belichick

All posts tagged belichick

FMQB: Super Bowl Preview

Posted by fmquarterback on February 1, 2019
Posted in: Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FMQB: Super Bowl Preview

 

It is here (well, almost). Super Bowl Sunday! One final game of the season, one final game to rule them all, one last chance at redemption for this Rams fan to knock out Brady and Belichick.

 

Super Bowl Stat #1:

This is New England’s 11th Super Bowl appearance overall, meaning that even though there are 16 teams in the AFC, the Patriots have won the conference 21% of the time in the Super Bowl era

 

Super Bowl Stat #2:

With a win, Brady will set the record for most Super Bowl wins by any player (currently tied with Charles Haley with 5). A loss however ties him with Jim Kelly for the most Super Bowl losses by a QB.

 

Super Bowl Stat #3:

The 17 year age difference between Brady and Goff is the largest in Super Bowl history

 

Super Bowl Stat #4:

The 33 year age gap between Belichick and McVay is also a Super Bowl record

 

Super Bowl Stat #5:

In the past 14 Super Bowls, 12 have been won by teams wearing white. The Pats are wearing white this year…

 

Super Bowl Stat #6:

In the playoffs, Brady/Belichick are 16-1 against teams they didn’t face in the regular season. They did not face the Rams, but their 1 loss came against the Eagles last year.

 

Super Bowl Stat #7:

Tom Brady has been sacked only 5 times in the last 8 games.

 

Super Bowl Stat #8:

Take a look at the last 8 games between both teams. Bizarre coincidence. Maybe this means OT for the Super Bowl again!

Pats: win, win, loss, loss, win, win, win, win.

Rams: win, win, loss, loss, win, win, win, win.

 

Looking ahead:

If your team had a rough year, keep in mind that 2 of the 8 divisions were won by teams that went from Worst to First (Bears and Texans), and 15 of the last 16 years at least 1 team has made that feat. And 2 of the teams last year, Philly and Jacksonville, both made their conference championship games with the Eagles winning the Super Bowl!

 

Things to watch for:

 

  • The Patriots defense did a marvelous job shutting down the Chiefs early, but they completely fell apart in the 4th quarter. While this emphasizes the strength in New England’s coaches ability to prepare for a team, it also showed their weakness of adjusting on the fly. Similar to the Rams start last week, see if Goff going no huddle in the 2nd or 3rd quarter marks a shift in momentum
  • The Patriots also shut down Tyreek Hill and do not allow much on the jet sweep, which the Rams also like to run. This could lead to some early 3 and outs for the Rams
  • Inexperience vs. Experience: You have a coach for NE with as much NFL coaching experience that McVay has years on this planet. While McVay is flashy, innovative, and a genius; Belichick has seen it all.
  • The Rams have a shaky run defense, but it has shown up in the postseason, only allowing 98 yards over 2 games (and to Zeke and Ingram/Kamara for that matter). The Patriots have owned the clock and have ran like crazy with their 3 back system, so this will be a deciding factor in the game. I will say this, if the Patriots rush for 120+ yards, they win the game by more than 10 points. If they rush for less than 60, they lose.
  • Tom Brady’s arm strength and mobility is starting to catch up with him. Patriots coaches have done a marvelous job in changing the scheme, calling plays where Brady basically can get rid of the ball in less than 2 seconds and let their athletes do the work. The Chiefs actually did a good job stopping this in OT, and leading Brady into three 3rd and 10s. This is exactly where you want to put him as a defense, he just miraculously pulled out all 3. Against the sack-happy Rams D line, watch for very fast plays. Anything over 10 yards will be a risk for a sack.
  • I also think the refs swallow their whistles, only 4 penalties all game

 

Prediction:

I realize this is a total cop-out answer, so don’t hate me. Deep down I feel the Patriots are going to win, as much as I hate to say it. But I am going to pick the Rams because I’ve been doing this for 8 years and NEED to pick my team. I have the game being very similar to the Pats Chiefs game; slow to start but explosive 4th quarter with lead changes. I have it 3-3 at the end of the 1st. 10-6 Patriots at halftime. 17-13 Patriots at the end of 3. And then FINAL SCORE of Rams 34, Patriots 31. If I get all 4 right, I’ll retire from FMQB!

 

Thought to ponder:

If the Super Bowl was in Minneapolis this week, with the -50 degree windchills, it may have actually been cancelled. Also, if this had been the Super Bowl last year, I totally would have been there!

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMQB: Ghosts of Playoffs Past

Posted by fmquarterback on January 12, 2018
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FMQB: Ghosts of Playoffs Past

 

WildCard Round:

We had our excitement, we had our duds, we had our duds that turned into excitement. That pretty much sums up this past weekend. BRIEF analysis below.

 

Titans at Chiefs:

The first half made this game look like a dud. Alex Smith had a dominant first half, going 19-23, 231 yards, 2 TD’s and 1 secret admirer with John Gruden. They took a 21-3 halftime lead and yours truly almost went to do something productive for the weekend. Unbelievably, the Titans didn’t give up and held Smith to only 33 yards in the 2nd half while racking up their own points. They botched two 2 pt conversions but took a 22-21 lead. The play where Henry fumbled the ball and the Chiefs ran it back would have been one we saw on replay for years to come had it actually been a fumble. But they shocked the Chiefs with a wicked comebackon the road to advance.

 

Falcons at Rams:

I’ve told many people that I distinctly remember being depressed in 2005 when the Rams lost to the Vick led Falcons, but this time I feel really good about where our team is and where we are going. The Rams should have done two things and they could have won that game. First, Gurley averaged 7.2 yards per carry, yet only got the ball 14 times. Still enough for 100 yards, but what the heck? He found a major weakness in the defense and they didn’t exploit it at all! Second, for the love of God stop Julio Jones! Only 3 WR’s caught passes in the game; Jones, Sanu, and a guy nobody’s heard of had 1 catch.

  Continue Reading

FMQB: Game of the Millenium

Posted by fmquarterback on January 23, 2015
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Jon Ryan

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

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

Packers at Seahawks:

 

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

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

Continue Reading