28. Backup QBs, Broken Rules & Slim Playoff Chances

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. Happy holidays. It is Christmas week. It is the 23rd of December when you're listening. And unlike other podcasts, we don't take a break on the holidays because neither does the NFL. What are you up to for the holidays? it's kind of funny that we're you know an nfl-based podcast because i'm quite literally just going to be watching football all day although christmas day matchups aren't the most exciting but uh we'll see yeah because we have the lions vikings it's kind of bleak i it was like the battle of uh the backup quarterbacks i fear um i know the cowboys play which will be obviously fun to watch being in Dallas, but yeah, Christmas day, just going to be watching some possibly trash football games.

1:27Like, so the lions Vikings game does matter because the lions have a 16 % chance of going to the playoffs, but only if the lions went out and the Packers lose out. So that one is interesting because I'm a lions fan. So I want to see the lions win and I don't trust the Packers right now. I feel like in the middle of the season, I was like, I trust the Packers a lot, and now I don't trust the Packers. You're playing Max Brosmer again, because J.J. McCarthy just went down. So that should be an easy down for the Lions. J.J. McCarthy, we should do a full in-depth study on the J.J. McCarthy situation.

2:00And the number nine. Yeah, like, what is happening? I'm confused. Like, Mom, I want to go home. I fear I might have to add that to our in-denance. sister we should yeah then you have cowboys commanders which doesn't matter because out and then broncos chiefs and the chiefs are out but this i think the best game of the day is going to be the broncos chiefs they have their backup backup i need to actually figure out i think it's because this season like anything can happen it's the ellie golding song

2:44okay actually one of my biggest icks is when girls sing on podcasts and we just did that and here i am i'm sorry how's that changed your mentality or are you still is it so big okay i know okay i do have to say i get it now

3:07i get it no i still hate it and if i listen to this back i'm gonna cringe but it is like the ellie golding song anything can happen and i'm just calling that that game is going to be a better game than we think it is similar to like the raiders texans like we expected nothing and then it ended up like if you were a brand new football game with no stakes in the game you would have said that was a great game. So I just think the Broncos chiefs is going to be the most interesting game of the day. If the lions don't win, honestly, I feel like I'm shutting off my emotions that day. Like I don't have it on off switch like men do with their emotions, but I'm going to learn just for that game to like emotions off.

3:48I will be in Hawaii with my family. I will get a Mai Tai or something. I will lay on the beach and I will pretend like I have no emotional stake in the game, even though I 100 % have emotional stake in the game. Chris Olaudumkun is who's going to be playing in that Chiefs game. I figure he's going to get lit up. He was drafted to the Steelers in 2022, seventh round, hit the waivers. Yikes. I don't know. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be interesting. Yeah. So it'll be great. Can't wait. Happy holidays, everyone. If you celebrate, if you're looking for a late gift, I have a gift guide for NFL girls, but I also have on my shop, my best gifts for aesthetic girls for every single team.

4:42So if you need a gift any time of the year, that's just lives there. Also, we will be on social over the holidays. So make sure you're following us at Tell us your opinions. So we're going to do ins and outs, and then we're going to do like a things we saw on social media recap, because obviously there's so much good stuff on social media. And we hope that we make it into your social media, some of your most shared or best things that you saw all week at some point. But make sure you're following us over at The Game of the Podcast, at Giovanna Scroggins and at HeyVictoriaHenderson. Okay, let's get into it.

5:18We're going to go one in, one out for the week. my starting in is the saints and hear me out. I'm on my high horse right now because I have predicted that the Panthers are better than everyone thinks they are. And now they have proven it. They have a winning record for the season. None of you guys gave them. Nobody even talked about them. Nobody cared, but I've been with them the entire time. Also, I might have a soft spot for them because the Panthers were my first NFL game ever. It was Panthers at Eagles and the Panthers got squashed. Yeah, it was 2018, I think. And the Panthers got squashed, but I went and it was super fun.

6:01So maybe that's why I have a soft spot for them. But I said that the Panthers were better than everyone said, and I'm saying it again about the Saints. The Saints will have a winning record next season. I feel so confident in it. And also the Saints are in because Tyler Shook is the winningest rookie quarterback in the league, which we talked about on our stats episode last week, but he is the winningest rookie quarterback in the league and all time for the Saints. Now he has five wins in his rookie season. So I'm just proud of him. I like it. And I think that they're better than everyone says they are.

6:35And if you really look at their lineup, like the Saints low key have like a pretty good offense. Yeah. Chris Olave is a dog. Yeah. Chris Olave is a dog. Yeah. Juwan Johnson. And I'm pretty sure Alvin Kamara has been hurt for a long season, which is a top load for their offense, too. So it'll be interesting to see what they... Oh, Taysom Hill. Can't forget him. He's a tall... Yeah. Cannot forget him. So I think that the Saints are going to have a winning season. They won over the weekend, granted, against the Jets, but 29-6 against the Jets and They're playing some good ball. So go off. And honestly, you just can't count anyone out because any given Sunday and the Saints are on their on-ramp.

7:29Okay, on to our first out. This one. My out this week is win percentages specifically after the third quarter. Because the fourth quarter, so much happens. Like the fourth quarter is six hours long. every game. The amount of games this season that have gone into overtime is insane. And I feel like the percentage win percentage is based off of entire games, not off of the amount of play and the amount of comebacks that have come back that have happened in the fourth quarter of the game. And so like the Falcons Cardinals game had like the Falcons winning, it was a 14 % win percentage at 14 minutes, 46 seconds to go.

8:10And I was like, that's just not true. Like we saw the Cowboys win score 24 points in the last quarter to beat the Eagles, that win percentage was probably like 1%. So I'm just over the win percentages. I just feel like they're inaccurate. I need somebody who codes and knows math and numbers to jimmy something up about fourth quarter stats alone, not full game win percentages, because it's just not, it's not accurate. Like it's accurate. Okay. But that's like if you're annoying and so into semantics and stuff like that, like it's not actually accurate based on what actually happens in the fourth quarter of the NFL.

8:49So I just don't want to talk about those anymore. They're on the out and they'll probably be on the route out for the rest of the season and next season based on how this season went. And that's what I have to say about that. And that's a period. Yeah. No, I, yeah. I mean, we've seen it with the bills and them overcoming incredible deficits to come back and win games late in the third, early in the fourth. So yeah, I would agree with that. One of the percentages at any given Sunday, man, you can't, you can't discount anybody right now. Really can't. Do you want to do our next in and out? Yes. I can.

9:22Okay. Next on the ends list, are we going to talk about the Panthers? We have not talked about the Panthers. So Victoria has the Panthers on her ends list. And I'll, I'll, I'll pause to give my opinions on the Panthers. I think when you look at the Panthers' overall season, 100 % sure they're on the end list. But I fear the Jacksonville Jaguars are a team that we, okay, maybe, let me speak for myself, that I did not see coming this year. And Chador Lawrence and the Jacksonville team have been very, very dominant and have a serious, serious reason to go to the playoffs. So I'm putting the Jags over both the Panthers and the Saints, and I'm putting them on my end list.

10:05on the out to Texans almost losing to the Raiders. That was a scary game. Talk about winning percentages. I mean, what that final score is, 20 to 23 Texans. I mean, nobody could have saw that coming. The Raiders arguably played one of their better games in the whole season against the best defense in the league. So shout out to the Raiders, kind of getting things together. Ashton Jinty was 21-23, that was the final score. Ashley Chippey was really good in that game. Gina Smith was decent in that game. But Raiders just need a new quarterback. And for the Texans, defense is amazing. But I still think there's questions around their offense and how they move the ball around.

10:50Giovanna, someone's going to win the Super Bowl, and you're going to be like, I still have questions about their offense. Hey, I look at both sides. I look at all sides of everything. I like, you know, it's one of those things. You can't kind of look at everything. But yeah, no. I agree. I just feel like our theme of the season has been like you loving defenses and being like, I don't know about their offense. They don't really have anyone. They like win nine things in a row and you're like, I don't know. It's the same thing with the Broncos. I mean, we saw Jacksonville go up there and demolish them.

11:26Okay, demolish is a strong word. But the Broncos defense is really good. I mean, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, I guess they weren't really good because they allowed 34 points, but I don't know. Maybe you should just have your, like, your persona slogan being defense is the best offense. Sometimes it is. You can get interceptions and pick sixes. I love a pick six. I fear that special teams is like my, that's my jam. O-line, the O-line and special teams. Those are the people I love the most. Yeah. I mean, because, I mean, special teams is special. But, like, special teams deserves every bit of credit they get.

12:09Yeah, they do. Because they're always in there doing crazy things. They're in there, like, they have to be so on. And they're playing, like, less than the regular people. So they're, like, colder. They got to go in. They got to make things happen. Always in, like, the most intense situations. Yeah. Like if you had to date any group of players, like you should date special teams. They're the ones making it happen when it needs to happen, you know? They are. And if they don't make it happen, they're going down swinging and we can appreciate that. Okay. I do want to go back to the Panthers just a little bit because the, I mean, the Panthers now have a winning record and also like they, you had mentioned earlier.

12:56that they're not having any like super dominating wins, like offline, that they're not like dominating anyone. But I think that they're in like a win as a win category. And especially as a team who's on the come up, any win is good enough for them. But like Bryce Young, Rico Dowdle, Xavier Leggett, Chuba Hubbard, Hunter Renfro. They have Trevor Etienne. Like they have so many good, they have all of the ingredients. And I feel like they're like baking the cake. Like the cake is in the oven and yeah, I, I, they're on my ends list because they also beat the bucks. They're going to face off with the bucks again in week 18.

13:32So that's going to be really interesting because like we said, the last time they played, it's a pride game. And I feel like anytime it's a pride game, you don't know what's going to happen. Like any actual stats and any actual projections, like don't count in pride games because everything is different. Okay, moving on. This one feels sad reading it back now, but I put it on the list during the game. But Dan Campbell, head coach of the Lions, called his 100th fourth down conversion to, it was a fourth and two with 845 left in the fourth quarter. Lions versus Steelers.

14:20Steelers down conversion call. Jared Goff throws to a receiver, Khalif Raymond, and leads to a touchdown. So Dan Campbell's 100th fourth down call goes to a touchdown, and I just loved it. I loved every second of that play. It was so fun to watch. I feel sad now because on my outs list is niche rules that come into play in the last two minutes. I know we can't stop this, but like, come on. And like, I was up in the chat. You guys know I'm emotional about this. Also, I was on a plane and I was on my phone on the plane. So there was no distractions. Like, it was me and my phone on American Airlines, which American Airlines also so rude.

15:08Internet, at$18. Yeah, that's insane. I'm on a two hour flight. I'm not paying you$20. Apparently though, hack total tangent, but they have like a watch to this video and you get 20 minutes free Wi-Fi. Apparently you can do that a bunch of times. I didn't know that until I landed and got texting back. My friend texted me that because I got my 20 free minutes and I was like, I guess it's over. And yeah, so apparently you can do that over and over and over, but I just locked into the game. and then the end of the Lions game comes, which I honestly don't even know if I can explain this, right? Like this is just one that I'm like blocking out, but there's no replay assistance because the play was stopped when Amon Ross St.

15:51Brown stopped forward progress. So he came out of the end zone to catch a ball and then, or like was nearly in it and then gets pushed forward and then laterals it back. Jared Goff goes into the end zone. It is a touchdown, but then the touchdown was called back because technically Amon Ra had offensive pass interference. And because of the pass interference, they're not replaying the call and the Lions lose with zero seconds, even though technically it was a Jared Goff touchdown. Yeah. I mean, you explained it pretty well. Good job. But because the foul was by the offense, I don't know what I'm talking about.

16:28play no because that foul was called the opi on that final play the period it doesn't extend so because time expired during that final play and the penalty stood that instantly ends the game even though it was a touchdown you know it just it gets called nothing because there's no additional plays so it was a tough loss we'll break this down more in our stats episode because i have a couple things to say about it. But yeah, sorry to see for the Lions. But you had a whole entire football game. It's true. It's true. It's true, but if it stopped at the time of offensive pass interference, there was still time on the clock, which is why niche rules are on my outs list.

17:16Because like, it just feels like there's some things that are inconsistent because some man wanted to make it complicated. I mean, when you break it down, it would be a little unfair if there, I mean, even if there was time on the clock, the touchdown would have been called back because there was really offensive pass interference. So the touchdown wouldn't have even mattered. Right. But there still would have been time on the clock. Yeah. So that's my problem. And then they're like, they're like no replays. And I'm like, where's New York when you freaking need them? Well, there was a time on the clock because the time literally expired during the play.

17:52But after the offensive pass interference? no well there was two different offensive pass interference calls but time expired that final play they let time expired as the play was was happening but doesn't doesn't it stop when the pass interference when the flags thrown no i mean like and if you have like as the play is going on time was expiring so even if they're not going to stop the play as right when you see the pass interference i mean they kind of did but like even when they stopped the play the time was already expired on the clock but it was it was 16 it was 16 seconds on the clock anyway we will get into this in our stats episode i meant all of the details which this exact reason is why niche calls in the last two minutes that can't be reviewed that that also lit me up can't be reviewed you guys review everything you review everything you have it blows me away and then the calls that are like reviewed for like 97 minutes, which last week there was a clearly two knees down before the end zone against the lion that got called a touchdown.

19:01And you reviewed that for literally 97 minutes of my life. I wasted on that review for you to rule it a touchdown. Ew. But then you can't review this one. I don't, I'm just saying it's inconsistent. I don't like it. There was six seconds left in that play. Jared Goff, when he crossed the, the, the, When he got in the end zone, there was zero seconds left. So yeah, time expired. But that call was the right call. The one before that was the wrong call. Yeah. Yeah. One before that was bad. Anyways, listen to the stats episode because we still got a lot to say. We're going to break it down. It's intense.

19:37Yeah. So that's what I have to say about that. Niche Rules in the final two minutes, out forever. Literally will always be out. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Okay. Moving on. we have Jags player huddle you want to take this one yeah so this Jags player and I forgive me I forgot his name but he heard him on the sideline over running back to the Broncos RJ Harvey and looking at this like you're thinking oh well that's a pretty athletic guy it might okay so RJ Harvey is running out of bounds in that Broncos Jaguars game he's running out of bounds and as was you know coming in the sideline everyone's trying to get out the way and so this man decides to just jump up over j harvey and you know hurl over him but what made this so interesting is this same guy was the exact guy that saquon barkley backwards hurled over in last year's that game with the eagles and jaguars and obviously that that saquon hurdle has gone down as like you You know, it's the Madam cover.

20:40It's like this huge thing that Saquon achieved. So everyone was laughing at it because, you know, Saquon hurled on him. And then he probably walked away with a couple of chips in his bag. And then he hurdles over RJ Harder on the sidelines. Wasn't in the actual game. Wasn't on the field. But, you know, it still happened. He also, in that game, went on and got an interception on Bo Nix. So that was really special for him. He was having a game. He was having a game. Okay, it's cornerback Jerrion Jones. I knew it was like a genius. Number 22, played at Florida State, drafted by the Jags in 2024. Yeah, and then got an interception.

21:19Way to go. Way to go. So that's all my ins, on my outs. That's such an in. Honestly, we should make a social, we should make like a social post of like avoiding my family's questions about why I'm single. And then it's like that clip. it's like it's honestly even funnier because he literally was on the sidelines waiting for that yeah okay also also i love it when people on the sidelines get involved like it's so sad but like if a chain gang guy like gets involved some way like it's always just so funny to me like a player is like avoiding the chain gang or like the chain gang guy gets knocked over and the player like picks him up it's always like some older guy if a coach gets barreled into i'm just dead it's so funny um arden harvey's also only five foot eight so it wasn't like a short king a short king he is really good but a rookie for the bronco it's gonna be really good but yeah he doesn't run over much so that was on my ends on my outs as victoria mentioned i do have the panthers on my outs Yes, they're winning games.

22:26But my only thing is when you get into December and you get into these playoff implications with the Panthers that have a winning season and have done the unthinkable when it comes to their team is I want them to win dominantly, especially when you're going up against these really good teams in the postseason. Unfortunately, that win over the Bucs, it was a narrow victory. And this Bucs team has been mediocre at best. Bryce Young had amazing flashes in that game. And, you know, you can't cut out T.T. McMillan on that team, too. You got to touch on that game, too. But Baker Mayfield, you know, speaking on the outs, too, the Panthers and Baker Mayfield, in my opinion, but Baker Mayfield threw a very, very, very costly pick on the last drive, which, yes, the Panthers were winning.

23:17But Baker Mayfield actually played like he knows how to play. Who knows what would have been the result of that game if he didn't do that pick on that. What felt like a game-winning drive for this Bucs defense. So I don't know. That's why I have them on my outs. They've done amazing overall this season. But if they want to make it into the playoffs, and if they want to go up against these teams, the Texans, the Broncos, all these teams that we're talking about, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Patriots, I just don't know. I mean, okay. I think this is the only take that you have today where I'm like, I don't think we're on the same boat on this one because the only teams that had blowouts were bad teams against bad teams.

24:01And granted, they should have beat. Well, I think that the Panthers-Bucks was a perfect matchup to be even because they have even records. They've both been beat by the Saints. They both beat good teams. but I think that they are like, they are a true matchup for each other, like division rivalry and just in, in gameplay this season is I think that they're actually a really great matchup. I think it's a similarly great matchup to the Ram Seahawks. Like both teams are playing on the same playing field. Like neither of them has like a massive one-up. Like I think the, we also have on the, we had on the outs list, like the Texans barely beating the Raiders and like that game, That should have been a blowout for the Texans, but wasn't.

24:49But I think that the good teams this year are going to have good games every single time because all of the good teams at this point are actually really good and good at being a little scrappier and making it happen. And all of the bad teams are just bad. But the only blocks we really saw this weekend, Eagles were 11 over the Commanders. Chargers were 17 over the Cowboys. Kind of makes sense. Chargers are going to the playoffs. Likely Cowboys are out Vikings giants, decent matchup Bengals dolphins. But like who even cares? Saints beat the jets a lot. I mean, no offense, but like who even cares, but I just don't think it's the season of blowouts.

25:29I think it's the season of close games, but I can understand why you're like, you need to be done. Like if you're the Panthers and you want to make you, if you're, if you're the Panthers and you want to make it, you want to run, not just to go to the playoffs, but you want to run in the playoffs. you do need to find some dominance so yeah and when i say dominance i don't necessarily associate that with like a complete blowout because i don't think i don't i've never thought this game was going to be a blowout but the way baker mayfield is playing yeah i 100 i was expecting the panthers to win this game but it's interesting saints beat the panthers twice not once but twice this season panthers had a really bad loss against the bills they did win against the packers which is interesting but then they also lost and it's 49ers so all i'm saying what the Panthers team is if they're going, if this is the year that you're going to have to try to make a push, the wins need to be dominant wins next season, 100 % rooting for them.

26:20I think they're going to have a really right roster with some experience on their side, especially if they get into the post season. But the only reason why they're on my outs is because they have playoff implications and I want them to be dominant with these playoff implications. Yeah. Makes sense. Again, I can get with you. We also have a parentheses here on the outs, Baker Mayfield. Yeah. I mean, fall from grace. Like, it's bad. And, like, I don't like the slander that he's getting right now, but it's hard to watch him be, speaking of dominance, it's hard to watch him be so dominant early on in the season, especially with the connection with him and Emeka Ibuka, a rookie for the Bucs.

27:02and then now throwing a pick in the fourth quarter that cost them the game. Can we? Okay. I think that Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow are two of the biggest disappointments of the season because they both came in with their whole communities. Like the entire fan base of both teams were so ready for these insane seasons. And one of my ics in the NFL is when people are like, the first three games, they were three and oh. And it's like, well, that's just ridiculous to even talk about this season, especially, but both Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow, the expectation versus what happened, there's such a huge gap in between them.

27:55And it's, it's really sad for both of them because I really like both of them. And I feel sad. I hate Joe Burrow slander because Joe Burrow, I mean, it's not him. It's not Joe Burrow. He's one of the most sacked quarterbacks of like... All time. And yeah, and his O-line, like, and again, I love the O-line, but they do not. And that's why Joe Flacco, when he was playing for the Bengals, that's why he was getting sacked a bunch. so it's hard to look at that Bengals team and you know yes it's a huge disappointment but they have a lot of things to address in the offseason if they're gonna keep protecting Joe Burrow and that's why he got injured so yeah and I think that when I say like Joe Burrow and bigger Mayfield I mean like them as the face of their organization yeah because I think that everyone thought the Bengals as a whole were gonna be so much better than they actually are and everyone thought that They have the roster.

28:54Like, they have everything that they need. But they... I don't know what happened. So, yeah, I just think that they're like... I'm sorry, guys. It's nothing personal, really. And it's just that you're the face. So, but your team's... Like, I think that they're the biggest dissonance between... I mean, or the Chiefs. But... Something about a dramatic dynasty having a dramatic fall feels like normal to me. Like, it's like the pendulum effect. No, I'm not seeing it. Yeah, versus like with the Bucks. It balances out everything. That's why this season is chaos. Yeah, like with the Bucks and the Bengals, like they were kind of in the middle and we expected them to go high and then they just went low.

29:38But their pendulum is just a lot less swinging than like the Chiefs, which is currently on its fucking lost control. Okay. It's not even a tangent. I digress. we want to thank our fabulous sponsors at kuso cuts i am so excited because i've been traveling for around eight weeks now and i'm so excited to get home and get my full stack of seasonings back because it just makes life so much easier if you haven't tried kuso's yet it is great for regular everyday cooking. You can toss some on some salmon or some chicken and throw it in the air fryer. You can toss some on the rim of your margarita, or you can take it and grill.