#168 - Buffalo Bills vs New York Jets

The Buffalo Bills played host to the New York Jets this past week, looking to do something only accomplished two other times in franchise history - go undefeated at home in the regular season.
Despite a slow start, the Bills woke up in the third quarter and proceeded to score 40 points in total.

Ryan Wolfe and John Cimino, joined by Chris Downey, break down what continues to go wrong for the Jets, went right for Buffalo and what is coming next with the regular season finale next week.

Listen in to the final episode of 2024!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gearnetwork dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
The following is a presentation of the Gear Radio Network.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
I believe it's a big challenge for our building to
keep things in perspective and to if we're going to
get addicted to anything, let's get addicted to the process.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
And with that we welcome you to trust the podcast
powered by Better Live Than Dead and the Gear Radio Network.
This here is episode one and.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sixty eight, Episode one six eight Buffalo Bills at post
Goddamn Jets. Sorry mister missus Downey, I'm already hitting the
swears early on. But uh, but yeah, the episode one
six eighty people, how you doing.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm back, Ryan Wolf co host Johnsonmino. You can find
us on the internet, blue Sky, threads, uh, wherever you
want to talk to us, We're there to chat. You
can hear us on Better Live than That, dot com,
Gear Network, dot com, reber else you listen to podcasts,
make sure he has always hit the subscribe button as well
to stay up today. In the latest podcast, John Yo,
how was your holiday season?

Speaker 1 (01:06):
I hear something my goodness, my goodness, yes, and you
and and Chris highlighted it very very nicely. And last
episode in the beginning, thank you for thank you for
that shout out for yes please you again, thank you,
thank you, thank you. Yes. Very very busy season, both
on the Gear network front, on the on the professional
front outside of Gear, and then of course on the

(01:27):
personal front, as broken by h hold On, hold On,
Hold Wait, here we go, Here we go, as broken
last week by b LTDs, Ryan Wolf and the Unholy
jack Wagon. Chris Downey, I am an engaged man now, Yes, hello, yay.

(01:48):
I don't have really funny.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's really funny because the two people in my life
whom were married and got divorced and both said, I'll
probably never do this again. Uh literally got engaged with
days of each other in my life, a guy I
used to work with, and you both said, you know,
I'm not gonna say no, but I'm also not gonna

(02:11):
be rushing out there to break walls down.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Well right, I mean some people do that. Some people
have that dependency on you know, someone else, or being
in a situation where they view life like they need
to like, this is how life is supposed to be.
I'm supposed to be married, I'm supposed to have this
by this age, I'm supposed to be you know what
I mean, and too many people kind of get into that.

(02:35):
It took me Ryan forty four years to kind of
really piece all of it together and realize that, hey,
you can't really there's no real instruction manual on the
game of life, you know what I mean. You kind
of learn as you go, and if you take something
from every lesson, from everything that's in front of you,

(02:57):
then you will have made some sort of positive It's
when you don't learn from any of your you know,
any of your situations, that you you end up staying
kind of in the same spot. And that's when you
become better. And that's when you're blah blah blah blah
and I was there for a while.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Or you end up you end up meeting the same peace.
It's like it's much like, yes, absolutely, if you don't
break the cycle, if you don't learn from your past
positive and negative.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah you could, you'll be getting the same thing. You'll
be Woody Johnson, right, and you know what, you don't
want to be what I certainly don't want to be
Woody Johnson.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
No, you know, John It's funny you mention that, because
it did come across the ticker this morning that uh
rex Ryan is legitimately going to be considered and interviewed
for the Jets head coaching job.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
I know, I know, I know. What year is it?
What year is it? You know what though, speaking uh
as a disgruntled, very disgruntled Jets fan, what, Yeah, he
was the last coach to take them to the playoffs,
so it's like he's at least got everybody there, you
know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Like, I'll tell you John from from outside looking in
after watching this game, which we'll talk about in a minute,
it's not it's not coaching as much as it is
the personnel that they have, because there are some very
talented football players on this New York Jets team, right,
it just seems like they don't have talent in the
right positions. And it's it shows.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, definitely, it's they're they're they're they're Yeah, that's.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
No.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
And by the way, no, I heard the little thing
last week where it was like, oh, the last time
the Bills played the Jets, John was off that week too.
You want to know, it just happened to work out
that both in both instances, the the the personal life
outside of the professional life, outside of your network, Beckoned

(04:52):
and doesn't hurt.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
It doesn't hurt.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Though.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
When it works out that way.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
It's hilarious. It's hilarious that it worked out that way,
for sure. But but if it.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Happens I would have mister John, if it happens that way,
I'm opening up an investigation.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Very good, very good. Well, I think Gear network may
or may not support the investigation. There.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
I've got about fifteen dollars, so the special council may
be not so special, but we'll figure it out.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
That it is fourteen and a half more dollars than
I currently have right now. Thank you, Father Christmas.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
That look at I guess, yes, yes, when you see
the bank account, you go, well, good thing, I'm getting
paid Friday, although it is Monday.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I feel it.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Indeed, indeed, so looking at this game, John, you saw
in the trust the text message chat, I mean, I
know this week you were more quiet than usual, mostly because,
as you mentioned, by about the third quarter ish end
of the third quarter, you were already off doing something else.
Because again, once the once the game got past a

(05:51):
certain point range, you knew, even with how the Jets
were playing, you knew it wasn't gonna work out. I
mean it was still I think I watched a highlight
last night after that game, I was scrolling through TikTok shockingly,
trying to get my final tiktoks in before they ban it.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Here i posted my first TikTok. I wanted to at
least get one in before the ban because I was
very much against TikTok. By the way, I am JC money,
I'm there if you want to follow for the next
week or so, however long the United States has it.
I posted one I'm sorry, two tiktoks and it was

(06:25):
both promoting professional wrestling, so I love that.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
So look in a nutshell, it's kind of It's actually
kind of funny because like we've talked about politics on
their podcasts, we've talked a little here. We try to
shy away from it, but essentially they want they want
the company that owns TikTok to sell to an American company,
which the company that owns it in America is American
and all of the data is in America. They think
that it's being stolen by the Chinese because you know,

(06:51):
we're so we're so scared about that. But speaking of
being scared, the Jets, man, I dude, I don't know
if if they just for lack of a better explanation,
don't give a goddamn oh.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
I'm I'm taking Sauce Gardner's side on this, where he's like, yeah,
people have mailed it in already. You can tell that
that team has failed it in. You don't you don't
fire your coach, your head coach, and your general manager
middle of the season while technically you're still kind of
in the hunt and expect everybody to be all, you know,

(07:29):
happy about what's going on. Like, I feel horrible out
for coach Brick. I feel horrible for him because he
was on the fast track to becoming a head coach
after this season and then he got put into the
position that he's in now. I don't blame coach Brick
at all.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
There's there's just watching the Gamesohn, There's there's no pride.
It seems like, I mean, we've talked about Aaron Rodgers
jokingly seriously, but like on a very serious note. He
is the problem in New York, not just the fact
that he's old, because again, looking at his stats, he's
not had a terrible season. Now, if you had those

(08:06):
numbers on a different team, maybe you're maybe you're fighting
for a wild card, maybe sneaking a division title, depending
on where you're playing. But where this New York Jets
team is, they need more than just that. They need
more than just what Aaron Rodgers is don which again, well,
right and not be a bad not be a bad year.
I mean, by Aaron Rodgers standards, it's not been a

(08:27):
great year, but by like looking reading the room, looking
at the statistics across the National Football League, where this
year we have kind of had a resurgence of the
running back, which I would have to presume we've talked
about this before, John, but those single high safeties that
that Kansas City played, that everyone started playing. So all
of a sudden, quarterbacks are not throwing for four hundred yards. Again,
they're thrown for two hundred and fifty yards a game,

(08:47):
but they're they're utilizing the running game more so we're
seeing we're seeing a little bit lower passing yardage numbers.
But still again, Aaron Rodgers is is not doing horrible
in in the grand scheme of things, but right, but
as a it's you see him, you see the player.
He had a wide receiver wide open, uh and threw

(09:09):
it at the guy's feet and then yelling at the
wide receiver to catch the ball. It's like, so I
Brown brother, Like that's and that's the kind of stuff
that you see outside looking in. But I go, yikes.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
And and having followed and following this team, uh as
much as I'm following the Buffalo Bills now for the
sake of the podcast, of course, but you know, soft
spot and all that. But having followed this team, I
don't think Aaron Rodgers is the problem at all. Yeah, sure,
he's not the Aaron Rodgers of old, and he's a
little older now and all that type of stuff. You

(09:41):
can factor in all of that, But the reality of
the situation is this, Aaron Rodgers doesn't play defense. The
defense has not been able to stop anything all season,
and that was the their bread and butter. Aaron Rodgers
was the final piece to the offensive puzzle that was
supposed to go in conjunction with this on to defense,
whom for the last two years, two or three seasons

(10:04):
for the New York Jets was top five. And they've
this defense regressed terribly and since the beginning of the season,
they've not been able to recover the offense. Yes, they
had their hiccups. Aaron Rodgers in the beginning of the season,
you have to kind of give him a little bit
of a pass those first few weeks where he's you know,

(10:25):
back in the field. It wasn't playing preseason and all.
Similar to with Kirk Cousins over in Atlanta when when
he had his achilles stare as well, the same thing.
There was kind of slopes they were trying to kind
of get the movement in. I think it would have
behooved Aaron Rodgers and the Jets to have had him
play some reps in the preseason to kind of get
those things, you know, get those feelings out of the way,

(10:46):
instead of sacrificing the first three to four games of
the season and then he you know, he starts getting
dinged up here there or whatever. But he towards the
end of this season, to his credit, he has looked
a little bit more himself in terms of moving and
extending the play, getting out of the pocket to But
but you're right, he's not completing these throws that he

(11:08):
may have you know, a while ago, and his visible
frustration I think encompasses the entire organization. I on the field. Yes,
some of his plays have caused some of the issues
that they've had, But overall, it's coaching, it's the it's leadership,

(11:29):
it's that that's that's been the problem for the New
York Jets, not necessarily any one player.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
And looking at well, I think for me, for just
just I'll finish the thought here really quick on Aaron
Rodgers and look at looking at his stats. John when
the Jets acquired him after the twenty twenty two NFL season,
in seventeen games, he went eight to nine. Literally that year,
he completed five more passes than he has this year.
He attempted six less passes than he has this year.

(11:58):
His completion percentage was six four point six percent. Then
it's sixty three.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
Now.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
He threw for thirty six hundred and ninety five yards
that season. This year thirty six, twenty three, he went
for twenty six touches twelve picks. This year twenty four touches,
ten picks. So again, you're getting the same thing that
the Packers walked away from, where they said, Okay, look
at you went back to back MVP at thirty seven
and thirty eight age thirty nine, you took a step back.
You regressed a little. Okay, it's time to go uh

(12:24):
And I mean this is all that we have obviously
the base off of but like he's he as a
as a quarterback is really doing what you expect of him.
But on the on the flip side, the personality in
the in the gravitas and the in the the I
think the magnetism or whatever that Aaron Rodgers has that

(12:45):
has attracted whomever in that organization to give him the
power because again he's not making decisions, but but you
see the writing on the wall when they're going out
and acquiring all the people he's like to play with
or all the people he trusts to play with. And
while that's all fine and dandy, at the end of
the day, the cracks are are They're more like fishers

(13:09):
at this point, just you go, Okay, So if Aaron
Rodgers loss the way, they've got DeVante Adams, they've got
a bunch of just a modge podge of an offense.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
I mean, defensively, they've.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Got excuse me, decent players and under Robert Sala's direction,
the defense wasn't terrible. But again, looking at this team,
these stats had Aaron Rodgers going to eight and nine
with the Green Bay Packers. You see the Packers now
how good they are with Jordan Love. I mean, again
it's apples to oranges, But just trying to like quantify

(13:43):
what we're seeing here. Aaron Rodgers is performing roughly what
Aaron Rodgers should be expected to, the level he should
be expected to perform at, and that's where you need
to have. I mean, you don't want him to have
the influence he has over the organization because again, if
Aaron Rodgers does walk away, which I mean, let's be honest,

(14:05):
the Jets can't bring him back next year. There's no
there's no way. I mean, it's just it seems insane
at this point. But say he leaves, they were talking
about on the broadcast yesterday Tony Romoventually, no one's gonna
want Aaron Rodgers at forty two, coming off of a
season where he underperformed to his standards. I mean, he's
still gonna go to the Hall of Fame. If he

(14:27):
plays on Sunday, he should throw his five hundredth touchdown.
But at the end of the day, it's that other
side of it. It's not the quarterback, it's the it's
Aaron Rodgers. It's he's gonna come into your organization and
it's going to divide people. It's going to divide rooms,
it's gonna divide offense, defense players on whatever. Like it's
we've what's happening in New York is not something we've

(14:50):
never seen before. We've seen this happen in the past,
and it's all about it's all about making sure that
when you bring players like that into your organization, you
have a solid foundation so you don't let that stuff happen.
You don't let that stuff fly. And when Aaron Rodgers
came in, John and I'm sorry, I'll get off my
soapboxing on a second. When he came in, it really

(15:11):
seemed like they were all in lockstep, they were all
in line with each other. And then he gets hurt
the first game, and immediately it was just no, this
ain't gonna work. I need I need my team, I
need my people, you know, undermining everybody around him when
he should be focused on one thing winning football games.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, I mean I could see that, but you know, again,
covering the team a little bit a little bit differently,
or viewing the team a little bit differently than most
it's the problems have always been up up at top.
What he wasn't pay what he wasn't paying attention for
a large part of it. And then he started paying attention,
and then everybody realized, we need to find a way

(15:54):
to get this dude to not pay attention again, because
when he pays attention, arguably everything freaking is worse. That
you can time it. You can look at these last
few seasons, what he wasn't really paying much attention to
the team, his.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Son, his son getting involved making how they're making trades
or not making trades based off of man, and like,
these are the these are the things. These are the
dysfunction of the organization. Uh A good example the Chicago Bears.
You look and you see why do they why do
they keep doing the same thing, making the same mistakes.
At some point you go, well, yeah, you know the

(16:29):
GM is really bad or the GM has made poor choices,
or the coach has been bad. But guess what. You
can fire the coach, right, You can fire the GM.
You can fire the coordinators, you can for for all
intentsive purposes, you can fire the players. You can't fire
the owner. And in this situation with the New York Jets, John,
I agree wholeheartedly with you. The Jets may get lucky.

(16:50):
The Jets may the Jets may go out and hire
some random slub from insert team here, and he may
be the next Sean McVay and they get real lucky.
But I'm telling you what right now. I know I'm
not a betting man, John, but I'll take that thirteen
dollars that I currently have in my bank account and
I will put it all on black that the Jets

(17:11):
will not be good consist consistently, because again, I'll.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Figure a way to screw it up.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
We saw Rex Ryan. We saw Rex Ryan, who we
know now looking back, you know, if we knew then
what we know now. We saw Rex Ryan bring Mark
Sanchez to back to back AFC title games. Like some
a blind score will find nut. Sure, yea at some point.
But when you look at the Buffalo Bills, and and

(17:39):
and again. We've talked about this as well on multiple
different podcasts across Gear Network. Terry Pagoula may not be
a great owner. He may not He may be more
of a fan than an owner, which in most he's
certainly not a great hockey owner. You're not kidding for
all intents and purposes. It creates a bad relationship with

(17:59):
you or organizations because you try to meddle in things.
But if you put strong people in place, like a
Brandon being a Sean McDermot, who.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
Are willing to say yes.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
It's like John when you're at work and you're you
manage a team and my guys may screw up, or
your guys may screw up, or your girls may screw up.
But guess what, they're not gonna hear about it from
your boss. They're gonna hear about it from you after
you insulate them from it. And that's what the Bills
do very well. Right, that's not what like if if
look at if if the Jets did that well, you

(18:31):
would never hear the story about Woody Johnson, uh uh?
Trade for this because of a matter or or with
the the or the the interim head coaches first win
and the sun comes in, cuts off everybody and gives
a game ball to a wide receiver and acts like
a dude bro like again these first off, these things
wouldn't happen, But second off, you wouldn't hear about.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Them, right, you wouldn't. You wouldn't. And this is what
this really reminds me of and and and I'll end
it here with Jets talk because we're we we are
here to talk about the Bills.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Well, this is what I wanted to talk about last week, John.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
But you know, it almost reminds me of what the
Washington football team in the Snyder era and the fans
kind of the same arguments I'm hearing, you know, from
from the Jets fans here remind me of the same
arguments that Washington fans were saying for years when Snyder

(19:24):
was pulling random, crazy, wild just things that that that were,
you know, incomprehensible at the time especially, and then you're
and and You're sitting here and you're like, how the
hell does a football organization run like this? But that,
but at least with them, they got lucky a couple
of times they would hit the playoffs here and there.
They they drafted r G three and and and Kirk

(19:46):
Cousins in the same draft, and but kind of bought
themselves some time with that and with that dynamic. But
then you know, ultimately Snyder proved to be Snyder and
and the owners voted to outs him, so to speak,
to get new ownership in there. And you know, I
would hope that at some point we can honestly get

(20:07):
to that point with the New York Jets, and and
and you know, voting in a new owner. I would personally,
I personally wouldn't take objection to Steve Balmer, the owner
of the New York Mets, who has already expressed an
interest in wanting to purchase the Jets. I'd have no
issue with him taking it over.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
But you know, Washington got very lucky when Dan Snyder
was forced to sell the team. Finally, they got lucky
again when I hired Dan Quinn.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
Uh not.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
It has not been a great head coach in the past,
but what he does for an organization is exactly why
they brought him in to Washington. Obviously he had every
time in Dallas with their defense and then drafting Jade
and Daniels. Again, these things don't happen on accident, if
they If things start to click click click click click,
you go, oh, they're figuring it out again. It's the

(20:57):
same exact thing as time goes on. Yeah, you may
get lucky and go dude, holy crap, how did they
find Christian Benford in the whatever sixth round or fifth
round of the draft. That's amazing. You get lucky sometimes
and then it happens two, three, four, five times and
you go, maybe that wasn't luck. Maybe these people are
just really that good. And again that's.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
The thing.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
I'll leave it on here again talking about New York
franchises and dysfunction. Hm, the New York Giants the same way. Yeah,
the fact that they were the fact that they were
on hard knocks this offseason, and you had Joe Shane
of Buffalo Era. It always ties back talking about how
they couldn't go the extra mile to get Saquon Barkley
back in New York. And then this dude goes out

(21:43):
and puts up over two thousand rushing yards sixteen.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Games, less than one hundred yards away. He's ninety five
yards away, I believe from Eric Dickerson's record.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Unbelievable. But hey, that was our John John, that was
our better Life than Dead segment. That tells me, That
tells me, brother, we still got it.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, we still got it. And I'm thinking after the
season ends, good, bad or indifferent from trust the podcast,
we revived it BLT. We got to we got similar
format like this because it keeps us fresh buddy. You
can also tell let's talk some Buffalo Bills. Man.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
You can also tell when when Ryan and John have
a day off and we can shoot the breeze, where
those two guys that just sit around, we sit around
and we go, bro, remember that one guy, and John goes,
oh my god, yeah, I remember this guy. And then
it's been four hours and we're just talking. We're dudes
talking about dudes exactly. But Buffalo started the game off slow, John,
it was it was it was rough, like, there's no

(22:39):
other way to put it. It was. Yeah, probably one
of the most boring games. Or I wouldn't even say probably,
it was one of the most boring first halfs of
the game I can remember. Yeah, it was pretty big
to the third quarter where there was seven minutes and
twenty seconds left and the Bills led twelve.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Nothing right, It really felt like Buffalo was s as
we've documented, very well, playing down to well to their opponent. There.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
I would say that, but it really seems that once
the Bills clinched the division, clinched the playoff, berth up
it and cruise control. Yeah, don't put anything on tape
that you don't want other teams to see teams can.
They'll have to go deep into the well. They'll have
to watch the Rams and the Lions game to figure

(23:25):
out what this Bills offense can do. Because there have
been a lot of very vanilla concepts. It feels like
nothing too crazy, nothing out of the ordinary, just do
enough to win the game. Buffalo starts off slow, they
complete the goal. They captured the second seed in the
AFC with a forty to fourteen route of the New
York Jets.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
So excuse me.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Buffalo is the second seed in the AFC for the
third straight year and the fourth time in five years.
So much for a rebuild. The twelfth game john twelfth
game this year that Buffalo's recorded thirty plus points in
the seventh times since two thousand that none of team
has had twelve plus such games in one season. Buffalo
moves to thirteen and three on the year, tying a

(24:06):
franchise record with their thirteenth win, which they did in
nineteen ninety, nineteen ninety one, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty two.
Per sport Radar, it's the second season in NFL history
that three teams have had thirteen plus wins. Minnesota, Detroit
and Buffalo that all three teams have zero Super Bowl titles.
That happened in ninety nine, John and if you remember correctly,
that's when the then Saint Louis Rams met the Tennessee

(24:27):
Titans in the Super Bowl. So, hey, I'm not saying
not saying I'm just saying things are looking potentially good.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
There we're in We're in a world where we always
tie find parallels right to get us through. If that's
going to get us through, that's going to get us through.
You know. I think Buffalo has I will say if
their defense plays like like they did against the Jets

(24:54):
in the first half, in particular against these playoff teams,
that may be where we have some trouble there. But
otherwise I see this team competing with the best of
them and has a just as good a shot at
the Super Bowl as anybody else does. So the Bills finished.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
The regular season undefeated at home for the first time
since nineteen ninety and the third time in franchise history.
They did it also in eighty eight, nineteen eighty eight,
nineteen ninety. Buffalo extended their home win streak to eleven games.
The franchise record is fifteen games set from nineteen ninety
to nineteen ninety one. Buffalo ends the day with sixty
three total team touchdowns on the season, establishing a new
franchise record in surpassing the previous franchise record of sixty

(25:36):
touchdowns scored in twenty twenty. And Buffalo ended the day
with five hundred and nine points on the season, establishing
a new franchise record and surpassing the previous franchise record
of five hundred and one points in twenty twenty. So again,
high power Bills offense. High power, I mean the defense.
We'll talk about it in a minute. Much to be
desired lately, not so much on Sunday, that they did

(25:57):
very well. Don't be fooled by those fourteen points. The
Bills were not They were any they didn't need to.
They were actively not trying to stop the Jets from scoring.
But before we spend more time running around getting lost,
we're gonna move over to our three big things here, John,
brought to you by puckluck dot Com, your one stop

(26:18):
resource for all your National Hockey League sports betting action.
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(26:38):
As always, please gamble responsibly. John rapping up the offense here?

Speaker 1 (26:42):
Excuse me?

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Quarterback Josh Allen sixteen of twenty seven, one hundred and
eighty two passing yards, two passing touchdowns with five carriers
for eighteen yards, and one rushing touchdown, only played three quarters.
HC mcdee had. Coach Sean McDermott said post game quote,
I think Josh Allen continues to show why he should
be the MVA. I've been around this league long enough
to know to see MVPs every year for many each

(27:03):
year for many years. And what he has done in
this team, this organization, in this community, and no offense
to anybody else. But I got a hard time believing
that someone's done more.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Believe that one hundred percent believe. That's. Like I said
a couple of weeks ago, Ryan and dan Orlowski on
ESPN this morning help helped back me up here on this.
But it's hard for me to find in the NFL today,
aside from maybe Joe Burrow, who were not taught, whom
a lot of people are not talking about because of

(27:33):
where the Bengals currently are and they currently sit, Joe
Burrow is having himself a hell of a year. That said,
I don't think that anybody has done more with less
on paper then Josh Allen has this year. This was
a rebuild year, This was a year the Bills were
not going to be that what they are. And if

(27:55):
you take Josh Allen off of this team right now,
I don't think they produce the same results with money Mitch,
or at least they or at least their their neck
and neck with the Dolphins. Josh Allen is is the
reason that the Bills are here where they are. He's
the reason that their offense is as they are, and

(28:18):
to me, he's done a hell of a lot more. No,
this is no disrespect to Lamar Jackson, but I think
if you take Lamar Jackson off there's at least enough
pieces in the puzzle. There established pieces that could keep that,
you know, keep the ravens afloat a little bit, maybe
not put him over the edge because Lamar is a
very special player, but still keep them afloat. I don't

(28:40):
know that I see that with the Buffalo Bills, if
you take Josh Allen off, and that's the big difference
to me.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
So looking at I'm over here getting text messages from
from the unpaid interning Chris Downe, because even though we
don't pay him, he still is always working. Never never
rest that man uh at at uber Hanson on Twitter
points out quote the Bills will likely finished the season
without a one thousand yard receiver or a one thousand
yard rusher. They are averaging thirty one point eight points
per game. That's illogical. It almost sounds like someone might

(29:09):
be most valuable to make that happen. I don't know
another thing to point out. Well, the Bills, we'll talk
about cooking James cook in a minute. But they may
have a thousand yard rusher, but it's going to be
very close because again, can't imagine people are gonna be
playing too much on Sunday, which we'll talk about. But John,
let's let's cozy up to the to the electric heater here,

(29:30):
because hang on a camp fire. What kind of budget
do you think we have here? I got a ceramic heater.
I don't got a campfire. History the NFL with Josh Allen,
Josh recorded his seventy sixth career win. I said last week,
with seventy five, he was the leader. He tied Russell
Willson last week. This week, he becomes number one in
the category for most regular season wins by a quarterback
in his first seven seasons in NFL history. Allen now

(29:53):
has the most wins, total touchdowns at two hundred and
sixty two, total yards at thirty five and ninety five
by any player all time in their first seven seasons.
Also a little nugget to remember for next year, if
Josh Allen finishes this season with more touchdowns than Patrick Mahomes,
he will enter the eighth season of his NFL career
already with the most touchdowns by a player all time

(30:15):
in their first eight seasons.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Because again I understand people come out and say, well,
Mahomes didn't play his first year.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
A wise man once.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Told me that's a whole lot of NMFP not my
FN problem. All right, that's don't wait for anybody.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
Right right. No, stats don't lie, the ATA doesn't lie.
And you know what, if you're gonna have one, at
least have one, you know what I mean. Yeah, Mahomes
didn't play his first year, but he does have Super Bowls,
which is something that Josh Allen I would imagine would
trade all of this in for just one chip. So
he strikes me as that type of guy. So while

(30:56):
these stats are nice to say, and these records are
nice to I'm sure Josh is like, yeah, that's greaty.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
So Josh Allen Tally, speaking of records, Tally to sixty
fifth career rushing touchdown in one hundred and nine games,
tying Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas for most
all time in franchise history. Thurman Thomas did it in
one hundred and seventy three games. I put that in
there because that's mind blowing. Josh talied his fortieth total
touchdown on the year, becoming the first player in NFL
history with five consecutive forty plus total touchdown seasons. Drew

(31:24):
Brees did it three straight years from twenty eleven to
twenty thirteen. Five did it twice from ninety five to
ninety six. Aaron Rodgers had two instances twenty eleven to
twenty twelve and twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, and
Tom Brady also did it in twenty twenty to twenty
twenty one. Allen rushed in pass for at least one
touchdown for the forty third time in his career, behind
only Cam Newton at forty five for the most all

(31:45):
time in NFL history. Have to imagine that record falls
next year. It's Allen's twenty fifth game with two plus
passing and one plus rushing touchdown, extending his own NFL record.
Cam Newton sits second with twenty two of those such
instances two quarterbacks this year. And this is why the
MVP race has gotten so hot, Lamar Jackson and we
may have to excuse me, we may have to do

(32:05):
a just a straight podcast on this one because the
conjecture has gotten crazy. I mean, we think that Josh
Allen is the MVP because again, the Ravens defense has
been incredible in the second half of the year. They
have Derrick Henry, who was having the best year of
his career, and I would have to think that if

(32:27):
the Buffalo Bills, yes, they'll have a thousand yard rusher,
but the Ravens have almost a two thousand yard rusher.
So again, and not to mention too, I know that
this seems as nine and I agree. Being a Bills fan,
I can tell you Ravens fans, I think this is
dumb as hell, but Tony Roman mentioned it on the broadcast,
and I think it holds a lot of weight. Lamar
Jackson already has two MVPs that alone may give Josh

(32:50):
Allen the edge this year. Do I think that's fair? No,
but that's how it works sometimes, That's how it's worked
in the past. If a guy has a bunch and
someone's going for the first time, they tend to lean
in that direction. There's also talk of maybe being a
co MVP, which I hate the idea of that, but whatever,
the co MVP.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Would be very mid it would be Yeah, yeah, I
think because I thought it was made even back then
when it and don't get me wrong, Steve McNair and
Peyton Manning in two thousand and three had unbelievable seasons.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Congratulations you you you got your first kiss but unfortunately
it was with your cousin.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
That's right, right, right, and that and that I I
know that was That would have been Peyton's first MVP
if I'm not mistaken back then, and that fueled him
to win it three more times, I would feel, but
you know, maybe that could be the same for Josh Allen,
but I'd rather him just get the MVP. He's very
clearly the m V there are again, no, this is

(33:53):
no disrespect to Lamark Jackson. His game is fantastic. But
I mean Josh Allen, I would argue, especially in those
superhuman performances that he had even in victory and in defeat,
like he arguably kept them in that game to win
and kept them in that game with a chance to win.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
And you may have to do like a first take
debate on that because because it's it's like get a
whiteboard and like draw on it, because there's a lot John,
and sorry to cut you off, but there's a lot
going both ways. The Ravens, the Ravens beat the Bills.
That that right, there should be a big red, a
big strike one for the for the Bills. Right for
Josh Allen. Two quarterbacks in NFL history have had thirty

(34:35):
five hundred plus passing and five hundred plus rushing yards
and under ten turnovers through sixteen games. Lamar Jackson, Josh
Allen both this year. Absolutely incredible. Josh Allen first player
in NFL history with eighteen plus total touchdowns and one
or fewer turnovers in a month.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
It's gonna be a very hard It's gonna be a
very hard one for the voters.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Here's another one, send to me by the unpaid intern here,
Chris Downey. There are five instances this is per adopt
to stats. Five instances an NFL history where a quarterback
had a season of three hundred plus completions, four hundred
plus rushing yards, forty plus total touchdowns, five plus rushing touchdowns,
and a division title. Those instances are Josh Allen in
twenty twenty, Josh Allen in twenty twenty one, Josh Allen

(35:14):
in twenty twenty two, Josh Allen twenty twenty three. And
I'm sure you can see this is going Josh Allen
in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
All Right, wow, well.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
So again it's living through it. You're not recognizing the
great man, I mean now it's ever present.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Oh yeah, absolutely I remember the joke when Mahomes was
coming to his own was quote unquote future Hall of
Famer Patrick Mahomes. And now you can argue, Now you
can state unequivocally he's Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes. I
think it's time to start putting attaching the future Hall
of Famer tag to Josh Allen here and I have

(35:53):
been because I do believe he's a future Hall of Well,
at the time it's all said and done, he's going
to be the greatest Buffalo Bill to ever play. And
he's and and I can't imagine he wouldn't have at
minimum at least one chip by the time it's done.
If he gets that one chip that sends him into
the stratusphere, he wouldn't even need another one. But Josh
Allen future Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
So the super Bowl two Super Bowl victories lock you
in as a Hall of Famer. Which is why a
guy like Eli Manning, who if you're looking at Pro
Football references, they have the Hall of Fame monitor where
they have they have score, they have like this algorithm
that creates HAFFAM, which is the Pro Football Reference Hall
of Fame Monitor. The average Hall of Fame quarterback is

(36:36):
a one oh eight Hawfham Patrick Mahomes right now is
at ninety five point eight eight, but he has three
super bowls. He's he could retire tomorrow, he'd be a
lot in the Hall of Fame. Eli manning two super
Bowl titles, he's an eighty five point five to one
well off that one oh eight two super Bowl titles.
Also against the New England Patriots, the greatest quarterback of
all time and arguably against the greatest team of all time,

(37:00):
our greatest regular season team of all time, because you
can't be the greatest of all time if you don't
win the title. But again, looking down here.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
At at.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Josh Allen is currently at thirty eight point four to
three off them. But a Hall of Fame in all
pro selection Pro Bowl selections would help out. Again, we
are entering a territory rate now where where things are.
Oh and that's before I think.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
That I think about this updated. I think about it,
but I think about it like this, like do you
remember when Donovan McNabb was an Eagles quarterback and he
was really good and he was taking them to the
NFC Championship all those years and the Super Bowl and
all that, and he ended up as as a member
of the Hall of very Good by the time it
was it was over and done with, I don't see

(37:50):
that with Josh Allen. And and and that's not to
say that, you know, Josh Allen has had the same
level of success where he's you know, multiple six in
different AFC championship games in comparison to McNabb and his
six or seven different NFC championship games with going to
the Super Bowl with one of them. But in the
same you look at all these his all these stats,

(38:13):
you look at what he has meant to this Buffalo
Bill's franchise, to this community, the revitalization of this of
this franchise, taking them from oh are they going to
be moving to Toronto to you know, Buffalo is the
place to be. We need to get here, you know
what I mean? Like I think a lot of that's
got a factor into it too. I again, by the

(38:35):
time it's all said and done, I truly believe Josh
Allen's going to be the greatest Buffalo Bill, at minimum,
the greatest Buffalo Bill we've ever seen. And and and
I do believe he will be a Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
I mean, next year he's going to he'll be if
it doesn't happen on Sunday, he will be the record
holder for most rushing touchdowns and he will next year
most likely surpassed Jim Kelly for most passing touchdowns or
very close to that. So it is funny though, as
we're sitting here chatting h something popped up here that

(39:06):
a guy switched Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen in Madden
this year and simulated the whole season. Lamar Jackson and
Josh Allen stats were roughly the same as there this
year in real life, but the Bills ended up pointing
the Super Bowl, which was kind of funny with Lamar Jackson.
But it's a it's a video game, so you know,
what do you what do you expect?

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure you could with Madden
you can start the start the season with the roster
that you had, you know, coming into the preseason. And
that's to assume that you know, trades have been made
things like that, like you could. It's a crap shoot there.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Before we move on to the rest of the offense,
My favorite.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
I had the Chats undefeated a couple of seasons ago.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
My favorite thing about Madden is when you go in
and you sign all of the high, high rated free
agents in the preseason and then you just trade them
all for really high draft picks.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
You have five done.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
That's how you get picks so quick and so easy.
With that being said, though, James Cook, running back fifteen
carries fifty three yards a rushing touchdown. He recorded his
NFL leading fifteenth rushing touchdown of the season, time Josh
Allen in twenty twenty three for the second most rushing
touchdown then a single season in franchise history. He has
nineteen yards short of his second.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
And I wanted to see this really quick James Cook.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
That's the one thing I knew. I had something else
I had to update here on the podcast. It would
be his second consecutive one thousand yard season, which last
year he ran for one thy one hundred and twenty
two yards and two touches. This year he's rushed for
nine hundred and eighty one yards and fifteen touches. So again,
the Bills have really limited his usage, but he has

(40:45):
been effective when touching the ball, which is incredible. Nine
different players on Sunday, I don't that I didn't even
think I grab that number either I am slacking here
big time. Either way, we'll just say as I'm talking here.
The Buffalo Bills again once again continued to spread the
ball out to everybody. And it's and I think that's

(41:07):
the thing where it might be up. It might be
just a putting it on tape kind of thing, because
in the playoffs, I think you find your guy, you
stick with him. But when you look at the Buffalo
Bills on Sunday, you've got one, two, three, four, five,
six seven, you have you have ten ten players. Ten
players on Sunday recorded at least a target, which is

(41:30):
absolutely incredible.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
I have the names for you. I have the names
for you.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
If you want all the time of them, I'm ready.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
All right, We've got Terrell Shavers. He was. He had
one target, one reception sixty nine yards one, Toddy Amari
Cooper three for fifty six one, Toddy mac Collins two
for thirty three yards, Kean Coleman three receptions twenty seven yards.
That big touchdown, that that marvelous jump ball in between
two defenders there. It was pretty pretty sick looking. And

(41:59):
he's going to come out to his and by the way.
Shout out to Keion for that fantastic kip up he
had there. The wrestler and me appreciated that. Khalil shakirt
I brought in three for twenty five, Dalton Kaka two
for twenty four, Ty Johnson one for nine, Dawson Knox
one for four, Ray Davis one for four, and Quintin
Morris was targeted once but did not receive anything and

(42:19):
no receiving yards there.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
And again looking at it, it blows my mind how
they're able to get the ball around consistently. Wide receiver
Mari Cooper three receptions on three targets for fifty six
yards and a touchdown became him the fifty seventh player
fifty seventh I'll say that again player in NFL history
with ten thousand plus reception yards an incredible high point
touchdown catch which I'll do a trip into the medical
temper concussion protocol was subsequently cleared to return of the game,

(42:43):
but Amari Cooper's athleticism was on full display on Sunday.
I do think that the Buffalo Bills are going to
utilize Cooper a lot more in the playoffs. It might
end up honestly being Cooper Kincaid Knox and Cooper Kincaid
Knox in Kean Coleman or in Chicia. I mean again,

(43:05):
you got on the list. There's an embarrassment of riches there.
But Cooper for the deep ball, to matriculate the ball
down the field and excuse me, Shakira to move those chains.
But it'll be shocking to see the Bills play in
a game where they're actually trying to actively score as
many points as possible, because again past couple well this
week and against the Patriots, I don't know if they

(43:26):
weren't trying, but it was ugly this week. It was
just kind of like, hey, guys, we're here t one o'clock.
It's game time.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
Wide receiver keyn Coleman has mentioned john three receptions on
seven targets for twenty seven yards and a touch His
touchdown catch, which showed Coleman out leaping two defenders once
again showed by Buffalo has high hopes for Coleman's future.
And you mentioned wide receiver Tyrell Shaver's one reception on
one target for sixty nine yards and a touchdown undrafted
by the way of Alabama twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen,

(43:54):
Mississippi State in twenty twenty, and San Diego State twenty
twenty one to twenty twenty two. It was his third
career NFL game. He was a practice squad call up
for the injured wide receiver curt of Samuel. He is
the twenty fifth Buffalo player to score in his first
NFL reception, in the first to do so so since
Josh Allen on November fifteenth, twenty twenty versus the Cardinals.
Shavers is the sixth Buffalo wide receiver to score a
touchdown on the first NFL reception in the first since

(44:15):
Robert Woods on September eighth, twenty thirteen versus New England.
Sixty nine yard touchdown catches the longest first reception touchdown
on franchise history, surpassing Flip Johnson's sixty six yard touchdown
on October seventeenth, nineteen eighty eight at the New York Jets. Also,
Shavers is the thirteenth Buffalo player to catch a touchdown
this season, which ties the all time NFL record. Have

(44:35):
to think the Bills may find a way to get
to a fourteenth on Sunday, But moving over to the
defense gown I'll un thro this quick because I know
we're going a little long here, but again being about
the attitude wrapping up the defensive special teams, it was
the first time since nineteen ninety eight that Buffalo's defense
had a safety. A defensive safety recovered in opposing fumble
and recorded two plus interceptions in a single game. Their
turnover balance is at a plus twenty three, which is

(44:58):
the highest in franchise history at any point of the season.
Explained like the five. Essentially, if it stays above plus nineteen,
this will be a new franchise record. Defensive end Greg
Russo and defensive tackle Takwan Jones each recorded a half
a sack. This is important because it goes into the
history books as New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers five
hundred and sixty sixth time being sacked in his career,

(45:20):
surpassing Tom Brady for most sacks all time. Defensive end
aj at Panessa a great game on Sunday. Four tackles,
all solo, one sack, one tackle for a lost and
a quarterback hit. He recorded the first Buffalo safety since
at Oliver at Detroit On November twenty fourth, twenty twenty two,
This also is the fortieth safety in franchise history. Epanessa
has now recorded at least six sacks in each of

(45:40):
the last three seasons. Linebacker Matt Malano five tackles too solo,
one quarterback hit in a fumble recovery. His fumble recovery
John was the eleventh of his career, tying in with
Tony Green and Darryl Talley for fourth most in franchise history.
Milano Trail's Jim Dunaway with twelve, Bruce Smith with fourteen,
and Cornelius Bennett with eighteen for the most fumble recoveries
in franchise history. Also, before I take a sip of

(46:04):
some water here.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
Yeah, I'm not Von, You're going pretty strong there, man.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
I've I've reverted the radio form.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
Here.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Linebacker Von Miller two tackles to solo, one sack of
tackle for loss in the quarterback kit. Miller's career sack
total now sits at one hundred and twenty eight and
a half career sacks. Movie Miller passed Ricky Jackson at
one hundred and twenty eight for sixteenth on the NFL's
all time sack with John. Von Miller did look good
on Sunday, it feels like he's he's still they're picking

(46:33):
and choosing his usage. I don't know if that's going
to change come postseason, but I.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
Would imagine you look good. You go all in during
the postseason, like right now, now's the time for you
to pick and choose because you're already in. But when
the postseason comes as a brand new season, everybody zero
and zero, you got to go all in there.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
So defensive tackle Jordan Phillips one pass deflection and an interception,
second career pick and his first sense. Twenty sixteen, Aarond
pass was deflected by Greg Russo into Phillips' hands. I
love the fact, John, that Jordan Phillips immediately caught the
ball and went down. Was not trying to start, not
trying to attempt to return, not trying to potentially put

(47:12):
himself in harm's way of losing the ball, just went
right down.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
And this marks.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Buffalo's third interception by a defensive tackle this year. Austin
Johnson has two. Jordan Phillips has won, marking the most
by any NFL team since twenty eleven, when the Miami
Dolphins also had three. Quarterback Tarren Johnson a hundredth career
game on Sunday. In his career, five hundred and fifteen tackles,
eight sacks, eight forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, four passes defended,

(47:37):
six interceptions, and two touchdowns. He has been a cog,
a key part of the machine on that Bill's defense.
And also, speaking of a name that we haven't heard
a lot about, but balled out on Sunday in very
very limited playing time, linebacker Joe Andreeson had eight tackles,
five solo, and a tackle for a loss thanks to

(47:57):
Josh Allen. He's known as Buffalo Joe. Josh extended playing
time in the fourth quarter due to the nature of
the game and reason was undrafted out of Buffalo. He
earned a roster spot after a successful rookie mini camp tryout.
Was named to the NFL's All Preseason team in twenty
twenty four. Has a penchant for his high work ethic.
He started John on the fifty three man roster was inactive,

(48:19):
grabbed a role on special teams. Has played sixty nine
point nine four percent of special team snaps in twelve games,
including Sunday, and on Sunday, got his chance to show
his capabilities playing twenty six defensive snaps on Sunday. That's
forty one point three percent of the defensive plays in
this game. So again nice. Not only is blowout our

(48:40):
our garbage time games important for opposing teams to get
there to get their reps in, but guys like Joe
Andreson who may not have had the opportunity to show
himself how he can because again, the Jets at that point,
aside from Aaron Rodgers, everybody was out there, everyone was

(49:01):
given it. They're all trying to make sure that they
were were putting as much uh excuse me, as much
I guess good tape out there trying to make sure
that they scored as many points as possible and not
give up. And Joe and Dreesen was all over the
field in that.

Speaker 1 (49:15):
Absolutely, absolutely, It's it's good. It's good, a good story
to kind of close out these stats here with also
shout out to the Bill's Mafia giving a nice welcome
to Tarrod Taylor when he when he made his appearance.
He certainly deserved that that show of love from from
Bill's Mafia there, and I wanted to highlight that too,

(49:36):
that wasn't covered.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
Absolutely, and I love I love Uh. I'll always have
a part in a place in my heart for for
Tyrod Taylor. Absolutely John. With that being said, we're gonna
take a quick commercial break. We'll be right back with
more Trust the Podcast here on the Gear Radio Network.
And we're back here and Trust the Podcast around the
NFL brought to you by Go Frosters.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
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go to our unpaid intern, the Holy jack Wagon, mister

(51:09):
Chris Downey for Around the NFL.

Speaker 4 (51:11):
Take it away, Chris, thanks Ryan and John, and here
is your Around the NFL recap for Week seventeen, the
penultimate week of the NFL regular season nowadays is we
have Week eighteen coming up next week. Again, we talked
a little bit about it due to the timer recording,
but let's start from the beginning week seventeen. On Christmas Day,
the Kinsas City Chiefs secured the number one spot in

(51:33):
the AFC with their twenty nine to ten win over
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore Ravens thirty one to two winners
over the Houston Texans in the afternoon game on Christmas Day.
With the win, though the Ravens now sit in third
in the AFC overtaking the Steelers top of the NFC
North with one game left to play. Thursday night, Seahawks
and Bears in a barn burner in Chicago, Seahawks sixty

(51:56):
three winners over the Chicago Bears. All of the score
came in the first half. A full slatest Saturday games,
Chargers and the Patriots had a battle, but it wasn't
much of a battle on the Patriots side onlike last
week in Buffalo, Chargers forty to seven winners over the Patriots,
justin Herbert two hundred and eighty one yards and three
touchdowns in the win. The Broncos had a chance to

(52:19):
solidify their spot in the AFC playoff picture with Cincinnati
behind Joe Burrows four hundred and twelve yards thirty to
twenty four overtime winners against the Broncos, keeping their playoff
hopes alive going into Week eighteen, and the Rams thirteen
to nine winners in the night cap. Again, we talked
about the Bills thrashing already over the New York Jets,

(52:41):
the Giants, the other New York team quote unquote New
York the other story of the weekend taking themselves out
of the number one spot of the NFL draft as
it stands, forty five thirty three winners over the Indianapolis Colts. Again,
the Giants had a chance to hold on to that
number one pick. You know, fall a few spots now

(53:01):
in the draft. With the win, the Eagles sakwon Barkley
one hundred and sixty seven yards in the win, surpassing
two thousand yards rushing on the season, right behind the
rushing record for an NFL season. Going into Week eighteen,
the Eagles forty one seven winners over the Dallas Cowboys.
And in the NFC North, the Vikings escape with a
twenty seven to twenty five win over the Green Bay Packers,

(53:24):
putting them at fourteen and two going into the final
week of the season. On Monday Night Football, the Lions
did the same thing with a forty to thirty four
win in San Francisco, also going to fourteen and two.
Now we look ahead to the AFC playoff picture. Here
kinsas city Again we talked about number one seed locked up,

(53:45):
Bills now have locked up the number two seed. The
Ravens currently hold the number three seed with a game
on the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Steelers do hold the tiebreaker,
so the Steelers win in Week eighteen and the Ravens lose,
that three seed will go to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now,
all of those games are on Saturday of this coming week,

(54:05):
so the Ravens host the Browns at four thirty the
Steelers host the Bengals at eight o'clock. A Ravens loss
to the Browns at home would be unexpected, but if
it does happen and the Steelers beat the Bengals Steelers
to get the three seed, the Ravens will fall to
a wild card spot. Now, as we continue going down,
Houston locked up first in the AFC South four seed

(54:29):
in the playoffs, Steelers again top wild card right now
tied with the Chargers at ten and six, as well
the last playoff spot between three teams in the AFC.
The Broncos currently hold that spot, but it's also the
Miami Dolphins that are lurking as well as the Cincinnati Bengals.
A Broncos win puts them to ten and seven. That's
all they need to do. Broncos win and they're in

(54:51):
the playoffs. But if some tom foolery happens, the Bengals
or Dolphins could slide into that seven seed. And now,
as Bills fans reminder, Bills Bills will play the seven seeds,
So could be looking at the Broncos, the Chargers, the Bengals,
the Dolphins all in that number seven seed depending how
it shakes out. Well, the Chargers already in the sixth seed,

(55:15):
excuse me, apologies, but the Broncos, Dolphins, and Bengals are
all sitting there with a potential trip to Buffalo in
the first round of the playoffs. Now on the NFC side,
the Lions fourteen to two, top seed in the NFC,
but they play the Vikings on Sunday Night Football to
close out the regular season in Detroit. Is the last

(55:37):
game of the regular season, the final game before the playoffs.
The winner gets the top seed and the buy in
the playoffs or the NFC or the loser is the
five seed and they have to travel and as it
currently stands, they would go to Tampa Bay, but the
Falcons one game back of the Bucks, who also they
hold the tiebreaker over, so if they win and Tampa
Bay loses, Minnesota or Detroit would be going to Atlanta.

(56:01):
But we got to wait to see how that shakes out.
So Atlanta or Tampa Bay could be that four seed.
The loser is out, then they would host one of
the NFC's best teams in either Minnesota or Detroit. Now
the two seed Philadelphia Eagles that is locked up. They
are thirteen and three, a couple games up on the
three seed La Rams again commanders in the NFC East

(56:21):
eleven and five, two games back of the Eagles. The
Packers also at eleven and five, thirdeam from the NFC
North to make the playoffs as it stands, So as
it stands right now, waiting to see who wins that
NFC South that will be your home game, bid for
the wild card, one of the wild card games in

(56:41):
the NFC AFC side the Broncos, Dolphins, and Bengals all
vying for that last spot. Now, if the Broncos had
beaten the Bengals, Broncos would have locked that up. The
AFC would be set. It would all be about seeding
and placement. But the last we go into Week eighteen,
here a lot to play for. Some team's not playing

(57:02):
for a whole lot, going to use it to rest
some guys. But you know, looking towards that Sunday night game,
the Vikings and the Lions two fourteen and two teams
vying for a conference title. Whereas put in perspective, these
teams are playing this weekend in January January fifth for
their division title. Excuse me, the Bills locked theirs up
back on December one, So to put the parody in

(57:24):
perspective here.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
It do be like that. Shout out Ryan.

Speaker 4 (57:30):
So again, one week left in the season, some to
play for, some draft picks, some seating in the playoffs.
We'll see what happens here, Ryan and John back to you.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Thanks Chris, we appreciate you as always looking ahead. Now,
John are injury.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Before we do that. Before we do that. I don't
know why I was doing this, but in the commercial
break and while we were listening to Chris over there,
for some reason, Terrell Shavers jumped out at me because
he's wearing the number eighty, and I decided to just
look at all of the players to wear number eighty
for the Buffalo Bills. Would you like to hear the list? Here?

(58:07):
It goes absolute shout outs to Bill Brooks, Jerry Butler,
Monty Crockett, Jason Krume, Jamison Crowder, Charlie Ferguson, Dereck Hagen,
Leonard Hankerson, John Holland, Ray Jarvis, Flip Johnson, James Lofton,
David Martin, Jim McFarland, Eric Molds. We all know Eric Molds,
Derek Schuman, Deontay Thompson, Jan White, and of course now

(58:31):
Terrell Shavers. Those are all the players to wear number
eighty for the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Absolutely incredible.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
I think eighty should be.

Speaker 2 (58:39):
Eric Mold should probably up on the Wall of Fame,
but I will.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
I would agree with that he's certainly. He certainly of
everybody that I listed here, wore that number the longest. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:51):
Absolutely. Looking ahead toward injury report here, John Damar Hamlon
a ribbingery kept him out of the lineup once again,
but it appears that the goal here is just to
get Hamlin healthy for the wildcard weekend and also see
what depth Buffalo has at safety, which just worked.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Out pretty well.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
It seems like because rookie Cole Bishop played forty seven
percent of the snaps at Detroit has played one hundred
percent of the defensive snaps first New England and the Jets.
While Pro Football Focus has excuse me, almost every other
cold Bishop related grade as not that great. His pass
rush grade is at eighty five point seven, fourth out

(59:26):
of one hundred and sixty six safeties, so he's he's
got something figured out with that pass rushing grade there.
But again, we also know how people feel about pro
football focus, but we'll just let that go and leave
that there. Also, wide receiver Curtis Samuel missed the game
with a rib injury as well. Week eighteen, john Buffalo
at New England. The regular season wraps up Sunday, January fifth,
at one pm on CBS. The NFL has well, the

(59:49):
NFL has not put I believe someone put it out.
I'm not sure if it was the NFL, but there
are thirty two potential outcomes for who Buffalo will face
and wildcard weekend. Twenty of those outcomes are Denver, eight
Areas and four Cincinnati, so again looking very much like
Denver is coming to Buffalo, but any possible at this
point in time. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for

(01:00:10):
the games this week, but those are the ones you're
paying attention to. At least Buffalo's goal for Sunday to
survive and stay healthy. The New England Patriots three and thirteen,
one and six at home, fourth in the AFC East,
coming off a forty to seven loss to the Los
Angeles Chargers. New England fans john are.

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
Livid over this season. They want everybody fire.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
I follow follow out of Red Sox fans, being a
Red Sox fan myself, as people should know by now,
so I get to see the anger among Patriots fans
and I'm loving it. I love every Sunday. Patriots first
double digit loss season since two thousand, when they went
five and eleven, and the most losses since nineteen ninety
two when they finished two and fourteen. Many within the

(01:00:51):
fan base don't believe that Gerad Mayo is the guy
for the job.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
But here's also a fun twist.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
Garrodeo mentioned that they may not start Drake may on Sunday,
and a lot of people believe it has to do
with the first overall pick now the New York Giants,
the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Jacksonville Jaguars one in
Week seventeen, pushing New England the first twenty twenty five
due to their point four to six nine strength of schedule,
which mock drafts have Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter from

(01:01:17):
Colorado being drafted by the New England Patriots and coming
to Foxborough. So real quick, John, You've got the Bills
who don't really care if they win or lose. They
just want to be healthy because they're already locked in. Obviously,
play the game. You want to win every week, but
the goal here is to just survive and be healthy.
And you've got the Patriots who quite literally might be
trying to lose the game. Sure not trying, but not

(01:01:40):
putting in an honest eff They're not going to be
putting in the effort.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
Honestly they have they would have number one overall pick,
and if they really wanted to with that number one
overall pick, they could probably take a page out of
the out of the Chicago Chicago Bears book what they did,
which sell it off for a litany of other picks.
And you know, speed is your rebuild that way, so
to speak, although it didn't really work out very well
for Chicago, but yeah, it's it's I don't really know

(01:02:08):
how to feel about this game or if I'm even
gonna be watching it. To be honest with you, I
may just rely on your notes.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
I will be I will be watching I'm not sure
how well.

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
If you're watching, you're gonna enjoy. You're gonna enjoy Spirididas,
Adam Marchalletta and Aditi kink Wibala on commentary announcing.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
If you wanted to know how serious the CBS staff
was taking this one.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Exactly right there, that'll be If you were looking for
Nance Romo and Wolson, You're gonna have to wait till
four twenty five with the Kansas City Denver game, which,
thank you, that will be you, Chris Downey for sharing
that with us. I wanted to find a way just
to be able to say Adidi kink Wibala's name on there,
because everybody messes that one up, except that's a name.

Speaker 2 (01:02:50):
That's a name, Hey John So to wrap this up,
ESPN the matchup predictor, seventy eight point seven percent of
America Blues Buffalo will tell you their fourteenth win for
the first time in franchise history. I'm gonna say the
vibes are still immaculate. If you're gonna have a full
week of of money Mitch being the number one of

(01:03:12):
installing a money Mitch game plan, I mean I would
presume my guess is that Josh is probably gonna play
just the first drive to get to get the start
to continue his start streak, which he has earned that right.
I would have to think James Cook is probably going
to stay in until he gets his nineteen yards for
a thousand rushing yards.

Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
Yep. And that's yeahcuse me, that's probably part of the course.
It's it's probably what you're gonna be expecting there. If
you're watching that game. I think I think it will
be the Money Mitch Show, primarily because I you know,
with the factory you had mentioned there about them not
starting Drake May potentially not starting Drank May. That tells

(01:03:54):
me that New England's just gonna mail it in and
then it'll be the Money Mitch Show. And you know what,
I'm gonna be a part of that seventy eight point
seven percent. Anyways, if they tell her the fourteenth win,
you might as well. If you're gonna if you're gonna win,
get you know, get the record for you know, winning
the most games in franchise, you might as well. You know,
it's no, it's a no never mind to you. The

(01:04:16):
otherwise the result of the game. You're in the playoffs,
you know, you rest your folks, you get ready for
either Denver, Cincinnati, or Miami, and you just kind of
you go to the next thing. But sure, why not Buffalo.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
I mean, I'm more interested. I'm more interested in seeing
what a team like Kansas City will do because you
don't think about this, John, If Buffalo rests josh An
this week, okay, great, he's playing next week, right as
if Mahomes doesn't play this week, he's not playing next week.
By the time he gets to the to the divisional round,
you're looking at like three weeks of inactivity. But if

(01:04:51):
you play him, you run the risk of him getting
hurt in a meaningless game. So again, that's right, You're
not going to see a lot of the Bills. They
You've seen how the Bills play this year. You saw
against the Jets. Once you get to a point where
the game is completely out of hand and there's no
need anymore, get them out, put them on.

Speaker 1 (01:05:08):
And I think that's where the number one seed kind
of you know, there's it's a blessing and a curse
to be number one, home field advantage and all that, right,
because of that very FACTORID right, there potentially three weeks
of inactivity could be a little bit rusty. You got
to figure out the game plan to keep them sharp
somehow during that time. And Buffalo, I'm kind of glad
they're not the number one seed because there they strike

(01:05:30):
me as the team that needs to you know, the
continued like they just got to keep following their regiment.
They got to keep following their script every week to
be prepared, to be able to continue to play like
they do. I think if they had that long of
a gap, you know, resting starters things like that, I
think they'd be playing very differently. Not necessarily the worst,

(01:05:51):
but I don't think they'd be playing how they how
they currently are. Putting forty points immediately, so the rest
can help for some, it can hinder the others. It's
going to be very interesting these play I'm very much
looking forward to these playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Speaking of playoffs too, for people who are still tuned
into the Wolfensteiner Football League Championship game, I John am
projected to win by one hundred points and be back
to back for the first time ever, because well, I'll
just put it this way, I have Joe Burrow and
t Higgins.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
That's anything that you need to know.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
It's not official yet, because because again we're before Monday
Night Football, you'll hear this after Monday Night Football, So
it's not official yet.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
We can mention it next week.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
But holy crap, that I did. I naw that one.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
Very very good, Ryan, very good you I am. I
am watching from the senior citizen home of fantasy football players,
past the retirement home, watching very proudly, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:52):
Maybe we'll maybe we'll induct the Fort Myers Fookers into the.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
All the things. Why not? Why not Scookers? I forgot
about that.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
That's a that was a that was a great one.
But hey for for uh before we before we wrap up.

Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
Yes, we didn't get it last week. We got to
get him this week. Chris Berman. No one circles the
wagons like the Buffalo bills.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
For Chris Downie, Johnsmino. I am Ryan Wolf, we are
trust the podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:07:22):
You're not.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
We will get you, same time, same place next week.
As always, Thanks for tuning in, friends, and go Bills.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Shout Chau everybody. What. The preceding presentation has been brought
to you by the Gear Network