FMQB

FMQB: Brady = GOAT

I can’t believe I’m ending the season saying this yet again, but Brady is going out on top. To go to a brand new team and skip the rebuilding phase and go straight to a Super Bowl title is rare if not non-existent as it is, but for a 43 year old QB to do it is insane. It’s safe to say that Brady wasn’t just a system QB in NE, that it was due to him and his leadership that brought in 6 (and now 7) Championships. I’m done fighting it, it’s true. Brady is the Greatest of All Time.

Super Bowl LV:

The game wasn’t even close, the Bucs defense held Mahomes’ offense without a TD. That had never happened in his entire high school, college or pro career. That stat alone tells you why the Bucs won, but here are a few key observations.

• The Chiefs goal line stand in 2^nd was insane, that seemed like the turning point in the game to me where momentum could shift. Instead of 14-3 or 10-3, it was still a 4 point game.
• In the 2^nd quarter again, momentum shifted. Brady was picked off but it came back due to a flag on a non-involved player. Then they settled for a FG, but KC lined up offsides so TB got a 3^rd chance and ended up scoring a TD. There’s another 7 point swing that could have changed th tide if the original pick had stayed.
• Like in the Packer game, Brady led the Bucs to a last second first half TD. The Chiefs calling timeouts in anticipation of getting the ball back with time. Ending up punting, the Bucs went 71 yards in 55 seconds. 2 Huge Pass Interference calls helped, one in the endzone to put the ball at the 1.
• The game really came down to something as simple as the Chiefs’ offensive line injuries and issues. Mahomes was running for his life the entire game
• Gronk really didn’t seem to do a lot this season, but turned it on in this game for 2 TD’s. His first, where he slipped on his side of the line of scrimmage for an open TD was interesting, that’s a Run blocking move. He said he’s done that move a thousand times in his career, and never for a pass play.
• The game proved that no matter how good a player is, he needs a team to carry him. The 4^th down play where he scrambled and threw while horizontal to the ground hit his receiver in the endzone in the hands! It was one of the best throws I’ve ever seen, and all for nought.
• As Tyreek Hill torched Tampa in the first game and threw up the peace sign and then backflipped in front of Antione Winfield Jr., it’s hard to get mad at Winfield returning the favor and taking the penalty.

Stats of the Week:

• Mahomes ran for 496 yards before throwing or being sacked
• For the 1^st time in his 10 Super Bowl appearances, Brady scored a TD in the 1^st
• Gronk became the 1^st player with a Reception in at least 5 Super Bowls
• 14 of the last 20 Super Bowls have had either Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, and Manning has been retired for 5 years
• Tom Brady has 21 TD’s and over 3000 yards passing. In his Super Bowl career!!!
• Jason Pierre Paul is 8-0 in the playoffs
• Tom Brady has more Super Bowls than any franchise, more than the Pats and the Steelers. He also has more Super Bowls than 18 Franchises combined
• In the Super Bowl, Tom Brady is 1-0 against the AFC, 3-0 against the NFC West, 2-0 against the NFC South, and 1-3 against the NFC East.
• Only 3 QB’s have ever thrown 50 passing TD’s in a season, and all 3 were in the stadium Sunday. Brady and Mahomes were on the field, and Manning in the stands.
• LeSean McCoy has more Super Bowl rings than Rodgers and Brees, and has never played a snap in either game
  
  
  

For the Record:

• Say what you want about Brady, but he went through Brees, Rodgers and Mahomes to win the Super Bowl this year. Hardly a fluke
• Budweiser “we’re not going to advertise in the Super Bowl this year and donate that money to vaccine awareness.” Also Budweiser “Have you tried these 17 versions of our fruity seltzer, or our light beer?”
• That might have been the first time we’ve seen Brady drunk. The first time I saw the video of him throwing the Lombardi trophy from one boat to the other I held my breath, that thing would have sunk like an anchor!
• Not saying it means anything, but for the record, female ref Sarah Thomas does have a son named Brady…
  
  

Memes:

The day is finally here! In such a weird season and a weird year, we’ve actually made it to a normal day, Super Bowl Sunday, with hardly any issues.

The matchup is huge, Mahomes vs. Brady! If you have an argument that the NFL isn’t rigged, you might have to sit this year out! Mahomes is seen as the heir apparent to Brady. This game could either be a handing of the torch, or Brady making a statement that he’ll always be the best. You get the feeling that this game will be looked back on as a deciding factor on who will be the best of all time. You look at Jordan vs. LeBron, and the debate that is there. The issue is that they never got a chance to suit up against each other. Now we’ll have a chance to see if Brady can go for his 7^th Super Bowl, or end up 6-3. If he wins, that makes it awful tough for Mahomes to have a chance at catching him, but if he loses, Mahomes is 25 years old and only needs 4 more to catch him.

Homefield?

Interesting that the first Super Bowl in NFL History where a team gets to play on their homefield, is the year of COVID where Bucs fans can’t necessarily pack the stands to give them an edge. Perhaps only the travel helps here.

Stat of the Week:

Tom Brady has 33 playoff victories, which is more than double Joe Montana in 2^nd place, with 16

Stat of the Week #2:

Brady has appeared in 6 of the last 7 Super Bowls.

Super Bowl Factoids:

• Reid and Arians make up the oldest coaching duo to meet in a Super Bowl
• Brady is the oldest player ever (not just QB) in a Super Bowl
• Mahomes is the youngest QB to start in his 2^nd Super Bowl
• This is the 14^th Super Bowl matchup where the 2 teams met previously in the season. The record of the winning team in the big game? 6-7
• The Super Bowl series is actually tied! 27 AFC, 27 NFC. That’s impressive since the NFC won 13 in a row in the 80’s and 90’s, and 15 of 16 in that timeframe.
• The Bucs are the 4^th team in the past 5 years who will appear in the Super Bowl after missing the playoffs the season before
• This Super Bowl features the winning QB’s of the past 2 Super Bowls

Memes

FMQB: Playoff Recap

I have been so bad about keeping this up during the most exciting time of the year for football fans! But it has been a fun playoff year, couple upsets, a  5 seed winning 3 road games to make the Super Bowl, and a Brady vs. Mahomes matchup. We’ll talk Super Bowl next week, but let’s do our best to discuss an exciting 3 weeks knowing that it won’t do it justice.

Wild Card Round:

• The Bills beat the Colts for their first playoff win in 25 years! Phillip Rivers decided to retire after 1 year as a Colt.
• The Rams shocked the Seahawks with an upset on the road. Backup QB went out in the 1^st quarter, and Jared Goff was able to secure a win with a broken thumb.
• The 7-9 Washington Redtails hung in with the Buccaneers but not enough to win
• Ravens downed the Titans for Lamar Jackson’s first playoff win. He’s now 1-3 in playoff games
• The Saints took down the Bears in a snoozefest, showing why an 8-8 team shouldn’t make the playoffs. However the broadcast on Nickelodeon was awesome! Splashy, slimy, and hopefully worked to get a new generation of football fans in. They also did a really good job of explaining the rules of football without making it cheesy.
• The Browns took down the mighty Steelers on the road by scoring 28 unanswered points in the 1^st quarter.

Record of the Week:

The Buccaneers won their first playoff game in 18 years, the Bills won their first playoff game in 25 years, and the Browns their first playoff win in 26 years! The Browns win was also their first Road playoff victory in 54 years.

Divisional Round:

• The Rams #1 defense was no match for the Packers top Offense which goes against playoff norms.
• The Bills Ravens matchup was a weather game that the Bills easily dominated
• Chiefs Browns ended up being the most exciting game of the weekend. Mahomes went down early, the Browns had an awful fumble-touchback that was the game changer. And Andy Reid running a 4^th down play with Chad Henne to win the game was insane!
• Bucs and Saints was a 3^rd meeting between the 2 teams. Game between the #1 and #2 most Passing TD’s in NFL history will probably never happen again! Brady was barely 50% in the game but still pulled off the win. Also seeing Jameis Winston throw a TD against his old team was pretty hilarious to watch!

Point of the Week:

• We witnessed Drew Brees’ last game. He was emotional on the sidelines, he appeared to tell Jameis “It’s your team now.” He looked back at the crowd on the way into the tunnel, and he and Brady had a moment on the field after the game. End of an era.

Championship Week:

Packers vs Bucs:

Why didn’t Rodgers run the ball in on that 3^rd down play?!?! I think at a minimum he gets to the 1 yard line, better than 50-50 he makes it in. I hate the FG call on 4^th down. They have to score a TD somewhere. Might as well go for the tie there. Worst case scenario, you have the Bucs backed up at their own 5, which forces them to run. They punt and you get the ball at midfield with more shots at the endzone.

You have to ask yourself looking back, when GB drafted Jordan Love in the 1^st round. Does an Antoine Winfield Jr, or Clyde Edwards-Elaire end up pushing them over the top in some way?

Chiefs vs Bills:

Will say I was shocked by the end of 1 to have the Bills up 9-0 against the Chiefs, and seemingly dominating per se on defense. However, we’ve all watched the Chiefs lead playoff comebacks in dramatic fashion last year. And after rattling off 3 straight TD drives and going up by 12, the game almost seemed over at halftime.

Missed Memes

FMQB: Wild Card Weekend

Week 17 Recap:

• The Browns ended the longest NFL playoff drought for their first playoff appearance in 18 years. Then as luck would have it, COVID struck and they’ll be missing their head coach and a handful of players.
• The Dolphins laid an egg on Sunday, but will miss the playoffs at 10-6 while the NFC has an 8-8 and 7-9 team make it. I was fairly convinced that adding a 7^th playoff team, that any team at 9 wins was essentially in.
• The Rams and Cardinals essentially had a “win and you’re in game,” and Murray was out after the first series making this a lousy battle of the backups. In which case defense tends to win. That being said, props to Cardinals QB who went to my alma mater the University of South Dakota! We rarely see players in the limelight.
• The winner of Dallas and NYG would have a shot at the playoffs and it ended up being a pretty crazy ending. The Cowboys made it to the 7 yard line and 1^st and goal, but would throw a pick in the endzone. Looking over, the Giants actually fumbled the ball but were able to recover and win the game.

Eagles Tanking:

The Giants went into Sunday night knowing that if Philly could win, they’d be in the playoffs. Philly was up late in the 2^nd quarter with Jalen Hurts, but inexplicably benched him for the 3^rd string QB Nate Sudfield, who would end the game with a 14.6 QB Rating. A couple points, and I’m not exactly sure where I stand on the issue, although leaning towards purposefully losing is bad football ethics. That being said, the difference between Philly winning and losing is either the 6^th pick or the 9^th pick and no playoff chances, so why not lose? I think it’s more poetic justice rather than purposeful shading that their rival the Giants miss the playoffs because of it.

Titans Texans finish

I only caught the last 2 minutes of this game, but was quite the doozy. There were 7 TD’s in the 2^nd half alone, and 13 points scored in the last 1:42. The win probability flipped 3 times in the last 2 minutes. The AFC South was on the line, and Tennessee was looking at either a 4 seed or 7 seed. The Texans scored with 18 seconds left to take the lead. 1 play later, the Titans were in FG range and nailed a 37 yarder that went off the post to win the game and division, and right to host a playoff game.

Stat of the Week:

Deshaun Watson led the league in passing yards after the team traded away their top receiver

Stat of the Week #2:

The difference between the #1 and #2 RB’s was 470 yards. The difference between #1 and #3 was 858 yards

Stat of the Week #3:

Dak Prescott ended the season with more TD’s than Cam Newton, despite his season ending injury in Week 5.

Stat of the Week #4:

Derek Henry became the 8^th player to amass 2000 yards. He had a 250 yard day, so it sort of snuck up on everybody.

Stat of the Week #5:

The Giants started the season 1-7, and weren’t eliminated from playoff contention until the 256^th game of the season.

Stat of the Week #6:

Stat of the Week #7:

Wild Card Weekend

We’re in for a treat with two triple-headers for playoff season now instead of just 4 games. Here are my picks:

Bills (2) vs. Colts (7)

The Bills are a very scary team this year, with their offense finally catching up to their vaunted defense. I have this as a blowout, Bills 34- Colts 17

Steelers (3) vs. Browns (6)

Last week’s teaser was against number twos for Pittsburgh. I think a rested group takes care of them. Steelers 27- Browns 21

Titans (4) vs. Ravens (5)

This is the biggest toss up in my opinion, and I think it depends on which Lamar Jackson shows up. I think the Titans eek it out 37-27.

Saints (2) vs. Bears (7)

Rematch from earlier in the season, and the Bears hung with them into OT. Different QB. I have this one as not as close, Saints 28, Bears 10.

Seahawks (3) vs. Rams (6)

Will come down to who is QB’ing for the Rams. If it’s Wolford, look for it to turn ugly 6+ sacks and Seattle 35, Rams 6. If it’s Goff, I have it closer, but an unfortunately picking against my team SEA 27, LAR 24.

RedTails (4) vs. Buccaneers (5)

The most likely “upset” this week, I have Brady ramming past Washington 35-17. Chance their D puts up a fight, but hard to see Washington winning this game.

Memes of the Week:

Whew, it was a long haul, but it only took 10 years for us to finally make it to poop jokes! And there will be a lot this week, so if you don’t care for crappy bathroom humor, you can flush off.

A few things we missed:

• In the recent weeks, Joe Flacco passed Joe Montana in passing yardage
• Brian Griese called a Monday Night Football game with Tom Brady as the QB. This is significant because Brady backed up Griese in college. It also seems like Griese retired ages ago, and that’s because he’s been out of the league for 12 years!
• Fantasy football blunder, I lost to a team who was able to put Taysom Hill in as a TE but get all the QB stats. ESPN fixed that glitch the next week
• We had a successful Fumblerooski play for a TD, and I forgot to talk about it!
• The week the Broncos had no QB’s, they actually inquired with the NFL on if they could start one of their coaches who was an ex-QB
• Week 13 points
  • The Raiders hail mary (or the Jets botching of that play) was utterly insane, and Gregg Williams deserved to get fired after calling that play
  • Browns Titans ended up being a good game, but the Browns really took it to them in the 1^st half
  • How to the Giants beat the Seahawks, in Seattle?!?!

Back to Reality:

• Before Sunday’s game, the Saints were 8-0 in the prior 2 seasons without Drew Brees as their QB
• The Steelers started 11-0, and are on a 2 game losing streak
• Wow, Jalen Hurts took the woeful Eagles and beat the NFC leading Saints!’
• Yes, Jon Gruden wore an “Oakland” Raiders hat while in Vegas

Defensive strategy:

This is the first season I’ve really noticed this, but I’ve seen a lot of interceptions (many of which are pick 6s) that are stemming from Cornerbacks who are on another receiver. They jump the route, leaving their man wide open. It seems to be working pretty efficiently, and is taking QB’s quite by surprise. Would be curious to see the INT stats compared to other years, because I’m sure I’ve seen 8 or 9 of these just in casual watching.

Browns Ravens, Game of the Year:

Before we get into the poop jokes, the Ravens game was truly the game of the year. 35 points were scored in the 4^th quarter, the Browns came back from being down by 14 and there were 3 lead changes after that, and in the last 6:00, the win probability shifted teams 7 times! Jackson went down (more on that to come, hehe) and it looked like the Browns were going to run away with it. Especially when the Ravens Backup went down! Then Lamar magically returned the very next play and led them to a TD.

“Cramps”

What everybody is talking about is QB Lamar Jackson mysteriously left the game in the 4^th quarter of Monday night’s game. Commentators said he was cramping, which everybody thought was a leg, but makes sense now. Jackson is denying it, but I’ve seen that run to the locker room before (hell, I’ve DONE that run). The fastest QB in the league went from streaking on the field to streaking to the toilet, went from running the ball to having the runs, and went from beating the Browns to the Browns taking him down. I love how RGIII, his backup, is making fun of him about it. Jackson went from wanting the Super Bowl to needing the toilet bowl! Gives a new meaning to doing squats.

Playoff Machine is Back!

Play around with it http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine , here’s what I get:

AFC:

1. KC
2. BUF
3. PIT
4. TEN
5. CLE
6. IND
7. BAL

*Notes: Miami misses at 10-6, KC holds a 7 game division lead, NE misses the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, Jets go winless

NFC:

1. GB
2. NO
3. SEA
4. WAS
5. LAR
6. TB
7. ARI

*Notes: Was gets to .500, SEA takes the NFC West,

Memes of the Week:

FMQB: Since You’ve Been Gone

Sorry for the hiatus (somebody actually noticed, woohoo!), but I’m back in action!

*Cue Kelly Clarkson music*

Since You’ve Been Gone:

We’ve missed a rockin 5 weeks of the NFL season, including:

• The Bengals knocking off the 5-1 Titans
• Tua starting, winning, then hurting
• The Bears going from 5-1 to 5-6
• The Ravens going from 5-1 to 6-5
• The Vikings have gone from 1-5 to 5-6
• Dez Bryant is back in the league, so is Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon
• Alex Smith back at QB, and having his team leading the division
• Joe Burrow’s catastrophic injury
• The Matt Patricia era is officially over
• DeAndre Hopkins had one of the more insane hail mary catches against 3 defenders

Week 12 Quick Hits:

• Panthers at Vikings ended up being one of the more exciting final few minutes of the week. Panthers had a 95% chance to win at the 2 minute warning
• How do the Raiders beat the Chiefs one week, and get obliterated by the Falcons this week
• In the race no team wants to win, 1 game separates 1^st and last place in the NFC East. It’s the Giants now, but all 4 teams have held a share of the lead at somepoint in the season.

For the Record:

• Nathan Peterman consistently had games where he threw more picks than the Practice Squad WR did for the Broncos on Sunday
• The Chargers loss on Sunday was the first game in 11 where the difference was by more than one score.

Most 2020 Week of the NFL:

This week, we had a Wednesday afternoon football game. It was Wednesday afternoon so NBC could broadcast the lighting of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree that night. RGIII was throwing passes to Dez Bryant. And we had a WR start at QB for a different team.

Stat of the Week:

The Broncos and Saints combined for 75 yards passing, and ran the ball 77 times vs. 25 passes.

Stat of the Week #2:

Panthers defensive Rookie Jeremy Chinn scored his 1^st NFL TD on Sunday. He scored his 2^nd a mere 10 seconds later

Stat of the Week #3:

There were more positive COVID tests in the past 3 weeks (172) than the NFL had in their first 3 months (168).

Stat of the Week #4:

Tom Brady is 2^nd in the league in passing yards, 4^th in TD passes, but also 2^nd in INT’s.

Stat of the Week #5:

Despite playing 6 ½ fewer games, Dak Prescott still has more passing TD’s than Daniel Jones

Stat of the Week #6:

Dwayne Haskins, in 4 games, has thrown the same amount of TD passes that Cam Newton has thrown all year.

COVID update:

Ravens/Steelers

I’ve heard about 4 different reasonings, but I still don’t understand why the Broncos were told “Play Sunday or you forfeit” while the Ravens were told “let’s postpone, postpone again, and postpone a 3^rd time and play on a day the NFL has never played on before so you get healthy.” I also think the Steelers have a legitimate reason to be upset with how this played out. Keep in mind, the same thing happened with them and the Titans earlier this year. The Steelers have essentially been punished twice now, due to the fact that a different team can’t figure out its stuff.

Broncos/Saints

All 4 QB’s were in the same film room, maskless, and 1 tested positive making all of them ineligible to play. If anybody comes back to read these in the future, I want a reminder that the Broncos had 4 QB’s who couldn’t play, so they signed a practice squad WR to play at QB. He was the only QB to complete a pass, he went 1 for 9 for 13 yards, 2 INT’s. A 0.0 rating and a 0.1 QBR.

Undefeated watch!

The Steelers have a legitimate chance to go undefeated this year after starting 11-0. Granted they are blessed with one of the easier schedules I’ve ever seen, and had injury/covid situations help them out.

Remaining Schedule:

Relatively tough final slog, but very winnable games at the same time. They finish with the RedTails (likely win), Bills (tougher), Bengals (easy win), Colts (tougher), and Browns (eh?).

Barely Here:

THAT being said, and it’s really hard to look at an 11-0 team as not even top 2 in their conference, but they’ve BARELY won some games, including ones that should have been fairly easy. 1 Score wins against the Broncos, Texans, Eagles, Cowboys, and a decimated Ravens team. They have played 4 games against teams with winning records (Ravens, Ravens, Browns, and Titans).

Quote of the Week:

“I felt bad for the cardboard fans” Sean Payton, after coaching his own backup QB against a practice squad WR at QB

Memes of the Week:

Catching up a bit here as well

FMQB went deep into his crystal ball, and after 8 years of terrible predictions, had another one for the ages! I had Tua taking over as QB, TO THE WEEK! Before the season I said he’d beat out Fitzpatrick by Week 6! Last time I had a prediction this spot on was when Donovan McNabb was a Viking! This might be enough to keep me going a few extra years, although I suppose even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Quick Hits:

• The Redtails, Eagles and Texans all lost games this week by attempting 2pt conversions when unnecessary and failing
• The Eagles are winning their division at 2-4-1, yet have 21 other teams in the league with a better record
• I mentioned Justin Herbert’s heartbreaking losses last week, but Joe Burrow has also been very competitive in some games. The 3 losses and the Tie have all essentially been a play or two from going the Bengals way. Not that there are moral victories in the NFL (but perhaps future hope), but the Bengals are a few good bounces away from being a 5-1 team.
• The Patriots are under .500 this far into the season for the first time in 18 years
• The Packers hadn’t turned the ball over until Sunday
• Does the Jets’ “Butt Interception” do anything to make up for the Butt Fumble?

Stat of the Week:

There have now been 7 teams who were down 16+ points who came back to win a game this year.

Stat of the Week #2:

Derrick Henry had 212 rushing yards on Sunday

Stat of the Week #3:

Dak Prescott hasn’t played in 1 ½ games, and is still leading the league in passing yards

Stat of the Week #4:

Josh Allen has more yards and more TD’s than Patrick Mahomes. Derek Carr has a higher passer rating than Mahomes.

Dolphins:

With all the talk about Fitzmagic, I will say I think the Dolphins did him dirty on this one. He was 5^th in Completion %, 7^th in QBR, and Top 10 in TD’s. He also had his team 2^nd in the division (and ahead of the Patriots). Typically a benching would happen with poor play, but he’s been a top 10 QB this year.

COVID Changes:

Interesting tidbit from Big Ben that I hadn’t thought about. He said the offense has backed the huddle up a few yards, because without fans it’s so quiet he needs to make sure the defense can’t hear the call.

Memes of the Week:

FMQB: The Stiff Arm Heard Round the World

FMQB: Basically here for the Memes this week

Shorter post this week, basically just here for the memes!

Quick Thoughts:

• I would say I’m shocked but not surprised that Bill Obrien was fired from the Texans. He won 4 division titles in his 5 years of coaching, and 3 different QB’s won him those titles. I think the GM status was above him, also surprising we’re 4 games into the season.
• Wow Cleveland! Putting up 49 points on the Cowboys!
• Joe Burrow got his first win

COVID Update:

• COVID went 3 weeks without rearing it’s ugly head, but this week we had the Titans, Patriots, Saints, and now Jets all with positives.
• I did call it, and say that one team would turn into the Miami Marlins of the NFL. 22 players/staff have tested positive.
• There is already talk about shortening the season, playing in a bubble, and choosing playoff teams by Win Percentage if teams end up not playing a full season.
• Up to 4 postponed games so far in the past 2 weeks

Quarter season review:

• The Bills are alone in 1^st place in the AFC East, and have a 2 game lead on everybody else
• Colts, Browns and Steelers (all with 3 wins) are my AFC surprises, although the 0-4 Texans are in there as well
• The Eagles are WINNING THEIR DIVISION with a 1-2-1 record
• Bears and Bucs are my NFC surprises, Vikings on the negative side
• The Cowboys are essentially 1 failed play away from being 0-4

Stat of the Week:

The Browns rushed for 307 yards on Sunday

Stat of the Week #2:

Despite being the most pass happy league in NFL history, 2019 and 2020 have seen 2 of the top 4 team rushing yards in the first 4 games of a season (Ravens last year, Browns this year)

Memes of the Week: