I decided to do a special edition of Friday Morning Quarterback this week, so forgive it coming a couple days early, because for once in my life, my mind isn’t 100% focused on football. Also, I realized that about 90% of my readers will be helping out or attending the wedding, so that’s no fun! We’ll get to the funnies later, but first, how about that Week 1! Awesome week of games, teams with concerns already, but this is shaping up to be a season of exciting games.
Cowboys that good? Giants that bad?
Sunday night’s turnover-fest was sloppy, but one of the more loopy games I’ve ever seen. The New York Toaster Strudels (because they’re good Turnovers) turned the ball over on their first play, and the next 2 possessions after that! Unbelievably, they were only down 3-0 after this point. But the Cowboys would start capitalizing on these turnovers. But I have 2 points I would like to throw out there. First, when the Toaster Strudels were clicking, they were clicking! Manning had 450 yards passing, 4 TD’s, and every interception was tipped into a Cowboy’s hands, not necessarily his fault. The Giants looked very strong other than 6 plays. But 6 plays decided this game. My Second point, is that the Cowboys barely won. With 6 turnovers, they should have won by 28. So sure the Cowboys took this game, but watch them fall off and the Toaster Strudels to pick it up the rest of the year.
For the record, apparently the NFL cleared the Giants of faking injuries (ring a bell FMQB fans?). I chose Toaster Strudels because of this, otherwise I would have brought back Los Tramposos.
Player of the Week:
My player of the week is Reggie Bush. Wow did he look like the USC Reggie Bush, which is impressive at 28 years old. He had 191 total yards, and was the flashiest player on the field. He could be a true asset for Detroit this year. Anquan Boldin is a close second.
Who I feel bad for:
Poor Calvin Johnson. I think Sunday proved that there is no ref bias in the NFL. The greatest receiver at the moment got 2 touchdowns stolen from him with video replay. I would like to say one more time, that first one where he caught it, took a step, dove into the endzone, and the ball popped out on the ground; should be a touchdown. It’s a ridiculous rule that needs to be changed. I feel bad for Calvin, who basically created that rule in a game 3 years ago.
Who I’m Concerned about:
I had Pittsburgh at a mediocre team this year (with an 8-8 finish I believe), but I don’t even know if they will get to that point. I didn’t watch the game, but the Steelers were up 2-0 after 3 seconds, and couldn’t score until a garbage time TD. Isaac Redman is their starting RB for the first half of the season, and 2 linemen are out for the season already. This was all against Tennessee, another less than mediocre team. Doesn’t look good for the men in black.
There’s a lot of Packers fans, but none of them are refs:
The 49ers were already famously awarded an extra shot at the endzone, when it should have been 4th down. We have all heard this. But who was the team that suffered? None other than the Packers…AGAIN…and it wasn’t the replacement refs that blew the Fail Mary from last year. Of course it was early in the game which things would have changed, but that 4 point swing would have given the Pack a field goal try for the win.
While We’re on the Subject:
The 49ers played a brilliant game on offense, and you can’t completely fault their defense since the Packers are explosive. Last year in the playoffs, the Packers got BURNED by Kaepernick and the read-option. There were very few handoffs that used the read option, but instead focused on pocket passing. This was genius, as the Packers probably focused on Kaepernick’s legs all week in practice. Kaepernick instead BURNED the Packers with a very accurate passing game. Anquan Boldin also showed that he was worth the extra money the Ravens weren’t willing to pay.
Monday Night Mayhem:
Wow, Monday night ended an already crazy week with a bang. First off, it was crazy to see just how fast the Eagles were running on offense. With all the hype, I would like to point out that they only kept that momentum for the first quarter. Nevertheless, I was watching the game clock, and a person would get tackled, the ball would be snapped 13 seconds after that. They were going so fast, that there wasn’t even time for replays! That first quarter was one of the craziest quarters I have ever seen. The Eagles had the ball 5 times, and the Redskins had it 5 times; that’s 10 changes of possession in 15 minutes! There were also 4 turnovers, and a safety (go figure) in the same quarter. Absolutely nuts! The offense was fast, but they slowed it down dramatically towards the end of the game, even getting a delay of game penalty. Not sure if they can go at that pace for an entire game. Even the first drive, the Eagles looked tired in the redzone, the most crucial area of the drive. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
For the first time since college, I decided to stay up for the late Monday night game since it was getting interesting, and boy am I glad I did. Phillip Rivers started off looking amazing, and ended the game looking like Phillip Rivers. The Texans definitely started flat, and there’s not too many teams they could pull that comeback on, so they should be careful. But overall, still impressive to come back after being down by 21 at half, and shut the Chargers out the 2nd half. Feel bad for the Chargers, last year in Week 6, they blew a 21 point lead to the Broncos too, both happened on National TV.
Stat of the Week (Already Mentioned)
The Cowboys outscored 30 teams on Sunday, only the Broncos scored more
Stat of the Week #2:
The Manning Brothers combined for 912 yards passing
Stat of the Week #3:
As if they couldn’t be any worse, Jacksonville never crossed the 50 yard line on offense. Their only points came off a safety.
Stat of the Week #4:
At one point FMQB looked at the scoreboard, and 3 separate teams had 2 points! The safety is a pretty rare play, but there were 3 of them this week, and right away. At one point, 2 teams were winning 2-0!
Stat of the Week #5:
Cincinnati is leading their division at 0-1…it’s due to tiebreakers, but if the “playoffs started today,” they would have host a playoff game…
Stat of the Week #6:
Kansas City is leading the league in point differential (points scored minus points allowed) with 26.
Stat of the Week #7:
St. Louis is in first place in their division, due to divisional wins.
Stat of the Week #8:
Just 4 minutes into the game, Adrian Peterson already had 78 yards. In the final 56 minutes, he only got 15 more yards. AP only averaged .88 yards per carry after his first run.
Stat of the Week #9:
The league’s leading rusher (going into Monday night’s games) was Terrelle Pryor, a quarterback. Only one RB had a 100 yard game on Sunday (Shane Vereen), who broke his wrist on the first play of the game.
Stolen Stat of the Week #10:
Peyton Manning is the first QB to throw 7 TD’s since the AFL NFL merger.
Stat of the Week #11:
Only 3 QB’s were sacked 0 times this week, and it will surprise you to see that Jay Cutler and Sam Bradford were 2 of them.
Fantasy Stat of the Week:
FFMQB (Female Friday Morning Quarterback for my few new readers) played against Peyton Manning in fantasy, who scored 46 points (boy did I hear about that for 3 days). FFMQB actually won!
Thought of the Week:
It instantly occurred to me while watching the end of the Saints game, but the last 2 games the Falcons have played, they have had a shot to win it with 1st and goal and couldn’t get the final 10 yards or less. San Francisco won the NFC Championship last year in this fashion, and the Saints won this weekend.
Thought of the Week #2:
Is anybody else as surprised as I am that the Jets actually won this weekend? Just curious…
Thought of the Week #3:
I was shocked to check the Seattle Carolina score, and continue to see 12-7 with no scoring. I’m surprised at the yards Seattle was putting up while getting no points on the board. I also want to point out that I still don’t understand why people think that God’s Gift to Man Cam is going to have an awesome year. He did nothing last year to show it, and his 125 yd performance backs that up.
Have to talk about the Rams:
I’m very proud of the Rams after this week. First off, the previous 6 seasons we have lost the season opener. For once we’re a game up. Second, the Rams offense spitted and sputtered last year, only being able to score TD’s on what seemed to be lucky drives. Well they scored 2 big ones on nice drives this weekend, great 2pt conversion by Bradford, and Greg the Leg was solid as always. The biggest difference I noticed was in Bradford. He looked poised in the pocket, made quick decisions, and didn’t seem rattled. I also liked how our offense was being run. Short 5-8 yard passes and hitting receivers in the open field, letting them do the work. Sure, you need 20+ yard pass plays at somepoint, but these short quick plays are going to keep Bradford off his back. They were also able to use this strategy to perform an 11 point comeback in the 4th quarter. Not only that, but the Rams D stepped up when it all mattered, forcing 2 sack fumbles on Palmer (1 leading to the game tying score in the 4th quarter).
*On a side note, the Cardinals with Carson Palmer looked like a very improved team over last year, they could be dangerous this season.
Personalities like a Lion:
I didn’t have high hopes for the Lions, which might be changing with Reggie Bush’s re-emergance. Part of that is due to the complete lack of control Jim Schwartz has over that team. Donkey Kong Suh is one of the dirtiest players ever, and the NFL keeps fining him. At least in this case, when he cut the O-lineman under the knees 10 yards behind the ball, it cost his team a TD. They pulled it off in the end, but that team needs to get under control before it will ever go anywhere. The Lions had a ton of mistakes in that game, and still scored 34 points.
How Marriage is like Football:
With FMQB’s upcoming nuptials, I thought I would put together a list of why I think Marriage is a lot like Football. Some is sappy, some is funny, but here it is:
- You have to know when to punt the ball, or throw it away
- Make sure your player is appreciated, or you might have a holdout
- A “nagging” injury can ruin you
- One person will choose the players and make the decisions, but another one will do all the work
- You so much as brush by my QB and you’re gonna pay for it!
- Every play is over-analyzed…
- A player with faults can be better when you add a superstar
- When a penalty is called, one side thinks it’s unfair, but 2 minutes later you keep playing the game and forget about it
- You never know how your draft pick will turn out, but you better work on it if you want them to be a part of your team for years to come
- You can have all the talent (love) in the world, but if you don’t have a strong O-line (foundation), then you’re team is going to fall apart
AND FINALLY!
- There can be a lot of effort, but not much scoring…
For all my work friends, this is my last FMQB as a single guy…this was an automatic post, but had to throw that line in!
That’s it ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the next couple weeks of football and life!
FMQB 