I hate the offseason.

I hate the offseason.

I think we’ve covered that thoroughly over the last couple of years, but I feel the need to say it again. Loudly.

I hate the offseason.

The offseason does crazy things to us as fans and football consumers. It makes us latch onto something, anything that sounds remotely like football news. The free agency period is exciting for the first few days, but then as the big names stop trickling in we lose interest. The draft is interesting – or it would be if the NFL wasn’t going to draft 252 linemen this year.

So we’re left with this weird in-between where our newsfeed is filled with absolutely nothing noteworthy.

Worldwide Leader in Overemphasizing Everything

Worldwide Leader in Overemphasizing Everything

Who cares about Stevie Johnson’s tweet? Who cares about Stephen Tulloch’s bold prediction that the Lions “will be back” next year? Who cares about the Lions or Bills at all? The Clay Matthews extension is news, but nothing I can make fun of (or Ben will hurt me). Most of these stories just look like a reporter went, “Oh, hey, that’s an NFL player! I’m gonna ask him a random question and write 500 words about his answer, even if it’s boring or inconsequential!”

I love football. I love writing about football. I love taking interesting things that catch my eye and putting a spin on them to make them funny. I love pretending to write as DeSean Jackson pouting like a four year-old.

But I hate the mainstream media fluff, and I hate having to turn nothing into something.

The blog has slacked off since our awesome tournament (GO 99 RAMS!), and that’s because I haven’t found a story that’s worth commenting on.  Look back up at that list of headlines again. Do we really need to make a comment about Cruz not showing up yet? It’s April. I’ll be concerned if he’s not there in August. Am I really supposed to get excited about Vick and Brent Celek saying, “Gee, our offense is going to be pretty good!”

And don’t get me started on Tebow. The fact that he’s still making headlines speaks for itself.

This started out as an excuse for why I haven’t written anything in over a week, but it has somehow become a testament to offseason football. And it’s not a soothing and reassuring testament, like the New Testament. It’s a scary, vengeful one like the Old Testament.

Bill Belichick is a vengeful god.

Bill Belichick is a vengeful god.

I’m sure things will pick up. The schedules are released tonight, and I’m sure that will be exciting. Maybe after the draft someone will say something offensive about Geno Smith, and that will be fun to dissect. But for now, I feel like I’m just waiting for excitement. And for that I apologize in advance. Because that’s how articles about Michael Sims-Walker get written.

Fucking offseason.

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Super Bowl Winners March Madness Tournament: THE FINALS!

Gametime!

Gametime!

So, it has all come down to this. The rosters of twenty Super Bowl Championship teams have been kidnapped by our intergalactic time traveling bounty hunters (an unpaid position, by the way) and forced to compete. Some of these teams competed in a time before blogs, so imagine their confusion. The ’93 Cowboys never got over the fact that they were competing for the amusement of a bunch of nerds, and it visibly bothered them in the regional finals. In the end, two teams remain. Let’s do this! Continue reading

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An Argument With Myself: Geno Smith vs. Matt Barkley

Sometimes when Ben can’t find someone at the FBB offices to debate, he’ll start an argument with himself. This is one of those times.

Welcome to the start of our draft coverage! It isn’t as comprehensive as last year because let’s face it…this year’s class is full of lineman, and lineman are boring. But today we are going to talk about some quarterbacks.

While they don’t excite scouts as much as Andrew Luck and RGIII did, Geno Smith and Matt Barkley are the two biggest names in this year’s QB draft class. Geno seems to be a lock to be a first round pick, and the first quarterback taken, while Matt’s market seems to be more of a mystery. But today’s internal debate inside my mind is less about draft position, and more about who will have a better NFL career.

The case for Geno Smith

"Well, he's obviously a black guy" - excerpt from Nolan Nawrocki's scouting report

“Well, he’s obviously a black guy” – excerpt from Nolan Nawrocki’s scouting report

Being mobile at the QB position is more and more important in the modern day NFL. Last year’s draft class seemed to prove this point rather effectively.  I’m not talking only about the zone read and other such gimmicks, but lineman and linebackers are getting faster every year. Even Andrew Luck, someone not known as a runner, is a far better athlete than most realize. Geno Smith doesn’t have RGIII speed, but he is far more capable of making something happen when the play breaks down than Barkley. Continue reading

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Super Bowl Winners March Madness Tournament: Regional Finals

We have made it to the regional finals! Exciting times, I know. Nate will bring you the Spygate regional final, while Ben will breakdown its Buttfumble counterpart. So that’s a sentence.

Spygate Regional Final: 1999 Rams (#1 Seed) vs. 1993 Cowboys (#3 Seed)

Emmitt celebrating his first half TD

Emmitt celebrating his first half TD

How They Got Here: The Rams cruised by the hapless 2007 Giants 31-16, then squeaked by the 2003 Patriots 26-23. The Cowboys ate the Bucs alive 34-13, then struck down the 2004 Patriots on a last-second field goal to win 13-10.

Pre-Game Hype: Most of the verbal fireworks came unexpectedly from the offensive line. Orlando Pace got asked if he was better than the members of the Cowboys’ OL, and he said, “Definitely. I think they’re dirty. Nate Newton holds on every play.” When asked to respond, Newton said, “We’re offensive linemen. We hold on every play. Why is he trying to make this interesting anyway? We’re the most boring people in football.” Continue reading

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The Inevitable, and Lazy, Palmer/Warner Comparision

Carson Palmer spends a lot of free time photo-shopping himself into pictures like this.

Carson Palmer spends a lot of free time photo-shopping himself into pictures like this.

Welcome to our continuing coverage of shitty quarterback transactions!

Yesterday I was taking a look at some random articles on the NFL’s official website, and I came across this one. On the front page, the link was titled: “Will Palmer experience Warner-like resurgence?” Originally I chuckled aloud, but was ultimately relieved after clicking on it to see the author’s actual article title was, “Don’t expect Kurt Warner magic out of Carson Palmer.”

But the more I thought about the premise, the more it seemed that even posing the question is absurd. Continue reading

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