FMQB: In Pagano’s eyes, the 49ers are 1-0!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 15, 2017
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Kind of a rough week, only 2 games were within 3 points (Steelers and Broncos), otherwise every other matchup was at least a TD difference. But Week 1 is always about getting the kinks out, and we’ve got some good divisional matchups coming up as well as an NFC Championship rematch.

 

 

Quick Hits:

  • Carson Wentz’ evasion of the sack and TD toss to Nelson Agholor was insane.
  • Watching Matt Ryan slip, nearly get sacked, and toss an 88 yd TD to slow as molasses Austin Hooper was also insane.
  • Get ready to see more Tarik Cohen in Chicago, wow was he impressive!
  • The Bears really hung in there against a Super Bowl caliber team. In fact they should have won
  • Felt like I noticed the Cardinals were handling the Lions, and then the next time I looked the Lions had scored 28 points
  • Feel bad for Houston, so much energy to start the game, but they fell completely flat
  • Cole Beasley’s catch behind back. Not catch of the year material, but still have never seen anything like it before

 

For the Record:

  • Had the Bears completed their comeback against the Falcons, the media would have had a field day!
  • The look in Adrian Peterson’s eyes behind Sean Payton. Scary
  • For all the talk the Patriots had about their Super Bowl comeback, they sure emptied the stadium quick with the game not out of hand.
  • On the same wavelength, there sure was a lot of 19-0 talks about the Patriots this offseason, that was quieted in less than 3 hours.
  • 3 points for offensive genius Kyle Shanahan’s debut.

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FMQB: Special Pre-Kickoff Thursday Night Edition!!!!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 7, 2017
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I’m back, wow, Season 7 of Friday Morning Quarterback! Expect a few changes this year, fewer dissertations and more quick hitting fun facts. We all watch the games, I don’t need to turn into Joe Buck 2.0 and explain what happened. I know I promised to go back to the goofy team names last year, and like Digiorno I didn’t deliver. So I’ll try again folks!

 

 

Quick Recap from Last year’s Predictions

 

The Good:

  • Predicted Packers Patriots Super Bowl. Got one right, the second lost in the NFC Championship
  • “Last year as starting QB for Jay Cutler (I’ve held onto him too long)”…I was close until he was yanked out of retirement
  • Picked 6 of 32 records dead on
  • Picked both Offensive and Defensive rookies of the year, that’s a first!
  • Predicted the QB controversy in Dallas, said Dak would keep the starting job
  • Said Jared Goff would get and keep the starting job in Week 9, happened in Week 10!

 

The Bad

 

  • “Blake Bortles is a top 5 QB in either yards or TD’s.” Nope, #15 in both
  • “RGIII sees a resurgence this year before getting injured at the end of the season. Comeback player of the year.” Call it a push, his resurgence (if you want to call it that) essentially came in preseason but he got hurt way too early.
  • “Kelvin Benjamin is back with a vengeance. Top 5 receiver in the league” He showed promise, but was 31st in yards, 16th in TDs

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FMQB: Game of the Ages

Posted by fmquarterback on February 10, 2017
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170205224635-47-super-bowl-51-super-169

FMQB: Game of the Ages

In a season of comebacks, who could have asked any more with this game!!! A 25 point comeback in the 2nd half is un-HEARD of! This was the 3rd largest comeback in post-season history, and it happened in the Super Bowl! The old record for Super Bowl comebacks was 10 points, also held by the Patriots.

 

1st Quarter:

I did call it in saying that in Super Bowls, the 1st quarter is always a “feeling out” time for both teams. But I was a bit surprised that it ended at 0-0. It’s also crazy to think that in 6 of Brady’s 7 Super Bowls, he’s failed to score in the 1st quarter. Meaning he’s basically won those games in 3 quarters of play.

 

2nd Quarter:

As much as Atlanta fell apart in the 2nd half, one could easily argue the Patriots did the same in the 2nd quarter. The first score is usually critical, and the Pats were headed towards that before Blount fumbled the ball. Atlanta turned around and got the first 7 points. New England then went 3 and out, and Atlanta turned around and got another TD with 5 huge plays. Then Brady drove them all the way down the field only to throw a pick 6, and all of a sudden, in 10 minutes of game time it was 21-0. The Patriots would tack on a late FG to avoid being shut out.

 

3rd Quarter:

In 2 successive drives, I thought the game was over. First, the Falcons drove down and scored to make it 28-3 (remember that score!). I thought “game over.” And the following drive the Patriots actually answered back with a TD, but then missed the extra point! I think everybody here was thinking “jeez, nothing is going right for the Patriots at this point!” They’re still down by 19 but there’s 2 minutes left in the 3rd.

 

4th Quarter:

Believe it or not, my tune of the game flipped once they kicked the field goal (that neither announcer agreed with) to come within 16 points. You start doing the math, looking at the time, and realizing that the Patriots will still get the ball 2 or 3 times, and are down by 2 TD’s (and two 2pt conversions). Three plays later the Falcons fumble and soon it’s a 28-20 with 6 minutes left! After a punt, the Patriots get the ball at the 9 yard line with 3:30 left in the game. This is what Tom Brady is known for, game winning or tying drives at the end of the Super Bowl. The Patriots longest drive of the season was 91 yards, and they’d have to match it for a chance. At this point, I truly thought they would score and tie it up. Sure enough they marched down the field in 10 plays and set up the most anticipated 2 pt conversion in NFL history! And Amendola barely got in!

 

OT:

The first OT game in Super Bowl history!!! Woooo! Glad it came with the new-ish OT rules, it would have sucked to see a team win via Field Goal under the old format. Not a ton of drama to be honest here. Patriots marched down the field with the help of a couple flags. However having a walk-off Super Bowl winning play pretty much cemented the fact that this was one of the greatest games of all time!

 

The Case for White:

James White had 2 rushing TD’s, a receiving TD, a 2pt conversion, a Super Bowl record 14 receptions (Deion Branch won the MVP by breaking the previous record). I don’t think you can understate Brady’s 466 yards (Super Bowl record) and 2 TD’s, but White theoretically outperformed him. Either way, Brady got his record 4th Super Bowl MVP.

 

Legacy:

I find my tune on Brady and the Patriots changing. There’s still a part of hatred that runs deep in my veins, but at the same time I’m to the point that I really respect what Brady/Belichick are doing, and almost happy that I got to witness NFL history. I have no problem saying that with 5 Super Bowl titles in 7 appearances, that he blows past the “Best of All Time” status for me.

170205230201-50-super-bowl-51-super-169

Drive Recap:

The Patriots played the eighth-highest-scoring team in NFL history, and started punt, punt, fumble, punt, pick-six, field goal, punt… then went touchdown-field goal-touchdown-touchdown-overtime touchdown. New England scored 31 unanswered points

 

For the Record:

  • I re-watched the Super Bowl on Wednesday (a nerdy tradition I have). Even knowing what was going to happen, I still couldn’t put together how the Patriots were going to win in the 3rd
  • Brady has trailed in the 4th quarter for all 7 Super Bowls he played in. He won 5 of those games. This is impressive enough as it is, but keep in mind that this happened against the 2nd best team in the league!
  • Fitting that there was a missed extra point in this game.
  • Dan Quinn has to be sick for losing to the Patriots twice in the last 3 years, both terrible ways to lose a game
  • Edelman’s catch will go down with Tyree’s as one of the greatest/craziest of all time
  • Wow, the Boos for Goodell were deafening! Wonder how he kept it together
  • I did have the Patriots winning by a TD in my prediction

 

Why Atlanta Broke Down:

The Atlanta defense simply ran out of gas, and you can’t blame them. ATL had 41 plays with the ball for 23 minutes, vs the Patriots 88 plays in 40 minutes. It’s the 2nd half and Overtime of the 19th game of a long season, and your offense scores TOO quickly on every drive. 3 of their 4 TD’s took less than 2 minutes off the clock.

 

Stat of the Week:

Atlanta had a 99.5% chance of winning the game deep into the 3rd quarter. In fact, they had over a 90% chance to win for over half of the game.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Patriots’ margins in their seven Super Bowls played under Bill Belichick: 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

There were 24 Super Bowl records set on Sunday, and another 7 records tied

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Atlanta scored 21 points on 19 plays in the first half. They then went 1 hour and 8 minutes of real time without seeing the ball again.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

The Patriots threw 64 passes in the game!

 

Stat of the Week #6:

In fact, a 25 point comeback is tied for 5th most of all time! Regular or post-season

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Only 34 players played every single snap this season (or about 1 per team). 26 of those were offensive lineman, 4 were QB’s.

 

 

Photo credit- CNN.com

FMQB: Super Bowl Edition

Posted by fmquarterback on February 3, 2017
Posted in: Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

superbowl

FMQB: Super Bowl Edition

 

This is always a bittersweet time of year. The bad news is we only have 1 more football game to watch for the next 7 months. The good news is it’s the penultimate game of the year! As most readers know, this has turned into my “Christmas,” and likely the most excited I get in the year. This season is a bit different though, as I made a bet with a coworker that the Patriots would win, despite my Rams grudge I still have against Tom Brady and the Patriots which allows me to root for whatever team is playing them. But as I have been telling folks, “I’d pay $50 to see the Patriots lose.” So GO FALCONS!!!

 

Divisional Recap:

 

Packers at Falcons:

The Falcons had their foot on the gas from the first drive, and the Packers truly looked outmatched at every position. Going down 17-0 early and having the Falcons score with 3 seconds left to make it 24-0 at halftime, the game was already over. The image of this game was the one of the first plays of the 2nd half when Julio Jones broke 2 tackles and sprinted 73 yards for the TD, you could see the look of despair on Rodgers’ face. No matter how good the Packers offense was, they could not stop any aspect of the Falcons. The Falcons looked like they belong with that trouncing.

 

Steelers at Patriots:

The turning point in this game was the fact that LeVeon Bell was out after 6 rushes. It also doesn’t help when Belichick can turn an undrafted free agent into a 180 yard, 2 TD receiver. Being down 17-9 at halftime wasn’t that bad for Pittsburgh, but letting up 19 unanswered points after that was their downfall. The Patriots also kept piling it on, almost to show that they could score as much as Atlanta.

 

Quick Hits:

  • I know playoffs don’t count, but it only solidifies Matt Ryan’s case for MVP
  • What happened to the Steelers offense? 7th in offensive yards, 24.9 points per game. Yet they didn’t score a TD against the Chiefs, and only scored 1 when it mattered during the Championship game
  • If Tom Brady wins, he’ll be the second oldest QB to win (several weeks younger than Manning was last year). Manning looked like he limped to the finish line, Brady looks like he’s got another 4 years in him.
  • I really want to see Goodell hand the trophy to Brady, merely for the “awkward” factor.
  • The Patriots are undefeated since losing Gronkowski for the season

 

Super Bowl Stats!

  • The NFC South (Bucs, Panthers, Saints, and Falcons) is the only division since re-alignment (in 2002) to have all 4 teams make the Super Bowl.
  • No team has more former players on the two Super Bowl rosters than the Cleveland Browns.
  • Brady has 24 playoff wins, only 6 other FRANCHISES have more wins than that. He’s playing in his record 7th Super Bowl (team record 9th), going for his record 5th
  • To put this in perspective, the Bears have only won 17 playoff games and 9 championships (most pre-Super Bowl but it counts in this stat), and their first playoff appearance was in 1932
  • 11 of the last 12 Super Bowl winners were wearing White jerseys. Only the Packers won in their solid color. I blame Trump…
  • Bill Belichick has coached in 18% of the Super Bowls
  • Dan Quinn is appearing in his 3rd Super Bowl in 4 seasons
  • It’s Dan Quinn’s first matchup against Belichick as a head coach. All time record for first time matchups against Bill, new coaches are 3-22.

 

Super Bowl Preview:

 

Despite growing up and watching the ’03 Bucs and ’00 Ravens win their Super Bowls, I’m still biased by flashy offenses. I got burned 3 years ago when the Broncos record offense got absolutely demolished by Seattle’s staunch D. It worked last year when I said that the Broncos would beat the Panthers despite them being favored to win. The stat that does it for me is that this is the 6th time that the team that scored the most points has met up with the team that allowed the least points. In the other 5 games, the team that allowed the fewest points won 4 of those games. This proves that defense still wins championships. On top of that, the Patriots have a TON of Super Bowl experience on their side, and know how to manage the big game. In fact, Tom Brady has more Super Bowl appearances (6) than the entire Falcons roster combined (5). Matt Ryan on the other hand had a losing record in the playoffs until this year. The Patriots also have an uncanny ability to “take a player out of the game.” Not literally, but figuratively. They did it with Marshall Faulk, Terrell Owens, Stephen Davis, Kearse/Baldwin; they limit the stars to next to nothing. Julio Jones is a beast, but if they can figure out a way to do that, I think they win easily. Another thing to point out, the Falcons have historically struggled getting into the redzone. Granted it’s hard to look back 4-5 years, but the reason they didn’t play in the Super Bowl against the Ravens (instead of the 49ers) was because of 2 goal line stands. The following year they only won 5 games because they had another 4 that they lost having to kick field goals or getting stopped on 4th down.

 

 

Georgia Dome:

What a way to close out a new stadium! Final home game at the Georgia dome, fans got to watch their team punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. Win or lose, that’s also a heck of a way to open their new stadium next year.

 

Stat of the Week:

Justin Tucker hit a 75 yard field goal http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18555466/justin-tucker-baltimore-ravens-connects-75-yard-field-goal-attempt-pro-bowl-preparations, only to be outdone by Matt Prater hitting a 76 yard FG http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/01/nfl-pro-bowl-detroit-lions-matt-prater-justin-tucker-76-yards-wow-video . It’s so far that it’s tough to see if it made it!

 

Stat of the Week #2:

At the beginning of the season, more people placed bets on the Browns to win the Super Bowl than the Falcons

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Matt Ryan hasn’t thrown an interception since Dec 4th; 6 full games ago

 

Prediction of the Year:

I had Green Bay and New England in the Super Bowl this year, from day 1 (it’s in writing). Probably the closest I’ve gotten to being correct!

 

Prediction of the Year #2:

Before the season, CBS ran a Madden simulation of the season and had the Falcons beating the Steelers in the Super Bowl. They were also dang close!

 

Super Bowl Prediction Recap:

FMQB is 2-3 in predicting the last Super Bowl winners, but surprisingly have nailed the winning score on the nose 3 of 5 times!

 

AAANNNDDDD, the final score:

Patriots 27, Falcons 20. There’s a chance of it being a high score affair, but Super Bowls always seem to be a bit lower scoring, teams try to feel each other out the first quarter.

 

Swan Song?

Any chance Tom calls it a career if he wins? He apparently wants to play until 45, but he’ll turn 40 during next year’s preseason. Peyton just went out that way. I wouldn’t call it unfeasible, but still be surprising.

 

Quote of the Week:

“Almost by every barometer, the quality of the game is better on Thursday night.” Roger Goodell…and then we all laaauuggghhhheeddd and laughed

FMQB: Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Especially the Tears

Posted by fmquarterback on January 22, 2017
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divisional

FMQB: Everything’s bigger in Texas, especially the tears

 

This past week of games was saved two competitive contests on Sunday.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Atlanta Rolled past Seattle. You knew the day was going to be long when Russell Wilson got stepped on for a safety, and the “scoring” player if you will was an offensive lineman that Atlanta brought in for defense
  • Patriots cruised past the Texans, which was no surprise. But Brady definitely showed weakness against a strong defense, and the Texans definitely held their own the first half.
  • The Packers win over Dallas was the game of the year. We had an 18 point comeback, game winning, then tying, then winning FG’s of over 50 yards each. A crazy final drive where the Packers should have punted from their own 20 but somehow ended up with a FG out of it after Jared Cook’s crazy catch. I still find it unbelievable that they didn’t call a play, the receivers just ran routes.
  • The Chiefs were the first team to score 2 TD’s and lose to a team who didn’t score any TD. I think that’s the definition of a “Bend don’t Break” defense. Exciting end of the game, would have liked to see it go into OT. I call this game “Kicker’s Delight”

 

Stat of the Week:

The 4 remaining teams are a combined 29-1 combined since Week 12.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Crosby was the first kicker in NFL history to kick 2 FG’s of 50+ yards in the last 2 minutes of the game.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

13 of the last 14 Super Bowls will feature Brady, Manning or Roethlisberger. If that lack of parity isn’t evident, then how about the fact that the winner between New England and Pittsburgh will play in a record 9 Super Bowls. Yes, that means that 1 team out of 32 will have played in nearly 18% of Super Bowls.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #4:

Proof that it’s elite QB’s who make it deep into the playoffs. Passer ratings of the Final Four, regular season: Ryan, 117.1, Brady, 112.2, Rodgers, 104.2, Roethlisberger, 95.4. Combined touchdown passes: 135. Picks: 29.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

LeVeon Bell has broken the Steelers postseason rushing yard record 2 weeks in a row now, now holding spots #1 and #2

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Chris Boswell now has the record of most FG’s in playoff history. He booted 6 on Sunday.

 

External Article:

Reading this article about Aaron Rodger’s photographic memory is insane. If you want to skip the fluff, go down to the part where the guy lays out the situation regarding a single play 15 years ago, and see how Rodgers finishes his sentence explaining exactly what the route was and what the defense was doing…all from recall.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17546974/nfl-photographic-memory-green-bay-packers-qb-aaron-rodgers

 

Quote of the Week:

“Just get open” Aaron Rodgers

 

Comparing 2 Elite Franchises:

It’s amazing comparing the Steelers (6 Super Bowl wins) and the 49ers (5 Super Bowl wins). Between the 2 teams, they have won 22% of the big games. You can credit the Steelers strong organizational structure, and hall of fame coaches. But it’s crazy to see that since 1969, yes the same year we landed on the Moon, the Steelers have had only 3 head coaches. Right now the 49ers are about to hire their 4th head coach in 4 years.

 

Championship Round!

Packers at Falcons

The Packers are riding a crazy win streak and hot QB into the conference championship game, and yet they’re the underdog to a team that nobody’s talking about. Atlanta thrashed Seattle, and you wonder if the Packers and their injuries if they could keep up in a shootout. Love that the Over/Under is 60.5 points, defensive coaches are going to hate this matchup. I want the Packers to win, hands down, but foresee them falling short Falcons 38, Packers 34.

 

Steelers at Patriots:

It seems that these teams have met a lot, and yet it’s the first championship game rematch since Big Ben’s

 

Final Four:

We now have 4 different combinations of Super Bowls remaining. It’s a yearly tradition to examine each possibility briefly:

 

Patriots vs Packers: A rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, where Favre creamed the Patriots to get his only title. This was actually my pick at the beginning of the season!!! Would be a first for me in 6 years of doing this, so I’m rooting for this matchup a bit biasly.

Patriots vs Falcons: For some reasons the Falcons are really flying under the radar this year, but I see this as the most likely matchup. Could be an offensive explosion of a game.

Steelers vs Falcons: Killer B’s vs. the Dirty Birds! This one seems like a weird matchup to me, but would likely be another offensive high scoring game.

Steelers vs Packers: Perhaps the least likely, but a rematch of the last time both of these teams were in the big game, 6 years ago played in Super Bowl XLV. Exciting game between Rodgers and Roethlisberger, it was a 6 point contest until the very end. Also has probably the 2 highest fan-bases in the league, which could shoot ticket costs back up again.

 

Egregious Error:

I need to admit to and adjust an error I had last week. As if 30 isn’t bad enough, apparently now my memory is fading. In last week’s column, I proclaimed that the Texans shutout the Patriots in Foxborough earlier in the season. I couldn’t have been more wrong, in fact it was the Patriots who shut out the Texans, winning 27-0 with Jacoby Brissett. It was the following week against the Bills that the Patriots laid a goose egg. I honestly don’t remember it happening this way, but the Box Scores don’t lie.

FMQB: Elite 8, Week of Rematches

Posted by fmquarterback on January 13, 2017
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GREEN BAY, WI - JANUARY 08: Randall Cobb #18 of the Green Bay Packers catches a touchdown pass in the second quarter during the NFC Wild Card game against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field on January 8, 2017 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

FMQB: Elite 8, Week of Rematches

 

Well we got rid of all the riff-raff (well mostly, sorry Texans). Sort of a rough week of games, really none were super competitive minus the 1st half of the Giants and Packers game. All 4 home teams won, and yours truly went 3-1 in picks, with the only miss-step on thinking the Lions would actually put up a fight. The weekend can be summed up in one run-on sentence. Bill O’Brien has been to the playoffs with 3 different QB’s has still won 2 playoff games, the Lions can’t win a playoff game on the road, Matt Moore got smoked worse than the Dolphins did, and Aaron Rodgers is the deadliest weapon in the game. We should have a better slate this week at least! Every game is a rematch from earlier in the year.

 

Seattle at Atlanta– Rematch of earlier this season, when Seattle won 26-24 on a questionable pass interference call. This could be an interesting game, you could really see it as a Seattle rout, an Atlanta rout, or a very close game. Reminds you of the 2012 game where Russell Wilson came onto the scene, and nearly had a huge comeback win in Atlanta. Once again, depends on which Seattle team shows up. I see the score flipping, and Falcons win 26-24 (on a missed Steven Haushka game winning kick).

  Continue Reading

FMQB: Playoff Time!

Posted by fmquarterback on January 6, 2017
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week-17

 

FMQB Playoff Time

Wild Card Weekend tends to be the best of the playoffs. Unfortunately this year there are enough teams with QB uncertainty that it’s taking a bit of the wind out of my sails. You still have to watch, but I think you could skip both AFC matchups and not miss anything.

 

 

Stat of the Week:

Tom Brady was tied for the 7th most TD passes, despite missing a quarter of the season

 

Stat of the Week:

Matt Ryan had the 5th highest passer rating in a season, ever

 

Stat of the Week:

Sam Bradford had the highest completion percentage in a season, ever

 

Stat of the Week:

TY Hilton led the league in receiving yards, and LaGarrett Blount led with 18 rushing TD’s.

 

Stat of the Week:

There were 12 1000 yard rushers this year, vs. only 7 last year

 

Stat of the Week:

There have been 9 seasons where a QB has thrown for 5000+ yards, and Drew Brees has 5 of them

 

Stat of the Week:

Brady with 28 TD’s and 2 INT’s

 

 

For the Record:

  • There is legitimately no clear cut MVP this year. You can pick Brady, Ryan, Rodgers, Elliot, Carr or Brees and be ok but also have a lot of upset fans
  • The Browns very nearly ended the season with a 2 game winning streak
  • The Titans and Buccaneers, with 2 young QB’s, will be teams to watch next year
  • Both Super Bowl teams did indeed miss the playoffs
  • I don’t think Chip Kelly got a fair shake in SF. He inherited a terrible team, and they cut him after a year
  • Still think the Vikings made a mistake in trying to save their season. A 1st and a 4th is too high a price for an 8-8 season and a QB controversy next year
  • Au Revior Steve Smith, Robert Mathis, and Chris Berman. Football won’t be the same on Sunday’s

 

 

Wild Card Preview:

 

Raiders at Texans:

Brock Osweiler vs. Connor Cook, no thanks! Technically it’s backup QB vs 3rd string QB, yuck. I braved the worst game of the season, watching the Bengals and Texans duke it out. For the first time in a long time, I have zero desire to watch a playoff game. Now watch, since I said that it’s going to be an awesome back and forth contest with a Hail Mary to win it. Either way, I might stick to the highlights on this one. Raiders 10, Texans 12.

 

Dolphins at Steelers:

Was a good matchup earlier in the season. The Dolphins’ 6 game win streak started with their win over the Steelers, a game where Ajayi ran 204 yards. I could be overlooking Matt Moore, who’s led the team to a 2-1 record since Tannehill went down. But I think this could be a tough game to watch too, with no way the Dolphins run game keeps up with the Steelers offense. Steelers 38, Dolphins 10

 

Lions at Seahawks:

People are overlooking this game, but I think it could be the best one of the weekend. It really depends on which Seattle team shows up. Is it the one that lost to the Rams/Cardinals, or the one who beat the Patriots? The other thing we learned is that the Lions are NEVER out of a game. This is my upset pick of the weekend, with the Lions winning (with a missed Haushka field goal) 24-21.

 

Giants at Packers:

Both Giants Super Bowl wins involved wins at Lambeau Field, but the Packers may be hot enough to melt the frozen tundra. Despite not being as cold as the infamous NFC Championship game, this will still be a Football lovers football game. The Giants are another team that is very hit and miss. They took down the infallible Cowboys twice, but that Eagles loss was killer and they barely beat the Rams, Bengals, and Bears. I think Green Bay stays hot and win it 35-17.

 

Playoff Fact:

The Patriots are essentially guaranteed to make the AFC Championship this year. They can only play the Dolphins, Texans, or Raiders (none with their starting QB) in the Divisional Round.

 

Playoff Fact #2:

The Steelers and Packers are entering the playoffs with 6 and 7 game win streaks respectively. This is the first time in NFL history that 2 teams with that long of a winning streak have entered the tournament.

 

Defense Wins Championships:

The top 2 defenses in regards to points allowed are….Giants and Patriots

 

photo credit nfl.com

 

FMQB: Final Push

Posted by fmquarterback on December 23, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FMQB: Final Push

 

Crazy AFC South:

Despite being the division of mediocrity, the AFC South is one of the more exciting races to follow this year. The Colts, Texans and Titans are all either 8-6 or 7-7 going into the final 2 weeks, with the two 8-6 teams meeting in Week 17. There was a range of emotions on Sunday in the division, with Indy a game behind both Tennessee and Houston. There was a point in the 1st quarter that you could realize that the Colts were going to beat the Vikings (yes, the 1st quarter). There had to be some scoreboard watching to see that both Tennessee and Houston were losing. But inexplicably both ended up staging crazy comebacks; the Titans dropping the nearly invulnerable at home Chiefs, and the Texans coming back with a backup QB.

 

Quick Hits:

  • CANNOT believe the Titans beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead! Ryan Succop (ex-Chief kicker) for the win kicking a rock 52 yards.
  • Probably equally surprised that the Giants have beaten the Cowboys twice, but just lost to the Eagles last night
  • I’ll continue to say it, but the Panthers have had 4 games that 90% of the time you win. They are those 4 ugly losses away from being 10-4 right now.
  • Excited for the slate of games on Saturday. Christmas worked out just perfectly this year with the schedule to set up a Saturday of fun for most people. Yours truly got a new sound bar for Christmas and can open it a day early 🙂

 

Stat of the Week:

Dak Prescott tossed up the 2nd highest completion percentage in NFL history (min 30 attempts) with 88.89% on Sunday. Where are the calls for Romo now?

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Ezekial Elliot only needs 257 yards in his last 2 games to break Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #3:

Rodgers is 4-of-6 when passing 40 or more yards downfield in the final two minutes of regulation. The rest of the NFL is 2-of-39 in those situations

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #4:

In Matt Moore’s past 10 starts (dating back to 2011), Moore is 7-3 and has thrown 19 touchdowns to six interceptions.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Drew Brees is leading the league in Passing Yards (4559) and TD’s (34), yet somehow didn’t even go to the Pro Bowl.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Elliot and Prescott are the first Rookie QB/RB duo to ever be elected to the Pro Bowl

 

Celebration Stat of the Week #7:

The Salvation Army, received $182K in online donations in the 13 hours after Elliot jumped into the giant red kettle

 

Playoff Quick Hits:

  • New England, 12-2, clinched a first-round bye for an NFL-record seventh straight year.
  • Oakland, 11-3, clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2002.
  • Green Bay, once 4-6, controls its own destiny right now
  • The Seahawks have sneakily gotten into a strong holding of the #2 seed
  • Wow, Dolphins with the decisive win with a backup QB to stay in the WildCard lead!
  • Same with the Texans!

 

Question of the Week:

Why did Mike Zimmer have the massive eye patch in the 1st half, and not after halftime?

 

Double Standards:

Although a fan of his play, Odell Beckham Jr’s off field antics can be pretty annoying. He brings up a good point however, in saying that if it was him that jumped into the Salvation Army kettle, he would have been fined. We see a lot of this in the league, and I think it’s safe to say that the character you portray gets you places. Jerry Rice got every Pass Interference call because of who he was. Tom Brady gets roughing the passer penalties. Sometimes when it’s obvious, it raises eyebrows. Example was when Cam Newton got smoked in the helmet after giving himself up for a slide. You see the flag and are thinking “wow, he actually got a call for once.” But nope, it was taunting on him because he tossed the ball at the guy who just blasted him. FMQB readers know I’m not a fan of God’s Gift to Man Cam, but even that one was a bit questionable.

 

The Browns are 0-12 since Terrell Pryor said the team could win out. That’s garbage

 

Photo credit: NFL.com

 

 

FMQB: Poopfest

Posted by fmquarterback on December 16, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

week-14

FMQB: Poopfest

 

 

Eerily Similar:

Both of the Giants’ recent Super Bowl runs have been with the same formula. Good defense, Eli Manning, and not winning their division but sneaking into the playoffs as the hot WildCard team. Things seem to be adding up again for this team, so you’ll hear it here first: Giants in the Super Bowl! They just took down Dallas, AGAIN. They are 2-0 against the Cowboys, and the rest of the league is 0-11. Granted they’re in the same division so they have some inside knowledge, but nevertheless I think that proves they can hang with the big guys. Giants over Patriots again???

 

For Whom the Bell Tolls:

Wow, what a day for LeVeon Bell in snowy Buffalo! He carried the ball a whopping 42 times, but had 236 yds rushing and 298 total yards. It looked like the other 21 players on the field were afraid to make cuts or slipping, while Bell was playing normal football. The patience he showed on his runs was incredible, half the time it looked like everybody else was moving while he was just sitting there waiting for his hole to open up. You’d have to think of what could have been if he hadn’t been suspended the first 3 games. Even with a 3 game deficit, he’s 4th in rushing, 8th in carries, and 2nd in yards per game.

 

He Gone!

Coming from a Rams fan’s perspective, I think the Jeff Fisher firing was past-due. I wasn’t surprised nor disappointed to hear the news. I would say I was pretty pumped 5 years ago with that hire, but he never had a winning season and had a plethora of 1st round draft picks that he couldn’t form a mediocre team around. The only weird part was the timing, just a week after it was leaked that he had been signed to a 2 year extension. I saw a rumor before the firing, which I’m starting to semi-believe. I’m not sure how charitable the NFL actually is, but the rumor was that they signed Fisher to an extension so they’d have to buy out his contract WHEN he got fired. Essentially creating a bonus for him doing the huge job of moving the entire franchise. Fisher is the only coach who had zero offseason, he’s essentially been working for 18 straight months. Feasible? I think so.

 

Quick Hits:

  • What a monsoon for the Dolphins game! I’d rather play in cold
  • Lions had another 4th qtr comeback win, their 9th of the season
  • 5 INT’s by Russell Wilson, rough day
  • Both the Lions and Buccaneers have the longest winning streaks in the league, with 5 in a row

 

Stat of the Week:

The Falcons scored more TD’s in LA (6) than the Rams have all season (5)

 

Stat of the Week:

The Seattle Punter’s longest run of the season is 10 yards more than Todd Gurley’s longest

 

Stat of the Week:

Carson Wentz’ sophomore slump came early. After starting 4-2, he has gone 1-6 and thrown 10 INT’s in that span

 

Stat of the Week:

The Buccaneers are 8-5, but have given up more points than they have scored. The Chargers, Eagles and Saints are all 5-8 but have scored more than they have allowed.

 

Stat of the Week:

Before Sunday, Russell Wilson had never lost a game by more than 10 points. I was absolutely blown away by this stat!

 

Stolen Stat of the Week:

Cam Newton, last year’s MVP, is in dead last for completion percentage this year

 

Playoff update:

Oakland, Baltimore and Denver had key losses which changed playoff seeding, while Pittsburgh, Detroit and Tampa Bay all had key wins. Meanwhile Washington, Minnesota and Green Bay kept their hopes alive with big wins to stay in the hunt. With 3 weeks left, all eyes are on the AFC West, AFC South, NFC North, and NFC South.

 

Playoff Craziness!

There’s actually a scenario in play for the Chiefs, where entering Week 17 they would have to win the game and get a 1st round bye, or lose and be completely out of the playoffs. Yes, that’s a 1 game difference between the #2 seed or the #7 seed.

 

For the Record:

  • The Lions are lucky to be 2 games up in the division, because their final slate (@Giants, @ Cowboys, vs. Packers) is brutal
  • Why is there a Saturday game this week?
  • The Titans taking down the Broncos, Packers and Lions this year. Maybe proving they can hang in the playoffs
  • Wow, Cowboys fans calling for Tony Romo after 1 bad game. League is brutal!
  • Does anybody else have a little bit of an issue with the jersey swaps at the end of the game? It’s a bit hard for me to see Elliot and Beckham Jr, 2 fierce division rivals, swapping jerseys at the end of the game and posing for a picture. I guess a part of me feels the players should show the same disdain to division foes as the fans do. Have sportsmanship, but don’t be best buds.

 

Quote of the Week:

“Thursday Night Football is a Poopfest” Richard Sherman, proving that Stanford education expands your vocabulary….Yes, yes it was a poopfest

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“15 yard penalty for twerking” Al Michaels

 

Games of the Week:

Lions at Giants

Patriots at Broncos

Buccaneers at Cowboys

 

 

The Browns are 0-11 since Terrell Pryor said the team could win out. That’s garbage

 

Photo credit: NFL.com

FMQB: ARRRRR You Ready for some Football!

Posted by fmquarterback on December 9, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

week13

FMQB: ARRRRR You Ready for some Football!

 

Avast ye! Mike Zimmer, that seadog, returns from a brush with Davy Jones’ Locker to coach the Vikings again. He’s not one to walk the plank and scuttle the season, so his team said Ay Ay captain and will give it the ol’ Heave Ho to take down those landlubber Jaguars and plunder a win in order to continue their quest for playoff booty….Sorry I couldn’t help myself, but why couldn’t they have been playing the Buccaneers or Raiders this week. WHY?!?!

zimmer

We’re down to the final 4 weeks of the season with everybody on the same slate having played 12 games. The teams that make it to the playoffs always seem to be on a 5-1 or 4-0 streak, so keep an eye out for the streaking teams. As always, my favorite internet tool is back with the playoff machine! http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

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