Before we get to the elephant in the room, I am SO excited this week that I can actually talk about the Rams and not just sound like a homer! The rest of the sports world is talking about Sunday’s game, so I will follow suit. Last week I proclaimed that there were 2 ways to beat the Seahawks, either a strong run game or controlling the clock. Let’s add an incredibly accurate passing game, and pulling trick plays like crazy! Austin Davis was a cool 18-21 on Sunday which is hard to beat.
To the plays everybody is talking about: First, how does one run a trick play when the other team has the ball?!?! The punt return was genius and the entire Seattle team fell for it, running to a floundering Tavon Austin who was on the opposite side of where the ball actually went. Also nice job by Stedman Bailey to run down the punt from the line of scrimmage! The fake punt with 2:55 left was also one of the gutsiest calls I’ve ever seen. Miss that play and Seattle wins the game.
Love seeing Brett Favre say that Austin Davis could be the next Kurt Warner or Tom Brady. I haven’t crowned him yet, but I’m still drinking the Kool-Aid!
Sounds like a Broken Record:
By now everybody’s heard enough about Peyton Manning’s 509. But this is truly a once in a decade type of accomplishment. Marino broke it in 1995, Favre in 2007, and now Manning in 2014. We all just witnessed history, and with the numbers continuing to skyrocket, the odds of a QB playing this many years at such a high level is going to become increasingly difficult. Congrats Peyton!
The Quiet Record Breaker:
Amidst the shuffle, DeMarco Murray is slowly putting up incredible numbers as well. On Sunday, he became the first RB in NFL history to run for 100 yards in his first 7 games. Hard to believe, but he just took down another Jim Brown record, and yet he’s still not quite on pace to break Dickerson’s record. Could be interesting to see how this turns out, as RB’s tend to do better at the tail end of the year with defenses tiring down. Yet Jason Garrett has had to fuel “pitch count” questions due to the amount of time he gives Murray the ball.
Stat of the Week #1:
The Bengals started 3-0, are since 0-2-1
Stat of the Week #2:
The Panthers are .500 (3-3-1), have won 1 of their last 5 games, yet are alone in 1st place in their division. The Browns are .500 (3-3) and alone in last place in their division.
Stat of the Week #3:
Blake Bortles leads the league in Interceptions (10), Kirk Cousins is alone in 2nd with 9. Neither QB started until at least Week 3. Aaron Rodgers, who has started all 7 games only has 1 INT.
Stat of the Week #4:
Russell Wilson became the first QB with 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game (really? Vick, Cunningham, or RGIII hadn’t done this yet?)
Stat of the Week #5:
Halfway through the 3rd quarter in their 7th game, the Cardinals finally threw their first interception of the season
Stat of the Week #6:
The Bears are 3-1 on the road but 0-3 at home.
Stat of the Week #7:
Percy Harvin, who hates the cold, has never played south of the 40th parallel. 21 teams play south of this line.
Stat of the Week #8:
Austin Davis set a record for completion percentage against a defending Super Bowl Champion, throwing for 86%.
Stolen Stat of the Week #9:
The Rams had 1 sack in the first 151 QB dropbacks they faced. In the next 5 dropbacks, they registered 3 sacks.
Stat of the Week #10:
DeMarco Murray is leading the league in rushing, 2nd place has 298 yards less than him.
Stat of the Week #11:
Drew Brees threw 10 straight incomplete passes in the 4th quarter.
Play of the Week:
Lost in the hullaballoo of Manning’s 509th, his 508th was pretty dang sweet. Thomas lined up right and faked that a bubble screen was coming to him. Wes Welker in turn ran down and acted like he was going to block the cornerback. At the last second, Welker slipped by and ran downfield untouched with both defenders focused on Thomas still standing at the line of scrimmage. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fake this way, footrace for the record tying TD.
Percy Harvin Breakdown:
I was absolutely shocked to see the update that the Seahawks traded Percy Harvin to the Jets on Friday night. But I had heard of a ton of locker room issues that he brought to Minnesota, and slowly it started to make more sense. But still, take a look at the price the Seahawks paid (thanks to an MMQB breakdown). Harvin played in 8 games as a Seahawk in 1 ½ seasons. The Seahawks paid Harvin $19.03 million for those games and gave up a 1st, 3rd and 7th round pick to get him. All they got for trading him back to the Jets was a 6th round pick! A side note of his production in Seattle, Harvin had more touchdowns called back against the Redskins (3) than he actually scored in his Seattle career (2). Harvin also never scored in the regular season for the Seahawks.
Quick Hits:
- On the Bills game winning drive, they converted a 4th and 20, and then a 2nd and 20
- The Kirk Cousins era was sure shortlived.
- The Steelers scored 21 points in 1:13, and 24 points in 2:54
- The Cowboys have the best record in the league
For the Record:
We have already seen Peyton Manning break the all time TD record 5 times in the last 4 days.
For the Record 2:
Ray Rice has been suspended for 2 games longer than the policy the NFL created because of the Ray Rice incident…
Fantasy Football Stat of the Week:
Yours truly has 3 fantasy football teams I’m managing this year. In the first 6 weeks, I went 2-1 each week. Last week I finally cracked the code and went 3-0!!! Ironically I’m projected to lose each game this week.
Quote of the Week:
“53’s the Mike” Tony Romo
“I’m not the Mike!” Giants LB Jameel McCain
Games of the Week:
Seahawks vs Panthers: One of these superior teams will be winless in their last 3 games
Bengals vs Ravens: Since the Ravens Week 1 loss against Cincy, they are 5-1
Eagles vs Cardinals: There are only 4 teams with only 1 loss, and here are 2 of them
FMQB 