
The New Orleans Saints defeated the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and clinched a playoff spot in the process. They were the first team to do so. The Saints are now two up in the win column over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and own the tiebreaker over them if it comes to that in regards to the NFC South race.
The Kansas City Chiefs would also clinch a spot later Sunday night with a victory over the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs are poised to capture another AFC West title.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Joe Toscano – @joeybagovdonuts
NFL Week 13 Recap
SAINTS 21, FALCONS 16
The New Orleans Saints defeated the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and clinched a playoff spot in the process. They were the first team to do so. The Saints are now two up in the win column over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and own the tiebreaker over them if it comes to that in regards to the NFC South race.
LIONS 34, BEARS 30
Detroit Lions wiped out a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, recovered a strip-sack in the closing minutes to set up the go-ahead touchdown, and squeezed out a 34-30 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Adrian Peterson scored from the 5 after Romeo Okwara strip-sacked Mitchell Trubisky with about two minutes left, capping the comeback. Matthew Stafford threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns, and the Lions (5-7) came away with a wild win following a major shakeup after a Thanksgiving loss to Houston. They fired general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia while elevating Bevell, their offensive coordinator, to interim coach.
BROWNS 41, TITANS 35
DOLPHINS 19, BENGALS 7
Amid all the punches and shoving and five ejections was Tua Tagovailoa’s best stretch yet as an NFL quarterback.
The rookie returned from a thumb injury that forced him to miss one game and led three third-quarter scoring drives to help the Miami Dolphins rally past the Cincinnati Bengals 19-7 Sunday in a game that included a benches-clearing confrontation and other after-the-whistle unpleasantries.
VIKINGS 27, JAGUARS 24
The Minnesota Vikings have made it all the way back to even after their 1-5 start, fully in the running for the playoffs entering the final quarter of the season.
Staying in the picture will require far better performances than this.
Dan Bailey kicked a 23-yard field goal with 1:49 left in overtime after he missed two extra points and a 51-yard try with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Vikings to a 27-24 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday.
RAIDERS 31, JETS 28
The game appeared all but over and the Las Vegas Raiders were about to lose to the lowly New York Jets.
Derek Carr and his teammates refused to be embarrassed.
Carr heaved a perfectly placed 46-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III with 5 seconds left, lifting the Raiders to a wild 31-28 victory over the still-winless Jets on Sunday.
COLTS 26, TEXANS 20
Deshaun Watson sat alone on the bench, a towel covering his face and his head in his hands for several minutes on Sunday after yet another frustrating loss by the Houston Texans.
This one to the Indianapolis Colts hurt the most because the Texans believed they were so close to a win.
Houston had a chance to take the lead with about 90 seconds left. They were at the Colts 2 when Watson fumbled a low snap and Anthony Walker pounced on it to secure Indy’s 26-20 victory.
RAMS 38, CARDINALS 28
Jared Goff first shook off his coach’s criticism and then led his team to the top of the NFC West.
The Rams’ fifth-year quarterback bounced back from last week’s tough outing with one of his best games of the season, completing 37 of 47 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown in a 38-28 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
GIANTS 17, SEAHAWKS 12
Laughed at and mocked for being on top of the worst division in the NFL, the New York Giants now have an impressive win to validate their spot as NFC East leaders.
The matchup of first-place teams in the NFC went an unexpected direction.
“The team had a different swagger about them, had a different juice about them today because we know we played our brand of football,” Giants safety Jabrill Peppers said. “We know we can shock a lot of people.”
Alfred Morris scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, the New York defense shut down Russell Wilson and one of the top offenses in the league, and the Giants stunned the Seattle Seahawks 17-12 on Sunday.
PACKERS 30, EAGLES 16
On a day when Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams reached personal milestones, the Packers needed a long run from Aaron Jones to put the Eagles away.
Jones rushed for 130 yards and delivered a game-clinching 77-yard touchdown with 2:36 left as the Packers produced seven sacks and withstood a fourth-quarter comeback attempt to defeat Philadelphia 30-16 on Sunday.
PATRIOTS 45, CHARGERS 0
Cam Newton and special teams are big reasons why the New England Patriots have won four of their last five games.
Newton ran for two touchdowns and the Patriots scored two TDs on special teams in Sunday’s 45-0 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers. The Patriots (6-6) have won two straight to get back into playoff contention in the AFC going into the final quarter of the season.
CHIEFS 22, BRONCOS 16
The Kansas City Chiefs are so dynamic offensively they sometimes don’t even know when they’ve scored a touchdown.
They were fortunate one of those cases didn’t come back to bite them Sunday night.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 318 yards and a score, Harrison Butker was perfect on five field-goal attempts, and the underrated Chiefs defense bailed out an offense that struggled once again in the red zone — and made two big mistakes that cost them touchdowns — in a 22-16 victory over the Denver Broncos.
AFC EAST
1). Bills (8-3)
2). Dolphins (8-4)
3). Patriots (6-6)
4). Jets (0-12)
AFC NORTH
1). Steelers (11-0
2). Browns (9-3)
3). Ravens (6-5)
4). Bengals (2-9-1
AFC SOUTH
1). Titans (8-4)
2). Colts (8-4)
3). Texans (4-8)
4). Jaguars (1-11)
AFC WEST
1). Chiefs (10-1)
2). Raiders (7-5)
3). Broncos (4-7)
4). Chargers (3-9)
NFC EAST
1). Giants (5-7)
2). Washington (4-7)
3). Eagles (3-8-1)
4). Cowboys (3-8
NFC NORTH
1). Packers (9-3)
2). Vikings (6-6)
3). Bears (5-7)
4). Lions (5-7)
NFC South
1). X-Saints (10-2)
2). Buccaneers (7-5)
3). Falcons (4-8)
4). Panthers (4-8)
NFC WEST
1). Rams (8-4)
2). Seahawks (8-4)
3). Cardinals (6-6)
4). 49ers (5-6)
(X denotes a team has clinched a playoff spot
Predictions
WSH-PIT
Joe: PIT
BUF-SF
Joe: BUF
Poll
who is your favorite team from Illinois?
Chicago Bears, Fighting Illinois – 100%, DePaul Basketball, Chicago Bulls
Joe: Bulls
Transcript
Santiago Leon 0:13
The sports cast December 11 2020. If you haven’t yet to subscribe to all our channels Periscope, iTunes and YouTube, Apple podcasts, and in different Apple podcasts, please leave a rating and review it will help us out tremendously. And check out our digital radio on our sports cast app or on our website, the sports cast dotnet. And you could download the app for iOS on the Apple App Store for iPhone. And of course visit and visit us on the sports cast dotnet we got daily articles, weekly articles and we recap the sports world throughout the day. Got some breaking news, the New York Jets fired defensive coordinator Greg Williams will be definitely be we’d be talking about that. A couple of teams clinch this past weekend after week 13 the saints and the chiefs. The Chiefs have clinched AFC West and the saints, the NFC house and that was a Buccaneer supposed to do that. But anyways, join us all the way from Pittsburgh, a happy man at 11. And oh, we got Joe Toscano. Welcome back to the sports cast.
Joe Toscano 1:26
Hey, great to be back. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, man. We’re late in the season. Talking playoff playoffs.
Santiago Leon 1:37
Yes. No. I mean, obviously, it is the happiest time of the year. But Christmas is not included with this right? Is this separate or also includes Christmas.
Joe Toscano 1:49
My Christmas present is a Super Bowl victory for the Steelers. And that’s going to happen. So
Santiago Leon 1:53
you know if it had to happen. It has happened this year. With rothenberger.
Joe Toscano 1:59
It’s it’s Yeah, you’re right. It’s a it’s win now or bust.
Santiago Leon 2:03
Now how happy were you when you guys beat the Ravens last week, on a Wednesday football.
Joe Toscano 2:09
That entire situation was a giant mess. We’re just happy it’s done, you know, got postponed so many times. There’s so many issues with that. We’re just happy it’s over. That was just a very crazy situation. And then the Steelers barely beat them. And you know, they had the Ravens had half their team gone. And the Steelers almost lost that game. So it was just that was just a mess all around.
Santiago Leon 2:33
Yeah. Steelers. I mean, they It was like well, like 1719 or something. Or was it a three point?
Joe Toscano 2:41
It was 19 214 Oh, wow. It was it was it was ugly? It was it was? Yeah, there was they were not happy with it. Yeah, you’re supposed to be happy when you when they definitely were not happy. And they shouldn’t have been there was it was nasty,
Santiago Leon 2:55
and they played it a day against Washington. But we’ll preview that game a little bit later in the show. A lot of good things happen this weekend. Of course the saints clinch and the Chiefs clinch. No surprises there, right.
Joe Toscano 3:08
No, it’s that might be your Super Bowl right now. Saints and chiefs.
Santiago Leon 3:14
I mean, I say that the Steelers are gonna go.
Joe Toscano 3:19
Yeah,
I’m good. I’m glad you have some faith. I’m
Santiago Leon 3:22
not I do have a lot of favorites. I mean, I really think they’re gonna win it. And I think the Super Bowl I which I don’t know where it is, I think it might be in Arizona, but to Tampa, Tampa. Wow. That’s interesting, because I could see the Buccaneers have a chance to hit it that way. And the Steelers will draft Mack Jones to the Super Bowl. I mean to the Steelers. Sure. He’s good. But I don’t know. I haven’t seen the best or best part of the weekend was Jalen hertz coming off the bench. He looked good. Did he look good? I mean, what
Joe Toscano 3:54
he did he looked keela good. Better than Carson Wentz. That’s for darn sure. Oh
Santiago Leon 3:59
my gosh that guy man I feel bad for the guy big contract. I think the moving on.
Joe Toscano 4:04
I don’t Yeah, that’s a mess. I mean, they’ll probably fire the cookie for the get rid of Carson but still not a good situation.
Santiago Leon 4:12
Not good situation at all. Anyways, let’s get this started. Are you ready?
Joe Toscano 4:17
Yeah, let’s do it.
Santiago Leon 4:19
All right. Long time no see saints and Falcon saints have used the Falcons 2116 job. They clinched a playoff spot. They were the first team to do so the saints are now to up in the wind column over the Buccaneers and own the tiebreaker over them if it comes to that in regards to the NFC South race.
Joe Toscano 4:40
Saints are looking great. They are right now I’d say the best team in the NFC. Yeah in the NFC. You know they’re doing it without Drew Brees doing it with a backup quarterback taysom Hill is getting the job done. He’s not that great, but he does add that dimension of running which they didn’t have before. So they just have such a good defense and a good enough offense once they get Drew Brees back and if he’s, you know, rolling again and I get that offense really good saints might be unstoppable.
Santiago Leon 5:13
I was hoping to see James Winston play these last two games show what happened there.
Joe Toscano 5:18
He sucks.
Santiago Leon 5:21
I’ll drink coffee too that Detroit Lions just fire their coach and they went typically teams when they fire the coach to win like their next game and they beat the bears 34 to 38 NFC North showdown rivalry. Adrian Peterson showing up It feels like 2007 2014 Adrian Peterson what’s going on with the lions?
Joe Toscano 5:42
They
i’m i’ve been saying that they needed to to fire Patricia for almost all year. And they finally did and I think they were just so happy to get rid of that jerk that day. They were just happy. It’s like we’ll show you we can actually win without that. I’ll be nice. And
Santiago Leon 6:02
I was wondering if he ever wore the Roger Goodell shirt while in Detroit with like the clown face. Anyways. He was the only when they were dead especially during the times when the Patriots and deflate gate happened. Wow. All right, another big game yesterday. Surprisingly, no one’s talking about the Cleveland Browns. I know Joe thinks about it. Sometimes they beat the Titans 4135 um, are we Is this a force to be reckoned with or is this just I mean like the like the Titans just seen a failed
Joe Toscano 6:33
you gotta give respect to the Browns nine three that’s really impressive. I hate them as a Steelers fan. I hate the Browns but I got to give them respect. They’re doing it they’re they’re they’re usually do it with with a running game and defense. But yesterday they did it with Baker Mayfield Baker Mayfield had maybe the game of his career. Hey, if he can get it going, and they can get a pass game to go into running a defense. They can be a force good for them.
Santiago Leon 7:03
Which is interesting because I was hoping to see him dance yesterday. He didn’t do it.
Joe Toscano 7:10
Yeah, I don’t care about him dancing or his cute little one liners and press conferences or stupid little commercials But hey, I gotta give gotta give props to the team.
Santiago Leon 7:20
And it’s interesting a a comment from the Facebook. How the Browns play better with that. Oh, BJ Good point.
Joe Toscano 7:29
I think there’s something to that. You know when you have someone like an OBJ like you know a franchise wide receiver, you want to maybe force them the ball a little bit so now that he’s not there, they could spread it out a little bit so maybe there is something good that
Santiago Leon 7:45
the dolphins beat the bank gals 19 to seven to attack Hello I had a thumb injury but came back they had a little scuffle towards the end of the game but the dolphins are looking playoff bound more I see him.
Joe Toscano 8:00
Dolphins keep winning. It’s amazing. That might be a surprise. This year. The dolphins keep winning they’re right there in the in the playoff on and they’re right there in the hunt for the AFC East. So good for them.
Santiago Leon 8:14
I’ll take it. I’ll take it every day and twice on Sunday. The Vikings defeated the Jaguars 27 to 24. And it looks like the Vikings are maybe entering to the playoffs the Jaguars people are been remembering them getting Trevor Lawrence. What were your thoughts over this game?
Joe Toscano 8:34
Good for the Jaguars. They keep making it close. They’re just they’re just a mass. But hey, those Vikings they’ve won five of six. Just the Jefferson got 1000 yards receiving in only 12 games. That’s super impressive. Hey, the Vikings are forced they were they were dead a couple months ago and now they’re now they’re in the playoff.
Santiago Leon 9:00
Good for the Vikings won by a field goal last minute field goal and Jacksonville tough place to play but it’s a little bit colder. So maybe that helps. The Raiders defeated the Jets a Jets team we thought might have their first when they lost against the Raiders and their tight end did pretty, pretty awesome. And they fired their coach afterwards. We were thoughts of over this scuffle.
Joe Toscano 9:25
It sure looked like if they weren’t intentionally trying to lose that game at the end. You have you know on basically a last second thing. You bring the house you bring like this huge Blitz and not have anybody back. That that’s really suspect. I mean, obviously they just fired the defensive coordinator over it. So
Santiago Leon 9:45
Greg Williams.
Joe Toscano 9:46
Yeah. So, I mean, it was it was a mess. I mean, Jason Greg Williams didn’t get along all year. But still, what a disaster. I mean, the Jets basically literally just gave that game away.
Santiago Leon 9:57
Do you think Adam gazes losing On purpose to get Trevor Lawrence or do you think the Jets are gonna fire him eventually towards the end of the season?
Joe Toscano 10:06
I think he’s such a garbage coach that they’re just letting him play I mean there’s no use in keeping him around. And the funny thing is the Jets if they won that game they want to last Trevor Lawrence I believe all things stay the same. So
Santiago Leon 10:21
Exactly. So maybe not rewarding gays to stay on and coach Trevor Lawrence, but hey, like you were saying there might not be hope there. Colts and Texans a cultivated Texans 26 to 20 deshaun Watson said alone on the bench, a towel covering his face and his head in the hands for several minutes on Sunday after yet another frustrating loss for the Texans which they look good for Thanksgiving week. And the Colts, unbelievably AFC. That I mean, they are a threat in the AFC right now.
Joe Toscano 10:55
You might say I mean, they’re definitely top five in the AFC they’re getting it done and the Texans are just an absolute mess. You know, they lost another weapon with wolf four. It’s just an absolute mess there. I feel bad for deshaun Watson.
Santiago Leon 11:09
Now, Phil rivers, I know he’s there for a short stay. But he he’s still good quarterback isn’t a
Joe Toscano 11:15
scan done. He’s doing just enough. They’re doing it. You know, they have one of the best defenses in the league. But they’re able to get it done. So a good for him.
Santiago Leon 11:27
And a team that’s getting it done is the Rams when they defeated the Cardinals 38 to 28 Jared Goff first shook off his coaches criticism and led the team to the top of the NFC West, the Rams are a top again, this Rams team wins the Super Bowl two years ago, Jared, and they have a lot of good good players on that team still.
Joe Toscano 11:48
They’ve been up and down. They’ve been they’ve been having some bad games. Jared golf has not looked good lately. But in this past game, he he had a big bounce back game, and they had a strong running game. And if the Rams have a strong running game, the way they use that play action, they’re a very effective offense. And of course they have that very good defense. So you know, if they could just get that offense going there, they’re going to be a force.
Santiago Leon 12:16
Now the Cardinals have a good offense, but something’s up with them. They’ve been kind of shaky this past couple of weeks.
Joe Toscano 12:22
I think it’s Kyler Murray. I think he’s hurt and I think he’s trying to play through it. But another thing is, I mean, maybe possibly defensives are trying to maybe maybe start to figure him out. I don’t know but
Santiago Leon 12:34
I think it’s more of the injury. I do agree on both ends the Giants head of the NFC ease after they beat the Seahawks 17 to 12 I can’t believe it they were laughable but the whole NFC ease is pretty laughable but call McCoy started in this game. Joe Did that make a difference?
Joe Toscano 12:59
What really made it different is basically human nature. The Seahawks looked at the Giants to said this is going to be easy and anytime a team goes up against a team and says hot This is going to be easy just like the Steelers against the Ravens last week just you know you see anytime a good team plays a really bad team and then it becomes a close game because it’s human nature you think oh we have this we you know we don’t need to go all out we got this in the bag. And look what happens
Santiago Leon 13:28
now with the Eagles struggling the giants and I guess the cowboys and Washington Do you think giants will win this division?
Joe Toscano 13:37
I don’t know it’s it’s all up in the air. What if Jalen hertz makes the Eagles offense better? What if Washington football is actually not bad? I think the Steelers I think they’re gonna give the Steelers a tough game tonight. What if Well, I mean the Cowboys are screwed up but but you know, maybe the Giants the Giants have important things together. You know, which is amazing. They’re rallying around their coach their coaches doing their thing. So who knows what’s gonna happen the NFC it’s, it’s, it’s still a crazy thing.
Santiago Leon 14:09
Speaking about the Eagles they lost against the Packers. 3216 Aaron Rodgers Of course had a great game davante Adams reached a personal personal record milestone and, and of course, Jones You know, he rushed for 130 yards and delivered a game clinching 77 yard touchdowns with two minutes left. Um, and then of course, the Eagles bet. I mean, the Eagles benched Carson Wentz. And put in Jalen hertz. Joe, what’s up with this game?
Joe Toscano 14:43
The Yeah,
I mean, benching Wentz. It was, it was overdue. He’s just not I don’t know if it’s confidence. I don’t know if it’s because your offensive line things. I don’t know what’s going on but he just can’t get it done. And Jalen hertz provides the sparks Hey, good. It worked. He looked good for one game. So we’ll see if he continues to do it or they’ll keep playing him. But, ah, interesting situation.
Santiago Leon 15:09
Now it’s funny because everyone’s talking about the eagles and Jalen hertz, but no one’s talking about the Packers
Joe Toscano 15:15
now, and they just keep getting it done. They just keep winning. They’re looking really good. Aaron Rodgers is looking better than he has almost in his entire career. So yeah, I think I think right now, I would say in the NSC, it’s a saints are number one, but Packers number two,
Santiago Leon 15:34
something I definitely I look at Of course, the old guys, the old guys are still around and they’re still the dominant but we’ll see what happens. Things could change the next couple of weeks, especially in December, the Patriots defeated the charges. 45 zero this looked like a lot with the old patriots. Joe. They’re six and six after this. I think that going for the playoffs? I don’t think they’re trying to tank for Trevor or anything like that.
Joe Toscano 15:59
patriots. Wow. Ah, there. Yeah, they are going for the playoffs. You know? Yeah, it was all the things that have happened this year, losing Tom Brady of Cam Newton get COVID all the all the things that have happened, they’re still doing it and you know, hey, maybe maybe they’re starting to run on all cylinders here and they’re gonna make a run. Yeah,
Santiago Leon 16:23
I mean, I you know, yesterday was probably Ken’s best game as a patriot. And as a player for a while.
Joe Toscano 16:32
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, he was put in a really tough situation coming to the Patriots late then with all this COVID stuff and getting sick. So you know, he just has not looked all that good, but he looked good yesterday.
Santiago Leon 16:49
something to definitely look at. I got keep I keep a eye on the Patriots. You know, Bill check. He can be very, very sneaky. Last night, Sunday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs dynamic offense beat the Broncos 22. The 16 Patrick mahomes threw for 318 yards and a score. Harrison Bucher, the kicker was perfect on five field goal attempts and the underrated chiefs defense built out an offense that struggled once again in the red zone and made two big mistakes that cost him touchdowns and 2216 victory over the Broncos a Broncos team that last week they were suffering with like the whole quarterback but kept this game close Joe,
Joe Toscano 17:31
you got to hand it to the Broncos because that could have could have gotten one of two ways it could have they could have said you know we’re really mad at the at the quarterbacks or front of us in the situation last week and just quit on the team. But instead they they rallied around that. And they almost won the game, which you know, according to the national experts, the chiefs are the greatest team in NFL history. So I don’t know how they didn’t win 100 or nothing. I don’t know because the Steelers are such a horrible team, even though they’re undefeated. Not that I’m salty or anything.
Santiago Leon 18:02
Now, back to the Broncos of Sherlock came back. I’ve been here a lot of conversations that he’s not the man there. Yeah, he’s not that killer and sick. doesn’t have the grit. Joe, I want to hear your personal opinion, your philosophy with Drew Locke and the Broncos.
Joe Toscano 18:19
Well, I’m absolutely shocked that john Elway would would mess up by picking up quarterback because that’s that’s just that’s just an absolute shocker. He’s so good at that. No. I mean, I think I think the jury’s still out on lock. Yeah, he has looked really bad at times this year. But I mean, he last night, he looked the other times he looked pretty good. So maybe it’s a thing where you just gotta let him you know, play some more gets more experience and figure it out.
Santiago Leon 18:42
I do agree with that, I think is still much of a small sample size. I think he’s still getting his feet wet now next year. If he does come back, I think he has to have a good performance with the Broncos and you’re right. You know, the GM is john Elway, which people are questioning his decision making. You know, Broncos is a quarterback. town quarterback team. So if they don’t see what drew they’ll get someone else and and they’ll find someone else. Back to the chiefs, a chiefs team that could worrisome Steeler fans, and of course, could be a potential AFC Championship game. How do you see these chiefs team when they face against the Steelers?
Joe Toscano 19:27
That’s all that you know, we’re talking about in Pittsburgh as well. The Steelers if it gets to that point. Can the Steelers beat the Chiefs? Because I think that’s your that’s the main roadblock to get to the Super Bowl. Right? And people say either, yeah, right. People say either. It’s going to be impossible. The chiefs are amazing, or it’s going to be close. I really don’t know the Steelers have had a couple injuries to their defense, which was gonna really hurt them. I really would have liked their chances if they were healthier. But you know, every every team is You know, has injuries. So I think it would be very interesting. You know, the chiefs are just people build up the Chiefs to be this, you know, awesome juggernaut, and they’re barely winning these games lately. So, yeah, it’ll be if it gets to that point, it’ll be a really good game.
Santiago Leon 20:17
Are you saying that the chiefs are a bit weaker than they were last year?
Joe Toscano 20:23
It’s tough to say because last year, they had all those issues. mahomes was hurt. They didn’t have the greatest record. So who knows? But I mean, you know, that may in on paper the Chiefs look amazing. So we’ll see. I mean, that’s like, you know, it’s like it’s like a really hard boss in a video
Santiago Leon 20:42
because the thing is like you can see a team struggle and make the playoffs but when they come to the playoffs, they’re like they’re all out blitzkrieg
Joe Toscano 20:52
you know, the playoffs are a whole different thing. You know, so it’s, you know, sometimes it’s, it’s the team that gets hot at the right time. And if a team gets hot during the playoffs, they’re gonna they’re gonna go really far.
Santiago Leon 21:03
something to definitely look at and I’m gonna read the standings for you. The AFC East as it stands, the bills are first place then Miami at 18 for the Patriots, six and six. The Jets are only 12. Of course the Jets are out that dolphins and patriots now there’s seven teams that make the playoffs this year, Joe and I think key pitcher the Patriots making in those seven slots.
Joe Toscano 21:27
That’s hard to say.
Santiago Leon 21:29
Because the charges was an easy game, wasn’t it? It was not a good indicator. If like it was a good win or not.
Joe Toscano 21:39
I think I think the Patriots are looking really good. And I got a lot I could see I could see them being one of the teams.
Santiago Leon 21:48
And Edelman actually played yesterday. So it’s quite interesting. AFC, north, Steelers, browns, ravens, Bengals, a ravens team, Joe, that everyone thought this is the year for them to win the Super Bowl, there’s six and five. Joe, you might be happy. But this ravens team has a lot of question marks.
Joe Toscano 22:10
It is really interesting whether they’re going to make right now they’re there. They’re on the outside looking in,
Santiago Leon 22:19
can make the playoffs
Joe Toscano 22:20
to make they might not make the playoffs as I mean, as it is right now it doesn’t look like they’re gonna make it. So
Unknown Speaker 22:26
who I mean they’re
Joe Toscano 22:27
trying to do there. Yeah, I’m perfectly happy with that. But I mean, you know, with all this talk of what the Ravens have been going through, they had basically half the team get COVID because they’re because they didn’t follow the protocols. And people say, well, they should have been forced to forfeit that game against the Steelers and blah, blah, blah. But the NFL forced them to play it. So basically, the NFL handed them a loss, it was almost a guaranteed loss for the Ravens. So that was like the worst possible thing. And now even in this game coming up on tomorrow against the Cowboys, I don’t think they have all their people. So you know, it’s and even before that all the COVID stuff, they weren’t looking that great margin, having a good year. So right now it’s really iffy. I mean, they’re two games behind on in the playoffs. With what four or five games a play so little scary. Yeah, there’s a very good chance we’re not gonna make the playoffs.
Santiago Leon 23:27
You know, who was looking good from the Ravens this past week? Who RG three?
Joe Toscano 23:36
He had a good run. Uh, yeah. Yeah.
I mean, he,
he did he did you know, he was he was good at running. He was good for him. But, yeah, I mean, it was just it was just a crazy situation. He was playing, you know, he was playing behind half a team, not there. You know, especially their offensive line was just an absolute mess. So yeah, under the circumstances he did play well.
Santiago Leon 23:59
Not sure if he’ll beat that starting role, but probably not. Anyways, AFC, South Joe Titans and Colt are tied right now. I think the Titans are gonna pull through but I can see the Colts maybe getting that first play slot.
Joe Toscano 24:13
I don’t know what’s going on with the Titans. They did the exact same thing against the Browns that they did against the Steelers where the Steelers and the Browns in the first half. They were able to just open up a big lead it’s like it’s like the Titans just you know completely can’t start well, you know and then they come back in the second half to two rally but it’s too late. So I don’t know one week the Titans look amazing. Another week. They look absolutely horrible. So it’s completely a crapshoot. What you get with them?
Santiago Leon 24:44
Yeah second year wonder is tough to do. Try to repeat it from the first year AFC West of course the Chiefs in Raiders that Raiders team. Another team that I see that that one good week and then one bad week. But there’s 75 though
Joe Toscano 24:59
Yeah. They’re just it’s it’s it’s just a mystery.
Santiago Leon 25:06
It is a mystery.
Joe Toscano 25:08
Yeah, it is an absolute mystery it’s another team that you don’t know what you’re gonna get from one week one week they look awesome another week they look horrible so it’s who knows
Santiago Leon 25:16
what flip a coin by the stadium all will always looks great in my opinion that’s my favorite stadium right now in the NFL. It’s pretty NFC ease as we spoke about before is is looking like the Giants but I okay, I want to make a comment if call McCoy one this past game they just keep playing him rest Daniel Jones let’s see how far can cut McCoy take this team.
Joe Toscano 25:39
Okay, what are you drinking? What
Santiago Leon 25:41
are you what are you drinking coffee? That’s it?
Joe Toscano 25:47
No, I mean you’re you’re right. I mean you know, maybe maybe that’s all they need. Maybe they just need somebody to be like a game manager to not make any mistakes because I mean Daniel Jones did make some mistakes. So maybe that’s all they need. Maybe you know I mean all I need to do is just just get by, you know 79 could win this division.
Santiago Leon 26:07
And then maybe when the subprime kid you know, I mean back was a 2018 the giants were not that good. made us a super bowl and beat the undefeated patriots.
Joe Toscano 26:17
So I love them.
Santiago Leon 26:19
It can happen again. NFC north. Joe the Packers the Vikings are second place. But the packers are going to take it but the Vikings can make it
Joe Toscano 26:32
Vikings right now are making the playoffs if you know if it were decided today so you know they are they are in the driver’s seat. They’re they’re ahead of the Cardinals are ahead of the the 40 Niners and the bears so good for them. The Bears are an absolute mess. I don’t know what I don’t know what happened to them their their offense is just a dumpster fire so I could you know what’s it’s it’s hard not to like the Vikings. They have that you know, Jefferson is having an amazing year. They got dalvin cook you know you gotta have a great wide receiver and a great running back and an okay, quarterback maybe that’s all you need.
Santiago Leon 27:15
Yeah, they got the pieces. They just got to pull it through and I think they will Joe NFC South saints buccaneers Falcons and Panthers. As we’ve spoken before, I think the saints are definitely one of the favourites to go to Super Bowl the Buccaneers. We’ll see what happens. I know they lost against the Chiefs last week but and this week they have a bye week but they do have the weapons show.
Joe Toscano 27:38
They got the weapons man the Buccaneers What is going on? They just keep losing whoa that’s just so terrible. I’m so sad to see Tom Brady lose it breaks my
Santiago Leon 27:52
I’m sure you are
Joe Toscano 27:56
no, I really don’t know. I mean, I know the Buccaneers have been playing some tough opponents lately so right maybe that’s that maybe there’s something to adding Antonio brown and messing up the chemistry.
Santiago Leon 28:09
One minor detail No, it’s interesting. You were mentioning a Bruce Arians, I think he’s forcing Brady to show I mean to throw these deep passes and he’s not known for that. He’s not known for deep balls, Hail Marys. And it’s just showing it that he I mean, either he gets intercepted or like the ball doesn’t come through but it’s just the style when he had the style that he had with New England was definitely his style. Of course it was there for like 20 years or so but you but you’re definitely seeing his flaws when he when he went like when he does like like the deep pass.
Joe Toscano 28:47
I don’t know what Bruce Arians is thinking. You have a Tom Brady and you’re trying to fit Tom Brady into what you’re doing? No. Do you fit your offense around what Tom Brady wants to do? So shame on Bruce Arians, I saw some graphic that like any quarterback that has our first year under Bruce Arians, they do horribly they throw a lot of interceptions. So that’s on Bruce Arians. Shame on him for not adjusting to Tom Brady and not the other way around.
Santiago Leon 29:17
And we’ll see how that goes. Of course, a couple more weeks I’m sure they’ll make the playoffs but you never know. And and see West the Rams are up top I remember Rams were at the third and fourth spot for a while they quit on top this NFC was is unpredictable. Joe, do you see any Pacific any? Can you see any changes and like the next couple of weeks? Maybe the Seahawks go up front?
Joe Toscano 29:39
It’s crazy. The Seahawks have basically had a freefall. I mean, they were you know you I’d say you know a few weeks ago they were the number one team in the NFC and they are just just they’re just terrible lately. They have no defense, you know, la neg against the giants. That’s it. That’s a huge loss. And then the Rams are just in consistence but you know they look good if they could just get their offense going they got a good defense you know they could they could win it so i mean but the Seahawks I don’t know what’s going on with them but they got to get it together there’s they’re still I mean they’re tied for first they’re both aiming for but still see how it’s gonna get gotta get together
Santiago Leon 30:18
yeah i agree my my my boy lock it hasn’t hasn’t done much on the fantasy world but they got receivers yet met Kevin lock and of course the great Russell Wilson and that is our NFL 13 recap there’s still four weeks left of the NFL schedule. There’s seven more I mean slot seven slots for the playoffs this year pretty exciting. And that weak 18 nuclear option has not happened Goodell wants to avoid it as the plague and he says that they will not be a NFL bubble most likely for the playoffs so if you have COVID that one player gets isolated but they’re not gonna do the playoff bubble How about that Joe?
Joe Toscano 30:59
that’s a that’s a really bad move. I don’t think they should do a bubble for like you know the first or second round of the playoffs. But definitely when you get to the conference championship game is a Super Bowl I think there definitely should be a bubble you don’t want the you don’t want the backup to the Chiefs or the backup to the Steelers if they make the Super Bowl going against the you know the the third string quarterback for the saints or something like that. You want a marquee matchup in the in the Superbowl you want you want the best players in you know, it’s very possible that a lot of them won’t play. If you know the things are still going on with the COVID
Santiago Leon 31:38
you make a good point you think about this all the time, don’t you?
Joe Toscano 31:41
I too, I love football.
Santiago Leon 31:43
That’s a good sign. Anyways, as we 13 recap, let’s go into predictions when we were 13 isn’t done because there’s two games today at 5pm and one at 8pm. The regular The first one is the Washington football team at the Steelers was Joe will be watching maybe being at the game. What do you think is gonna happen today at five?
Joe Toscano 32:06
On paper a Steelers should win. But I mean, I think the Washington is actually I don’t want to say they’re pretty good, but they’re they’re a little bit dangerous. They have a really good defense a really good defensive line. They have a good running back and Antonio Gibson, a good wide receiver and Maclaurin and Alex Smith is he’s, he’s not great, but he’s good enough. he’s a he’s a veteran, you know, he can move the ball around. So I think, you know, I think Washington could pose a threat. But however, the Steelers look so bad and got so much crap for how they played against the Ravens that just as a matter of pride, they’re gonna might come out and just yeah,
Santiago Leon 32:48
this might be a blowout. You’re right about that. You’re right about that. Because that game last Wednesday was kind of weird, but you’re right. This could be a 45 three game. I’m kidding. Um, but the later game the real money, the real money Night Football Buffalo Bills at the San Francisco 40. Niners I believe they’re playing in Arizona. Joe, what do you think’s gonna happen with that matchup? San Francisco sneaky
Joe Toscano 33:12
i think is a really intriguing matchup. You have you have the bills coming back to Arizona. Maybe maybe the the 40 Niners could have Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins you know show up and throw some more Hail Marys or something like that but I think it’s a really close matchup the 40 Niners you know they have injuries but they still have they brought some people back so I think that’s going to be a really good game probably low scoring very close I don’t even know I mean, I guess buffalo you know they they usually pull out games like this I think you know Josh Allen is just a gamer and finds ways to win but it could go either way
Santiago Leon 33:56
go either way buffalo Watch out Pittsburgh, you might face in the playoffs sometime. I’m looking at that I just had a feeling like they’re gonna face off each other and a particular capacity. Poll question on the day on Twitter. Who is your favorite team from Illinois, the state of Illinois. Chicago Bears, Illinois University, the Paul basketball or the Chicago Bears. I mean, the Chicago Bulls sorry.
Joe Toscano 34:22
I loved the Chicago Bulls as a kid, Michael Jordan was my idol. I don’t want to say I tried to be like Mike cuz I mean, I think I think I knew my athletic limitations, but I was I was obsessed with those Michael Jordan nabholz team so
Santiago Leon 34:38
definitely bowls and it which is interesting. You say that because I watched Space Jam this past weekend and like, Man, this is such a good movie. You know, I’ve never seen Space Jam. You should see it is a status game. If they win only if they win. Anyways, Joe, what is the best way to reach you to talk to you about this? Steelers game tonight.
Joe Toscano 35:02
Twitter I am Joey bag of doughnuts v instead of an F. It’s basically it’s basically where I live. It’s why I’m there. 24 seven I you know, sleep is optional.
Santiago Leon 35:12
So, yeah, that’s that’s the best way to reach me. And of course you can reach us at the sports cast dotnet the sports cast dotnet or on Twitter. At the sports cast one you can follow the latest and greatest will be I think we’ll be live 21 of the games tonight I’ll find out. And of course listen to our podcasts or past one we had a Saturday recap of the LSU Alabama game with with Matt Odell, Justin Riley and Brian glaze tonight. Tyler Turner recaps the PAC 12 in the big 10 and of course, we’ll hear what he has to say after Oregon loss against California. But apparently Oregon has a shot and go into the PAC 12 championship game so we’ll see what he has to say about that. Tomorrow’s Riley inconstant. Another big show, recapping Of course another LSU game and looking forward towards Arkansas but I think their minds are towards Florida for the SEC championship game being held in Atlanta on December 19. And hopefully not like on a Sunday because the Falcons stadium does not serve chick fil a on a Sunday because chick fil a is closed on Sunday. Anyways, Joe, you’ve been freaking awesome. Any closing words before we go prepare for the Steeler Washington game.
Joe Toscano 36:27
So everybody be safe out there. And this is this is the best time of the year. I love I love as a kid I would make up like playoff scenarios and In short, all the kind of things so I am such a football nerd.
Santiago Leon 36:41
And we should have playoff scenarios either next week or the following week because it is going to be crunch time. And of course it could be some last minute but well, we’ll definitely bring on like the NFL possibility playoff possibility because this year seven it’s the first time Joe’s ever ever seen that of course as myself and those Joe all of us all of us at sportscast, thanks for coming on.
Joe Toscano 37:04
Always love love coming on. Be glad to come on anytime.
Santiago Leon 37:08
Go Steelers and gold terrible tower a terrible towel.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai