FMQB

“Does Anybody Know what Time it is? Tebow Time!”

As most friends of FMQB know, one of the three teams I hate are the Denver Broncos. Normally a 1-4 team wouldn’t have much to cheer about, but the fans would go nuts, chanting “Tebow, Tebow” everytime Kyle Orton played poorly. Fans bought expensive billboard advertisement space to call upon bringing in Tebow. It’s fun to see a fanbase rally around a bad team, heck, it’s the only thing they had to cheer about. John Fox tantalized fans by bringing in Tebow as a WR on a few plays, and handing off in another game. Well Broncos fans, you finally have your wish! I was pumped for the Jets Patriots game, but the second I heard that Tebow was playing, even I immediately switched to watch this lopsided game. Tim Tebow came in during the second half of Sunday’s game, and rallied the team to an exciting finish. Scoring 14 points in the 4^th quarter, Tebow also drove the Broncos 51 yards in 23 seconds for a Hail Mary chance to win the game. And what an exciting play! Tebow ran left, then right, then did a complete 360, then ran left again, loaded up and threw to his receiver in the endzone. Have to admit, I was out of my seat for that play. Tebow is one of those Quarterbacks who will never have amazing stats, but will somehow put his team in position to win the game. On a side note, anybody remember FMQB’s prediction regarding Tim Tebow? Number 3 QB on the roster opening day, Starter by week 7 (I predicted Week 12)…Bonus points if you answered “Tool Time” to the headline question.

Turnover Differential; the most relevant statistic in Sports:

Buffalo is getting a lot of credit for their explosive offense. Even with Lee Evans leaving, Buffalo is scoring 32 points per game, Fred Jackson is 3^rd in the league in rushing, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is doing more than managing the game; he’s excelling with a 96.4 passer rating! But it’s my argument that defense, specifically takeaways, are leading to wins. Buffalo’s defense isn’t stellar, they are 30^th in the league in yds allowed, and middle of the pack for points allowed; BUT they have a league leading 12 INT’s in 5 games. One of the most relevant statistics in predicting a win is the turnover battle, it seems that teams who win that battle nearly always win the game! To put this in perspective, in 2010 the top 5 AFC teams in turnover differential ar made the playoffs, and 4 of the top 6 in the NFC. All had more takeaways than giveaways. Even with a less than impressive defense, the Bills lead the lead the league in turnover differential at +11.

Where is Nirvana and the Super Nintendo, because this looks like 1991!

The last time both the Bills and 49ers were this good, I was still sleeping with a Teddy Bear every night (anybody who says “Wasn’t that 2 years ago?” ha ha). I am utterly shocked with the 49ers this year. Brand new coach, same old crappy QB, no major changes over the offseason, and yet they are an OT field goal away from being 5-0! Sunday’s 48-3 blowout over the playoff-caliber Buccaneers was actually their largest point win since the Joe Montana era! Alex Smith had a near perfect QBR for Week 5 (this is ESPN’s cool new QB rating, I will discuss it at a later date). I am personally a fan of both Harbaugh coaches, they seem to be “player coaches” who bring a spark to the morale of teams. I am honestly impressed with what first time NFL coach John Harbaugh has been able to do with the team so far. It’s still hard for me to see them as being legit after years of mediocrity, but an 11-5 record would impress me.

The Dream that is a Nightmare:

Do you ever find yourself in a dream that seems good at the time, only to have it turn on you in an instant to become just horrible? Well I’m assuming that Michael Vick, Andy Reid, and company can all attest to that happening to them. The once so called “Dream Team” and Super Bowl favorite has turned into a Nightmare season. From here on out, until the Eagles get over .500, yours truly will only refer to them as “The Nightmares.” Other than winning their opener against the Rams, the Nightmares have lost 4 in a row for a pathetic 1-4 start. Only five teams in NFL history have started 1-4 and still made the playoffs. Vick threw 4 INT’s on Sunday, and Fred Jackson had nearly 200 yards of total offense against the Nightmares.

Turducken Special:

If Green Bay and Detroit win their next 5 games in a row, their Thanksgiving matchup would be a matchup between two 10-0 teams! Looking at the schedule, there is a VERY good chance this could happen. Other Thanksgiving matchup I’m looking forward to is Harbaugh vs Harbaugh (49ers vs Ravens). I’m daring enough to say it, Super Bowl preview????

FMQB proclaimed “Keep it in your Pants!”

After watching Monday night’s game between the Bears and Lions, I was getting so sick of seeing the little yellow “Flag” graphic come up on every single play! Commentator Mike Tirico called the play “sloppy” at least 4 times. The two teams combined for 26 penalties for 198 yards! After one sequence with four penalties in a row, FMQB was begging the refs to “Keep it in your Pants!”

Weekly Cam Update:

Despite being 1-4, Carolina is a mere -16 in point differential. The Panthers are in extremely close games every game this year, they have lost by 7, 7, 5, and 3 points in each of their losses. It’s like they are begging to get over the hump. Here is my prediction, watch out for the Panthers next year. Remember the Lions of last year? They played well in several games but just couldn’t seem to come away with the win. They lost close games, ended the season on a 4-0 run and haven’t looked back. Watch for the Panthers to start to learn how to finish games once they get used to playing with God’s Gift to Man Cam.

If the Playoffs were to Start Today:

The two #1 seeds would be Detroit and Buffalo!!! San Francisco and San Diego would be #2.

“And the Football Gods got their Revenge”

As I mentioned a few weeks back, when Los Tramposos faked injuries to slow the Rams, the Football Gods proclaimed that they would smite the Giants. On Sunday, Los Tramposos lost to a team that had gone winless their last ten 1pm games on the east coast, and a team that was 1-3 who’s starting QB got injured during the game.

Stat of the Week #1:

The top two individual scorers in the league both play for Detroit. Calvin Johnson leads the league with 54 points, K Jason Hanson has 51.

Stat of the Week #2:

Minnesota has a +5 point differential, but are still 1-4. Tampa Bay has a -38 point differential, yet have a winning record.

Stat of the Week #3:

Of last year’s playoff teams, the Eagles, Colts, Bears, Falcons, Jets, and Chiefs are a combined 9-21. Last year’s teams watching the playoffs; Lions, 49ers, Bills, Texans, Redskins, and Giants are a combined 22-7! Isn’t that proof of an upside-down year!

Stat of the Week #4:

Tom Brady has thrown more INT’s than Sam Bradford, Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers, and Donovan McNabb combined!

Stat of the Week #5:

Michael Vick has 13 turnovers in 5 games with the Nightmares.

Why Week 5 was Successful:

For the first time since Week 16 of last year, the Rams didn’t lose! It was also their Bye week, ugh. (So much for my boycott of any Rams talk until they get a win). The Rams go on the road against the Packers in Week 6, oh boy, talk about leading the sheep to the slaughter! Or leading the Ram to the slaughter…

Records were meant to be broken:

What a crazy year this has been! An amazing 6 QB’s (including Cam Newton) are on pace to beat Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage mark. Calvin Johnson is on pace to beat Randy Moss’ TD mark by a WR. Wes Welker is on pace to beat Marvin Harrison’s reception mark on the season. And Jared Allen is on pace to crush Michael Strahan’s sack record. Of course players usually start strong, injuries ruin the “on pace” argument, weather turns cold and stats decline, but those are a lot of players poised to break a lot of records! If I had to take a guess, I bet Brady beats Marino’s record by 100 yards, and Calvin Johnson gets 24 TD’s.

TD records put into perspective:

With an explosion in offense the past two decades, our generation has picked an amazing time to start witnessing records getting crushed. The most TD’s in a season, held by LaDanian Tomlinson, was set in 2006 with 31 total TD’s. In 2007, Randy Moss set the record for most reception TD’s with 23. Manning set the record for most TD passes in a year with 49, which was one-upped by Tom Brady in 2007. This year Calvin Johnson has been putting on a clinic, becoming the first WR with 9 TD’s in his first 5 games. He is on pace for 29 TD’s, crushing Moss’ record, but still shy of Tomlinson’s. I remember Tomlinson’s run, but dang, how many do you have to score a game to reach that! To put Tom Brady’s numbers in perspective, Rodgers and Brady (go figure) currently lead the league with 14 TD’s a piece. At that pace they would still fall 5 short of Brady’s 2007 record! Within a span of 5 years, we are all witnessing records being toppled one after another in a league that’s been around for 91 years.

Game of Week 6:

San Francisco (4-1) vs. Detroit (5-0)

Fact that may only interest me:

Turducken is a chicken, stuffed inside of a duck, stuffed inside of a turkey. Spellcheck on this week’s column brought up Tebow, Tramposos, and Turducken! Where’s John Madden when you need him! Also the word “Spellcheck” came up, which I found funny.

 

FMQB Feedback:

So we’re 7 weeks into FMQB, and I am finding out how fun it is to share my passion of NFL football with my readers (all 4 of them lol). But the one thing I enjoy even more than writing it, is sparking international discussions on what I write, and even keeping those not normally NFL inclined in the loop of what’s happening in the world of sports. So here it’s your turn! What would you like FMQB to add? These are a few of my ideas, so vote, or comment with something else I should do. (Make sure to comment if you think I should do more than 1).