Better Lucky than Good:
I’ve talked about it year after year, but getting Andrew Luck the ball with less than 3 minutes left is almost starting to be a guaranteed win. On Sunday he was facing a defense that had already caused 2 turnovers for TD’s and had rattled Luck all day. Sure enough he drove them down for the game winning TD. Ironically enough when you watch the Hilton score, they were trying to run a pick play with Reggie Wayne, but Hilton and Wayne ran into each other instead. Despite the broken play, Luck connected and continued to cement himself as the QB of this generation.
MVP…Most Valuable Punter
The Patriots Chargers game turned out to be a pretty decent matchup. To me the turning point of the game was when Mike Scifres went out with an injury. Who? Yes, the San Diego punter. Soon after their kicker was in and punting 30 yards each time. Field position is important in any NFL game, but especially this one. It was surprising to see how big an impact a punter could have on the game.
Stolen Stat of the Week:
Rob Gronkowski became the first TE ever with 10+ TDs in 3 straight seasons.
Stolen Stat of the Week #2:
The 49ers “Away” game in Oakland was actually closer to San Francisco than their home games
Stat of the Week #3:
The Running Back leading the league in yards per carry this year…Justin Forsett, Ray Rice’s replacement
Stat of the Week #4:
Steven Jackson hasn’t fumbled the ball in over 800 carries (roughly 3 full seasons)
Stat of the Week #5:
The Rams have gone nearly 14 quarters without giving up a Touchdown on defense
Headline of the Week:
RGIII hits rock bottom. Spends 40 minutes punting a football to himself after practice
Innapropriate Comment of the Week:
Another Cam Newton drive that ended in a turnover
Troll:
Troll- “To purposely make statements with the intent of starting an argument; typically used on the internet.“ There have been 3 awesome instances of trolling this year, which is a passive aggressive way to make somebody extremely uncomfortable while not necessarily doing/saying anything offensive.
#1 Troll of the Year: When the Rams played the Redskins on Sunday, they had “honorary captains” go out for the cointoss. Jeff Fisher sent out all 6 players the Rams received in exchange for the #2 overall draft pick used on Robert Griffin III. Five of which are now starters for the team while Griffin isn’t starting and is likely to be considered a bust. Way to rub it in their faces!
#2 Troll of the Year: Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was in a bit of hot water this week when he made a comment regarding how they would prepare for Cleveland. Lewis essentially said that “you scheme for an offense, not a particular player, especially when that player is a midget.” Ironically, the next day he apologized to Johnny Manziel instead of the insensitive comment he made (who doesn’t watch “Little People, Big World” seriously). Apparently he didn’t know they denounced the word “Midget” as being offensive years ago, but I digress. Love, love, LOVE the fact that a Cleveland news station sent in a little person to interview Lewis the following day and ask him 2 questions about the game! I wish the guy would have stood up for that part, but either way I’m sure Lewis was feeling pretty sheepish after that one.
#3 Troll of the Year: A few weeks back when Aaron Rodgers came into Minnesota and won a few weeks ago, he brought in a can of “Purple Crush” and took a sip before answering questions. Rodgers has the honorary #4 Troll of the year as well, when on his radio show he explained that he did his Discount Double-Check dance after a TD pass to show people that you can celebrate without getting injured.
For the Record (Busted by Thursday Night):
As people may know, I write most of FMQB during the week and maybe a tweak or here there on Friday morning. The only downside is that the Thursday night game has seemingly busted a thought of mine most weeks this year. Here was mine before last night, granted I am now disappointed: If the Rams win out, and the Cowboys, Lions and Seahawks lose out, they’re in the playoffs!!! The last time they still had a shot in week 15 was 2009, but more likely 2004.
How the South Was Won:
In the seemingly never-ending saga on which team doesn’t want to win the NFC South, every team lost except the 3rd place team, and they somebody HAD to win that game. The Falcons seem to be in the lead by default, even after having a 5 game losing streak earlier on. I had to watch the game on Monday night due to fantasy football reasons, but I’m glad I did. The Falcons put up a hell of a fight on Monday, against arguably the best team in the league in their home stadium. After watching that game, the Falcons deserve to win the South, but as of now a .500 or worse team will win the division. Welcome on all the playoff seeding arguments.
Gently, Don’t Forsett
Quick props to Justin Forsett, I’m happy to see a good guy get some success. Since being drafted in 2008, he’s played for 6 different teams always as a backup. He finally got a shot this year after the Ray Rice incident, and has shown that not only could he handle the job, but he could beat almost every other running back in the league! May be a little too late (he’s 29), but good for you.
Johnny Football Time!
It’s something the media has been waiting for for nearly 2 years, but Johnny Manziel is finally starting in the NFL! The Browns seem out of it, but not according to ESPN’s Playoff Machine! If the Browns win out, they actually have a legitimate shot at winning their division, let alone a WildCard spot. The rest of the division has very loseable games. I would say I’m somewhat surprised in the move to start Johnny Manziel, but agree with the switch unlike I did last week. Hoyer has been playing dreadfully bad, losing 3 of 4 and throwing 1 TD in his last 5 games (vs 8 INTs). That’s a big enough sample size make a change in my opinion.
Games of the Week:
Bengals vs Browns: Obviously a division decider, and the Browns won handily in Cincy. But will be fun to see Manziel’s first start
Cowboys vs Eagles: Both 9-4, this game is for the division. The other team will be on the outside looking in after Sunday
Dolphins vs Patriots and Texans vs Colts: I feel obligated to list these since they are division deciders, but I don’t particularly think either one will be close
FMQB 