred Warner might be at the top of the list. You know what I like how many Fred how many how many of them are on the field cuz of like he’s wearing the same number but how could he be in those places like that? I’m I am with you man. Look you can get excited when you watch him on TV cuz you see the plays and the announcers are saying brother when you turn the tape on like we do to study these games it’s unbelievable how many plays he’s affecting when he not making the tackles. That’s right. like it’s like is he a part of a 100% of the defensive plays that are happening? Uh but he is he is phenomenal. A guy, Rich, that I believe once you get into the playoffs and I used to talk about this. I played with Demarcus where I played with to a he’s a guy that that brings the best out of everybody around him. And I think in order to wear those gold jackets and be in that Hall of Fame, you there has to be something about you that the guys next to you, the guys behind you, they benefit from you being on the football field. I think that’s a big deal when we start talking about being great. And I think Fred Warner is great. Last one for you, Marcus. Uh, two teams that we haven’t mentioned in this conversation who are absolutely in the top maybe five, if not top seven in the league are both teams out here in Los Angeles. I don’t know. People sleep on us out here cuz we arrive late. You know, we leave early and things like that to beat traffic and we got the sun here and you know, it’s a hard nose sport here. But the Rams and the Chargers can both hit you in the mouth and there are big games for both this weekend for both being 2 and 0. If you had to put your marker on one of them, Chargers, Rams, to go last longer, uh, it would be which Los Angeles team, Marcus? I would probably I would probably go Rams over the longevity of the season because I don’t think the NFC is as strong as the AFC. That’s number one. And we know the Chargers got to play Kansas City again and I’m not ready to I’m not ready to bury Kansas City, Rich. I just like I just don’t I don’t feel like this team is going to go quietly in the night. Um but I do love what the Chargers are doing. They have an identity and obviously you give a lot of that credit to Harbaugh. he has bought and sold into Justin Herbert. And not only did he talk about him, he’s showing like he’s making sure that Greg Roman elevates Justin Herbert at the quarterback position. He’s playing phenomenal. But I’ve seen Matthew Stafford win a Super Bowl. I’ve seen the Rams go on the road against Philly, which ended up being the best team in the NFL with an opportunity to win the game um on the road in the playoffs in the cold in the snow. Yeah. So, and and I got a lot of confidence in this defensive line. Uh, another guy that I think I think doesn’t get enough credit for what he does. I know we tal about him. We went through the highlights. Per is as good as they come at the wide receiver position. Um, Devonte there now like the Rams are and and and they still are. Here’s the thing I love about McVey. McVey wants to push the ball down the field. He wants to be explosive, but he does not get away from the roots and the nuts and bolts of football, and that’s the line of scrimmage and being physical. Um, so I think the Rams have a chance for that longevity. One, because of the division in the conference, but also because they’ve shown us that they they are formidable against the the Super Bowl champs. All right, we got to do this more often, Marcus. I’m not lying. Let’s do it, bro. You got my number now. Yes. And I’m about to text you uh mine, so uh there’s no excuses. We’re out of excuses. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Marcus “Swagu” Spears joins The Rich Eisen Show ahead of Week 3 of the NFL season.

0:00 His LSU helmet
0:52 What’s happening in the Miami Dolphins locker room?
4:40 Has Mike McDaniel lost the locker room?
7:11 Tua Tagovailoa talk
9:57 Buffalo Bills’ prowess
11:44 What about the Green Bay Packers?
13:01 Kansas City Chiefs & Philadelphia Eagles
14:20 Which 2-0 team is most Super Bowl worthy?
19:45 Los Angeles Rams & Los Angeles Chargers

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