FMQB

FMQB: Merry New Year

 

 

Final week of the season for 20 teams, and for the other 12 we could be looking at an incredibly competitive and even playing field in the playoffs. There’s not a ton of playoff drama the final week. 10 of the 12 teams are already secure. Other than seeding, the only things to watch for are whether it’s Titans/Steelers/Raiders in the final AFC WildCard slot, and whether the Eagles or Cowboys win their division.

 

 

Quick Hits:

• The Colts had 2 punt return TD’s on Sunday. There were ZERO punt return TD’s coming into the entire season
• The Chargers, playing at home, had to resort to the silent count because the visiting crowd was too loud.
• The 49ers converted two 3^rd and 16’s on their game winning drive. 2!
• For trying to fight for a #1 seed, it’s pretty odd that the Seahawks lost to Cardinals at home
• The Cowboys are a weird team, but I don’t think the Eagles are the right team to represent the East either
• As much as I hate Seattle, I’m pretty pumped to see Marshawn Lynch come back to the team

 

For the Record:

• Entering Week 16, the Raiders needed 5 things to go right in Week 16, and 5 more in Week 17 to make the playoffs. All 5 happened on Sunday. All 5 LOOK to be doable this week too, however with the Ravens resting their starters, I think the Steelers games knocks Oakland out.
• After starting the season 2-0-1, and after 2 very competitive games against the Chiefs and Packers, the Lions are 1-11.
• The Eagles were 5-7 and now control their own destiny to win the division

 

 

Stat of the Week #1:

Michael Thomas did it! He got the record for most receptions in a season, and has another game to pad that stat

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Jameis Winston’s first 3 passes of the game were Interception for TD, incomplete, Interception (for TD but came back on a penalty). Within 1:41 of the game, Winston had thrown 2 picks.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

IF Winston throws 2 more INT’s in Week 17, he’ll be the first QB to enter the 30-30 club. 30 TD’s and 30 INT’s.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Winston has 28 INT’s this season, vs. Aaron Rodgers who has 25 in his last 5 years!

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Winston has 10 first quarter INT’s this season, while Lamar Jackson has 9 INT’s in his entire career

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Bengals scored 23 in the last 6:11 of the 4^th quarter to force OT

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Since 2010, every team in the NFL has played in wildcard weekend in the playoffs except 2: The Patriots and the Browns

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #8:

This is the 30^th consecutive year that at least 33% of the playoff field is new compared with the previous year (so at least 4 of the 12 teams are different the following year).

 

Completely Random Stat of the Week #9:

We all know that punt returns are rare, but here are recent years where only 1 player returned a punt for a TD in an entire season: 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2007, 2005, 200. Interestingly enough, each player in that season had multiple returns, but no other team could pull even 1 off.

 

Quote of the Week:

“Merry New Year” Marshawn Lynch

 

Fun Fact of the Week:

The Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers both clinched their divisions in Minnesota this year…

 

 

Playoff predictions:

Not much has changed for me, but here’s what the Wild Card Round could look like:

 

Steelers at Chiefs

Bills at Texans

Vikings at Saints

Seahawks at Eagles

 

Which then could look like

Chiefs at Patriots (YES please!)

Texans at Ravens

Seahawks at 49ers (Yes again!)

Saints at Packers

 

Setting us up for:

Chiefs at Ravens

Saints at 49ers (Game of the year rematch)

 

Super Bowl: Ravens vs. Saints

 

Games of the Week:

Packers at Lions

Chargers at Chiefs

Eagles at Giants

Titans at Texans

49ers at Seahawks

 

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

To be fair, this has turned into something, albeit small. The Texans have 1 extra win due to stopping the Jaguars on a 2 point play in Week 2. Coming into the final week of the season, their game against Tennessee would have been for the division, BUT, because of that win they could technically rest their guys the final game being locked into their seed.

 

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: The Damage has been done my friend

Quick Hits:

• The Falcons have beaten the 49ers and Saints both on the road (arguably top 2 teams in the NFC), but are 3-9 against the rest of the league
• Brees beats Manning’s record, set’s record for completion percentage going 29-30. Somehow didn’t have a perfect passer rating
• Cleveland is the only team without a winning season in the 2010s decade
• With Daniel Jones back under center, it looks like Eli Manning will finish his career exactly at .500
• The Bears botched the final 2 plays in my opinion, but holy cow did they get close to scoring on that play!

 

Coin flip controversy

I’ve learned my 3^rd thing in 2 weeks! I never knew with the coin toss, that you were deferring the “decision.” I always thought you were deferring possession. Thus if you chose to kick, you’d automatically get the ball back at halftime. I think we’re lucky this wasn’t a closer game, because this would have been a huge controversy. As a Rams fan, I don’t have a problem with getting the call right, but I do have an issue with McVay not learning until coming out of the halftime tunnel that the Rams would start on defense. That’s too late to make that call. Choose ANY of the TV timeouts to radio into the refs that it’s Cowboys ball, and tell McVay in the 1^st or 2^nd quarter about it.

 

Stat of the Week:

The Falcons scored 2 Touchdowns in 2 seconds (of game time of course), which is an NFL record

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The Buccaneers have won 5 of their last 6 games

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Quarterback, Taysom Hill, has equal to or more TD receptions than Stefan Diggs, Jason Witten, Alson Jeffery, Davante Adams, George Kittle, Larry Fitzgerald, Jimmy Graham, Sammy Watkins, Will Fuller, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, and Josh Gordon. Just to name a few

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Michael Thomas needs 11 receptions in 2 games to break the all time record held by Marvin Harrison

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Jameis Winston leads the league in both yards and interceptions. It’s also crazy to think that it’s probably a 50-50 chance that Winston remains a starter for the Bucs next year, but is about to become the 12^th player in history to throw for 5000 yards.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Drew Brees has 5 of the 11 seasons with 5000 passing yards. He has also thrown for the most TD’s in NFL History. Brees has never won an MVP

 

Stat of the Week #7:

For the first time since 2008, the season he got hurt in Week 1, Tom Brady was not selected to the Pro Bowl.

 

Number of the Week:

Eight….that’s how many minutes of Bengals sideline footage the Patriots had on tape. That’s more than just a little “perspective”

 

For the Record:

How do you “suspend” someone, who 3 days earlier was an “independent contractor not associated with the team.” That’s what the Patriots did to their videographer

 

Congrats:

Congrats to Drew Brees on breaking Manning’s record. Ironically Manning is going to go from #1 to #3 in a 5 day timespan assuming Brady tosses a couple on Saturday. It’s crazy to think how the last couple record breakers have absolutely crushed the old #1. Favre beat Marino’s by 88 TD’s, then Manning beat Favre by 31. Now Brees is #1 and likely has 1-3 more years to pad that stat. Also crazy to see how much the league has shifted, Eli Manning is 7^th on this list despite only making the playoffs 6 times in his career and posting a .500 record.

 

Quote of the Week:

”Come on guys, I don’t see the advanced scout in this footage” Bengals security

“I can delete this for you right here” Patriots videographer, in a sleazy Boston accent

“The damage is done my friend” Bengals security

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“Heads or Tails” Ref

“Present” Dak

Or something like that

 

Last 2 Games.

It’s getting a little bit easier to predict playoffs than it was 4 weeks ago. But down to the final 2 games! In fact, it almost looks so easy that when I did the final 2 weeks, it’s the exact same picture we see today. Well that’s no fun…

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Fake the Flu and go Bowlin’

Saints vs. 49ers is this year’s Chiefs Rams. And we have a much better chance of seeing these 2 teams meet in the playoffs. It would be awesome to see this as the NFC Championship game! These shootouts are always fun, where you almost watch the clock to try to figure out who will have the ball last because they’ll have the winning score. That Kittle 4^th and 2 play! It was an option route, and you expect the guy to get 2, maybe 3 yards, but instead gets 39 yards and a 15 yard penalty added on.

 

Quick Hits:

 

• Drew Lock over the Texans? After they crushed the Patriots? They were up 38-3 over a division champ
• Patriots 21 game win streak at home was snapped
• I find it hilarious that the Saints keep getting screwed over by the PI penalty. That’s karma for pushing this bogus rule into the league
• The Panthers have lost 5 straight since starting 5-3
• Manning’s swan song. Eagles players lined up to shake his hand.; Respect

 

 

Patriots have Another Scandal, or two…

The one thing I’ll say, is if the Patriots are going to cheat and videotape an opponent, it’s NOT going to be against the 1-12 Bengals. But that’s as far as my “benefit of the doubt” will go. There’s NO other franchise this stuff happens to. I mean seriously, it’s ONLY the Patriots. It’s scandal after scandal after scandal. There’s 31 other teams in the league, there should literally be a 3% chance that the next scandal involves the Patriots. But it’s always them. Do they just toe the line so closely that they sometimes step over it? Or are there other instances that have happened that have truly given them the edge over the years and they haven’t gotten caught? They were very quick to come up with an excuse, and self-report it. For anybody believing them, just look at what they told videographers back in 2007 when they got caught for Spygate:

 

The videographers also were provided with excuses for what to tell NFL security if asked what they were doing: Tell them you’re filming the quarterbacks. Or the kickers. Or footage for a team show.

 

And, now for the 2^nd one. Hearing the story about the Chiefs helmets and gear getting sent to the wrong airport was pretty shocking. In fact, with ALL the coordination that goes into play week in and week out, for 16 teams, we’ve never heard of this happening before. If the Chiefs didn’t have their gear, they would have had to forfeit the game. And who, OF ALL TEAMS, would they have been forfeiting against? The Patriots. I was literally waiting on the edge of my seat for the Belichick meme to come out, one of the better ones, see below!

 

 

Stat of the Week:

Eli Manning moved into 7^th all time for TD passes, but has a 116-117 all time winning record

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Drew Brees is 2 TD’s shy of breaking Manning’s record

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Danielle Hunter became the youngest player to 50 sacks

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Lamar Jackson just passed Micheal Vick for the most rushing yards by a QB in a season. If that alone didn’t put him in the MVP conversation, perhaps the fact that he’s leading the league in TD Passes does. He also still has 2 games left to pad his stats!

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #5:

In the last 3 games featuring NE vs KC, New England has 96 points, KC has 94

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Drew Lock had a QBR of 98.7. This is the one based off the 100 point scale.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Ryan Tannehill became the 2^nd QB in NFL history with 4 straight games with a passer rating of 130 or higher

 

Two things I learned this week!

Other than super obscure rules, I feel like I know the ins and outs of pro football as good as any other fan, so I’m always a bit surprised to learn new things. Regarding the Pass Interference non-call in the Saints game, it was the correct call because of something I never knew. If a team lines up in a punt formation, there’s no such thing as pass interference. That’s because the gunner is running down the field, and it would be a cheap and easy penalty to call against the defense every time since that player is trying to block the gunner the entire time.

 

#2: Thanks to the Patriots scandal, I learned my 2^nd nugget of the week. I never knew that teams sent “Advance Scouts” to games of the teams they play next. i.e the Patriots sending a scout to the Bengals game, the week before the Bengals play the Patriots. It makes sense, but seems like a bit of an unnecessary expense. Game film is out there and studied every week, why does this just not get sent to whichever team needs it?

 

 

My Beef with NFL Geography:

I completely realize that 95% of Minnesotan’s would want to watch their team play on Sunday, but it was incredibly disappointing to miss the 49ers Saints game, a game that was clearly the game of the week and would be competitive, and instead get a game that featured a low scoring affair against a backup QB. With as big of a fan I am, I need to buckle down and get NFL RedZone, or Sunday Ticket. Or Fox needs to be better than the once a quarter game update. How about during punt plays or kickoffs, you do a picture in picture where you have a game update while the tiny screen does the punt play?

 

Quote of the Week:

“I’m sorry I got seen, but I bowled a 251, that’s a career high!” LeVeon Bell, after asking how he felt about getting caught bowling on Saturday night even though he was ruled “out” of Sunday’s game because of the flu.

 

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Sorry guys, I truly though this was going to be THE stat to watch this year, and everything basically happened by Week 3 and no movement since. To top it off, 3 of the 4 teams have nothing to play for.

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: The Riverboat Sank

 

Wow, this season has flown by. We’re down to the final 4 games, and a few races are turning out to be really interesting!

 

For the Record:

• Just as a reminder, the Cowboys lost to the Jets, who just lost to the 0-11 Bengals.
• How are the Bears 6-6?!?! My guess would have been 3-9
• It is entirely feasible in the NFC for a 13-3 team to have a road playoff game, and a 7-9 team host one.
• The Redskins, at 3-9, actually have a shot at winning the division yet!
• Cowboys are somehow in 1^st place in their division at 6-7.
• Is allowing fired coaches to hold press conferences a new thing? I seriously don’t remember any fired coach getting a chance to talk, and the last couple have. You could tell Ron Rivera was NOT happy, I kind of hope this becomes a thing…

 

Stat of the Week:

The Titans are 5-1 since Ryan Tannehill took over for the Titans, including wins over the Chiefs and Colts

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The Chargers have lost all 8 games by less than 1 score

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Jared Goff had 323 yards by halftime, which was more than he had in 8 of his 12 full games this season!

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Vinatieri was 1 for 4 on Field Goals, with one literally kicked into the belly of a rusher and returned for a TD

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Vinatieri has missed 14 FG’s in 12 games, which equaled his misses for his previous 2 seasons combined.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #6:

The Eagles are 15-15 since winning the Super Bowl 22 months ago.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #7:

The eight Chargers losses this year have been by 3, 7, 7, 7, 3, 2, 7 and 3 points.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #8:

Justin Tucker has made 37 straight fourth-quarter field goals.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #9:

The Saints sacked Matt Ryan 9 times on Thursday

 

Stat of the Week #10:

 

Stat of the Week #11:

Stat of the Week #12:

Xavier Rhodes was thrown at 5 times, and he gave up 5 completions for 105 yards and a TD.

 

Stat of the Week #13:

Lamar Jackson set the record for the most 100 yd rushing games by a QB in a season with 4. Mike Vick only did it 3 times in a season.

 

Quick Hits:

 

• I’m shocked that the Panthers fired Ron Rivera. They’ve had a backup QB all year and have shown surprising resilience
• If you disregard the penalty, the Falcons successfully converted 3 straight onside kicks!
• Taysom Hill ran for a TD, caught a TD pass, and blocked a punt. He even barely missed getting a passing TD in there as well!
• There’s no more winless teams.
• The Broncos had 1 play to get into FG range, and it was a 37 yard PI call.
• The Dolphins had one of the cooler trick plays of the season, with the Punter throwing it to the Kicker. It was the first Kicker with a TD pass since 1977
• Did anybody else see how annoying Russell Wilson sounded as a teammate when he was mic’d up on Monday? Full of clichés, awkward person, and he tried to get in the middle of the TD celebration and like didn’t understand what was going on.
• Hilarious that the Cardinals DB got banned for betting, and he bet against his own team and lost!
• After the Falcons had 3 straight onside kicks in a row, the Panthers also successfully converted, and the Patriots were a fingertip away from doing so.

 

 

 

Quote of the Week:

“We had an interception turned over by the Wizard of Oz.” Jon Gruden

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“Decaf Metcalf” Joe Tessitore

 

Minshew’s Back!

The Nick Foles experiment seems to be over. If people gripe about Kirk Cousins’ $98M salary, how about Nick Foles $88M. He’s basically played in 4 games this season, 3 TD’s, 2 INT’s. That’s some Sam Bradford TD/$$$ ratio right there!

 

 

 

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all 12 of my readers! Putting out an early edition of FMQB to take a break from talking to your awkward cousin for a few minutes.

 

Dwayne Haskins:

I feel like I need to address this since it’s the story of the week. Haskins was so excited after his first win that he was taking selfies with fans, but didn’t realize there was enough time on the clock to where the Redskins needed to run a victory formation play. So Case Keenum had to run in to do the play. I don’t know why, but I find this more funny than egregious. And I’m the person who gets upset when Moss walks off before halftime, or other similar instances. I just think he’s young, and enjoying the moment on a team where there’s been basically nothing to celebrate this year. Unprofessional? Yes. Immature? Absolutely. But crossing a line where people are incredibly upset about this? I think that’s too far.

 

Quick Hits:

• Watching the 49ers rout the Packers, it was unbelievable the difference in talent between the #1 and #2 teams in the NFC. You have to think if San Fran gets home field, they’ll nearly be a lock for the Super Bowl.
• If you’re not watching the Raiders, watch the Titans. They could very easily sneak into the playoffs
• The Cowboys tripping call was ridiculous
• In a house that comprises of Rams and Packers fans, our feelings after this weekend can be summed up as “Embarrassed.” That was on national TV, and the Packers were vying for a 1^st round bye and Rams were in the Super Bowl last year. We have been humbled
• Mason Rudolph has looked very good and just plain awful at times. Still a little surprised he was benched, he’s supposed to be Big Ben’s heir apparent

 

 

Stat of the Week:

Frank Gore passed Barry Sanders for 3^rd on the all time rushing list

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The Ravens have punted twice in their last 3 games, RGIII was the QB on both of those drives

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Russell Wilson has led his team to a winning record in each of his first 8 NFL seasons, which no other QB has done in NFL history

 

Stat of the Week #4:

The Cowboys are 0-4 against teams with winning records this season. Their 6 wins have come against teams that are a combined 16-46-1

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Watch for Michael Thomas to break the receiving record! He was already on pace, and had a 10 catch game on Sunday. If he averages 7.8 receptions, he’ll best Marvin Harrison

 

 

For the Record:

• The Browns and the Jets are both on 3 game winning streaks
• Panthers kicker Slye missed a go-ahead 28 yd FG and 2 missed PAT’s, in a dome. No wind, perfect conditions
• Apparently NFL Primetime is now titled NFL Rewind. I’m not on board with this

 

Pass Interference:

Other than the catch debacle, and roughing the QB, has there been a rule out there that is so blatantly bad as the Pass Interference challenge that we get reminded of it EVERY SINGLE WEEK? How does the NFL just sit back and watch this happen? I loved how the announcers in the Panthers game were flabbergasted at the overturned PI call. There are WAY more egregious calls that are not being overturned. It’s also rather amusing that the Saints were on the losing end of the call, since they were the ones that wanted the rule.

 

 

It’s Finally Back:

FMQB’s favorite prediction tool is back on ESPN! I tried looking for this back in Week 8 and every week since, so this is like Christmas to me!

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

 

Things shake up quite differently when running through the actual schedule. A couple interesting tidbits with MY predictions, Ravens get top seed, Indy is the final wild card. On the NFC side, it’s Saints #1, then Seahawks, and the 49ers end the season 2-3 to get the 5^th seed (they’re #1 now).

 

Games of the Week:

49ers and Ravens: Could very easily be a Super Bowl preview!

 

Get ready for Week 14 though! We have 49ers vs. Saints (top seed tiebreaker), Bills vs. Ravens, Chiefs vs. Patriots, and Titans vs. Raiders (could decide final Wild Card)

 

Quota met?

Turducken, you’re 9 for 9 FMQB!

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

FMQB: And People Say the Running game is dead

 

Comeback for the Ages:

Sunday was a weird day for me watching football. As usual, I’m stuck watching Minnesota vs. Denver. I got through the 1^st quarter and would have bet money even then that the Vikings were toast, they couldn’t do anything. I switched to the Texans vs. Ravens game and expected a shootout. Well it was on one side, and that game got out of hand quickly. I all of a sudden saw that the Vikes were within 10 in the 4^th Qtr, so switched back to watch. I’m not sure what happened in between, but it was like a completely different team was out there! The Vikings only had 4 possessions in the 2^nd half, with the Broncos milking 7 minutes off the clock in one drive, and yet they scored a TD on all 4 possessions which is unheard of after being shutout.

 

Quick Hits:

• I’m no doctor, but Turbisky was benched, not injured
• The Colts are officially leading their division (written before Thursday night)
• That Deandre Hopkins no-call is the ONLY reason the stupid new Pass Interference challenge should be allowed. And they didn’t even get that right.
• The Bills have to be the quietest team at 7-3
• I was pumped to watch Watson vs. Jackson, was kind of a disappointment
• Why does it seem like only a couple teams consistently have kicking issues? Matt Nagy must be banging his head against the wall
• The Falcons are looking impressive on their 2 game win streak
• It’s about time the Rams decided to give Todd Gurley the ball. He does NOT look like himself though, but still put up several decent plays
• Remember in the Ravens loss to the Chargers in the playoffs last year, how there was controversy that Lamar Jackson wasn’t benched for Joe Flacco? A lot has changed in 10 months.

 

Myles Garrett:

The fact that people are still talking about Garrett shows how egregious the helmet swing actually was. It was wise of the NFL to nail down a heavy handed suspension immediately afterwards. This was one of the faster processes, as within a week his appeal had already been heard and his suspension upheld. The rest of the season was appropriate, I don’t think it should go into next season and I’m sure the NFL doesn’t want this whole incident popping up and people talking about it next September yet. And then of course the race card got played, which is a touchy subject. If it happened: I can’t say I necessarily blame the guy. Should still have held in his temper, which maybe is unfair to ask of him, but IF it happened then I think you go 4 games AND give Rudolph a suspension too. However, it seems that the NFL found zero evidence of it happening, and I also find it very suspicious that in the postgame interview, Garrett wouldn’t have flat out said “he called me names” or “Rudolph used a racial slur.” That’s a heat of the moment answer, and you think that would have come out a week ago. Personally I think that he saw how people forgave Kareem Hunt for his outburst after a racial slur and was reinstated where Ray Rice wasn’t, and tried to use that to his advantage. Everybody is hypersensitive to this subject, as we should be, but if you’re lying you’re immediately taking race relations in the wrong direction (I’m talking to you Michael Bennett too).

 

Stat of the Week #1:

DeShaun Watson’s suffered his first loss by more than a possession for the first time in his 2 ½ year NFL career

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Michael Thomas has 5 more catches than Marvin Harrison did through 10 games, the year Harrison broke the record with 143 catches

 

Stat of the Week #3:

All 7 losses by San Diego are by 7 points or less

 

Stat of the Week #4:

The Ravens are the only team since 1978 to rush for more than 2000 yards through 10 games…. and people say the running game is dead!

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Teams that were losing by 20+ points at halftime had lost their last 99 games, until the Vikings comeback

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Your leaders in passing yards this season? Dak Prescott, Phillip Rivers, and Jameis Winston

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Through 11 weeks, we have 3 1000 yard rushers and only 1 1000 yard receiver… and people say the running game is dead!

 

Quote of the Week:

“Sell the team, sell the team, sell the team” Redskins fans

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: I’m sorry Miss Jackson, I am for real!

 

Game of the Year:

Seattle at San Francisco gave us the game of the year so far! I have missed much of MNF this year, mainly due to the quality of matchups, but this one was well worth the wait. There were 7 turnovers, defensive TD’s, a 10 point comeback by the Seahawks, followed by an 11 point comeback by the 49ers. Two struggling kickers that included a go ahead field goal and a game tying field goal in the last 1:45. Then 5 possessions in OT before an end of regulation game winner. Instant classic!

 

For the Record:

 

• Vinatieri missed another extra point, has missed 6 this season
• For the Record, Drew Brees is 2-2 this season while Teddy Bridgewater is 5-0, just sayin…
• The Steelers would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, and their final 8 opponents are a combined 17-37-1
• The Dolphins are technically only 3 games back from a Wild Card spot…The Browns only 2
• The Browns had 8 plays to make it in from the 1 yard line, and couldn’t do it…EIGHT!
• The Ravens with their triple Heisman option was one of the cooler things I’ve seen. Jackson, Ingraham and RGIII were all in on the run play.
• How do the Chiefs essentially botch 2 FG’s at the end of the game?!?!
• I’ll talk about Myles Garrett when I have time to write about it, but zero chance he sees the field the rest of this season. OH MY GOD, that was bad

 

Stat of the Week:

Marcus Peters has 3 INTs and 2 TD’s since being traded to the Ravens

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Falcons had 6 sacks on Sunday, they only had 7 the entire first half of the season

 

Stat of the Week #3:

This was the most 7 win teams through 9 weeks since 1990

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Minkah Fitzpatrick, 5 INT’s, most on the Steelers since 2010

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Most telling statistic: There is only 1 team with a negative turnover ratio that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, and it’s the Bills at -1

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Through his first 16 games, Lamar Jackson has more wins than Patrick Mahomes, more rush yards than LaDainian Tomlinson, a better passer rating than Tom Brady, more yards per attempt than Aaron Rodgers, and a better completion percentage than Drew Brees.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

The Steelers had 2+ takeaways in 8 straight games for the first time in 30 years

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Lamar Jackson became the 2^nd player ever with 2 perfect passer rating games in the same season. Sure it was against Miami and Cincinnati, but still impressive

 

Stolen Stat

Saquon Barkley averaged 2.77 INCHES per rush on Sunday

 

More on Lamar:

Lamar Jackson’s TD run is going to be shown on highlight reels for years to come. Just like most of us remember Mike Vick’s OT 50+ yarder against the Vikings, despite handily winning the game, this was a better play than Vick’s

 

 

Quick note on Kaepernick:

I’m trying to stay away from this subject as much as I can, but if the reports and demands by the NFL on his Saturday workout are true, the NFL is looking 10 times worse than if they hadn’t done a workout at all. This felt like a PR stunt the entire time, and it’s turning from a gesture of goodwill to more ammo for Colin’s camp.

 

Quote of the Week:

“Who keeps puttin’ all the towels on the top shelf?” Tarik Cohen

 

For the Record 2:

Geno said Heads, period

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Cat Scratch Fever

Week 9 is always the unofficial halfway point of the season, and it seems like we have an exciting playoff push to be watching for the end of the year!

 

Quick Hits:

• There are 3 QB’s with the last name Allen, they went 3-0 on Sunday
• The Gardner Minshew era is over ☹, and he only gets relegated one line in “Quick Hits”
• You have to wonder if Kyle Allen wasn’t rocking it if Newton would have come back this year, now they’re saying he may be done as a Panther!
• 49ers last unbeaten, Bengals last winless. I think even 2 weeks ago I would have been surprised to hear both of those
• I know nobody cares, but I made up ground in my office football pickem league by picking the Dolphins first win and the Ravens over Patriots
• The Ravens hadn’t beaten the patriots since the 2012 AFC championship game, the year they won the super bowl
• Tyreek Hill is super speedy, Williams runs a 4.45 40 and was chased down in basically 30 yards when Hill was 10 yards behind him
• Brandon Allen saw zero snaps in the preseason but beat the Browns
• The Patriots were daring Jackson to throw, they played Cover Zero a lot!

 

Black Cat:

Monday Night Football was utterly hilarious when 4 days after Halloween a Black Cat just happened to run out on the field and delay play. The announcers were going nuts, and thank you ESPN for actually showing it happen! The Giants were leading 9-3 while the Cowboys had an interception, missed field goal, and a fumble; UNTIL, the black cat arrived. Superstition took over, and the Cowboys went on to score 10 points in 52 seconds to take the lead before halftime! The Giants remained cursed and only kicked field goals from that point forward in the game.

 

Stat of the Week:

2 of the Vikings 3 losses came from playing teams with backup quarterbacks

 

Stat of the Week:

ESPN literally just showed a graphic showing that Dak Prescott had 13TDs and 0 INTs in the last 5 games against the Giants. Prescott proceeded to throw an INT on his first throw mere seconds later

 

Stat of the Week:

Steelers are 4-1 in their last 5 games, and their losses are to top notch teams; Patriots, Ravens, Seahawks, and 49ers.

 

Stat of the Week:

Vinatieri blew it AGAIN! The Colts have lost 2 games due to missed kicks, almost lost a 3^rd. If Vinatieri was an above average kicker, the Colts would be 7-1

 

Stat of the Week #:

The Patriots were giving up 7.6 points per game in their first 8 games, but gave up 37 on Sunday.

 

 

Chargers to London:

I love how Dean Spanos emphatically denied in a profanity laced statement that the Chargers are not going to London. Dude, 2 years ago you said the same thing about the Chargers not leaving San Diego. I have been against the London move for awhile, but I’m actually for this idea! It’s the right team and the right situation.

 

Position Change:

Marcus Mariota is reportedly taking reps at WR just 2 weeks after being benched for Ryan Tannehill. 1^st, wow that was fast. 2^nd, isn’t that a bit of a conflict of interest? Like all he has to do is drop a couple balls and say “dang, Tannehill’s stats are terrible, put me back in coach.”

 

Antonio Brown update:

In case anybody is counting, Antonio Brown posted a workout video trying to get teams interested in signing him, and then “re-retired” 36 hours later, then un-retired 6 hours later

 

 

Situational Awareness:

The Lions were driving, got to a 4^th and goal from the 1 yard line, were scrambling to get up and snap the ball as the clock was running, but at 8 seconds remaining the Raiders on defense called a time out; what?!?!?! Stupid call, but they did hold them out of the endzone.

 

 

Quote of the Week:

When asked why he shaved after the game, Baker Mayfield said “I didn’t deserve the handlebars”

 

Playoff picture:

I think the picture stays mostly the same, but can see the Rams overtaking either the Vikings or Seahawks for a Wildcard. In the AFC, same thing, we have our 1-4 set and I see the Raiders popping in over the Colts or Bills.

 

NFC Championship: Packers at Saints

AFC Championship: Chiefs at Ravens

 

Here’s what I’m excited for this year though. Can you imagine Brady-Mahomes, Brady-Jackson, or Mahomes-Jackson in the AFC Championship Game? Or Rodgers-Brees on the NFC side? Super Bowl matchups could be Brady-Brees, Mahomes-Rodgers, Brady-Garrapolo would be intriguing

 

 

Games of the Week:

Panthers at Packers

Vikings at Cowboys

Seahawks at 49ers (best MNF matchup of the year!)

 

 

*whispers* I’m telling you, WATCH the Raiders!

 

Black Cat Update:

Apparently the Black Cat is STILL ON THE LOOSE in the stadium! Hahahaha! They have not been able to find it for the last 4 days. The Giants and Jets play at MetLife this weekend, although both teams are so cursed it probably would have an opposite effect if it shows itself again.

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Blame it on the Rain

 

Quick Hits:

• I think if the Bears could play without a Kicker, they would
• Hold onto the ball Jameis Winston. He had 4 more turnovers on Sunday and they have to be coaching him, this is a known problem
• Vinatieri has to be done after this year. He had another missed extra point that looked like it was going to cost them the game, then comes back and nails a 51 yarder to win it
• Mayfield’s interception was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Threw it right to the guy 2 feet in front of him. Can’t even blame it on the rain
• The Texans barely beat the Raiders at home. I’m telling ya, watch the Raiders!
• If the whole Trent Williams cancer story is real, I think not only do the Redskins face a ton of backlash but potentially the NFL and team doctors.
• I missed the game of the week, but was absolutely shocked to come back and see Packers Chiefs tied in the 4^th quarter.
• Baker Mayfield is like 1 loss away from going Ryan Leaf on reporters!

 

Belichick:

Belichick became the 3^rd coach to reach the 300 win threshold. I’ve mentioned this years before, but I wasn’t around for the Shula years and curious how he was portrayed and if people hated/respected him as much as Belichick. It’s also crazy to think how dominant Belichick has been for 20 years, and know that another coach is still ahead of him. Granted Shula had 2 hall fo fame QB’s behind him, but only won 3 titles. Belichick is 47 wins shy of Shula, and probably has 1 solid year with Brady left. Best case scenario ends the season like 39 games shy. That’s easily 4-6 more years of coaching to break the record depending on Brady’s replacement. I think Bill wants it though, and that’s the only reason he came out this week saying he’d coach into his 70s.

 

Stat of the Week:

The Patriots have a 2 ½ game lead over the #2 team in the AFC. You NEVER see that in general, let alone this early in the season!

 

Stat of the Week #2:

A regular season football game had 61% higher viewership than Game 5 of the World Series. Proof of what America’s actual pastime is. Also, does anybody else remember when there was no SNF for a week during the year due to baseball? I sure do, around 2007 ish.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Jared Goff is leading the league in passing yards, Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins are tied for 1^st in completion percentage

 

Non-Football Stat of the Week:

The World Series became the first time in major sports that road teams won the first 6 games of a series. Obviously football doesn’t do series, but this has never happened in MLB, NBA or NHL in the past. The Road team won game 7 as well, just for good measure.

 

NFL 100:

Never knew this until this week, but each week of games is supposed to have some meaning in regards to NFL history since it’s the 100^th season. The more you know:

Ruthless:

 

Double ruthless:

The Falcons released 44 year old kicker Matt Bryan after missing two 50+ yard FG’s on Sunday. Guy’s literally been with the team since 2009!

 

Triple Ruthless

The Bengals benched 9 year QB Andy Dalton on his birthday and 3 hours before the trade deadline essentially ensuring he won’t see a regular season down for another 11 months.

 

Scenario of the week:

Joe Flacco “our play calling sucked”

2 days later “Flacco out 4 weeks with injury”

Right…next thing you’re going to tell me is the world is flat

 

Reader Submitted Quotes of the week:

*Introducing KC WOLF!!!*
I turn to the guy next to me, I always thought that was a rat!

 

Guy in front of me- Great game.
Me- Yeah this is awesome I am just a fan of the game so I am loving this.
Guy in front- That is why I like Packer fan’s, not like the Raiders or Bronco fans, lol.

 

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Who ya gonna call?

Quick Hits:

• The Bills have the 2^nd best record in the AFC
• The Cardinals have won 3 straight
• Wow, Trubisky just looked awful out there. Hard to imagine he was a division champ last year
• Also the fall from grace of Daniel Jones and Gardner Minshew has been rapid. Both are hardly a story anymore
• Brett Maher hit a 63 yd FG which is 1 shy of the record. He became the first Kick to have 2 60+ yard FG’s in a season
• Kirk Cousins should play angry more often.
• EVERY YEAR the Chargers have some crazy loss happen to them. Every year!

 

Rushing Back from Injury:

Both the Chiefs and Saints are in a bit of a weird quandry that may actually be beneficial to bench MVP caliber QB’s. When Brees went down in Week 2, I think it was safe to say that making the playoffs was extremely questionable at that point; 1-1 with a backup QB for the next 6 weeks. Instead Teddy Bridgewater is an undefeated 5-0 and has them as the #2 seed at the moment. Brees has stated he wants to play Sunday, but why not give Bridgewater 1 more start against the mediocre Cardinals? The Saints have their Bye next week, so that’s 2 additional weeks of healing and you get a fresh Brees back Week 10 for a Super Bowl run.

 

Same with Mahomes. He reportedly practiced just a week after dislocating his kneecap (dang) and hasn’t been ruled “out” yet. The Packers are in town this week so that’s a tough matchup, maybe 50-50 chance you win that game. They’re not in a competitive division, and they have a game and a half lead (plus the tiebreaker) over Oakland. I guess with his injury there’s a higher likelihood of it happening again. His knee is weak, let him rest and you’re still basically a lock to make the playoffs! And I’m not remotely insinuating that Matt Moore is the next coming of Tom Brady, but he did outscore the Broncos 20-0 and played in basically all but 10 minutes of the game.

 

Stat of the Week #1:

QB’s on the roster for the 2016 Patriots are a combined 17-2.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Kliff Kingsbury has a better win percentage in the NFL at .500 than he did in college

 

Stat of the Week #3:

If the Patriots Offense literally never took the field at any point in their first 7 games, they would still have a 3-3-1 record

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Jimmy Garropolo is 14-2 as a starter

 

Stat of the Week #5:

The Chargers have lost 5 games by 3, 3, 7, 7, 7 points.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Fastest player to 40,000 passing yards? Matthew Stafford. At 31, you could also argue that he’s only halfway through his career. Wow.

 

Crazy Stolen Stat:

Comparing stats to the strong 2004 QB Class, although it’s impossible to overlook Super Bowl rings. But look at this!

 

Phillip Rivers: 56,870 yards

Ben Roethlisberger: 56,545

Eli Manning: 56,537

 

Stolen Stat #2:

The Bills are 5-1, and their next 5 opponents are a combined 8-25.

 

Catch of the Year:

Quote of the Week:

“I’m seeing ghosts out there” Sam Darnold

 

Quote of the Week #2

You’ve compared Julian Edelman to a squirrel, what does that make Belichick?

“The Grinch”- Rob Gronkowski

 

Thought of the Week:

I don’t know why, but the Oklahoma Sooner wagon tipping on the field made me laugh way harder than I should have.

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Texans: +1

Redskins: +1

Jaguars: -1

Dolphins: -1

 

Memes of the Week: