FMQB: 26 Years of Mikes

We’re down to the final 4 weeks of the season, which means….dun dun dun, my favorite website of all time is back up! http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

Play around with it, and compare to my predictions below.

Week 13 Highlights:

• Lamar Jackson is the last rookie 1^st round QB to start, but he’s 3-0
• The Broncos are getting hot at the right time
• Cardinals over Packers in Lambeau? McCarthy deserved to get fired just for that
• Crazy last play for the Bills. Guy was wide open, how do you miss that throw. I mean WIDE open, nobody within 15 yards of him in the endzone
• The Panthers are getting cold at the wrong time, have dropped 4 straight and still have to play the Saints twice to end the season
• How do the Colts win 5 in a row, and then put up 0 against the Jags?
• The Chargers comeback was insane

Stat of the Week:

Phillip Rivers tied Peyton Manning with the most comebacks of 16 points or more. Both now have 7

Stat of the Week #2:

In their last 8 games, the Colts were averaging 33.1 points per game. They put up 0 on Sunday, against a team they scored 29 on 3 weeks prior

Stat of the Week #3:

Aaron Donald is 6 sacks short of tying the all time record. He has 4 games to do it. He’s on pace to be a half sack short.

Stat of the Week #4:

If/When the Patriots clinch their division, they will be the only team in the 4 majors to do so in 10 straight seasons; the other being the Atlanta Braves

Stat of the Week #5:

The stat line does enough justice. Derrick Henry: 17 carries, 238 yards, 4 TD’s, and 14 yards per carry. Became the 2^nd person ever with a 99 yard TD run.

Stat of the Week #6:

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Steelers were 174-0-1 when leading by 16 points.

Stat of the Week #7:

The Situation:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Kareem Hunt, the breaking news that came out literally minutes before I published last week’s article. I credit the Chiefs over the NFL in this situation. I think the NFL truly botched this one, and if it wasn’t for the video then Hunt would still be playing in the league. They didn’t even interview Kareem or the woman in question, it feels like they turned the other cheek. Credit the Chiefs on this one, it’s incredibly hard to straight up CUT a superstar, especially when you’re on a Super Bowl run. And they technically cut him for lying to them, not even the abuse. So kudos to them, that’s a hard business decision but the right one.

Mike Mike Mike:

Do we think the new Packer’s head coach will be another Mike? Their last 3 have been Mike McCarthy, Mike Sherman, and Mike Holmgrenn. That’s 26 years of Mikes!

Quick Hits:

• Still can’t get over the Packers losing to the warmest of warm weather teams, at home, in December.
• Mike McCarthy being fired was a foregone conclusion, but still crazy to me that a guy who took a team to the playoffs 9 out of 11 seasons isn’t good enough?
• Laughed at the fact that Tom Brady FINALLY hit 1000 career rushing yards on the dot, and was afraid to kneel and lose a yard, so he awkwardly knelt forward to end the game.
• The final field goal in the Chargers Steelers game was nuts. 3 straight offsides flags. First kick was wide right, but offsides. Second kick was blocked, but offsides. Third kick was made, but also offsides.
• Crazy call for the Bears to have 1 play left with 3 seconds in the game, at the 1 yard line and down by 7. They put the ball in the hands of their RB to throw a pass, and converted!

FMQB’s Playoff Machine Predictions:

Whoah! Tennessee? Seattle? And Vikings? It looks like the AFC is actually more exciting than the NFC despite what it looks like now. I had the Broncos, Ravens and Titans all jumping into the 6^th spot as I played around.

Meme’s of the Week:

I want to preface this last one, letting you know how wrong I know it is. However I did that “it’s offensive but I’m laughing” uncontrollably thing when I first saw it, so sorry in advance if you’re offended. (watch Facebook pick this as the cover photo)