27. Hot Takes & Hotter Matchups: 4 Downs in Stats Town from Week 15 in the NFL

0:22I'm Victoria. I'm Giovanna. The game's on. Welcome back to another episode of your favorite football podcast by the girls for everyone, the game. We are on our four downs in stats town stats episode after week 15 in the NFL going into week 16. Playoff pictures are coming into some clarity. we're in the phase where everyone says teams can get a little help so they have to win out but they also need 19 teams to lose and someone to tie and all of that so we'll go into some of that craze throughout the next couple of weeks but we're going to be hanging out today talking some numbers so let's just get into it first down the stat king who's dominating right now do you want to Take it away.

1:17Yeah, this one's kind of an interesting one to highlight this week. Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars have been doing their dougie lately. Trevor Lawrence had their dougie. Doing their dougie. What? That was a big comparison. I know, I know, I know, I know. But Trevor Lawrence had not a good game for him. But the best game in NFL history. Nobody has ever thrown for 300 plus passing yards, had five passing touchdowns, had 50 plus rushing yards, and also had a rush touchdown, which in total, six total touchdowns. Again, that crazy stat line. So nobody in the NFL has ever done that. So Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars did absolutely amazing.

2:01And I think they've been kind of rising to the cream of the crop in the NFL right now. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the team that they were playing against when they had this incredible stat line was unfortunately the New York Jets, who, you know, have been really terrible. Obviously, they fired their defensive coordinator because their defense has ranked really at the bottom in the league this year. So I don't know. It's interesting because like, yes, it's an amazing stat line. But again, it would be remiss if you didn't mention the team that they were playing against. Okay, here's why I feel like there's not as much of an asterisk though as we're noting is the Jets still scored 20 points on them.

2:43So this was not the Jets' worst game or worst performance, offense or defense. Well, I guess defense-wise it is because they got scored on 48 points. But it's not like the Jets were absolutely trash. Like they weren't good, but they still scored 20 points, which a lot of other games didn't score that many points. And like if the Jags, Jags are 10 and four. So the Jags defense is doing something right. So the fact that the Jets scored 20 on the Jags, it was just a really high scoring game. So I feel like there is an asterisk, but it's like a gray asterisk, not like a black asterisk. I would agree with that.

3:19It's like it's there, but it's not fully transparent yet. So Trevor Lawrence, he's done some amazing things. He's actually saw something that when it comes to like total touchdowns in a game, him and Josh Allen are like the top two quarterbacks that have you know had a really good games with a lot of total touchdowns speaking of Josh Allen Josh Allen is 4-0 when his defense allows 31 points this season no this is so crazy it's literally insane and I'm sure everyone is very aware of especially if you listen to this podcast I talk about all the time but Josh Allen and his and the Bills team overall if you take Josh Allen out of the equation the Bills would probably be one of the, dare I say, worst teams in the league right now.

4:10But because you have Josh Allen, he's just been killing it. So when Buffalo allows 31-plus points, Allen has thrown for 1 ,351 yards and 17 total touchdowns. The Bills have allowed 185-plus yards rushing six times this season, but the Bills are still four and two in those games. So they're overcoming these deficits and dominant fashion. And it primarily is the reason because you have Josh Allen. And I saw something else that said, like this team is literally being held together by duct tape. And that duct tape is Josh Allen. I feel like I kind of hate the like storyline that Josh Allen, he's like the best from behind.

4:56Like, why can't you just be good all the time? Like, why are you only good in clutch situations? Which I think is also like my, why I don't like watching the Chiefs. It's like, if you can only win when it's like really hot, then like, what's going wrong? Why can't you make a play just to make a play? Like, why do you have to do something nice only when your girlfriend asks you to do something nice instead of just doing something nice? Yeah, it's like one of those things that's like, and Josh even said it himself in a press conference. He was like, I love the competitiveness And I love when, you know, my opponent is kind of like giving me a challenge because that's when I'm like rising to the occasion.

5:34I do think there's something to be said about like maybe starting off the game that way. However, though, you have to, you can't forget that there is a whole team around him and a lot of these things. I mean, even in their last game against the Patriots, like the Bills defense didn't start off the greatest, but then they kind of made adjustments and they finished the game and were able to kind of, keep Jake May at bay and I mean he had two rushing touchdowns in that beginning of the game and so obviously again the Bill Stephens had to make adjustments and they were able to you know fix some of their problems but you know it's one of those things where you you have to look at the whole team and that's why I hate this conversation because like yes it's an incredible feat that like and I'll be the first person to like lay down like Josh Allen yes you are so respected but it shouldn't have to be always Josh Allen.

6:26Yeah. Yeah. I agree. And also I've been saying all season, like a win's a win. So I can't really be like, well, you only win when you're behind. Like that's so annoying of me. I did see, this is not a stat line, but I did see a comment on somewhere on social media that was like, if this is what Josh Allen can do against the Patriots now, imagine once he has dad strength. And I was like, honestly, facts. And that's, I don't know, but I'm so excited for this year's playoffs because how special would it be for Josh Allen to have the MVP caliber season he had, find out that his wife, Haley Seinfeld, is expecting and then the one is Super Bowl.

7:08Well, and he got married this year. And he got, yeah, he did get married, yeah. So married, they got pregnant fast. But yeah, MVP, married, pregnant, and Super Bowl. I mean, even getting to the Super Bowl for the Bills would be insane. And then winning the Super Bowl and winning MVP. We're talking like Cinderella story on the Colts, but really like that's the Cinderella story if that happens. Yeah. Honestly, I don't think anybody on any team would be like mad if that happened. No, because like he's just a likable guy. Yeah. And he'd be well-deserving. Yeah. And I feel like this is the year for him to win the Super Bowl, especially when you look at other opponents, like his kryptonite, Patrick Mahomes, counterpart, you know, not making the playoffs.

7:57And Lamar Jackson might not be in there either. So it could be interesting. I don't want to see what's happening to the Lions this year happen to the Bills next year, where they were so high, so hot, killing it in the playoffs. Goff's like insane season, high expectations. And this year, they just haven't been able to keep up with last year's production. And I would rather see Josh Allen win the Super Bowl this year. And then whatever happens next year happens, but they still have the ring. Then have like a Lions situation where everything was going well. Jared Goff was playing like an MVP candidate and then like doesn't make it through.

8:40So I hope for Josh's sake that even if they don't go to the Super Bowl, they at least manage to stay where they are or maybe bring in draft some new players that could give Josh a little more help so that he's not putting his baby and his team on his back. Yeah, I feel really high on the bills to see if I win a Super Bowl. I'm a little biased because I do have Josh out on my fantasy and, you know, winning my fantasy league might give me a little money to go to the Super Bowl and see Josh Allen. So, okay. Continuing on with our first down, spotlighting players that are dominating the league right now.

9:15Puka Nakula, we talked about him multiple times already. He actually just surpassed Justin Jefferson in the category of averaging the most receiving yards per game in NFL history. He's averaging about 93.7 yards per game, receiving yards per game. Justin Jefferson is at 90.8. and then and third you have jamar chase 87.6 no surprises there um so when we look at these top three i mean somebody that i think should be on this list might be like jackson smith and jigba but he's not up there in terms of like the overall average which i think is attributed to because he's kind of on a new offense this season that's really pass heavy and so that's why he's just been getting a lot of love this season and not overall but it's interesting because is it the decline of Justin Jefferson that kind of pushed Puka Nakua to the top.

10:05And I say decline, not because of his ability as a player, but just because of the situation. Yeah. On the Vikings, but did Puka Nakua slide up there because of the environment that Justin Jefferson is in or did Puka Nakua slide up there because he's just been that dominant, which I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's a little bit of both. Is this stat line all time? So any game they've been active in, or is the stat line this season? Most, I'm pretty sure it's at all time because the fourth and fifth players are players that don't play in the NFL anymore. Okay. Yeah. So then it kind of makes sense that like, I mean, it's crazy that Justin Jefferson hasn't slid further down this list, actually, when we talk about it like that, because what do you got like four yards a couple of games ago?

10:53But like that's a bit, and obviously a four yard game is going to take you from, you know, yards per game. Like we're in the nineties. If you have a four yard game, that's going to drop you a ton. Yeah. Yeah. I think that like Justin Jefferson out of the equation, obviously the stat shows that Puka needs to be there, but he's so dominant. Like I think that even if Justin was playing, this would still be a battle at the top because Puka is one of the of the best wide receivers in the NFL, hands down. It doesn't matter that he's young. It doesn't matter that he's newer to getting this many yards.

11:30Like he is more dominant than most players in the league. And also he's on one of the most dominant teams in the NFL. So there's an argument there for sure. I agree with that. I think it's a little bit of both. And Puka has been really good this season. So I got to give credit to where credit is due for sure. We have a new leader in the pass category. That's crazy. I know. I was quite shocked when I saw this. I wouldn't say shocked, but surprised. Dak Prescott is now the new passing leader in the league with 3 ,931 passing yards total on the season. Rushing and receiving still Jonathan Taylor.

12:17He now has 1 ,443 receiving yards. Jackson Smith and Jigba at 1 ,541. But it was good to see Dak Prescott. And we're going to talk about MVP odds in our fourth down later in the episode. And you're going to be surprised because the list that I saw did not include Dak. And Victoria and I have talked about how, should he win the MVP? No, but he should at least be in the conversation. And I only put like the top five on the list to talk about, but the whole list was like, I think about 10 players and he was not even on that list. Well, I think after this week, he doesn't really deserve because like, yeah, you have, you know, you are the past leader, but if you can't pass into the end zone enough, you're going to lose.

13:07And if you don't make it to the playoffs, you don't get to be the MVP. Yeah. If you're not in the playoffs, if you don't win a playoff game, I don't want to see you as the MVP because, and that even goes for like Jonathan Taylor, who I want to be in that conversation more than anyone. I want him to win, even though the Colts are not likely going to win. But I would love to see Jonathan Taylor win, but I don't think that anybody who doesn't get into the playoffs deserves that title. And maybe that's harsh, but... No, I think that's very valid because you're the MVP. I mean, Josh Allen's the MVP candidate because he's winning games for his team and he's getting them in the playoffs despite all the woes that his team's having.

13:47Can I compare that to the Cowboys and Dak Prescott? No. I will say Dak has been playing phenomenal football, and I can't put everything on him because their defense, J.J. McCarthy looked like, made our defense look like we are a high school defense. I just, I can't even talk about it. But yeah, unfortunate for Dak. But cool to see that he's now the new passing leader in the NFL. Yeah. Also, I like it because I like it when we pay people. I say we as if it's my money. When we collectively as a team pay someone more money than anyone else, like you need to do a good job. Well, I actually had this conversation yesterday.

14:28I was like, this was like a really important year for Dak because there was a lot of people and you know how I always say this, a lot of people, me included, that were looking at him in terms of his capability to play because he was getting paid so much money. And like, yes, we know it's a Cowboys organization. Yes, we know it's Jerry Jones, but he did have a lot to prove this season. Obviously, I was looking for him to stay healthy all season, which he's done. You know, he actually had a baby recently, so maybe that's the doubt strength that he's showing off. But I'm really happy for him because I feel like he's kind of regained a little bit of confidence on how he can lead his team.

15:07And I'm hoping that we take notes and we replicate offensively next season. Yeah, I mean, I think that the Cowboys next season have something really good to stand on, even if they can't pull it together this season. And the Cowboys are one of those teams that they have less than a 1 % chance. But hey, it's still a chance. They're not like completely mathematically lost out. And I think that they I was listening to like whatever some show talk about it this morning and they're like, they need it's something like the Cowboys need to win out the Eagles need to lose out the Bears and the Packers. need to tie and the Bills have to, it's like something crazy like that where it's like, and, and, and, and, and, but you never know.

15:52They did come back from a 21 point deficit against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Eagles. So like anything is possible. Yeah. If this season has taught me one thing alone is that quite literally anything is possible. So we'll see. All right, moving on to second down, conference check-in, NFC versus AFC outlook. I fear I have more things to talk about. when it comes to the NFC, because I feel like the AFC, it isn't set. But there's a lot more drama, if you will, going on in the NFC. You already mentioned Trevor Lawrence, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are leading the AFC South at 10-4. The Texans are right behind them at 9-4, which is really interesting when you look at that division.

16:35NFC West is crazy, though. and we have a huge huge matchup Thursday night coming up I literally cannot wait and this is this is going to be if I don't want to put too much expectations on it because I fear when I'm like oh this is gonna be such a good game it like kind of disappoints so I'm just looking for a really good game the Seahawks as of lately I'm not not too sure about them we'll see but Thursday night football Rams and Seahawks. So the Rams and Seahawks are both 11 and three. And this is important because in that NFC race, you have the Rams, the Seahawks and the 49ers. Like I said, Rams and Seahawks are both 11 and three.

17:19The 49ers are 10 and four. When you look at their schedule for the Rams, they have the easiest schedule. It's funny because they all play bird teams. So the Rams will go play Seahawks this week and then they go into the Falcons and the Cardinals. The Seahawks have the Rams. then they play the Panthers and then the 49ers. The 49ers have the Colts, the Bears, and then the Seahawks. So when you look at this NFC West race, it could be very close. But again, this Ram-Seahawks matchup is going to be important in terms of like playoff implications, the seeding, and how that goes. Obviously too, just like what team is going to be the clear frontrunner coming out of this division, the Rams have three losses.

18:04They've been by a combined 13 points. Rams, also important to mention, one of their dominant receivers, Devontae Adams, who's been really, really good on the Rams this season, is considered week-to-week right now. He went down with a hamstring injury. So we'll see if they will be playing with or without him in the Seahawks matchup, which I think is going to possibly be a game-changer for their offense. But going back to the losses, Seahawks have three losses that have been by a combined nine points. So their point differential, when you look at these losses that they've been in, haven't been by much.

18:39But I think that's a really interesting note. And that, you know, is attributed to both of these teams' defenses. The Seahawks' defense is really good. And the Rams' defense is probably really good, too. So it's going to be an interesting matchup. It's just wild that, I mean, the combined points lost by is insane. the 13 points and nine points that like that's what you've lost by combined all season is absolutely insane. But what's more insane to me is that the Seahawks and the Rams are competing for a playoff spot in this as like the number one seed in the same way that the Bucks and the Panthers are.

19:22Yeah. Like Seahawks or Rams are going to go wildcard, which just feels psychotic to me when And the NFC South doesn't have a single team over 500. So, yeah, I'm curious. That's what's interesting. Because it's like, you don't have a single team in the NFC South over 500. But in the NFC West, these teams are like, they only have three losses. Yeah. And even in the NFC West, 49ers, four losses. They're 10 and four. Yeah. Which storylines that need to die, that the Jags are underdogs. literally no longer underdogs they're 10 and 4 that we're surprised that the texans are good the texans have had a good defense all year now that the texans are on and i feel like the texans are doing it the way that you should do it which is being on a ramp instead of being on an effing roller coaster nine good point good point yeah like i feel like i feel like the texans really are doing it if i had to i mean when you train for a marathon you go on a nice 45 degree angle trajectory and you just rock it up to the top yeah and and then you put the jets on at the end right like the turbo and i feel like the texans are doing that versus other teams are yeah on just giant roller coasters which is like the the cowboys are yeah giant roller coasters at effing Six Flags.

20:54Well, I mean, that makes sense because, you know, their stadiums are next to Six Flags. So I know they love the local church. It really is in Arlington. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, the Jags are no longer underdogs. The Texans are good, period. Which other ones did I want to die? Maybe those are my same two. Oh, no. Yeah. Talk about the Saints. I love the Saints. And my hot take about the Saints is I think the Saints are the same as the Panthers, if not better, because the projection for the, so the saints have like next to an entire new staff, they steamrolled their old program, brought in a completely new program, brought in new players, rookie quarterback.

21:34Everything is brand new. They were projected to have one win. If you go back and listen to our Allie Ridgeway episode, she's like, I think we're going to win one game this season. They've won four games. Their quarterback has more wins than any other rookie quarterback okay they're also bad right like they're not good yet but they're like bad in ranking so they're gonna get some higher draft spots and they beat both the bucks and the panthers who are vying right now for the top spot in the nfc south and granted yeah they're 500, but the state still beat them both. And the bucks were, I mean, you listen to any of the men talking at the beginning of the season and how good the bucks are, the books might go all the way, blah, blah, blah.

22:23Well, look at them now and guess who beat them? The saints. So I will die on this Hill. And I do believe that next year, the saints will have a winning record, whether they go to the playoffs or not. I don't know, but I think they'll have a winning record next year. the rookie quarterback thing is so interesting to me and to give you to throw out some big names when we like look at the rookie quarterbacks three quarterbacks that are like playing right now include Shadir Sanders, Dylan Gabriel, Cam Ward which was the number one overall pick and then Jackson Dart so I mean Jackson Dart and Shadir are probably the better quarterbacks when you compare these two but the fact that Tyler you know has been winning games and you know I can't compare it to Jackson and Shadr because they missed some games.

23:09They didn't waste a season. It's similar. It's not a clean stat line. It's not a clean stat line, but it's still impressive in itself. Yeah. It's just funny to kind of look at. But also, Shadr didn't get put in in the beginning. And maybe that's on him. Jackson Dart wasn't drafted to a team who wanted to put him in right away. So... I have gone down yesterday. I think I spent two hours of my life going down. You're going through concussion protocol, aren't you? Yes. I knew it. Well, okay. It was partly that, but I also, I knew it. It was also partly because I was looking at all the drama with the Browns and Stefanski and like, I don't know what to think anymore.

23:59I really don't know. I'm not going to dive into the rabbit hole, but interesting. it's it's interesting and well i just wonder what's gonna happen next season because the seasons are chalk that's what it's gonna be but i i want the i need the tea for next year yes maybe during the off season we need to do like a browns deep dive on like what in the world is happening we need to do a stadium tour we need to meet some people we need to talk to some wags behind the scenes not on record we need to like get the tea on what is happening in that building and like should we get should we get delegate real fiancé on the show yeah we should i mean honestly she needs to clear her name too like i don't think she's a bad girl i think she made a little mistake it was a miscalculation it was and like i can't blame her because like nobody knows what you're going to do in that situation but it's like one of those things that's there was a comment and it was a little harsh but it was like this is why you need to be media trained because you like never know.

24:59It was just a miscalculation on her part. And I think she was just trying to clear her man's name. I'm on her team and I want her to win. And I think that sometimes you do stupid stuff by accident. You write a little caption and you think it's cheeky and then people don't take it cheeky, you know? People do not take a cheeky out. It just be like that sometimes. So I think I do need to talk to her though, because especially now that she's, people are like saying that she's outspoken all the time when all she does is get ready with me. So like she's not, but I'm like, oh, if you'll say that on the internet at all, then what can we chat about with a notebook and a pen over a cocktail or two?

25:39No, I feel like too. She's probably so scarred now to like say anything. Well, this is why we'll do it off record. No one will know. We can meet up in black hoodies and ball caps. Okay. Okay. Moving on. Storylines that also need to die. I don't care about the Chiefs anymore. I don't want to talk about them. I don't care. I also don't care about talking about the Eagles anymore. The Eagles are no longer the Eagles that they were last season. I'm over the men in the sports broadcasting world, talking about the teams as they were the teams that we anticipated at the beginning of the season. I'm over people saying they started the season at one in three.

26:15No one cares because everything is crazy this season. So the chiefs don't matter anymore. The Eagles borderline don't matter anymore. The Cowboys are kind of, I'm sorry, besides Dak, like on their chopped? The two teams I don't want to hear about anymore are the Chiefs and the Eagles. And it's like... And it's not because they're dynasty teams. It's because they didn't play well this season. So why are we still talking about them? Why are we glorifying them when there's teams like the Patriots, when there's teams like the Panthers, when there's teams... The list goes on that we can be talking about and really diving into and analyzing how great and dominant they're playing.

26:53like we don't need to hear like it's it's what we're recording this on wednesday the chiefs are eliminated congratulations like that happened 30 days ago like let's move on i was gonna say like why aren't we talking about trevor lawrence more though yeah i mean that's great right now it's like a niche i'm not a niche thing i feel like people that watch sports will know like things that he's done but i'm glad you mentioned that because i do want to touch on the afc since we kind of deep dove into the nc a little bit there is kind of this battle for the one seed in the AFC itself. Teams that have clinched playoff do include the Rams and the Broncos, but the number one seed is still a battle.

27:33And, you know, Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Chargers, Bills, and Texans are all viable options. So it's going to be really interesting and I'm excited. Even though there's more chaos in the NFC, the AFC, there's still, you know, a little bit more things to play for and battle out. So it'll be interesting. yeah it'll be it's gonna be really interesting to see what happens tomorrow that's going to tell us a lot or tonight when you're listening to this if you're listening on thursday pretty wild though that only two teams have officially clinched their playoff spots that feels kind of crazy to me that there's that much room for movement around the playoffs yeah we want to thank our sponsor at kuso cuts you guys hear about them every single week and And we know that even if your team doesn't make the playoffs, you're going to be grilling.

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29:02So if you want 10 % off your order, use code the game at checkout at kusocuts.com or kusocuts.com slash the game. I know they do have some really great promotions going on now as well that are better than our 10 % off. So make sure that you check those out before you buy. Always link in the show notes. There's also a link in the show notes if you want to text us. So we'd love to hear from you. Again, kusocuts.com slash the game. So let's go into our third down. What's interesting this week, stats meets storylines. We talked a little bit about some ACL injuries. And now we know that there are 30 ACLs that have been torn so far this season, which is less than previous seasons.

29:44I saw some numbers that there's around an average of like 60 per season, which again, preventative medicine. Can we get a doctor on? What do we need to do so that ACLs aren't just ripping apart? Like freaking, I don't even know, like string cheese, my Lord.