Happy Turkey Day!

FMQB is a day early for your brief reading enjoyment while trying to avoid family members. I will throw a few facts out about each 3 games for you to impress your friends, even for the most casual of football watchers!

Game 1:

Vikings vs. Lions: The two teams are tied in the division, with Detroit currently holding the tiebreaker. Minnesota has lost 4 of it’s last 5 while Detroit has won 5 of it’s last 6. The Bears are the only team who have beaten both the Vikes and Lions. If the Lions win, they will be in sole possession of 1^st place; a full game up on the Vikings and holding the tiebreaker with only 5 games left.

Game 2:

Redskins vs. Cowboys: The Cowboys are on a 9 game winning streak, and the Redskins are 6-1-1 in their last 8 games. Their only losses have come from all Thanksgiving teams; Cowboys, Lions and Steelers. Kirk Cousins is 3^rd in the league in passing yards, while Dak Prescott is 3^rd in the league in passer rating.

Game 3:

Steelers vs. Colts: After starting strong, the Steelers have lost 4 of 5 and their win was against the Browns. The Colts have had a couple impressive wins against the surging Titans and at Green Bay, but Andrew Luck’s status is in question which would severely hamper the game. If Andrew Luck is out, people in tryptophan comas may not be missing much…

Quick Hits: Teams we Don’t usually talk about:

• The Chiefs suffered only their 3^rd loss in their last 20 regular season games
• The Dolphins and Giants have both won 5 in a row.
• The Buccaneers are also only a game out of 1^st place, and have road wins at Atlanta and at Kansas City

Stat of the Week:

The 6 highest scoring teams this year are the Falcons, Chargers, Cowboys, Saints, Titans, and Raiders. None of which made the playoffs last year

Coworker Stat of the Week #2:

Kickers are 87% on XPs this year, while 2pt conversions are 36/67, 53%. Tell me again why teams don’t go for 2pts every time? Except the Titans, who are 0/4 on 2pt conversions, while 29/31 (94%) on XPs…Thanks Mickey! With that logic, currently 635 points were scored after TD’s this year. But if every team went for 2 pts, that number would climb to a whopping 756 points!

Quote of the Week:

“And Kaepernick has some speed! Not weighted down by that “I Voted” sticker- CBS Announcer

For the Record:

• Aaron Rodgers has 25 TD’s vs 7 INT’s, yet the Packers are 4-6. Perhaps that’s proof that it’s not his fault. However the season is likely over with 2 teams with a 2 game lead over the Packers.
• You can go to a Browns game for only $6, but you’ll have to pay between $25-50 for parking. It’s literally more expensive for your car to go to a Browns game than for you!!!
• The NFC East and AFC West are hands down the 2 most competitive divisions out there.
• Jared Goff didn’t lose the game for the Rams. He didn’t win it though either.
• The handoff, then throw from the WR to the QB never works. But it did Sunday

The Extra Point Rule Change is Awesome!

Kickers missed 12 extra points on Sunday. Blasting by the old record of 8 in one day. Keep in mind that in 2014, the league missed 8 all year! Only 3 of these were actually blocked, the other 9 were flat out missed. I have heard people saying that this is an embarrassment to both kickers and the league, but this play has become “useful” again. Hands down the best rule change the NFL has made in the last decade.

Instant Replay on the Otherhand…

Something has to be done about the officiating, or instant replay. I hate being that guy who complains about the refs, but we’ve seen blatant calls or things that could have been reviewed closer that is costing teams wins. Houston had 2 blown calls, 1 on replay which was obviously a 1^st down. Either one changes the game in their favor. You had the Saints miss out on a very likely out of bounds step

If the Playoffs Started Today:

• Oakland and Dallas would have home field advantage, despite combining to go 11-21 last year.
• Osweiler would have a home re-match against his hated Broncos
• There would be 3 AFC West and 3 NFC East teams in the playoffs
• The Lions and Texans would host a playoff game

The Browns are now 0-8 since Terrell Pryor suggested the team could win out

Making Sure Quotas are Met:

Turducken, there I said it

Carson Wentz and Cam Newton, haven’t forgotten about ya