FMQB: Office Space
Thanks to all who stuck with me after last week’s political tangent. I hate to say it, but it was my highest read article this year, which wasn’t my goal. So we’re back to purely football this week. We’re ¾ of the way through the season, final quadrant left before playoffs! Which means…
It’s time for my favorite website of all time to be back!!!! ESPN’s Playoff machine is up and humming, feel free to play around with the games, but here are my results/predictions: http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine
AFC:
1: Patriots
2: Steelers
3: Titans
4: Chargers
5: Jaguars:
6: Ravens
NFC:
1: Eagles
2: Vikings
3: Saints
4: Seahawks
5: Panthers
6: Rams
Note: The Rams fall fast with 2 losses in their next games, actually go from hosting a game to the outside looking in before rebounding and winning their final 2. Also have the Chiefs out, Buffalo barely missing out, Falcons barely out, and Browns going 0-16.
Strangest End to a Half:
Thursday Night’s game had one of the oddest ends to a half I’ve ever seen. Falcons had the ball and were driving down to try to get a last minute field goal. On what seemed to be the last play to get into range, Matt Ryan was at the 42 yard line and threw an interception! The Saints DB ran back 33 yards and now all of a sudden it was the Saints with a shot at a last minute field goal! They nail it but get called for an Illegal Formation. It should have been a 5 yard penalty and a rekick, but instead they said the half was over. I may be wrong about the rule on this, but with a stopped clock there shouldn’t have been a runoff, and the FG attempt took less time than was on the clock.
That’s my Stapler (Quarterback):
For anybody who hasn’t seen the movie “Office Space,” it’s highly recommended. For those that have, isn’t there a strikingly similarity to the movie and the Giants situation? Hear me out. Milton (McAdoo) is the weird, introverted guy who at first is a good employee but never really fits in with the team (media). Things start going downhill fast, and everybody around him wants him fired but he doesn’t seem to know it. They end up moving him into the basement of the building (basement of the league). They realize that he was fired several years ago, but nobody told him and a payroll error kept him earning checks like normal. So he wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place (see where I’m going with this). The final straw was when somebody came and took his prized possession: his Swingline stapler. In a fit of rage, and knowing he was going to be fired anyway (now you see where this is going), he decides to burn the office building down (bench a 2 time Super Bowl winning QB ending his starting streak) before leaving work for good.
To call the whole Ben McAdoo fiasco a disaster is the understatement of the century. After 1 week off, now the team decides that Eli will start the rest of the season after blowing up his streak? What was that even for??? I think for Eli’s sake he should leave the Giants after this year even if they want him.
Change in mindset
It was really interesting watching the reaction after the Steelers and Bengals rivalry game, and I think it’s a microcosm of what’s happening to the perception of the NFL. The game was fierce; two teams that hate each other who also have history. Ryan Shazier went down with a scary back/spine injury early in the game although it was essentially on his poor tackling form. But later Ju Ju Smith Schuster absolutely leveled Vontaze Burfict with a blindside block that Burfict never saw coming. Keep in mind Burfict is probably the dirtiest player in the NFL, so Ju Ju stood over him taunting him as Burfict laid there and eventually needed to be stretchered off. A few plays later, Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown in the back of the endzone, and Brown got absolutely smoked in the helmet on his way down.
Back in the day, these 2 plays would have been cheered, and lauded. Heck, even when I was making my football videos I had a “Huge Hits” compilation, and there were dozens of those huge hits every season. But the reaction this week has been much more tempered, almost disgust. Jon Gruden went on and on about it on MNF saying how bad it is for the game and “Shame on you Ju Ju Smith Schuster.” Suspensions were handed out immediately. This was no longer cool, it was bad for the game.
Stat of the Week:
Jimmy Garrapolo has more wins as a 49er than CJ Beathard and Brian Hoyer combined.
Stat of the Week #2:
The Seahawks have scored 30 offensive TD’s this year. Russell Wilson has either thrown or ran for 29 of those. That is an insane statistic!
Oddest Stat of the Week #3:
For the first time since this statistic was ever measured (starting in 2006), Case Keenum was the first QB to throw 18 attempts without an incompletion in a half, for balls thrown between the numbers (or middle of the field). That record lasted a whopping 3 hours as Phillip Rivers did the same in the afternoon game.
The Price of Fame:
If you ever want a humbling look at life as a famous person, watch the video below of Russell Wilson going out to eat after his win against the Eagles. Maybe fame isn’t so desirable afterall.
https://sports.yahoo.com/russell-wilson-dominated-eagles-dined-among-applauding-fans-151939817.html
Live Tweeting of my Thoughts:
Watching Tarek Cohen’s punt return basically had me yelling “no no don’t run backwards….wait, go go go!” He ran backwards 15 yards with 6 defenders closing down on him. Made for a wide open field once he got around them.
It’s Still San Diego in my heart:
The Chargers are going to be one of those interesting stories that people talk about for years to come. Look at the division after the first 4 weeks of the season:
Kansas City: 4-0
Denver: 3-1
Oakland: 2-2
L.A. Chargers: 0-4
Since then, the Chiefs and Broncos have crapped the bed, while the Raiders stayed in mediocrity. The Chargers on the other hand have gone 6-2 and are up there in the hottest teams in football. Only once in NFL history has a team gone 0-4 but still made the playoffs, ironically it was the 1992 Chargers who did it. They are currently in a 3 way tie for 1st in the division, with everybody at 6-6, but the Chargers are the only team who’s stock is going up. Keep in mind they also had 3 terrible losses that should have been wins early in the season, so this could easily be a 9-3 team.
Things to Watch:
Watch the Eagles and Titans, they could be teams in disguise. The Titans are 8-4 with only 4 of their 12 games against teams with winning records, although they have defeated the Jaguars, Seahawks and Ravens. The Eagles are 10-2 with only 3 of their games against teams with winning records (and they’re 1-2 in those).
Meme of the Week:
Bonus Meme:
FMQB 