NFL Week 16 Recap: Bills Reclaim the East, Chiefs Keep Rolling, and the Giants Torture Fans
Week 16 was a massive weekend for playoff positioning, Christmas football, and Big Cat once again declaring the Bears back after a meaningless snow game in Seattle. We kicked things off with the Fastest 2 Minutes, where PFT managed to work in a Linkin Park reference into a Texans recap and Billy delivered a remarkably coherent summary of the Jets' victory over the Jaguars. The energy was high, even if the Washington football team's performance against the Cowboys was low enough to trigger an actual sideline fight between teammates.
Dallas Dominance and Washington Woes
The Cowboys look like a completely different animal right now. They dismantled Washington so thoroughly that Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne started throwing hands on the bench. While the national media is going to be insufferable about this, Big Cat is finally ready to buy the ticket.
The Cowboys are back and are legitimate Super Bowl contenders
The hype is going to be off the charts on Monday morning for the Cowboys... This was their, oh shit, the Cowboys are actually like super woke debtors. I'm mad at myself. Cause I thought about making a wager on them to win the super bowl on Monday at 12 to one... but the Cowboys are back.
PFT, however, is trying to find stability in the wreckage. Even with the season effectively over for Washington, he isn't ready to blow the whole thing up just yet.
Washington should give Ron Rivera an extension despite the losing season
I actually think the best thing for the football team right now would be to give Ron Rivera an extension. That's really what we need... It would send a message that, okay. Yeah, we're kind of a clusterfuck, but at least we're a clusterfuck with some stability.
The AFC North Bloodbath
Joe Burrow didn't just beat the Ravens; he personally deleted their secondary from the record books with 525 passing yards. It was a statement performance from a guy who Big Cat thinks has that unteachable quality that separates the greats from the merely good.
Joe Burrow has the 'it factor' because of his elite pocket awareness and ability to sense pressure
Joe Burrow, who's going to be a superstar... it's all about his ability to just move in the pocket and sense pressure. Like either guys have it or they don't. What makes a guy have that it factor? It's can he—does he feel like he has eyes in the back of his head when he can slide up with an oncoming rusher coming at him? And he has that.
While Burrow was carving up a COVID-depleted defense, Big Cat couldn't help but notice the Pro Bowl snubs. The fact that Lamar Jackson made the roster over Burrow or Josh Allen based on name recognition alone was enough to send the guys into a spiral about the validity of fan voting.
Lamar Jackson should not have made the Pro Bowl over Joe Burrow and Josh Allen
Lamar Jackson should not have made the Pro Bowl. Lamar Jackson made the Pro Bowl over Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. That's crazy to me. That's fucking crazy. Like by any statistical analysis, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow have had better seasons than Lamar Jackson.
Bills Mafia Returns to the Throne
Hank had to eat a massive serving of humble pie as the Bills walked into Foxborough and didn't punt a single time. Josh Allen played like an MVP, while Mac Jones looked every bit the rookie wall-hitter. Hank attempted to retreat to the "Rome wasn't built in a day" defense, but the guys weren't letting him off that easily after his weeks of "Soupy" talk.
Expectations for a rookie QB to go deep in the playoffs are delusional
I don't think anyone that expected a rookie quarterback to take your team deep in the playoffs is delusional... If we're having this conversation in four years, like I do compare it to Josh Allen... It takes time. It's a progression. If Mack Jones is still where he's at today in four years, then we can have this conversation.
PFT still has his reservations about the Bills' ability to survive a deep run if they have to stay in the elements, but he's sold on their ceiling in a dome environment.
The Bills are built to win the Super Bowl in Los Angeles but not playoff games in the cold
I still stand by my take that these bills are, they're like built to win the super bowl. The game in Los Angeles. They, they're probably not built to win playoff games, multiple playoff games and the cold. But if they can get to the super bowl, I think they can win the super bowl.
The New York Giants Are a Crime Scene
The report that Joe Judge and Daniel Jones are likely back for another year sent shockwaves of misery through the Giants' fanbase. Big Cat was particularly baffled by the logic of potentially firing the GM while keeping the failed experiments on the field.
Firing a GM but keeping the coach and QB is the dumbest thing a team can do
The firing of a GM and not of a coach is one of the dumbest things that a pro sports team can do. It's not stability when you've lost 10, 10 games or more every single season for five straight... Why wouldn't you just clean house top to bottom?
It led to a deeper discussion about Daniel Jones' pedigree and why the "Generic Video Game QB" look can only take you so far if you weren't even a standout in the ACC.
There has never been a quarterback who was average in college and went on to be a superstar in the NFL
There's never been a quarterback in the history of football who was average in college and then went on to be a superstar in the NFL. It doesn't happen. Like you don't, you're not just like, oh, okay at Duke, and then all of a sudden you're a franchise quarterback. The guys who are franchise quarterbacks looked good in college at some point.
Chiefs Kingdom and the AFC Hierarchy
The Chiefs clinched the AFC West for the sixth straight year, and they did it by absolutely burying the Steelers. It’s a remarkable turnaround from their October slump when everyone was ready to write the Mahomes obituary. Big Cat sees a lot of 2010s New England in this current Kansas City run.
The 2021 Chiefs are having a resurgence similar to the vintage Patriots
The way everyone talked and ourselves included, talked about the chiefs and my homes in October... and what they have done since is very Patriots ask where everyone's like, have the chiefs been figured out is Patrick or home's bad. And then they've just wanted 11 in a row... That's a very, I think an apt analogy.
We wrapped up with Football Guy of the Week and some very questionable New Year's resolutions from the crew. PFT is planning to get into scotch, Big Cat is going to "get back in shape" (again), and Billy is trying to go "full primal" while still spending fourteen hours a day on TikTok.
Let’s just hope the Gila Monsters don't paralyze the Cowboys before the playoffs start.
