Esiason on D&C: Rodgers, Packers will win

Boomer Esiason of CBS Sports made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to talk about the disappointment of the Pro Bowl and the excitement of the Super Bowl.

Esiason said he didn’t watch much of Sunday night’s Pro Bowl but that he was disappointed with what he did see. “I watched basically three minutes of it," he said. "After I watched the defensive line and how they were not pursuing the quarterback, I decided I had to change because when I played, they wanted to kill us. They wanted to be the MVP and there was a pass rush. It was a joke yesterday. There’s no question about it. It was very disappointing, to be honest with you.

“I just can’t believe that it’s gotten to the point now where it’s almost flag football. As Brian Billick said yesterday, they brother-in-law it, meaning that you take care of me and I take care of you, and at the end of the day, let’s just walk off this field and hope nobody’s hurt.”

That said, Esiason doesn’t expect the Pro Bowl to go away any time soon. “I don’t know what it’s going to be," he said. "It’s all going to be dictated by whether or not there was a healthy viewership. Last year when it was on ESPN down in Florida, the game received its highest ratings ever and everybody was all jacked up about that. It’ll be interesting to see what the Fox ratings are. If they’re as popular as we all think they’re going to be, then they’re going to keep the game and they’re going to play the game and they’re going to extract as much money as they can possibly can.”

Esiason talked about his experience leading up to Super Bowl XXIII in 1989, a game the Bengals lost to the 49ers, 20-16. Esiason told the story of how Bengals coach Sam Wyche made the morally correct decision to suspend running back Stanley Wilson after finding him high in a bathtub instead of at a team meeting on the eve of the game. Esiason questioned whether Bill Parcells, known for allowing more latitude with Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, would have made the same decision.

“We had kind of an interesting Super Bowl," Esiason said. "If you remember, Overtown, which is a suburb of Miami, was on fire. There were riots going on. We had our own teammate, Stanley Wilson, with his own issues with cocaine the night before the Super Bowl. We were I think either 8½- or nine-point underdogs going into the game. So there was a lot of stuff surrounding our football team. Quite frankly, we put forth a great effort against a great team led by Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and just came up short.”

Esiason then talked about what he expects this week, beginning with whether or not he expects the media to challenge Ben Roethlisberger with questions about his past.

“Without question," he said. "I’m sure that’s going to be on the tip of everybody’s tongue. The media is always looking for some story, some angle. I’m surprised that ESPN or somebody hasn’t gone back to Georgia to find the woman he was supposedly with down there last year and get her take on all of this. The rehabilitation and the mentoring of Merril Hoge and all this other stuff unfortunately are going to be falling on deaf ears for people who are on the other side of this story, and I’m surprised that story hasn’t been brought out yet.”

Esiason said he also expects Roethlisberger to be challenged on the field. “He didn’t play well in the AFC championship game, guys," he said. "I went back and looked at that film again. He only had eight completions up until the last drive of the game. Eight completions. And he should’ve had four or five interceptions. I do think Green Bay poses a very big challenge for him.”

The guys asked Esiason if Patriots fans should be rooting for Green Bay to prevent Pittsburgh from matching New England's three rings in the last 10 years. “Without question,” Esiason said. “If you’re an AFC football fan, if you are a Jet fan or a New England fan or an Indianapolis Colt fan, you’re rooting for the Green Bay Packers and you’re rooting for somebody to get their first Super Bowl. You don’t want somebody else getting their third Super Bowl, because it is about legacy. … I would think that if you are a New England Patriot fan, you are rooting for the Green Bay Packers.”

Esiason said he expects the Packers to win. “I’m picking the Green Bay Packers, brother," he said. "I think the Green Bay Packers should be able to score at least 27 points in this game. I think it’s a bad matchup for the Pittsburgh Steelers from a defensive standpoint. I think Aaron Rodgers will be the MVP of the Super Bowl and I think they’ll win at least 27-20.”

For more highlights from the conversation, check the It Is What It Is blog. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.