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FMQB: Gardner Minshew, the Enigma

Posted by fmquarterback on October 4, 2019
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FMQB: Minshew, the Enigma

Quick Hits:

  • The Rams and Cowboys were sure brought down to earth in a heartbeat.
  • In Lions vs. Chiefs, there were 5 straight possessions that ended with a fumble. 2 of those were back to back possessions by the Lions where they fumbled within the 3 yard line.
  • I know they seemed to have made nice, but I have a feeling that Adam Theilen and Kirk Cousins don’t get along…From the sounds of it, Diggs is unhappy too
  • Tampa Bay and Cleveland are essentially a play away from being 3-1, Detroit basically 2 plays away from being undefeated.
  • The Browns tried a play in which the 4th player to touch the ball threw a pass, 5 technically if you count the Center.
  • Only 3 home teams won this week
  • The Bills hung with the Patriots
  • The Lions hung with the Chiefs, and if it wasn’t for fumbles they would have won by a minimum of 2 and possibly 10 points.

 

 

Stat of the Week:

Frank Gore became only the 4th player to rush for 15,000 yards

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Kyle Allen is 3rd in the league in Passer Rating, has thrown for the same or more TD’s than Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins, and Josh Allen despite starting half the games. Kyle Allen was also undrafted

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Even after an “off” week, Patrick Mahomes is still on pace for 6000 yards and 40 TD’s.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Larry Fitzgerald is only 223 receptions behind Jerry Rice. At 36, it’s doable to catch him if he has 3 solid seasons in him yet. Yards are a bigger issue though, and he’s back 6,316. Makes you appreciate Rice even more. Jason Witten is the next closest active player in yards, and he’s over 10,000 away!

 

Stat of the Week #5

The Bills gave Tom Brady a fit on defense, making him go 18 of 39 for 150 yards in Buffalo. A rating of 32.2

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Buccaneers scored the most points in franchise history, most points ever against a team that was 3-0 or better, and tied the most points scored against a team that was in the Super Bowl the year before. Sure you can blame Goff, he had 3 INT’s and a Fumble with the chance to win. But he threw for a career high 517 yards and the defense gave up 55 points. Goff also tied the NFL record for most completions in a game with 45.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Leonard Fournette had 225 yards rushing. You don’t see a lot of 200+ yard games anymore

 

Stat of the Week #8:

There are 4 first year head coaches in the league, and they are a combined 0-15-1

 

For the Record:

  • If you lose a game to a team who’s backup QB comes into the game on the 1st drive and outplays your $84M QB. AND if you have a receiver who is excited about the potential of joining the Bills, you might be in trouble
  • Thursday Night Football has produced two excellent games in back to back weeks. In fact, the lineup for Thursdays is looking more promising than Monday Night’s Bears vs. Redskins or Bengals vs. Steelers.
  • Burfict was suspended the entire season for his hit on Sunday (well deserved in my book). Burfict has been fined $469K and given up $3.7M in game checks in 6 years.
  • I think we’re crowing Gardner Minshew too early, but he had a play where he dropped the ball, got hit (and dang near broke his ankle) but still completed a pass for a first down. He also had a play where he made 3 lineman whiff on tackling him and scored.
  • That being said, the fact that Gardner Minshew is turning into this enigma of a being is absolutely hilarious to me. If he has any sort of success in the NFL, this is what the new Chuck Norris-like comparisons are going to be. There are literally legends about his life coming out already!
  • The Browns are leading the AFC North for the first time since October of 2014. If you would have asked me the last time they led the division, it would have been a hell of a lot longer ago than 2014!
  • QB Depth is the key to this season. These players are keeping their teams relevant when in the past you used to say “Maybe next year.” Bridgewater has won 2 games, Kyle Allen 2, Gardner Minshew 2, Jacoby Brissett 1, Chase Daniel and Mason Rudolph has kept their teams a game out of 1st place in their division. This year has been brutal among QB injuries, earlier in the year than a few other years.

 

 

Quarter pole:

Hard to believe the season is already 25% over. Some teams have distanced themselves from the rest of the field, while other divisions are wide open for the taking.

 

AFC: Patriots have a 2 game lead, Chiefs have a 3 game lead, AFC South is tied across the board, and the Browns are winning the division after starting 1-2.

 

NFC: The 49ers lead the division while the Rams are in 3rd. NFC North is the most competitive division in football. Wild card race will be most competitive in the NFC, with no mediocre teams creeping in at 9-7 or anything.

 

Updated Playoff Predictions:

  1. Patriots
  2. Chiefs
  3. Texans
  4. Ravens
  5. Browns
  6. Bills

 

  1. Cowboys
  2. Rams
  3. Saints
  4. Bears
  5. Packers
  6. 49ers/Seahawks/Lions

 

If the Playoffs Were to Start Today:

Browns, Bills and Raiders are the last 3 in the AFC. The Rams are out and the 49ers have the #1 seed in the NFC. Denver would have the #1 pick in the draft.

 

College Note:

I don’t follow or talk much about College football, but it will be incredibly interesting to see what happens with this Fair Pay to Play act that California is signing into law. It essentially makes it illegal for the NCAA to tell athletes that they can’t collect endorsement money, or potentially other money. Does this trickle to other states, does it completely upend NCAA rules, or does every top ranked athlete now choose a California school so they can make money as they work.

 

2pt Tracker:

 

Jaguars: -1

Texans: +1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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: Gano Lo Gano! Gano Lo Gano!

Posted by fmquarterback on October 12, 2018
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FMQB: Gano Lo Gano! Gano Lo Gano!

Bit of a shorter week, but trying something new to attain my goal of not doing long, drawn out paragraphs. Here’s a quick highlight section:

 

Week 5 Highlights:

  • Marshawn hasn’t lost anything. He almost had another Saints like run even though it was blown dead.
  • Saquon Barkley seriously looks like Barry Sanders 2.0 out there, and I don’t think that’s crowning him too early
  • I was as surprised as you to see the Bills beat the Titans, and the Browns beat the Ravens
  • The Browns nearly tied AGAIN! There has never been a team with 2 ties before
  • The Vikings eeked one out this week, I like most pegged the Philly game for a sure loss. Their schedule gets easier, so look out NFC North
  • That’s because the Packers are imploding. Crosby missing 4 FG’s, and Xtra point, 13 pts off the board when they lost by 8
  • The 63 yarder by Gano was beautiful, and it would have been good from 70
  • Odell Beckham looks like a whiny toddler on the sidelines. I wonder if he regrets signing that huge contract

 

Drew Brees record:

The NFL schedule makers did a marvelous job putting the Saints in primetime the game that Brees would break the record. I was off by a quarter, he was so dominant that he had his 201 yards well before halftime. The record breaking TD almost looked like the Redskins let him have it, it brought up memories of Strahans sack on Favre where he basically laid down when Strahan broke through. Either way, nice way to cap off a top notch career. There are haters out there, saying Brees gets at a minimum 9 dome games a year, and that he’s really only had the 1 Super Bowl run. Perhaps he’ll be compared to Marino, but I think you put him in top 5 QB’s of all time for sure, with Manning, Brady, Montana, and Elway.

 

Stat of the Week #1:

The Browns have already played in 3 OT games this year (through 5), and they’re 1-1-1 in those games

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Drew Brees went from 3rd to 2nd on the all time leading yardage mark by throwing a TD. 1 Quarter later, he went from 2nd to 1st on the all time list by throwing a TD. Brees also had a stat line of 26/29, 363 yards, 3 TD’s and 0 INT’s, and that wasn’t enough for a perfect rating. He had 153.2.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

On the first play from scrimmage, Josh Rosen tossed a 75 yard TD. The entire rest of the game on 24 more attempts, he put up only 95 yards

 

Stat of the Week #4:

TJ Watt and JJ Watt are in a brother vs. brother battle for the sack lead, both are tied for 1st with 6 sacks a piece.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

The Cowboys are 18 of their last 19 when going for it on 4th and 1, yet decided to punt in OT

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Adam Thielen got a $500 scholarship to play D3 football, wasn’t invited to the combine, went undrafted, and just became the first WR ever to start a season with 5 straight 100+ yard receiving games.

 

Stat of the Week #7:

The 49ers became the first team to pick up 30 first downs, hold their opponent to 10 or fewer first downs, but still lose by double digits.

 

Quick Hits:

  • All rookie QB’s went 4-0 this week after going 0-4 last week
  • DeShaun Watson got nailed 3 good times trying to get it in the endzone
  • The Cardinals were the last winless team to get a win, meaning the Browns and Lions can pop the champagne
  • In back to back weeks, Matt Patricia has taken out Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

 

 

For the Record:

  • There was a flag for taunting after Drew Brees broke the record. Seriously?
  • The Browns have a better record than the defending Super Bowl Champs
  • The NFC East is up for the taking, and a 7-9 team could win that division. Just painful to watch the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles or Redskins play
  • All Brees got for breaking the record was a lame certificate
  • “Gano” in Spanish actually means “Won.” Proof the NFL is rigged…

 

Speaking of Which:

The Spanish call of the game winning field goal is classic! Take a listen:

The announcer is saying “Gano Lo Gano” which means “Gano won it”

 

Days of Yore:

So I heard a comment and forgot about an old FMQB bit I used to do. Remember the “it has been 7 days since the last NFL arrest?” I realized I haven’t used that in awhile! Apparently arrests are down significantly, with over 70 happening in 2017 but closer to 30 this year. Wonder what the change is?

 

Games of the Week:

Steelers at Bengals- Chance to see if the Bengals are legit this year

Chiefs at Patriots- Could easily be an AFC Championship pre-cursor

Dophins vs. Bears- Yes, somehow this is a Game of the Week, and at the end one of these teams will have 4 wins.

 

Meme of the Week:

 

Meme of the Week #2:

Posted by fmquarterback on September 28, 2018
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FMQB:

Week 3 was the weekend of surprises. I’m not sure if it was a bigger surprise that the Bills won, or that the Vikings lost. The Patriots laid an egg against the 0-2 Lions, and now they’re 1-2. The Jaguars, who had just slain the mighty beast the week before only put up 2 FG’s. Drew Brees, at 39 years old, also had 2 rushing TD’s including a 7 yard run where he juked 2 defenders!

 

 

Quick Hits:

  • Is Marcus Mariota not the starter anymore? I missed something, and he came in after Gabbert got injured
  • Carson Wentz to Dallas Goedert for the TD, means it was North Dakota to South Dakota. Cool!
  • I went from skeptic to genuinely excited for the Monday night game just to see Patrick Mahomes play
  • Adrian Peterson looked like the 2012 version of himself on Sunday
  • Jimmy Garropolo going out for the 49ers is heartbreaking, even from a fan who sees the 49ers as the biggest threat in the division
  • Week of the rookie QB’s! Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen shined, while Darnold and Rosen did not
  • I’m shocked Matt Patricia got the best of his old boss

 

Bar Observations:

I went to a bar in the #BoldNorth to watch the Vikings vs. Rams game. While living in Minneapolis helps me hear about the Vikings more than any other team, I had a few interesting observations:

  • Vikings fans were cheering just as loud for the successful extra point as they were TD’s
  • Kirk Cousins is apparently the greatest thing that’s happened in this town since Kevin Garnett
  • Minnesota Nice Quote of the night “HOLDING, HOW IS THAT HOLDING???” <tv shows replay> “Eh, that was actually a pretty good call.” Vikings fan

 

Stolen Stat

The Raiders have not trailed in any part of the first 3 quarters of any game, but are 0-3.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #2:

In 2016 only 1 QB threw for 5 TD passes, in 2017 2 QB’s did it. So far through 3.0625 weeks, 3 QB’s have done it in 2018.

 

Stat of the Week #3:

Jared Goff is the 3rd QB in NFL history to have a perfect passer rating while throwing for over 30 attempts

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Proof the game is changing: Goff and Cousins both had at least 400 yds, 3 TD’s, and 0 INTs. Prior to 2018 this had only happened once in the same game, but this is the 2nd time this has happened this season.

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #5:

Ryan Tannehill is 9-1 in his last 10 starts

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Patrick Mahomes 13 TD passes through 3 games is an NFL record. Keep in mind he has 4 career starts in the NFL too

 

For the Record:

  • The Vikings didn’t miss a FG on Sunday
  • The Bills upsetting the Vikings was the biggest upset since 1995
  • Stiff arm in the Steelers Bucs game was just brutal, in a good way
  • Fitz-magic turned into Fitz-tragic in the 2nd quarter. 3 picks, ouch!
  • Pulling Sam Bradford from the game with 4 minutes left was a bit of a head scratcher to me. I realize he fumbled but that’s not the time to make the switch.

 

Mo Money Mo Problems:

Pricetag of Thursday night’s Vikings vs. Rams roster? $448,269,294 in guaranteed money (over several years). To put this into perspective, the Golden State Warriors alone have $313M in guaranteed money.

 

Coulda Woulda Shoulda:

Adrian Peterson will go down as one of the best RB’s in history, despite being 5843 yards shy of Emmit Smith’s rushing record. This is one of those records we’ll never see beat, and he very well could have surpassed that mark. In 2014 he had the child abuse suspension, 2016 he was on injured reserve early in the season, and 2017 was a bit of a joke with him bouncing around between teams. His last full season he ran for 1485 at age 30 mind you. I realize that’s a killer season, but if you figure he can pull that off in his 3 off-years, that puts him at 16,428 coming into this year! Or only 1927 shy of Smith’s record. At his current pace, you’d think he could have knocked that out in two seasons.

 

Rant of the Year: Penalty on the NFL for Roughing the Fans:

Ok, here is my one rant for the year…I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never been more upset with a rule than what the new roughing the passer has become (and it hasn’t even affected my team yet). After what happened last week, the refs were at it again. Before people debate me, I realize this is how the rule is written, so my problem is more with the rule and the league rather than the refs. I also realize that this was my argument supporting the catch rule for the 7ish years that was in place. SO in reality, my argument is that the rule needs to change, and not that these were bad calls. But here’s my problem:

 

  1. Clay Matthews is 100% right, the game has become WAY too soft.
  2. There’s zero consistency in the calls. In the Redskins game, one play had Aaron Rodgers get completely swung around and body slammed WWE style. There was intent there, but no flag. Next series Clay Matthews does what’s considered a form tackle, with Smith holding the ball still, and he gets a flag
  3. This problem is 100% self inflicted, just like the catch rule was and just like the Anthem controversy is (I did it, I said the “A” word). Just makes you more and more wary of how the NFL as an organization as a whole is run.
  4. Big Ben also realized a nuance to the rule; you can now flop and get a flag. That’s all we need in football now!
  5. Dolphins William Hayes tore his ACL trying to avoid putting his body weight on the Derek Carr. Carr even later came out and said “I wish he would have just landed on me.”

 

I also can’t stand how the NFL keeps supporting this. The NBA will flat out admit when they have mistakes and blown calls. And for some reason, the psychology behind it is to say “ah, oh well that happens to the best of us. We’re all human” rather than to continue blaming the refs. There was even a slim chance for hope when they announced Wednesday that they were going to review the rule and that they were “concerned with the amount of flags thrown,” but then they came out AGAIN and said this is the rule and this is the “point of emphasis.”

 

If they continue to call this a foul, you’re completely limiting the point of even pressuring the QB. If going for a clean sack has the inherent risk of a 15 yard penalty, why not put 11 cornerbacks out there and go for an INT everytime?

 

I can see the side of protecting the QB however. You don’t want star players getting hurt like Brady in 2008, or Wentz last year or Jimmy Garrapolo. It basically ruins that team’s season, so I understand that. But still, 34 Flags through the first 3 weeks, vs 16 flags at this same point last year shows this is an issue.

 

Quote of the Week:

Two or three years ago, it probably doesn’t get flagged” Terry McAulay, who has refed 6 Championship games and 3 Super Bowls

 

Throwback Quote of the Week#2:

After the Bears had a 4th quarter comeback against the Cardinals, you couldn’t help but replay “The Bears are who we thought they were, and we let ‘em off the hook!” in your mind.

 

My Meme of the Week:

Just look at the beak on Josh Rosen! Almost as big as the Cardinal on his helmet.

 

Meme of the Week #2:

 

Meme of the Week #3:

 

Scavenger Hunt:

Alright play with me guys. I’m going to end the week by sending you on a little scavenger hunt that should get you laughing. This will probably work better on a computer than a phone, but here’s how it’ll go: I want you to click on the first link. Get the video playing with the volume up, and then as that’s playing, open the 2nd link in a new tab and focus on that picture as you’re listening to the video. You’ll never look at this guy the same again! and you’re welcome!

 

https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/videos/patrick-mahomes-postgame-press-conference/1666170423506449/

 

http://www.stickpng.com/es/img/al-cine/los-muppets/rana-gustavo-rene-timido

FMQB: You Vike That?!?!

Posted by fmquarterback on September 14, 2018
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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: Ghosts of Playoffs Past

Posted by fmquarterback on January 12, 2018
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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- Drop Your Buffs

Posted by fmquarterback on January 5, 2018
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FMQB: Drop Your Buffs

 

Sorry for the Survivor reference, but now that all the riff-raff are out, it’s time to get down to business.

 

I missed a week, despite some time off. Here’s a snapshot of what Week 16-17 was going to look like.

 

  • The Eagles suddenly aren’t looking invincible anymore
  • Hope you didn’t bet on the Eagles game, their spread was 9.5. Scored a flukey TD at the end of the game to go up 9, and then kneeled during the extra point to be sportsmen. That’s a bad beat!
  • 2 TD’s got called back against the Bills using the stupid catch rule. Go figure it was the Patriots who benefited
  • Interesting situation in the NFC, where you almost want the 4th seed so if you win the first game you play the Wentz-less Eagles. Both the Panthers and Saints will be fighting for the NFC South, so one of them wants to win to get a home game. So if you’re the Rams, I think resting your starters and letting Garrapolo go 5-0 as a 49er makes perfect sense.

 

Back to Week 17, and the culmination of 20 team’s seasons.

Continue Reading

FMQB: Ramblin Along

Posted by fmquarterback on December 22, 2017
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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

FMQB: Short, Sweet and Late

Posted by fmquarterback on December 15, 2017
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FMQB: Short, Sweet and Late

 

Carson Wentz:

Ugh, this years injuries are insane. Carson Wentz going down became the 16th team (half the league!) who have had season ending injuries or benchings. They were Super Bowl favorites until this week. He tore his ACL and stayed in the game for 4 plays, including throwing a TD. I vaguely remember Phillip Rivers doing the same thing several years back, but this is unheard of. That’s North Dakota tough.

 

Quick Hits:

  • Apparently diving at a player’s knees during the victory formation and then trying to climb into the stands to fight a fan doesn’t warrant a suspension anymore….
  • My second point about this, is that we’re hearing how egregious the fans’ actions were to throw drinks onto the field, yet nobody is talking about both Bennett and Jefferson literally trying to end a lineman’s season and inflict both physical and financial
  • The NFL will never get any credibility regarding the safety of its players if they don’t start enforcing concussion protocol rules. Tom Savage’s incident was, well, savage. But they need to be able to take out Russell Wilson caliber players if they suspect concussions.
  • The Pittsburgh Ravens game was one of the better ones of the year. 39-38 against bitter rivals.
  • How did the Patriots lose on Monday night? Looks like that Gronk suspension actually meant something.
  • Packers almost lost to the Browns, needed a 14 point comeback just to take it into OT! But Aaron Rodgers is back baby!!!

Continue Reading

FMQB: Puddin’ Pops

Posted by fmquarterback on November 3, 2017
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FMQB: Puddin’ Pops

 

Buccaneers disappointing

What happened to Jameis “Puddin Pops” Winston this year? Came into the season with so much promise. Analysts were basically putting him as a top 7 or 8 QB this year, with the team making the playoffs. Granted Hard Knocks can make any team look like a Super Bowl contender (case in point, watch the Rams one from last year). But they seemed to show a ton of promise on that show too.

 

For Liberty and Justice For All!

As you know I’m staying out of the politics of the national anthem, but the Ezekiel Elliot back and forth is utterly ridiculous this year. This truly highlights what’s wrong with our court system in America. His suspension has been imposed 3 times, and successfully appealed all 3 times. Make a decision already! Look at this below, why the heck are there so many chances to appeal? For the record, had Elliot served the 6 games, he’d already be a game into his season, with fresh legs and the ability to carry his team into the playoffs. Take a look at this (it’s not fair that I have lawyer friends who read this. I’m sure I’ve butchered this so take it with a grain of salt).

 

8/11: Goodell imposes 6 game suspension on Ezekiel Elliot

9/8: After taking the NFL to court, Elliot was granted an emergency injunction that allowed him to play Week 1.

9/15: NFL files an emergency motion to stay the injunction

10/12: Court rules in NFL’s favor, re-states 6 game suspension

10/16: Elliot’s lawyers ask for an emergency hearing. Is granted a temporary restraining order allowing him to play

10/30: Judge denies temporary injunction, thus re-instituting the 6 game suspension

11/3: Court of Appeals grants a request for an administrative stay, allowing Elliot to play

Continue Reading