41. Super Bowl LX Recap with JoJo Cash

0:22I'm Victoria, the game's on. Welcome back to another episode of your favorite football podcast by the girls for everyone. The game. We have made it through our first entire season of the game of living in a fantasy, our all-female fantasy football league, and an entire NFL season. If you've been here from the jump, thank you so much for being here. This has honestly been such a pleasure to meet so many people from the community to interview incredible women, to amplify feminine voices in the NFL world, and to create a show that both men and women can listen to where we're just yapping ball in most weeks of the NFL.

1:02So if you've been here from the jump, thank you. If you're new here, hey, welcome to the table. I'm honestly so happy to have you. And we will be continuing through the summer just with more interview format than yapping and recapping games until the season starts back up. But as we are growing, sometimes we change things up. So make sure that you have your notifications on so that you'd never miss an episode from us here at The Game. If you're not following us yet on socials at The Game, the podcast on TikTok and Instagram, our newsletter is on Substack, thegamethepodcast.substack.com. And our all girls group chat is also on that Substack as well.

1:41So make sure that you check those out. Today, we are recapping the Super Bowl. I'm chatting with friend of show Jojo Cash. She is a coder currently working in sports, but on the coding side. And she has become a friend of show. She created our Living in a Fantasy leaderboard this season. So if you saw that, that was all her and we just became great friends through that. So we are chatting about the Super Bowl, things we loved, didn't love, and of course, an ins and outs list to close it out. So without further ado, let's get into it with the game's friend of show and favorite coder, Jojo Cash.

2:19Jojo, welcome back to the game. Hey girl. Hey girl. I figured for this episode, because this is your second appearance, on a recap, we should tell the people how we met, which when I started the fantasy football league, you reached out and you were like, hey, I'm a coder. And I was like, that's so cool. We like hopped on the phone. The second I heard your voice, I was like, oh, we're friends. And I was thinking about it the other day and I was like, I just decided in my mind that you and me were friends. And then I came to Buffalo and I was like, do you want to go the game and then we spent like 10 hours together sure did we were drinking jello shots and meeting people and i went up to your hotel room like right off the bat just to just come help you break stuff down and i was like am i gonna get murdered i don't know we were both like are we safe like we were both like is this a horrible idea and then we met we were like oh no it's fine And now you're on the show.

3:30Yep. So welcome back. Let's recap the most boring game of the season, a.k.a. Super Bowl 60. And only when we say most boring, we only mean actual gameplay. Yeah, it was a snooze fest. Like, what was that? Five field goals? No, the field goal thing.

4:01I mean like listen they the Seahawks won and they won because field goals but like field goals are like kind of an ick you can do you can make it you can get in there I know you can that's all there was for three quarters for three quarters three quarters of field goals from one team it was very hard to stay locked in on the actual game yeah I was at a bar with like some good friends that I hadn't seen in a while and like very much like doing the whole Super Bowl Day experience. We had pictures. We were hanging out like really good friends. And it was very hard to be like, I need to lock in and like take notes on this game because I'm going to talk about it tomorrow.

4:40And so all of the stats that I have are not because I was so locked in on the game. It's because I like looked them up after and just like enjoyed the time with my friends and like kind of watched the game in real time. Yeah. Yeah. However, somehow, Drake May did end up with around, I believe, 294 total yards, which is wild because he did nothing in the first three quarters. Nothing. At all. And so I was shocked when I saw his actual numbers, you know, two touchdowns, 294 yards, also seven fumbles. oh my gosh that one I was shocked I was like I did not remember it wow that way and six sacks against six pats you called it I called it you texted me and you were like I think he's gonna be sacked a lot and I didn't know how to bet on it so I was trying to find total sacks and I it in time and I wish I did I wish I followed your advice yeah yeah I mean because I just feel like that there was no way that he was not gonna get sacked because the Patriots are good but the Seahawks were a more dominant team yeah through and through the entire season like the Patriots are a great football team they got to where they got to people will you know say like easy schedule and whatever, but I think that the Seahawks are just a better team overall, and I don't think that the offensive line on the Patriots can hold a candle to the Seattle defense, which is exactly what we saw.

6:19Drake may get sacked. There was just pressure, and it's like teams can go into any game imagining what their idea of how the game is going to go, but then once you finish the first quarter, like, you know what you're up against, and the Seahawks saw we can just pressure the heck out of Drake May and we don't have to do anything else except kick field goals and we're going to win the game, which is exactly what ended up happening. Like, we can get a couple of solid runs. Kenneth Walker had some great runs in there, a couple 20, 30 yarders. But they didn't need to do anything else because if they could keep that pressure, then they would be fine.

7:00And the Patriots, they hadn't played each other either, so the Patriots couldn't have been ready through experience for the Seattle defense only through Tate. I just feel like Drake May going into the game and the Patriots going into the game, they knew they were going to be playing a hard game. And I think that they adjusted fairly well after halftime, though, if you think about it. Like, two touchdowns after halftime. Like, fourth quarter, they made the adjustments they needed to. It was just too late after a rampage of field goals. Yeah. I think the Pats' defense was pretty good. Yeah. for holding jsn and you know not holding but you know i mean holding them down and not letting them score obviously but i think just baby drake may is just he wasn't ready he was had some nerves he had to shake and you know just that rookie i don't know it's not a rookie but the rookie mentality just didn't have the experience yet i think he was a little scared but then the fourth quarter you know he's just throwing bombs because he has to at that point yeah he's like okay this is the time unfortunately it's too late but I also think that his team like I think that there has been a lot of Drake May hate today like in the media and press but I think that his team also didn't put up any of the like his offensive line let him down big time as well like he had more quarterback pressures than like, I don't know, I think I saw a stat said like any quarterback all season or something like that, like the amount of pressure on him was not his fault.

8:39And so like, yeah, young quarterback, but he's capable if the rest of his team does their job. And it's kind of like nobody on that team really did their job. I think the one thing that stood out to me so much was that so many of the names that we normally hear, we did not hear at all. We were not hearing, like, Ramondre Stevenson, I feel like, was the number one player that I saw replayed. He had five receptions and 40 yards total. But, like, we didn't hear Stephon Diggs. We didn't hear Travion Henderson. We didn't hear Hunter Henry. Like, not too much, no. And even though every single one of them had like a couple of targets.

9:22None of them were like these massive game changing plays, which I think is really, was interesting just to watch. And like, we weren't really hearing much of anything. Right. Like the whole game. Like nothing was really happening. Right. Except Drake May getting sacked. So I'm not really here for the Drake May hate because I don't think that it's necessarily him being a rookie. I think it's the entire team not being prepared to perform against the number one defense in the NFL that is reproduced over and over and over and over again. And an offense that's good enough to get it into the end zone or the uprights.

9:59Yeah, that's fair. I mean, they couldn't get open, maybe like the wide receivers because, you know, Seattle's D is so good. Yeah. So maybe that was it, part of it. and Drake couldn't get it off quick enough. Yeah, I saw one of the coaches had mentioned, one of the Seattle coaches had mentioned that Drake May likes to hold onto the ball and they were like, we're not going to let him do that. And that's exactly the strategy that they just ran with the entire game, which essentially is what created such a huge upset and like nearly a blowout. Yeah, yeah. I will say Matt Collins is a dog though. Yeah.

10:44There's something about him. He's so quirky. Even when he was on the bills, he's the exact same guy that like he, when they have a victory Monday, he puts M &Ms in a water and then drinks it. Like he's so different. He walks around without shoes unless it's cleats. Like he's he's wild, but I don't know. There's something about him that I just love. Glad he scored that first touchdown because, yeah, I put money on that. But I got my money, though. Got my money, though.

11:28But I don't know. He's just wild. He's a wild man. Matt Collins was also there breaking up the fight between Diggs and I can't remember who the Seattle player was Joe's or something Joe's Joe we didn't see a lot of that on the TV no I saw a highlight more I think after but they should have thrown a flag for that because he swung he swung at Diggs too well he like like pushed Diggs to the ground yeah Yeah. And then Diggs did the whole face mask grab. But we didn't really see like. Yeah. And then he swung. Yeah. Like and also moments that we didn't see on. I thought it's interesting to go on after and be like moments that we didn't see on the television.

12:16There was a streaker. A lackluster streaker. That's there's nothing more embarrassing than being a streaker who doesn't streak. but he looked good he did he was great shape great shape yes healthy guy he did run fast i think he was wearing meta glasses too so they're saying it's probably it was probably streamed somewhere gotta find that it's like a meta ad yeah probably how sorry we'll get into later, but how many AI ads do we need during the commercials for retail? Yeah. Also, I'm in, I was in San Francisco. I didn't go to the game, but I was in San Francisco to like be around the hubbub and all of the excitement.

13:03And we went to like the pregame day experience and all of that. And the amount, I went to coffee with one of my friends who lives up here and she's like, look at the billboards because every single billboard is AI because San Francisco is such a tech city. Right. Yeah. And then the Super Bowl commercials were similar. I do think that's one thing that if you watch the Super Bowl, like at a bar, you miss a lot of the commercials because you're just like hanging out with friends or like getting your next pitcher of beer or like you're just out, you know, you're just like eating empanadas in a bar.

13:38I'll tell you, you didn't miss much. It's not like it used to be. Yeah. Well, now they put them out ahead of time as well. yeah yeah you're right yeah which i'm like leave it for the super bowl right it brings in viewers and i felt like somebody should be thinking about this

14:00okay let's wrap up with our things to say about the game game because we don't have that many more and then we can talk about all the fun stuff okay so i loved i was not expecting Kenneth Walker to get the Super Bowl MVP. And I love that Kenneth Walker got the Super Bowl MVP. The last time a running back won MVP was Super Bowl 32. It was Broncos Packers. So it's been 28 years since a running back has won the mvp yeah it's insane so terrell davis in 1998 rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns against the packers despite missing time due to a migraine so my guy has a migraine he I can't even function, let alone go win MVP at a Super Bowl with a migraine.

15:01That's what it's a flu game. Flu game. Yep. Yeah, my best. I most people don't know this, but I was a club gymnast in college and my most winning year was I got food poisoning. And so I was like puking all morning and I had more wins in that competition than any other competition in my college career. There you go. Blue game. Yeah. This guy, though, Terrell Davis. I didn't know about Terrell Davis before this. I'm not going to lie. I had no idea who this guy was. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017, 1998 NFL MVP, two-time Super Bowl champion, and held 56 Broncos team records. Wow. Yep.

15:45Yeah. And he's the only running back in Broncos history to win MVP. Wow. That's pretty crazy. Yeah. And then Kenneth Walker, 161 total yards, 135 rushing yards, and 26 receiving yards for the Seahawks. What I also love about this is we, I've said this a lot on the show, but the NFL so much loves to put all of the hype on one single player and be like, this is the guy or this is the receiver. Like we hear at Stafford and Nakua, we hear James Cook and Josh Allen. We hear, you know, there's so many duos in the NFL or single players that people consider like a hero. And I love this because Kenneth Walker has been one of the best running backs, has been one of the best players in the NFL the entire season.

16:40But I think that this, I feel like this was so special because people probably expected it to be JSN. Yeah. And I think that this shows like the depth of the team more than a JSN or like a Sam Darnold MVP. Yeah. Would have. Yeah. And JSN got hurt for a little bit during the game. Yeah. And, you know, Ken Walker's runs were so patient. Like you just kept hearing that word over and over again by the answers. But he just like waits and then finds his hole. and he's really talented. And then I heard he was like, he was talking about Charbonnet missing the game and how he was doing it for his brother, Charbonnet.

17:27And I thought that was really cool. And he definitely held the torch for the both of them. So that was huge. Yeah, that's really, yeah, that's so sweet. Last things to note, I think there's been a lot of controversy and I want to ask you what you think. did Sam Darnold have a good game yes or no I think he did what he needed to do I think he against a decent defense like the Pats I think he had a decent game probably not his best game obviously but he did what he had to do he didn't he rush a few times when he needed to He only had 202 yards, but in 74.7 rating, passive rating, it's not great.

18:17But, you know, he did what he had to do. And with JSN, not really around for a quarter or two. And Cooper Cup and stepping up, that helped. And I think he had a decent game and they won. And so I think he definitely deserved MVP, but he did it. So I think it was good enough. Yeah, good enough. Like, why are we fighting on if Sam Darnold had a good enough game or not? After five teams, he's a Super Bowl champion. Can you say that? And also, Sam Darnold has never been the guy to go out and say, like, he's a team man through and through. and like other quarterbacks like love their team but they know that they're kind of like a lot of it relies on them but like sam garnold in his press conferences like he knows that he is a part of a team and that he can not do without his team and so like if he says that and that's his approach in the entire seattle's team approaches that we're a complete team then like why are we hating on him for doing his job better than any other quarterback did his job this season right so i mean yeah that's interesting to me i've seen so i've seen i saw men fighting like yelling at each other this morning all over that i was like okay this is way too much he won everyone relax i'm sorry that you're offended that he won right right he did what he had to do and he won the super bowl he didn't just win a game he won the super bowl a Super Bowl yeah also people are saying like he had so many turnovers in the priest in the regular season but in postseason he's been an incredibly clean yeah quarterback so I thought that was just interesting if you look at like him and Drake May had opposite preseason and postseason stats where Drake May had really clean preseason and then postseason he struggled a lot fumbles interceptions just like being messier overall and Sam Darnold really like flipped his script from going interceptions turnovers etc to just being able to like hold on to the ball which I think shows a lot of growth and like it doesn't matter until it matters and if you can play well when it matters which is how Patrick Mahomes has gotten to where he's gotten because he can turn it on when he needs to minus the season but historically like him and Travis Kelsey can make it happen their whole thing is like whatever makes it happen or what's their saying again I forgot find a way it's find a way there we go okay yeah yeah so I just think that Sam Darnold like did what he needed to do in the end of the season.

20:50So I'm not here. I'm not here for the Sam hate. Also not here for the Drake May hate. It was a Super Bowl. It's an intense game. It is what it is. However, nothing would hurt more than a pick six in the Super Bowl safety. Or I mean, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, 45-yard pick six. That is wild. That was a little rough. That's when you kind of knew it was over. Yeah. Hit May's arm. And I mean, a pick six is like by a linebacker. It went right to him. I love a big boy touchdown. Oh, a big man touchdown. Yeah. Yeah. Love on the ends list. On the ends list. Of course. Yeah. And then they also had an interception by safety Julian Love.

21:44So, I mean, Seattle defense, like, just can't be beat this season. And so I'm really curious to see how they come up next season. Any other notes on the actual game? I think it was just not the actual game, but just a note about Sam Darnold. Like this was his first year with Seahawks. So like he's gonna be learning a new system. And I know the Vikings were kicking themselves for letting him go after that. Every person who's ever talked to Sam Darnold is pissed. why did we let him go but yeah i thought it was a good performance for the seahawks yeah i wouldn't be surprised if they ended up back in the super bowl or you know late in the playoffs next year too yeah they look they look good solid they look they look good and they have they have everything that they need to be a continually successful franchise and i think it's going to do wonders for Sam's confidence the way not just the Super Bowl win but the way that he was able to become a significantly better quarterback in the postseason than he was yeah in any other season in his entire career right I feel like he rose to the occasion that he needed to rise to which will like do wonders for his confidence and I think the confidence really does matter on on the field yeah also did he have a glow up or is it just me I think Ricky kind of had a glow up.

23:14Wait. From his rookie year? Oh, yeah. I mean, his beard is cleaner. He's like looking. He is. No, that's so true. Yeah, he's looking good. He's also engaged. So his Beyonce has to be there for the must have been a part of the glow up. Oh, absolutely. Completely random. Do you watch Love is Blind? Of course. okay who's the girl who she wore that like silver bodysuit at the reunion and they're still together no oh my gosh what was it she's like dark brown hair Garrett oh Garrett's the guy and I think that's one of the best glow-ups of all time oh yeah and yeah oh absolutely I know exactly what you're talking about I'm trying to think of was wife's name is yeah yeah and then that 100 goes to the girlfriend or wife or fiance whatever i do have to say we should consider like how do we get men in the nfl to like trim their beards just like a little bit better like we have a lot of scraggly beards going on and it's confusing like your hair is gorgeous so like what happened to the rats right i think a lot well when they get to the playoffs, then it's a playoff beard.

24:31And it's just, it's a no for me. Yeah. Yeah. It's a no playoff beard. It's a no for me. Sam Darnold did not do a playoff beard and Sam Darnold was looking good. Absolutely crushed it. I want to thank our partners over at Kusos. Kusos is my favorite seasoning, the best supporters of the show. If you don't know what Kusos is, It is seasoning blends that are all natural with no preservatives, nothing crazy. So it is blended seasoning. So it's really a one-stop shop for anything that you want food and meal-wise. Personally, I've been using the Southwest Sand often as a replacement for regular taco seasoning.

25:13And what I love about that is that there's no like cornstarch. It's not based in anything odd and it makes my food taste really good. So I'm a lover of a good taco bowl. It's kind of one of my go-tos for a quick lunch that I could whip up, get some veggies in, get some meat in. And using Southwest Sand, the Kuso seasoning on that has made it so much better, so much more flavorful, and so much easier to cook. And it also gives me peace of mind because who wants random things in their seasonings when you can have something that's all natural with nothing crazy and that tastes really bold and really flavorful.

25:44So if you want 10 % off your order with Kuso's, Head to kusocuts.com slash the game or use code the game at checkout for 10 % off because it really helps the show and gets you great seasonings to your mouth. Okay. Thanks, Kusos, for sponsoring. Let's get back to the show. Although the game was a little sleepy, the musical performances through and through the entire game, honestly, whoever is in charge of that needs their own award because okay when when they brought out like the violinists on the little platform for Coco Jones yeah I was like you know this is interesting like I'm not sure so when she's saying lift every voice and saying I was locked in I could not take my eyes off the screen.

26:38Also, her outfit was like an homage to Whitney Houston. Stunning. I was so captivated, honestly. Like anything that that woman does from this point forward, like I'm in. There was something about how it was she had performed at the Super Bowl when she was a kid too. And it was just like a full circle moment. That's really, really sweet. Yeah. It looks just like Whitney Houston's outfit. It's so cool. Yeah. It's just, yeah, absolutely stunning. So we started with that and I was like, oh, this is going to be good. Like I'm locked in. Yeah. And then we had America the Beautiful by Brandi Carlile, which I loved because that's also an LGBTQ singer, Grammy award winner, which is obviously great for representation.

27:32Yeah. Which I think that the Super Bowl did an incredible job of just highlighting. so many different cultures within the U.S. And I know that it's like a polarizing time. We don't get like too into like politics or anything like that. But I think that the NFL did an excellent job of representing what America really looks like, its diversity, and what types of people are successful in America and it can be anyone. And so I was so excited to see her come out and sing and also absolutely smash America the Beautiful with her guitar. Yes. Come on. So good. So good. So good. And then we get Green Day and whether or not Green Day was a palette cleanser for Bad Bunny, I don't care.

28:17That's perfect. Yeah. Palette cleanser for Bad Bunny. I love that. Because Green Day got announced after Bad Bunny, after like the outrage, which I can't. even i honestly can't even so i i kind of think that green day could have been a palette cleanser but green day is also from the bay area so that was like okay yeah so that was like a bay area treat okay and obviously they killed it like it's green day absolutely and they ended they ended with uh american idiot yes is it ironic it's nice was that I mean, was that a statement? It's like it was planned or something. It's like it was planned or something.

29:05Yeah, I was honestly sure, like just the sheer entertainment value of every single one of those performers. Like it was such a well curated group of performers to enter in on the Super Bowl. Like I was so hype. I was so invested. I was so ready for the game to get going. yeah I loved it I loved every single second like I honestly can't say I can't say enough about it then shall we talk about Bad Bunny Bad Bunny Bad Bunny such a vibe what a party oh okay like just right from the get-go I was right from the jump the grasses people are you kidding me my guy said you want to be in my show you want to be some grass like grass has never been hotter they weren't even like dancing grass it was just sit there i loved it honestly i loved it and okay so i have honestly been kind of a super bowl halftime hater which some of my friends think is ridiculous of me okay i just i feel like we never get enough of any song and so it just feels like a mashed up mashup but like not Not in the way that I really can like get into any piece of it.

30:30Okay. And I feel like, and also I feel like there's always like so much light to people are flying from the ceiling. And I'm like, this is like a 20 minute show. You've covered 96 songs. You have like 47 extra performers. Like, I just feel like it never actually lets the artist shine because of like the grandiosity of it all. I don't even think that's a word, but like how grandiose it all is. Yeah. And so what I loved about this was that he was like, this is who my people are. This is like a representation of my life and where I came from and the items that you see. You know, you have like the pickup truck.

31:08They had the white chairs that people are just sitting in. And then that mixed with the celebrities. celebrities. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just I thought I think it's one of the best Super Bowl performances of all time. And I think it was so good because it was so simple. And to make something look effortless is insanely challenging. Absolutely. And I think that the entire performance was effortless. And there was not a there was not a single person in the bar I was in. There was not a single person in the stadium who was not bopping from left to right. Yep. Absolutely. I think he just absolutely nailed it.

31:42He didn't overdo it. He didn't underdo it. He, you know, showed the culture and then like he brought everybody to the party, you know, like it was just such a vibe and like he was very inclusive and it was it was just really well done. Yeah. And like to name all of the countries I thought was really incredible. And then like what I also loved about it was that it wasn't it was in no way an anti America moment. moment. It was very much like a, this is what makes America and the Americas so incredible and like highlighting that. And it was in no way like, it was in no way anti anything. It was just like pro like love and togetherness and like support and honesty.

32:43And like, I just, honestly I can't I really can't talk about it enough like I am so shocked the performance value the camera value the shots that we were getting on the screen the live grass the celebrities on the stage like Cardi B was on the stage which is iconic yeah of Bad Bunny to do bring Cardi especially because how she's been in the NFL um Alex Earl was on the stage like to include his like friends was awesome. It's so cool. And Pedro, Pedro Pascal. Yeah. Yeah. Such a cutie. Yeah. I was really also shocked when Lady Gaga came out. That I was not ready for. Me too. It's so random, but it worked.

33:27Obviously. Yeah. I was so curious. She sang a Bruno Mars song, which was also random, but it worked. Whatever. It like, yeah, it flowed seamlessly and like honestly bad bunny at this point could do no wrong so like I was so curious though to see what Twitter had to say about it so when I woke up in the morning I went on Twitter and I typed in Lady Gaga and I was like what is the world saying about this people loved it and somebody mentioned on X this was a like uplifting moment for the LGBTQIA community because she's been so outspoken about like being able to be exactly who you are and so like that moment was to like amplify and like being like the whole thing was about like kindness, love and inclusivity.

34:12And yeah. And so that apparently was one thing that people took away from Lady Gaga being there. And I think it also just shows that like just because something's unexpected doesn't make it like something that you should turn your head at, you know, like, right. Just because it's unexpected doesn't mean it's wrong. It just means that it's like unexpected, you know. Right. So I Bad Bunny also after researching that he's like also a style icon which I didn't really like I didn't really know that about him but he's like a total style icon and so I think that's another reason why I brought Lady Gaga out is because she has like very outspoken she's kind of always been like just doing whatever she wants in fashion and so does Bad Bunny yeah so yeah I was watching a interview of him when he went to the Met Gala one year and he was talking about how he was wearing a corset and how he couldn't breathe in it but like he's just so confident in who he is like he can pull anything off and just his message last night was just really powerful and together we are America and you know I just I don't understand that you can hate on that it's it was very inclusive yeah like i don't understand how you can hate on it either because first of all like even if you don't dive deep into the message performance slapped visually interesting visually entertaining stars studded throughout there were stars everywhere the music is good the beat is good even if you look at even if you want to go like the most surface level possible like great performance and then if you want to dive in like the message of like yeah inclusivity and it takes such an artist to be able to like truly do what he did and be that effortless yeah with so much i like to give so much like obviously it takes so much effort and like thousands of people to put that on but then to make it look like effortless is crazy and if you guys haven't seen on like instagram search the grass because all of the grass are doing like get ready with me to be grass i gotta look that up you gotta look it up it's honestly it's so good it's like 8 a.m coffee 9 a.m get picked up 10 a.m see lady gaga freak out 11 a.m whatever and then it's like we're grass we're grass did they have to paint their face green or anything i don't think so i think the grass just kind of covered it they just covered okay yeah that's so funny yeah i could go on and on about about bad bunny but i honestly loved it The couple on the screen actually did get married.

36:54So I think that that's so special. They apparently invited him to their wedding and he said, can't come, but I have one for you. Reverse. Was it reverse, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Uno reverse.