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FMQB: The Miracle in Miami

Posted by fmquarterback on December 14, 2018
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FMQB: The Miracle in Miami

What an absolutely crazy and insane weekend in the NFL! This by far had the most upsets, surprises, crazy plays, and it kept going with last night’s last minute Chargers win!

 

Week 14 Highlights:

 

  • Patrick Mahomes continues to be magical. His 4th and 9 conversion throwing across his body was nuts, he’s the only QB who can complete that throw 39 yards while running to the opposite direction. And of course his no look pass (which you NEVER see in the NFL) was a part of his repertoire that Safety’s should be fearing.
  • Amari Cooper had one of the most electric 4th quarters and Overtimes for one player that I’ve ever seen. His game winning catch after being tipped by the defender for a walkoff TD, superb!
  • The Bears defense will be scary in the playoffs, they just shut the Rams down with zero touchdowns
  • Panthers have lost 5 straight now, Cowboys have won 5 in a row
  • Utterly shocked to see that the Giants had scored 34 points by halftime
  • Colts upsetting the Texans at home leaves the door open for their playoff push and possibly the division!
  • Quick note about Thursday’s game. Holy cow San Diego (yes San Diego), scored 15 points in the last 4 minutes of the game. LOVE the call to go for 2 for the win or loss. You’re on the road, against the best team in the AFC and it’s a MUST win to try to get a home playoff game. Going for 2 has been a 60% conversion this season. Going into OT, the Chiefs likely have a slight edge. Way to play the odds. THAT is when you go for 2, not week 4.

 

Upsets:

Take a look at these upsets from last week:

  • Raiders over Steelers
  • 49ers over Broncos
  • Colts over Texans
  • Dolphins over Patriots
  • Bears over Rams
  • Browns over Panthers
  • And NEARLY Ravens over Chiefs

 

Stat of the Week:

Aaron Rodgers set the new record for most pass attempts without an Interception. With as much flak as he’s gotten for poor play, when you look at the stats it doesn’t support that. He has 22 TD’s and 1 INT

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The Browns have the same number of wins in 1 month (at 3-2) as Hugh Jackson had in 2 ½ years (3-36-1)

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Amari Cooper first person ever with 3 go ahead TDS in the 4th and OT

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Brady is 25-2 on the road in December, but against the Dolphins in December, he’s 1-6

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Baker Mayfield is the 3rd QB in NFL history with a TD in his first 10 games. The other two are Marino and Warner

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Sunday was Sean McVay’s 29th game as a head coach, and only the first time the Rams didn’t score a TD

 

Stat of the Week #7:

TE George Kittle set the franchise record for the 49ers (yes, beating Rice, Taylor, Owens, and other greats) with 210 yards receiving. Oh, I forgot to mention, he had the record by halftime

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Quiz time, guess which QB has the most rushing yards in a 3 game span, and just demolished Michael Vick’s record of 294 yards during that span? Cam Newton? Nope. Lamar Jackson has to be it now! Nope again. Josh Allen!!! And he has the record by 39 yards

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #9:

Since holding a 4th quarter lead over the Patriots in last years AFC Championship game, the Jaguars are 4-10.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #10:

I’m nervous about Jared Goff. In his last 2 games, he’s completing 48% with 1 TD and 5 INT’s

 

 

The Miracle in Miami:

Hands down play of the year, which is why 1 play is getting it’s own section. There are so many things to talk about! First off, the Patriots absolutely blew basic situational football at the end of both halves which just never happens. Brady took a sack and the clock ran out in the first half, and then the Pats defense was not ready for the hook and lateral. For as good of a coach Belichick is, why the hell was Gronkowski on the field for the final play? There’s no QB in the league that could have made that throw, especially since most Hail Mary’s are thrown way behind the line of scrimmage anyway, so 75 yards by Ryan Tannehill? Never going to happen! Apparently on the Patriots radio broadcast, after the play happened there was 35 seconds of silence haha! For the record, “The Miracle in Miami” already has it’s own Wikipedia page.

 

 

QB Change:

Fairly surprised that Lamar Jackson remaining the starter over a healthy Joe Flacco. Although he’s 3-1 and almost beat the Chiefs at home. But other than his rushing, his stats are pretty mediocre. Jackson is completing 58% of passes and 4 TD’s to 3 INT’s. Bold move, especially for a team that is holding the 6 seed with 3 other teams tied with them.

 

AFC Shakeup?:

  • There is mathematically a scenario where the Browns still win the AFC North! And the Steelers’ next 2 games are against the Patriots and Saints! Buckle up!
  • Although also not likely, the Dolphins have a shot at dethroning the Patriots as well. They would have to win out and have the Pats lose 2 of 3.
  • The Colts can win the South under the same scenario
  • And the Chargers can beat the Chiefs if they win on Thursday (did they win last night) and win 1 more than KC the rest of the way.

 

 

Giants and Packers:

So, truth be told these crazy scenarios never work out. HOWEVER! There are 2 very likely scenarios, in which the Packers could still make it in, as well as the Giants who started 1-7. Because this isn’t “the Cardinals need to beat the Rams and it happens” type of scenario, they’re all realistic, I feel compelled to bring it up.

 

Packers: Of course the Packers need to win out, but they’ve already beaten the Bears, and the Jets and Lions should be doable. THEN, they need the Redskins to lose 1 game (with a 3rd string QB, they’ll probably lose all 3), the Panthers to lose 1 game (they’ve dropped 5 in a row), and the Vikings lose 2 of their last 3.

 

Giants: Also need to win out. BUT, they play the Titans, Indianapolis, and a Dallas team that will likely be resting. Tough, but very doable. Then, they need the Vikings to lose twice, Packers lose one, Panthers lose two, Eagles lose 2, and Redskins lose 2. And looking at the schedule, those are VERY possible.

 

 

Quote of the Week:

“So whoever’s watching that in New York should stay off the bottle”- Malcolm Jenkins. Haha, while funny, he should expect to be writing a check to the league very soon!

 

Games of the Week:

Packers at Bears

Cowboys at Colts

Patriots at Steelers

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Tripped on the 41 yard line

Posted by fmquarterback on November 16, 2018
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FMQB: Tripped on the 41 yard line

Week 10 Highlights:

  • Shocked is an understatement, to see the Cowboys beat the Eagles at home.
  • Shocked for a 2nd time to see not only the Patriots lose to the Titans, but get demolished
  • Shocked for a 3rd time to turn on the 2nd half of 49ers vs. Giants and actually watch a very good game!
  • The Rams’ emotions are going to lose them some games, almost did on Sunday
  • Dang Cleveland!
  • Dang Matt Barkley!

 

Stat of the Week:

The Bucs became the 2nd team ever to have over 500 yards of offense, but only rack up 3 points

 

Stat of the Week #2:

We’re through Week 10, and Patrick Mahomes already has the team record for most Passing TD’s in a season. Pretty surprised that none of the Trent Green or Montana years had more.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Larry Fitzgerald now #2 on receiving yards list. Only 6,943 away from Rice’s record

 

Stat of the Week #4:

We’re through week 10, and Aaron Donald just hit a career high number of sacks in a season at 12.5

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #5:

42 QB’s have started games this season in the NFL. In regards to passer rating, the 3 QB’s the Bills have started rank 40th, 41st, and 42nd.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Bengals became the first team to allow 500+ yards in 3 straight games

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Stat of the Week #8:

Brady and Jerry Rice are now the only players in NFL history to catch a pass at 41 years old

 

Bonus Pics:

 

For the Record:

  • RGIII was the only QB to practice on Thursday. OOOOOOOOO
  • Jacksonville went from AFC Championship, to 1st in the Division by Week 3, to now alone in last place after 6 straight losses.
  • You have one of the Greatest QB’s of all time, and punt on 4th and 2 with 4 minutes left in the game and 1 timeout? I think that’s the play that pushed me over the edge in agreeing Mike McCarthy should be fired this season
  • Falcons, Eagles and Packers are on their last breath. Another loss will kill any playoff chances
  • Ezekial Elliot went off on Sunday, holy cow!
  • Dude, LeVeon Bell, what are you doing? You’re 27 for a position with a short shelf life, and pass up $14.5M this year?

 

New RB trend:

Back in the day, you’d hand the ball off to Shawn Alexander or Larry Johnson 25+ times a game. Which made it easy to rack up 100 yards if you maintain even a normal average. The new trend I’m seeing is RB’s getting like 8-12 carries a game, but still racking up some pretty crazy yards. For example, Todd Gurley had only 16 carries but 120 yards, Mark Ingram had 13 for 104 yards, Aaron Jones 15 for 145. These are like 8-10 yards per carry games, and I’ve been seeing more and more of this. Watch for this trend this week.

 

Total Domination:

The Steelers possession results vs. the Panthers were touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, half ends; touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, starters leave game.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Bears K Cody Parkey hit the upright 4 TIMES on Sunday! If you had told a pro to do that, you couldn’t replicate that again
  • Loved coach Vrabel calling the same play that Brady screwed up, Brady was wide open and somehow tripped over the 41 yard line
  • There are more and more trick plays this year. I think I mentioned this last week, but literally every week now!
  • Moving MNF from Mexico City to LA was the right call. Very embarrassing for the league, and embarrassing for Mexico City, but the right call
  • Sean Payton destroyed a fire alarm because it was annoying. That’s the kind of coach the NFL needs!
  • Patrick Mahomes puts Ketchup on steak. And yes, this is what we’re reporting nowadays.

 

Quote of the Week:

“I wanted to see if ours looked any better than theirs” Mike Vrabel, on why he called an identical trick play that didn’t work for the Pats

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“When I woke up this morning, I was feeling dangerous” Baker Mayfield

 

Memes of the Week:

 

FMQB: Hill has the runs and it TyREEKs!

Posted by fmquarterback on November 9, 2018
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FMQB: Hill has the runs and it TyREEKs!

I’ll get to the title later, but poop jokes have infiltrated the NFL! We are halfway through the season! Teams are pulling away, teams are falling apart, and there are plenty of questions and playoff races abound.

 

Week 9 Highlights:

  • For those who stuck with the game, Rams at Saints lived up to the hype. I am convinced this will be the NFC Championship this year. I went from being depressed down 21, to saying “holy crap I can’t believe they came back to tie it!”
  • The only TD scored in Jets at Dolphins was a pick 6
  • Vikings set a franchise record of 10 sacks on Matthew Stafford.
  • The Falcons look like they may make a playoff run even at 4-4
  • Demarious Thomas had the unique distinction of being traded on Tuesday, and then playing IN DENVER on Sunday again, but wearing a different jersey. Texans stole a win from the Broncos to extend their win streak to 6.
  • The Seahawks having multiple chances to tie the game on the last play was exciting
  • Have to admit, despite being completely outplayed, the Packers hung in with the Patriots for much longer than I expected.

 

2003 Celebrations:

Let’s take you back 15 years, where there are no rules, and people are standing on the Cowboys star at midfield, and pulling out cell phones for the Saints. Wait, what? It’s 2018! I know a lot of people don’t like it, but it was really cool to see the throwbacks. The Titans celebration was a tad ridiculous, they were still losing at that point, but at least it was nostalgic (how has nobody done that in 15 years?). Even as a Rams fan, and with the play being a dagger to the game, I laughed when I saw Michael Thomas grab the cell phone from the endzone. He even legitimately got a flip phone like Joe Horn had years ago!

 

Quick Hits:

  • Not trying to go undefeated is a blessing in disguise. The Rams end the season with San Fran and Arizona. If they lock up a first round bye, one could argue you have nearly 4 weeks between meaningful games. The Rams also have the Chiefs which will be a bruiser, and the Bears, but otherwise 5 of the last 7 games are against teams with losing records.
  • The Saints needed that win. Not only could you tell that home field advantage was key to them, but they finish the season with Atlanta, at Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Carolina.
  • The last 6 Browns coaches to be fired were all fired within 24 hours of losing to the Steelers.
  • Dude, everybody and their Mom knew that Brees was going to Michael Thomas, someone stop him! He had a league-wide season-high 211 yards

 

Stat of the Week:

The Steelers and Panthers scored 3 TD’s in a 23 second span, setting an NFL record for the fastest 21 points scored in history.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Sam Bradford has played 83 games and thrown 103 TD’s. His career record is 34-48-1, but has earned $130M.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Nathan Peterman threw 3 INT’s Sunday (big surprise there). He has played in 8 games, in which he has 3 TD’s, 12 INT’s, and a 32.5 quarterback rating. To put this into perspective, the punter who goes 0-1 with 0 yards and 0 INT’s will have a passer rating of 39.6.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

We bid adieu to Adam Theilen’s 100 yard streak, ending at an NFL record 8 games to start a season. He did not look right out there Sunday, and not having Diggs to take away some of the doubles also hurt.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

On a happier note, we also bid adieu to Julio Jones’ 343 day TD-less streak! Despite putting up massive yards, it took him until Week 9 to make it into the endzone.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Bills faced the toughest NFL schedule through the first 8 games, and have the easiest schedule remaining for the last 8. I still blame Nathan Peterman…

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Todd Gurley has scored more points than the entire Bills team. Keep in mind, 2 team FG’s equals one of Gurley’s TD’s.

 

 

Story of the Week:

Apparently when Jamarcus Russell was in the league and bombing, coaches weren’t convinced he was watching film and preparing for games. It came out this week that they used to send him home with blank tapes. The next day they’d ask how the film was, and he would say “yeah, great to see those blitz packages and how I should avoid them.” Wow!

 

For the Record:

  • Doesn’t it seem like the amount of trick plays are fairly staggering? The Panthers seem to run something every week, but nearly every game I see a flea flicker or some other crazy end around where the WR throws it. Not complaining one iota, just making the observation.
  • Steelers Panthers was the Thursday night game I was most excited to watch this year, and I suppose if you like offense we got it. Holy cow, it was 52-14 by the end of the 3rd! Even so, Christian McCaffery looks like the real deal.
  • Bills fans have started a Go-Fund me page so Nathan Peterman can retire from the NFL. It has a goal of $1M, but is only hat $157.
  • Dez Bryant’s waiting game couldn’t have gone more perfectly. And now somehow the Saints look even more scary on offense!
  • So apparently on Sunday, a Bills fan found human poop in the stands. POOP! In section 122! The best part is that it looked “old” and they think it was leftover from the Monday night game against the Patriots.

 

Tiny Rant:

I am sick of Giants and Cowboys and other crap teams being in primetime. I don’t care if they’re America’s team, nobody wants to watch a 3-5 team that can’t convert 3rd downs every other week. If you want to know an actual problem with NFL ratings, it’s the fact that these mediocre teams in major markets keep getting primetime games. The Giants have 4 games this year, Cowboys 5, Raiders 4. The Chargers have 1, but it’s the Thursday game everyone gets, so none by choice.

 

2nd Half Predictions:

Midway point is always sad and exciting. Here’s a few predictions as well as playoff predictions.

  • NFL MVP goes to Mahomes or Brees. Brees has never won it believe it or not!
  • Raiders get the #1 overall pick
  • Packers miss the playoffs despite Rodgers playing all 16 games
  • Nick Mullens ends up starting most of the games, and for a different team next year

 

AFC: (I’m being lame, saying that all teams remain the same, just some shuffling)

  1. Patriots
  2. Chiefs
  3. Steelers
  4. Texans
  5. Chargers
  6. Bengals

 

NFC:

  1. Saints
  2. Rams
  3. Vikings
  4. Eagles
  5. Panthers
  6. Bears

 

I am super tempted to throw the Falcons in, I just couldn’t pull the trigger.

 

Quote of the Year!

“Tyreek Hill is the fastest player I’ve ever seen. The only thing faster than him is the jambalya that ran through me last night” Rex Ryan

Here’s proof: https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/watch-rex-ryan-makes-poop-joke-on-sunday-nfl-countdown-rattles-sam-ponder-to-her-core/

That’s poop joke #2, for the record.

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“I fully intend to be around for the 2022 rematch” Tom Brady, regarding the next time him and Rodgers would meet

 

Quote of the Week #3:

“We need volunteers, not hostages” Mike Tomlin, referring to LeVeon Bell

 

Meme’s of the Week:

 

 

 

And for everyone who voted…

FMQB: Brock-Tober!

Posted by fmquarterback on October 19, 2018
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FMQB: It’s Brock-Tober!

 

 

Week 6 Highlights:

  • There were 3 awesome games this week, but I called the highlight being Bears vs. Dolphins. Tannehill was surprisingly out of the lineup at the last minute, so ol’ trusty came in and Brock Osweiler delivered a win. It’s Brock-tober baby!
  • The Rams struggled, but Gurley’s 200 yards were a thing of beuty. All the comparisons to Marshall Faulk and 2001 have me excited!!!
  • Mason Crosby, wow. Short term memory (and forgiving coaches) are the key to kickers. After the debacle against the Lions he really redeemed himself. 4/4 on Field Goals and 3/3 on Extra Points.
  • Chiefs Patriots was the game we all wanted to see. A back and forth shootout. It was awesome how the Pats kicked a FG to go up by 7 with 3:15 left in the game, giving Mahomes plenty of time to drive down the field. By 3:03, the game was tied
  • 49ers Packers also exceeded expectations. The final drive by Rodgers was insane, especially with no timeouts.

 

Stat of the Week #1:

The Ravens sacked Mariotta 11 times! This meant that Mariotta was sacked more than he had completed passes (10)

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #2:

Despite being 1-3 in his last 4 starts, Matt Ryan has put up ratings of 148.1, 134.5, 99.1 and 125.5 in those games with 12 TD’s and 0 INTs.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Comparing the first 6 games of 2017 vs the first 6 games of 2018. James Connor has more scrimmage yards and 3 more TD’s than LeVeon Bell had last year.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Tom Brady now has 200 career regular season wins, which is a record.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Aaron Rodgers became the first QB with back to back 400 Passing Yard games with 0 INT’s.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Peterman has 9 INT’s in 79 attempts. Brees’ last 9 INT’s took him 736 attempts

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Ravens have not given up a TD in the 2nd half all season. Last time there was a streak this long was 1934

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Adam Theilen is on pace to break the receptions record by 11!

 

Stat of the Week #9:

Patriots didn’t punt nor get a penalty called on them. First time in NFL history that has happened

 

Quick Hits:

  • 49ers Marquise Goodwin isn’t Tyreek Hill, but he’s dang close. Crazy speed!
  • How did the Chiefs get 2 Sunday Night games in a row? Not that I’m complaining, but it was on the original schedule, not even flexed in.
  • For everyone questioning (or rooting for) the Patriots slow start, they are now in 1st in their division, would have a first round playoff bye, and have beaten the best team in the AFC.
  • For all the injuries the 49ers have faced, I hope they stick with Kyle Shanahan. He has done an excellent job with CJ Beathard

 

For the Record:

  • I didn’t know there was a game in London until 2 days after it happened. Maybe not as much of a selling point anymore?
  • I rarely turn off NFL games, but I did last night, at halftime
  • Byron Leftwich is the new offensive coordinator for Arizona. So yeah, things aren’t turning around this year
  • Jags fall from grace has been swift, and nobody seems to be talking about them anymore. In fact there was optimism about the Texans, Titans, and Jaguars this year, and at 3-3 it’s likely only 1 will make the playoffs.

 

The Number 27:

Our local radio station has determined that the number 27 is cursed for the Minnesota Vikings. The last play before moving into US Bank Stadium, Blair Walsh missed a 27 yard field goal against the Seahawks to lose in the playoffs thus starting the curse of 27. Last season, Dalvin Cook tore his ACL on the 27 yard line on the west end of US Bank Stadium. On Sunday, CB Mike Hughes tore his ACL on the 27 yard line on the west end of US Bank Stadium. Their first and shocking loss of the season, they lost to the Bills when they scored 27 points. And one of Kirk Cousins 2 fumbles happened, you guessed it, on the 27 yard line on the west end of US Bank Stadium. Probably the most famous Viking to wear number 27? Fred Smoot. And we all know what happened there…

 

Quote of the Week:

“Is his name really Beat Hard?” FFMQB…yep…

 

Quote of the Week #2:

Josh Rosen on being drafted 10th: “There were nine mistakes ahead of me.”

 

Quote of the Week #3:

“Sun’s out, let’s go!!!” Vikings fan. There’s a little bit of a backstory to this. It SNOWED here on Sunday, ugh. And yours truly had awesome tickets to the Vikings game. Not wanting to deal with parking or traffic, I decided to ride my bike, which was fun but cold. But there are some benefits to being a short 15 minute bike ride to the stadium!

Games of the Week:

Patriots at Bears: I think this could be a much closer game than people are thinking

Texans at Jaguars: Not that it’ll be pretty, but it’ll be important

Saints at Ravens: Should be really competitive

Bengals at Chiefs: Another tough matchup for Kansas City, and the Bengals need to keep winning in their uber tough division

 

Meme of the Week:

 

Meme of the Week #2:

 

Meme of the Week #3:

 

Nice one, the Chiefs are from Missouri…

 

FMQB: Whoah-Oh FitzMagic!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 21, 2018
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FMQB: Whoah-Oh FitzMagic!

Whoah-oh Fitz Magic!

If you had Ryan Fitzpatrick slated as the early MVP frontrunner, and beating the Super Bowl champions and a popular Super Bowl pick in the Saints on the road, then prove it. His season is truly magical so far. I agree with DeSean Jackson, how can you take him out and give Jameis Winston his job back?

 

Believe-land:

The range of emotions this team had in a 4 day stretch was pretty crazy. On Sunday, they had 2 missed FG’s and 2 missed extra points. The last extra pt. one was rough, which came right after an exciting 4th and 5 play late in the 4th quarter. It wouldn’t have mattered, as the Saints went up by 3, but they miraculously got back into Field Goal range. Watching Gonzalez march out onto the field for the 52 yarder with his head hanging, you just knew he was going to miss. He basically lost the game for them for the 2nd straight week. Keep in mind, the Browns, the LOWLY Browns, have gone toe to toe with the Saints (pun intended) and the Steelers. Two top-tier teams. They could easily be 3-0.

 

Ah, but Thursday night! The Browns finally won! It’s been 635 days since they’ve tasted victory. They struggled against the Jets and then Tyrod Taylor goes down, Browns fans must have been thinking “not again.” But the curse is broken and the Bud Light fridge unlocked! Congrats Cleveland.

 

The Most Exciting Tie you could see!

Pro-tip, if you’re looking for an exciting game to watch this year, turn on the Packers. They’ve been in two doozys, and the battle for the NFC North was another great one on Sunday. Full disclosure, the refs did not play favorites in this one and both sides have a right to be upset. Even on Rodger’s bum knee, the Packers were up 20-7 in the 4th quarter, partially thanks to a couple bad penalties especially one roughing the passer (although this one was close). But wow, Kirk Cousins turned it on in the 4th quarter. He actually looked fantastic this game, but they scored 21 points in the quarter and a 2 pt conversion to tie it up. The controversy came on the final drive, when he heaved one up as he was getting hit by Clay Matthews. INT, end of game, but hold on a flag for roughing the passer. There is literally a picture from the perfect angle that shows Matthews making contact and the ball is still in Cousins’ hands. He doesn’t wrap Cousin’s up, nor drive him into the ground, nor does he land with all of his weight on Kirk. You can also see Clay put his left hand down and try to brace his fall. This flag was absolutely terrible, but ended up making for an exciting game. The icing of Crosby after making a kick and having him miss, and then the Vikings kicker missing 2 OT FG’s yielded the tie. I will scream this one more time from the highest mountant, the 10 minute OT rule change is garbage! After the Vikings missed their FG, the Packers were driving and punted away with 3:57 left. You’re essentially limiting the number of drives to 3 if you’re lucky. Should have kept it at 15 minutes or at least switch to college football OT rules. I foreshadowed more ties last week, I just didn’t expect it to come the next week. I wouldn’t doubt this is talked about in the offseason, especially if there’s a 3rd tie.

 

Stat of the Week #1:

Ryan Fitzpatrick, a backup QB, is leading the league in TD’s, Yards, and passer rating

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Saquon Barkley had 14 receptions on Sunday, setting a team record. That’s more than Devante Adams, Stefon Diggs, AJ Green, Amari Cooper and Larry Fitzgerald have all season.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Patrick Mahomes, first player with 10 TD passes in first 2 games. Keep in mind Sunday was his 3rd career start. Even the year that Peyton threw 55 TD’s, he only had 9 TD’s after Week 2.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Ryan Fitzpatrick has 4 TD’s of over 35 yards, no other QB has more than 1.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #5:

Oakland defense in first 2 games:

2 sacks

1 forced fumbles

0 fumbles recovered

1 interception

0 touchdowns

 

Khalil Mack in first 2 games:

2 sacks

2 forced fumbles

1 fumble recovered

1 interception

1 touchdown

 

Surprising Stat of the Week #6:

The Dolphins, Bengals, Buccaneers, Rams and Jaguars are in sole possession of 1st place in their division. Tell that to 2016 fans and they’d never believe you!

 

Stat of the Week #7:

In the Patriots Jaguars game, one QB threw the ball 45 times for 376 yards and 4 TD’s; and it wasn’t Tom Brady…

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Baker Mayfield’s first drive ended in points, and in his 1 half of play he threw for 201 yards and a QBR of 94.9 (out of 100).

 

Stat of the Week #9:

This is the first time since the new OT rules were introduced in 1972 that there were tie games in Week 1 and Week 2.

 

For the Record:

  • We’re 2 weeks in, and I wholeheartedly repeal my questioning of Andy Reid’s decision to trade Alex Smith and let Patrick Mahomes lead the team. I was dead wrong and I admit it. Mahomes looks like a star in the making.
  • The NFL eliminated their Catch Rule controversy just to replace it with Roughing the Passer. The Vikings game calls were abhorrent, and the fact the NFL agreed with the refs is an even bigger problem.
  • The Bengals are surprising, after two bum years they may have rebounded and be on their way to winning the division.
  • The Texans on the other hand are not living up to expectations, with everybody healthy
  • The Rise of the Rams is almost as abrupt as the fall of the Seahawks. They went from Super Bowl contender, to .500 team, to garbage in just 17 games
  • The Broncos comeback and final drive was pretty slick. John Gruden’s reaction to them making the kick was 100% Chucky too.

 

 

Divisional Deep Thinking:

Ties are weird, but the cool thing about the Vikings and Packers is that they now cannot tie the season series. They’ll go into their final game knowing that whoever wins will have the tiebreaker.

 

 

What it takes to Excel:

Blame me for being a homer, but this video of Rams coach Sean McVay is absolutely insane. A reporter gives him a situation such as “2015, Redskins vs Saints, 2nd and 12 on the 16 yard line with 4:24 left in the 3rd quarter.” And Sean will literally interrupt him and tell him the formation, the route, or what happened on the play.

https://sports.yahoo.com/sean-mcvays-power-recall-must-seen-believed-033739946.html

 

Video of the Year:

A few of you may have seen this, but it’s definitely worth watching again

http://dailysnark.com/colorado-mascot-shoots-himself-in-the-balls-after-accidentally-facing-t-shirt-cannon-wrong-way/

 

Quote of the Week:

“Is any of that yours?” Reporter- asking Ryan Fitzpatrick about his post-game outfit that he claimed to have borrowed from DeSean Jackson

“Just the chest hair”- Ryan Fitzpatrick

Quote of the Week #2:

“What came into the decision to let Dan Carlson (Vikings kicker) go?” Reporter

“Did you see the game?” Mike Zimmer

 

Quote of the Week #3:

“Hey, when’s the next article come out?” Reader

“Friday…hence the name” FMQB (sorry bro, I had to!)

 

Stolen Quote of the Week #4:

“The Bills are so bad, their players are retiring at halftime.” Still utterly astounded that Vontae Davis went into the locker room, put on his street clothes and just left. Never heard of anything remotely close to that. Completely disrespectful to the team, I don’t care what he says. If anything, tell the trainers you’re not feeling right or even sick and sit out the 2nd half.

 

Meme of the Week:

Meme of the Week #2:

Meme of the Week #3:

 

Meme of the Week #4:

 

FMQB: You Vike That?!?!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 14, 2018
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FMQB: You Vike That?!?!

 

Rodgers Rarity:

The Sunday night game will be one that gets replayed for years and years, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating. The fact that Rodgers was terrible with his good knee, goes out and the Bears have a hay day on defense should have ended the game there. The magic when he walked back onto the field, single handedly breathing back life into the stadium that had been drawn out as he was carted off the field; it was just incredible. The entire stadium went from “oh no, not again!” to “down 20-0? No problem, we have Aaron.” Despite the Packers not doing anything offensively in the 1st half, Lambeau had hope. And while the comeback was exciting, it almost wasn’t surprising, it was expected. If anybody has seen The Natural with Robert Redford, this was like a 3 hour condensed version of that.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Weather delays are extremely rare in the NFL, and we had 2 (technically 3) happen this week
  • The Colts didn’t waste time with easing Andrew Luck back into things. They tested out his shoulder on a league leading 53 attempts!
  • The Steelers didn’t seem to be missing LeVeon Bell. James Connor is leading the league in rushing
  • Saquon Barkley’s TD run shows the talent and explosiveness the Giants were hoping for, just wow. And against the Jags
  • Other than the first play of the game, Sam Darnold looks like the real deal
  • The Vikings and Jags defense looks legit
  • I want whatever Aaron Rodgers was on during his postgame interview. Or maybe I don’t…

 

Stat of the Week:

Drew Brees is on pace for 7024 passing yards

 

Stat of the Week #2:

This was the Bears first 10 point lead against the Packers since 2007

 

Follow-up Stat of the Week #3:

Julio Jones lead the league in receiving with 169 yards, but that elusive TD has his team at 0-1. On his last 20 targets to Julio Jones in the endzone, Matt Ryan is 1-20.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

The Browns 0-0-1 start is their best start since 2004.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

In the Bucs vs. Saints game: 88 points is a new record for a season opener, and there were 1004 offensive yards in that game

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Aaron Rodgers had 13 yards on a good knee in the first half, and 273 yards on a bad knee in the 2nd half

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Nathan Peterman has started 3 games in his career. One of which was this weekend where he went 5/18 for 24 yards and a 0.0 QB rating. It was 40-0 35 minutes into the game. Another start had him at 6/14, 0 TD’s and 5 INTs. Looks like you got yourself a winner there!

 

Stat of the Week #8:

The Ravens scored 47 points, yet their leading rusher had 44 yards, and leading receiver had 49 yards.

 

Stat of the Week #9:

Adrian Peterson passed Jim Brown to become 10th on the all time rushing list. He could get up to 8th if he has a good season. Frank Gore, the ageless one, should get to #4 this week. These are the only 2 active rushers in the top 25, proof the position is dying.

 

Stat of the Week #10:

Tyreek Hill touched the ball twice in the 1st quarter. The first was a 91 yard punt return, and the second a 58 yard receiving TD

 

Stat of the Week #11:

The Dolphins Titans game was 7 hours and 8 minutes long due to two lighting delays. The old record? 5 hours and 16 minutes

 

Stat of the Week:

From out of nowhere, Ryan Fitzpatrick had 417 yds and 4 TD’s

 

Takeaways from Opening Night:

  • The Falcons have struggled in the red zone for literally years. It’s ugly head reared up again last year in the playoffs with 4 shots at the endzone. Can’t believe they lost the game the exact same way
  • Although it was a slight variation, the fact they ran the Philly Special again (and the Falcons fell for it) was hilarious!
  • Nick Foles just somehow wins, no matter how bad his performance
  • The football Gods were just taunting us Thursday night. We waited 7 months, and had to wait an extra hour for a weather delay!

 

 

For the Record:

  • Jimmy Garrapolo is no longer undefeated
  • Only 1 possession in the 1st half of the Bucs Saints game did not result in a score.
  • DeShone Kizer somehow looked worse than Brent Hundley.
  • I don’t think anybody can think Khalil Mack is overpaid after watching his performance on Sunday night; same goes for Aaron Rodgers
  • Looked like the Adrian Peterson of old. He even got the workload of carries with 26 while Chris Thompson only had 5. Ended with 96 yards and a TD.
  • Still not convinced, but I may have been wrong about Patrick Mahomes
  • Case Keenum picked up right where he left off
  • New head coaches were 0-7 in their debuts
  • Ties are still a terrible way to end an NFL game

 

The Browns didn’t Lose!!!

Technically, TECHNICALLY, the Browns ended a 17 game losing streak and a 13 game opening day losing streak on Sunday. Such a weird OT period! There were 5 possessions in the last 1:47! Pittsburgh with the chance at a FG but missed, Browns Punt, Pittsburgh Fumbles in their territory giving the Browns a shot, but their FG is blocked! I will reiterate that the 10 minute overtimes were terrible and will lead to more ties, but I’ve griped about that in the past. Until they switch to college football rules, you’re going to continue to see these as more common.

 

Quote of the Week:

“You Vike That?!?!” Kirk Cousins

 

Games of the Week:

Vikings at Packers: Will likely have playoff consequences and it’s only Week 2!

Chiefs at Steelers

Patriots at Jaguars: Rematch of the AFC Championship

 

Fantasy Football Woes:

 

Despite the meme, I do want to gripe for a second. The only league I paid to be in this year didn’t give me a notification when the draft started, so I had my first Autodraft in years. Thanks ESPN, they went WR, WR, WR, RB, TE (who is now out for the season), QB who was out Week 1. Garbage.

 

Meme of the Week:

 

 

Meme of the Week #2:

FMQB: Eight is Great!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 6, 2018
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FMQB: Eight is Great!

I’m so excited for the season to start that I couldn’t wait until Friday! Here’s your tide-over for the next 3 hours until kickoff!!!

 

Wow, year 8 for FMQB! I still love doing this, and at times it feels taxing, but I’m determined to get to 10 so you’re stuck with me for at least a few more seasons! Same pledge as last year, I’m going to try to keep the paragraphs to a minimum, and once again try to bring back nicknames which fell a bit short last year.

 

I won’t do all 32 team records this year, but of COURSE playoff predictions are here:

 

AFC:

  1. Steelers
  2. Patriots
  3. Jaguars
  4. Chargers
  5. Texans
  6. Dolphins

 

NFC:

  1. Vikings
  2. Saints
  3. Rams
  4. Eagles
  5. Falcons
  6. Packers

 

AFC Championship:

Steelers vs. Jaguars

 

NFC Championship:

Saints vs. Vikings

 

Super Bowl LIII:

Saints vs. Steelers

 

Other Predictions:

  • MVP- Carson Wentz (even if he misses a few weeks)
  • The Browns will win 7 games this year
  • This will be the Patriots last year in the playoffs under Tom Brady
  • This will be Eli Manning’s swan song
  • Offensive Player of the Year: DeShaun Watson
  • Defensive Player of the Year: JJ Watt
  • Comeback Player of the Year: Andrew Luck
  • Jon Gruden struggles in his first year, going 6-10
  • Rookie of the Year: Saquon Barkley
  • Rookie QB Watch:
    • Baker Mayfield: Starting by Week 11, goes 0-5 to end the season
    • Sam Darnold: Starts Week 1, will make the Jets competitive again at 8-8, playoffs next year
    • Josh Allen: Starts Week 3, struggles mightily but has 18 TDs and 24 INTs
    • Josh Rosen: Loses temper in Ryan Leaf-esque news conference, but starts after Sam Bradford injury in Week 4
    • Lamar Jackson: Takes over for a struggling Joe Flacco at 5-5, finishes season 9-7
  • Most Improved from Last Year? Jets or Browns
  • Most Overrated? Eagles, Patriots and Chiefs who are somehow #10 on power rankings with a new QB and a rebuilt defense
  • New coach outlook:
    • Jon Gruden- Raiders. I think he struggles his first year, has some run-ins with the NFL by overpracticing his squad or injury reports (something to do with new rules in play since he was in the league). But they’re a playoff team next year
    • Mike Vrabel- Titans. I bet this is a perennial playoff team shortly with one of the best defenses in the league in 2 years and Mariotta “good enough” to get them to 10-6 each year. I think they fall short his first year though.
    • Matt Patricia- Lions. I’m most interested in seeing this one play out. Belichcik disciples have traditionally done terribly in Head Coaching roles (Charlie Weiss, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini to name a few). But he has pieces to work with in Detroit.
    • Frank Reich- Colts: I think it’s a building season, but having the OC from the Super Bowl champs helps. I think he could be a good long term coach.
    • Steve Wilks, Arizona: With QB questions and a soon to be retired Larry Fitzgerald, I think Wilks is the first in this class to get fired.
    • Matt Nagy, Bears: I have a feeling this is one of those situations where you have an amazing coach with a terrible team. If he’s around long enough to get a decent QB and to rebuild, this is my Super Bowl winning coach of the bunch.
    • Pat Shurmur, Giants: 2nd go around in coaching, but he’ll have to deal with QB replacement soon. However you have a couple of the best offensive players in the game with Barkley and Beckham, and an offensive minded coach. Could be poised for a playoff run his first year.

 

 

Stat of the Week:

Tom Brady is the 3rd QB to enter a season as a starter at 41 or older. The other two (Brett Favre and Warren Moon) struggled mightily after age 41. Remember Peyton Manning’s 55 TD year, and the following season he limped his way into retirement? When is that going to happen for Brady? Even with his crazy diet, it’s going to catch up to him at somepoint, and the Patriots are going to go from a Super Bowl caliber team to a 6-10 team VERY quickly.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

The Vikings are the only team with a winning record in the Super Bowl era not to have won a title

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Julio Jones only had 3 TD’s last season (yet was griping about wanting a new contract). I’ll admit he’s a beast for yardage, and hands down a top receiver in the league, but he’s only had one double-digit TD season in his 7 year career.

 

Feel Good Player to Watch:

Keep an eye on Shaquem Griffin for the Seahawks. He had his left hand amputated as a kid so only has one hand. A high school coach wouldn’t let him join the team because “Football players have 2 hands.” He ended up playing college ball at UCF, but wasn’t even initially invited to the Combine! But he got in and did one handed bench press and ran a blistering 4.38 40 yard dash! He got drafted in the 5th round, which is basically less than 50-50 that you make the team. Not only did he make the team, he’s starting week 1 for the Seahawks! To put this into perspective, there is only one other Rookie starting for the team, and it’s the Punter.

 

Nostalgia:

Jon Gruden’s last playoff victory was the Super Bowl win (against the Raiders) where he became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl. To give perspective at how long ago this was, Tom Brady had 1 Super Bowl appearance and victory by this point.

 

 

To Boldly Go Where We’ll Never Go Back To Again!

So apparently the NFL got scared away by the 10 degree temperatures in the #BoldNorth last year. Next 6 Super Bowl locations are Atlanta, Miami, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New Orleans. Nothing north of the Mason Dixon line!

 

Quick Hits:

  • I have been anti-Patrick Mahomes for the past year (nothing against him, I just don’t get why they ran Alex Smith out of town), but WOW, that arm! He had a throw that went 70 yards in the air, which was longer than ANY pass the entire season last year.
  • Funny how Adrian Peterson was so picky on taking a contract last year, and now he just signed for the Veteran minimum in Washington
  • LeVeon Bell should take a hint from this, take your money now, the market for you next year when you’re a year older won’t be great
  • On the same note, I have a feeling that things between Bell and Pittsburgh is going to get ugly, very fast. It’s not unfeasible to see him sit out the entire season.
  • I don’t see the hatred with NBC’s new “Green Zone.” I actually think this is much better than the gaudy yellow line showing the first down marker. It’s more pleasing to the eye because it’s subtle, but it’s fast to realize where a player is in relation to the 1st down. It needs some tweaking because it looks video game-ish when players are running through it, but don’t let the Twitter trolls get rid of this feature!
  • Losing Khalil Mack just lost the Raiders the West
  • How Aaron Rodgers is making 2/3 of what other QB’s are getting paid is beyond me

 

Aaron Rodgers Contract:

That last statement was obviously written last week. He got a whopping $103M in guaranteed money, and with incentives could reach $179.5M. I made a big deal out of the inequality of pay. The fact that Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr, Jimmy Garrapolo and Kirk Cousins were the highest paid QB’s was ridiculous (that’s 1 playoff win COMBINED between the 4 of them). The contracts are more about timing than skill. Well the Packers made right with the future hall of famer in my opinion. Here’s the crazy thing, you look at those numbers and it isn’t even surprising anymore, you hardly bat an eye. Here’s why: Alex Rodriguez surpassed the $200M mark…18 years ago! Steph Curry also surpassed $200M last year. Rodgers can only hope he gets that high, as it’s after incentives. His guaranteed money is half that amount.

 

Buzz:

For some reason, people are buzzing about a few surprise teams. Rumors around the league say that Mitch Trubisky could be like the Jared Goff of last year and is maturing as a QB. The Giants are also supposedly looking stronger, helped by Saquon Barkley of course but if he’s the next Ezekial Elliot that could be huge. The Chargers are also getting a LOT of buzz. Not a ton has changed with them, but they went on a run and had some ugly losses that should have made this a playoff team.

 

The NFC is utterly stacked. You have the Eagles, Rams are right up there, Falcons, Saints, Vikings with Dalvin Cook back, the Packers are always competitive with Rodgers, as are the Panthers with Newton. The Cowboys, Redskins, Lions, and Seahawks will all be mediocre teams but you don’t want to overlook them.

 

Games of Week 1:

Atlanta at Philadelphia- The playoff game last year was Atlanta’s to win

49ers at Vikings- Will be interesting to essentially see 2 new QB’s on teams with high expectations duke it out

Texans at Patriots- a passing of the torch possibly? The GOAT playing against the young stud QB

Rams at Oakland- Battle of Old LA

Chiefs at Chargers- Battle for the AFC West starts Week 1. Will be a key game for playoff purposes

 

Quote of the Season:

“Stretching is way overrated. Did you know World War I and World War II, all those guys that fought in that war, right? They did pushups, jumping jacks, situps, climbed the rope and ran. But none of this fancy (expletive). Okay? And they won two world wars — two world wars! — by doing jumping jacks, pushups, and situps. You think they were worried when they’re running across Normandy about (expletive) stretching?” Bob Wylie- Offensive Line coach of the browns

 

Meme of the Week:

 

FMQB: Ramblin Along

Posted by fmquarterback on December 22, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FMQB: Ramblin Along

 

I’m not going to make any more player predictions the rest of this year. In back to back weeks, I’ve made bold predictions about Adrian Peterson (who was put on IR the next week) and Antonio Brown (who will miss the next 2 games).

 

There are obviously two games to talk about as the back to back endings were two of the best this year. Both included rules that fans absolutely hate and the NFL should look at this offseason. Both included teams that went for it all when they were guaranteed a FG to take it into overtime.

The Race for 1st:

The Steelers were up and not dominating but steadily beating the Patriots in every aspect of the game. The Patriots score to seemingly tie it at 17, but the extra point is no good! Pittsburgh scores to go up 8, and it stays 24-16 deep into the 4th. The Patriots are forced to kick a FG with 3:56 left in the game to bring it to within 5. Steelers go 3 and out, and then New England marches 77 yards in 1:10 in an amazing drive which basically only featured Gronkowski. They make a 2pt conversion to go up 3. Taking a step back, I along with Steeler nation was utterly surprised that all of a sudden the Patriots were ahead. Watching the 2nd half, it truly felt like Pittsburgh was in control and going to win until the final 4 minutes, so we were all pretty much shocked. They scored 11 points in exactly 3 minutes. Continue Reading

Posted by fmquarterback on October 27, 2017
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FMQB:

 

Roller Coaster:

Even though they are division rivals, I feel just terrible for the Cardinals. I know every fan base minus maybe the Patriots has the “woe is me” approach, but the Cardinals can definitely be up there. They’ve had YEARS of mediocrity, never in the playoffs but too good for the #1 pick. All of a sudden they get Kurt Warner, and have a Super Bowl win locked down only to have heartbreak happen. They’ve been solid since, but have lost several playoff games. They finally get Adrian Peterson, who absolutely goes off in his resurgence. Enough so that Larry Fitz was talking about the “rings” they would have had if AP had been there the whole time. Flash forward 1 week, Palmer gets hurt and is out for the season, Bruce Arians (a coaching genius) is talking about not returning, and AP regresses to Saints-like numbers. They were a playoff caliber team as of last week, and it looks like they’ll lock up pick #8 again.

 

Stat of the Week:

Bears CB Eddie Jackson is the first defensive player to have 2 75+ yard defensive return TD’s in a game.

 

Stat of the Week #2:

There are 3 QB’s in the league who have thrown for more INT’s than TD’s this season (looking at at least 75 attempts). Two of them play for Cleveland…Fun fact, I decided to save a stat for next week but didn’t want to re-number all of these. I had to come up with one more stat, which is how I discovered this gem!

Continue Reading

FMQB: Keep ‘er Movin’

Posted by fmquarterback on October 20, 2017
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FMQB: Keep ‘er Movin’

 

I’m back! And I feel like I missed a lot! I’m not going to dive back into Week 5 much, but the Browns and 49ers are still losing, the Raiders are apparently faltering, and Big Ben had a 5 INT game?!?! I guess Bradford came back and tried to play too? Ahhhhhh!

 

Le’veon Me Alone!

The one downside to being such a huge football fan is that I’m rarely in awe anymore. But watching the Steelers game had my mouth agape. It literally seemed like everytime Bell was handed the ball, he got a minimum of 7 yards, if not closer to 15. That’s insane as it is, let alone in a league where the run game is dying. They even ran the ball on 3rd and 9, and got the first down! The most telling was the first play after halftime. Tony Romo said something to the effect of “the Chiefs would have gone into halftime and come up with a gameplan to stop the run. Look at how many people they have in the box right now.” Indeed it was stacked, and Bell got through it for a gain of 15.

 

Stat of the Week #1:

In the Rams Jaguars game, it was the 1st time in NFL history with 2 TD’s within the first 25 seconds of a game. The Rams ran back the opening kickoff, kicked a touchback, and then Fournette ran 75 yards on the first play.

Continue Reading