Peter, Justin, and special guest Will Cook dive into the PFL playoffs with bold predictions, breakout teams, and key injury updates. From Wild Card matchups to potential Super Bowl surprises, we break down who’s set to shine, and who might stumble, this postseason.
Full Transcript
Peter: well welcome everybody to Primetime Blitz, the podcast for the Primetime Football League. I am your host Peter Fenger, and I'm here with my co-host Justin Walstead. How you doing Justin?
Justin: Doing great, as usual. I can't believe we're at the end of a season.
Peter: I know, right? It came and went.
And for some of us, this is sweet relief because I've been waiting to figure out when my season was ended and much longer that I thought it would.
Justin: I'm sure there's a lot of teams right now that are, you know, dying to get into the off season and start making for 2004.
Peter: But, uh, today's also really special because we have a very special guest with us.
Welcome commissioner, and, uh, GM of the [00:01:00] Arizona Cardinals. Will welcome, will.
Will: Glad to be here. And yeah, I, I, I hear it personally when you say that you're waiting for the season to be over, because that's very much how I felt too. My season was over, I wanna say preseason, week three might be what it was, but I'm also in a division that doesn't have any talented teams in it.
Like there are no big winners in my division whatsoever. Oh, wait, there's that team at the top. Yeah. Yeah, there's that team at the top.
Peter: Actually your division had 2, 2, 2 representing the division. Yeah. The 49 ERs snuck in there at
Will: the end. Kind of surprising, but
Peter: yeah, that's right.
Will: Happy for Brady. I don't think he knows.
He is got some stuff going on right now, so he is kind of on a sabbatical and uh, nice surprise for him when he comes back. But he has an extra year on that GM contract.
Peter: That's right. See, he's the robot team that'll defeat everybody. Also bittersweet. Well, you were the team that defeated my chances of getting into the playoffs, so one I appreciate for, for you to finally deliver that, that death nail because there could only be one person from our division to do it.
But, uh, bittersweet that it had to happen a week before. I would've loved to compete for something in [00:02:00] week 17. And also I still
Will: I still can't believe that though. You were up 17 to six going into the fourth quarter. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go do some chores, and I come back. You're like, good game, good win.
And I'm like, wow, dude. It's like, what the heck? Yeah. Then I look at the boxer, I'm like, oh, I won. Cool. Yeah. That wasn't supposed happened. Classic.
Peter: Classic. I also say, uh, a very familiar game to go up against the Seattle Seahawks and Rock and for him to win based off of a kickoff return. So, you know, just, it's just like it, man.
I feel like I'm back in the NFC again.
Justin: Are you feeling a little bit of PTSD bro?
Peter: Yeah, definitely, definitely. I need a few more years battling against, uh, Darren and, uh, and Ian and Neil to just shake me outta this
Will: breed. A whole new PTSD for you, right?
Peter: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, I wanna start there and start, uh, asking you guys what were your thoughts on the season as a whole?
Thinking of your, maybe your predictions as we started this season and how, how we ended now that we're, uh, we're here at the [00:03:00] playoffs maybe any teams that, uh, you undervalued, maybe teams that you might've overvalued. Talk to me about your surprises for the season. I'll start with you, Justin.
What do you think?
Justin: All right. Just generally speaking, um, I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the playoff race and the NFC. The fact that we had two teams go 15 and one, I think. I've never seen that before. And the fact that, you know. The second seed didn't get with a 15 and one record. I don't know the last time I've ever seen that.
And then the fifth seed is 13 and three. So the, the fact that 13 and three is not enough to, to win a division is also kind of crazy to me. I have to send kudos to gm, Darren Roberts you know, he came in what, halfway through the season almost? Yeah. And he, uh, won the division.
So, I mean, it just speaks to the caliber of GM that he is. So congrats to him. I don't think he, I, I would be concerned with that team going forward. Also congrats to the Chiefs. They lost their [00:04:00] quarterback, Trent Green in the first game, and then they came back and they made the playoffs and won the division.
I remember everyone thinking it was gonna be like, oh, the chiefs are done. And somehow they, yeah. Raiders are gonna step
Peter: in. Yeah. Yeah.
Justin: The other thing is there's some really high caliber GMs that came in last in a division. So I'm thinking of Anthony and I'm thinking of Apollo. Obviously I don't think that's going to be the case moving forward.
I assume they're gonna have some pretty aggressive off seasons. I know that Apollo has two great draft picks in the first round of 2004, so I'm sure he is gonna make some dents there. And not to say that the A FC South, I think is probably the toughest division in the league as of now.
Three of those four teams ended up going 10 plus wins. So those are some of my, my observations for the season.
Peter: Yeah. I, I have to, uh, compliment the Patriots and the bills. I, uh, I thought that that division fought really hard and, uh, for both of those teams to make it with their [00:05:00] records and the way they performed was very good.
I would also like to kudos to the Saints. I did not expect a a strong season like that, but they truly proved that they could be the top of the NFC, which they held up until the very end. And also the, uh, kudos to the bears. Uh, I, I did not foresee a season like they had where they were pretty scrappy despite really not having a quarterback like the entire season.
So, uh, bravo. There also, I, I, I really remember will put
Justin: them forth because he, uh, drafted Kingsbury.
Peter: He
Will: played Kingsbury. There's no reason that team should have been eight eight other than the fact that Brent is the gm.
Peter: Yeah. Yeah, I, uh, I was a little surprised that the Chargers didn't do better. I really thought that they had a strong roster, but I don't know, maybe it's like age of the quarterback or just, uh, you know, inter division frustrations there.
But, uh, clearly they've got a [00:06:00] number one within La Damian Tomlinson. I don't think that they are, uh, gonna go anywhere. And also I think that there's some frustrations with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and sort of that, that caliber team. But, you know, they, they clearly had enough to compete with first place.
They're just one game away. And even, even in the last week, managed to squeak out a win against the Panthers who won the division. So look, if you can beat them, you can beat everybody. I, uh, we came so, so very close for everyone in that division, like ending eight and eight.
How about you? Will, did you have any surprises for this season?
Will: Well, first off, I would like to say going back and reviewing my preseason predictions that Anthony Sulu was very quick to always crap on. I picked 10 of the 12 playoff teams in the A FC. I had the Colt, S one, the Patriots two, the Chiefs three, the Ravens four, that was our top four there.
And then I had the Jaguars and the Titans and the wildcard Jaguars [00:07:00] almost made it in, so just swap the jaguars and the bills and I would've nailed that one. Um, the NFCI had the Packers one, I had the Rams two, I had the Philadelphia eye, I spelled it wrong, Eagles three, and I had the Buccaneers four because I kind of assumed they saw that veteran talent there.
When we get to disappointments, I think Tampa Bay's got a long future in front of them because they have a lot of vets on that team that are about ready to retire and not much capital. To kind of turn it around quick, I think Tampa Bay's gonna struggle for a long time. Mm. Um, but then I had the 49 ERs and the Vikings as my two wild cards just swapped in those roles.
Right. So, like, looking at that, I'm like, I'm very proud of the fact like, Hey, I nailed the season. I didn't know I did. I just looked at this right now and was like, Hey I, I had these right? But going off of that, I mean, I'm, I'm gonna change my pick when we get to Super Bowl predictions later, but I did have the col, I did have the Colts over the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
So maybe that happens, but that, that's not my pick later. Um, as for the season as a [00:08:00] whole I thought you've already mentioned it. Darren Roberts coming in Midseason and getting the Panthers when I would say that they hadn't been too successful when he came in looking at it, they were. Three. They were three and five.
So I mean he went five and three with them. Mm-hmm. With a roster that wasn't his, it's scrappy. It was a good, good by him. Yeah, Packers and Rams just dominant all season. Um, unfortunately they both had to lose a game, but probably good for them at some point to lose a game. I would say one of the biggest things that impresses me for the year is the Jacksonville Jaguars.
They didn't make the playoffs, but Garth proves why he's a really good GM there. Getting those 10 wins. He doesn't make the playoffs. Obviously. He's picking 23 in the draft is a little disappointing. That was a really good showing and I would say it got mentioned as well the New Orleans Saints. You put Neil jamming a team in a dome, he's gonna have them on high cylinders.
I think he was about three wins over where I expected him to be at this point, which means NFC Watch out. He's gonna be good. Sorry Peter, that's bad news for me. As for the teams that kind of surprised me in the other direction, the Chargers really [00:09:00] disappointed. I mean, I, I have to back and forth sparring with brack because we're always joking with each other.
But I think he's disappointed by the season too. He wanted Breeze and lt. It'll be a little bit better. I think Anthony Fernandez is a little sad with five and 11 and I think that team probably was more of like a seven or an eight win team. Not quite still, I sure what happened there. Still impressed.
Yeah.
Peter: Yeah. They're in a, they're they still impressed. They're in a great shape. Yeah. Like you gotta, you got a brand new team, you're still squeaking out some wins. Like there's only up
Will: Yeah. I, and they're only gonna go up. I, I think they underperformed a little bit this year, but it's short term. You, you don't worry about that initial season.
Initial rosters are so hard too. I mean, I, I obviously, I was joking the Discord earlier, but Well, you, you get a good team off the bat or you get a really crappy tale. Uh, yes. That, that is true. I mean. And, and, and this is not knocking out. Justin's team was always gonna be better than mine this year. But I would also say that I think Justin got more wins outta that team than I would've as a GM too.
Mm. So whereas I probably would've landed a 10 and six squad, Justin is a 15 one out of them. So there's something to be said there for sure. Whereas I probably, because you
Justin: know, in the [00:10:00] SFLI, they went 10 when I had 'em. I had 'em when they had the, the, the roster I had, it was 10 and six and nine and seven.
And so I went to, but you made the Super Bowl both those years. Right. But I didn't get that kind of record.
Will: Yeah. Well it, the record doesn't matter if you don't get the trophy at the end of the year, just ask the 2008 Patriots that. No, I understand that. But and like I said, I think that some other GMs probably would've gone eight and eight with the Cardinals, or maybe even made the playoffs that they would've played Jake Plummer.
Jake Plummer was never my plan, wasn't a fan, didn't like the fact that he was a scrambler, didn't wanna pay the points to make him not a scrambler at 31. So I. yeah, we're always gonna say that. And those that are jealous or envious, we're always gonna say that, but it comes down to how you work with the team that you have.
Peter: Mm-hmm.
Will: I have a question real
Justin: quickly. Looking at the divisions and how they finished right now, like the NFC East to me is an interesting division because I think like, while the Eagles ran away with it that to me seems like a, gonna be a very competitive division down the road. [00:11:00] Is there any division that comes to your mind that you think is gonna be super competitive in the future?
When they have time to develop the players? 'cause a lot of these teams, a lot of these divisions are young right now.
Peter: I mean, the A FC East has, has always been historically pretty competitive. I think that the fact that we're seeing both the bills and the Patriots in the playoffs put a pretty good sign that there's already strong talent there.
I know that Jets lost their quarterback, and I still think that. They can be a pretty scrappy team. So I'm kind of curious to see what they look like after a full season and a healthy quarterback. And you know, Felipe is doing some interesting things with Miami. I don't know if it'll take, you know, many more seasons for him to start getting re Grossman, up and developed, like, managed to be like one of the top rookie quarterbacks just based off of like health alone.
But, uh, you know, all those things [00:12:00] sort of add up to growth and building. You know, I think you add on another off season and the Miami Dolphins might look pretty, pretty scrappy.
Will: I look at it and I think the NFC North is gonna be stacked for years because you've got two really good squads out there in the Packers and the Vikings, but the, the Bears just went eight and eight with a very substandard roster.
And Brent can put some of the pieces that he wants in there, and suddenly that's a 12 win team. Mm-hmm. And I would say Rod, Danny, with the Lions, I mean, not a good starting roster. He's, he's gonna have a process there, but he typically feels very scrappy, double digit win teams. That's gonna be a knock it out, grounded out division for years to come.
I also think the A FC West is gonna be like that. I do think a couple years from now it's gonna be Chargers and Broncos duking it out like crazy. Mm-hmm. The Raiders and the Chiefs are older rosters. I think the Raiders might turn it around a little bit quicker than the Chiefs do, but Byron left, which looked good this year.
So maybe the Chiefs found their future right there. I think that's gonna [00:13:00] be a really good division long term is the A FC West?
Peter: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that, that's, that is curious as well. 'cause you know, the team, we didn't expect to win, ended up placing the top of that division. So it just means that there's a lot of potential for the rest of the teams.
I mean, to step in there, I mean,
Will: I, I picked him to go to the playoffs. I'll just say that my A FC predictions for the year.
Peter: Yeah. But we're also looking at that team with Trent Ilford. He was like the best quarterback before he got injured in that division. you know, and also it shouldn't take rock too long to turn the Seahawks around.
I was kind of surprised with their record based on the talent. Like, you know, Trent Dil Ford's, like not a terrible quarterback. I don't know. He is got Sean Alexander on that team. He's got pieces that I know will play well with his, his team and his roster. So, I don't know, give him another off season and another greatest pick of the, that's a PTL draft.
And, and [00:14:00] you know, you've got a scrappy team that's that's competing with two playoff bound teams already. All,
Will: all, all three of us have spent a lot of times in division with Rock. We know a year after he goes five and 11, he is gonna go 12 and four. Yeah. And just confound all of us. And it's just the most annoying, consistent thing in the league's ever.
Peter: Those, those heavy swings.
Justin: Yes. Almost as consistent as gravity
Peter: almost. Yes. All right. Back
Will: and forth.
Justin: Um, I guess I could take my first topic. Okay. And I wanted to get your guys thoughts on the massive injury update that quarterback Brett Favre is going to miss the divisional round because he was injured in week 17.
The Green Bay Packers decided to play him because they wanted to lock down the first seed against the lions. And I wanted to get your thoughts on that, your reactions. Did you think this was a good idea? I mean, obviously like [00:15:00] 2020 hindsight is different, but I mean, like, if you were them, do you think pushing your quarterback in week 17 was a good idea?
Peter: I, I mean, look, 2020 hindsight, I, I don't disagree with the choice of trying to get like the top, top seed and get your, get your rest. I dunno, he is got a pretty good bench. You've already got a guy like I'm on, I'm on green to rely on, I don't know. I think even without the quarterback piece, you've got a really strong defense.
And, you know, some pieces on offense that can carry you through. You know, if I'm looking at the matchups, you know, I'm hoping that I match up with either like a 49 ERs or or a Panthers, you know, in a, you know, a miracle there that you can manage the fight, play against a, a wild card team. But, uh, I don't know, this could also just be like.[00:16:00]
Madden's sweet revenge for the Vikings, right? The Vikings just haven't lipped over that divisional rival all season. Then all of a sudden in the playoffs, they get the chance. I, uh, remember myself in the jets losing twice against the dolphins and getting a chance to play them again in the playoffs and then losing to them again.
So it's a, a bittersweet narrative for the Vikings if they can manage to leap their divisional rival and, uh, and get over. So maybe this is what Madam was planning all along.
Will: Yeah, I'd kind of echo all of that as well. Um, from the standpoint that I, I think that first overall seed in that home field advantage was so important because the Vikings there in that five seed that you had to go for. Now in, in the NFL, the if the five would've won and then the six would've won, then they, you would've drawn the six and then it's great.
Madden recedes. So the Vikings win that first game as Butcher [00:17:00] completely shanks the opening kickoff. Wow. Sorry. You're gonna probably get some of that, I apologize. But as Madden incorrectly edes the playoffs after every single round, the Vikings, no matter what, they're going to the number two. So if the Vikings win, they're going to play Justin.
They're going to play your ramps, Justin. And so I think that first overall seed was so important for that reason. 'cause the Vikings are probably the team that scares me the most of those plants. They're hot, they're doing good. Justin, her finally figured that out. So I think it's worth it. And even the injury, I'm not too scared.
Peter, you mentioned among green, they've got great players. Brian Greasy is not a bad backup quarterback. He's better than half the starters in the league. What concerns me is the strained pectoral injury has a tendency to hang around. And if you draw the Panthers or you panthers, maybe the Eagles, Eagles would worry me a little bit with without Brett Favre.
But if you, you draw the Panthers or the 49 ERs in that [00:18:00] divisional round game, I think that you could come up with strategy and Brad could get that win and then host the NFC Championship with the hopes that Brett Farber's back. My gut tells me he's not. And that's just, I mean, the Rams, the Vikings at that point, assuming that they're there, are just licking their chops ready to get an easy pass in the Super Bowl because both those teams will beat a Brett Fless Green Bay, even in Green Bay in the NFC Championship game.
Justin: All right. Uh, yeah, Pete, uh, I guess I would echo you guys' opinion. Um, I know for me personally, I, I figured I'd be getting the sec the second seat after I lost to Brad, that was a close game. And I had to lose at some point. I tend to, I'm one of those people that just superstitious that you have to lose at least once.
You know, kind of like, I'm also super, I'm not, I'm not, I'm also superstitious that a winless team needs to win once, so, you know, it's like hot potato. But I, it'll be curious to see what happens with the, uh, divisional round and who they pull. Yeah, so [00:19:00] that's my opinion. So the one team they can't get is the Vikings, so, I mean, they're one-on-one, so I, it it's not like they dominated.
Yeah. Like where it's a two, two and oh kind of situation.
Will: Yeah,
Justin: anyone
Will: can win that game.
Peter: Yeah. All right. Well, I guess that leads us into our next topic, which is everything playoffs. And just to go over some of the seedings that we have for the playoffs, I just wanna go over and announce who our playoff contenders this year is.
So, I'll just start off with the A FC. In the one seed we have the Colts two Seed, Patriots three and four is the Chiefs and the Ravens and the wild cards. Five six are the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. To represent the NFC. And the one seed, the packers, that was the, uh, the sacrifice.
But at what cost? The rams at number two three [00:20:00] and four are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers. And then the five and six Wild cards are the Minnesota Vikings and the 49 ERs outta San Francisco. And I guess what I'd like to do is I'd like to play a little game. So what I've done is it's more of a I'll read you some stats some exciting players and I'll ask you, uh.
Who you think this team is. And the idea is perhaps this will help us understand what makes these teams special. Like who are the people that are, are sort of leading this team. When you think of what was that it factor that got 'em there? Hopefully this sort of outlines it. So, I'll tell you a fact about this particular team or teams and then you tell me or guess and, and ask guess what the team is.
So just to start off of all the playoff teams, this team's running back has the most rushing guards during this season. [00:21:00] Do you know who this team is?
Will: Okay. Not pulling up the stats and pulling up the playoff teams.
Peter: Yeah. We're gonna be fair here. Oh gosh. Um, who do you think led this year's playoff teams with most rushing guards?
Will: Okay. I think I'd have the answer. I think I, my answer looking at the teams,
Peter: I'll go build. I'm gonna go Chiefs. Okay. Well, it is actually the Buffalo Bills. Okay. Ricky Williams had 1,653 yards. They, he was the top rushing team for the, of all the playoffs. Next one. So these teams have two receiving leaders in the top five Rams.
Rams, yeah. And who is the other Cols? No, not Cols. Justin, do you have a, do you have a guess this, this team is in the top 10, two wide receivers. They have
Justin: two receivers in the top 10,
Peter: two wide receivers in [00:22:00] the top 10.
Justin: Um, I'll go Bills again.
Peter: No, it's not the bills. So the bills have tj who huma How Zeta, who Hu Zeta.
Who's your mama?
Will: But yeah. Hu Zeta, Oregon State Beaver right there. Yeah. Oh, Patriots.
Peter: Yeah, it is. The Patriots. The Patriots, Dion Branch and Brandon Lloyd. Both of them had over a thousand yards passing. Um, also I didn't
Justin: look that up. I just, I just remember Patriots are still in the playoffs. Yeah, yeah. For Brandon Lloyd.
Really? Wow. Yeah.
Peter: Brandon Lloyd. Yeah. Yeah. Brandon Lloyd. And, uh, and, and actually the Rams didn't make top five. They were pushed out of the top five thanks to Seahawks Cor Robinson who pushed, uh, Derrick Mason. Of course the Seahawks would do that.
Will: They're jerks.
Peter: Yeah, of course, of course.
Will: Doing God's work for us all.
Peter: Yeah. So watch out for those stingy wide receivers. Okay. This, this team has multiple offensive [00:23:00] blockers in the top 10. There are two of them.
Will: I think the Colts are one of them.
Peter: Yes.
Will: Okay.
Peter: Can you guess who the second one is? Ravens? No,
Will: John. I was thinking Jonathan Ogden. That's a good guess. Yeah.
Peter: Um, it's not, it's not the Ravens.
Will: Is it the Philadelphia Eagles?
Peter: It is not the Eagles, it is the Minnesota Vikings. Okay. Minnesota Vikings had actually nearly three offensive blockers. One of 'em was a tight end, so that didn't quite qualify for this particular definition. But Brian McKinney and Larry Allen both led the both led the Minnesota Vikings and JB Jeff BCUs, Andre Glen led the Indianapolis Colts.
Which playoff team has the QB with the lowest QBR?
Justin: Well, I'm gonna narrow it down to either the chiefs. The Ravens or the Panthers, [00:24:00] and I guess I'll go Panthers.
Will: So is this the quarterback that started the most games for them, or that has currently started? 'cause with the Chiefs you've got the Trent Green Byron Leers thing.
Peter: Yeah, good question. Currently we're going
Will: Byron Leftish for the Chiefs. Okay.
Peter: It, it is, is the quarterback that is currently starting,
Will: I would guess
chiefs or panthers.
Peter: Okay. Final answer. Chiefs or Panthers?
Will: Panthers.
Peter: You're right. So currently they are playing Brooks Bollinger Brooks has a 71.5 QBR. Granted he's only played a fraction of the season, so there's a smaller sample size. But Byron Leftwich actually has a higher QBR with 73.5.
Will: And thank you Carolina.
The league drafted you that quarterback.
Peter: Yeah, there you go. Alright, so this particular team dominates both sides of punt, placing the [00:25:00] ball in the top three with a punt leader and ranking ninth amongst punt returners. So thinking special teams and specifically punting teams. So punt returner, punt kicker.
This team is the only one to dominate both sides of that.
Justin: I have no idea. I'll go Vikings
Will: there. No bills. I think they've got Brian Mormon and, um, Johnny Morant
Peter: wrong. The Panthers are the ones that are dominating the punt. So they have Todd Sonenberg who, uh, is their kicker, their punter, who has an average of 7 46 0.5 on average of the distance of kicks.
And Bobby Wade, who's charting 3.8 yards per punt return, and he's placed just barely in the top 10 is 10. Well, there
Justin: you go. That's the, that was the special factor that won the NFC South.
Peter: That's exactly it. Yes. When you start to look at how those games were went, won, it was, they were one, they were one on the punt.
These [00:26:00] teams have top 10 quarterbacks leading in passing yards, but did not have a wide receiver in the top 10. I so think Awesome quarterback, but. Lame wide receivers, Titans? Yeah. Yes. And oh, there's two, there's multiple. Yes. Would you believe it? Eagles? Yeah. No. So actually, Antonio O'Brien led for the Eagles, and he's a, he's number nine.
It is Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans. You guys predicted that one. Mm-hmm. And Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manna, they
Will: don't have anyone, did not have any in the top 10
Peter: and not in the top 10. Wow. Yeah, their, their first wide receiver managed to place, oh boy. You guys, I'm going deep on this one. Marvin Harrison, 34th.
Will: So they went and get on the ground.
Peter: They must be. [00:27:00] They must be.
Will: I'll go look after we're done with the segment. I don't have to guess anymore.
Peter: Right. Okay. So these particular teams lived in the ed zone. Name me all the teams that led both passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns. First thing is
Justin: probably the Packers.
I
Will: would definitely say the
Justin: Packers.
Peter: Yep. Packers one. Yeah. I put
Justin: Rams in that too.
Peter: Yes. Rams as well. Two more Colts. No
bills. Yes. And Patriots? No.
Vikings. Vikings. Yes. Those are your top four. They dominated in passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns. they have top 10 passing touchdowns. top 10 rushing touchdowns, packers, Rams, bills, Vikings. And which of those teams had two running backs in the top 10 for rushing [00:28:00] touchdowns?
Will: Buffalo Bills,
Peter: packers. Yeah, I'm on Green. 14 touchdowns, najee Davenport. Eight touchdowns, 22 touchdowns on the ground. That is incredible. So, uh, how do you stop the Packers? You slow the running game and, and the rest will come. Alright. Of these playoff running backs that led in rushing yards, which did not make top 10 rushing touchdowns scored.
So these guys can run the ball really well, but once they get to the end zone, it, it goes, the ball goes to somebody else. So lead in rushing yards, but not in rushing touchdowns.
Justin: And they're a playoff team.
Peter: They are a playoff team. There's two of them,
not Chiefs,
Justin: Panthers.
Peter: It is not Panthers.
Justin: 49
Peter: Eagles. It is not the 49 ERs. It is not the Eagles., It is. [00:29:00] The , Baltimore Ravens Jamal Lewis had 1,499 yards, but did not break the top 10 in rushing, touchdowns.
Will: How many touchdowns did he have end up having on the year?
Peter: Let's see, he finished with four.
All right, let me talk to you guys about rookies. Okay. This playoff teams, top rookie performers, led in both rushing and receiving name the team.
Justin: So it's a rookie player that was both rushing and receiving. It is the same guy, two rookies. Okay. That
Peter: led in rushing and receiving two different rookies, but they're on this playoff team.
Justin: Well, I'll go with Patriots, I guess with Brandon Mo. It is.
Peter: Yeah, it is. It is. Will will McGee and. Brandon Lloyd, they both led this season in rushing and receiving playing for the playoff bound [00:30:00] patriots.
Will: Dang. They're gonna be this team for a long time, aren't they?
Peter: Alright, name this team. Okay. I'm gonna name you a couple of, uh, a couple of categories and you name me which team you think this is.
Okay. So this team leads in top 10 in these particular categories, QBR, quarterback, touchdowns, offensive blocking, defensive tackles, and kick return average. So they're really great in controlling the ball, throwing touchdowns, blocking, tackling, and kickoff returns.
Will: Okay. So is this complete for the team or just individual players?
Peter: It's for, yeah, it's complete for the team.
Will: Okay. So, oh. Justin, how many times did you bench Kurt Warner? Throughout the season, how many games did Mark Bulger play? Two. But I tied with Brett Favre, well, Kurt Warner did, but Mark Bulger threw more [00:31:00] touchdowns than Brian Greasy did. I would bet. So I'm gonna say the Rams, I'm thinking Rams do.
Peter: Yeah. Actually this particular team is the Chiefs with Byron Leftwich. Kendra Bell, Dante Hall. They led he, Dante Hall led in kick, kick return average. Byron Leftwich had led in QBR as well as in touchdowns and and Kendra Ball led in tackles.
Will: We're talking just rookies.
Peter: I'm talking about team as in general.
In fact, Kendra Hall leads the PTL with 134 tackles. That is the most of any defensive player this season.
Will: That's insane for a playoff team to lead in tackles. 'cause it's almost always the really bad teams that have top tacklers.
Peter: Right.
Will: Yeah, that's how you play defense.
Peter: All right, so, this particular team is top 10 in only Russian yards and punting, average[00:32:00]
only those two categories, this team succeeds, excelled in getting in a top 10 player.
Justin: Panthers,
Peter: you all know because Panthers, you already know that they dominated the punting. Yeah, it can't be that. I'm sorry, what's the question again? It is, this team led in rushing yards. So top 10 and rushing yards and punting average only those two
Will: and
Peter: punching average 49 ERs close. It was the Baltimore Ravens. They had Jamal Lewis who led in rushing yards, and they have Dave Zdi, who led in punting were 46 average yards. Okay. Continuing this, this same format, this particular team is top 10 in receiving yards, receptions, field goals, and kick returns.
So they've got a good, good wide [00:33:00] receiver who can catch catch balls, and they, and they're feeding him field goals so the guy can kick and kick returns. They've got a guy who can return kicks
Justin: bills.
Peter: Well, no, we, we know that bills lead in rushing yards. This is only this team. Okay. Each, each,
Will: each team is listed once.
Okay. Yeah. Haven't we mentioned yet?
Peter: Haven't
Will: we
Peter: mentioned yet? We haven't mentioned this team yet. Eagles. Close is the 49 ERs. Tl TL led him receiving yards and receptions and, uh, Jeff Chandler led him field goals. And, uh, one other guy for, uh, for kick returns. Now, the very last, this is the most ignored team.
We haven't really talked about this team much, although I'm sure you guys have guessed him. This team is placed in top 10 in quarterback, wide receiver, awesome offensive blocking interceptions, which we haven't [00:34:00] mentioned much. And he does not place in any top 10 in special teams. So no kickers, no punters, no kick returns.
No punt returns, no, no, no. Good specialty came out of this, this one. But some amazing performance, individual performances at quarterback, wide receiver blocking and, uh, cornerback, or I should say defensive back
Will: only team left is the Eagles. Right Justin? Yeah, pretty much.
Peter: It is the Philadelphia Eagles. They might not have multiple people to excel but they've got just enough pieces on offense and defense that, uh, that they succeeded.
So the Eagles, so as you look at these teams and wondering what's that special sauce? Those might be it as, uh, we look at the playoffs as a whole. So that was my quiz. I hope you guys enjoyed that.
Will: Absolutely. It was fun. Thank you. [00:35:00]
Peter: Alright Justin, what do you got next?
Justin: Um, I just wanted to look closer at the wild card matchups.
And first off, I wanna get your guys' predictions and then I'm gonna ask you a couple of follow up questions. So looking at the A FC, we have the Titans and the Chiefs. Who do you guys have winning that matchup? We'll start with you Pete.
Peter: Sure. So just knowing how much talk there was on the, in the, in the middle of the season about how difficult their team was doing, I think that the Titans are, are, are rebounding and have rebounded and will find themselves a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs this week.
Will: I would agree with that. I would, I would bet money on Brian Mellon winning a game against Byron Leftwich at this point in the playoffs. Uh, this Titan's a scary team because it's a GM that knows how to win in the playoffs and he's got good solid all around Ro He's got a good solid all around roster.
Mm-hmm. Um, I think the [00:36:00] Titans very easily move past the chiefs.
Justin: Yeah, I would agree. So we're all three of us are choosing Titans.
Will: Uh, next display, the graphic at the bottom after the, the chiefs beat the Titans.
Peter: Yeah, exactly.
Justin: Next up we have the bills at the Ravens. In this matchup, just because Ravens seem to be banged up, I'd probably give the edge to the bills.
I choose Bills.
Peter: I would agree. Yeah. I think that there's enough pieces on the bills that, uh, might squash, uh, some of the building pieces that are on the Ravens, but, you know, Ravens got a tricky defense. Uh, I think that the air control of Drew Bledso and the running lanes of Ricky Williams are enough to topple the Ravens.
Will: Yeah, I, I will say this, I have the bills winning this, but there, there are two interesting factors. One, Raven's already beat the bills this year. They, they dropped 40 points on them. Now, it was before Jeff Blake was entered a different team. But that's interesting. The bills have also won five straight games, but the only like [00:37:00] quality team they've beaten in that stretch is the Eagles, and that's how they got into the playoffs.
This could be a loss for the bills, but I'm taking them over on injury. Play Ravens for the same reason. Justin said just too many injuries in Baltimore. Was the, when did the bills play? The Eagles? I wanna say it was week seven or week eight. Okay. I wasn't sure if it was when the
Justin: Eagles were benching
Will: their
Justin: quarterback.
Will: Jim Miller was the quarterback for the Ravens that day. Six nine overall. Okay. He threw three touchdowns on the bills, actually, but the bills also had Shane Matthews, they didn't have their quarterback. So, Ricky Williams had three touchdowns and a loss.
Peter: I mean, that's a good game for him. Fantasy owners not upset.
Justin: Alright. Looking at the NFC first up, we have the 49 ERs at the Eagles. I think Eagles win this one.
Peter: I would agree. Yeah. I think that the Eagles have got the better pieces there, although don't count the 49 ERs out. They're scrappy.
Will: Yeah. I think this could be an interesting game. I think the [00:38:00] Eagles win because of home field advantage.
At the end of the day, they got the better quarterback, the better running back.
Justin: And then we had the Vikings at the Panthers. While I think the Panthers had a great season, I find it hard to believe they would beat the Vikings at this point.
Peter: Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah, I think, uh, there are too many pieces on the Vikings for them to go down in this uh, wild card round.
Will: We have seen crazier things in the playoffs time and time again. Do we see this 12 win 13 win wild card team make the playoffs have to go on the road and play a divisional winner in a division that had really low, a really low winner. So guys, I'm gonna do the crazy thing here and I'm gonna pick the Minnesota Vikings win game.
There's no way that they lose.
Peter: You had me at the beginning.
Justin: Alright. I'm curious, have you, out of the matches I just listed to you guys, which one you find is the most compelling. Uh, the one you think is probably gonna be the most [00:39:00] competitive and, you know, come down the wire.
Peter: Hmm. I mean, I think that the Tennessee titans against the Kansas City Chiefs is probably like the most balanced.
So I think like, that'll be interesting to watch. But I don't know, something about 49 ERs and, and Philadelphia is just screams something interesting will happen in that game.
Will: Yeah, I, I would agree. I think the most intriguing for me is Philadelphia, San Francisco. I think it's the most likely to be like a 27 24 somebody wins with the field goal at the end.
I think the game most likely and least intriguing for me to be a blowout is probably Titans the Chiefs. Mm-hmm. I think is more likely that the Titans blow out the Chiefs than the Vikings blow out the Panthers.
Peter: Yeah. Although, you know, there's still a lot of interest around two great GMs like Norb and Tom to play against each other.
Right. That, that,
Justin: that to me is one of the ones I circled. I, you know, the Ravens, even though they haven't had their quarterback for most of the season, you know, the fact that they've been [00:40:00] successful as well as they have, that seemed to be pretty compelling to me. I can see your guys' point about the 49 ERs and Eagles though, so that's pretty interesting as well.
Will: I think it's more because there's not a lot of talk about the Eagles around the league. Yeah. It's been, it's been a very quiet team, so it's like, oh, either team could win this game.
Peter: I mean, we just found out in the, uh, the, the quiz we just did, like the Eagles is like the team that, that did a lot and there's a lot to be proud of, but there isn't like some incredible something that distinguishes them, like two wide receivers or a wide receiver and, uh, a running back, Hey, they've got some good pieces, but something needs to really kick up for that wow factor against some of these others.
Justin: But Peter, do you have any other topics on your side?
Peter: So maybe we'll just, let's continue these predictions. So if Tennessee wins, [00:41:00] it's Tennessee versus the Colts, and if Buffalo wins, it's Buffalo versus New England. And on the Anf Sea, if the Eagles win, it's Philadelphia versus Green Bay.
And if the Vikings win, it's Vikings versus Rams. So let's just start at the first one. Who do you predict to win between Tennessee and the Colts?
Colts
Will: Titans.
Peter: Really titans. I mean, granted, you know, Brian is gonna do his research. You think that Peyton Manning is, is I've seen him like almost lose a game enough, but manage to squeak out a win. To think that the Colts will, will, will get the advantage there. And I don't know if we're gonna see like, divisional wackiness like we've seen in other divisions, uh, other divisional matchups.
So series i I still, still think the Colts can do it there.
Will: Colt swept the season [00:42:00] series. Never pick it, never pick the team that's two and oh against someone. I'm going to Titans.
Peter: All right, next one we've got is, uh, Buffalo Bills versus the New England Patriots at New England. Who do you, who do you predict
Will: Bills. I got the Patriots.
Peter: Hmm. Um,
Will: I don't think the bills have beaten enough quality opponents down the stretch. I think the Patriots are the better team.
Peter: Hmm. Interesting. You know, and it's that those two seem to be like the most even, you know, as I sort of think of the, uh, the matchups there. But I am gonna give the slight edge to, to New England.
I think maybe the two passing wide receivers, uh, the passing gave of Tom Brady and the two wide receivers that are leading with, uh, in the top 10 might be enough to get over the Buffalo bills. But you know, Ricky Williams has got that it factor. Uh, I still think the, the Patriots there.
Justin: Okay. So then that means that the Patriots would be going to the [00:43:00] Titans?
No, the Titans would be going to the Patriots in the championship. Correct. For mine. For yours,
Will: it would be, uh, Bill's to Indy. Right?
Peter: That's right. Alright, let's swing back over to the NSC before we go to the championship games. So, Eagles at green Bay. Who do you think will win? And this is Green Bay without Brett Favre.
Let's just assume that he is not playing. He's not, he's out for that game for sure. Yeah. So let's, let's play it like that. Brett FLIs, green Bay versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Who do you have?
Justin: Eagles?
Peter: Green Bay. Really? Wow. With two winning backs, right. I, I think that Philadelphia might be the, the victor there.
I think, uh, they've got some good pieces. But man, I just don't know how you do without that quarterback. Frank Reese can do pretty good. I just worry that the Eagles have got too many pieces. I'm also gonna [00:44:00] focus on their cornerback that had nine wi nine interceptions this season. That might be the, uh, difference for their quarterback play.
And the next matchup we've got is Minnesota versus St. Louis, the Rams and St. Louis. Who do you think is going to win there? Justin? Do you think? Justin? Justin,
Will: you better say who you think is gonna win there and your owner's gonna fire you if you say the wrong thing, so, okay. Well, I'm definitely betting on, yeah.
You
Peter: know that Justin or is listening right now.
Will: Who, who's the owner of the Rams? That's, um.
Peter: It's
Will: a Justin Bowl.
Peter: It is the Justin Bowl. It Justin Bowl, Justin. Yes, that's right. It's a Justin Bowl. So who wins the Justin Bowl? Justin. Oh, come on,
Justin: Rams.
Will: I'm gonna agree with them. I think, yeah, I, I would have a hard
Peter: time taking away the two wide receivers that LED league in top five.
Just barely top five.
Will: I [00:45:00] I think it's a really dang good game though.
Peter: Yeah,
Will: I, I, I'm talking I think like 45, 41, just no defense.
Peter: It'll be, it'll be uh, green Bay versus St. Louis all over again. Yeah, so. Alright, so, we have the winners going New England. Or Buffalo and then Indianapolis versus the Tennessee or, or, or Tennessee.
So, I think Justin, you and I predicted Indianapolis versus New England. Who do you think is gonna win there?
Colt. Really? All right. I think Patriots, I think Patriots win that game. Uh, what about you will you predicted Tennessee at, at New England? New England?
Will: I think Tennessee leads for most of the game before New England. Squeaks it out at the very end and Brian destroys his computer. [00:46:00]
Peter: All right, so we've got, uh, uh, we've got New England representing the A FC in our predictions.
And then lastly, we have the Philadelphia Eagles versus Justin. Justin. Well, Justin, you pick the
Will: Colts right? Yes. Yeah.
Peter: Oh, okay. One, one Col, two Patriots. Philadelphia
Justin: at
Peter: St. Louis. Who do you think wins that game?
Justin: I go
Will: Rams again.
Peter: Yeah. I think it's the Rams as well.
Will: And I've got Rams at Packers.
Peter: Yes, you have Rams at Packers.
And at that point there's a probable chance that Brett Fav comes back.
Will: Gosh, part of me wants to go back and pick the Vikings over the Rams because I could just see the Vikings making the beeline for the Super Bowl. Um, but I, but I didn't pick them. I picked the Rams and we don't know if Brett Fab's gonna back.
You know what I say? Regardless, Rams beat the Packers, even if Brett FBE plays. [00:47:00]
Peter: Okay. Alright. Then you, we have we have New England versus the St. Louis Rams, or we have. Indianapolis Colts versus the St. Louis Rams. Who do you think wins that?
Justin: Well, I'm picking myself all the way Super Bowl win. So Rams.
Peter: Yeah, I think I would have a hard time not believing that prediction at this point.
Will: So this is an opportunity for just, just in, in, in real life. These two teams met in the Super Bowl. These two teams met in the Super Bowl, but this isn't real life. In real life. The New England Patriots kicked a field goal right as time expired, and they ended the Rams dynasty.
And the Rams were never the same until Sean McVay came around. And, but thi but this is not real life. This is not, this is fantasy. And I don't think it plays out like that. I think instead of the New England pagers kicking a field, go right at the end of the game. It [00:48:00] changes. They score a touchdown to win the game at the end.
Patriots beat the Rams by six. They was one trophy. Awesome.
Peter: So there it is. Either Patriots, Rams. Yeah. Possible Super Bowl there. Justin
Will: picks them out of contract negotiations. The owner of the Arizona Cardinals would fire me if I said anything positive about the Rams potentially winning the Super Bowl.
Who do you,
Peter: who do you think is, who do you think is, is next in line? So a, after that, who do you think is the second most powerful team you think could win this Super Bowl? Doesn't, I don't care about the path that they get there. Who do you, who's the next team outside of the one you just selected you think will win?
Justin: Vikings, nfc, probably Vikings.
Peter: Vikings. Yeah, I like the Vikings. I also just think the bills. I don't know why. I just think that that could be a team that just goes, you know, sometimes we see those, those wild card winners go all the way.
Justin: Hey, you know what, in SFL 2003, it was the Rams versus the freaking, uh, Ravens.
Ravens. [00:49:00] All I know is Ravens might have the magical Touch this year. Again,
Will: that was the, that was the last SFL Super Bowl as well.
Justin: Yeah,
Will: that was the last SFL Super Bowl. Um, that was, um, Felipe won it, didn't he?
Peter: With the Rams. Yeah.
Will: Yeah. The, the Rams ended ended SFL on top just like that. I never realized that the Rams started on top.
Bookended. They bookended it. Yeah, bookend. Now it wasn't against the same person because the Rams beat the Colts in the first Super Bowl and then the Ravens beat the Rams year too. But then Justin, you won one more, right? I think 2010 with Drew Brees, you beat the Dolphins, right?
Peter: Yeah.
Will: Um, yeah, probably. I wanna say that was one of the years that the Dolphins won or made it because they made three in a row or something.
But
Peter: yeah, they had a good defense. If
Will: the Vikings make it past the Rams and the divisional round, they will win the Super Bowl, is my prediction.
Justin: I agree with that. Yeah. That's a strong team to beat. I always think there's always some kind of like special magic to wild card teams
Will: and every time we [00:50:00] really start to think that we get shock in the playoffs.
Peter: Yeah, exactly. That's exactly right. There's always some team that comes out. Remember the year that the freaking Atlanta, the Falcons beat everybody, the computer just rinse and repeat. Yeah. The, the computer team, I'll never forget
Will: because technically the person who won was Sean McGill, who was the person I worked with in Utah.
And I messaged him. I messaged him after the fact because he kinda disappeared because of some stuff going on in his life. He was like, Hey, I'm sorry. I'm like, well, hey, you won the Super Bowl. He's like, I'm never coming back. He's like, I've won the only Super Bowl I ever participated in. I will retire a legend on
Peter: the field when and out.
Fair
Will: enough, fair enough.
Peter: And all he had to do was set a roster.
Will: Didn't even do that.
Peter: Yeah.
That's funny.
Will: Peyton Manning was the backup quarterback on that team, by the way. That's how stacked that roster was.
Justin: Wow.
Will: Wow,
Justin: wow, wow. Well, I have one more topic on my topics. As everyone can probably know [00:51:00] now, I like to do buy or sell. Topics. So if you agree with the, what my statement you buy, and if you don't agree, you sell.
So I'm gonna read off a few statements I have here and I just wanna see where you guys stand. So starting off in the regular season when the Rams faced off against the Packers, they both combined to score 85 points in the playoffs. We'll see a game in which 90 plus points are scored. Do you buy or sell?
Peter: Hmm. You know, just given how talented some of these defenses are. I don't know if we're gonna see 90 points, but it would be fun. Remember that one game that like rock scored, like 67, 69 points, something like that.
Will: Six, nine to three was the score. Yeah.
Peter: Crazy. So it, it, it, it's not, say it's out, out of, uh, didn't we have a
Will: 73 to 70 game at one point?
Peter: I know, but Tony Romo probably was part of that one.
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