Fancy Boys founder Matt Drufke doesn’t know anything about football. Lucky for him, Brandon Andreasen and Jack Baker do.
Each week, Matt emails Brandon and Jack NFL questions, they then immediately go and make fun of his lack of knowledge in a secret group chat. They then go and answer the questions. Here are those answers.
A while ago, I asked about the relative goodness and badness of Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears, and I’d like to do the same with Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns. The first overall draft pick of 2018 has 23 games under his belt, and to say that he’s been underwhelming is probably be a mild understatement. But, the Browns are bad, and it’s possible any QB would be bad with this team. Or are they bad because of Mayfield? So, let me ask: Is Mayfield a bad QB on a bad team, a bad QB on a good team, a good QB on a bad team, or a good QB on a good team?
Brandon – Baker Mayfield is a good quarterback on a poorly coached, but possibly still good team. The hype has long been washed off the Browns, slowly oozing its way into the Cuyahoga River. What you have now is a hyper talented but deeply flawed team. They built a terrible offensive line that has more glaring holes than Jake Breunig’s erotic ska fan fiction. But they are still talented enough to be able to beat any team in the NFL.
Jack – In every season of the NFL, there are three or four really good teams, three or four really bad teams, and everyone else is in the middle. A few bounces here and a blown call there could set them up as 10-6 with a wild card berth, or 6 – 10 and out of the playoffs. The Browns are one of these teams.
They are the most poorly coached team in the NFL. But they also have a really good shot at a Wild Card berth with two games left against the Bengals, one against Arizona, and another against the Steelers, who are also fighting for that berth. They could just as easily win 4 out of their next 5 games, or lose every single one.
Their QB is young and, like all young QBs, is equally likely to make a great play as he is a dumb, back-breaking INTs. If their team wins down the stretch and makes the playoffs, NFL talking heads will say he’s on the verge of superstardom, if the team falters, they’ll say he’s a possible bust. In reality, he’s just a young, talented QB. He could be great in the right situation, or could be brought down by the dumpster fire that is the Cleveland Browns. It is simply too soon to tell.
Was last night’s Packers/49ers game a preview of the NFC championship game? If so, will it end the same way, with a 49ers blowout? If not, who is out and who would you put in?
Brandon – Going into the game, I had Packers/Seahawks as the NFC Championship game. The Packers came out, got punched in the face by the 49ers defense, and had no response. The Packers offense works when the running game is going. If you can stop the run and have a lockdown corner, then you get what you saw last night out of Aaron Rodgers.
At this point, I’m saying Seahawks/49ers in the NFC Championship.
Jack – I hate agreeing with Brandon, so I won’t (even though I secretly do). The Packers played like trash yesterday and don’t look at all like a championship team. The 49ers, on the other hand, look like the class of the NFL. And I think they’ll be hosting the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship.
Kirk Cousins has been shockingly playing really good football lately, and they still have Dalvin Cook, who’s been able to stay healthy for the first time in forever, and a really talented defense. I think they’ll win the NFC North and earn the #2 seed, even though it would be the Seahawks in a fair and just world. And thanks to the first round bye, they’ll advance to the championship where they’ll get smoked by the 49ers.
Let’s look ahead to Thanksgiving, where it’s possible the NFL games will put people to sleep faster than the trytophan in the turkey. This year’s games features three absolutely bad teams and the Buffalo Bills, who can only seemingly beat bad teams. And with the exception of Ezekiel Elliott and Drew Brees, the NFL has seemingly gone out of it’s way to make sure that there are none of the best and brightest stars on the field. Why doesn’t the NFL use this day to showcase their best teams and brightest stars? And what game should people be watching? And why?
Brandon – First things first, you should watch ALL the games because they are still more interesting than listening to your cousin explain how good the economy is under Trump even though you know he can’t spell economy and lost all of his money investing in an Alpaca farm.
The NFL treats Thanksgiving as a tradition day. The Lions and Cowboys are always going to play on Thanksgiving because THAT’S THE WAY IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN! Honestly, the star showcase thing doesn’t bother me because its Thursday football, which is sloppy and terrible no matter who is playing.
It’s not basketball, where teams only need a night off to feel good. Football is a brutal sport and Thursday games leave no recovery time. Plus, they have to be scheduled before the season starts, meaning we would have probably gotten the Colts vs Patriots with them hyping Brady vs. Andrew Luck, but we would have gotten a shit game featuring a noodle armed Brady and Jacoby Brissett.
Jack – They don’t, because they don’t have to. People will watch the football games regardless. Because people the NFL.
Every year, the NFL Thanksgiving games destroy the NBA’s Christmas games in the ratings and it’s not even a little close. Last year, the Dallas vs. Washington game earned a 12.5. The Bears vs. Lions game earned a 14.2. The Falcons vs. Saints game brought in an 11.4. The five-game NBA Christmas Day schedule earned an average of 3.0, making it the most watched group of games since 2011.
People should watch all the games, because football is a far superior sport to the NBA.
Fancy Boys Club 