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Hi Folks,
We do a lot of really insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with some very smart people thinking deeply for you. This is not one of those features.
This is a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from too many hours watching, reading about and listening to football every weekend and throughout the week. It's the only way I keep relatively sane. Here's hoping it has a tiny bit of value for you. Let's go.
Eagles quarterback Nick Foles suffered a concussion in Week 7 and missed the Week 8 game. He woke up for Week 9 and thought he was Peyton Manning.
Thanks to Footballguy David Dodds for that one.
Dear Alfred Morris Owners. You may have thought he stopped but he didn't. Mike Shanahan still hates you.
A lot.
Non Football Note (as if any of this is too serious on Football) I'm not sure why this is interesting to me but this Japanese broadcast for NASCAR Truck racing rocks. Our guys could take some pointers here…
Here's something that fascinates me. Jerry Jones mentioned Saturday that he planned to be on the Dallas sidelines for parts of the game Sunday and the world seemed to stop. Outside of Keyshawn Johnson, the ESPN talking heads seemed to think it was the worst thing in the world. Is there another business where the owner of the business isn't allowed near the business? Ridiculous.
And I realize I'm in the minority there.
I often say "things move fast" around here as situations change quickly. On the flip side, here's a couple of things that haven't moved very fast over the years:
Sunday was the first game since 1998 without Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne in the Indianapolis lineup. And if Seneca Wallace starts this week, it would be just the fourth Packers starting QB in 21 years.
So there.
But for the most part, things move fast.
Albert Breer had an interesting observation Sunday morning looking at the records of some starting QBs: Over their last 35 starts, check out these W-L numbers: Alex Smith 28-6-1; Tom Brady 27-8; Peyton Manning 25-10; Aaron Rodgers 25-10.
Hmmm.
Glitch in the Matrix: Heading into Sunday's game, the Cowboys were 132-132 over their last 264 games.
Heading into the Monday Night Game, four wide receivers (Andre Johnson, Riley Cooper, T.Y. Hilton and Jerricho Cotchery) had as many touchdowns (12), as all the other WRs combined. Yeah. We saw that coming…
Thanks to Football Jeremy Clemmons for that one.
@NFLPRguy with a good picture of how the game is changing. When Peyton Manning threw for seven TDs in Week 1, he became the first player in 44 years to do so. When Nick Foles threw for seven TDs in Week 9, he became the first player in 59 days to do it.
Thanks to Footballguy David Lundy for that one.
That wacky Tony Romo, always looking for an edge.
Thanks to Footballguy Claudio Berumen for that one.
Here's my favorite Tony Romo video from last year. And it's not even on the football field. Tripp and Tyler are a couple of comedy guys I like and they did an event where part of the program was for Tripp to try and throw a 20 yard pass to hit Tyler who was blindfolded and wearing a helmet. Once Tyler was set up and blindfolded and likely thinking Tripp could never hit him, they brought out Tony Romo to throw the pass.
Regular Random Shots readers know I love Jaguars mascot Jaxson DeVille. He's easily the best mascot in pro sports but that's not saying a whole lot.
The Denver Nuggets guy can't stay conscious while being lowered from the rafters.
And the New Orleans Pelicans creation looks like something from a horror movie.
Really?
Weird stat for the Kansas City Defense that's been awesome. They didn't touch Bills QB Jeff Tuel Sunday. Not one sack and not even a hit according to NFL.com.
Jets fans are dealing with the "GenoCoaster" as their young quarterback is up and down. Others are putting stock in the "win on odd number weeks, lose on even number weeks" theory. I think it has more to do with the fact the leading receivers for New York Sunday were Greg Salas, Zach Sudfield, David Nelson and Tommy Bohanon. That's pretty amazing Smith is doing what he's doing with that corps.
Can I say it? Tampa's Mike James looks better than the 2013 version of Doug Martin did.
Here's another while I'm on that subject. I'm over Arian Foster. Foster is like the band you're "supposed" to like because everyone else does but it just doesn't feel right. Ben Tate is the better running back. And not just because of Foster's injury troubles. Tate is more explosive, more physical, more productive and just runs harder. If I were the Texans, I'd deal Foster and keep Tate.
And I like Foster the player. I live in Knoxville, Tennessee and enjoyed watching him here. And I like the quirky personality. But my league doesn't award fantasy football points for fun personalities. If I want to win Football games, I'd go with Tate.
Here was a text message headline from Monday: "ESPN Fantasy - Raiders expressing "concern" with RB Darren McFadden's recurring hamstring injuries".
Note to the Raiders - 2008 called and wants it's phone back.
As our Sigmund Bloom said of McFadden's teasing play: Charlie Brown, meet Lucy…
Hands down my favorite commercial going right now is the spot from Skype.
The part where she gets out of the van and starts running destroyed me.
Seriously, do yourself a favor and watch if you haven't seen it yet.
I'll wait.
I love the accolades Mike Ditka's receiving for picking the Bears over Green Bay Monday night.
Seriously, what choice does he have? There is zero upside to him picking the Packers there. Zero. Think, People.
On that note, I've got mixed feelings on the Grater Head thing.
On one hand, it's definitely fun. On the other, I've never been a big fan of telling the other team they're that much in your head.
College Basketball Note.
John Brown University has a fantastic opening game tradition where the crowd goes nuts throwing toilet paper onto the court after the first basket is scored.
The team knows they'll give up a couple of foul shots for the technical but still does it. Love this.
Music Note Of The Week. Going soulful this week with a band that makes beautiful music called Seryn.
The first song I heard from them is We Will All Be Changed.
They're a big band with lots of instruments and layers. Ivory Black showcases some of that.
And they can rock out when they want to as they do here covering The Chain.
Thanks to Footballguy Devin Collins for the tip on this one.
Dez Bryant said he didn't know he couldn't take his helmet off on the field.
Jared Allen did…
@FauxJohnMadden managed to catch Nick Foles' response to his big day.
That's pretty funny.
They also managed to find this exclusive footage of how Packers coach Mike McCarthy is dealing with the Aaron Rodgers injury…
Trading for Minnesota's Jared Allen might be a better option…
There have been plenty of weird and unsettling revelations in the Richie Incognito ordeal. None more so than this Dolphins promotional video encouraging positive behavior from fans…
Let's look at the other end of the spectrum. Carolina's DeAngelo Williams seems like a guy that "gets it".
He gave a glove away to a fan and she gave it to her son. The boy's father then posted this on Facebook.
Note how Williams chimed in and thanked them for buying their son his jersey.
And then later Williams posted this on his feed:
Awesome.
Thanks to Footballguy Chris Wautel for that one.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he still has faith in defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. When asked why, he answered, "Because he's Dick LeBeau. Does that answer your question?"
I don't normally buy the "Because I said so" answer. But for LeBeau, I'm good with that.
Do you miss Tim Tebow? Tampa Bay seemed to Sunday bringing back the jump pass.
Sweet Throwback here. DeSean Jackson on the Oakland sidelines circa 1995.
Nobody will argue that violence isn't a significant part of Football. I love a big hit as much as the next guy. But it's things like this gorgeous reception by Doug Baldwin that really catch my eye.
I'm starting to think I could do a column with nothing but "Awkward Tom Brady On The Bench" moments.
Sunday he gave us this gem.
Looks like a Jib Jab card.
And the gif was even better. And more awkward. If that's possible.
It's good to know Footballguys isn't the only company that struggles getting it's content to look right on mobile.
A buddy of mine is registered with ESPN and they very kindly sent a Happy Birthday wish to my friend's phone this week. The #1 foam finger graphic glitched a bit and this is the actual screen shot he saw.
I replied back to him, DaDa Da, DaDa Da
In case you weren't aware, Bengals RB Giovani Bernard is pretty good at Football.
Sheesh.
Watch out league: T.Y. Hilton needs just one cleat to dominate you.
I posted a few weeks ago the Browns fan bemoaning their string of QBs.
That was funny.
It's infinitely less funny for every bad team to start with it…
and
Enough.
Chicago's Corey Wootton wins the best celebration going away this week with the Chappelle Robot Sack Dance.
Get it, Corey.
Minnesota's Brian Robison with his Set The Hook Fishing was a ruonnner up.
The John Clayton / Slayer SportsCenter Commercial is a classic.
Now it's even better as Clayton got to meet Slayer.
That makes me so happy.
Adrian Peterson is so routinely incredible that it's unfortunately sometimes easy to take him for granted. Don't. This is a guy you'll tell your grand kids about. Pay attention.
Ridiculous.
Sometimes the headline tries just a little too hard.
I clicked on "Raider Fan Throws Trash On Riley Cooper" and got this.
I guess "Raider Fan Throws A Wadded Up Napkin The Size Of A Milk Dud At Riley Cooper" doesn't sell as well.
What happened to the Black Hole I used to know…
This is a little more like it.
Much was made of the Ryan Brothers facing off again. I'll leave you with a look way back to their graduation with the sweetest pic of the week.
Hard Luck Awards for Week 9
And the Nullified TDs
- ATL RB Steven Jackson right guard for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
- BUF PR Leodis McKelvin punt return for 89 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
- CIN QB Andy Dalton pass short middle to WR Marvin Jones for 50 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty.
Sometimes it's better to just not know...
That'll do it for this week, Folks. Thanks to Footballguy Doug Drinen, Devin Collins, Chris Wautel, Claudio Berumen, David Lundy, Jeremy Clemmons and David Dodds for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, shoot me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
Note for you folks inclined to pray or those that care enough to read all the way down this far. This season of Random Shots is dedicated to my close friend Mike Wenger who apparently has decided to upstage Chuck Pagano this year. Mike's been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Much Love, Buddy. Mad Respect. Go Chiefs.
A ton of you folks have been so kind to reach out with nice comments for Mike. I wanted to let you know that we've got a cool fund raiser we're doing for the family where our good friends at Slantshirts.com have printed up MIKESTRONG shirts for us.
Click Here to order. Profits from the shirt sales will be donated to the Wenger family to help offset bills. Plus there are lots more cool shirts onSlantshirts.com . Much thanks.
Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.