Two weeks in and this season is already delivering more than we can handle. Bills-Lions gave us a masterclass in Josh Allen doing Josh Allen things. The 49ers won. The Niners and bills fans watched the Lions and Texans look a little humbled. And somewhere in Tampa, it rained so hard the stadium turned into a waterfall with two minutes left on the clock and a game still to play.
But before we got into any of that, we had something much more important to address.
Beth met Jim Kelly.
Beth's Week: Jim Kelly, Lifehouse Atlanta, and a Country Club T-Shirt Situation
There is no other way to say this: Beth had the week of her life.
Through a fundraising event for Lifehouse Atlanta, a nonprofit that provides respite care for families of medically fragile and special needs children, Beth had the opportunity to hear Jim Kelly speak and then hug him, show him her shirt, and hand him a business card. In that order.
Jim Kelly, for anyone who needs a reminder, is the Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback, a four-time Super Bowl attendee inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002, and one of the greatest to ever do it. After retiring from football, he and his family experienced the profound challenge of raising a son with a serious neurological disorder. Hunter Kelly lived to eight years old, far beyond what doctors initially expected, and Jim has spent years since speaking openly about the weight and beauty and love of caring for a medically fragile child.
His message at the Lifehouse event was about what it takes to show up every day for someone who needs you around the clock. For the families Lifehouse serves, there is no calling a neighbor to watch the kids while you run an errand. No frozen pizza and a bedtime instruction and off you go. These are children on feeding tubes, with seizure protocols, with needs that require skilled care every hour of every day. Lifehouse exists to give those families a breath. A date night. A night of uninterrupted sleep. The kind of thing most of us take completely for granted.
Beth was moved. We were all moved just hearing about it.
The outfit situation: Beth wore a shirt that reads Kelly, Thomas, Smith, Reed, and Levy, the legendary Bills roster, tucked under a jean jacket with dress pants and wedges because the event was at a country club and men were required to wear jackets. She showed Jim the shirt, told him her love for football and for Buffalo started because of watching him play, gave him a hug, and took a photo. Baby Josh and Baby Jim, her miniature figures, stayed in her bag. The country club was not ready for that and she made the wise call.
If you are looking for a charity, Lifehouse Atlanta is a beautiful one. Find them and give if you can.
Dezi's Week: The Two-and-Oh 49ers
Dezi flew back from her son's Marine boot camp graduation in South Carolina, caught a cold on the way home, and came to the table wearing her George Kittle jersey because George Kittle is off the injury report and she was choosing peace.
That is the energy.
The 49ers beat the Dolphins with Brock Purdy going 20 for 22 for 287 yards, two passing touchdowns, and a rushing score. Christian McCaffrey hit his hundredth career touchdown. George Kittle caught his 600th career reception. Dezi floated the question on Twitter during the game: is it possible that the Comeback Player of the Year ballot gets completely filled with 49ers names? Considering how many of them have come back from serious injuries this season, she may not be wrong.
The Dolphins are a bit of a mess right now. Dezi acknowledged it. But two and oh is two and oh and she is fully embracing it.
The Bills Win. Laura Watched It Anyway.
The Bills beat the Lions 41 to 31 in the grand opening of Highmark Stadium, the brand new Bills home. Josh Allen scored the first touchdown in that building. He also finished with five total touchdowns, two rushing and three passing, for 248 yards.
Beth's take on what made this more than just a Josh Allen show: James Cook rushed for 135 yards and a score. Dalton Kincaid, Keon Coleman, Josh Palmer, and Dawson Knox all contributed. Even with DJ Moore leaving early, the offense just kept moving. That everybody eats philosophy is real now in ways it was not before, because they genuinely have enough weapons to scare you from multiple directions.
Laura's honest take: the Lions had several three-and-outs, relied far too heavily on Jahmyr Gibbs without spreading the ball around enough to confuse the Bills defense, and the secondary gave up too much. The rushing stat line said it all: 66 yards for the Lions versus 203 for the Bills. She was not giving up, she was clear about that, she has survived an 0 and 16 season. But it should have been a more competitive game and it was not.
Her exact words about Gibbs: she thinks he has Barry Sanders energy and she means that seriously. And she also does not want to see him overused and burned out the way Sanders eventually walked away. The Lions have too much invested in him to not build around him properly.
Sports and Medicine: A Tough Week
This was a heavy one, and Dezi and Beth brought their full clinical perspective to it.
Jalen Daniels, Washington Commanders, elbow dislocation.
He extended his arm going down and dislocated his elbow for the second time. Beth's guidance was direct: someone needs to teach this man to tuck and roll. The ligaments get laxer with every dislocation. The muscles get more damaged. One of these times the injury will require surgery. Tuck the arm in. Full stop.
Jackson Dart, New York Giants, MCL and more.
The impact came from outside the knee, pushed it the wrong direction, and the MCL was immediately gone. Further imaging confirmed PCL and meniscus involvement as well. Surgery is happening. Beth's read was that unless something extraordinary occurs with Jameis Winston, you sit Dart for the rest of the season and come back next year stronger. He is too young and too promising to rush this recovery.
Jaden Reed, Green Bay Packers, neck injury.
This was the scariest moment of the week. Reed bent his head down on impact, which straightens the natural curve of the neck and turns it into a straight column that absorbs force directly rather than distributing it. His body went limp. He was boarded and taken to a hospital, where he spent the night. He had movement in all extremities and the report was cautiously positive, but Dezi expects his season is over. Beth called this a spinal cord injury rather than a typical neck injury, and reminded everyone that the NFL's current protocols do not reflect the seriousness of these neurological events the way they should.
Kyler Murray, cleared for week three.
Dezi hates this. She said so plainly. Two weeks after the kind of concussion that had him motionless on the field with neurological symptoms, he is cleared to play. She is not against the player making his own choices. She is against a system that does not mandate rest after an injury of that severity. The visible injuries get more time than the invisible ones, and that imbalance does not make sense.
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears, hamstring.
The memes were spectacular. He was carted off in tears and the internet compared it to stubbing your toe on the coffee table. He will likely play next week. The drama was noted and appreciated.
She Did That: Shay
Shay grew up watching football with her grandfather and father at a time when organized football simply was not available to girls. So her dad would gather the neighborhood boys and she would play street ball with them. Her mom was nervous. Eventually her mom came around.
.
From intramural flag football in college, to playing with organized leagues in Atlanta, to trying tackle football, getting a helmet on and discovering it felt completely different from flag, getting injured, rebuilding her confidence, coming back to tackle with the Atlanta Phoenix, playing from 2015 to 2022, and finally choosing officiating over playing when her body told her it was time to pick one: Shay's path through this sport has been long, full, and genuinely extraordinary.
She has been officiating since 2011 and joined the Georgia Federation of Officials Association in 2015. She was the first female in GFOA history to officiate a championship game, doing so in 2018. She referees high school tackle football, high school girls flag football, and recreational league games for a group she affectionately calls the thirty-seven and up league, for which she strongly recommends an ambulance be parked nearby at all times.
She is a mother of three children, ages twenty, twelve, and five. Her youngest is about to turn six and made sure we knew her birthday was coming. She is a Cobb County school bus driver. She is currently in her third full year of officiating.
Her goal is to become a white hat, which she explained is the referee who calls penalties out loud, speaks to coaches and captains before the game, and runs the crew. It is the leadership role on the field. She wants it. She is on her way.
When she first started officiating tackle, coaches pushed back. Not because they had a specific problem with her calls, but because she was a woman on that field. Her approach was to explain the call, hold her ground without taking it personally, and earn their respect through her knowledge and her calm. It worked.
Dezi asked Shay how it feels to be part of the growing movement of women in football, given that she started playing when flag football was not even really a thing yet for women and now girls can get full scholarships to play at college level. Shay's answer was honest and beautiful.
It is surreal. She said it twice.
She knows she is playing a small part. Beth told her that to the girl watching her on that field, she is not a small part at all. She is the whole thing.
As the episode wrapped up, Shay mentioned she is now a Bills fan after letting her Instagram followers pick her team for her. She is welcome at Beth's house. The Petty Betty welcome wagon is officially extended.
Thirsty for Football: Bourbon and Apple Cider Punch
September's theme is tailgate and batch drinks, things you make ahead and bring to the watch party or have ready at home. This week's drink was inspired by the Eagles-Bears matchup but works for any fall game day.
The recipe: apple cider, lemon juice, bourbon, ginger beer or ginger ale depending on how much snap you want, garnished with sliced apple and a cinnamon stick. Mix everything except the ginger beer ahead of time, keep it chilled, and add the ginger beer and ice right before serving.
Mocktail swap: replace the bourbon with a strong brewed chai tea. The warm spices from the chai work beautifully with the apple cider and you get all the fall depth without the alcohol.
Beth was excited to make this one because Atlanta had a rare evening under eighty degrees. That's as close to autumn as it gets in September and she was taking it.
Check out our Facebook and Instagram for the complete recipe.
Game of the Week: Ravens vs Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro
Cowboys and Ravens in Rio, both one and one. Lamar Jackson without Zay Flowers. A Dallas team nobody is quite ready to trust. The girlfriends all picked the Ravens, then immediately walked it back because picking the same team unanimously on this show has not historically gone well for that team.
Other games with strong cases: Texans versus Colts, both oh and two with something to prove. Saints versus Raiders, because Tyler Shuck has been surprisingly good and nobody expected that. Bucs versus Vikings, because Tampa always seems to be better than anyone thinks they should be in that division.
The NFC South quarterback situation visual Dezi shared was a delight. Saints: we have our franchise quarterback. Bucs: we overpaid a thirty-one year old. Panthers: we have our franchise quarterback. Falcons: what's a quarterback. Michael Penix came back this week and we will see how that goes.
See You Next Wednesday
Week two is in the books and this season is already everything we hoped it would be.
Football is back. Shay is on the field with her stripes. Beth hugged Jim Kelly. The 49ers are two and oh. Josh Allen is Josh Allen. And the Falcons still have not figured out what a quarterback is.
We'll be back Wednesday at 8pm ET. Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss us.
Watch or Listen to the Full Episode
Catch the full Week 2 Recap on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Search Girlfriends and Football wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes every Wednesday at 8pm ET.
