FMQB: Frozen Tundra on a 73 Degree Day

Posted by fmquarterback on October 23, 2015
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I’ll be testing your memory this week with a double edition! Focusing on Week 5 and 6, but will be shorter due to lack of watching games, however this time was worth it as I got to experience the historic Lambeau field for the first time!!! More on that later. The first half is focusing on Week 5 (yes I realize that was nearly 2 weeks ago now)…

 

Comeback Central:

A couple of crazy comebacks happened last week. The Bears were down 17-6 with just 7 minutes left, and drove 88 yards for a TD and then 67 yards for another TD. Eli Manning does what he always does and took the Giants 82 yards in 1:24 for the game winning TD. Probably most impressive was the Bengals comeback. Down 17 in the 4th, the Bengals scored on their next 4 possessions, going TD, TD, FG, and FG in OT. Keep in mind that this was against one of the toughest defenses in the league. I think it’s safe to say the Bengals are legit this year. The ultimate comeback came on Monday night’s game

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FMQB: They Killed JFK…I hold it against them

Posted by fmquarterback on October 9, 2015
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Week 4

Photo Credit: NFL.com

We’re at the quarter mark, and there are still a lot of questions and things up in the air in the league. What happened to the Lions? Where did the Falcons and Jets come from? Are the Bengals really going to run away with the division that easily? Typically 4 games isn’t enough to know who playoff teams will be, but it is a chance to start making some assumptions.

 

Quarter Pole Quick Hits:

  • The Giants could easily be 4-0 after giving up two 4th quarter leads. The division has 3 teams tied for 1st, but with the Cowboys woes I see the Giants starting to pull away and taking the division.
  • You know your team is in trouble when you fire your coach 4 games into the season. Rebuilding year for Dolphins fans
  • The AFC East is going to be a fun division to watch, and I wouldn’t be surprised if both the Bills and Jets pull Wild Card slots
  • The Broncos are 4-0 despite Manning’s “waning ability”
  • The AFC South is a bit of a shit show, there’s a legit chance the Jaguars can win the division
  • The NFC East could also be fun. The Cowboys could have a late season comeback once Romo comes back, and the Giants will be fighting as well
  • The Packers should run away with the conference, and I think the only question is how many interceptions Aaron Rodgers actually throws all year
  • Can the Panthers sustain? They’re undefeated but have beat some pretty weak teams
  • Who takes the NFC West? The Seahawks and Cardinals could battle it out, with the Rams playing spoiler

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FMQB: The ShopVac Heard Round the World

Posted by fmquarterback on October 2, 2015
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Week3

Photo Credit: NFL.com

FMQB: The ShopVac Heard Round the World:

 

Who Dey:

After Sunday’s amazing comeback win (twice), the Bengals are sitting pretty. They are now 3 full games up over the Ravens just 3 games into the season, the Browns aren’t seeming to pose much of a threat, and the closest team just lost their starting QB for 6 weeks. It’s almost not too early to crown them division champs with it hard to picture any other team coming close. Granted the only thing Bengals fans focus on nowadays is what happens in the playoffs (which have been ugly the last 4 years). The Bengals scored 2 go ahead TD’s on late 4th quarter drives on Sunday, in a hostile Baltimore environment.

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FMQB: Weird Two Weeks

Posted by fmquarterback on September 25, 2015
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Week2Photo Credit: NFL.com

Shorter post this week as I missed a lot of the games. As crazy as everything got after Week 1, it seems like now nobody knows what’s going to happen after Week 2. Everybody had given up on the Vikings, yet they came back and beat a division rival. Jameis Winston looked like a bust after Week 1 but righted the ship this week. The Rams who jumped up the Power Rankings but then lost to one of the weakest teams in the league with a backup QB.

Rough Week for QB’s:

Manziel had the best game of his career and was immediately told that McCown would start on Sunday. Jay Cutler also went down for multiple weeks (although I’m not hearing Bears fans complaining). Drew Brees has a bruised rotator cuff, and word is he could either be fine or miss a few weeks. And the worst news is that Tony Romo broke his collar bone AGAIN, and will be out for at least half the season. Continue Reading

Mariotta: HOF Class of 2036

Posted by fmquarterback on September 18, 2015
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Yahoo Sports

Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

Pretty good start to the season, with some surprise teams, close games, and upsets. It’s only Week 1, and despite what every Viking, Colts and Seahawks fan will tell you, it’s not time to panic yet.

San Diego Comeback:

In the last 2 meaningful games the Detroit Cecils have played, they have blown leads of 18 and 13 respectively (a la Dallas playoff game). The Chargers had some pretty wicked comebacks last year as well, thinking of the Ravens game scoring 21 points in the 4th quarter to win. Fitting that these two met and the same thing happened. Despite going down early, SD outscored the Cecils 24-7 with Rivers throwing for 404 yards. Could be an interesting team to watch this year.

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FMQB: Five years of Football!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 11, 2015
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I’m back for a 5th season of shenanigans, wacky predictions, a bit of humor, and perhaps even some useful football knowledge. As a reminder, these first posts are very long every year, so if you want a cliff notes version, read everything but hold off on reading analysis on EVERY team. Just pick a few you’re interested in.

Other than the fact that it’s FMQB and it’s fun to get pumped for the football season, why should you read this? Take a brief look at 2 of last year’s predictions and figure out why:

  • I successfully predicted the Super Bowl winner, picking the Patriots. (albeit I had them defeating the Bears, oops)
  • I correctly predicted 4 teams records on the nose. And was only 1 win/loss on 12 others. That’s half the league!
  • Bonus prediction: I had Nick Foles as the league MVP (his team didn’t even make the playoffs)…you win some you lose some

Player Predictions:

Sam Bradford will tear it up in Philadelphia, taking the team to the playoffs

Darren McFadden wins comeback player of the year (over Adrian Peterson, but he won’t get it due to NFL politics)

Jimmy Graham will struggle with the Seahawks. <5 TD’s and under 700 yards.

Marcus Mariotta will far out-perform Jameis Winston

DeMarco Murray will drop off drastically, LeSean McCoy will out rush him in their new respective teams

Ben Roethlisberger will lead the league in Yards and/or TD’s thrown this year

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FMQB: Super Bowl Experience

Posted by fmquarterback on February 6, 2015
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Wow, what a Super Bowl! A running theme to most people I have spoken to was that nobody really cared who won the game, and if that’s the case they might as well give us a game worth watching! It seemed to have nearly as many story lines as the Packer Seahawks game, and it was like a movie where you can tell exactly where it’s going until the last minute twist that has your jaw on the floor.

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The first quarter started, and it seemed that both teams were kind of feeling each other out, not wanting to make a mistake. It was extremely fast and it flew by thanks to a Patriot 8 minute drive that was picked off in the endzone. As dull as the 1st quarter was, both teams came out with a bang and put up 28 points in the 2nd. Three of the TD’s were scored within the last 2:16 of the half. The Seahawks tied it up at 7 which seemed like a miracle at the time. Then the Patriots had a great 2 minute drill to score with :31, and reminding fans that the best teams score right at the end of the half. The Seahawks could have taken the ball into halftime down 14-7, but after 2 run plays got them 36 yards, they were smelling the endzone.

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FMQB: Super Bowl Sunday!

Posted by fmquarterback on January 30, 2015
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SB

Time for the Super Bowl preview post, and we’re a mere 2 days away! As most of you know, Sunday I will be like a kid at Christmas, and I’ll actually be IN Glendale the day of the game!!!! AAHHHHHHH!!!! It’s my favorite day of the year, there are a lot of story lines to cover, and of course it wouldn’t be FMQB without a prediction or two. So let’s take a quick look at the penultimate game.

 

Proof of Passion:

For the last 14 years (which is half of my life), I have extremely disliked 3 teams. One of these teams was the Broncos, which I have flipped on since Manning arrived 3 years ago. The other 2 teams were the Patriots and Seahawks. I eluded to it last week, but it’s something only a hardcore Rams fan can feel. The Patriots beat the Greatest Show on Turf and stole our dynasty status back in 2001. As an impressionable 14 year old kid, that was tough on me and that kick is still hard for me to watch. On the flip note, in the mid-2000s, the Seahawks started to become a contender with Hasselbeck and now Wilson. Any time the Rams had a shot at the division, the Seahawks would steal it away from them. What I’m getting at is this: I’m still incredibly pumped for the game on Sunday despite my 2 least favorite teams being in it, which I think borderlines on obsession. I suppose it’s a similar feeling to when somebody asks if you want a beer, but they only have Keystone Light; you’ll still take the beer.

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FMQB: Game of the Millenium

Posted by fmquarterback on January 23, 2015
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Jon Ryan

Photo Credit: http://www.king5.com

Despite only 2 games this weekend, the football world has been abuzz by both Championship contests played Sunday. I will be doing a recap blog this week regarding those games, and saving the Super Bowl Preview one for next week.

Packers at Seahawks:

 

There is so much to talk about this game, that I hardly know where to start. If football is a story, then this game was an autobiography of William Shakespeare ghostwritten by Charles Dickens! In terms of a game from start to finish, I would rank this probably in my Top 2, and struggle to think of a complete game that would beat it out for #1. We had turnovers, great defense yet high scoring, a fake field goal, a crazy comeback, an onside kick, a crazy 2 point conversion, a game tying drive by an injured QB, and a TD to win in OT!!! Games can have crazy plays or great drives, but this game was even exciting in the 1st quarter. Take a look at the first quarter breakdown. GB- INT, SEA- INT, GB- Field Goal, SEA- Fumble, GB- Field Goal, SEA- Punt, GB- Touchdown. The Seahawks started the game with 6 plays for 3 yards, and by that time the Packers already had 4 possessions. It didn’t help that the Seahawks had turnovers on back to back plays, but they still managed to only be down 13-0 (more on this later). The most telling series is when Green Bay got a 2nd and 1. They ran twice from the 1 yard line and got stuffed on both, and had to kick a field goal. Personally I think you go for it here, because if you run it 3 times from the 1 yard line and can’t get in, then you don’t deserve to win the game anyway. Russell Wilson started the game 0-6, and by halftime was 1-8 with 3 INT’s, and the Seahawks had 4 turnovers.

The 3rd quarter was the only slowdown in the game, as it featured four 3 and outs, but also had an amazing fake field goal for a Touchdown. Two things were great about this play. First was AJ Hawk’s brilliant split second decision. I know, he got beat on the play, but he could either try to tackle the punter and leave the receiver wide open, or drop off in coverage and let the punter run for the first down. Deciding to take on the punter was genius in my opinion, yet risky. But he’s forcing a guy who never throws, to drop a perfect pass to a lineman who never catches. That decision needs to be quick, but was the right one to lower the percentage of actually completing it.

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FMQB: The Refs Giveth, and they Taketh Away

Posted by fmquarterback on January 16, 2015
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CamChancellor

So the NFL made up for their ho-hum Wild Card weekend with an amazing slate of football games! We had comebacks, crazy calls, and de-throning. With so much to talk about, let’s just take it in order.

 

Ravens at Patriots:

Very crazy back and forth contest. Baltimore took the wind out of the stadium with a quick 14 points, but the Patriots stormed back to tie it up. The Ravens then jumped to another 14 point lead only to see it squandered away again! It’s 28-28 going into the 4th and it’s clear we have a shootout on our hands. The Ravens constantly had the Patriots on their heels, and the only way they won was with trickeration. The first one was sweet, a fake reverse to Julian Edelman who then threw it 51 yards to a wide open Danny Amendola. The second one was smart, but a bit cheap. The Pats lined up only 4 offensive lineman, and Shane Vereen went wide and declared himself “ineligible.” Being smart, the Ravens should have blitzed the hell out of Brady, with essentially one of his lineman 25 yards away from him. But instead they tried to cover the ineligible player. It was technically a legal formation, but they didn’t get much time to figure it out. This drive led to another TD for the Pats, and eventually a close win. The final drive for the Ravens had me screaming at the TV. Flacco had 1:46 and a timeout left to go only 36 yards. They should have drove down the field and they would have easily had 4 shots to get in within the 10 yard line. Instead Flacco heaves a prayer that gets picked off. Even if that succeeds, you don’t want to give Brady the ball back with 1:40 and only a FG needed to tie.

 

Broadcast Alert:

I’m not particularly a fan of Chris Collinsworth, but don’t dislike him either. But for the second straight week, he has contributed a lot to the game in my opinion. He almost creates a storyline with his insight which makes the viewer pay more attention to that note. Last week it was the Le’Veon Bell analysis, how the Steelers essentially stopped the run on their own. This week Collinsworth made a comment when the Ravens kicked their field goal at the beginning of the 4th quarter. He said that settling for a field goal after having First and Goal and not getting a TD could be the deciding factor of the game. It doesn’t seem that profound, but keep in mind that Baltimore takes the lead with this play, had just held Brady to a 3 and out, and there are easily 2 more possessions for Baltimore in the game. Lo and behold, that FG became the deciding factor of the game. It’s a good thing that Collinsworth is broadcasting the Super Bowl this year.

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