Super Bowl First's and Records: Events that Sparked My Interest, Super Bowl Week

I’ve been super busy with school work recently, and haven’t had the chance to blog in 6 weeks. But, now that is all done and I’m back to blogging, just in time for Super Bowl LII's edition of Events that Sparked My Interest. For this season's final edition, I decided that I wanted to focus on the various records set. With that, let’s get into it!

Tom Brady

Probably the most interesting stat or record for me is that Brady is now the first quarterback in NFL history to lose a game when throwing for over 500 yards and at least 3 touchdowns. The 500 yard mark has only been eclipsed 22 times (including the Super Bowl). 17 of those times the QB threw for 3 or more touchdowns. 6 of those 17 threw no interceptions. 500 yards in a game just does not happen, and to rack up that many yards without an interception is crazy. Of those 17 players, 14 required 40 more passes, 7 needing at least 50. I found this to be one of the more interesting records set in Super Bowl LII.

Patriots lose Record 5^th Super Bowl

It hadn’t occurred to me, maybe because I thought the Patriots were going to win, but heading into the 52^nd Super Bowl, they had appeared in 9, winning 5 and losing 4. With their most recent loss, they are now 0.500 in Super Bowls and are tied with the Denver Broncos for the most Super Bowl losses out of any team with 5, in addition to hold the record for most appearances (10), and having the quarterback with the most wins (5) and appearances (8).

Nick Foles Becomes only QB to Throw and Catch a TD

In perhaps the game’s most icon play, QB Nick Foles caught a touchdown from Tight End Trey Burton. This made Foles the first player in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown. While there isn’t some crazy elaborate tangent I can go on for this, I just have to say that I found the call gutsy, but it paid off. I think it is the game’s most iconic play and will be remembered forever by Eagles, Patriots, and NFL fans alike.

I hope you've enjoyed Events that Sparked My Interest this season. This was the first time I really sat down and tried to produce a product regularly, and while I didn't get something out every week, I think it turned out well, but I want your feedback. Please let me know as it is much appreciated.

The Good, the Sad, the Weird, and the Ugly: Events that Sparked My Interest, Week 11

Week 11 was full of some, let’s say, interesting, plays and moments. While I can’t cover them all in this week’s edition of Events that Sparked My Interest, I can talk about the good, the bad, the weird, and the ugly's of them.

The Good – Larry Fitzgerald moves to Fifth on the All-Time Receiving Yards List

The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Houston Texans 31 to 21 on Sunday, but despite that there was a bright spot. Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald continued to move up the all-time ladder when it comes to receiving yards, passing Tony Gonzalez for fifth all time. Fitzgerald now had 15,157 yards and is only 51 yards away from taking fourth from Isaac Bruce. Then, he would need only 84 more yards to pass Randy Moss for third all time.

Speaking of five, Fitzgerald also has the fifth most receiving yards this season, and is five years older than anyone else in the top 15.

Good for him.

The Sad – Dre Kirkpatrick Fumbles an INT Return at the 15 Yard Line

When Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick intercepted Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler in the end zone on Sunday, he had a clear, wide open path to the end zone. He took it back, “All… the… w-what?!”

About 15 yards from the end zone, the ball randomly popped out of his grasp and was bobbled. He managed to recover, but not before he was tackled at the one yard line.

QB Andy Dalton managed to throw a quick one yard touchdown after that, but still, his fumble was sad.

The Weird – Seahawks Confusing Fake Field Goal Attempt Backfires

With 7 second left in the first half, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll lined his team up for a 35-yard field goal attempt. But, once the ball was snapped to holder John Ryan, he immediately flipped the ball to tight end Luke Wilson, who was pummeled before getting back to the line of scrimmage.

The call didn’t (and it still doesn’t) make any sense. The Hawks were down 7 points, and for the fake field goal to have been beneficial, Wilson would have had to run into the end zone, because there was so little time on the clock.

Why not take the points? This was one weird call.

The Ugly – Nathan Peterman throws 5 first half Interceptions

Last week, Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott announced that 5th round rookie backup quarterback Nathan Peterman would start against the Los Angles Chargers over incumbent starter Tyrod Taylor. How did Peterman respond?

Not well.

He managed to throw a mind boggling five interceptions in 30 minutes of football, in one of the worst performances by a quarterback in recent memory. 

It was so bad, that Richard Sherman tweeted – five minutes into the game – that “the guy they bring in has already thrown 2picks with 10mins left in the 1^st. Great decision”.

Later he added, “do you cut the new guy after this half.”

His tweets alone are enough of an indicator of how ugly Peterman’s performance was.


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Reacting to the Browns/Texans Trade

When I first heard about the Texans/Browns trade that sent Brock Oswiler, a second and sixth round pick to Cleveland and a conditional forth rounder to Houston, I was like "this makes no sense."

But, by that night, I completely understood what the Browns did, and how they took advantage of the Texans.

The Texans were desperate to get rid of their QB, and Cleveland, who is stocking up on picks, were able to get a second rounder to go along with him, in exchange for a conditional fourth round pick.

That, and the fact that they threw in another pick, even if it was a sixth rounder, shows the Texans desperation.

Now, they have an absolutely insane amount of draft picks in the next two years, which are listed here.

Personally, I knew that when the Texans signed him to that 4-year deal last off-season they were crazy.

The only way the Texans will ever win this trade is if they draft a franchise QB in the fourth round with that pick and if the Cleveland Browns pull a Clevend Browns and completely screw up and botch their picks (hello Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden etc).

The more I think about this trade, the more I think about how desperate the Texans are, and how much the Browns took advantage of their desperation.

At the end of the day, the Texans gave up Oswiler for less than pennies on the dollar because they gave up so much more to get rid of him. The Browns got a serviceable (but expensive) quarterback for this season at least, a second-round pick (!) and sixth rounder.