FMQB: A Tale of Two Games

Posted by fmquarterback on December 2, 2016
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week12

FMQB: Tale of 2 games

 

For the 2nd week in a row, the Sunday afternoon game was the most exciting game of the week, only to get trumped by the Sunday night game. The Raiders took a 17 point lead on the Panthers, who stormed back with 25 unanswered points of their own and an 8 point lead. The Raiders tied it up and hit a late FG to win it; definitely some good back and forth. The David Carr finger injury had everybody including me holding their breath.

 

We very nearly had the 3rd tie of the season between division rivals. The Chiefs had a 9 point swing, with a rare Safety and then return of the Free Kick. After a bit of a sleeper of a 1st half, they combined for 36 points in the 2nd, with 3 lead changes and 2 TD’s in the final 3 minutes. An amazing final drive for the Chiefs, they had to convert a 4th and 10, and then caught a ball at the 1 yd line with the clock ticking down to 1 second before the refs reviewed it and determined it was a TD. Scary 50-50 play to tie the game, but the Chiefs got the 2pt conversion. The OT consisted of FG, FG, Missed FG, and FG to use the full 15 minutes. The final FG, ironically the same distance as an extra point, was clanked in HARD off the upright and somehow went through. Broncos players were cheering and Chiefs had heads bowed before the refs threw his hands up. Chris Collinsworth said it best “that’s the only way a game like this could end.”

 

Kubiak’s Call:

Coaching is a tough profession, because everybody second guesses your decisions after the fact. It’s 10-fold if it doesn’t pan out (and they’re not even in control of the outcome, the players are). Yet they rarely get credit when it is successful. A lot was said about the Broncos field goal decision at the end of OT, but I’m going to come out and say he made the correct call. He had to take a timeout to think about it, but there are a myriad of situations going on here. The Broncos had 3 options:

 

  • Punt: which nearly guarantees a tie with the time remaining, and a Tie hurts Denver just as much as a loss (Oak and KC have better tiebreakers).
  • Go for it: It’s 4th and 10, you’d have to think there’s a lower percentage of converting that than the FG. Even if you don’t convert it, the Chiefs get the ball pretty much where they did after the missed kick. Even if you make it? You’re still looking at a 52 yd Field Goal which is far from a gimme.
  • Kick the Field Goal. Apparently McManus hits 70 yarders in practice, so he has the leg. You also have one of the best defenses in the league, and are setting KC up for needing 15 yards for a decent shot.

 

I think after reviewing the options, it was the right call. The only chance they had to win the game then and there. Crazy thing is, Kubiak had to figure this out on the fly. I’m sure no coach goes into games thinking of the implications of a tie. And at the end of the day, the kick was long enough but hooked.

 

Stat of the Week:

The Lions have trailed in the 4th quarter of all 11 of their games, and are still 7-4 and leading their division. All 11 games have been within 7 points or less. Never count this team out!

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Bengals K Mike Nugent has missed 3 extra points in a row

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #3:

Over the past 8 games, Marcus Mariotta has a passer rating of 117.7 and 21 TD’s vs. 3 INTs. In his first 2 seasons, he also has 32 redzone TD’s vs 0 INTs.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

The Giants and Dolphins have each won 6 in a row. Extra factoid, they are both led by rookie head coaches.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Khalil Mack had an INT, Sack, Forced Fumble, Fumble Recovery, and a TD

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Tyreek Hill was the first person since Gale Sayers to have a rushing, receiving, and return TD. That’s some serious company! That’s almost as impressive as Mario Lemieux scoring 5 goals 5 different ways.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Justin Tucker had 199 yards of Field Goals on Sunday!

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #8:

Ryan Tannehill has 9 TD’s and 1 INT in his last 6 games.

 

For the Record:

  • The Panthers went 0-3 on 2pt plays. Had they merely kicked the extra point each time, they would have gone into OT instead of losing by 3.
  • The Buccaneers are a force, and have taken down the Chiefs and Seahawks in back to back weeks.
  • The Colts played very tough, could have won that game even with a backup QB
  • The Vikings played the best team in the league tough. Minus a few plays, they completely shut them down.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Cam Newton had the first roughing the passer penalty called in his favor since 2014. And it wasn’t even that bad
  • If Jared Goff can play consistently like he did in the 1st half, I’m excited as a Rams fan!
  • I think the Titans end up winning their division. Impressive for year 2 of rebuilding
  • The Panthers have had 3 absolutely sickening losses, and 2 more games they could have easily won. Big difference between 4-7 and 9-2.
  • Which Packer team will show up this week? Nobody seems to know
  • Dallas can already clinch a playoff spot on Sunday, there’s still 5 weeks left in the season
  • You can blame the offensive line issues, but giving up a 1st round pick for a 5-6 QB is turning into a disaster for the Vikings

 

Announcer Love:

I don’t normally talk about the announcers, heck I don’t normally even notice! But need to give a shoutout to NBC’s team. Al Michaels is still the voice of football in my opinion, but #2 is easily Mike Tirico. It has been nice to get him back in the action for some primetime games. It almost makes him leaving ESPN palpable knowing that he’s in line to take over Michaels. The next best team is Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. I could live without Jim Nance and Phil Simms, they bring that “golf” monotone to the commentating which finds me taking a nice afternoon nap during their games. Jon Gruden holds the Monday night crew together, because Sean (whatever his last name is) just isn’t cutting it.

 

In addition to the NBC team, Chris Collinsworth is hands down the best color commentator out there. Sunday night showcased this, but he’s so passionate about the game that he was as giddy as a schoolboy when it went into OT. He also seems to be one of the most intelligent broadcasters out there. More often than not, he’ll make some sort of comment that ends up ringing true later in the game. He also brings out nuances in the games incredibly quickly, that I don’t think 95% of fans would find if they studied film for a week.

 

 

The Browns are now 0-10 since Terrell Pryor suggested the team could win out

 

Photo Credit: NFL.com

FMQB: I Miss our Conversations like Blair Walsh misses a kick

Posted by fmquarterback on November 24, 2016
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week-11

Happy Turkey Day!

 

FMQB is a day early for your brief reading enjoyment while trying to avoid family members. I will throw a few facts out about each 3 games for you to impress your friends, even for the most casual of football watchers!

 

Game 1:

Vikings vs. Lions: The two teams are tied in the division, with Detroit currently holding the tiebreaker. Minnesota has lost 4 of it’s last 5 while Detroit has won 5 of it’s last 6. The Bears are the only team who have beaten both the Vikes and Lions. If the Lions win, they will be in sole possession of 1st place; a full game up on the Vikings and holding the tiebreaker with only 5 games left.

 

Game 2:

Redskins vs. Cowboys: The Cowboys are on a 9 game winning streak, and the Redskins are 6-1-1 in their last 8 games. Their only losses have come from all Thanksgiving teams; Cowboys, Lions and Steelers. Kirk Cousins is 3rd in the league in passing yards, while Dak Prescott is 3rd in the league in passer rating.

 

Game 3:

Steelers vs. Colts: After starting strong, the Steelers have lost 4 of 5 and their win was against the Browns. The Colts have had a couple impressive wins against the surging Titans and at Green Bay, but Andrew Luck’s status is in question which would severely hamper the game. If Andrew Luck is out, people in tryptophan comas may not be missing much…

 

Quick Hits: Teams we Don’t usually talk about:

  • The Chiefs suffered only their 3rd loss in their last 20 regular season games
  • The Dolphins and Giants have both won 5 in a row.
  • The Buccaneers are also only a game out of 1st place, and have road wins at Atlanta and at Kansas City

 

Stat of the Week:

The 6 highest scoring teams this year are the Falcons, Chargers, Cowboys, Saints, Titans, and Raiders. None of which made the playoffs last year

 

Coworker Stat of the Week #2:

Kickers are 87% on XPs this year, while 2pt conversions are 36/67, 53%. Tell me again why teams don’t go for 2pts every time? Except the Titans, who are 0/4 on 2pt conversions, while 29/31 (94%) on XPs…Thanks Mickey! With that logic, currently 635 points were scored after TD’s this year. But if every team went for 2 pts, that number would climb to a whopping 756 points!

 

Quote of the Week:

“And Kaepernick has some speed! Not weighted down by that “I Voted” sticker- CBS Announcer

 

For the Record:

  • Aaron Rodgers has 25 TD’s vs 7 INT’s, yet the Packers are 4-6. Perhaps that’s proof that it’s not his fault. However the season is likely over with 2 teams with a 2 game lead over the Packers.
  • You can go to a Browns game for only $6, but you’ll have to pay between $25-50 for parking. It’s literally more expensive for your car to go to a Browns game than for you!!!
  • The NFC East and AFC West are hands down the 2 most competitive divisions out there.
  • Jared Goff didn’t lose the game for the Rams. He didn’t win it though either.
  • The handoff, then throw from the WR to the QB never works. But it did Sunday

 

The Extra Point Rule Change is Awesome!

Kickers missed 12 extra points on Sunday. Blasting by the old record of 8 in one day. Keep in mind that in 2014, the league missed 8 all year! Only 3 of these were actually blocked, the other 9 were flat out missed. I have heard people saying that this is an embarrassment to both kickers and the league, but this play has become “useful” again. Hands down the best rule change the NFL has made in the last decade.

 

Instant Replay on the Otherhand…

Something has to be done about the officiating, or instant replay. I hate being that guy who complains about the refs, but we’ve seen blatant calls or things that could have been reviewed closer that is costing teams wins. Houston had 2 blown calls, 1 on replay which was obviously a 1st down. Either one changes the game in their favor. You had the Saints miss out on a very likely out of bounds step

 

If the Playoffs Started Today:

  • Oakland and Dallas would have home field advantage, despite combining to go 11-21 last year.
  • Osweiler would have a home re-match against his hated Broncos
  • There would be 3 AFC West and 3 NFC East teams in the playoffs
  • The Lions and Texans would host a playoff game

 

 

The Browns are now 0-8 since Terrell Pryor suggested the team could win out

 

Making Sure Quotas are Met:

Turducken, there I said it

Carson Wentz and Cam Newton, haven’t forgotten about ya

 

FMQB: Elliot is Out of this World

Posted by fmquarterback on November 18, 2016
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et

 

FMQB: Elliot, out of this World!

 

“And with the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys select, in their best ET impression, Ezekiel Elllliiiiooootttt.” Sorry for the cheesy line, just had to tie this article in with the picture. Ezekiel Elliot is out of this world! Not only is he leading the Rookie of the Year, I can legitimately see Ezekiel Elliot as leading the MVP race right now. He has 1000 yards through 9 games, 10 TD’s (including single-handedly winning Sunday’s game). Only other rookie who has won MVP (and Rookie of the year of course) was Hall of Famer Earl Campbell in 1978. Only Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson had more yards than Elliot does through their first 9 games.

 

Game of the Year #1:

We had a pair of Super Bowl rematches this week, both of which ended up being the most entertaining football we’ve seen so far. The Cowboys Magical Season continued with an all out slugfest against the Steelers. There were six 2 point conversions attempted in this game, and 7 lead changes. Dak went out there and answered every single time the Steelers took the lead. The crazy back and forth yielded a fake spike for a TD (which rarely work), and then a 32 yard game winning TD run with only 9 seconds left! One thing I noticed from this game, granted you could argue that Elliott won it for them with his 114 yard 2 TD day. But they’re holding nothing back from Prescott. And even so, he’s not merely managing these games, he’s putting them in position to win every single time; more often than not he’s leading them to wins.

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FMQB: The Bumbling Browns

Posted by fmquarterback on November 11, 2016
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week-9

FMQB: The Bumbling Browns

Week 9 indicates the halfway point in the NFL, with most teams playing 8 games (minus the small handful who haven’t had their Bye’s yet). There is still plenty of season left, but some teams have pulled away from the pack while others are already faltering. Either way, a picture has begun to be painted. It’s very refreshing to see a bit of parody in the NFL, with a few teams we haven’t seen in the playoffs in awhile/constistently (Cowboys, Raiders, Falcons, Giants, Vikings, etc.). Before we get too excited though, my halfway Super Bowl prediction is Patriots Seahawks.

 

Oakland is Legit:

I think the reason I keep saying this is because I’m just so shocked to say it. They’ve had 15 years of terrible football, so it’s fun to see them back. Either way, they just dismantled the supposedly staunch Denver D. They rushed for 218 yds, with 3 rushing TD’s. This team has good QB play, a strong run attack, and good defense. That’s the recipe for playoff success, and it could be interesting to see what they’re like in January.

 

Richard Sherman rant:

Richard Sherman is probably the most polarizing figure in the NFL. This typically means that a person either loves him or hate him, but somehow he has become a person that you can flip flop your own emotions on him several times. Watching him speak, press conferences, or even reading his blog; he’s one of the most well spoken and intelligent people out there. You have to respect him for that, he’s a very intelligent guy and a true spokesperson for the NFL. But then somehow he gets onto the field, and turns into a dirty cocky player that everybody can hate. He completely crushed the Bills kicker at the end of the 1st half, zero chance he was going for the ball.

 

Seahawks Skirting the Rules:

While we’re on the subject, doesn’t it seem like there have been a lot of very goofy endings of games mainly resulting in referee judgement calls? Every single one of them goes in favor of the Seahawks. You had the Fail Mary, granted that was a few years back now. Then you had the Monday night game where the ball was batted out of the back of the endzone for a safety. Then the Pass Interference call against the Falcons, and there were several in the Jets game too. Now you had this game with the refs literally blowing 4 calls in a short sequence. How does this keep happening to this one team?!?! The thing that makes it worse is that Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, and Richard Sherman have a nonchalant attitude about each one…. “I didn’t see a flag there” or “oops, I guess I was offsides.”

 

The fact that these refs aren’t being disciplined, or that somebody in New York didn’t stop it is beyond me (they had 1 game to watch). The refs blew the roughing the kicker call, then said that Carpenter had to leave for a play since the trainers came out (way to punish a team for player safety concerns), then they screwed up whether the kicking ball should be in or not, and finally they hovered over the ball with the playclock running only to leave with 2 second left on the playclock. Of course there’s a delay of game at that juncture, it should have been called on the refs!

 

Stolen Stat of the Week:

In each of Detroit’s 5 wins, they have trailed in the final 90 seconds of regulation

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Dallas and Oakland are a combined 9-0 on the road, neither team made the playoffs last year

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #3:

Eli Manning is quietly sneaking up into the conversation of All-Timers. His 2nd Super Bowl essentially made him a lock for the Hall of Fame, but his other numbers are removing any question mark about it. Manning has had 202 straight starts (that’s 3rd most all time). He’s 9th on the list for most passing yards, and 7th for most TD’s!

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Proof the game is changing? 7 of the top 16 QB’s in regards to most passing TD’s in NFL history, are still actively playing the game. Jay Cutler of all people has more TD passes than 14 Hall of Fame QB’s!!!

 

Stat of the Week #5:

At 6-3, the Broncos are in 3rd place in their division, there’s only 2 other divisions in football where they wouldn’t be in 1st place.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Saints started 0-3, and are suddenly in 2nd place in their division after winning 4 of 5.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Blair Walsh, leads the league with 3 missed extra points, and is 75% for field goals (26th in the league)

 

Stat of the Week #8:

The Cowboys 7 game winning streak is the longest in team history since 2007

 

Stat of the Week #9:

The 49ers are the 1st team in NFL history to allow 7 straight 100 yard rushers. I find this unbelievable, especially since the age of running backs is over. But surprised the old record was 6, when literally some crappy defense legitimately had a chance to see Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and Emmitt Smith within a timeframe like that. The other thing I find unbelievable is that it wasn’t 4 years ago when the 49ers nearly went an entire season without giving up a rushing TD! Very quick fall for that team.

 

Poor Timeout Management:

The Bumbling Browns started the game with 12 players on the field, and had to use a timeout the first play of scrimmage (first team in 5 years to do so). Stupid mistakes are a reason teams like this go winless.

 

The 2nd mistake also cost the Vikings a win. Down 4, they led an impressive TD drive in the waning seconds of the game. But they egregiously called a timeout WAY too early in the final drive. Getting to the 1 yard line on 3rd down, you literally only have 2 plays left in the game. For arguments sake, let’s say you’re mindful of a 10 second runoff, or a defensive penalty that runs time off the clock. But with 2 plays that’s rare, and either way let it tick down to 15 or 16 seconds. Instead they called one at 27 seconds left, literally ensuring that the Lions would get the ball for a couple plays. Sure enough, the Vikings scored the next play, and gave Detroit 23 seconds. Sure, it’s improbable to get into Field Goal range and spike the ball. But it’s also plenty of time to do it, why not make it impossible for them to win? That one’s on the coaches.

 

Quick Hits:

  • I don’t see a Win in the Browns future…anywhere
  • I can’t believe Roethlisberger played this week, 3 weeks after a torn meniscus (same injury that cost Adrian Peterson the season)
  • The Cowboys are 7-1, and only play 1 team above .500 down the stretch. That team is the quickly deflating Vikings
  • The Dolphins have quietly won 3 in a row, the Steelers and Vikings have both lost 3 in a row
  • Carson Wentz has turned into an INT machine since his nearly record breaking start. Well not really, but he’s had an INT in 3 straight games; and both of his 2 INT games came on back to back drives.
  • Dang, Jimmy Graham finally showed up in Seattle! Of course I played against him in Fantasy, being up 20 felt pretty good until halftime

 

Halfway- Teams to Watch:

  • Don’t be surprised if the Giants start making a run, similar to their Wild Card Super Bowl runs
  • Same with the Chiefs, they’re the quietist 6-2 team in history it seems
  • I see the Lions winning the NFC North, and the Saints sneaking into the mix as well

 

Quote of the Week:

“If I didn’t want to get hit, I’d be playing Tennis” Russell Wilson, reacting to Cam Newton’s remarks about not feeling safe. Bravo!

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“Isn’t this the endzone where Blair Walsh missed a 27 yard field goal?” UND fan giving Gopher fans crap while walking past TCF Bank Stadium

 

Non Football Stat of the Week:

The Cubs victory parade was the 7th largest gathering in human history! 5 million people showed up. Other events in the top 10 include pilgrimages, high end funerals, and a Rod Stewart concert. What?!?!

 

Game of the Week:

Sunday Night Football hit another jackpot with Seattle at New England. Should be an awesome rematch of the Super Bowl 2 years ago.

 

 

The Browns are 0-6 since Pryor suggested they could win out.

 

FMQB: The Tie that Binds

Posted by fmquarterback on November 4, 2016
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week-8

 

FMQB: The Tie that Binds

 

 

Brady’s first 4 weeks:

It’s hard for me to say it, but the best QB in the league is Tom Brady; which is amazing at 39 years old. I think he even gets put into the MVP race despite the fact that he’ll only play ¾ of the games any other QB plays. He has a whopping 133.9 passer rating, is still on pace for nearly 4000 yards (despite missing 4 games), 12 TD’s and 0 INT’s. Just insane numbers to start the season.

 

Tie

Ties are a rarity, so much in fact that many NFL players don’t know that games can end in a tie. From 1974 to 2008, there were only 17 ties; exactly 1 tie every 2 years. But there has been a bit of an influx recently, which could be equated to the new OT rules that each team possesses the ball (barring a TD). There have been 5 ties in the past 4 years. Believe it or not, with only 32 ties since 1974, this is the 2nd time in that span that ties have come in back to back weeks. While this is an improvement from 1920 when there were 17 ties, the NFL needs to figure out a way to find a winner. Hockey did it, and 3 on 3 OT and the Shootout are the most exciting parts of the game. My suggestion is to play their 15 minute overtime. If there’s no winner, trot the kickers out to the 35 yard line and have them kick. If they both make it, back it up to the 40…and so on until one misses. It’s going to come down to a kick anyway, so why not give it to the kickers. But now 4 teams are X-X-1, which is just stupid.

 

Ironically, all 4 teams (Ari, Sea, Cin, and Was) made the playoffs last year. But the ties actually hurt their records, with only 1 team (Seattle) actually sitting in a playoff spot right now.

 

For the Record:

I wonder why NFL ratings are dropping? A recent stretch of 4 nationally televised games consisted of a Tie, Brock Osweiler, Titans vs. Jaguars, and another Tie. That’s 2 ties in 4 NFL games!

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FMQB: A Tale of 2 Quarters

Posted by fmquarterback on October 28, 2016
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week-7

FMQB: A Tale of 2 Quarters

 

Even with 15 games this week, you could have watched a mere 2 quarters and been satisfied with enough football excitement for the week.

 

The first happened in the first quarter of the Vikings vs. Eagles game. What people may not know is that I’m the nerd that sits there watching games and will take notes on my phone for FMQB (the things I do for you people!). I can honestly say in 6 years, I haven’t updated the same note more than watching the turnover-fest that occurred between the 2 teams. By the 2nd turnover, I was thinking “holy crap, these are the 2 teams with the least giveaways in the league and I’ve just seen 2 interceptions thrown in just a few plays!” All you heard about through Week 4 was the fact that Bradford and Wentz (and Prescott) hadn’t turned the ball over at all. Then 3 plays later there was a Fumble and I start freaking out. The VERY NEXT PLAY is another fumble! Then 3 plays later Wentz throws another interception. What the heck is going on here!!! In 4:59, we just watched 5 turnovers happen. It was such a bizarre sequence!

 

The other quarter was the 5th in a sleeper of a Sunday night game. I started watching in the 4th quarter and realized I turned on a 3-0 snoozer. The 4th wasn’t any better, despite the fact that the Seahawks tied it up. And then something amazing happened. Going into OT at 3-3, it was obvious there was zero offense, but all of a sudden the flood gates opened up! The Cardinals got the ball first, and marched down the field with 18 and 20 yard passes, and kicked a field goal. Then the Seahawks did the same, getting 4 first downs on big plays to tie it up again. Then the Cardinals had 27 and 40 yard plays, only to have David Johnson barely get pushed out of bounds at the goal line. Somehow they clanged the FG off the uprights on a 24 yard kick. There was life in Seattle, and after their 31 and 27 yard plays (where was this all game?!?!), Haushka looked like he kicked his 28 yarder after playing dizzy bat! Hands down the most exciting Tie ever.

 

Quote of the Week:

“I’ve been in this league 13 years. I’ve played in more than 200 games, regular season and playoffs. And this is the craziest game I’ve ever played in.” Larry Fitzgerald…Think about that, crazier than the Packers shootout, or last years 2 time hail mary playoff game, or even the Steelers Super Bowl. A TIE was the craziest game he’s played in

 

Headline of the Week:

“Mike Zimmer refutes reports about slaughtering stuffed animals” ESPN Headline. Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. The fact he had to address this in a press conference is even more ridiculous

 

Stat of the Week #1:

Just 2 games into the season, Tom Brady leads the league in passer rating at an astonishing 132.6, leads in completion percentage, yards per attempt, yards per game, and has thrown 8 TD’s and 0 INT’s since his return.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Tom Brady has the same or more TD passes than Eli Manning, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Carson Wentz, Carson Palmer, Alex Smith, Dak Prescott, and Joe Flacco. Brady has played 2 games.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Adam Vinatieri, correction, 43 year old Adam Vinatieri hit his NFL record 43rd consecutive Field Goal. He’s also leading the league in scoring, and is 3rd all time for most points in NFL history.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

The Lions have won 3 in a row, and all 3 were 4th quarter comebacks.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

All 7 Lions games have been one score possessions. They have won by 4, 1, 3, and 3 points; and lost by 1, 7, and 3 points.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Raiders are now 4-0 on the road. All 4 of which were games played in Eastern Standard Time

 

Stat of the Week #7:

There have only been 2 kickoff returns for TD’s this year, both are by the Eagles and they happened in back to back games

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi is just the 4th person with back to back 200 yard rushing games (OJ Simpson, Ricky Williams, and Earl Campbell)

 

Stat of the Week #9:

The Vikings went 318 offensive plays without having a turnover. Plays number 319 and 320 were an Interception and a Fumble

 

Stat of the Week #10:

There had never been a game with an 11-3 score at halftime, in NFL history

 

Stat of the Week #11:

To reiterate how crazy the Sunday night game was, at one point in OT the Cardinals had a 99.6% chance of winning. 3 minutes later, the Seahawks had a 97.3% chance of winning.

 

Stat of the Week #12:

The Seattle defense was on the field for 46:21. That’s over 3 full quarters of play.

 

Ultimate Stat Ever:

That’s out of 15835 games played in NFL History…yes I just did the math, it’s current including Week 8’s Thursday Night game. Whew!

 

Bad News Bears:

  • The running joke in Minnesota is that the Vikings have another bye week. Because they’re playing a Bears team, and not against 6 TD 0 INT Brian Hoyer, but against Jay Cutler
  • A Houston fan set up a Go-Fund me page to buy out Brock Osweiler’s $72M contract
  • The Rams looked just awful. If anybody watched NFL Primetime this week, they did a great job essentially saying that all 4 INT’s were the receiver’s fault and not Case Keenum’s. What Brian Quick was doing on the final play is beyond me.
  • Despite not liking Geno Smith, you gotta feel a little bad for the guy. Lost the starting job due to being sucker punched in the face. Sat for 24 games before finally getting his shot again. AANNDDD torn ACL in the 2nd
  • Homecomings were not kind to both Bradford and Osweiler this week.

 

If the Playoffs Started Today:

  • Please tell me we could have an Oakland at New England rematch!!!! They’re #1 and #2 right now in the AFC.
  • Brock Osweiler would have a chance at redemption, hosting the Broncos
  • San Francisco, Chicago, and Cleveland are battling for the top spot and a top QB. By the looks of it, they all need it.

 

Games of the Week:

Patriots at Bills: Brady is back but on the road against the team that has given them their only loss

Chargers at Broncos: Eliminate all 4 of the Chargers’ terrible losses and they’re undefeated.

Packers at Falcons: Could be a shootout

Eagles at Cowboys: Finally a Primetime game to get excited about!!!

 

 

The Browns are 0-4 since Pryor suggested they could win out. This week against the Jets are their best and perhaps last chance to snag a victory.

FMQB: The return of Manziel, Emmitt Smith, and Deflategate

Posted by fmquarterback on October 21, 2016
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week-6

FMQB: The return of Manziel, Emmitt Smith, and Deflategate

 

Sorry for the nearly all Packers edition of FMQB, that wasn’t intentional. Hoping to bring up a few names or issues you hadn’t heard about in awhile though.

 

Emmitt Smith Re-incarnated:

As a rookie, Ezekiel Elliot is leading the league in rushing. In fact he has a 116 yard lead on the 2nd place guy! He is on pace for a whopping 1875 yards this season. On Sunday, he went the 4th straight game with 130+ yards rushing. Elliot is the only rookie to do that. Not only that, he’s the  only Cowboy to do that! Not even Emmitt Smith or Tony Dorsett had a similar 4 game run. What’s even more impressive is he  just did it against the top rush defense in the league. He’s the most exciting back to enter the league since Adrian Peterson, and by the looks of it, we may be seeing some flashy moves for years to come. Here’s to hoping he can stay out of the dispensaries long enough to break some records.

 

For the Record:

  • The last Browns QB to win a game was Johnny Manziel
  • The Titans have already equaled their Wins from last year
  • Before getting injured, Brian Hoyer threw his 200th pass without an INT
  • Richard Sherman got away with Pass Interference, hands down

 

Stat of the Week #1:

Week 6 featured first kickoff return for TD of the season. The rule is working, whether you like it or not.

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FMQB: Taylor Off-Center

Posted by fmquarterback on October 14, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

week-5

FMQB: Taylor Off-Center

 

Bit of a shorter post this week, but Week 6 has a slew of awesome matchups and hopefully a lot to talk about next week!

 

And Then there was One:

The Broncos and Eagles lost last week, which leaves the Minnesota Vikings as the last undefeated team of the year! Last year we had 5 teams that made it deep into the season at undefeated, so it’s a bit bizarre to only have 1. On the flip side, only the Browns have yet to win a game this year.

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FMQB: Bow and Arrah

Posted by fmquarterback on October 7, 2016
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week-4

FMQB: Bow and Arrah

 

Wake Up San Diego:

It’s Week 4, and you’ve already blown 2 massive 4th quarter leads! Sunday’s was an abomination, their last 3 possessions ended in Fumble, Fumble, Interception. What’s even worse was the time of possession they had. When you need to milk the clock the most, they fumbled after 1 play (10 seconds), Fumbled after 1 play (8 seconds), and intercepted after 4 plays (47 seconds). 3 possessions barely milked 1 minute off the clock! They were up 34-21 with 6:50 left in the game. They’re 2 blown leads away from being 3-1, that’s just very poor closing of games.

 

Solid Teams in Black:

There are two relatively surprising teams this year, all in black. Take the Falcons with a grain of salt, as they went 6-1 last year before ending 2-7. But they are looking very solid, top offense in yards and points, 2 full games up on the division, and an MVP year for Matt Ryan. I don’t want to say “cruise” to the division title, as I think the Panthers have been a fluke so far, but they’ve got a decent lead a quarter of the way through.

 

The Raiders were also many people’s sleeper team, and they’re looking strong too. Their only loss is from the aforementioned Falcons, otherwise they’re 3-0 on the road, including taking out an undefeated Ravens team last week.  Derek Carr is 4th in both TD’s and passer rating, and is leading his team to nice victories.

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FMQB: “It’s Just Football”

Posted by fmquarterback on September 30, 2016
Posted in: NFL. Leave a comment

week-3

FMQB: “It’s Just Football”

Shorter post this week, a lot of quick hits and not much in depth analysis. Hope to be back in action next week.

 

Scary Thought:

The Patriots are guaranteed to be alone in 1st place when Tom Brady come backs. Talk about crazy! Amazing coaching job as well. I think had they gone 1-3 they could still win the division, and 2-2 would have been considered a success. Instead, 4-0 is very likely at this point.

 

Offenses Waking Up:

Rams scored 9 point in 2 games, 0 TD’s. All of a sudden racked up 4 TD’s on Sunday on the road

Seahawks had scored 1 TD all season (last minute in Week 1), but also racked up 4 on Sunday

 

Terrible Football:

For 0-3 teams, at least the Jaguars are entertaining to watch. The Bears on the otherhand are just terrible. And for some reason we get them in another slot of back-to-back primetime games later in the season. How do they get 4 primetime games?!?!

 

Stat of the Week:

Anybody have Marvin Jones and Stefon Diggs as the Top 2 receivers in the league?

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The entire AFC South has a negative point differential, while the entire AFC West are in the positive

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 6 INT’s on Sunday, more than every other QB has in the season so far. Somehow he was never sacked the entire game. Seems like an odd combo

 

Stat of the Week #4:

LeGarrett Blount is leading the league in rushing yards and rushing TD’s

 

Stat of the Week #5:

We keep looking at Carson Wentz and their offense, but Philly’s D is leading the league; giving up only 9 points per game.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Vikings, Ravens and Eagles all 3-0! Meanwhile the Bengals, Cardinals, Panthers, and Redskins have 4 wins combined

 

New Wave of QB’s:

With all the hullabaloo surrounding Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz, the overlooked QB right now is Trevor Siemian. John Elway ditching Brock Osweiler was a mistake in most people’s eyes, but keep in mind that the Patriots and Giants both do the same thing with high priced free agents. So Osweiler is taking up $18M of salary cap while Siemian is at $525K but still has his team at 3-0….wow. The whole Rookie QB phenomena this year is an awesome story, the only other time I remember this hype was when Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were rookies, or back with Ben Roethlisberger went 15-1 his rookie year.

 

New Wave Stat:

Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, Jimmy Garoppolo and Trevor Siemian are a combined 10-1. And have thrown 15 TD’s vs 3 INT’s

 

Surprises of the Week:

Philadelphia smacking Pittsburgh

Minnesota setting Carolina straight on the road

Arizona forgetting to show up against a high draft pick team

 

Poor 2nd Half:

If there were 5 quarters in football, the Packers would have lost by 17. Watching the Lions come back in the 2nd half was painful

 

Quote of the Week:

“It’s just football” Carson Wentz

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“He’ played like a freakin’ Hall of Famer” Steelers Cameron Hayward

 

Quote of the Week #3:

“The Browns can win out” Terrell Pryor (enter the Angel’s in the Outfield Dad saying “Yeah and the Angels will win the pennant”)

 

Quote of the Week #4:

“Do we have to watch the game tonight?” FFMQB. Said about the last 2 Thursday night matchups. You hear that schedule-makers?!?!