What’s More Likely: Rich on Talks Rams, 49ers, Colts, NBA Playoffs, MLB and More

Friday's What's More Likely on The Rich Eisen Show ran the full menu. Daniel Jones versus George Kittle on an Achilles return. The 49ers versus the Commanders for a division. The Rams versus the Cowboys versus the Cowboys versus the Rams again. The Knicks. The Wolves. The Mets. The Yankees. Connor McDavid. George Pickens. And, because the date called for it, every Batman in living memory.

Chris Brockman opened with the Achilles question. Rich went with Daniel Jones, on the simple logic that Jones tore his more recently than Kittle did and would have an earlier return window. Then Brockman put up the 49ers or Commanders to win their divisions, and Rich bristled at the framing. The 49ers almost won theirs last year. The Commanders, in his read, were not close. He also reminded the room, with appropriate volume, that the Eagles' road to the Super Bowl ran through Seattle and Los Angeles, and that the Rams had a real argument as the de facto NFC favorite this past postseason.

The Rams thread carried into the next question. Brockman asked whether it was more likely that Rich would write an Overreaction Monday topic about benching Matthew Stafford for rookie Tai Simpson, or that Stafford finishes the year as an MVP finalist. Rich made his position clear. Starting Simpson over Stafford is an absolute absurdity. The only routes there are a Stafford collapse so steep the room demands to see the rookie, or an injury that puts Simpson on the field. Either way, Rich said, he could see the conversation happening, and pointed back to the same kind of churn around Cooper Rush and Dak Prescott a year ago. He picked Stafford as an MVP finalist as the more likely outcome by a mile.

On the NBA, Brockman teed up the Wolves or the Knicks for a Finals trip. Rich went Knicks. Brockman pushed back, citing Brian Windhorst's earlier riff that the Knicks could lose to a healthy team in a future round. Rich pointed out that the Spurs were not walking through that door in the East, and that no one comparable was on the Western side of the bracket either. He noted the Pistons were the team a Knicks fan should worry about, given their regular-season head-to-head record, which is why a Knicks fan should be quietly pulling for the Magic without Franz Wagner to advance.

The Sixers-Celtics Game 7 versus the Rockets forcing a Game 7 was the closest call of the segment. Both, Rich said, were live. He went with the Rockets, partly because TJ has had a tough season and Rich felt like throwing him a bone. Houston was favored that night despite Kevin Durant being out.

McDavid versus Pickens for a trade demand was the easiest read. Rich quoted McDavid calling Edmonton an average team all year long, the closest he was likely to come to a public push, and noted that Pickens has historically been the more openly demanding of the two, even with a new agent likely advising restraint.

On baseball, Rich went with the Yankees and Dodgers both missing their divisions over the Mets and Red Sox both making the playoffs. He floated the Rays catching the Yankees in the same way the Blue Jays caught them last year.

Batman closed it out. Rich's pick was Christian Bale. He gave Adam West his founding-document credit. Michael Keaton got love. But Bale, he said, is his favorite actor.