FMQB

Wow, what a first week! There’s no better feeling for a football fan to realize that football is finally back after 7 long months! Everybody is back to square one, and depressing seasons of past are long forgotten. For some of us, there is still excitement, and others are already coming to the realization that this will be a LONG season.

Grffining Rant

Ok, I’m starting off the season with a rant. Why does everybody feel like they see someone in a certain pose that it all of a sudden becomes a national craze? Planking was just ridiculous, but was the first example of this, so not that annoying. I’ll admit, Tebowing was hilarious. But mostly because it was a legit pose from an unlikely SUPERstar and somebody everybody rooted for. But now people are trying to take every one time pose and turn it into a craze. Last year, when Brady lost the Super Bowl and bowed his head in his hands, people did that for about 3 days and it was over with. All of a sudden, RGIII does his infamous move, and everybody has to pick that up too! Guarantee that lasts about 2 weeks (not before at least one person does a TD dance that involves Griffining). This is just getting stupid people…Side note, Von Miller Tebowing after his late game sack was hilarious!

The Best Game that got Zero Coverage

With the excitement of Week 1 across the league, one game’s highlights got swept underneath the rug. Well I would like to be the one person to talk about the game of the year! Nobody talked about it because of the teams that played, Vikings and Jaguars. But I guarantee if it were Packers vs Patriots, Sportscenter would have blown up! I had the excitement of going on opening weekend, and the honor of taking Chris (our German friend and 1 of FMQB’s loyal 7 readers) to his first NFL game to see his favorite team. Adrian Peterson was a game time decision, you should have heard the Metrodome roar when at the end of the starting lineups they announced him! Vikes started out flat as the Jags seemed to be able to put together decent drives. After their first score, the Vikings somehow blocked the extra point (key for later in the game). And at the very end of the first half, Peterson finally punched it in to get them on the board. Second half was a back and forth battle, and the Vikings took the lead by 4 in the 4th quarter. Then Blaine Gabbart had about 90 seconds to go the distance and score. On a third down, he heaved one deep towards the endzone we were at, and miraculously connecting on a 40 yd bomb to Cecil Shorts. The entire place deflated, you could hear a pin drop, as the Vikings seemingly gave it up with only 20 seconds left. But after a good return and two quick passes (all with no timeouts), the Vikings had a long 55 yarder to take it into OT, and nailed it! In OT, the Vikings scored a FG on the first possession, allowing the new OT rules to take place for the first time in NFL history. This added an entire new point of excitement to the game, with the Vikings needing a “4 and out” if you will. Well the defense held, and once again the Metrodome absolutely exploded! It was definitely the loudest stadium I had ever been in, and even not being a Vikings fan, it gave me the chills.

Losing Teams With Nothing to Worry About

Giants- Even with a poor performance, we are talking about the defending Champs. Even though I didn’t pick the Giants to make the playoffs, they still have a shot, and will put together a strong performance the rest of the year.

Saints- Even with Bountygate and an atrocious defense, the Sinners have the offense to stay competitive in every game.

Packers- Thursday night was a key example of why the Packers shouldn’t panic. Although the stats of the offense weren’t overly impressive, the Defense came up absolutely huge with 4 INT’s and 7 sacks.

Seahawks- Yes, the Seahawks lost to the lowly Cardinals, but they had a shot at winning it (even with the replacement refs’ 4th Timeout). I still have high hopes for Russell Wilson, and think the Seahawks will make a run at the playoffs.

Steelers- Steelers have a legit shot at starting 0-2, and their defense showed weaknesses, but with Big Ben at the helm, they’re guaranteed at least 8 wins.

Winning Teams that Shouldn’t Hold Their Breath

Vikings- Sorry Vikings fans, but Week 1 is the only time you will get excited about your team. Fact of the matter is, they barelybeat the Jaguars at home. They also have a legit shot at starting the season 2-0, but wouldn’t doubt if they go 0-6 in the division.

Cardinals- The revolving QB carousel is still at it. After Skelton got the start week 1, it was Kolb who won the game for the Redbirds. Apparently Skelton is ok to play Sunday, but now Kolb is getting the start. Nice win, but this crazy QB nonsense will not work.

Buccaneers- I may regret saying this later when the Buccaneers are the surprise team of the season, but I was totally shocked at Sunday’s outcome. I’m a Greg Shiano fan, always was one when he was at Rutgers, but it’s his first NFL gig for a team that lost its last 12 games last year. They actually did make quite a few pickups in free agency, starting to wonder if they’ll make a run now…

Second Rant: Vilma

I have a major beef with Jonathan Vilma right now. He was facing a year long suspension due to his role in the Bounty scandal. Vilma ended up being the most vocal and putting up a HUGE fight against Goodell and the NFL in order to get reinstated. Last week the players were “temporarily reinstated” while the judge could figure out what to do. Vilma was overjoyed, cocky on Twitter, and what happens? He IMMEDIATELY get place on the PUP list so he can rehab his knee injury! What the hell man?!?! Now you’re out for the next 6 weeks anyway and if the judge comes back and says the NFL has the right to suspend you, you have to miss another 16 games. Why not use the suspension to heal up, you’ll end up getting an extra half season of pay if you do. I guess I get it, if Vilma is 100% innocent, he would want to fight it so his name isn’t smeared. Still just seems really weird to me.

Stat of the Week #1

Robert Griffin III leads the league in passer rating

Stat of the Week #2

CJ Spiller had a whopping 12.1 yds per attempt

Stat of the Week #3

A running back is leading the league in receptions

Stat of the Week #4

Only 6 teams in the AFC won a game in Week 1

Stat of the Week #5

Since starting last season 13-0, the Packers are 2-3 including 2 home losses

Stat of the Week #6

After being dead last in the league in Rushing Defense last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the Panthers to 10 yds rushing

Suprising Stat

At the start of his 17^th season, Ray Lewis just recorded his 41^st sack of his career (wouldn’t anybody assume that number to be way higher?)

Surprises of Week 1:

Jets– Sure they were playing the Bills,  but I think the biggest surprise of the week was the league leading 48 points put up by the New York Jets. After the 1^st and 2^nd string offense failed to score even one TD in the preseason, where did this come from?!?!

Redskins- People thought that RGIII would be good, but not this good! He went into New Orleans, and put up 40 points on the road, in his first professional game. I had the Redskins pegged for a rough season, but the league will have to watch out for RGIII for weeks to come!

Cowboys- Keep in mind, I picked the Cowboys to win the division (even after coming in 3^rd place last year), but they looked extremely sharp on Wednesday night. They defeated the defending Super Bowl Champs on the road, and in decisive fashion. Even this took me a bit off-guard. I’m sticking with the Cowboys and a deep playoff run. Romo’s timing is perfect, and their window will close within the next 3-4 years.

Broncos- I felt like we opened up a time capsule as we watched Peyton Manning trounce all over the Steelers with the no-huddle offense, and man was that fun to see! Broncos have one of the toughest schedules this year, but they got off to a great start against a strong opponent. It was a pleasant surprise to see them start the season off strong.

Cam Newton- Had a decent game of throwing, but the Bucs completely shut him down on rushing and scoring…I actually only threw this in here to hit my weekly Cam Newton quota! Thinking of switching it this year to an RGIII quota?

John Madden Rant

We all love John Madden, mainly because of the crazy things he says. Well this week he came out and said that RGIII was the best player in the league…Ok, before people get too caught up, HE’S PLAYED ONE GAME in his entire career. You’re really telling me he’s better than Tom Brady? Peyton Manning? Adrian Peterson? Calvin Johnson? C’mon Man.

Quote of the Week

“It would be cool to see the Vikings score on this end” FFMQB (Female Friday Morning Quarterback)

“It would be cool to see the Vikings score at all!!!” Chris

If the Playoffs Started Today:

It amused me to see that ESPN has already calculated all of the playoff tiebreaking procedures after only one week! If the playoffs were to start today, Dallas and Baltimore would be the #1 seeds. Arizona would be the #2 seed! Also surprisingly, the Giants are #15 and the Packers are dead last in the NFL (well, they were before Thursday’s win).

Houston and Baltimore are the only 2 teams that are alone at the top of their division. Not 2 teams you want to be a game behind after only the first week.

The Packers and Giants are the only 2 teams that are alone at the bottom of their division. NFC North and East are 2 divisions you don’t want to be a game behind only after one week.

Take a look at Jacksonville’s wacky tiebreaker procedure:

Wins tie break over Buffalo, Cleveland and Oakland based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Miami (Buffalo wins tie break over Miami based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Kansas City (Oakland wins tie break over Kansas City based on best net points in all games). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Cincinnati (Cleveland wins tie break over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Pittsburgh (Cleveland wins tie break over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Tennessee (Jacksonville wins tie break over Tennessee and Indianapolis based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Indianapolis (Jacksonville wins tie break over Tennessee and Indianapolis based on best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed).

Who takes the time to do this after Week 1!!!

For the Record:

I know I’m in a battle of the blogs, and my 7 readers doesn’t hold up to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King (Monday Morning Quarterback), or ESPN’s Gregg Easterbrook (Tuesday Morning Quarterback). Gregg Easterbrook’s humor and insight was my inspiration to make FMQB, but I have a beef. This week, out of the blue, TMQ referred to the Ravens as the “Nevermores.” This is the first time I’ve seen him use that nickname, which I had an entire column dedicated to last year! Just saying….

Hey folks! It’s been awhile since I had a post. I am still actively working on my special surprise for everyone, but wanted to hop on here quick and share a few thoughts I’ve had about this offseason so far.

RG3 is Good For Me!:

Sources say that the Rams are hardcore shopping the #2 overall pick to any team who wants the next Michael Vick. It sounds like they are expecting a trade similar to the Phillip Rivers for Eli Manning trade, where they get 2 first round picks, a third, and a fifth. My ENTIRE reasoning for wanting Andrew Luck was for this exact scenario to play out. The Rams have had enough top 5 picks in the last 10 years who didn’t pan out. We need a whole slew of picks to put a strong team together and be able to rely on them for 5+ years. With RG3’s outstanding combine and Heismann win, teams are willing to deal for their next franchise QB. I think it’s easy to say that if it weren’t for Luck being the next best thing since sliced bread, that RG3 would be a #1 overall pick. The better he does and the more hype he creates is only good news for the Rams.

Side Note: Not only is he an athletic specimin, apparently the guy is sharp as all get out. He graduated in 3 years, and supposedly has an amazing character. That alone is a selling point in the NFL these days.

Will they “Pey” him to stay?

The biggest offseason story this year is easily Peyton Manning. His deadline to be paid $28 million bonus by the team is a week away. If they don’t figure it out by March 8th, Peyton is a free man. FMQB readers remember how big of a proponent I was of having Peyton end his career as a Colt. Well a lot changes in a few months. I have pulled a complete 180 and am rooting for Peyton to leave. I say there is about a 10% chance that Peyton stays in Indy, realistically it’s more of a 0% chance. That’s right, I said it, 0% chance Peyton dresses in Blue and White next year! I know there are gaping questions of Manning going to a different team. Would there be a need for an offensive coordinator? Or would Peyton be willing to learn a new offense this late in his career? But these questions will need to be addressed, because there’s no way the Colts will pay him $28 million to stay if he has health concerns. And as good a guy Peyton is, it’s hard to imagine him going from the highest paid QB in the league to taking a massive pay cut. So my ultimate prediction is that Manning is on the free market come next Friday, and a week later he gets a major offer from another club. Priority levels below.

1. Dolphins: 25% chance (only if Dolphins don’t go after Matt Flynn or a RG3)

2. Browns: 20% chance (RG3 front-runner, but could go for Manning instead)

3. Jets: 18% chance (Do they finally decide to dump Sanchez?)

4. Chiefs: 15% chance (Cassel is not the answer, but have a strong offense in WR’s and RB’s that would fit Peyton’s fancy)

5. Redskins: 10% chance (but would Peyton fit well with Shanahan’s regimented offense?)

6. Seahawks: 10% chance (kind of a wild card team, but I kind of like it! Strong offensive line, and Marshawn Lynch would be better with Manning. Scary combo in the NFC West which is interesting, but bad for me/Rams)

7. Colts: 2% (ok there is a SMALL chance he could be back with the team)

Upcoming Posts:

Special Surprise: TBD

Draft Special: Late April

Super Bowl XLVI

Giants 21, Patriots 17

 In last week’s Super Bowl preview, I mentioned that the final score of Super Bowl XLII was 21-17, which was incorrect. “This will be a game very similar to the Super Bowl 4 years ago, with perhaps a bit more scoring than the 21-17 score.” Well the famous FMQB Psychic Abilities must have taken over subconsciously, because the score of the game 4 years ago was actually 17-14, not 21-17, which was the score of THIS GAME two days after I wrote it!!! (Twilight Zone Music playing). What I MEANT to say was a bit more scoring than the 17-14 score from 4 years ago…I also nailed a couple other points, read what I had last week and I willBOLD the interesting points.

Last Week: This should be a very hot and contested battle between these two teams. Probably very similar to the 24-20 score that we saw on Week 9. Here are a few predictions in the game. Gronkowski and Welker should each have a TD reception. The Patriots will try to run the ball, but abandon it with 10 minutes left in the 3^rd quarter after racking up a mere 42 yards rushing. Gostkowski will kick 3 field goals after the Patriots drives stall within the red zone. Tom Brady will throw 2 interceptions. As for the Giants, Hakeem Nicks will have a 50+ yard catch, possibly for a TD. The 3 TD’s the Giants score will be a Bradshaw run, a Nicks fade to the back of the endzone, and a Victor Cruz slant from the 3 yard line. The Giants defense will step up, causing 2 interceptions and 1 fumble, while Brandon Jacobs fumbles the ball somewhere as well. Manning will struggle most of the day, but lead the Giants on an 80 yd touchdown drive within the last 4 minutes of the game. Brady will have a shot to match it with enough time, but will fail to convert on a 4^th and 3. The Giants will end up winning the game 24-23, thus ensuring that Manning and Tom Coughlin go into the Hall of Fame. Brady and Belichick will look deflated after seeing that out of all the teams, the Giants have their number.

Prediction Analysis:

• The Patriots attempted to run the ball the entire game, but racked up a mere 44 yards from their leading rusher (I predicted 42).
• I had Bradshaw and Cruz each scoring a TD. My Cruz TD was a 3 yard slant, but in real life it was a 2 yard slant!!!
• Eli led the Giants on an 88yd TD drive with 3:46 left in the game (I predicted 80 yards within 4 minutes).
• Brady had a shot to match it, but failed.
• Manning and Coughlin are already getting Hall of Fame talk, while Brady and Belichick looked deflated.

Last three Patriots-Giants games with 60 seconds left

Super Stat of the Week:

The Giants started off 7-7, and then won 6 games in a row to win the Super Bowl.

Super Stat of the Week #2:

David Tyree’s Helmet Catch in Super Bowl XLII, was his last catch of his career.

Super Stat of the Week #3:

Eli Manning is 7-0 as a starter on the road in the playoffs, with 12 touchdown passes versus two interceptions.

Super Stat of the Week #4:

In QB rematches in the Super Bowl, the 3 QB’s who won the first game went on to win the second game.

Super Stat of the Week #5:

The Giants were outscored in the regular season, and were swept by the Washington Redskins. Also had a streak where they lost 5 of 6 games.

How Great are the Patriots?

The Patriots have not showed any dominance in any Super Bowl they played in. In fact, they could just as easily be 5-0, or 0-5. Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots have appeared in five Super Bowls, scoring 107 points while allowing 105 points. The Patriots have won the Super Bowl three times by three points on three occasions, lost by three points on one occasion and lost by four points on Sunday. In each game, one bounce of the ball could basically change the outcome by 3 points. Ty Law’s pick 6 was the game changer against the Rams, and Carolina kicking it out of bounds gave Brady a short field on the last drive.

Unsung Hero:

My Unsung MVP of the Super Bowl is Steve Weatherford…who? The Giants Punter. His first punt landed at the 6 yard line, and directly led to 2 points. Two other punts were inside the 20 yd line, and it was easy to see the Giants won the field position game. Let’s hope Eli throws the keys of that Corvette over to Steve.

Excitement:

With all the “lack of hype” this game got, I’ve got to say that this was one of the most exciting Super Bowl’s I’ve seen in awhile. Starting with an 88yd touchdown drive, and knowing the Patriots couldn’t stop the clock (or the Giants for that matter). Then giving Brady the ball with a minute left and him having a hail mary shot at the endzone as time ran out. My adrenaline was flowing and my heart was going crazy! The exciting thing about it was that it was such a close game, and without a lot of scoring, you knew that one bounce of the ball would completely change the game.

Game Notes:

The Giants pass rush was not that effective, but it mattered when it counted. The 3^rd down sack of Brady on the final drive was huge. So was the safety on the first play of the game. After Manning and Weatherford, I think it’s safe to say that Justin Tuck gets my #3 nod for MVP.

Victor Cruz had a decent first half, and then was completely shut down. You have to give the Patriots credit, Belichick told his team “Force it to Manningham” (which we’ll discuss later), but the Patriots did an excellent job at shutting Cruz down.

The Interception by Chase Blackburn, keeping up with Rob Gronkowski (even though he was gimpy) was just plain brilliant. Undrafted LB chasing down the best TE in the league, and intercepting the ball from one of the best QBs of all time.

Brady’s 98 yard drive at the end of the first half, going 10 for 10, and scoring with seconds left before halftime. Brilliant, should have been a game changer.

While we’re on the subject, Brady completing 16 passes in a row during the game, beating Joe Montana’s record. Very impressive.

There was only one turnover in this game (the deep Brady interception), but there were 2 fumbles by the Giants that literally made my heart skip a beat. One by Bradshaw (but an OL recovered), and the second by Cruz which was a legit fumble until the Patriots got flagged for 12 men on the field. That play right there changed the game, and could have led to a Patriots win.

Eli is known for the 4^th quarter, but the Giants 1^st quarter dominance set the tone. At one point with 3 minutes left in the quarter, the Giants had 108 total yds vs. the Patriots 0 yards and only one offensive play.

Belichick’s call to let Bradshaw score was the gutsiest and best coaching move the entire game. It’s tough to make that call, but it gave the Patriots the best chance to win the game.

Eli’s 88yd TD drive within 4 minutes of the game should go into history as one of the Top 5 Super Bowl winning drives of all-time. Joe Montana had an amazing one, Brady in 2001, and Eli’s in 2008 are in there too.

What were the Football Gods thinking?!?!

FMQB branded both teams in the Super Bowl this year, Los Tramposos and the Cheatriots. The football gods had to smite one of the teams!

Gisele is Right:

I hate to side with the Supermodel on this one, but she is right. There were 3 blatantly dropped passes in the last 6 minutes of the game for the Patriots. Welker’s was HUGE, and would have forced a TD by the Giants with less time on the clock and fewer timeouts. Then Hernandez and Branch had big drops on the final drive that may have put the Patriots at the 35 yard line and perhaps a better shot at a hail mary. I should point out that all 3 passes were slightly off by Brady, but they were all catchable balls.

“Who’s Elite Nooooowwwwww”

With all the self-absorbed players in the NFL all claiming to be the best and holding out for money, I was pretty surprised when Eli Manning said he should be considered in the Elite QBs of the league, especially coming from a guy who isn’t that outspoken. But to make that remark, have 15 4^th quarter TD’s, and have an 88yard Super Bowl winning TD drive with under 4 minutes left. All I can say is CLUTCH, you backed up your comments man. Eli deserves some major props for putting his money where his mouth is. Eli went from not being “Elite” to being a hall of fame QB in one season.

Quote of the Week:

“Ahhhhh Helmet Catch” FMQB (as the ball was in the air to Manningham for his sideline beauty)

Quote of the Week #2:

Thusday:

“What are you smiling about?” FFMQB

“The Super Bowl” FMQB

Perhaps gives you an idea of how pumped I was to see the Giants win, that I was still excited on Thursday night!

Repeat?

Is it just me, or is this the first year in awhile that the Giants probably won’t even be in the Top 5 teams expected to win the Super Bowl next year. Not to take anything away from their championship, but it sort of seemed like they just got hot at the right time, but weren’t exactly the BEST team in the league. For me, Super Bowl favorites in this order are: Packers, Saints, Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Giants, whatever team Peyton Manning goes to…

Stay Tuned:

FMQB has one more episode, and is putting together a fun, final column recapping the season that should be out in a few weeks!!!

Yeah Yeah, I know it’s 12:54pm which technically doesn’t make me the Friday “Morning” Quarterback, but I didn’t want to rush this one.

Remember Remember…

Before we jump to looking at the Super Bowl, let’s take a quick look back on how the teams got here.

AFC Championship Game:

While on our way back from Iowa, I was originally disappointed that I would miss being able to watch the AFC Championship game. However I got to listen to the game on the radio with bated breath as the announcers brilliantly described the game. From what I heard (and highlights I saw), it was hard to admit or see that the Patriots deserved to win that game. The Ravens defense played brilliantly, holding a QB with 39 TDs (and 6 TDs the week before) to 0. The Ravens offense also outperformed, with better rushing and passing numbers. The Ravens also won the turnover battle! Everything pointed towards the Patriots losing that game, except one thing…the “IT” factor. Belichick and Brady have “IT,” they do what “IT” takes to win games. With the Ravens rushing out Billy Cundiff for a FG, most coaches would have iced the kicker, but Belichick realized that they were hurrying and chose not to call a timeout. Errant hold, horrible kick, and the Ravens go home disappointed. With the Ravens outplaying the Patriots hands-down, you need to place blame on players. But the blame goes everywhere. It’s 3^rd down and you have a timeout, why not call it when your team is scrambling to get set up? Lee Evans, why can’t you cover the ball if you know a defender is swatting away at you in the endzone? But the biggest goat is Billy (see what I did there?). You’re a pro kicker, and you tell Harbaugh the drive before that you can’t make a 50yd field goal? In fact, you’re 1-8 the entire season over 40 yards. Why not try, you’re not going to convert on 4^th and long anyway. And then jeez, a 32 yard kick that was THAT far off? Just plain ridiculous. I hate placing blame on players (see 49ers game), but in this case you just have to. It will be a long offseason for the Nevermores.

NFC Championship Game:

There were 3 things I took away from the NFC Championship game this year. #1, the 49ers were no fluke this year, they are definitely legit. #2, Vernon Davis is an absolute beast. And #3, Eli Manning is a lot tougher than anybody thought! The San Francisco defense played incredibly, including the front 4. Manning picked himself up after 6 sacks and 12 knockdowns, each time looking battered with grass and mud everywhere on his uniform. But he kept going, and stood in the face of pressure after constantly getting absolutely drilled! This was one of those games where it seemed nearly impossible to score. Once it went into OT, I really felt like it could be a rare 2OT NFL game. But of course that’s not what happened. There was a Goat in the AFC Championship game, but you can’t blame Kyle Williams’ two fumbles on their loss. The first one was just a fluke and bad bounce of the ball that grazed his knee, and the OT fumble was a great defensive strip. I think the 49ers will win the NFC West for the next 2 years at least, and a Harbaugh Super Bowl is still very likely, but having the Giants win this game was the best for the NFL.

Eerie Stolen Déjà vu:

In 2007, the Giants started the playoffs by beating an NFC South team. Then they beat the No. 1 seed on the road. Then they beat the No. 2 seed in the conference title game when the foe turned it over in overtime and gave the Giants a short field and the Giants won on a Lawrence Tynes overtime field goal. Then they moved on to face the Patriots in the Super Bowl…sound familiar?
Quote of the Week:

“We will sit down with New England’s controversial coach Bill Belichick” CBS (60 minutes I believe it was)…THANK YOU for throwing in that zinger, at least other people realize it!

Pro Bowl Stat: Brandon Marshall had 6 catches for 176 yds and 4 TDs!

Postseason Stat: In 2 postseason games, Vernon Davis had 10 catches, 292 yards, and 4 TDs!

WELCOME TO THE BIG SHOW!!!

It’s Super Bowl weekend people, AAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I hope everybody else is as excited as I am because this is the most exciting time of the year. Personally, other than Christmas this is probably the one day I look forward to most in the entire year. As most of my friends know, as much as I like alcohol, I will not drink during concerts or the Super Bowl because I don’t want to miss (or forget) one second of the action! The US should seriously consider making the Monday after Super Bowl a national holiday.

Ochenta y Cinco:

Does anybody know if Chad Ochocinco is even playing in the Super Bowl? Wonder if he’ll consider himself a part of a Super Bowl winning team since he’s basically done nothing with the Patriots?

QB Rematches:

This is the 3^rd time in Super Bowl history that a Super Bowl rematch between Quarterbacks has occurred, and both times the winning QB went undefeated.

Matchup #1: Terry Bradshaw-Roger Staubach X: Steelers, 21-17 XIII: Steelers, 35-31

Matchup #2: Troy Aikman-Jim Kelly XXVII: Cowboys, 52-17 XXVIII: Cowboys, 30-13

Matchup #3: Eli Manning-Tom Brady XLII: Giants, 17-14 XLVI: To Be Determined (Advantage Giants)

Super Bowl Stat #1: The NFC East is 7-1 in the Super Bowl versus the AFC East. (Advantage Giants)

 Super Bowl Stat #2: The Giants are the first team to reach the Super Bowl despite being outscored during the regular season.

 Super Bowl Stat #3: Though 15-3, the 2011 Patriots have just one victory over a team that finished with a winning record.

 Super Bowl Stat #4: The Patriots have the lowest-ranked defense of any team to reach the Super Bowl.

Cool Story about “Eli-te” Manning:

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7483199/eli-manning-rise

Super Bowl Preview:

This should be a very hot and contested battle between these two teams. This will be a game very similar to the Super Bowl 4 years ago, with perhaps a bit more scoring than the 21-17 score. Probably very similar to the 24-20 score that we saw on Week 9. Here are a few predictions in the game. Gronkowski and Welker should each have a TD reception. The Patriots will try to run the ball, but abandon it with 10 minutes left in the 3^rd quarter after racking up a mere 42 yards rushing. Gostkowski will kick 3 field goals after the Patriots drives stall within the red zone. Tom Brady will throw 2 interceptions. As for the Giants, Hakeem Nicks will have a 50+ yard catch, possibly for a TD. The 3 TD’s the Giants score will be a Bradshaw run, a Nicks fade to the back of the endzone, and a Victor Cruz slant from the 3 yard line. The Giants defense will step up, causing 2 interceptions and 1 fumble, while Brandon Jacobs fumbles the ball somewhere as well. Manning will struggle most of the day, but lead the Giants on an 80 yd touchdown drive within the last 4 minutes of the game. Brady will have a shot to match it with enough time, but will fail to convert on a 4^th and 3. The Giants will end up winning the game 24-23, thus ensuring that Manning and Tom Coughlin go into the Hall of Fame. Brady and Belichick will look deflated after seeing that out of all the teams, the Giants have their number.

Lack of Hype?

I’ve heard a lot of people talking about this game having a lack of hype to anybody West of Pennsylvania. I seriously beg to differ. Sure the Northeast is highly represented in this game, but for every fan who’s team didn’t make it, they should be pumped about this matchup! It’s New York vs. Boston, rematch of the best Super Bowl ever played, rematch of one of the better games this season, and it’s Manning vs. Brady! How can this not be exciting?!?! I guarantee that this Super Bowl breaks TV viewing records, and the gameplay itself will not disappoint.

What happened to Los Tramposos?

As most friends know, don’t mess with my Rams or I’ll cobra up so fast you won’t know what hit you! I claimed in Week 2 that Los Tramposos would be smited by the football gods for faking injuries against the Rams on Monday Night Football. Well now I want nothing more than to have the Giants steal this dynasty talk from the Patriots…Why? Because the Patriots cheaply defeated Kurt Warner and my Rams back in 2001. I’m the only person in Rapid City who hates Adam Vinitieri (hometown hero). I seriously can’t let it go, and I will never like the Patriots or Tom Brady because of it. In case there has been any confusion so far, GO GIANTS!!!!

Three Possible Outcomes:

I have 3 predictions to this game, and I fail to see how there could be any different outcome. First, what will probably happen: The Giants will win the game 24-23. The second outcome: The Giants will revert back to their 9-7 limp into the playoffs form, and bad regular season defense to end up with a less than impressive 45-17 blowout by the Patriots. The final outcome: The Patriots offense gets shut down by the Giants, while Manning “cruz-es” through the 31^st ranked Patriots defense to end the game winning 33-17. This will not be a 10 point game or a 2 possession game, there is an 80% chance of a 4 point or less game, and a 20% chance of a 20 point plus game. Get your Super Bowl pools ready!

It’s been a long and exciting season guys, and extremely fun analyzing games and then putting my thoughts down for the world to see (ok maybe not the world, but 7 readers in 2 countries is a start)! But even FMQB needs a break now and again. Wonder where I should go for my vacation? Hawaii might be nice, catch the Pro Bowl while I’m at it. Or how about an Italian cruise…Short column this week guys, then back to full strength for the Super Bowl! On a side note, Happy 25th post to everybody! Thanks to my loyal readers!

Speaking of Pro Bowl:

Matthew Stafford became the 5^th player in NFL history to throw for 5000 yards in one season, and did not make the Pro Bowl. Not even as an Alternate!!! With Eli busy with something else this week, Cam Newton took his place on the Pro Bowl roster. Newton deserves a Pro Bowl, but wow, talk about talent in the NFC if a 5000 yard passer is the FIFTH best QB in the NFC.

This Breakup is Gonna be Ugly:

You know how people in relationships will pick a fight to finally end things when things aren’t going great? Can everybody see that this is what is going on between Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning right now? Manning spoke early this week about how the Colts’ organization wasn’t a great place to be right now, and he had no clue what the future held for him. Irsay has come back two days in a row now chastising Manning for opening his mouth and not keeping it in house. There is apparently a rift between the Owner and Star QB. Earlier in the year, I was praying that Manning stay in a Colts uniform, but at this point I’m starting to lean towards hoping he goes to another team. I would love to see him in a Jets uniform, both Mannings in the New York market. And then see Peyton stick it to Irsay as he wins a Super Bowl with the Jets. I fully expect Andrew Luck to be the starting QB for the Colts in September.

Stolen Stats: In the spirit of full disclosure, this week’s stats were all stolen from other columns, but very interesting nonetheless.

Stats of the Championship Round #1: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the first head coach-quarterback combo to reach the Super Bowl five times.

Stats of the Championship Round #2: Peyton Manning is 9-10 as a playoff starter; his kid brother Eli is 7-3 in the playoffs.

Stats of the Championship Round #3: The Giants are on a postseason streak of 6-0 on the road.

Stats of the Championship Round #4: Neither of the NFC championship teams made the playoffs last year

California Fans must be Blinded by the Sun:

White is the new black, 30 is the new 20, and California Fans are the new Eagles fans. What is up with all the drama with fans from California teams this year? During the baseball season a Giants fan was beaten to near death by a Dodgers fan just for wearing the wrong jersey. 49ers fans have been even worse. Apparently all Saints fans were given phone numbers to call in case 49er fans got to rambunctious. And for the Championship game, with the addition of doubled security, undercover cops dressed up in Giants uniforms to try and catch rowdy fans in the act. Are fans really THAT bad in San Francisco to go to those measures? Apparently. After Williams basically single handedly lost the game for the 49ers by surrendering 10 points due to his fumbles, he got death threats on Twitter…Really people, DEATH threats? He’s a young player, and you can argue that neither fumble was his fault. If this is what California fans are like, no wonder LA hasn’t gotten a team yet.

Quote of the Week:

“Wow they’re actually letting them play in the night?” FFMQB (referring to the NFL giving Candlestick Park the night game after the MNF power outages).

Week 9 Prophecy:

On November 11^th, after Week 9, FMQB marveled over the initial meeting between the Giants and the Patriots. I will leave you with part of my column from that week. Read below my post from 3 months ago, and how cool it is that this game actually happened!

Aww Shucks:

Close your eyes and say the words “Manning game winning drive.” I just about guarantee you aren’t picturing the guy in New York, but his brother instead. At the beginning of this season, Eli Manning proclaimed that he should be considered one of the Elite quarterbacks of the league (FMQB had him at #8). I don’t know if it’s his pouting, or his “Aww Shucks” attitude to life, but people don’t seem to take him seriously. Well the league is beginning to take notice at his clutch performances. Los Tramposos have won 6 games this year, and 5 of those wins have been because of Manning’s game winning drives. This is extremely impressive, showing the individual fortitude like that to win when the game is on the line. As most FMQB fans know, that means a lot to me. This past weekend he scored with 15 seconds left in the game, driving against the Super Bowl contending Patriots, in New England, trumping Tom Brady once again. Every other columnist has compared this game to Super Bowl XLII, so I will skip that analysis here. But it was eerie how Eli went to an unknown receiver who wore #85 on the clutch play of the drive. And then a quick drop and throw to the back left corner of the endzone for the game winning TD. More on Eli later…

Patriots vs Giants: Rematch of Super Bowl XLII. These 2 teams always put on great games together for some reason, even though they play once every 4 years.

“I dub thee, Sir Eli-te”

Ok, I’ll admit that I crown people way too fast (Tebow, Cam Newton, etc). But just remember one thing, before the season, Eli Manning said he should be in the conversation of top 5 QB’s in the league and everybody laughed at him. So here comes the “crowning” part. Suppose Eli wins the Super Bowl this year. What happens then? He all of a sudden becomes the better Manning quarterback, has more rings than his dad and older brother, people will view him like Terry Bradshaw (never had great stats but could win in the clutch). I think this would be enough to put him in a top 5 QB list in the league. Only 6 active QB’s have won a Super Bowl (Eli, Peyton, Brees, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, and Brady). Should Eli win, only Brady would have more rings than him. What’s even more surprising is he’s only 30!

Here’s how iconic sports have become. Out of the hundreds of thousands of plays ran in football, you can say two words (one of them being the word “the”), and everybody knows what play you are referring to: The Fumble, The Drive, The Catch, The Catch II, The Immaculate Reception, The Tackle, The Holy Roller, The Helmet Catch, and my favorite, simply The Play! Well with another playoff classic happening on Saturday, Vernon Davis’ catch in the endzone is now being hailed “The Grab.” We’ll see if it sticks. Did anybody notice how eerily similar The Grab was to The Catch II? Davis even came out crying like TO!

49ers vs Saints analysis:

Two words describe this game best, “Instant Classic.” Battling back and forth the entire game, there were 4 lead changes in the last 4:02 seconds. Early turnovers really hurt the Saints and kept the 49ers in the game, but the 4^th quarter started an offensive score-fest that I didn’t think the 49ers could keep up with statistically the best offense in regular season history. They took the lead with a little under 2 minutes left, but sure enough the Saints scored on a broken tackle with over 1:30 left. I’ll admit, I don’t think that Alex Smith is that good (and still not convinced). I did not think that Alex Smith had the onions to drive them down and score a TD. Sure enough he put together a remarkable drive, capped off with a thrilling catch in the endzone in traffic by Vernon Davis. After 6 horrible seasons, 1 game (or 1 season for that matter) doesn’t convince me that Alex Smith is all of a sudden great. But this was Alex Smith’s coming out party, and the whole nation watched it. Congrats to a guy who hasn’t had much to cheer about the last 7 years.

I Don’t Want a Pop-Tart Mommy, I want a Turnover:

This was definitely a weekend of turnovers. Both the Saints and Texans would have won, comfortably, had it not been for bad turnovers. Just shows that no matter which stat you look at, the turnover differential in the game tends to be the most important.

Mad Props to South Dakota:

Did anybody else see that the winners of the oldest age group that participated in the Punt Pass and Kick contest were both from South Dakota?!?! And then the announcers gave SD some major love too. Mad Props SD!

Broncos vs Patriots analysis:

There’s really not too much analysis for this game, other than the fact that Tom Brady came out with a chip on his shoulder. Somehow the 9-7 sophmore QB with a horrible passer rating got 90% of the attention coming into this game, while the 3 time Super Bowl winner and 2 time MVP got the other 10%. Well Brady showed the media up, throwing 5 TD’s in the first half (an NFL postseason record) and tying Steve Young’s 6 TD performance for most TD’s in the playoffs. I was disappointed in this game, mainly because I thought the Broncos would come out fighting, and because I thought that this would be the most exciting game of the weekend. Tebow has been named the starter for next year, but have teams already figured out their option style offense? We’ll find out in 7 months.

Stolen Stat #1:

The Patriots tight ends had 261 total yards and four touchdowns…In one game!

Stolen Stat #2:

The Broncos lost 4 of their last 5 games, yet made it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Stat of the Week #3:

Proving the “Nevermore’s” Theory, the Ravens are 7-0 against teams making the playoffs this year, and only 6-4 against non-playoff teams.

Fictional Quote of the Week:

“I got a fever, and the only cure is more cowbell….and a Championship win” Eli Manning (sitting in practice because of a stomach bug).

Texans vs Ravens Analysis:

There’s one thing I learned from the first Sunday’s game: The Texans are legit. Even with a slew of turnovers giving the Ravens the ball already in the endzone, the Texans had multiple shots at the end to win the game. Matt Schaub would have won the game, so would better ball control. I expect the Texans to be deep in the playoffs again next year with all their pieces. The Ravens didn’t look that great to me. They scored 17 points (all off turnovers) in the first quarter, and only had one more FG the rest of the game. Arian Foster was also a beast. He was the first 100yd rusher given up by the Ravens in the postseason (16 games), and he had 95 of them by halftime! Jacoby Jones definitely had some butterlies, making an idiotic play on the ball during a punt after it had bounced. The next punt he also fumbled the ball but recovered it. Flacco did not live up to his “if we win this game none of the credit will go to me” comment, completing 50% of his passes for 176yds.

Giants vs Packers Analysis:

Before we get off to it, *tap tap tap*, that’s the sound of me patting myself on the back for picking the winner of this game! Even though having a bye, being fully rested, and having home field advantage, I felt like the Giants were the hot team coming into this game. And like FMQB says “the only thing worse than playing the #1 team in the playoffs is playing the Hot team!” The Giants pass rush has picked the right time to show up this year, Hakeem Nicks is turning into a playoff monster, and Eli Manning is proving that he is the “Eli-te” QB he asked to be. Even though being down, the ball was bouncing the Packers’ way in the first half (see Jennings’ “non-fumble”). But as soon as Bradshaw ripped off that 30yd run to give the Giants a shot at the endzone for a hail mary, and Eli miraculously connected on it! That’s when you knew the Packers were going to lose. Even the Giants secondary played brilliantly. I pointed out to FFMQB that you could literally see Rodgers go through 4 progressions, see nobody open, panic, and not know what to do. He’s had so many weapons all year that he probably never even got through his progressions. So props to the entire Giants defense, that’s what sealed the deal, although Manning, Nicks, and RBs were great too. Triple threat team, no end in sight.

Championship Preview:

Giants vs 49ers- This matchup screams 1980s! Phil Simms vs Joe Montana, Bill Walsh vs Bill Parcells. These 2 teams combined for 5 Super Bowl wins in the 80s. Plus the last time these 2 teams met in the playoffs, it was that crazy 2003 playoff game that had Michael Strahan telling TO to look at the scoreboard when the 49ers pulled within 17 points of the Giants. Little did Strahan know that the 24 point comeback would tie the postseason record as the 49ers came back to win that game. The Giants had a chance to win, but mishandled the FG snap and the holder heaved a hail mary. I remember that game vividly, hopefully this game would be similar. Plus Eli and Alex would be back to back #1 overall picks (2004 and 2005) playing each other. Two killer defenses vs two offenses that are also very adapt.

Final Score: Giants 27, 49ers 20

Chance of Giants pulling the upset: 80%

Ravens vs Patriots- Three years ago this would have been a defensive matchup, but now it’s Brady’s high flying offense vs the Ravens stingy defense. And then Flacco’s “managing of the offense” vs the Patriots Donut Defense (the one with all the holes in it). It should be an interesting matchup because the Ravens will be able to score on offense against the worst defense in the league. So it will all come down to how much their D can contain Tom Brady, or at least keep up with him. The matchups will come down to whether their LB’s can effectively cover the Patriots TE’s. I don’t give that matchup to the Ravens aging LB’s, so watch for another big game by Hernandez and Gronkowski. But Brady hasn’t been practicing all week, will that make him rusty at all? Ed Reed has also been a thorn in Brady’s side, but was hurt in the Texans game, we will see how effective he can be.

Final Score: Ravens 24, Patriots 38

Chance of Ravens pulling the upset: 35%

Hopeful Super Bowl Matchups:

There are so many story lines hidden within all the possible matchups of the Super Bowl, that each one would be intriguing. Here are the possibilities we could see.

49ers vs Ravens: Rematch of a regular season snoozefest, but would pit both Harbaugh brothers against each other to see who gets their first Super Bowl. Ironic that in a season of offensive stats-mania that 2 defensive teams would be in the big game.

Giants vs Patriots: Rematch of Super Bowl 42, and a killer game in the regular season. The Giants have won the past 2 matchups in close fashion, it should be an interesting game.

Giants vs Ravens: Rematch of Super Bowl in 2000 in which the Ravens D killed Kerry Collins and the Giants. This was the game that Ray Lewis was put on the map, if he won the big game against the Giants again would he think about retirement?

49ers vs Patriots: Interesting matchup between offense and defense. Tom Brady’s favorite team growing up was the 49ers, would he have it in him to crush them in the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl Prediction:

If the Giants win Sunday, then the Giants will win it all. The only chance the AFC has is if the 49ers win on Sunday, in which case either the Patriots or Ravens have it in the bag. But overall, c’mon, do we really expect Alex Smith and Joe Flacco to lead their teams to victory? My vote goes to Brady and Eli! My ultimate prediction? Patriots vs Giants in the big game, and the Giants will win the Super Bowl!

Terrell Owens Back To Dallas!

Ok not the Jerry Jones Dallas, more like the Tom and Jerry Dallas. TO has actually signed a contract and become part owner of an IFL team who’s season starts in February, so we will see TO back on the football field! Part of me thinks this is some sort of publicity stunt, but it would be fun to see. To be 100% honest, how does nobody pick him up this year? I know he brings drama, he’s old, and was coming off a knee injury. He had 983 yds and 9 TD’s with the Bengals last year, that’s a heck of a season!

Forget LA, the Rams are Moving To London!

The Rams just signed a 3 year deal to play in London for 3 straight years. The first game is against the Patriots this year (sorry England fans, but you don’t get a very competitive game). How do the Rams commit to 3 straight years where they have 9 road games and 7 home games?!?! This is why it’s so frustrating to be a fan. You get excited for a new coach and all of a sudden we disadvantage ourselves by only having home field advantage 7 times in a season.

Cheat Sheet:

Kudos to those of you who could actually picture “The Plays” happening above, but for a quick cheat sheet, here are what “THE” plays were:

The Fumble: AFC Championship Game in the 80’s where Cleveland’s Earnest Byner fumbled on the 2 yd line while trying to punch in the game clinching TD. Elway and the Broncos then led a 98 yd drive to win the game and go to the Super Bowl.

The Drive: Ironically the year before “The Fumble,” these same 2 teams in the AFC Championship game. Elway led the Broncos 98 yards (again) to win the game with 37 seconds left.

The Catch: Playoff game in the 80’s between the 49ers and Cowboys. Joe Montana led the 49ers down to the endzone at the end of the game. This unique camera angle makes it look like Montana is throwing the ball away, but all of a sudden Clark’s hands come and snatches the ball out of the air for the game winning TD.

The Catch II: Crazy playoff game in the late 90s between Steve Young’s 49ers and Brett Favre’s Packers. With only seconds left, Young heaves a ball to a rookie Terrell Owens, who makes the catch as he gets nailed by 3 different Packers. TO comes up crying tears of joy.

The Immaculate Reception: Playoff game between the Steelers and Raiders. It’s 4^th down and Bradshaw throws to one of his receivers who gets hit as the ball arrives. The ball goes flying back, but RB Franco Harris stoops down and snags the ball an inch from the ground and runs 30 yards for a TD to win the game.

The Tackle: My personal favorite as it still gives me chills! Super Bowl in 1999 between the Titans and Rams. Rams scored with under 2 minutes left, but Steve McNair drives the Titans down to the 10 yard line with one play left. A quick slant to Kevin Dyson gets stopped at the 1 yard line by Mike Jones as time expires. My vote for radio call of all time “Kevin Dyson, reaches for the goal line, NO!”

The Holy Roller: Odd play between the Raiders and Chargers in a playoff game. The ball is fumbled, and ends up being kicked and swatted at 7 or 8 times as it rolls 30 yards into the endzone before it is recovered by the Raiders for a TD.

The Helmet Catch: In Super Bowl 42, called the greatest play the Super Bowl has ever produced. On the final drive of the game, Eli Manning gets rushed and grabbed by 3 Patriots and somehow gets out of it. Then heaves a 40 yard pass in which Rodney Harrison and David Tyree both jump up for. Tyree somehow catches it on his helmet with Harrison’s hand in the middle of everything.

The Play: College football game between rivals Stanford and Cal. Stanford scores with no time left except to kick the ball off. Standford kicks off, and Cal produces roughly 8 controversial laterals before a Bears player was free and running to the endzone. But with the game seemingly in hand, the Stanford marching band was already coming onto the field. To add insult to injury, the Bears player leaps into the endzone only to knock down the trombone player as he’s celebrating. Another great call of all time “The Band is out on the FIELD!”

Next Week: If Eli wins the Super Bowl this year, who would be the “Better Manning?”

 Wild Card Recap:

Bengals vs Texans

There were two things I took out of this game. #1: The Bengals had no purpose being in the post-season at all. And #2: The Texans looked very young, very spry, and very passionate as a football team. Andy Dalton was a cool story this year, being a rookie who led his team to the playoffs. I would like to point out that none of his INTs were his fault. But other than Dalton, the Bengals looked atrocious. You’re playing against a 3^rd string rookie QB who has lost 3 straight games, how do you now put 10 guys in the box vs the leading rusher from last year? Arian Foster ran all over the Bengals when they should have known it was coming. Andre Johnson looked rusty to say the least. But the most impressive part of this game was the Texans defense. The best word to describe it perhaps, is “crisp.” Plus that INT return for a TD that should have just been a batted down ball was sweet. I figured the Bengals would come out and take the Texans by storm, but they forgot to show up on Saturday.

Lions vs Saints

Everybody knew what to expect in this game, a shootout. Well the two teams didn’t disappoint. Drew Brees threw his 8^th straight 300 yard game, and had a whopping 466 yds passing with 3 TD’s. Probably the most surprising was the fact that the Saints rattled out 167yds on the ground! Talk about a balanced offense. Normally I would take time to bash the Lions right now, but I honestly liked what I saw. They definitely showed promise, showed fight, and proved that they should be in the playoffs for a reason. FMQB was a FG away from getting the score dead on! The Saints looked like a Super Bowl team on Saturday night.

Falcons vs Giants

There are two things that a great team needs to win in the playoffs: Good Defense, and a Strong Rushing attack. Well the Giants have one, but being dead last in the league for rushing doesn’t help their chances. Perhaps they took the Falcons off guard by running it 31 times for 172 yds. The Giants looked like they were built for the playoffs on Sunday, showing no mistakes. For the Falcons to only put up 2 points against a 9-7 team, that’s just pathetic. They went for it on 4^th and 1 twice, and were stopped both times. If you can’t gain 1 yard, then you have no business winning this game.

Steelers vs Broncos

I’ll admit, I thought the Secretariats had zero chance in this game. Well Tebow’s 4^th quarter magic came in the 2^nd quarter and they built an early lead. With the Steelers coming back in regulation, I had the feeling that Big Ben would find a way to win. But the second we hit OT, my gut told me that Tebow had one more piece of magic in him. I didn’t realize it would be the first play of OT though! With the 3 blowouts before this game, Tebow and Big Ben made up for it with one of the more exciting games in recent playoff history. Big Ben looked hurt after the 2^nd quarter, but managed to muster up 2 late game TD drives to tie the game. The Steelers D also looked very old and very slow (case in point, Ike Taylor not being able to stay with Demaryius Thomas. McGahee’s fumble should have been the game clincher for the Steelers (by the way, I loved how after every single play on that drive, the camera cut to McGahee sitting on the sideline). Tebow had a goofy game in my opinion. He didn’t look that great to me, but then every 3^rd play he’d have a 30 yard completion. He completed under 50% of his passes, yet had 316 yards on only 10 completions! He had 2 passing TD’s and a rush TD. Overall we had another crappy statistical, yet entirely magical game from Tebow.

Stolen Stat of the Week:

The Lions had 882 yards passing in 6 days, and lost both games.

Stat of the Week #2:

The only drive of the 2^nd half that the Saints did not score on, they were in the victory formation. 5 TD Drives.

Stolen Sat of the Week #3:

After giving up just two passes of 40 or more yards in the regular season, the Steelers allowed passes of 80, 58, 51 and 40 yards by Tim Tebow of all QB’s.

Stat of the Week #4:

In last year’s Wild Card round, 3 road teams won (ironically the only loss was the Saints at the 7-9 Seahawks). This year, all 4 home teams won.

Stat of the Week #5:

FMQB correctly predicted the exact points scored by both winning teams in the NFC last week. But botched both AFC team predictions.

Playoff Overtime rules:

Let’s pause a second to overview the new playoff overtime rules. They were enacted last year, but there were no OT games for it to be tested. Finally we had an OT game this year, and I was psyched to see the new rules in action! Well my hopes in seeing the rules were dashed after there was a TD on the first play of the game (by the way, the new OT system was enacted for 11 seconds, it took longer for the ref to explain the new rules and do the cointoss)! But along with the excitement of that play, came the excitement of a change in the NFL rules. Let’s blow past the fact that Sunday’s rule change was an utter failure (the purpose of the rule was to give each team a chance at possessing the ball, so much for that happening). The NFL took a step in the right direction by implementing this rule, but it needs to go all-in and adopt the college playoff system, perhaps a hybrid where teams receive the ball at the 50 instead (kickers are too good in the NFL). They also need to adopt this format for the regular season as well, not just the playoffs. But I will give the NFL props. A chipshot FG shouldn’t win the game, so they changed the rule so the other team would have an opportunity to beat it. I am excited to “actually” see this format in action. I think it’s safe to say that Sunday night was the most exciting utter failure of a rule change!

For a full breakdown on the new OT rules, go here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5022064

Preview of the Divisional Round:

They call it the “Wild” Card round for a reason, because this is typically the round with upsets, crazy games, and crazy plays where teams try to justify that they are indeed good enough to get into the playoffs. But the Divisional round is truly where everything happens. Rare are the 41-10 games anymore, these final 8 teams are the best of the best, and the best games happen in this round. Honestly, there are 4 great weeks in the football season: Week 1, Week 17, the Super Bowl, and the Divisional playoff round. Teams are playing for a shot at a Super Bowl berth, and everything is on the line!

Saints at 49ers:

There is a strange subplot to this story that may unravel as the game goes on. The last time these two teams met, it was Week 1 of the Preseason, and Jim Harbaugh’s first game coaching in the NFL. Apparently there is an unwritten rule that in the preseason, the two head coaches call each other to discuss strategy. Well Jim never called Sean Payton, to which defensive coordinator took issue with and blitzed Alex Smith nearly every play. A) This is just ridiculous, and B) What does Jim Harbaugh do to piss off other coaches?!?! Good bulletin board material nonetheless…Anyway, there’s a game to be played on Saturday too. I think the Saints are the first team to win on the road this year. The 49ers will put on a better show than expected, but even a killer defense won’t be able to stop Drew Brees.

Final Score: Saints 27, 49ers 16

Chance of Saints pulling the upset: 85%

Broncos at Patriots

Here’s a rematch between the much hyped Game of the Season in Week 15. Except this time the game is in Foxboro. In the earlier matchup, the Patriots offense seemed to overmatch the supposedly staunch Denver defense. Rob Gronkowski seemed like he could do whatever he wanted in that game. But Tebow came on strong, even holding the lead early in the second quarter. I do believe the Broncos have a small chance at an upset, but only if the Tebow magic starts flying again. The Patriots will still win this game, but the Broncos will put up a better fight then they did in Week 15. 

Final Score: Broncos 27, Patriots 34

Chance of Broncos pulling the upset: 30%

Texans at Ravens

I can already tell you the story of this game. The Ravens will go into halftime with a 10-7 lead as both offenses struggle to find their own against stingy defenses. In the second half, the Nevermores will have a decent 17 point outing, and the Texans will mount a comeback only to fall short. In my mind, this is the one playoff game I could go without watching this weekend, but I’m hoping for a closer game than expected. The Texans have never defeated the Ravens in their history (0-5). The first matchup this season was a 29-14 Ravens win.

Final Score: Texans 24, Ravens 27

Chance of Texans pulling the upset: 40%

Giants at Packers

There are 3 teams that can take out the Packers right now in the playoffs. The Saints, Patriots, and Giants. Ironically, there is a chance that the Pack could play all 3 on their Super Bowl run. People aren’t going to give the Giants much hope, but I honestly feel like this is a 50-50 game, it was only a FG game this season. Defensively the Giants have what it takes to stop the Packers, and Victor Cruz is going to go nuts on the worst pass defense in the league. Of course the Packers will keep up with them offensively, but I’m suspecting another close game. So here’s my crazy prediction of this week! I am going to predict that the Giants pull the upset and defeat the Packers at home. For some reason, for as long as I remember, these teams that go 13-0, 15-1, etc. always set themselves up for disappointment. (Vikings in 1998, Chiefs, Colts of late, Patriots in 2007). Not one of these teams seem to go all the way. So my thought is that the Packers will not win 3 in a row, and their loss could very well be on Sunday.

Final Score: Giants 31, Packers 27

Chance of Giants pulling the upset: 50%

Non-NFL Talk:

I just want to take a second as I have a beef about college football. First of all, the only game I watched all year was the “Game of the Century” between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. After the 9-6 snoozer I practically vowed to never watch college football again. But as a sports fan I had to watch the national championship game touted as “The Rematch of All Rematches”, and we got more of the same. The same 5 field goals were scored in the national championship game, plus one TD (to which the extra point was missed). For a whopping final score of 21-0. You can’t tell me that LSU had a better chance at scoring than Oklahoma St, Stanford, or Oregon. The game was the 3^rd lowest in ratings (in an era where football is king). Maybe the BCS will understand that we need a playoff system now. I’m just saying, March Madness is huge in this country, yet nobody talks about college basketball. With how big college football is, why not have a December madness? It would be HUGE! My lobby is for either 4 or 8 teams. That’s only 2-3 games the national champion would have to play to earn the title. Anyway, this game is the reason I don’t watch college football…On a side note, how about the SEC, winning the past 5 national championships (Florida, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, and Alabama). Talk about a power conference.

C’mon Jeff Fisher:

I’m calling you out coach, make up your mind! You interviewed with the Dolphins 2 weeks ago, and a 2^nd interview with the Rams last week. Just make a decision already, and move to the Gateway to the West!

Out of Luck:

Ok so I promised only one crazy prediction this week, but I’m going to throw out one more. The Colts just got a new GM and still plan to draft Luck with the #1 overall pick. As much as I hate to see Manning get traded, I feel that it’s coming this offseason. I see him going to one of 3 teams. Miami, Cleveland, or my new wild card, the New York Jets. How epic would it be if Manning went to the Jets, played Brady twice a year, and he could easily take that team to the Super Bowl with that talent. Plus having Eli and Peyton both in New York would be a riot! He wouldn’t stand for all the Rex Ryan personality BS, but he could pull that team together and make a run. If Manning gets traded somewhere, only if he wins a Super Bowl will his legacy not be tarnished.

A Big Letdown:

Keep in mind, that there are only 7 games left in the football season. I was actually discussing this with my boss, but the playoffs and Super Bowl build you up into the most excited you will be as a football fan, and then all of a sudden there is no football…for 7 months. So cherish these last few games, because after this weekend we’re down to 3 left.

FMQB is looking into the future today, in this week’s column I will talk about all 20 teams not in the playoffs, and preview the 4 playoff games of this weekend. The playoffs are the most exciting time in the football season, you lose and your season is over. Quick recap on Week 17, and then it’s playoff time!!!

Stat of the Week #1:
In a 6 day time span, we saw the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Quarterbacks to throw 5000 yards in one season ever.

Stat of the Week #2:
In about a 12 minute span, Jimmy Graham surpassed the yardage total for Tight Ends in a season, only to be passed by Rob Gronkowski

Stat of the Week #3:
Matt Flynn became the Packers Franchise Leader in Passing Yards and TDs in one game. This is a franchise who has had Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers.

Stat of the Week #4:
The Bills started the season 5-1 and the Dolphins started 0-7. The Dolphins finished ahead of the Bills in the final standings.
Stat of the Week #5:
In NFL History, the #32 defense in the league has never made the playoffs, and the #31 defense has only been in 4 times. This year, both the worst and second worse defenses are not only in, but they have both #1 seeds!!!

C’mon Man!

C’mon Colts, you couldn’t beat the Jaguars to keep Peyton’s legacy? Thought it was funny how as soon as you could tell the Colts were going to lose, the Rams decided to play aggressive and almost came back against the #2 seed in the NFC. We should have done that all year. I am a little disappointed that the Rams can’t get Luck or a slew of picks, but I’m also a little happy that we’re not forced into that decision. I had nightmares of us trading Luck, and having him turn into the greatest QB of all time with 5 Super Bowls and stats galore. The Rams would have been forever jinxed, like the Vikings were with the Herschel Walker trade.

 
Playoff Preview:

Bengals at Texans– The battle of the rookie quarterbacks! To be honest, the AFC matchups in Wild Card weekend are horrible. I don’t see this game being very good at all, and either way, either the Bengals or Texans are going to be in the final 8 after Saturday, which just seems wrong. It seemed like the Texans were immune to the injury bug this year, or more like the injury plague, with their star QB, WR, and LB going down. But it caught up with them the final 3 weeks and they haven’t won a game since they clinched their first berth in team history, actually the Texans last win was a 1 point victory over the Bengals. The first matchup between these teams had TJ Yates leading a game winning drive and scoring with 2 seconds left in the game. Maybe the rematch won’t be so bad afterall!

Final Score: Bengals 24, Texans 23

Percentage of Bengals pulling the upset: 75%

 
Lions at Saints- This is by far the most exciting matchup this week! The battle of the 5000 yard passers. Both teams could easily throw up 45 points, and have defenses that could allow that too. Welcome to the Wild Wild West, because this is going to be a shootout! In their first meeting, the Saints won 31-17, but the Lions were without Suh. The QB’s combined for 750 yards that game, and I can easily see more fireworks for the playoffs.

Final Score: Saints 45, Lions 31

Percentage of Lions pulling the upset: 30%

Falcons at Giants- I can literally see this game going either way. Minus the other NFC matchup, this is easily the most exciting playoff game. Matt Ryan vs Eli Manning. Julio Jones vs Victor Cruz. Giants defensive line is already talking smack about the Falcons offensive line, which will make the game pretty chippy. I feel like both teams are very wishy washy, so I could see a 17-13 game, or a 35-32 game; either team winning! Definitely excited for this matchup to see what happens.

Final Score: Giants 24, Falcons 23

Percentage of Falcons pulling the upset: 50%

Steelers at Broncos- The lingering question this offseason is if Tim Tebow can overcome a 4 game losing streak, or if teams have finally figured out their run first offense. And by 4 game losing streak, I’m saying the Steelers are going to trounce the Broncos. Even with Mendenhall out, I see Roethlisberger getting back into shape a little bit and throwing for 2 TDs. The Steelers have the #8 rushing defense, and should be able to contain Tebow like the Chiefs did last week. Tebow says he’ll be aggressive, but I see him waiting until the 3^rd quarter to do it, and when he does start, he will throw a couple interceptions which will rock his confidence. I foresee another 8-20 day for Tebow, 1 rushing TD and 2 INTs.

Final Score: Steelers 19, Broncos 6

Percentage of Steelers pulling the upset: 80%

Next Week’s Matchup:

If the following picks are correct, next week would have Bengals at Patriots, Steelers at Ravens, Giants at Packers, and Saints at 49ers. 2 blowouts, 2 fantastic games, should my crystal ball be right…

Season Recap:

AFC:
Indianapolis Colts (2-14): This team can go nowhere but up. Colts fans have a lot to look forward to with the #1 Draft Pick (and QB of the century) and Peyton Manning coming back. This team should have at least 7 wins next year, and possibly contend for the AFC South again.

Cleveland (4-12): The Browns were honestly a disappointment this year. FMQB had high hopes for the Browns this year, but being stuck in the surprisingly toughest division in football at this point, and having their franchise QB not pan out, I see another disappointing year next year. Sorry Cleveland fans.

Jacksonville (5-11): The only bright spot for the Jaguars this year was an incredible season by rushing champion Maurice Jones-Drew. This was even more impressive with him facing 10 men in the box most of the time. Blaine Gabbart is not their hopeful QB of the future, and they have a head coaching vacancy. Look for another year or two of heavy rebuilding. Still my #1 pick to move to LA, but analysts say that wont happen.

Buffalo (6-10): This team became the biggest surprise of the season, but soon became the second biggest disappointment. After a 5-1 start including knocking off the mighty Patriots, the Bills finished the season 1-9. Had they gone 4-5 even, they would have had a shot at the playoffs. I see the Bills doing worse next year, as they wont sneak up on anybody and wont improve via free agency.

Miami (6-10): Starting off woeful, the Dolphins managed to finish up with a strong 6-3 finish with an interim coach and their backup QB. I see the Dolphins making a play for a great QB, and I see them being back in the playoffs in 2 years. Look for an 8-8 season next year, they are also in a tough division.

Kansas City (7-9): Kansas City has a promising season next year. Although in a division that is fighting for mediocrity, they should hire Romeo Crennel as their head coach, have 2 strong QBs to choose from, and wont have a poor opening like this season.

Oakland (8-8): I had high hopes for the Raiders, but it truly looks like they will be going downhill from here. An impressive shot at the playoffs this year came up short. Carson Palmer went 4-6 and was unable to limp in. The only bright side is the Raiders will have either Palmer or Campbell to choose from, but they paid a crazy price for them. The Raiders don’t have a pick until the 5th round this year!

San Diego (8-8): I am honestly surprised that Norv Turner is still the head coach after this season. In a division that should have been easy to win, the Chargers blew a 4-1 start. Either way, look for them to be back in the playoffs next year.

New York Jets (8-8): Probably the third biggest disappointment this year (any guess on who #1 is?), the Jets went from back to back AFC Championships to missing the playoffs. Mark Sanchez looked atrocious this year, and couldn’t even manage the game behind a strong defense. The Jets famous “talk” has started to become a tiresome nuisance, and nobody cares what Rex Ryan says anymore. Over/Under March before he predicts a Super Bowl win again.

Tennessee (9-7): Honestly a surprise this year! New head coach, new QB, and a star running back who wasn’t producing somehow was a tiebreaker away from a playoff birth. Hasselbeck played extremely well for a new offense. Look for this team to be even better next year!

NFC:
St. Louis (2-14): I’m not saying this just as a Rams fan, but I’m honestly excited about next year. We’re chasing after top head coaches (Jon Gruden, Jeff Fisher), and we’ll have a healthy roster again. Bradford was basically hurt or playing hurt for half the season, and he won rookie of the year last year for a reason (rhyme not intended there). Amendola was hurt in Week 1 and out for the year (our top receiver last year) and our impressive rookie Greg Salas was also out for half the year. The Rams also placed 10 players from our secondary on IR this year, that’s unbelievable! We have the most Salary Cap room of any team, and this is the first year we’re forced to spend it under the new labor agreement. We have the #2 pick in the draft, and could go with either a WR or Offensive Lineman. Our O Line was horrible this year, and apparently 2 players were shifted from their natural positions. So drafing a left tackle (ala Matt Kalil) would put the other 2 players in their normal spots, thus fixing 3 OL needs with only one pick. Or we could go Oklahoma State’s WR phenom Blackmon, who is being touted as a poor man’s version of Calvin Johnson. That would put Amendola, Brandon Marshall, Salas, and Blackmon as our top receivers. I am truly excited about becoming healthy and getting some good players next year, I think the Rams can look at an 8-8 season.

Minnesota (3-13): The Vikings were a disappointment this year. Nobody expected a deep playoff run, but many were hoping that Donovan McNabb would revitalize his career here. Then flashes of a speedy Ponder had fans excited for the future. Issue after issue arose this year, including Chris Cook’s domestic incident, Bryant McKinnie’s eating himself out of the league, McNabb’s utter failure, and Peterson getting seriously injured in Week 16. There are way too many holes for this team to fill, and the Vikes play in the new toughest division in Football. Unfortunately we’re going to have to wait about 4 more years to see this team return to any kind of greatness.

Tampa Bay (4-12): Definitely the fourth worse disappointment this year. They somehow started off at a strong 4-2 start, only to lose their last 10 games in a row. That is utterly horrible. They have fired their head coach, and I don’t see Josh Freeman as the QB to lead this team. Stuck in another very difficult division, I don’t see the Bucs competing for anything in the next 5 years.

Washington: (6-10): Kyle Shanahan has guaranteed a NFC East title next year, I honestly don’t see them coming anywhere close. They are in another very tough division that for some reason this year was battling for mediocrity. I don’t see the Redskins competing with the Eagles, Giants, and Cowboys anytime soon without a franchise QB. The constant indecision at the QB position with this franchise has locked them into several 5 win seasons. At least Dan Snyder isn’t afraid to spend money.

Carolina (7-9): The Panthers definitely ended the season on the biggest upswing of any team. And think about it, there were 3 or 4 games in the beginning of the season that the Panthers had an easy shot at winning. Win 2 or 3 of those and you’re in the playoffs. Cam Newton took the league by storm and shocked many people who saw him as the next Jamarcus Russell. They are in a very tough division, but I can easily see the Panthers nailing the #6 seed next year. They have a new coach and new QB, their success should last for awhile.

Seattle (7-9): Seattle also has quite a bit to look forward to. A bad 2-6 start ended in close miss to get to .500. Should the Seahawks make a run at a real QB (sorry Tavaris, you couldn’t do it in Minnesota I don’t know why they thought Seattle would be any different), I can easily see a 9-7 team next year. Being in the NFC West doesn’t hurt their chances.

Dallas (8-8): Probably the fifth most disappointing team this year (don’t worry, I’m getting there lol). Dallas had Romo hurt last year, and was expecting a deep playoff run this year. Because of a lot of 4^th quarter shananigans and missed field goals, the Cowboys could easily be 12-4 this year. Tony Romo also had an amazing year considering he was playing hurt for half the season. Dallas will be in the playoffs next year as long as the key pieces stay put.

Philadelphia (8-8): Ok here we are! The Eagles were easily the biggest disappointment this season. If it wasn’t for their slow start, they would be in as they barely missed out this year. “Shady” McCoy proved himself to be a Top 5 RB in the league which is definitely promising, but the wheels totally came off the Nightmares this season. They thought that signing 8 superstars would make up for the other 45 players on the team, which just isn’t feasible. Asoumugha was benched for a drafted cornerback, Vick was hurt half the season and only had one rushing TD, and Desean Jackson’s contract issues affected his play on the field. Vince Young played more like a practice squad QB than a backup, and he jinxed them with the “Dream Team” name. The Eagles will have better days to come, but they need to add to their core 8 players and get some help. At least they’re keeping Andy Reid.

Arizona (8-8): After starting 1-6, nobody expected much from the Cardinals either, but they surprised everybody with a crazy 7-2 run at the end to finish at a respectable 8-8 (including wins over the Cowboys and 49ers). This saved Ken Whisenhunt’s job, and gave them something to look forward to next year. Kevin Kolb will be better (even though Skelton looked pretty dang good too), Beanie Wells has turned into a great RB, Fitzgerald isn’t losing anything anytime soon, and their special teams won them 2 games. Arizona will be a .500 or 9-7 team for years to come, but in the NFC West that most likely means playoff births!!!

Chicago (8-8): Where are we on disappointments, #6? The Bears were the sixth most disappointing team this year. Coming off an NFC Championship, they were somehow quietly winning games while the Packers, Saints, and Lions took the limelight. But at the time of Cutler’s injury, the Bears had a stronghold on a Wild Card spot, and would have been a scary team to play in the playoffs. Forte getting hurt (and not getting a contract resolved) definitely made a huge impact. With as many times as Cutler gets hit, the Bears need a strong backup QB, Caleb Hanie could have won 2 out of the last 6 games and made the playoffs, but he couldn’t even do that! Mike Martz is out as Offensive Coordinator, and their once staunch defense is getting old. Although I dislike Cutler, I give him a lot more credit on his abilities than most people. I can see the Bears being in the playoff hunt for one more year, but their window is closing fast.

Props:

I want to give out a quick pat on the back to Matthew Stafford. He became the 5^th QB in NFL history to surpass 5000 yds in one season, and he didn’t even make the Pro Bowl! In his first full season as QB, he led the Lions to their first playoff berth since 1999. Stafford is also five years younger than any other QB that has ever thrown for more than 40 TD’s in a season. I know FMQB says this a lot (sorry TJ Yates), but I think we can legitimately say we have a star in the making.

We’re going to do it a little bit differently this week, by highlighting FMQB’s “Games of the Week” right away! The reason is, after this week, 20 teams’ seasons will be over. This is going to be their last game for the next 8 months, and its results will stick with these teams until next September. I would like to start off by highlighting the significance of a few of these teams final game of the 2011 season.

Colts vs Jaguars: Normally this matchup would be the game of the “weak,” but this game actually has probably the most impact on NFL history as the Super Bowl will this year. Here’s why…As FMQB has mentioned numerous times, if the Colts get the #1 pick, Andrew Luck would be drafted and Peyton Manning would either play for a year and be traded, be benched for Luck, or be forced to retire early. In this one game, the Colts can preserve Manning’s legacy with a win and make sure that Luck ends up with some other team.

Broncos vs Chiefs: Or as I like to call it, the Revenge Game. Kyle Orton will be coming into this game with an incredible beef against his opponent. Not only was he benched for Tebow, Orton was straight up released by the Broncos. Will Kyle Orton be able to get revenge against his old team, prove Bronco fans wrong for wanting Tebow, and knock the Broncos out of the playoffs? I’m excited to find out!

Cowboys vs Giants: This is easily the game of the season. It’s a “win and you’re in” scenario, a chance to host a playoff game while the loser watches from their couch. The first matchup between these 2 teams went down to the final play of the game. Nothing else to say, but stay up and watch this game Sunday Night!

Bengals vs Ravens: Huge playoff implications in this one game. The Ravens need a win to hold onto the #2 seed, so they will pour it onto the Bengals. The Bengals need to win to clinch a playoff spot. If the Bengals lose, then the door opens up for the Raiders, Titans, and Jets. Depending on outcomes of those games, it’s basically a 4 team race for the final Wild Card spot.

Panthers vs Saints: Not much for playoff implications, if the 49ers win they lock up a first round bye. However this should be an exciting game. The Panthers are on FIRE the second half of the season, winning 4 of their last 5. Will the Saints keep Brees in to pad his record? Seeing the Panthers pull an upset on the road would be a true indication of where that team is going next year, and that’s nothing but up.

Chargers vs Raiders: This had the potential to be the AFC West playoff play-in game, but the Chargers got crushed last week. The Raiders need a win to have a shot into the playoffs, and these two division rivals should put on a good show.

Seahawks vs Arizona: Both teams are out of the playoffs, but one team has a chance to go 8-8 this year. After a 1-6 start for the Cardinals, and 2-6 for the Seahawks, this is quite an accomplishment. An improvement for both teams from last year.

Stat of the Week #1:

In Week 16, San Francisco’s defense gave up their first rushing TD of the season. Very staunch.

Stat of the Week #2:

Both the AFC West and NFC East could finish the season without a team with a winning record. Last year they made such a hullabaloo about the Seahawks doing it in the NFC West, but where are the naysayers now that the Cowboys or Giants are involved? Nowhere.

Stat of the Week #3:

Six teams have better road records than at home. Four of which are in or have a shot at the playoffs. A good road record could serve those teams well.

Stat of the Week #4:

Aaron Rodgers has thrown for 45 TD’s this year. Without being rested the final game, there would have been a legitimate shot to tie Brady’s record of 50.

Stat of the Week #5:

Through 8 games, Tebow had only been picked off 2 times. On Sunday alone he was intercepted 4 times.

Stat of the Week #6:

In his first year as a feature back (which people thought the Dolphins were crazy), Reggie Bush rushed for more yards than Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Cedric Benson, Rashard Mendenhall, and many others. In fact only 8 RB’s rushed for more yards than him!

Stat of the Week #7:

Adrian Peterson was 30 yards away from breaking 1000, Matt Forte was only 3 yards away. Most contracts have bonus incentives for hitting that milestone, that’s gotta hurt.

“Luck-y” Stat of the Week:

In the last 16 quarters of football, the Rams have scored 26 points, or averaging roughly 1.6 points per quarter in that span.

“Brees-y” Stat of the Week:

In the same timespan of 16 quarters, the Saints have scored 140 points, or roughly 8.75 points per quarter.

Maybe the Curse is Dead!

Last week, FMQB expounded on the glory of watching greatness in person, talking about Drew Brees. On Monday Night, Brees passed Dan Marino’s record for most passing yards in a season. After all the wacky predictions and hoping, it was very refreshing to watch somebody break a record that’s been standing for nearly 30 years. On top of that, it happened to a classy guy. My respect jumped for him even more after watching his locker room speech to his teammates (You can see his locker room speech here). I’ll end with throwing out some stats for you to revel in. Brees has thrown for at least 300 yards 12 times this year, breaking the old record of 10. Brees is the 1^st QB to pass for 5000+ yds twice in his career. On Monday Brees passed Joe Montana on the all-time TD list. And the Saints are 218 yds away from total offense record set by 2000 Rams, would have over 7000 total yards!

This Year’s McGwire vs. Sosa:

Tom Brady is only 187 yards behind Drew Brees record, and will most likely break Marino’s record this year too! There is a shot that Brady can end up with the ultimate record this year, this is only if the Saints rest Brees since their #3 seed is pretty much locked up (unless the Rams somehow find the endzone) and the Patriots need to win to hold onto their #1 seed.

Who really deserves the MVP?

Aaron Rodgers: 14-1 record, 45 TD’s thrown, 4600+ yds

Drew Brees: 12-3 record, 41 TD’s thrown, 5100+ yds

You can really make an argument for either one. Rodgers didn’t break any records, but he only had 6 INT’s for his 45 TDs! Brees broke Marino’s record, had a better completion percentage than Rodgers, and was right with him with TDs. If they rest Rodgers and Brees gets 3 more TDs added onto his total, then I’m slowly starting to lean the other way and say that Brees should get the MVP. Although I hated it in 2003, I think this would be a year where Co-MVP’s may be warranted.

Screw Rookie of the Year, More like Best Rookie Ever:

I’m taking this logic from a few other columnists, but would like to re-iterate it myself. Not only does Cam Newton deserve the Rookie of the Year award. I think it’s safe to say that Newton has had the best rookie season in NFL history. People are going to argue that it’s not all about statistics, that Wins are big in determining strong rookie seasons. Ben Roethlisberger comes to mind, going 15-1 his rookie year before losing to the Patriots. Think of what a statistical powerhouse he is now, and think back to his rookie year. Remember how badly the Steelers had to hide behind him? It was eerily similar to Tim Tebow, where Roethlisberger might get 15 passes a game, a lot of it was done with his legs (although Ben’s first instinct was to extend the play for a pass, unlike Tebow). He was also leading an all-hall of fame team that would go on to win 2 Super Bowls. I think Big Ben is the only other legitimate argument over rookie of the century. But take a look at Cam Newton’s stats this year. Newton rushed for 674 yards (almost being the Panthers leading rusher this year) and a whopping 14 TD’s! He is second in the entire league in Rushing TD’s, and broke the record for most Rushing TD’s by a QB as a rookie. As a running back he would probably be in the running for rookie of the year. But wait a minute, Cam has another weapon, his arm. Cam has thrown for nearly 3900 yds, and will easily surpass 4000 yds on Sunday. This is the most rookie passing yards ever, beating out Peyton Manning and Sam Bradford (hey, he was good last year). And the Panthers relied on him heavily, asking him to throw 492 passes so far this year (that’s more than 5 playoff QB’s have thrown it). When all is said and done, Cam will run away with the award (he can set it next to his Heisman) and will go down as the best rookie season in NFL History. There’s a reason I had a Quota to talk about him each week! I would like to give props to AJ Green of the Bengals, and DeMarco Murray of the Cowboys. If it wasn’t for Cam, these guys would be up there too.

Playoff Predictions, Here is how Week 17 will end up:

The NFC is pretty set right now, with the only big change coming with the winner of the NFC East. In the Cowboys vs Giants game, I am predicting a gritty performance by Tony Romo, only to come up slightly short. Manning and the Giants win a tight one 27-24 and make it into the playoffs (saving Tom Coughlin’s job for one more season). Other than that, Packers lose their second game (although via resting players) to go 14-2 and the #1 spot. The 49ers don’t falter and take the #2, Saints win and stay at #3, Giants #4, Lions #5, Falcons #6. First round matchups will be Falcons at Saints, Lions at Giants.

The AFC on the other hand is extremely messy, and it literally all comes down to the Bengals vs Ravens game, which I think the Ravens will take. The Patriots will avenge their loss to the Bills and take the #1 Seed. Ravens win and will be #2. Houston stays at #3 even by dropping their 3^rd straight game. Broncos fix their recent slump and beat the Chiefs for the division. Steelers are locked in at #5 in my opinion, but here we come to the final wild card spot. It’s down to the Bengals, Titans, Raiders, and Jets. I think that the Bengals lose to the Ravens, Titans beat the Texans, Jets beat Miami, and Raiders lose to San Diego. In this scenario, the Titans would sneak in. The only other legitimate shot I see is the Raiders winning in which case they would be the #6 team. I don’t foresee the Bengals or Jets making the playoffs this year. First round matchup would be Titans at Texans (Week 17 rematch) and Steelers at Broncos. Both home teams will lose.

Playoff Tiebreakers are so confusing:

Before the MNF game between the Steelers and 49ers, FMQB was trying to explain the significance of the game to FFMQB, and why each team needed to win. Trust me, it was confusing. Take a look at this line! The Titans have ways to make it to the playoffs if current Wild Card teams win or lose.

• a win + Bengals loss + Jets win + Raiders loss or tie, or
• a win + Bengals loss + Jets win + Broncos loss or tie, or
• a win + Bengals loss + Jets loss or tie + Raiders win + Broncos win

This is just strange to me because the Titans obviously need a win and a Bengals loss, I get that. But afterwards, there are scenarios that get them in that involve the Jets, Broncos, and Raiders and it doesn’t seem like it matters if those teams win or lose. For a better understanding of playoff scenarios for Week 17, check here.

A Fond Farewell:

I would just like to say goodbye to Steve Spagnuolo, coach of the Rams. You were the first coach I’ve been excited about as a Rams fan. Much better than the Martz years of late, Scott Linehan, the weird Joe Vitt and Jim Haslett interims. Coming in after the Giants Super Bowl win to bring your defense to a much needed club had me chomping at the bit for a revival of the team with a new defensive philosophy. You turned us around from 1-15 to a 7-9 ball club. I feel there’s a lot you have left in you, but a frustrating 10-37 record as head coach is going to limit your days. I would like to wish you well, and thank you for a brief glimmer of hope for a team that doesn’t bring their fans much of that.

Next Week:

 Playoff Preview, What the Rams should do with the #1 Pick, and a Season recap for 20 teams looking in.