Drew Brees

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FMQB: 3rd in Completion %, 1st in Mustaches

Posted by fmquarterback on September 20, 2019
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FMQB: 3rd in Completion %, 1st in Mustaches

1/8 Suprises:

This WAY too early list, I want to point out a couple teams that have been surprising:

  • The Chargers, who challenged the Chiefs for the AFC West last year, may have a rough year ahead of them. They barely beat the Colts and a backup QB, and they just lost to the Lions.
  • Dare I say the Colts could be competitive this year under Jacoby Brissett?
  • The 49ers are 2-0, 3rd in the league in points, including outscoring the Chiefs and Rams, and both were road wins
  • The Bills are 2-0 but have beaten 2 terrible teams, don’t get too excited yet
  • The Buccaneers are technically in 1st place in their division, the Bears in last
  • The Ravens have scored the most points in the league, the Packers have given up the 2nd fewest points on defense

 

Game of the Week:

I have to say, I was deeply disappointed with my geographical restrictions this week. Fox hyped up it’s “Game of the Week” with the Saints vs. Rams. It was a rematch of the NFC Championship, which almost should be a must-see game nationwide. Instead, I got stuck with Broncos vs. Bears, yuck! And for the first 55 minutes, it was yuck; a non-exciting low scoring game. But watching the final sequence has it down to game of the year nominee! We’ll start at the 2:25 mark. Broncos are down 13-6 and have 43 yards to go until pay-dirt. They convert a 4th and 10. Drive further into the red zone and convert a second 4th down conversion to set up 1st down from the 7 yard line and 31 seconds. Plenty of time! Next play the Broncos score to pull up down by one. They decide to go for 2, but get a delay of game. They kick an extra point, and MISS it! Bears win! But hold on, they were offsides. The Broncos then line up for go for two, and succeed!!! Broncos are going to win!

 

But hold on, the Bears have 31 seconds left. A short play and a very questionable roughing the passer puts them at their own 45. After 3 straight incompletions, the bears actually go for it on  4th down, on their own 45. Trubisky held the ball FOREVER but finally zipped it for a 25 yard game. But the Bears kicking is terrible, they’re about to lose anyw…holy cow, 53 yard field goal for the win!

 

Stat of the Week #1:

The Giants are 0-2 for the 6th time in the last 7 seasons

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Dolphins have been outscored 102-10 in the first 2 games

 

Stat of the Week #3:

The Redskins are 10th in the league in scoring, but are 0-2. The Packers are 26th but are 2-0.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Cam Newton has yet to throw a TD pass this season and has -2 rushing yards…

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Dak Prescott is completing 82.3% of his passes this season!

 

Stat of the Week #6:

The Patriots have given up 3 points on defense, and have scored the 2nd most points in the league with 76

 

Stat of the Week #7:

Way too early stat: Dalvin Cook is on pace for 2112 rushing yards this season

 

Stat of the Week #8:

Julio Jones has already matched is TD output for all of 2017. He had a 343 day TD drought from 2017-2018. Ironically he now has the longest TD streak of any WR with 6 games.

 

Stat of the Week #9:

Guess what QB is 3rd in Completion percentage, 7th in QB Rating, and 1st in mustaches? That’s right, Gardner Minshew!

 

For the Record:

  • The Packers have sealed 2 straight wins with interceptions in the endzone
  • Why would the Steelers trade a 1st round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick AFTER knowing Ben Roethlisberger was out for the season? There’s a chance Miami picks 1st and 2nd next year.
  • Steelers are now the No-B’s
  • Wow, Eli Manning’s season didn’t last long. 2 weeks, then benched for the rookie!
  • The Vikings drafted then released K Dan Carlson last year. Since being picked up by the Raiders, he has made 17 straight field goals
  • It’s Week 2 and we already have 5 QB’s hurt for extended time (Brees, Roethlisberger, Darnold, Foles,  possibly Cam), 2 benched for backups (Giants, Dolphins), and 1 surprise retirement (Luck/Colts). Literally a quarter of the league’s QB’s will not be starting Week 3 that we anticipated would start by the end of the 3rd preseason week.
  • I’ve never seen a game with the amount of injuries the Eagles had with nearly the entire WR corps going down and Wentz hurting his ribs.

 

Adventures in Officiating:

What seems to be a yearly occurrence, especially around Week 2 (remember Clay Matthews last year) is the terrible officiating that seems to haunt the NFL. We once again saw several terrible calls that not even review could overturn. This can’t keep costing teams games!

  1. Roughing the passer on the Broncos on the Bears final drive. They literally hit Trubisky when he still had the ball, and it was a normal tackle, and they got a 15 yd penalty
  2. The Jets roughing the passer on Monday night was also ridiculous, and he even got fined $21K a day later
  3. Even as a Rams fan, the Goff fumble turned incomplete pass was a bad call.
  4. The Viking offensive pass interference was a terrible call that took a TD off the board. There have been other PI’s overturned, I’m telling you this is STILL going to be a disaster
  5. On TNF, there were 15 flags in 1st half last night

 

AB Again?!?!:

My God, with the news coming out you’d think this guy was running for president and the election is a week away!!! SINCE last week’s article, we’ve had 4 more off field issues happen surrounding Antonio Brown. It’s about time for this guy to go away. We had another sexual assault claim (moreso an exposure issue) and that person isn’t even asking for money. We had a 3rd assault claim. We had a doctor post a video of him doing a body fat test and AB farting as he was kneeling next to him and giggling like a little girl (ok this one is kind of funny). Then we had the 4th issue where he was sending threatening texts to a person, and actually reached out to the NFL to get him to stop (once again isn’t looking for money).

 

Quote of the Week

“Stay off Tom” Ref to Dolphins player after a sack which was a legal hit

 

Quote of the Week #2:

“My bad Doc” Antonio Brown, after farting near the doctor

 

Season Project: 2PT Tracker:

The extended extra point is starting to show some dividends regarding making that play “exciting” again. 2 teams have now gone for 2 late in the 4th quarter instead of kicking to tie the game. I plan on tracking a plus/minus on those teams and seeing by the end of the year if it makes a difference on teams making or missing the playoffs. I can’t count the Broncos in this one, because despite successfully getting the 2, they lost on the final crazy drive. So that leaves us at:

 

Jaguars: -1

Texans: +1

 

Memes of the Week:

 

 

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FMQB: QB Perfection

Posted by fmquarterback on November 30, 2018
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FMQB: QB Perfection

Week 12 Highlights:

  • Utterly shocked that the Cowboys felled the mighty Saints. They held them to 10 points. The Saints had scored 10 points in 12 of last 20 QUARTERS.
  • The Bears won, on the road, a division rivalry, and with a backup QB. Feels like everything is going right for them this year.
  • After starting 0-3, the Texans are actually in the “Elite” conversation
  • The Bengals started off so strong, but now with Dalton on IR you have to wonder if Marvin Lewis finally gets the Axe.
  • Lot of QB’s down now, Flacco, Dalton, Alex Smith, Bortles,

 

Stat of the Week:

Since Hue Jackson left Cleveland, Baker Mayfield has thrown 9 TD’s to 1 INT

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Dan Carlson was 1 for 4 on FG’s with the Vikings, and is 7 for 8 since

 

Stat of the Week #3:

For the 3rd consecutive week, a team has put up 500+ yards and lost.

 

Stat of the Week #4:

Phillip Rivers record 25 passes to start a game, perfect. He ended 28 for 29, for an NFL record 96.6% completion percentage. You also know you’re old but dedicated when you remember watching Mark Brunell set the record with the Redskins, and David Carr with the Texans

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Brady passed Peyton Manning for the most all time passing yards, and is now the first person to accumulate 80,000 yards total offense

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Drew Brees is on pace to demolish the single season record for passer rating. Aaron Rodgers 2011 campaign gave him 122.5, Brees currently is at 127.3 with 5 games remaining. In fact, if the season ended today, 4 QBs would be in the Top 10 (Rivers, Goff and Mahomes are on the all time leader board). Which is crazy since in 2017 nobody cracked the top 50.

 

Follow up Stat:

Lamar Jackson ran it 26 times for his first start. Michael Vick, the quintessential running QB never had more than 15 attempts in his entire career. That truly surprised me.

 

Stolen Stat #7:

The NFL’s Final Four in 2017 (Philadelphia, New England, Minnesota, Jacksonville) has a combined record of 22-21-1.

 

For the Record:

  • The 4 longest win streaks currently are Texans, Bears, Colts, Cowboys. None of which made the playoffs last year
  • The Packers have lost 8 straight road games, yet Aaron Rodgers expects to win at the Bears as a part of his plan to make the playoffs.
  • It’s officially December (or will be tomorrow), and the Browns are only 1.5 games out of the playoffs right now.
  • Amari Cooper is proving people wrong, he has been an excellent pickup for Dallas
  • What does $54 million get you nowadays? A 60% completion percentage with 17 turnovers, a 46.8 QBR, and 3 wins in 11 games. That Blake Bortles contract was brutal.
  • In the span of 1 week, people were calling for Jason Garrett’s head, to now if the playoffs started today Dallas would host a playoff game.
  • I would NOT want to play the Colts, Seahawks, or Cowboys in the playoffs. They all are hot teams going into the final stretch
  • I think I may have crowned Nick Mullens a bit too early
  • Apparently the refs on Thursday night’s game had 148 years of combined experience. They blew a ton of calls.

 

Changing of the Guard:

Something that’s rarely discussed is the change of team ownership. In the past 12 months however, this is happening to a large percentage of the league and could have a few repurcussions on the future of the game. Carolina, Seattle, New Orleans, LA Chargers, Pittsburgh, now Houston have all had ownership changes or deaths.

 

More QB Perfection:

In Monday night’s game, there was 2:15 left in the 2nd quarter before an incomplete pass was thrown by either QB. For Phillip Rivers, there was 5:59 left in the 3rd quarter before he threw an incomplete pass.

 

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: 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:

FMQB: Kermit the Frog Strikes again

Posted by fmquarterback on October 5, 2018
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FMQB: Kermit the Frog Strikes again

Week 5 is also suspension week, where some players will start their season. Julian Edelman will help a .500 Patriots team immensely and now sees him lining up with Josh Gordon and Gronk, look out…Mark Ingraham is also back to help the Saints, and he should be able to plow in some TD’s rather than relying on Brees to do the heavy rushing work haha.

 

Overtime Madness!

Titans Eagles was a bit of a shocker. The Eagles went up by a FG in OT, and the Titans converted 3 4th down conversions on the final drive (including a 4th and 15) to win the game. On one 4th down, it was super bold for Mike Vrabel to take the FG team off the field and go for it. Keep in mind we call him bold, but the next coach an idiot…

 

In Texans vs. Colts, the Colts went for it on 4th and 4 on their own 43 with 27 seconds left. I absolutely hated the call when I saw it, even before the failed 4th down happened. Because I knew the Texans needed 1 play to get into FG range. I still wasn’t a fan of it until I read an interesting point. A punt ensures a tie, the Colts are not a playoff team this year, but they had a hot QB and a hall of fame kicker, and a rookie coach who wanted to show his team that he had faith in them. I have changed my mind and like the call in that situation.

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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: 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: The Minneapolis Miracle

Posted by fmquarterback on January 19, 2018
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FMQB:

 

Don’t worry, I’m getting there, I’m getting there.

 

Let’s take it one game at a time, since in reality the weekend was just a big crescendo to one of the best plays you’ll ever see in playoff history. I would first like to point out, that I didn’t see any of this coming, and went 1 for 3 on my picks. To be fair, there were 4 QB’s who have made it to and/or won Super Bowls against QB’s with extremely little playoff experience, and somehow the New QB’s went 3-1 in this weekend’s matchups.

 

Falcons at Eagles:

Little bit of a weird game, didn’t really seem like either team could get much going. The Eagles defense looks legit though. I was also surprised at with how much Foles seemed to be struggling early, he ended up going a respectable 23-30. The Falcons had a shot, drove down 74 yards and had 4 plays from 1st and Goal. But it was painfully obvious who Ryan wanted to go to, throwing 3 of the 4 passes to Julio. It came down to the final play from the 2 yard line, but they couldn’t punch it in. Good ending to a defensive game.

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FMQB: Final Push

Posted by fmquarterback on December 23, 2016
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FMQB: Final Push

 

Crazy AFC South:

Despite being the division of mediocrity, the AFC South is one of the more exciting races to follow this year. The Colts, Texans and Titans are all either 8-6 or 7-7 going into the final 2 weeks, with the two 8-6 teams meeting in Week 17. There was a range of emotions on Sunday in the division, with Indy a game behind both Tennessee and Houston. There was a point in the 1st quarter that you could realize that the Colts were going to beat the Vikings (yes, the 1st quarter). There had to be some scoreboard watching to see that both Tennessee and Houston were losing. But inexplicably both ended up staging crazy comebacks; the Titans dropping the nearly invulnerable at home Chiefs, and the Texans coming back with a backup QB.

 

Quick Hits:

  • CANNOT believe the Titans beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead! Ryan Succop (ex-Chief kicker) for the win kicking a rock 52 yards.
  • Probably equally surprised that the Giants have beaten the Cowboys twice, but just lost to the Eagles last night
  • I’ll continue to say it, but the Panthers have had 4 games that 90% of the time you win. They are those 4 ugly losses away from being 10-4 right now.
  • Excited for the slate of games on Saturday. Christmas worked out just perfectly this year with the schedule to set up a Saturday of fun for most people. Yours truly got a new sound bar for Christmas and can open it a day early 🙂

 

Stat of the Week:

Dak Prescott tossed up the 2nd highest completion percentage in NFL history (min 30 attempts) with 88.89% on Sunday. Where are the calls for Romo now?

 

Stat of the Week #2:

Ezekial Elliot only needs 257 yards in his last 2 games to break Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #3:

Rodgers is 4-of-6 when passing 40 or more yards downfield in the final two minutes of regulation. The rest of the NFL is 2-of-39 in those situations

 

Stolen Stat of the Week #4:

In Matt Moore’s past 10 starts (dating back to 2011), Moore is 7-3 and has thrown 19 touchdowns to six interceptions.

 

Stat of the Week #5:

Drew Brees is leading the league in Passing Yards (4559) and TD’s (34), yet somehow didn’t even go to the Pro Bowl.

 

Stat of the Week #6:

Elliot and Prescott are the first Rookie QB/RB duo to ever be elected to the Pro Bowl

 

Celebration Stat of the Week #7:

The Salvation Army, received $182K in online donations in the 13 hours after Elliot jumped into the giant red kettle

 

Playoff Quick Hits:

  • New England, 12-2, clinched a first-round bye for an NFL-record seventh straight year.
  • Oakland, 11-3, clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2002.
  • Green Bay, once 4-6, controls its own destiny right now
  • The Seahawks have sneakily gotten into a strong holding of the #2 seed
  • Wow, Dolphins with the decisive win with a backup QB to stay in the WildCard lead!
  • Same with the Texans!

 

Question of the Week:

Why did Mike Zimmer have the massive eye patch in the 1st half, and not after halftime?

 

Double Standards:

Although a fan of his play, Odell Beckham Jr’s off field antics can be pretty annoying. He brings up a good point however, in saying that if it was him that jumped into the Salvation Army kettle, he would have been fined. We see a lot of this in the league, and I think it’s safe to say that the character you portray gets you places. Jerry Rice got every Pass Interference call because of who he was. Tom Brady gets roughing the passer penalties. Sometimes when it’s obvious, it raises eyebrows. Example was when Cam Newton got smoked in the helmet after giving himself up for a slide. You see the flag and are thinking “wow, he actually got a call for once.” But nope, it was taunting on him because he tossed the ball at the guy who just blasted him. FMQB readers know I’m not a fan of God’s Gift to Man Cam, but even that one was a bit questionable.

 

The Browns are 0-12 since Terrell Pryor said the team could win out. That’s garbage

 

Photo credit: NFL.com

 

 

FMQB: Playoffs? Don’t talk about Playoffs

Posted by fmquarterback on January 8, 2016
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Week 17

Photo credit: NFL.com

 

We’re to playoff time! The season is always fun, but the final 11 games always ramp up the pressure and drama. But first, a few Week 17 notes.

 

Week 17

The Jets controlled their destiny and missed out on the playoffs, losing to nemesis Buffalo with only revenge to play for. Feel bad for Ryan Fitzpatrick, who sort of revitalized his career this year and played solid football, but has never seen the playoffs.

 

Still shocked that the Patriots laid an egg against the Dolphins, and gave up the #1 seed. It’s a good thing that Brady has a BYE, because he looked severely hobbled after the game.

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