37. Divisional Weekend Yap with JoJo Cash: Heartbreak and Heroball

A weekend this wild doesn’t teach one lesson—it teaches five. We unpack how the Bills coughed away a winnable game against the Broncos, why a single backward toss can tilt an entire locker room, and what clean, boring, effective football looks like when Denver plays it. From there, we go deep on the officiating confusion—PI standards, catch rules, and the gap between the rulebook and what fans see on replay—and offer a simple fix: fewer penalties, clearer definitions, and better communication.

The Patriots advance after the Texans’ offense hit a wall, with CJ Stroud buried by turnovers and a thin receiver room. That launches our larger theme: hero ball doesn’t scale in January. Mobility and magic help, but if your quarterback is your run game, your bailout, and your identity, you’re one hit or one bad read from the cliff. We contrast that with sustained, system-first teams and call out the front office responsibility to build real support.

We also relive the Rams-Bears thriller—Caleb Williams’ audacious heave, overtime heartbreak, and Los Angeles’ habit of living on field goals. It’s thrilling, but it’s not a blueprint. Add in the surge of lower-leg injuries and the coaching carousel spinning from Buffalo to New York to Miami, and you get the bigger picture: the teams that survive are the ones that protect the ball, manage moments, and keep players healthy. That’s the DNA of a January contender.

If you loved the breakdown, tap follow, share this with a friend who texts during every drive, and leave a quick review to help more football fans find us. Join our group chat at thegamethepodcast.com and tell us: who’s your pick to go all the way?

Transcript

Welcome And Weekend Whiplash

SPEAKER_04 0:22

I'm Victoria, the game's on. Welcome back to your favorite football podcast by the girls for everyone, the game. Today I have a friend, a friend of show, a sports software engineer, a Bills fanatic with me, my friend JoJo Cash. Welcome to the game. Thank you. It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

We are gonna have some hot takes from divisional weekend. So I can't wait to talk about it. I think we're both emotionally exhausted based on our text messages and your abrupt stopping of responding.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I shut down. I stopped responding to everybody. Nobody could get in. I was unwell. It was it was very emotional Saturday night.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

Very emotional. And then last night, Sunday, the second the Rams had the ball go through the uprights. Oh my gosh. I shut the TV off. Like the second that the refs put their arms up, I was like, I'm out. I'm done. This weekend has been too much.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I can't handle it. I'm not having fun anymore. Oh my gosh. I thought the Bears had it. They had it. That incredible throw from Caleb. Incredible to force the overtime. A lot of people are saying they should have won for two on that, but I don't know. That was crazy to just to end the game like that with the interception, right? And the overtime.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

Yep. Interception and overtime. Yeah. Okay. We're going to recap all of the games from the weekend. Then we're going to do an ins and outs list, and then we're going to talk about the crazy head coaching situation that I'm not ready to talk about, but we can't ignore it because it's on my feed and Adam Schefter is blowing up my phone every three seconds. Also, Adam Schefter, if you're listening to this, like I really want to interview you because I want to know how did you get that job? How? Like, how did you become the guy when like news breaks it's under your name? That contract has got to be insane. He's always the first to know. I don't get it. Yeah, like when something big happens in my life, like, should I be calling Adam Schefter instead of like telling my mom?

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Also, man. Whenever I'm fact checking for the game, if I'm ever using any kind of AI, I say, fact-check this via Adam Schefter.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

That's a great idea. That's a great idea. Yeah. An Adam bot with him first. Yes. Absolutely. Chef D bot. Chef Dot. Oh my God. Wait.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

We should sell this idea to him.

unknown 3:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Nobody tell him. We're gonna we're gonna put it in a contract. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

Let's start off with the first game of the weekend. Probably the hardest one for you. So let's just get the pain over with and talk Broncos, Bills, 3330 Broncos in overtime.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Let's talk about the turnovers for the Bills.

Bills vs Broncos: Turnover Spiral

SPEAKER_00 3:45

That was hideous and embarrassing. Yeah. Honestly, I don't think it just came down to overtime. I think it also came down to those turnovers and the points off of them. You can't turn the ball over four times. You just can't so bad. So bad. And it was just lack of carelessness with the ball, and it's just like, what are you guys doing? Come on, you gotta tighten up for the playoff games. You can't do that against the Broncos D. You gotta be way more careful, Joshi.

SPEAKER_04 4:20

I kind of have this hot take that every team with a good story, which was every team that lost this weekend except the Patriots, but every team with like a really good story, it almost seemed like they relied on how good their storyline was to take them into the next game instead of making sure that they were playing playoff caliber football. Like it's almost like they were resting on their laurels instead of being hyper strategic and hyper clean.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Yeah, that's a great point. Cause it just it felt very not lazy, but it felt a little like messy. Yeah, messy. That's the word. It's yeah, it felt so messy and definitely not the game they should have been playing. Like there was a we had a couple good games. Like against the Jags, it was okay, but you gotta tighten up. Tighten up. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

So what did you think? I thought that the honestly, the game-defying play of that game was not even the cooks, was he down, was he not down? It was the backwards throw from Josh with uh like a minute to go before halftime. And he just like tossed the ball back.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

He lost it. He lost it. That just fell out of his hands. I'm pretty sure. Right. And then they scored three points after that, right? Yeah, because it looked like almost like intentional to me. It did look. Maybe he was trying to do like a lateral pass or an incomplete pass, but it went backwards. I don't know. That was part of the messiness. Like, yeah. Can you imagine if they didn't score that field goal?

SPEAKER_04 6:08

Because I feel like that sealed the emotional deal.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:12

Going into halftime. Because if they could have held them or even gone to the 10, time runs out, whatever. But like, Josh, why don't you just hold it and go down? Like, your only job is to protect the football. Just protect it.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

It's also sad to me to see Josh and Haley's perfect year come to a close.

unknown 6:34

I know.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

Because, like, get married, get pregnant, Haley wins for her acting. And remember that Haley was originally a singer. So the fact that Haley was in Sinners that's now winning Grammys is in like that's insane. Golden Globe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Golden Globes. What's is that an Oscar? What do you win at the Golden Globe? That's the Golden Globe. You win a Golden Globe at the Golden Globe. Grammy is music.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Okay, this is embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

We're good. We're good. This is a sports podcast. No one's no one's gonna check. Yeah, it's fine.

SPEAKER_04 7:12

Not my best, but whatever. So she won a golden globe for her acting.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Yep. And Josh Allen will not be winning a Lombardi. It would have been a story back ending because of the Ralph, too. Just well, the Ralph slash High Mark Stadium slash Rich Stadium. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:33

Okay. As a Bills fan, yeah. Are you exhausted of the story that you're gonna make it and not making it? Because I'm a little exhausted of being like the Bills are gonna make it and like all the hype for like I'm like, I'm over the hype.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Like, let's just let's just ignore them for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

No, do not ignore us. We will always be there. Well, we just you know, we're working on it, it's it's it's in progress, but it's funny, like every year the Bills fandom has saying that this is our year. That's what we say every year is this is our year. Next year's our year, it's it's fine. It's very someday. It's starting to get a little embarrassing, but uh you know, we had a good run with McDermott, and we'll get there eventually. I think we just need a little shakeup now.

SPEAKER_04 8:33

Yeah, we'll talk about McDermott a little bit later. Yeah, okay. The Broncos obviously took the W barely, but I thought the Broncos played a less aggressive but a better game than the Bills did. The Bills were kind of playing Chaos Ketchup, and the Broncos were kind of playing like this is what we do. Like it looked more natural for the Broncos the entire game, which is kind of why I think the Broncos deserve to go to the next level. Regardless of who they played, I think that the Broncos are good enough to go to like the championship round next weekend. I don't know if I'm like ready to see them in the Super Bowl, but I do think that they're good enough and have been one of the most consistent, complete teams that we've seen, which is why they were the one seed. But I just feel like their play and watching them, you watch them and you're like, okay, I get it.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

I I don't know if I agree, but in that game, yeah, they did look a lot better than the Bills. So they had their stuff together and their defense was very good. And, you know, I just I didn't think they were doing anything special, but they were stopping us. They did what they needed to do, and that's what the Bills needed to do.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

I keep saying we like on the Bills, but you know, that's part of being a fan is believing that you're on the team, even though you like don't even know anybody on the team. Right, right. No, I know Josh. Yeah, yeah, my best friend Josh. All the time. I just had him over for dinner.

SPEAKER_04 10:13

So the final score in that was Will Lutz's 23-yard game-winning field goal. 23 yards, like getting set up for an average field goal is like obviously they're gonna make it. Same thing with the Rams, like an average length field goal.

Ref Calls And Rule Frustrations

SPEAKER_04 10:30

If it's not over 50, I'm not that stressed. Maybe I should be, but Bonex breaks his ankle. That's awful.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

You might you're giving it to the Patriots now.

SPEAKER_04 10:41

Yeah. Sorry, sorry. It hurts so much worse to watch the Broncos now move on instead of the Bills.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Because it's like Can you imagine Pat's first Bills in the conference championship? Like that would have been epic. It would have been epic. Yeah. It would have been a Super Bowl, maybe better than a Super Bowl. Maybe, maybe. Maybe well, because you'd be you'd be more invested.

SPEAKER_04 11:07

For you would be better than the Bowl Bowl. That's true. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Speaking of the Patriots, Cutie Drake May.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Can we go back? Yeah. What did you think about Trey White's penalty at the end of the Bills game that caused them to have a much closer field goal? Honestly, I think I checked out. I mean, that's fair. Same hold on, hold on. Wait, is this on is this the one on James Cook? No, no, no. That's okay. First of all, it was Brandon Cook's. That was the catch. I saw Cook. It's okay. It's okay. And cutting it out.

unknown 11:54

Trey.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

And Trey White is they called defensive pass interference on Trey to push, you know, it was a terrible call as well, but but to get them closer to the end zone to kick the field goal, the game-winning field goal.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

Okay. So what I think about this call is I need the referees. I need not an analyst. I need not a random man from New York. I need there to be a referee Instagram page that tells me exactly what the rules are in the way that the refs believe the rules are. Because the rules on paper are not translating to the rules in real life. And we're seeing this. I don't know if it's because we expect more because replay assist, or if it's always been like this. And I'm just thinking about penalties more, but there just seems to be so many bad calls in really, really important moments. And I do think it's probably because we can all see it on big screens more than ever before, slowed down more than ever before. That like our faith in the refs is just so much less. But like, what is past interference really? Because he has his hands all the way around wrapped around his hips. I would, I mean, I don't know. That seems like you're interfering with the past if you're bear hugging him. That's fair. So, but nobody's getting called in this way. So if you're not gonna, I don't like he's not really impairing him. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Right, right. He wasn't, I don't think he was tugging on him, but I think he was touching him.

SPEAKER_04 13:44

Yeah, yeah. And I think like him having a fit, he knows that they like he probably are like he knows that they're cooked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I just think it made it a lot worse. Like it makes it so much worse, and you don't see I mean, I'm watching it over and over, and like it's so questionable.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

They're saying there were like 50 yards of penalty penalties that last drive, which is the loss of the game, which is them just playing messy football. Well, yes, or bad calls, or bad and more calls. And bad calls, yes, yes. But like you expect so much more from like replay assist in a playoff game. Yeah, and it shouldn't just come down to the refs on the sideline. There's you know, people in New York, and you know, there's it should be a lot more better.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

It should be a lot more better, yeah. Yeah, and then the Brandon Cooks, Cook Cooks, yeah, cooks. That call blew my mind. I think my official stance, if you catch the ball and you roll around and you stand up with it in your arms, I don't really care if it touches the ground.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Yeah, I don't really care. But it didn't, it it didn't had it, and he caught it, then he was down, and then once his face caught it, yeah. It's like okay, but he was already down. So when whatever. I'm so I'm sick of seeing it to be honest, because yeah, it breaks my heart because that was that was the point.

SPEAKER_04 15:23

That was the the thing that yeah, that was like the game definer to me, was like that play and that call was like I didn't have that much like hope after no, no, yeah. Honestly, I yeah, I need I need to talk to some refs, I need them to speak out, I need us to have conversation with them, I need to know what's going on, and I think that there needs to be some type of re-regulation of rules. And I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but like

Patriots-Texans Meltdown

SPEAKER_04 15:55

I think that we should only have five types of penalties you can call anything safety, helmet to helmet, never okay. Right? Like there's things, but like tripping, trip them.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

It's a two-four four, but we shouldn't have like holding, horse caller, pass interference, improper organization on the field, what that was called.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

That one pisses me off. It's like, okay, the guy wasn't like two inches off. Who cares? Also, neutral zone is fair game.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Why not? Let's get fired up. Let's go. Like, if I think you should be able to move into the neutral zone as long as you don't touch anyone. I don't know. I just think there's so many miscellaneous, non-game-changing penalties that end up changing games that I, as a viewer, am like, what? I don't care. I don't care about illegal formation. Line up however you want. You want to put, you want to put 12 guys in a single file line on the side. I don't care. I want to see what's gonna happen next. Like, bring me the drama in a tackle sport as the drama in a tackle sport, and like don't overregulate things that need to be that don't need to be over-regulated. Like, I would much rather see us wear guardian caps for everyone than have an illegal formation call. Like, why are we not using our power for good? Right? That's a great point.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

That's a great point.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

Yeah, you know, you can't get me started on guardian caps things. I love them.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

And I'm just saying, okay, we gotta move on. Any final words for the bills?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

It was a good, it was an okay season, I guess. And I am rooting for whoever's playing the Patriots.

SPEAKER_04 17:38

So great. Speaking of, let's talk about the Patriots. So Drake May and his cutie, cutie, cutie ootie wife, and Michael May. And Michael May was seen wearing an I love Drake May shirt on the sideline. Okay, that's cute. That's adorable. Yeah, and so the Patriots did win this game. However, neither team's offense, Patriots or Texans, really did that much.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:05

I mean, the Texans did a lot of negative. CJ Stroud, quarterback for the Texans, five interceptions. There was five fumbles throughout the game. Honest mess. Like, I feel so sad for CJ.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

Because we've all had days where like we wake up, we stubb, stub our pinky toe, we spill our coffee, our boss is a jerk, we get dumped, and then we feel fat and ugly before we go to bed, and it's just miserable. And I feel like that's the kind of day CJ had. And then to have to like get on a podium and say what happened is just awful.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Right after the game, like that's rough. That's rough.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

So bad.

unknown 18:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

So I feel like neither team played extraordinarily, but what he went 20 for 47. Yeah, like literally six turnovers and eight plays or eight possessions. Yeah, it was a really bad day.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Four interceptions, three sacks. His rating was 28 yikes.

SPEAKER_04 19:20

I think that's lower than if you don't even take a snap.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Or it's it's yeah, it's I think like it's it's pretty bad for a playoff game.

SPEAKER_04 19:32

You can't see it's it's like the storylines. The Texans have this great defense and they can really do it. I really believed in the Texans. And unfortunately, I do think that CJ lost this game for the team.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

And that's really rough.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yeah, that's a great point. Their defense really stepped up all year. Yeah. Like their defense nobody carried them.

SPEAKER_04 19:56

Barely get points on them. And then you see it 28. Is like that's just like an emotional defeat at that point. Like I feel like when your lead guy, the guy that's been leading you all season, right? Just can't pull it together. It's like just exhausting, like emotionally exhausting.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Yeah. And I wonder if it's a lot to do with Nico Collins being out too. Yeah. Like that could have been his security blanket. Right.

SPEAKER_04 20:24

Yeah. So they had Nico Collins out, and then they had another, I believe, another receiver out. So it's kind of like all of CJ's main targets.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:38

What do you do against right?

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Well, and they but they got uh Christian Kirk.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

Yeah, so that game was crazy. The Patriots are going on to play the Broncos. I think that that's gonna be an excellent game.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

It's it's gonna be interesting with Stidum in for the Broncos now versus Drake May.

SPEAKER_04 21:00

Yeah, so it's like I'm almost blocking out the Drake Mays or that Bonex is not gonna be in. Because I'm like, that's gonna be such a good game that I'm like, I don't a lot of defense. Yeah. Patriots are a great team, they're really well-rounded. So I mean, if Stidham can do something, but I don't know, I feel like it's gonna go to the Patriots because the Patriots are pretty well oiled right now. But in case you wanted to know, Stidham was a fourth-round pick, 133rd overall by the Patriots in 2019. He spent three seasons as a backup behind Tom Brady and Cam Newton before going to the Raiders in 2022, and then signed with Denver in 2023 and hasn't played much since. But seventh-year veteran, 20 career regular season games with four starts. His record as a starter is one and three. Passing for his career 117 completion on 197 attempts, so 59.4%, well, 1,422 yards, eight touchdowns, and eight

Broncos QB Shift And Matchups

SPEAKER_04 22:00

interceptions with a 78.3 overall passer rating. So he did have a really great career game, 365 yards and three touchdowns with the Raiders against San Francisco in 2022. And then had a game in 2023 with the Broncos 20 out of 32 passes for 224 yards. So he's capable. Just one game, just has had two good games, and only one of them remote annoying.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Two good games in three years. That's gonna be a big wake-up call. Like, yeah, you're playing the Patriots.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

Yeah, but there have there have been backups who have like won super. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah, I saw Nick Foles. Did you see that tweet? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

Yeah, so it's gonna be interesting. Maybe he can pull it together and like pull something out. I think the game's gonna be interesting. I hate a blowout. I love a close game no matter what. Like, I would prefer a close game and a loss than like, well, I don't know. Like, I didn't enjoy watching the Seahawks destroy the 49ers. That was like not fun to watch. Right. I didn't like it. I wasn't having fun. I felt really sad for the 49ers who had I think they were, I think they were cracking all season long, but they didn't act like it until this game.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

You know, it's kind of like when you picket your sibling for like five hours at a family dinner and then eventually they freak out. Like I feel like that's what happened.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

I guess, yeah, I guess that's comparable. Yeah, that's that's kind of what I was. That's exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened. But the the Patriots, I don't know, they look good. Really good. I'm sure they're they're favored even though it's at home for the Broncos. And I think it could be a boring game too. Like just a lot of three and outs, like because the defenses are so good. I mean, yeah. We'll see. We'll see. I just hope it's not a blowout, like you said. I don't we need a close game.

SPEAKER_04 24:15

Like, I need two scores at least for the Broncos. We need two scores, and then whatever happens, whatever happens on the other side, I don't really care. But like two scores is like not painful. Like the 49ers going home with six points. Six, six is the most embarrassing point number in all of football.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Like six points in a playoff game when you have McCaffrey that and Brock Purdy. Come on, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 24:47

I do think that Kittle not being in the building was really rough on everyone because he's such a personality. So I feel like I saw Claire George's wife post, like, we'll be watching from the couch. And like, I think he just got Achilles surgery or is about to, so like he's really out. But I'm like right, I always would be there if he could. Yeah, yeah. But I wish that like I think that if he was in the building, it could have had like maybe even a maybe they would have made the field goal. Or like the maybe they would have another one. That was really bad.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Right?

SPEAKER_04 25:21

Was it two field goals? Honestly, I don't even know. I'm not gonna lie, like once the Seahawks started going up, I took a nap. And I woke up and I was like, this is depressing. Oh gosh. Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything just feels like a lot? And you're like, I want to finish the week feeling healthy and feeling strong and feeling confident, even though I have so much going on and I don't know how I'm gonna fit it all in because I'm raising my hand, me. I feel like, especially with building this show and being busy and feeling so passionate about something that I lose track of time and like borderline forget to eat sometimes. I need something that can make my life easier. And honestly, Cuso Cuts does that for me because I can just grab whatever meat I want at the grocery store and I know that I can make something delicious so quickly. I've been super into their Southwest seasoning on some ground beef as like taco meat for like burrito bowl or something like that, has been my go-to over the last week because I want something delicious. I want something healthy. I want something with fresh veg. I don't necessarily want something frozen. And this really does just make my life super, super easy. So toss it in with some like lean ground beef or lean ground turkey, and then add in some like Greek yogurt as sour cream, some guacamole, some rice, and some veggie of choice, whatever that ends up being that day. And it's such a good little like burrito bowl. You can scoop it out with some chips and have the best snack. And I'm really grateful to Kuso Cuts because I don't have to buy seasonings at the store. Like, I don't have to worry about whatever cornstarch or weird ingredients are in other pre-made seasonings. Kusos has no crazy additives, it's delicious. The flavors are bold, so you don't need to use that much, which means that the actual seasonings last

Seahawks Blowout And 49ers Slide

SPEAKER_04 27:20

you for quite some time. So I'm super grateful for them. They make my life easier, they help me feel really healthy. And like, let's be honest, half the time it's just about like feeling hot and feeling healthy and less about what you actually look like. And Kusos makes it easier for me to be that way, to like feel hot and healthy. And ultimately, that's my goal at the end of the day. So thank you, Kusos, for sponsoring today's episode. You can go to kusocuts.com slash the game for 10% off your order. It really helps us out here at the show. And you can also go to kusocuts.com, choose your seasonings, and then type in code the game at checkout with no spaces for 10% off that order. Again, thanks, Kusos. Okay, last one. My saddest game of the weekend. Well, the Bills was really sad, but mostly because I have so many Bills friends. But my saddest game of the weekend was the Rams, Bears. I am over the Rams. I'm over them because if you can't win by more than three points, I'm bored. And I'm bored of everyone saying that you're the greatest when you can barely win by more than three points. If the only reason you're winning is a field goal, then like I don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

What is what was their defense even doing? I mean, their offense is pretty good. I'll say that. Yeah, no, they the Rams are a great team, yeah, pretty much overall. Yeah, but they that was that was a tight game, but it I feel like it didn't look like it.

SPEAKER_04 28:57

I don't like the storyline of scraping by, yeah. And the Rams have been scraping by. The Rams were scraping by the Cardinals. I was in real life at that game, and I was like, what is happening here? And that's how I felt every game since that game. And I'm like, this isn't fun to watch. Like watching Matt Stafford do a clutch play in the final one minute. Why don't you just do something good in the middle? Like your team, your whole fan base is gonna have to go on blood pressure medication. Well, honestly, same with the Bears, though, because the Bears' whole thing has been that they can win under pressure, and then unfortunately, they didn't.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

They, I think they thrive, kind of like the Bills, they thrive when they're down, they come out of their shell and they love being the underdog. Caleb Williams is such a dog. I've always liked him, always believed he's gonna be when he wasn't he, you know, but he's gonna be good in the future for the Bears, I think.

SPEAKER_04 29:57

Did you see the the pass at like four seconds to go?

SPEAKER_03 30:01

He ran like in my head, it's 20 yards backwards. I'm like, bro, you are literally going the wrong way, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:09

And then it was like a fadeaway, it was like a fadeaway catch. He's like throwing it up. And I was like, Oh, that's an interception, yeah. Like that's gone and it's not on the what what did the Rams D even doing? They just like went off of them. Yeah, they're just like watching it happen. That's an interesting plot twist.

unknown 30:28

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 30:31

That was crazy. That was crazy, yeah. And then to see at the end the interception, oh, it was heartbreaking. Absolutely, it was so awful, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Yeah, what is what do you think? Should they have gone for two or gone into overtime at the end when after that that catch?

SPEAKER_04 30:54

I feel like when it's a lower scoring game and your completion isn't like I feel like when you're not working as like a super well-oiled machine, play after play after play, it gets a little seedy. Yeah, and so I think just the nature of the chaos of that one, like the whole team was pumped up, so it really could have gone either way. Yeah, yeah. But I don't know, I don't know. I never know. Honestly,

Sponsor Break: Easy Weeknight Fuel

SPEAKER_04 31:20

like I feel like it's a it's a coin toss every single time. Yeah. So I maybe thinking about Ben Johnson, I'm kind of surprised he didn't go for two. Right. But the Rams' defense was already fired up, and I feel like with them being that fired up and then mad to like already fired up to like stop it, and then angry that they didn't, the chances of a two-point conversion were pretty low.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Yeah, yeah. And it's it's tough because they were getting stuffed at the line too, like yeah, a few times every run they were trying to do. Um, yeah, I think they made the right decision going into overtime into overtime. Yeah, I think I think it was their defense was in a good place, and I think it would just would have been a dog fight, you know, which it was so right, right, which it was, which made great football, which will hopefully make I I hope that Caleb Williams does take this and like remembers this moment forever.

SPEAKER_04 32:22

And I hope, I really hope that the Bears don't go into next season saying, let's be who we were last year, but a little bit better. I hope that they go in like this is a brand new season, let's like take our momentum, but like start something new because I don't want them, I don't want the Bears to be constantly chasing what they once had. And I feel like that's a little bit of what the Lions did this year was like, well, last year we had this, and so let's get back to that. And I think that's like ultimately damaging to a team to like it's like it's like always wanting to get back into your high school body, like it's a little unrealistic, and it's like you you kind of can't like you can't recreate right what that was. Like you have to adjust to what you are now, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Right. It's a new year, it's a new, you know, it's always gonna be a new team. There's something different about it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:15

You know, yeah. So this week only on Sunday are the game. So 3:30 and 6 30. I'll be locked in.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:25

I've been really busy the last couple weekends, so I'm excited to like hopefully lock in a little bit harder.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

There's only two to watch now, so that's I know.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

Honestly, last night though, when the Bears game ended, I was like, I don't even care about the Super Bowl anymore.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

I was like, the Bills lost, the Bears lost, lost, Bears lost, the Rams won.

SPEAKER_04 33:44

Don't care, the Texans lost.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

I think Seahawks and Rams game next week will be

Rams-Bears Thriller And Overtime

SPEAKER_00 33:50

really good, though. That's gonna be a lot of touchdowns. I think I don't I don't know if the defense will show up for either side because they're both really hot offenses right now.

SPEAKER_04 34:01

But yeah, I am gonna be very upset if the Rams win in overtime by three. I'm gonna freak out. But again, like I think the Rams are really good. So, like, this is me being salty because they keep beating the teams that I care about. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Well, that's how I feel about the Patriots. Yeah, so I get you. Get out of here. Yeah, get out of here.

SPEAKER_04 34:28

Okay, let's do a quick five-minute ins and outs session. Starting out on my ins list. This is kind of a double, but Anne Michael May, she's so cute. How could she not be in? She's showing up on the field, she bakes cookies, she's a sweetie sweetie. They yeah, got engaged, got married, Drake got drafted. Now him and Mikey Vrabes are the Cinderella story. The only Cinderella story left is the Patriots. And we love that for them. And sure. No notes from JoJo. No, no comment. Okay, I'm interested to hear about what you think about this out, but my out is Hero Ball because everyone playing Hero Ball got knocked out this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

What, like Josh Allen? Josh Allen playing Hero Ball almost every single game.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

Feels like I'd I'm just like tired of the media acting like it's only one person's job to carry an entire team. I think that like using your legs is on the outs because offenses get complacent when they know that a quarterback can do it for them. And I I just it's become the way because there have been like a lot, like Patrick Mahomes has gone to the Super Bowl and uses his legs, but like Patrick Mahomes is not that fast. Yeah, so Patrick Mahomes is using it in a more strategic way than I think that Josh Allen and Caleb Williams are using it. Like Caleb Williams has wheels, yeah. But like Patrick Mahomes does not. So Patrick Mahomes created almost like this era of runners, of like running quarterbacks, and I don't think it's working that well. Not for him.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

I think I think it I think it is necessary. Like the Bills needed some wide receivers, right? Yeah, we do desperately need some help for Josh, but that's why he had to use his legs. And Caleb kind of the same thing. He does have some wide receivers, but he's often put in those situations where he has to run because no one's open. Fair.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

But like this is this is the thing is like, why are teams relying on Hero Ball instead of drafting or trading for players so that their quarterback doesn't have to? Like that's a good point. That's why Hero Ball has to be on the outs. Because I'm just like, someone get it together. This is not a good strategy. It's not a good strategy.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Like your quarterback is in the mixer. Yeah, yeah. Well, like Jaden Daniels, too. Like he got hurt because he's running everything. Yeah. He has to play Hero Ball.

unknown 37:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

But that's how you get like Josh was getting beat up last week. He was basically in a wheelchair and go to bed. There's lots of memes about it, but he needed help. Yeah. These guys need some help, that's all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

So it's like it's up to the front office to figure it out. Like front office, like hero ball and winning in the in three seconds to go. Bad strategies. Put a woman in charge. She would never.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Carly. Carly. Okay. Next in is the girls' group chat.

SPEAKER_04 37:51

Jojo, I know you and I text like every single game, which is like one of my favorite things. But the girls' group chat like so much drama this weekend that the girls were just in it. Like even when I wasn't in it, girls were back and forth. So if you're not in the group chat yet, thegame of the podcast.com, you subscribe to it and then you also go to the chat. So the chat is like within the substack. It's free, but you do have to click join chat to like actually be in it. So join that. Out below the knee injuries, like ankles, Achilles, honestly, even knees.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Every week. Why is there so many? Why is there so many?

SPEAKER_04 38:30

It's my number one question of what is what is going on in the training rooms? I'm a personal trainer and I need to know. Seriously. Because I it's like bone's cracking a bone. I mean, I guess they were in Denver. How cold was that game?

SPEAKER_00 38:43

He was kneeling at the end. I know. I'm just like it was cold. They were I think it was like was it snowing at Oklahoma?

SPEAKER_04 38:51

I don't know. Like that's interesting. It could have been like a stress fracture or something like that that ended up just going and like giving.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

Maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:58

At the end, kind of like the 49ers team. All of them.

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Sorry. I love you for I actually love the 49ers and I loved their season. It was really sad to watch. Um, also why I blocked it from my memory. But below the knee injuries.

SPEAKER_04 39:15

Okay, speaking of bonex, bonex is my next out. Bye. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Is it because he's injured or just because he's actioned?

SPEAKER_04 39:25

We feel but it's like it's like bone's comma. We feel sad about it.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

Do you think he played well?

SPEAKER_04 39:30

I think he played like a fine. Yeah, like I think he played a fine. I think that's what they do though.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

I don't think that the Broncos are anything insane, but I think that if you can do something and stay consistent week after week after week, it's the most underrated thing in the NFL right now.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

Like you don't have to have the biggest plays or the hottest or fastest quarterback. You just need to complete plays and be able to like make it on third down. You need to get down the field. Like that's the job. Right. Yep. Right. Bonex did the job, and I like a guy who says what job he's gonna do and he does it.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Didn't he have to do anything fancy? He he did it.

SPEAKER_04 40:08

Bonex is the kind of guy when he says he'll text you, he's gonna text you. Oh, we love those. Unfortunately, now from the couch.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

Okay. Next in is Cardi B.

unknown 40:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

I mean, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

I didn't realize I love I love Cardi B.

SPEAKER_02 40:27

These are so passboard, and you're it's it's so it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

It's fine. You okay?

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Let's let's go through this one fast then. Out McDermott and firing head coaches and promoting GMs simultaneously.

SPEAKER_04 40:40

What is that? Everyone thinks it's fishy. All of like all of those Twitter, Instagram is like freaking out. They're like, what is going on here?

SPEAKER_00 40:49

Isn't Bean the one that drafted these okay players? Like who have I've seen they've uh he's drafted the last I don't know five nine years or something. We have two out of two of those draftees have been in the Pro Bowl. Out of how many? That's yikes.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

It's it's really bad. And I also feel like the losses of the Bills. So the Bills have lost they're eight and eight in postseason over the last however many years. I can't imagine how Josh Allen feels right now because Josh Allen has not been the reason that they lost every playoff game.

Ins And Outs: Trends And Injuries

SPEAKER_04 41:30

I do think that Josh Allen was the reason that they lost yesterday, like a big majority of it. I don't think he was set up for success, but I think that he was a huge part of the problem. Like you can't turn it over that much. And but I have to imagine that he's feeling pretty rough because they've been in it together.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

Can you imagine? Like thinking you got your coach fired. That's so much pressure. Like you not only lost in a playoff game by not going to Super World, but your coach lost his job. I feel so bad.

SPEAKER_04 42:03

I feel so bad. And now who's gonna go coach who's going to the Bills?

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Uh Dable. They want Dable back. So Brian Dable coached 2018 till like 2021 before he went and was head coach of the Giants. And he developed Josh Allen. So he started that whole era. So he seems like the front runner. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 42:32

I don't know how I feel. It does not feel like the right move to me.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Dable and McDermott seem like very different styles. Just like from what I've seen, the Giants. Wolf. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

I don't know, man.

unknown 42:55

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

Okay, what about Did you see anybody else being the head coach?

SPEAKER_04 43:02

Honestly. I think Harbaugh could have done a good job, but now he's the Giants. He's like going to try and save a franchise. Yeah. Who do I love? Who do I love? Who do I love? Okay. What about Tomlin? No, that's who I was thinking. I was just brainwriting on his name.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:22

I left Tomlin. I think he's one of the only people that could go in and be respected enough. You can't put Mike McDaniel in Buffalo. You can't absolutely not. Like these other people, like I like Mike Tomlin's really the only person that I'm like, that makes sense and I would support it. Everybody else, I'm like, like you wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

You would be the only one you could be like, you know, comparable.

SPEAKER_04 43:51

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, like at like an additional.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

At or above, yeah. It could be a step up.

SPEAKER_04 43:57

I don't know. And now where's McDermott gonna go? Actually, that's the Ravens. That's I could see that happening.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

That's really good for him.

SPEAKER_04 44:07

Yeah, that would be real. That would be if okay, if those two things happen, if McDermott goes to the Ravens and Tomlin goes to the Bills, I feel like all would be right in the world. That's fair. That's interesting. But I also think McDermott could end up, this might be questionable, but at the Browns. Ooh, I kind of like that too. Because the Browns are a little unstable and they've been unstable.

SPEAKER_00 44:30

And I feel like McDermott is like oh my god, he would he would put in some real regiments. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 44:38

And like seems like he would impact like systems all around him. Absolutely. Not just the team or the guys that he's immediately chatting with. So that'd be interesting.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Interesting. I like that.

SPEAKER_04 44:51

Yeah. Wow. So crazy. Okay. Let's do our final ins and outs. I have snow games and the Seahawks on my ins and single points of failure on my outs, which we already kind of talked about.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

Snow games. It's so dramatic. It's the best. This is the most dramatic season of The Bachelor ever.

SPEAKER_04 45:11

Like so I just love it. It's like a dramatic season, and I love that it's a dramatic end. Yeah. And then the Seahawks. I think the Seahawks are going all the way. I the Seahawks are my predictor for who's gonna win the Super Bowl. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Last things. Let's just run through the list since we were talking about head coaches of who's in, who's out, who's signed. John Harbaugh signed with the New York Giants. Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stevansky. That is so crazy to me. Wow. Stevansky was previously, yeah, at the Browns. Yikes. That just feels like mess to mess, but like attracts like, I guess. The Dolphins are reportedly in agreement with Jeff Hafley, the Packers defensive coordinator and former Boston College head coach. So it's not completely finalized yet. I don't feel like we ever hear I mean, like, I'm not deep into niche Packers anything. Yeah. I don't feel like we're hearing about him a lot. So maybe they know something that we don't. I think the Dolphins were kind of went out, ended the season like on a good note overall. I mean, obviously our coach got fired, but I feel like the team didn't seem, I feel like they have some good ingredients in there. Jeff Happy just seems random, but yeah, what do we know?

SPEAKER_00 46:25

I I think so too.

unknown 46:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

But like what also with Tyreek out, he's not gonna be back. And what are they doing to uh who knows?

SPEAKER_04 46:34

Who knows? There's so many questions down there. There's so many questions, but that might be why they pick someone kind of inconspicuous, because there's no reputation that he has to uphold, there's no previous standard, there's no line of activity that he has that would he can go in and do whatever he wants because the expectations just don't really exist. There's because what nothing yeah, like we have nothing to go off of. So honestly, could be a genius move. Yeah, you know, like a smart guy, like Ben Johnson is so smart, was the Lions offensive coordinator.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

And look at him now, like he could be a core.

SPEAKER_04 47:17

I mean, and he just had Micah Parsons, like Yeah, the Packers had an excellent, it's be it's because the Packers had such a good defensive run at the beginning of the year. And the Dolphins said, you know what, we need that, and we need somebody who can command a group of really talented and probably big personalities, not in a bad way, but personality in a locker room. And we need somebody who, if we have a big personality like a Micah Parsons, come in, not saying any, like I don't mean this negatively at all, but somebody that prominent come in who can handle them. That's probably why, because the Dolphins are in a large change, even I don't want to say rebuild, but like almost rebuild at this point. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

Well, like, and did the players even respect McDaniels anything yet? Honestly, I don't know. I gotta we gotta talk to them.

SPEAKER_04 48:10

We gotta I gotta get an insider.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

You gotta get it in.

SPEAKER_04 48:13

Gotta get an insider who's not afraid to talk.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Right.

SPEAKER_04 48:17

Girls, are you here? Are you listening? Um okay, so then on we have seven vacancies, which 10 total changes this cycle. That's just under 30% of the league. It just decided to throw their hands up. That's insane. That's if you were in a startup, you would quit. You would say, What is going on up there? I'm out.

unknown 48:38

Right.

SPEAKER_04 48:39

No, thank you. Okay, so the Ravens, Steelers, Titans, Cardinals, Browns, Raiders, Bills.

SPEAKER_01 48:47

Bills.

SPEAKER_04 48:47

All up for grabs. It's gonna be a hell of a next year. Like hell of a next year. What will it look like? I know. I'm so glad we started the show this year because now we've been chatting and this year was crazy. And I feel like going into next year. And even into the off season, like we have so much to talk about this offseason.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

So much, so much. There's gonna be a lot shakeups. So shake-ups. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

Well, Jojo, thanks so much for doing this with me. Thanks so much.

Bills Coaching Shake-Up

SPEAKER_02 49:20

It's so good to have you.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

I feel like we're always crack cracking up, talking ball. It's so great. I'm sure the girls will want you back, so wait for that call. Thanks for attending your sauna sesh to come on. Much appreciated. My last two interviews, the girls got blowouts before, and then you've been in the sauna. So it's just girly pop, girly pop nation.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

Self-care. Self-care. It's very important.

SPEAKER_04 49:49

Yeah, thanks for coming, girls. If you're not following us on Instagram yet, follow us at the game the podcast, thegame the podcast.com for our newsletter and our chat. I'm at Hey Victoria Henderson. And we love you and thanks for chatting. Love you bye. Love you bye, go bells.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

You a baby, baby. You gotta spell in a three.