Welcome to the week 14 Official NFL Power Rankings! With circus catches and beatdowns alongside great games, there was plenty to discuss even before a MNF Scorigami that might already be airing on ESPN classic. 32/32 Reporting

#		Team	Δ	Record	Comment
1.		Chiefs	--	12-1	The Dolphins gave the Chiefs all they could handle in the first quarter of Sunday's game, but the Chiefs once again proved that when they are focused, they are the most dangerous team in the NFL. Travis Kelce, the NFL's leading receiver currently, had another monster game showing why he's a future hall of famer. However, after having five 10+ point wins in the first eight weeks of the season, the Chiefs last five wins have all been won by one score. Will this trend ultimately matter come playoff time? It's hard to argue with results, as the Chiefs 12-1 record is the best record through 13 games in franchise history. The ultimate barometer for the Chiefs is this week as they travel to play the Saints, hopefully with Drew Brees. Many questions will be answered in this clash of two top five teams.
2.		Packers	+2	10-3	There always seems to be one Lions-Packer game a year that ends up being some kind of adventure. Rodgers and Adams were as good as ever but the Lions kept on lingering throughout the game. Mason "Silver Fox" Crosby nailed an insurance 58 yard field goal with 3:30 to play and made a touchdown-saving tackle on the immediate kickoff. Aside from Crosby, the special teams really leave a lot to be desired, especially after the hands team almost allowed a onside kick recovery (c'mon y'all I don't need Bostic flashbacks). Packers officially won the division game and are now the projected 1 seed, which is pretty neat ngl. Onto a Saturday game I guess?
3.		Bills	+2	10-3	For a team that was searching desperately in 2019 for a signature win, the 2020 Bills have found them everywhere they turn. This team has had one of the toughest schedules in the league, but except for a couple games they've shown up every time they've had to. This is the second-best team in the conference. The Bills bandwagons are circling now. Josh Allen's extending his baseball glove-sized hand. He says "get in nerds, we're goin' to the Super Bowl."
4.		Saints	-1	10-3	This loss = Hurts. Dennis Allen seemingly had no answers for the rookie QB and then Miles Sanders piled on as well. "All the things we didn't want to allow happen, happened in that game." This was Sean Payton's post-game assessment and it's fair. Taysom Hill had an acceptable statline but it hides how sloppy he looked on the field. The defense struggled with its assignment to contain Hurts and keep him from getting outside the pocket - a worrying sign considering the next QB on the schedule.
5.		Steelers	-3	11-2	The Steelers schedule has been insane. 6 days between NYG and DEN. 14 days between HOU and PHI. 10 days between JAX and BAL. But with that BAL game, the Steelers played them, WFT and BUF in 12 days. 3 games in 12 days. The team is out of LBs and OL. This has been a challenging season for everyone, but this is unprecedented. The Steelers have 8 days until CIN, then 6 days until IND. 10 out of 16 games played with an irregular schedule? You can argue the drops are kicking their ass, but this schedule has been brutal. No wonder they've lost 2 straight.
6.		Rams	--	9-4	Imagine only scoring 3 points in a game.
7.		Colts	+1	9-4	Kenny Moore is a player underrated by national media but massively valuable to the Colts. GM Chris Ballard made re-signing him a priority after his breakout 2018 season. Moore has been a reliable performer throughout his tenure as a Colt and added an exclamation point with his insane one-handed interception on Sunday.
8.		Titans	+1	9-4	Derrick Henry had his second 200+ yard 2 TD game against the Jaguars on Sunday. The performance made Henry the 7th player to rush for 1,500+ yards and 14+ TDs through 13 games.
9.		Seahawks	+1	9-4	Nothing cures suicidal thoughts losing like playing the Jets, baby. Sunday was never much of a game, as it was all Seahawks all day. Russell Wilson threw for 4 touchdowns, Jamal Adams broke the single season sack record for defensive backs, and Geno Smith got to play a full quarter against the team that drafted him. What a way to get over a bad loss to the Giants. Up next the Seahawks will take on their final NFC East opponent of the season; Football Team.
10.		Ravens	+2	8-5	This ranker is a brown man, writing about how Lamar Jackson lost 20 pounds dropping some brown, dropping a TD to Brown, to go ahead against the Browns. They go for two. So in response, K-hunt ties the game, 42-42. In response, the Llama sets up the GOAT to nail a 54-yarder, 16th game winner of his career! To say nothing else of the game -- 9 total fucking rushing touchdowns, tying a record held since two defunct teams played each other before anyone on reddit was born... and Jackson runs for a MNF QB record 124 yards -- but still gets all the clutch plays done with his arm, with this middling group of receivers. The even greater news amidst all this is that the schedule doesn't look so bad in the closing stretch, and inspired play like this past Monday from the offense will ease the burden of the Ravens' gradually depleting secondary. Best wishes to Trace McSorely who made an extremely commendable effort to set them up for Lamar's return.
11.		Browns	-4	9-4	Did you bet the over? The Browns and Ravens combined for 89 points in an absolute rollercoaster of a game. While they did not win, the Browns have shown they are contenders. With two games to go a real shot at the playoffs is on the table. The Browns will face the Giants in another prime time game.
12.		Buccaneers	-1	8-5	The Buccaneers pulled off a 26-14 win over the Vikings, bringing their playoff chances to 94%. Vikes kicker Dan Bailey channeled his inner Gary Anderson to win the Bucs' game ball on an 0/3 kicking performance with an additional missed XP. Rookie Antoine Winfield Jr. played a disruptive game against his dad's former team and is looking like he has the potential to be one of the league's next great safeties. With only interim coaches to close out the remaining three games of the season, the Bucs should have smooth sailing into the Wild Card round.
13.		Dolphins	--	8-5	There are no consolation prizes in the NFL, but a single score loss to the best team in the league while the backup waterboy is lining up in the slot is about as close to a one as you'll ever get. While he was able to pull off the win, even Patrick Mahomes couldn't keep this ball-hawking defense from getting a hold of the ball, often. And at some point, if people don't start talking about Xavien Howard in the DPOY conversation, he's just going to go intercept the damned award himself. Hopefully, the long, long list of injured Dolphins get well soon.
14.		Cardinals	+1	7-6	A monster day from Haason Reddick and the defense finally put the Cardinals back on the winning track. Breaking a franchise record with 5 sacks was one thing, but getting all the turnovers was huge. Hopefully the offense feeds off of it and has a good week in preparing for a big game with Philly that has huge playoff implications. It will take a complete team effort to beat Philly with Jalen Hurts starting fresh of a win against the Saints.
15.		Raiders	-1	7-6	The Raiders looked really bad against the Colts, just like they have for the better part of the last 6 weeks. Luckily Gruden finally made the call to fire Pauly G, something fans have been calling for for the past 2 seasons. Only time will tell if it's too little, too late. Every game from here on out is a must win if the Raiders want to make the playoffs.
16.		Washington FT	+3	6-7	Washington is finding ways to win instead of finding ways to lose. The offense was not able to score a TD so the defense went ahead and spotted them 14 points. Chase Young notches his first TD and continues to prove his worth as the 2nd overall pick as a game wrecker.
17.		Vikings	--	6-7	Dalvin Cook became the first back to rush for over 100 yards against the Bucs in over 20 games, but the Vikings were unable to convert long drives into points as Dan Bailey went 0/4 on field goals and extra points. Couple that with some questionable officiating, the Vikings' banged up front seven generating zero pressure on Tom Brady and plenty of self-inflicted wounds and it all adds up to a real tough loss that knocks the Vikings down from wild card favorites to playoff long shots.
18.		Bears	+5	6-7	The Bears finally snapped their six-game losing streak by rolling over the Texans without much difficulty. Trubisky attempted one throw longer than 20 yards.
19.		Patriots	-3	6-7	Los Angeles, is a land of contrasts - In a span of four days the Patriots' hopes for a postseason were revived and then unceremoniously squashed. Run Defense, Offensive Line, Cam and the Receivers, There just are too many holes to cover up with week to week coaching, this team needs some reworking over the offseason. The Pats end the season with the division as always, lets hope to fuck someone’s season or seeding up. And also the Jets.
20.		49ers	-2	5-8	The 49ers defense did their job, holding the Washington offense to a total of 9 points, but the offense had two takeaways brought back for touchdowns and could not recover. The team looks to right the ship this week against the Cowboys.
21.		Broncos	+5	5-8	Drew Lock put up the third-highest passer rating in team history — behind a couple guys you may know. In the battle of 4-8's, the Broncos somehow managed to not blow a sizeable fourth-quarter lead and emerge victorious. Winning the game but losing The Hunt for a Better Draft Pick. Will the team remain in purgatory? Stay tuned.
22.		Giants	-2	5-8	It’s a real joy to watch the rest of the teams in the up-for-grabs NFC East secure wins, with one being against a top-5 team, all while watching your team play so poorly they start setting franchise records. At least we can say the hype was fun while it lasted, right?
23.		Falcons	-1	4-9	Outplayed by a team whose most impressive win is a tossup between the Bengals, Jaguars, and Jets? Check. Outcoached by special teams ace Anthony Lynn? Check. Ten point lead blown, two interceptions with under five minutes left, double check. Good thing age is just a number for the 32nd youngest team in the league.
24.		Panthers	-3	4-9	I'm not sure where the Panthers go from here. Coach Rhule has said that he isn't going to do the team and fans a disservice by beginning to evaluate players, which means that we're going to see more of Teddy Bridgewater (who is 0-7 in one score games this season) crumble at the end of the game. Playing at Lambeau in primetime in December is one of the hardest things a team can do, and it's not going to be an easy test for the Panthers, who so far have shown that they can't win close games, nor can they defend the pass (23rd in passing defense). It's going to be tough sledding, but hopefully Jeremy Chinn can continue his torrid pace and run his way into DROY.
25.		Eagles	+3	4-8-1	Jalen Hurts delivered the spark the Eagles needed to upset the Saints and spread 'quarterback controversy' all over the city of brotherly love. While the season remains a disappointment, the dual running threat of Hurts and Sanders could be interesting to watch going forward, and the NFC Least remains wide-open with 2 divisional games left on the 2020 menu.
26.		Lions	-1	5-8	Even with a loss, Interim HC Darrell Bevell showed that his Lions are here to compete. This game was never out of hands, and the Lions kept it close the entire time. There are still plenty of woes on Defense, but the Offense continued to ball out as expected. With two TD's coming from the run game (Swift and Kerryon), there is already something to look forward to next year. Lately the team has been able to trust the run on short yardage and redzone carries and it has helped the team with consistency in the red zone. Unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers is a QB that can carve up a weak secondary... so that didn't go great. There's around a 1% chance of the Lions getting a playoff spot, not unheard of, but it'll be tough if Stafford's injury progresses and we lose him for the season. #DefendTheDen
27.		Chargers	--	4-9	First of all, props to Falcons Twitter for this gem before the game, and it played out exactly as expected. Both teams did their best to try giving it away at the end, but the Chargers ended up on the winning side this time around. The Chargers had their hiccups again but there were improvements across the board; Justin Herbert's 81.8% completion percentage is his highest of the season, the defense came away with 3 INTs, and special teams probably had their best day. The Chargers get a short week before a Thursday Night tilt in Las Vegas.
28.		Texans	-4	4-9	The Texans are lucky that Paxton is the Texas AG, otherwise they would have had the biggest blowout loss in the state this past week.
29.		Cowboys	--	4-9	The Red Rifle won his revenge game, the defense forced multiple turnovers, and the Bengals were held to 3.4 yards per carry. All that, and the Cowboys still come out of the week with a top 5 draft pick. Honestly, Sunday couldn't have gone better. Now, the only question is whether this was the team turning the corner and the beginning of a strong finish to the season, or this was just a perfect moment of the Cowboys finding a shittier team with serious injuries issues and just doing what should happen in that scenario.
30.		Bengals	--	2-10-1	Giovani Bernard hadn't fumbled since 2013 before his 1st quarter fumble on Sunday. So what does he get for his troubles? A spot on the bench thanks to Zac Taylor. Giovani was one of the only veterans who spoke out in behalf of Taylor and the current coaches when multiple articles were released with "sources" saying that Taylor had lost the locker room last month. You have to question the benching for multiple reasons as the directionless Bengals continue to flounder to blowout losses. Just another reason why this should be Zac Taylor's last season as head coach in Cincinnati.
31.		Jaguars	--	1-12	This one felt more as expected. Perhaps it was in former GM Dave Caldwell's plans— no, wait, hear me out. Adjusting tinfoil hat; Based on the moves taken this offseason to seemingly dump talent from the Jaguars in attempt to amass more draft picks, perhaps the former front office of the Jaguars were banking on this season not being played, due to pandemic reasons. Sure, this may sound farfetched, but I'd like to hear a more reasonable explanation for fielding such a disaster as this team, this season.
32.		Jets	--	0-13	The Jets have now scored on 7 consecutive opening drives, the longest streak in the NFL. After climbing to an early 3-0 lead, I watched Peter Sawkins make an excellent cranachan custard slice on The Great British Bake Off.

Alright everyone, the last flowchart of the NFL season is posted! I absolutely cannot wait to watch both of these games tomorrow. I think this week’s version gives us some really good angles in both matchups.
NFL Flowchart - Conference Championships
It’s a little bit of an unconventional format, but I think that’s what we have to do in order to be different on a two-game slate. For those of you wanting to make 20 lineups, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the article for a special cheat code way to do that.
If you guys are looking to put down some bets on tomorrow’s games, make sure to read the article I posted yesterday for some juicy angles and prop bets.
It’s been an unreal journey with all of you this season, so I want to sincerely thank you for following the flowchart and interacting with me on a weekly basis!
I will be posting a “Year in Review” article next week going over the hits and misses from this season as well as diving into some results-based stats. I will also be posting a Showdown Worksheet for the Super Bowl including a deep dive analysis on the game, so be on the lookout for that.
Finally, I will be starting to get back into the NBA now that the NFL season has winded down. Expect to see a flowchart or two per week for the rest of the NBA season!
Good luck this week everyone!!

Green Bay Packers

Division: NFC North
Record: 7-9 (2-4 Division) (3rd in NFC North)
Last season's post.

Introduction

In 2016, the Packers went 10-6 and kept the dream alive all the way to the NFC Championship Game. In 2017, the Packers went 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Get out your black light and latex gloves -- we have a murder mystery on our hands. Who killed the Packers' season?

Statistics

The elephant in the room that was Green Bay's 2017 season was that they trotted out one of the worst starters in the league for 10 games. Note the stark differences between the Packers with Rodgers and the Packers with Hundley:
Offense

Category	Stat (Rank)	W/Rodgers	W/Hundley
Offensive DVOA	0.4% (15th)	-	-
Points/Game	19.5 (21st)	25.7 (5th)	15.2 (30th)
Yards/Game	305.7 (26th)	344.5 (13th)	282.4 (31st)
Yards/Play	4.9 (22nd)	5.7 (8th)	4.4 (32nd)
Turnovers	25 (T-23rd)	24.0 prorated (T-22nd)	25.6 prorated (26th)
Pass DVOA	-1.4% (25th)	-	-
Pass Yards/Game	198.0 (25th)	248.2 (9th)	167.8 (32nd)
Net Pass Yards/Attempt	5.2 (30th)	5.8 (19th)	4.8 (32nd)
Interceptions	18 (T-28th)	16.0 prorated (T-25th)	19.2 prorated (30th)
Rush DVOA	10.1% (4th)	-	-
Rush Yards/Game	107.8 (17th)	96.3 (27th)	114.6 (15th)
Rush Yards/Attempt	4.5 (4th)	4.5 (3rd)	4.4 (7th)
Fumbles Lost	7 (T-12th)	8.0 prorated (T-14th)	6.4 prorated (12th)

With Rodgers -- including the Carolina game, where he came back too early and threw 3 picks in a game for the first time since 2009 -- the Packers looked roughly like a top-10 offense. With Hundley, they were somewhere between the 30th- and 32nd-"best" offense.
Defense

Category	Stat (Rank)	W/Rodgers	W/Hundley
Defensive DVOA	4.9% (20th)	-	-
Points Allowed/Game	23.1 (30th)	21.5 (21st)	24.1 (31st)
Yards Allowed/Game	348.9 (22nd)	332.2 (16th)	358.9 (27th)
Yards Allowed/Play	5.5 (25th)	5.5 (24th)	5.5 (25th)
Turnovers	22 (T-13th)	24.0 prorated (12th)	20.8 prorated (19th)
Pass Defense DVOA	21.6% (26th)	-	-
Pass Yards Allowed/Game	236.8 (23rd)	205.8 (6th)	255.4 (31st)
Opp Pass Yards/Attempt	6.9 (29th)	6.4 (21st)	7.2 (30th)
Interceptions	11 (T-20th)	8.0 prorated (T-28th)	12.8 prorated (18th)
Rush Defense DVOA	-13.0% (8th)	-	-
Rush Yards Allowed/Game	112.1 (17th)	126.3 (29th)	103.5 (8th)
Rush Yards Allowed/Attempt	3.9 (9th)	4.3 (24th)	3.6 (5th)
Fumbles Recovered	11 (T-7th)	18.7 prorated (1st)	6.4 prorated (22nd)

Broadly speaking, the defense also played significantly worse with Hundley at the helm. With Rodgers, it was a slightly below-average unit (20th in DVOA, 21st in points, 16th in yards). With Hundley, it took off like Sunny Bono down a ski slope (31st in points, 27th in yards).
General

Category	Stat (Rank)	W/Rodgers	W/Hundley
Point Differential	-64 (23rd)	+48 prorated (11th)	-131 prorated (29th)
Pythagorean Wins	6.2 (22nd)	8.9 (14th)	4.7 (29th)
Opponent Win %	0.539 (T-5th)	0.531 (T-8th)	0.544 (3rd)
Overall DVOA	-3.3% (17th)	-	-
Special Teams DVOA	1.3% (14th)	-	-

The million-dollar question of our murder mystery is: Was Rodgers was propping up a bad team, or was Hundley dragging down a pretty good team? Is Hundley the killer, for licking more ass than Two Tone Malone? Or did Ted Thompson shoot the roster full of holes, only for Mike McCarthy to drive the getaway car into the ditch because Dom Capers failed to stop it? We'll revisit this as we go through the regular season, but let's do an autopsy on the team, first.

Draft Picks

"Overall" numbers are approximate after the 3rd round due to compensatory picks, which could be announced as soon as today. Right now Overthecap.com projects that the Packers will receive 1 additional 3rd round pick, plus 3 more 5th rounders.

Round	Pick	Overall
1	14	14
2	13	45
3	12	76
4	14	~110
5	13	~141
6	12	~172
7	14	~206

Upcoming Free Agents

The "Projected Market Value" for our biggest free agent, Morgan Burnett, is from Spotrac.com (see link for more information on comparable players/contracts). The projected values for Brooks, House, Evans, Goode, and Dial are simply the values of the one-year deals they all signed in 2017; none of them wildly over- or under-performed their paper.
DickRod's projected value is based on Ed Dickson's (get it?) current deal, which happens to be somewhere between the value of Mychal Rivera's 2017 deal with the Jags and Dennis Pitta's 2014 deal with the Ravens. All three started their careers with roughly DickRod's level of production, and signed their comp deals around DickRod's current age.
All other players will likely sign for at or near the league minimum.

Player	Position	FA Type1	Projected Market Value
Morgan Burnett	S	UFA	4 yrs, $9.8 million AAV
Ahmad Brooks	OLB	UFA	1 yr, $3.5 million AAV
Davon House	CB	UFA	1 yr, $2.8 million AAV
Jahri Evans	G	UFA	1 yr, $2.3 million AAV
Quinton Dial	DE	UFA	1 yr, $0.8 million AAV
DickRod	TE	UFA	3 yrs, $2.0 million AAV
Brett Goode	LS	UFA	-
Ulrick John	T	UFA	-
Demetri Goodson	CB	UFA	-
Jeff Janis	WR	UFA	-
Joe Thomas	ILB	RFA	-
Jacob Schum	P	RFA	-
Joe Kerridge	FB	ERFA	-
Gerronimo Allison	WR	ERFA	-
Joe Callahan	QB	ERFA	-
Justin McCray	G	ERFA	-
Jermaine Whitehead	S	ERFA	-
Lucas Patrick	C	ERFA	-
Taybor Pepper	LS	ERFA	-
Donatello Brown	CB	ERFA	-
Michael Clark Duncan	WR	ERFA	-
Adam Pankey	G	ERFA	-
Herb Waters	WR	ERFA	-

¹ "UFA" = "Unrestricted Free Agent," "RFA" = "Restricted Free Agent," and "ERFA" = "Exclusive-Rights Free Agent." It's easiest to retain ERFAs, a bit harder to retain RFAs, and significantly harder to retain UFAs. More information on the distinctions can be found here.

Potential Free Agent Losses

Morgan Burnett
This is the one player that would be a significant loss. Take a look at his career numbers alongside one well-regarded peer:

Name	Games	INTs	Deflections	FFs	Sacks	Tackles	TDs
Morgan Burnett	102	9	46	8	7.5	511	1
Mystery Player A	109	12	50	9	2.0	434	0

Both players have been similarly durable (each entered the league in 2010). "Mystery Player A" has a few more picks, but Burnett has more sacks and tackles. Burnett is himself, and Mystery Player A is... Kam Chancellor. I'm not going to die on the "Burnett is better" hill, but the two are at least in the same ballpark. Burnett also moonlights at ILB and CB in certain subpackages (apparently playing the latter quite well), handles a majority of pre-snap signal calling, and is one of the longest-tenured members of the defense.
He's also 29, plays a position where losing a step can be a huge liability, missed a quarter of 2017 due to injury, and in 2018 only graded out as "average" at Pro Football Focus. One intriguing option is the franchise tag, which next year is estimated to be around $11 million for safeties (compare this to the projected $9.8 million AAV of a long-term deal). A one-year tag would also allow potential replacement Josh Jones (a '17 draft pick) to grow a bit more before being thrust into a larger role.
Ahmad Brooks, Davon House, and Jahri Evans
These guys all fall squarely in the "nice to have" category. None of these players lit the world on fire, but they were all reliable, capable players -- every team can use a few cogs like that. Brooks (1.5 sacks on 346 snaps, "average" per PFF), House (great in coverage through most of the year), and Evans (3 penalties, 3.5 sacks allowed, "average" per PFF) all played well enough to earn NFL contracts in 2018, and the Packers could use them all back on modest, one-year deals. On one hand, there's a real value to shoring up the roster with veterans that don't break the bank -- not everyone on the roster can be a superstar, and there are some roster spots where "average" is acceptable. On the other hand, the team can't pay everyone veteran money, the performance of these players isn't that far above what could be expected from a draft pick/UDFA/second-year player, and every time the team keeps a Davon that means potentially cutting the next Tramon Williams or Sam Shields.
Quinton Dial
Dial did not stand out on the stat sheet (0 sacks, 12 tackles on <30% of defensive snaps) and graded out as "poor" on PFF. He's a backup who drew minimal FA interest last season. As he was a step down from even the modest production of the Brooks/House/Evans group, he falls into the "move on and give his snaps to a fresh face" bucket.
DickRod
DickRod is probably not worth even the modest $2.0 million AAV contract he's projected to earn. He's not a notably good blocker, he isn't particularly good after the catch, and he can't stretch the field. His hands are his best asset, and even they aren't anything special -- of the 54 tight ends who've had 100+ targets since DickRod sprung into the league, he ranks 26th in catch percentage. If signed he would get the short end of a timeshare with Lance Kendricks, who we're already paying to be an unspectacular veteran presence. I think a ton of TEs could match DickRod's production with Rodgers at the helm, and he doesn't bring enough or play a crucial enough position to warrant the cap space and roster spot it'd take to hold on to him.
Jeff Janis
I'll never forget the '15 Divisional round against the Cardinals. Dude had 145 yards and 2 TDs, including 101 yards on two Hail Marys during the last drive of regulation to send the game into overtime. He didn't even have the common courtesy to tell Pat Peterson "bite the pillow" before going in dry, but then goddamn Larry Fitzgerald power bottomed right back in OT. I turned the TV off, went straight to the White Horse Saloon, drank a bottle of cheap whiskey, vaguely remember the band playing "Eastbound and Down" at closing time, ate about a dozen street tacos, then stumbled back to my hotel and drug my ass out of bed 4 hours later for a meeting. Good times.
I love Jeff Janis, and sometimes if you love something you have to not even bring it back for the minimum because a good special teams gunner who isn't going to grow into anything more isn't worth a roster spot. Keeping him in 2018 might mean cutting the next Donald Driver.
Everyone Else
The team's remaining UFAs will come back for the minimum if they come back at all, so they don't warrant much discussion. Bring them to camp, let them earn a spot. Joe Thomas (the ILB) probably won't draw a lot of attention from other teams as a RFA, so he should be brought into camp cheap as well. Jake Schum (P), the other RFA, might be worth a minimal investment to keep around -- he's not exceptional, but he's adequate and could grow into above average. I expect us to retain all of our ERFAs, because they're all essentially on cheap team options.

2017 -- Look Back At It

Preseason Expectations
At the end of the 2016 season, CB and RB were top needs, with some concern about ILB play, TE, and the pass rush.

• CB: After Sam Shields went down early in the year the team was forced to roll with second-year men Ladarius Gunter, Damarious Randall, and Quinten Rollins. Including the postseason, they gave up passer ratings of 112.4, 113.4, and 133.8, respectively. Despite his sky-high passer rating against, Rollins earned the best PFF grade of the group... at 58.1, or "poor." Gunter and especially Randall were significantly lower, and yet they were still better than the various practice squad guys we trotted out late in the season. Micah Hyde moonlighted a bit at corner, but didn't play there primarily and still only qualified as "average." Coming into 2017, even with the free agent addition of Davon House and a high 2nd-rounder spent on Kevin King, the entire position group was a question mark.
• RB: Despite a few impressive yards/attempt showings (5.1 for Eddie Lacy, 5.9 for Ty Montgomery) no Green Bay running back eclipsed 500 rushing yards in 2016. Between injuries and ineffectiveness the team gave 246 carries to the likes of 30-year-old James Starks, Christine Michael, Knile Davis, and Don Jackson, plus assorted FBs and WRs. Montgomery appeared to be the best option by the end of the year, but outside of a casual fist-fucking of the Bears (162 yards, 10.1 yards/attempt, 2 TDs) he only had two other games with 50+ yards on the ground. General Manager Ted Thompson added 3 backs through the draft coming into 2017, but none were taken higher than the 4th round.
• ILB: This position had been a concern since before AJ Hawk left, back before the 2015 season. 2016 rookie Blake Martinez was expected to make an impact early, but he wound up playing just 43% of defensive snaps, including less than 25% of defensive snaps in each of the last three regular season games. The consensus was that he had tailed off or gotten into the coaches' doghouse. He, along with fellow ILBs Jake Ryan and Joe Thomas, remained unproven after 2016. Despite no standout in the position group, no ILBs were added through the draft or free agency heading into 2017.
• TE: As noted above, DickRod has never been bad, but he's never been good at anything, either. He's the type of player who's OK as a backup if he's cheap, but if you have him as a starter he's on the upgrade list. DickRod had played all 16 games in 2016, and wound up with about as many targets and exactly as many receptions as the talented (but injured and ultimately overhyped) Jared Cook. Teddy T swapped out Cook for Martellus Bennett before 2017 in what was perceived at the time as an upgrade.
• Pass rush: Although the team tied for 6th in the league with 40 sacks in 2016, the only Packer with 10+ sacks was Nick Perry, who had an injury-plagued history and who had never come up with more than 4 sacks in a season before. The team's second-leading sack artist, Julius Peppers, left for Carolina after 2016. Clay Matthews -- the only other Packer that year with 5+ sacks -- had just 5 sacks, and had just turned 30. The front office added 3rd-round DT Montravius Adams, 4th-round OLB Vince Biegel, and 33-year-old free agent Ahmad Brooks to shore up the group heading into 2017, but concerns lingered.

Nonetheless, the 8-game "Run the Table" streak that took Green Bay to the 2016 NFC Championship Game ensured that preseason expectations were right up there with the best of the NFL. Six Sports Illustrated writers had Green Bay in the Super Bowl, and two others had them in the NFC Championship Game. All seven writers at CBSsports.com had the Packers winning the NFC North, and three had them in the Super Bowl. ESPN was similarly rosy, projecting that Green Bay would go 12-4. Oh, my sweet summer child.
Regular Season Recap

1. Packers vs. Seahawks, W 17-9. With the stage set, let's go through the victim's last moments. The Packers opened the year with a tough home win against Seattle. Despite a halting game from the offense, the D balled out and kept Lore and Co. out of the endzone. Recently departed Eddie Lacy runs for a whopping 3 yards on 5 carries; he goes on to average just 2.6 yards/attempt on the year despite averaging 5.1 yards/attempt in 2016 with Green Bay (and very publicly meeting Seattle's offseason weight goals). Is this a (raging) clue that the Packers' offensive line is actually pretty good, or just further evidence that Seattle's line blows? Maybe it's both?
   
2. Packers @ Falcons, L 23-34. The Falcons jump out to a 31-7 lead, and they're shitting their pants. At first it's just a little squeak from between clenched cheeks when the announcers first bring up 28-3. But then Rodgers starts to go off -- he finishes with 343 yards passing, and the Falcons finish soaking through their shorts. The announcers keep bringing up 28-3. Ty Montgomery keeps squirting through holes en route to 110 yards (on 16 carries) from scrimmage and 2 TDs. The Falcons keep furiously squirting hot lava. The announcers keep hammering 28-3. Matt Bryant has died of dysentery. Is there a (raging) clue here about shitty defense? Is allowing 27 defensive points (7 came from an Atlanta fumble return for a TD) to a team that averaged 33.8 points per game in 2016 that bad, or does shit like that just happen in the modern NFL?
   
3. Packers vs. Bengals, W (OT) 27-24. Again we see the Packers go down early, falling behind 21-7 after Rodgers' first career pick six. The defense locks up, and Green Bay is able to tie it up and then (finally) get Rodgers a win in OT. At this point close observers were starting to worry about Ty Montgomery -- through this game he had just 124 rushing yards while averaging almost exactly 3.0 yards/attempt. Had the front office adequately addressed the RB position in the offseason? Is the line just not good enough?
   
4. Packers vs. Bears, W 35-14. According to Pro Football Reference, the Packers had a 94.3% chance of winning with 9:49 on the clock... in the first quarter. Rodgers chipped in 4 TDs (on just 179 yards passing!), Aaron Jones sees his first significant action (49 yards on 13 carries, 1 TD), and Chicago coughs up 4 turnovers. The calm before the storm.
   
5. Packers @ Cowboys, W 35-31. In a troublingly familiar pattern, the Packers are down 21-6 halfway through the 2nd quarter. In addition to Rodgers posting a sterling 122.9 passer rating, the comeback happens because of two breakout games. First, Aaron Jones goes for 125 and a TD on 19 carries, treating Dallas linebackers like Ezekiel Elliot treats Dallas DJs. Second, Damarious Randall -- coming off a awful sophomore season, coming off getting benched against Mike Fellatiating Glennon the week before -- comes up with a pick six and some clutch coverage down the stretch. We're also seeing the rise of Davante Adams (7 for 66 and 2 TDs) and the fall of Jordy Nelson (2 for 24 and 1 TD). The (raging) clues here point to a pretty decent supporting cast for Rodgers.
   
6. Packers @ Vikings, L 10-23. Aw, fuck. Rodgers gets railed (with gawd as my witness he's broken in half!), Hundley gets railed (39.6 passer rating!), Jones comes back to earth (41 yards on 13 carries), and Monty continues his poor start (28 yards on 10 carries). Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, shooting up and listening to "The End" on a loop. The defense didn't play bad overall (23 points allowed; the Vikings would average 23.9 for the season) but Hundley sure didn't get a ton of help from the rest of the offense.
   
7. Packers vs. Saints, L 17-26. Hundley plays awful -- 39.9 passer rating, 87 passing yards -- but the defense plays reasonably well (gives up 26; the Saints average 28.0 on the year) and Jones comes to play (131 yards and a TD on 17 carries). The Packers actually have a 52.5% chance of winning early in the 4th quarter. At this point it looks like if Hundley can improve a little, and if we can ride Jones for a stretch, and if the defense keeps playing OK we might be able to hang in there. I think this perspective (and a general lack of quality backup options) is what kept the front office/coaching staff from picking up another QB over the upcoming bye week. At the same time, this game is squarely on Hundley -- he had the run game working, the defense wasn't getting torched, but he couldn't even move the ball 100 yards in the air.
   
8. Packers vs. Lions, L 17-30. After an extra week of preparation, Hundley plays... reasonably well. 245 yards passing and an 86.0 passer rating is a huge improvement over the Saints game. That performance probably would have won the Saints game. The problem is A) the defense gets lit up and B) the run game fails to show up. This wasn't a game where it's close throughout and a late Lions TD makes the score look worse; this is a game where the Packers were down 10, then 17, then 20 before scoring a garbage time TD of their own to make it look more respectable. Based solely (raging) clue is now pointing towards the roster not offering enough support for the QB. No 40-yard rusher, no 60-yard receiver.
   
9. Packers @ Bears, W 23-16. It's a bad situation. The team is 4-4, headed to the Illinois Bears, and the Mitch Brutitsky has replaced the giraffe. Everyone is looking forward at the schedule -- Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Cleveland -- and wondering how likely a 3-1 record over that stretch is if Chicago wins today. Hundley takes another step forward -- 110.7 passer rating, 212 yards, 1 TD -- and after Jones goes down with an ACL sprain Jamaal Williams and Monty combine for 142 yards from scrimmage. Adams shows up (5 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD), too, and while the defense gives up almost 297 yards and a big TD late, it locks down in crunch time and holds on for the win. This is the blueprint that was envisioned after the Saints game: Passable passing, a strong run game, solid enough defense. No one is calling for Hundley's head at this point (why would they?) and it's back to looking like he has enough tools around him to make this thing work.
   
10. Packers vs. Ravens, L 0-23. Just when everything was going so well, Hundley craps out a 4-turnover game. He moved the ball alright (239 yards), Williams ran hard against a good defensive front (95 yards from scrimmage), and Adams brought his fistin' shoes (8 catches for 126 yards)... the turnovers were just insurmountable. The Ravens kicked field goals after drives starting on the Packers' 29 and 30, and scored a TD after a drive starting on the Packers' 3. That's all but 10 of the Ravens' points that the offense gifted them. A cleaner offensive game would have been highly winnable -- it was only 0-6 at the half -- but Hundley just didn't have it. He had plenty of help; Hundley's starting to look like the season killer.
    
11. Packers @ Steelers, L 28-31. Aaaaand he's back -- 245 yards, 3 TDs, 134.3 passer rating. He got a lot of help from Williams (135 yards from scrimmage, 2 TDs) and some big catches from Adams (5 catches, 82 yards, 1 TD), but Hundley played about as good of game as he could against a legitimate opponent on the road. This is one reason why the front office/coaching staff never picked up another QB -- every time Hundley shat the bed, he'd follow it up with a "huh, maybe he can do it" performance. The defense didn't play well, but they did keep three Hall of Famers from running away with the game. This is another loss where the team had a legitimate shot to win; another (raging) clue that the roster isn't all that bad. Bad rosters wind up in a lot more blowouts.
    
12. Packers vs. Buccaneers, W (OT) 26-20. Plenty of help from the running game (113 rush yards and a TD from Williams, a walk-off 20-yard TD from Jones in OT) and the defense turned in a winnable performance (7 sacks, a turnover, 20 points allowed, clutch stop late). Hundley forgot how to pass again (84 yards, 48.3 passer rating) but was a huge factor on the ground during the last two scoring drives (39 of his 66 rushing yards came after 6:00 left in the 4th). This is reason number two why the Packers didn't bring in another QB -- even when he couldn't pass, he could still run to the tune of 7.5 yards/attempt over the course of the season.
    
13. Packers @ Browns, W (OT) 27-21. The trap game of all trap games. The winless Browns, late in the season, playing a team with a backup QB. No one knows what to expect of Hundley at this point -- is he going to be Steelers Hundley or Buccaneers Hundley? Despite yet another slow start -- a flashback-inducing 7-21 deficit heading into the 4th -- he wound up with a 111.2 passer rating on 265 yards and 3 TDs. He even chipped in 31 yards on the ground to compliment Williams' 118 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs, and Adams further solidified his role on the team with 10 catches for 84 yards and 2 TDs. The return game even came to life with a key 65-yard punt return to set up the tying score. The defense struggled early but pitched a shutout in the 4th quarter and OT, including a pick that gave the offense the ball in Cleveland territory on the final drive. Pretty? No, but it got the job done. Isn't that what good teams do? How often do bad teams get big picks to ice the game, or pull out 60+ yard punt returns when it's late and close? We keep seeing example after example of the team getting itself in a position to win, which does an awful lot to exonerate the front office and coaching staff. And ultimately, the roster and coaching staff were good enough to keep the ship afloat long enough for Rodgers to have something to come back to. Isn't that the primary goal of any team who's forced to start their backup?
    
14. Packers @ Panthers, L 24-31. And just like that, it's gone. Rodgers played well all things considered, but he clearly was physically limited, and that resulted in 3 uncharacteristic turnovers. That makes all the difference in a one-score game. What's important to our mystery of "who killed the Packers season?" is how the rest of the team played, and if they folded when playing with a clearly reduced Rodgers (71.5 passer rating). Williams and Jones combined for an efficient 77 rush yards on 13 carries, two receivers went over 70 yards, and three different players caught a TD pass. The special teams unit pulled out an onside kick when everyone in the stadium knew it was coming, and Rodgers was able to march into Carolina territory before a Geronimo Allison fumble iced the game. Again, non-QB parts of the team stepping up and giving a limited passer an opportunity to win. My (raging) clue is pointed pretty solidly towards Hundley at this point.
    
15. Packers vs. Vikings, L 0-16. With playoff hopes eliminated, the Packers decided to tank. They shut down their MVP-caliber QB, and who knows how many other medical decisions suddenly became far more cautious because there was nothing to play for. Still, another winnable game. It was 10-0 at the half, and the Vikings' last field goal was gifted to them after a drive that started on the Green Bay 14; the essentially gave up just 13 to an offense that averaged 24 in the regular season. Had Hundley had a passer rating above 30.2 maybe the Packers could have stayed in it. His hands are looking pretty bloody.
    
16. Packers @ Lions, L 11-35. 113 combined yards from Williams, 59.7 passer rating from Hundley. The defense got shredded through the air (140.4 passer rating for Stafford), but the offense never really gave the team a chance, either. A bad game all around, but hey, they were tanking.
    

Regular Season Summary
What's to make of all of this? Hundley was the killer, with the turnover, in the stadium. The rest of the team -- even the defense, which wasn't great by any stretch -- played well enough to win most games. Competent (not great) QB play could have potentially turned both shutouts and the Saints game into wins, and it could have given the Packers a puncher's chance in the less-competitive contests. Hundley and his 70.6 passer rating let the team down more than the team let Hundley down.

New Addition Review/Statuses

Martellus Bennett, TE
Free agent acquisition, released just 7 games into a 3-year contract. Did not score a TD, did not stretch the field (9.7 yards/reception), was on pace for just 533 yards. Fans said he was a great blocker, but the team's run and pass blocking didn't seem to suffer too much after he left, and "he's a great blocker" is notoriously hard to quantify. The warning signs were there, the risk was probably worth it, but the team got burned. This happens as often as not with big-name free agents. Picked up by Patriots, put on IR shortly after.
Lance Kendricks, TE
Free agent acquisition. 203 yards, 1 TD, 11.3 yards/reception. Not a huge impact, but flashed some good speed and made a few big plays (one 50+ yard reception, two more 20+ yard receptions). Signed for one more year at a reasonable price ($2.25 million cap hit for 2018). Makes sense to keep for a team that needs downfield weapons.
Ahmad Brooks, OLB
Free agent acquisition. Dinged up a bit (missed 4 games) but added a little pass rush at a position where the team can use all the help it can get. Currently a free agent.
Davon House, CB
Free agent acquisition. Graded out highly in coverage per PFF but received a "poor" overall grade from the same source. Either he's fine playing the receiver but struggles mightily in run support or PFF's grades don't quite add up. I'm going for a little of both. My general impression from watching him, reading about him, and the demand for him around the league is that he's fine, but not a player teams want to rely heavily on. It's OK if he's your third guy; it's not OK if he's your #1. Currently a free agent.
Jahri Evans, G
Free agent acquisition. By all accounts handled himself capably. "Average" PFF grade. Currently a free agent.
Ricky Jean Francois, DL
Free agent acquisition. Played sparingly (<6% of eligible snaps) and did not make an impact, released after 6 games, picked up by the Patriots. Currently a free agent.
Quinton Dial, DL
Free agent acquisition. Backup NT (<30% of eligible snaps), did not fill stat sheet, did not jump off the screen.
Kevin King, CB
Draft pick, 33rd overall. Played 9 games, 21 tackles, 5 deflections, 0 INTs, allowed a 102.9 passer rating when targeted, received "poor" grade from PFF. Saw heavy snaps when healthy, placed on IR mid-season. Underwent shoulder surgery. Question mark going forward.
Josh Jones, S
Draft pick, 61st overall. Played 16 games, 56 tackles, 5 deflections, 1 INT, 2 sacks, played about 70% of eligible snaps, received "poor" grade from PFF. Moonlighted a bit at ILB, potentially being groomed as Morgan Burnett's replacement. Looked beat sometimes on tape, but also made some plays. Question mark going forward.
Montravius Adams, DT
Draft pick, 93rd overall. Played sparingly in 7 games, 1 tackle. Foot injury sidelined him for beginning of season. Question mark going forward.
Vince Biegel, OLB
Draft pick, 108th overall. Played 9 games after foot injury early in season. 7 tackles. Question mark going forward.
Jamaal Williams, RB
Draft pick, 134th overall. Tough runner, above-average receiver. Finished with 556 rushing yards and 262 receiving yards, but had a concerningly low 3.6 yards/attempt. Will likely be contest between him and Aaron Jones for the starting job in 2018.
DeAngelo Yancy, WR
Draft pick, 175th overall. Did not take regular season snap with Packers. Cut, signed to practice squad. Question mark going forward.
Aaron Jones, RB
Draft pick, 182nd overall. Explosive runner, did not show much as a receiver. Finished with 448 rushing yards and just 22 receiving yards. Averaged a robust 5.5 yards/attempt. Will likely be contest between him and Jamaal Williams for the starting job in 2018.
Kofi Amichia, OL
Draft pick, 212th overall. Did not take regular season snap with Packers. Cut, signed to practice squad. Question mark going forward.
Devante "Billy" Mays, RB
Draft pick, 238th overall. Got in doghouse with 2 fumbles, only received 7 touches on the year. Question mark going forward.
Malachi Dupre, WR
Draft pick, 247th overall. Did not take regular season snap with Packers. Cut, signed to Buffalo Bills practice squad.

Coaching Staff Review

The Packers have almost completely overhauled their coaching staff. You can compare the 2017 coaching staff to the 2018 vintage in as much detail as you like. I'll highlight a few of the most impactful changes.
Mike Pettine replaces Dom Capers as Defensive Coordinator
The pros of the Pettine hire are enticing. He's had highly-ranked defenses in the past, going all the way back to his days as a position coach in Baltimore. He coached up not only All Pro and HOF-caliber talent, but he also got useful seasons out of journeymen. No former players or coworkers have anything negative to say about him, and Rex Ryan thinks he'll be the best coordinator in the league. He was regarded highly enough to get a head coaching offer, and has been consulting with the Seahawks this past year.
The cons of the Pettine hire are concerning. His highly-ranked defenses came almost entirely under Rex Ryan, so there's a legitimate question of who was more responsible for the unit's success. His past defenses also were stacked with great talent, and there's no Ed Reed/Darrelle Revis/Ray Lewis/Terrell Suggs to anchor his scheme in Green Bay. While he received a head coaching job with the Browns, he was apparently not a name other teams were interested in, and it appears that the Browns hiring process was rushed. And while he had quality talent on defense in Cleveland, his second year there the defense fell apart. He hasn't coached at any level for the last two seasons, which begs the question of if he's such a great DC, why weren't teams falling over themselves to snatch him up in 2016 and 2017?
Joe Philbin replaces Edgar Bennett as Offensive Coordinator
McCarthy calls the plays and is heavily involved in the offense, and Philbin, who coached in Green Bay before, is presumably not bringing too many new ideas. This may be a case of going back to what worked before, but if what worked before was so great, and Philbin was such a big part of it, why has he only been coaching the Indy offensive line for the past two years? This smells like a cosmetic, ass-covering move, but it's possible that it's rooted in personal relationships and getting the "right guys" in the meeting rooms and on the field.
James Campen retained as OL Coach
The Packers have an excellent track record over the last few seasons at turning mid- to late-round offensive linemen in to productive pros. Campen is likely a part of that, and I'm glad to see him sticking around.
Joe Whitt, Jr. retained as Defensive Pass Game Coordinator
Joe Whitt was formerly a secondary coach with the Packers, and under him we've seen a number of young prospects stall out in recent years. He's had past success, but it seems curious that he's getting a promotion when his last few proteges have developed unevenly, or not at all.

Free Agency/Draft Concerns

The "need" hierarchy is (1) would need to make a unit average if the roster is healthy and performs well, (2) would need to make a unit good if the roster is healthy and performs well, (3) backups for injury risk positions, (4) backups for positions without significant injury risk.

1. CB: Still have multiple below-average corners we're relying on for heavy snaps. Must upgrade to improve defense.
2. OLB: Clay Matthews is aging, Nick Perry has a long injury history. If they stay healthy they're a good duo, but that's a hell of an if. The time to plan for the future is now, and you can never have too many pass rushers.
3. WR: Adams is the only receiver on the roster who has a definite long-term future in Green Bay. The team has sorely missed a deep threat since Jordy's injury sapped his breakaway speed, and a guy who can stretch the field vertically is the difference between MVP Rodgers and merely great Rodgers.
4. TE: Maybe Lance Kendricks will have a big year with a season in Green Bay, more opportunities, and a healthy Rodgers, but he was available cheap for a reason. He's never been hugely productive and he's 30. No one of note behind him except free agent DickRod, and he's the definition of marginal.

I expect new GM Brian Gutekunst to stay conservative with free agency -- he was privy to whatever discussions dissuaded the Thompson administration from taking big FA swings, and there's ample evidence that big-name free agency is a losing bet. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these holes are filled with Davon House/Lance Kendricks/Jahri Evans-type vets on cheap, 1-2 year deals. The risk and reward is better balanced in that market.

After weeks of weird stats, it’s now time for the grand finale of the season. Of course, I’m talking about the Super Bowl. First off, I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing with this series after the Super Bowl with regards to the offseason; I’ll definitely have one of these threads for the NFL Draft, but with everything else, I’m not sure. I’ll come up with something, though- I want to keep producing this content in the offseason the same way that I do in the regular season, because it helps me get through those six dark months (and if it helps you guys too, then great).
We’re going to divide this one up into a few different categories. Part I is going to be between the Broncos and the Panthers. Part II is going to be some weird stats from Super Bowl history. And, part III is the grand finale. It’s the big kahuna. It’s the part that I’ve been holding from you guys for a very long time. It’s the weirdest stat not just that I’ve ever come up with, but quite possibly, of all-time (sounds like an exaggeration now, but when you see it, you’ll see what I mean). I’ll explain how you can relate the halftime show to how good or bad the game turns out to be. But, we’re saving that for a bit. Let’s start off this thread with the Broncos/Panthers history.
Part I- Broncos vs. Panthers

• The Broncos and the Panthers have played each other four times- twice at each city. However, due to a weird scheduling quirk, the Broncos played their first 2 games against the Panthers in Denver, and the Panthers played their next 2 games against the Broncos in Charlotte. The teams met in 1997 (Denver), 2004 (Denver), 2008 (Charlotte) and 2012 (Charlotte).
  
• Each game between the Panthers and Broncos has had a different leading rusher for each team.
  

Year	Broncos Leading Rusher	Panthers Leading Rusher
1997	Terrell Davis	Fred Lane
2004	Reuben Droughns	Nick Goings
2008	PJ Pope	DeAngelo Williams
2012	Willis McGahee	Jonathan Stewart

• This shouldn’t come as entirely surprising, but the QB that has thrown for the most passing yards in every game between the Broncos and the Panthers has won

Year	Broncos Passing Yards	Panthers Passing Yards	Winner
1997	233	113	Broncos
2004	224	163	Broncos
2008	158	253	Panthers
2012	295	198	Broncos

• Every single year that the Broncos and Panthers have met, the previous year’s R&B #1 single had a three-word title

Year	Previous Year’s #1 R&B Single
1997	Let It Flow (released as a double-A side with another Toni Braxton song)
2004	In Da Club
2008	Lost Without U
2012	Love on Top
2016	See You Again

• The Panthers have won a playoff game in five separate seasons. All five seasons, the Denver Broncos were in the playoffs that same season.
  
• When the last Christmas #1 single in the United Kingdom was recorded by a solo male artist, the Panthers have won every meeting against the Broncos. When it was recorded by either multiple artists or a female artist, the Broncos have won.
  

Year	Previous Year’s #1 Christmas Single	Artist	Winner
1997	2 Become 1	Spice Girls	Denver
2004	Mad World	Michael Andrews & Gary Jules	Denver
2008	When You Believe	Leon Jackson	Carolina
2012	Wherever You Are	Military Wives & Gareth Malone	Denver

The last #1 Christmas single in the UK was “A Bridge over You” by the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, which consists of both males and females. Advantage to the Broncos here.

• Here’s the strangest one of them all: This is the fifth meeting between the Broncos and the Panthers. Every single time that they’ve met, the New England Patriots were involved in the previous year’s Super Bowl.

Year	Last Super Bowl Played	Was New England There?
1997	XXXI	Yes
2004	XXXVIII	Yes
2008	XLII	Yes
2012	XLVI	Yes
2016	XLIX	Yes

• This is the third time that the Broncos have ever played an opponent exactly four times before playing them the fifth time in the Super Bowl, as they played both the New York Giants and Washington beforehand four times before meeting up in Super Bowls XXI and XXII, respectively. Oddly enough, both of those games were held in California. Denver lost both. Super Bowl 50 is being held in California.
  
• The Panthers have played the Broncos four times. The Panthers are 0-3 when they do not attempt a field goal or when they do not hit 100% of their field goals. Their lone win came when they were perfect on field goal attempts.
  
• All five times that the Panthers and Broncos have now met, the previous year’s Super Bowl was held in a facility that either has a retractable roof or a dome.
  

Year	Last Super Bowl Played	Facility
1997	XXXI	Louisiana Superdome
2004	XXXVIII	Reliant Stadium
2008	XLII	University of Phoenix Stadium
2012	XLVI	Lucas Oil Stadium
2016	XLIX	University of Phoenix Stadium

• Every time that the Jaguars finish a season 5-11, the Broncos and Panthers play each other the following yeaafter the Jags season is done.

Year	Jags Record	Did They Meet?
2004	5-11 (2003)	Yes
2012	5-11 (2011)	Yes
2016	5-11 (2015)	Yes

Seeing as these two teams will meet again next regular season, this trend will continue.

• When the most recent champion of The Masters is American, the Broncos have never lost to the Panthers. When the most recent champion of The Masters is not American, the Panthers have never lost to the Broncos

Year	Masters Champion	Nationality	Winner
1997	Tiger Woods	USA	Denver
2004	Phil Michelson	USA	Denver
2008	Trevor Immelman	South Africa	Carolina
2012	Bubba Watson	USA	Denver

For the record, the most recent champion of The Masters was Jordan Speith, an American. Advantage to the Broncos here.

• When the most recent Champions League final is held between two teams from different nations, Denver has never lost to Carolina. When the most recent Champions League final is being held between two teams from the same country, Carolina has never lost to Denver

Year	Champions League teams	Countries Involved	Winner
1997	Borussia Dortmund & Juventus	Germany/Italy	Denver
2004	FC Porto & AS Monaco	Portugal/Monaco	Denver
2008	Manchester United & Chelsea	England	Carolina
2012	Chelsea & Bayern Munich	England/Germany	Denver

The most recent Champions League final was held between FC Barcelona (Spain) and Juventus (Italy), so once again, advantage to the Broncos here.

• And finally for part I, when the band Chicago releases an album of new material, the Panthers have never lost to the Broncos. When Chicago either releases an album of old material or does not release an album in the same year as the game, the Broncos have never lost.

Year	Did Chicago Release a Studio Album?	Winner
1997	No (The Heart of Chicago- 1967-1997 was not a studio album)	Denver
2004	No	Denver
2008	Yes (Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus)	Carolina
2012	No	Denver

Chicago has not released an album in the first month of 2016. Advantage to the Broncos here, once again.
Part II- Super Bowl History

• This is Carolina’s second Super Bowl appearance. They made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII in the 2003 season. That year, they opened up the season with a week 1 victory against Jacksonville. This season, the Panthers opened up with a week 1 victory against Jacksonville.
  
• This is Denver’s eighth appearance in the Super Bowl. Half of the time, Denver’s appearance in the Super Bowl was the first time that the venue was hosting the game. It happened at Super Bowl XII (Superdome), Super Bowl XXII (Jack Murphy Stadium), and Super Bowl XLVIII (MetLife Stadium), and will happen this year. Denver lost all three times.
  
• The average margin of victory of Super Bowls played in California is 19.6 points. They’ve been blowouts; only 2 of the 11 games were decided by single digit points.
  
• From Super Bowl XXXIX to Super Bowl XLVII, there was a way to predict who was going to win the Super Bowl with 100% accuracy, purely by judging the entrance songs by each team. It alternated every year between the older song and the newer song. Basically, whichever team had the older walkout song every other year would win, and whichever team had the newer walkout song every other year would win
  

Super Bowl	Winner	Entrance Song	Year	Loser	Entrance Song	Year	Old or New?
XXXIX	NE	Crazy Train	1980	PHI	Thunderstruck	1990	Old
XL	PIT	Right Here, Right Now	1999	SEA	Bittersweet Symphony	1998	New
XLI	IND	Won’t Get Fooled Again	1971	CHI	Ladies and Gentlemen	2006	Old
XLII	NYG	Stronger	2007	NE	Crazy Train	1980	New
XLIII	PIT	Right Here, Right Now	1999	ARZ	Ignition	2007	Old
XLIV	NO	Sirius	1982	IND	Won’t Get Fooled Again	1971	New
XLV	GB	Get Ready for This	1991	PIT	Right Here, Right Now	1999	Old
XLVI	NYG	Written in the Stars	2010	NE	Crazy Train	1980	New
XLVII	BAL	Where the Streets Have No Name	1987	SF	California Love	1995	Old

This worked with 100% accuracy up until Super Bowl XLVIII. Keep in mind that Super Bowl XXXIX was the earliest video that I could find of entrance songs, and prior to Super Bowl XXXVIII, teams got introduced as individual players, and not as teams

• There has never been a punt return for a touchdown in the history of the Super Bowl
  
• Only one player has ever been ejected from a Super Bowl- Bruce Irvin from Super Bowl XLIX at the end of the game
  
• If the weird stats hold up, then this Super Bowl is going to stink. I’m not just talking about the California stat- there are plenty of other stats to back this up as well, like this one about attendance. When the attendance of a Super Bowl reaches a certain range, it can result in a blowout.
  

Attendance at the Super Bowl	Super Bowls to Fit This Criteria	Margin of Victory
70,000 or less	I, XXVI, XXXII, XXXVII, XL	14.5 pts
70,000-72,000	VIII, XXXV, XXXVIII, XLII, XLIII, XLVII, XLIX	8.71 pts
72,000-73,000	XVIII, XXIV, XXVIII, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXVI	20.83 pts
73,000-75,000	XX, XXII, XXV, XXXIII, XXXIX, XLI, XLIV	19 pts
75,000-77,000	II, III, XII, XV, XXIII, XXX	12.66 pts
77,000-81,000	IV, V, IX, X, XIII, XXXIX	6.66 pts
81,000-100,000	VI, VII, XVI, XIX, XXVII, XLVIII	21.4 pts
100,000 or more	XI, XIV, XXI, XXVII, XLV	13 pts

Levi’s Stadium can be expanded to approximately 75,000 seats, so we’re either getting a Super Bowl in that 20.83 pts range or in that 19 pts range. Not good.

• The average margin of victory for Super Bowls that end in the number 0 (ex: X, XX, XXX, XL) is 15.25 points.
  
• If you’re doing your prop bets and are betting on a team to win the coin toss, put your money on the Panthers. This is the result of the last 11 coin tosses that did not take place in a dome, and took place in an outdoor venue.
  

Super Bowl	Team that won the toss	Result of the flip	Venue
XXIX	49ers	Heads	Joe Robbie Stadium
XXX	Cowboys	Tails	Sun Devil Stadium
XXXII	Packers	Tails	Qualcomm Stadium
XXXIII	Falcons	Tails	Pro Player Stadium
XXXV	Giants	Tails	Raymond James Stadium
XXXVII	Buccaneers	Tails	Qualcomm Stadium
XXXIX	Eagles	Tails	Alltel Stadium
XLI	Bears	Heads	Dolphin Stadium
XLIII	Cardinals	Heads	Raymond James Stadium
XLIV	Saints	Heads	Sun Life Stadium
XLVIII	Seahawks	Tails	MetLife Stadium

Notice a theme here? The last 11 coin tosses that took place in outdoor venues were won by the NFC team. The last time that an AFC team won the coin toss outdoors was all the way back at Super Bowl XXVII, when the Bills won the toss. The last time that an AFC team won the coin toss outdoors AND won the Super Bowl was Super Bowl XVIII, when the Los Angeles Raiders did it.

• This is the fourteenth Super Bowl to take place between two teams playing in cities that have never won the World Series; the most recent one was Super Bowl XLVIII between the Broncos and the Seahawks. The average margin of victory in these games is 19.14 points, with only two games (Super Bowls VII and XXXII) being decided by single digits
  
• Does winning the conference championship game by a significant amount of points matter? Surprisingly enough, it actually favors those that played closer games. Since the turn of the millennium in 2000, teams that have worse margins of victory in the conference championship are 9-5 in Super Bowls.
  

Super Bowl	AFC Champion	Margin of Victory	NFC Champion	Margin of Victory	Winner
XXXIV	Titans	19	Rams	5	Worse
XXXV	Ravens	13	Giants	41	Worse
XXXVI	Patriots	7	Rams	5	Greater
XXXVII	Raiders	17	Buccaneers	17	N/A
XXXVIII	Patriots	10	Panthers	11	Worse
XXXIX	Patriots	14	Eagles	17	Worse
XL	Steelers	17	Seahawks	20	Worse
XLI	Colts	4	Bears	25	Worse
XLII	Patriots	9	Giants	3	Worse
XLIII	Steelers	9	Cardinals	7	Greater
XLIV	Colts	13	Saints	3	Worse
XLV	Steelers	5	Packers	7	Greater
XLVI	Patriots	3	Giants	3	N/A
XLVII	Ravens	15	49ers	4	Greater
XLVIII	Broncos	10	Seahawks	6	Worse
XLIX	Patriots	38	Seahawks	6	Greater

The Broncos won the AFC Championship this year by 2 points. The Panthers won the NFC Championship by 34 points. The stats favor the Broncos, especially when considering the fact that teams that win the conference championship by more than 17 points since the turn of the millennium are 1-4 in the Super Bowl.

• When Alabama is the defending champion of college football, the average margin of victory in the following Super Bowl is 13 points.
  
• The last time that a team won the Super Bowl in the same stadium of a team in their division was when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII at Qualcomm Stadium. Since then, including this year, teams are 0-for-19 (since Super Bowl XLVIII counts twice due to the Jets and Giants).
  
• There have been two Super Bowls played in precipitation- Super Bowl XLI and Super Bowl XLVIII (parts of the game had a light drizzle). Both games involved Peyton Manning.
  
• When the Chicago Blackhawks made the Stanley Cup, the average margin of victory in the following Super Bowl is 22.8 points. The Chicago Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup champions.
  

Year of Stanley Cup Victory	Next Super Bowl	Margin of Victory
1971	VI	21
1973	VIII	17
1992	XXVII	35
2010	XLV	6
2013	XLVIII	35

• And finally, having the Mets in the World Series is not a good sign for the upcoming Super Bowl. The Mets have made the World Series four times, excluding the 2015 season. The average margin of victory in the Super Bowls following that was 19.75 points. Remember that the Mets made the World Series in 2015.

Year of World Series Appearance	Next Super Bowl	Margin of Victory
1969	IV	16
1973	VIII	17
1986	XXI	19
2000	XXXV	27

Part III- The Weirdest Stat of All
Well, this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for. I’ve been holding off this stat for a long time; I think I’ve been holding this one off ever since I started the Weird Stat Thread. This is the big one, and it’s one that I’ve had in my back pocket for a very long time. By a very long time, I’m talking about the fact that I’ve been keeping this stat since December of 2013. However, because it’s very hard to explain verbally (and you’ll see why), and because I’ve never had a platform like this before, I’ve never been able to share it to the world.
Now is the time. After more than two years of waiting and refining the stat, it’s finally time to reveal it. It doesn’t tell you who will win the Super Bowl, but it can tell you how good or bad the Super Bowl will be. You can tell how good or bad the show is going to be simply by the halftime show. Keep in mind that this is not a stat based on opinion; I’m not saying that if the halftime show is good, then the Super Bowl will be good, or vice versa. This is a stat based off of numbers, and strange numbers at that. Let’s break this stat down into parts.
History of the Halftime Show
I’m not going to dive too much into the history of the show, because I’ve done that for an entire series. If you want to check that out, then here’s the link to the most recent one on the Katy Perry halftime show. I bring this up because it’s important in our understanding of the stat, and in terms of when the cut-off date is going to be. Most of the Super Bowls prior to Super Bowl XXV featured marching bands, Disney performances, or really bad magic tricks. However, from Super Bowl XXV-on, each halftime show featured at least one artist. That doesn’t mean that the shows were good; I still think that the Super Bowl XXV halftime show is the worst of all-time. However, from Super Bowl XXV-on, there was at least one recognizable name in each halftime show. For this reason, our cut-off date is Super Bowl XXV.
The Stat and the Guidelines
How the stat works is incredibly confusing and took a very long time to figure out, but let’s see if you can follow along with me on this one. Here’s the simple form of it:

Take the first singer that performs in the halftime show (ex: Katy Perry was the first performer in Super Bowl XLIX, not Lenny Kravitz or Missy Elliott). Now, take the longest song that the artist has ever recorded in their lifetime up until that point. By knowing the length of that song, you can determine how good or bad the Super Bowl is going to be

Sounds confusing? In more broken down terms, we’re taking the first artist that is performing at the halftime show. After taking that artist, we’re looking at their entire discography and picking out the longest song that this artist has. If that song is a certain length, the game will be good; if it’s not, then the game will be bad. However, for this stat to work, we need some qualifiers.

• Live songs count, so long as those songs came off of a live album. I’m not counting YouTube performances; they have to be off of an album off of Spotify
  
• Songs performed in a language other than English do not count
  
• Remixes do not count, even if these remixes were released on an album
  
• Christmas songs or holiday singles do not count
  
• By first artist, I’m talking about the first singer. As an example, at Super Bowl XXXIII, we’re using Stevie Wonder, not Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
  
• If the artist performed the song as a part of a group, it counts (ex: Paul McCartney’s work with The Beatles counts in this stat)
  

Now that we’ve got the guidelines down, it’s time to look at the songs.
The Table

Super Bowl	First Artist	Longest Song	Song Length	Margin of Victory
XXV	New Kids on the Block	My Favorite Girl	5:28	1
XXVI	Gloria Estefan	Here We Are	4:50	13
XXVII	Michael Jackson	Will You Be There	7:40	35
XXVIII	Clint Black	We Tell Ourselves	4:39	17
XXIX	Patti LaBelle	Music Is My Way of Life	8:12	23
XXX	Diana Ross	Love Hangover	7:48	10
XXXI	Blues Brothers	Sweet Home Chicago	7:53	14
XXXII	The Temptations	Papa Was a Rolling Stone	6:52	7
XXXIII	Stevie Wonder	Another Star	8:29	15
XXXIV	Christina Aguilera	Somebody’s Somebody	5:03	7
XXXV	*NSYNC	That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You	4:52	27
XXXVI	U2	Lemon	6:59	3
XXXVII	Shania Twain	From This Moment On	4:52	27
XXXVIII	Janet Jackson	Any Time, Any Place	7:09	3
XXXIX	Paul McCartney	Hey Jude	7:11	3
XL	The Rolling Stones	Miss You	8:36	11
XLI	Prince	Purple Rain	8:43	12
XLII	Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers	House in the Woods	5:32	3
XLIII	Bruce Springsteen	Jungleland	9:36	4
XLIV	The Who	Won’t Get Fooled Again	8:34	14
XLV	The Black Eyed Peas	They Don’t Want Music	6:47	6
XLVI	Madonna	Physical Attraction	6:40	4
XLVII	Beyonce	Dance for You	6:18	3
XLVIII	Bruno Mars	It Will Rain	4:18	35
XLIX	Katy Perry	Lost	4:59	4

Analysis of the Table
Let’s take a look at the longest song lengths, because right now, this is just a bunch of numbers. However, when you look at it more closely, these numbers are heavily related.

Longest Song Length	Occurrences	Games Decided by Single Digits	Average Margin of Victory
Less than 4:55	5	0	23.8 points
4:55-7:11	11	11	3.7 points
Greater than 7:11	9	1	15.33 points

If the longest song by the first halftime show artist fits the range of 4:55-7:11, then expect the game to be really good. If it doesn’t… expect a blowout, or, at the very least, a 2-possession game. The only one that didn’t fit the 4:55-7:11 range and ended up being a single digit game was Super Bowl XLIII. Every other game was decided by double digits. Want to know why you had a string of good Super Bowls in a row, and then, you had a blowout at Super Bowl XLVIII? Blame Bruno Mars for that.
What Does This Mean for Coldplay?
The odds are likely that Coldplay will be the first performer at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, since they are the headlining act. What’s the longest song in their discography that comes off of a studio album? Unfortunately for us, Coldplay released a live album in 2003 called Live 2003 (original name, I know), and one of the songs on that album is “Everything’s Not Lost.” This song clocks in at 8:48, which fits in the “Greater than 7:11” range. Remember that in the 9 occurrences of this, only once has the game finished in single digits, and the average margin of victory is more than two touchdowns.
Conclusion
Based on that stat, expect a really bad Super Bowl, unfortunately. Hopefully, it’s not the case; I’d much rather be entertained for another Super Bowl than to have my weird stat be correct and watch another blowout. That being said, the numbers have held true for more than 25 years. This isn’t good for Super Bowl 50. One way or the other, you may be looking at a blowout.

Now that we've somewhat cooled off from this week's "Adventures in Officiating"...
In the NFL, so much weight is put on a team's record, as well as the record of the opposition, at any point in the season. This is understandable, but somewhat short-sighted when it comes to evaluating how teams are performing relatively to each other during that part of the season. We've seen in the past, teams that started out hot but fell flat later on, as well as teams that caught fire towards the end of the season.
Now that three weeks have passed, it's time to take a deeper look at the NFC North - what the standings are, but more importantly, to take a look at their opponent's strength of schedule to better figure out what's going on.
Each week, I'll post the results for the last three weeks for the North, as well as who their opponents were, and those teams' results from the most recent three weeks of the season. We'll also use the same principle to take a quick look at each team's next opponent. This will give us a snapshot of how each team is doing right now, as opposed to giving weight to the full season, after players settle into new schemes or injuries start taking a toll.
Three weeks is somewhat arbitrary, but I feel as if it will help create discussion about not just the Lions, but the division as a whole. I'm also not a professional, so I invite all of you to make of the data what you will. There may also be some ramblings and observations from a layman on the most recent Lions' game (in this case, the first three weeks), as well as any other trends I care to notice regarding the rest of the NFC North.

Team	3-game Record	Opp. Recorda	O-Opp. Recordb		Week 4 Opponentc
Detroit Lions	2-1	3-3	8-7		2-1, 4-4
Green Bay Packers	2-1	3-3	8-10		1-2, 6-2
Minnesota Vikings	2-1	3-2	5-7		2-1, 4-5
Chicago Bears	1-2	4-1	6-6		2-1, 4-5

^{a: Opponent's record is only against other teams, not that particular NFC North team.
b: Full 3-game record of opponent's opposition, not including that particular NFC North team. Teams that appear more than once in this will only have their record counted once.
c: Next opponent's record and their opposition's complete record for last three games}
DETROIT

Opponent		Week 1 results	Week 2 results	Week 3 results
W-ARI (35-23)		L-DET (23-35)	W-IND (16-13)	L-DAL (17-28)
W-NYG (24-10)		L-DAL (3-19)	L-DET (10-24)	L-PHI (24-27)
L-ATL (26-30)		W-CHI (23-17)	W-GB (34-23)	W-DET (30-26)
NEXT-MIN		W-NO (29-19)	L-PIT (9-26)	W-TB (34-17)

GREEN BAY

Opponent		Week 1 results	Week 2 results	Week 3 results
W-SEA (17-9)		L-GB (9-17)	W-SF (12-9)	L-TEN (27-33)
L-ATL (23-34)		W-CHI (23-17)	W-GB (34-23)	W-DET (30-26)
W-CIN (27-24)		L-BAL (0-20)	L-HOU (9-13)	L-GB (24-27)
NEXT-CHI		L-ATL (17-23)	L-TB (7-29)	W-PIT (23-17)

MINNESOTA

Opponent		Week 1 results	Week 2 results	Week 3 results
W-NO (29-19)		L-MIN (19-29)	L-NE (20-36)	W-CAR (34-13)
L-PIT (9-26)		W-CLE (21-18)	W-MIN (26-9)	L-CHI (17-23)
W-TB (34-17)		BYE	W-CHI (29-7)	L-MIN (17-34)
NEXT-DET		W-ARI (35-23)	W-NYG (24-10)	L-ATL (26-30)

CHICAGO

Opponent		Week 1 results	Week 2 results	Week 3 results
L-ATL (17-23)		W-CHI (23-17)	W-GB (34-23)	W-DET (30-26)
L-TB (7-29)		BYE	W-CHI (29-7)	L-MIN (17-34)
W-PIT (23-17)		W-CLE (21-18)	W-MIN (26-9)	L-CHI (17-23)
NEXT-GB		W-SEA (17-9)	L-ATL (23-34)	W-CIN (27-24)

Lions Notes:

• Takeways are never a guarantee, but it's good to see that the defense is finding ways to separate opposing teams from their possessions. Even more importantly, they're taking the opportunities given to them instead of letting those errant throws fall harmlessly to the turf. There's a hunger in the defense we haven't seen in a while.
  
• The run game against the Giants had the feel of one of those games where the intent wasn't necessarily to get yards, but instead to practice against a solid defense in real time. Our run game has been so stagnant for so long that I think our organization has forgotten how to run effectively. How do you fix that? By running the ball. I think Stafford was also reassured at the half that as long as the Lions were still up, don't worry about trying to force passes or risk a sack/ fumble, so feel free to audible away from blitzes. And that ended up happening, and he's subsequently been almost universally praised for his game management, particularly in the second half where the offense didn't get any TDs.
  
• Penalties. Robinson has been beat to death for the Giants game, but nearly the entire line was called for holding at one point or another during that game. Penalties in the second half against the Giants contributed to the lack of offensive points. Non-calls against the Lions' opposition continue to be a thing, and the refs have been unreliable at best when it comes to Detroit (understatement of the year, I know), but that shouldn't be expected to change, nor is it a sole reason for failure to succeed. Detroit vs. Everybody - rise and overcome.
  
• Jarrad Davis. Looks to be a beast, but he has to be careful. He got flagged for body-slamming Palmer during the Cards game, and I was surprised he didn't get a flag for a similar tackle against the Giants. The only thing I can think of is that because the other player's feet didn't leave the ground, it was considered borderline acceptable. The last thing the Lions need is another Suh-like player though, in terms of not being able to contain aggressiveness. They've finally shed the label of "dirty players" from the era of Jim Swartz, and unnecessary roughness calls won't help. I still think that the tendency of refs to pick on the Lions, both in calling questionable penalties on DET and non-calls on the other teams, stem directly from that era, where seemingly every week a good prop bet was the oveunder on number of personal fouls and unnecessary roughness calls the Lions would get, as well as the tirades Swartz would go on towards the refs. Hopefully our own Junkyard Dog will get some discussion on this during his time recovering.
  
• The first three games of the season have been whole-team contributions. Last year and during the start of this year, it seems as if every week another player got to step up and make the highlight reel. Two TDs to Doc Golladay against the Cards were followed by Jones and Ebron finding the Giants' end zone, then finally against the Falcons, Tate got a chance to get in the mix. Interceptions by 5 different Lions defenders and counting, including a pick-6. Special teams action via punt return for TD, Prater (as always) being godly, and getting good punts out of Locke in his first games as a Lion. Just incredible to see that it's not just the Stafford show anymore.
  
• Turnovers from the Lions. Fairly acceptable, given the situations. In the first game, #9 threw to where he expected Tate to be, and unfortunately Tate had been blocked out of position. The lost fumble against the Giants came against tough pressure from the defensive line, and as mentioned above, Stafford adjusted to prevent future losses of the ball during the rest of the game. And while the Lions made mistakes against the Falcons, especially early, the team held onto the ball the entire game. Admittedly, Stafford did throw an interception at the end of the game that was overturned by a penalty nowhere near the play. Yay refs? Oh wait...
  
• Resiliency. Look no further than the 1st quarter against ARI. Everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong, and yet by the end of the bloodletting, the defense had held serve, and kept the Lions in the game. From there, the offense did what it did through the first three quarters of the season last year, adjusted, and cruised the rest of the way for the win. If you want more, though, look at the Falcons game...at no point did it appear that Detroit was out of it. Yeah, the defense didn't force a punt until the 4th, but the second half defense forced two INTs and two punts overall, while allowing just a field goal and one TD. Not too bad, considering the opponent, and especially considering what they allowed in the first half. Meanwhile, the Lions came within a half-yard and (yet another) obscure rule from coming all the way back against a team that nearly won the Super Bowl last year, and is projected to go deep in the playoffs this year as well. This will pay dividends later in the year.
  
• Overall, the Lions did what they needed to do during this first stretch. The media's goalposts, of course, moved after each game, especially as both AZ and NYG showed up flat against other opponents. And yet, the number one stat in the leagues is, simply, the W. Detroit got them, Arizona and NY did not. The game against ATL though? A tougher game to measure, but by any measure, the Lions went toe-to-toe against a top team. A healthy JD, a healthy Taylor Decker, and this might have been a different result.
  

NEXT WEEK
Division showdown time! Detroit visits Minnesota and the Bears go traveling to cheesehead land to take on the Packers. In other words, put up or shut up time!

I’ve reviewed 32 halftime shows now, ranging from the absolute best to the absolute worst. Remember that my work here is not done- I’m going to be reviewing the Super Bowl 50 halftime show on Monday, and then, I’m going to review every halftime show that I’ve missed that was prior to Super Bowl XVIII, but I did not review because it broke up chronological order. Since I’ve reviewed 32 halftime shows, it feels appropriate to now nominate the best things that I’ve seen, as well as the worst. I asked you guys to come up with some categories that you’d like to see me nominate winners in, and I’ve got a few of my own. So, with that being said, let’s hand out the awards.
Biggest Controversy: Janet Jackson (Super Bowl XXXVIII)
Was anything else going to win this award? Personally, I didn’t think it was such a big deal, but this was going to be the clear winner from day one, seeing as the implications from this included, but were not limited to, destroying Janet Jackson’s career, banning MTV from future halftime shows, new FCC regulations, fines of half a million dollars to CBS, and the creation of YouTube. It’s a moment that will forever live in halftime show infamy.
Craziest Outfit: Patti LaBelle (Super Bowl XXIX)
When someone suggested this category, this was a hard one to decide. A lot of the edgy artists, such as Madonna, decided to play it incredibly safe with their outfit choices. Katy Perry didn’t even do anything that outlandish. However, I’ve got to give this one to Patti LaBelle, who, in the Indiana Jones themed halftime show, was forced to wear this. Instead of Patti LaBelle on stage, I saw what it would look like if a female played Jafar in the Broadway version of Aladdin. Everything about this halftime show did not work, especially that outfit.
Best Staging: Katy Perry (Super Bowl XLIX)
Try arguing against the fact that Katy Perry had the best staging at any halftime show ever. She started off on a lion, then moved onto the field which was a slanted checkerboard with pillars rising from it, then moved to a different stage with fire, then moved back to midfield (which was now a beach with happy clouds, palm trees, and dancing sharks), then moved to a different stage towards the end zone with a Trivial Pursuit board, then finished off flying around the field while the entire stage and surrounding facility was a firework. It doesn’t get better than that. Madonna may have been the one that experimented with on field graphics for the entire show, but Katy Perry perfected it.
Worst Staging: Black Eyed Peas (Super Bowl XLV)
At least they tried. That’s really all I can say about the staging at this halftime show. The stage took forever to develop (it was only the completed stage with about three minutes left in the halftime show), and when it was developed, it spelt out “love,” which only applied to one song. Even worse? The letter “v” did not light up. There were a lot of technical difficulties from this halftime show that were not the fault of The Black Eyed Peas, and this is one of them.
Worst Audio: Black Eyed Peas (Super Bowl XLV)
Speaking of technical difficulties at this halftime show, I feel as though they put the audio responsibilities for this halftime show in the hands of high school students that knew nothing about how audio worked. Fergie’s microphone was quiet most of the time, and when Usher had his solo, his mic wasn’t even on. You could only hear what he was saying when he was physically screaming it. The Black Eyed Peas deserve the blame for a lot of what happened at this show, but not for this. This was just inexcusable on the part of the organizers.
Weirdest Pairing of 2 Artists That Worked: Katy Perry & Lenny Kravitz (Super Bowl XLIX)
Maybe the pairing of Lenny Kravitz and Katy Perry wasn’t entirely strange. What was strange was the fact that Lenny Kravitz sang “I Kissed a Girl” alongside Katy Perry. What was even stranger was the fact that this actually worked, sounded completely natural, and had an incredible transition that I didn’t think was possible. If you told me going into the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show that Lenny Kravitz would be on stage for about a minute, and the entire time, would just be singing a Katy Perry song, I would’ve face-palmed and have been dreading that moment. Turns out, it was one of my favorite moments in any halftime show.
Weirdest Pairing of 2 Artists That Did Not Work: Black Eyed Peas & Slash (Super Bowl XLV)
There were so many candidates for this spot that I could’ve chosen from. I could’ve gone for Bruno Mars with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but decided not to, because in the end, it was just the RHCP performing their song. I could’ve gone for Madonna with LMFAO, but decided not to (even though it was incredibly awkward). I decided to go for Fergie with Slash, simply because it resulted in an absolute butchering of “Sweet Child O’Mine.” No other collaboration completely butchered a song like this one. When people point to this halftime show being one of the worst in recent memory, they more than likely point to this number.
Best Choreography: Super Bowl XLVI
Madonna herself was a mixed bag at the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show. The guest artists were a mixed bag; Cee Lo Green got praise, while every other artist got panned or caused some sort of controversy. However, if there was one aspect of this halftime show that was praised afterwards, it was the choreography. Beyonce’s halftime show had tight choreography, but Madonna’s halftime show had more variety. The “Music” number was incredibly well done, from the four guys in jackets dancing perfectly in sync to the guy on the tightrope that looked like Will Ferrell. There wasn’t one misstep, and for a show with that much going on, that was remarkable. Kudos for that; it’s one of the reasons why, even despite its flaws, I ranked the Madonna halftime show relatively high on the list.
Worst Choreography: Super Bowl XXV
There are so many reasons why Super Bowl XXV is the worst halftime show of all-time. The choreography here was, simply put, atrocious. It was an all kids halftime show, and I’ve got no problem with that if the kids are good. However, Disney made it an all kids halftime show so that the poor choreography was an excuse. In the end, there were no kids that were in sync. When Roger Rabbit was coaching the kids to do moves, it didn’t sync up with the actual choreography. During jumping scenes, there were still kids in mid-air while others were on the ground. It was genuinely bad.
Best Transition: “It’s Gonna Be Me” into “Jaded”- Super Bowl XXXV
There were a lot of candidates to choose from with this one. Some of them included anything that Diana Ross did at her halftime show, Bruno Mars from “Treasure” into “Runaway Baby,” and Katy Perry from “Dark Horse” into “I Kissed a Girl.” However, I decided to go with a transition where one artist started singing the end of the first song before going into the next song. Steven Tyler singing the final line of “It’s Gonna Be Me,” which then transitioned perfectly into Aerosmith’s set for “Jaded” was great. It took a chance; having Steven Tyler actually sing a lyric to an *NSYNC song to transition into an Aerosmith song is a bold move, but it worked.
Worst Transition: Anything from Super Bowl XX
Here’s how you don’t do a transition. You don’t stop the music completely at the end of the song. You don’t have this long narration go into the next section that connects one idea to the next in an incredible forced manner. And you don’t try to force-feed a message to a section that doesn’t have one. I’ll go more into this with the “worst narration” section, but every transition at this show bombed. If by “transition,” you mean “stop the show for a minute while introducing the next segment,” then this was perfect. However, if you’re talking about what most people would call a normal transition, then this didn’t even come close.
Best Narration: Super Bowl XXXIV
Edward James Olmos has some incredible narration at this halftime show, and even though this halftime show got panned by so many people, I’ve got it as one of my favorite halftime shows of all time. A big reason why is because of the narration. It’s meaningful, it’s profound, it makes you think, it’s appropriate for the theme, it’s played over some incredible music, it doesn’t stop the show, and it transitions one idea to the next. I’m generally opposed to narration at the halftime show, but when it’s done correctly, it can be magical, like this one.
Worst Narration: Super Bowl XX
“The Super Bowl was born in the USA in the 60s, and here it is 20 years later being seen around the world. It was on the wave of the future then, and it’s still moving in that groove today, just like the music of the 80s.”
Do I even need to say anything else? That was an actual quote from the narration of this halftime show.
Worst Theme: 3-Way Tie between Super Bowls XIX, XX, and XXIV
I couldn’t come up with a winner for this one, so I’ve got a three-way tie. Super Bowl XIX’s theme was about the World of Children’s Dreams, but then, forced a message about the United States military in it that clearly did not belong. Super Bowl XX’s theme was about riding the wave of the future while honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the way that the theme was presented was incredibly awkward. And, Super Bowl XXIV’s theme was about celebrating New Orleans (nothing wrong with that) with the 40th anniversary of the Peanuts (awful idea). How do those two ideas go together? As you’d find out when watching the show, they don’t, and the end product is incredibly boring. Each of these themes are bad in their own right.
Best Pregame Video: Super Bowl XXXV
This 90-second pregame video starring *NSYNC, Aerosmith, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, and Chris Rock was surprisingly funny. It didn’t drag on for too long, and while I would’ve cut it down by a bit (eliminating Chris Rock), I actually enjoyed this video, especially Ben Stiller. The idea behind it (a coach pumping up the halftime show act) is actually pretty funny and original, and it was executed well. MTV went all out with this halftime show, and it showed.
Worst Pregame Video: Super Bowl XXXVIII
The theme of this pregame video was “Choose to Vote.” In the end, it had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the halftime show. The only connection that it had was in the first seconds afterwards, when Jessica Simpson said “Choose to party.” The fact that you’re connecting the fact that you have political power to the fact that you have the ability to party when the connection never needed to be made in the first place is just flat out insulting. The video was poorly edited as well; there was a lot of duplicate audio for no real reason. A minute-long video about choosing to vote is not what I want to watch before a halftime show.
Best Introduction: 2-Way Tie between Beyonce and Bruno Mars
I couldn’t pick a winner here. Call it a cop-out move, but I genuinely can’t decide which introduction is better. Honorable mention goes to Michael Jackson here, but I thought that his may have been a bit too long. With Beyonce and Bruno Mars, however, I couldn’t find one flaw. Beyonce started out her show with an a cappella rendition of “Love on Top,” and Bruno Mars started off his show with a drum solo. Both were bold moves that worked perfectly, and both were flawlessly done. I can’t decide which one was better; it’d be unfair to not crown both of these halftime shows as winners here, because I enjoyed these introductions equally.
Worst Introduction: Super Bowl XXV
When your introduction is so bad that five seconds into the halftime show, I want to stop watching, you know it’s bad. A kid reporter introduces the halftime show, stating that it’s an all kids halftime show, and then the show starts, with some awful music and some awful choreography. That first number is ear-bleedingly bad; I had to pause the video at least seven times during the first number alone just to re-gain my thoughts and composure (and the show got worse- we’ll get to that later). Nothing will ever come close to topping Super Bowl XXV’s atrocious halftime show.
Best Goosebumps Moment: “Where The Streets Have No Name”- Super Bowl XXXVI
There was only one possible winner of this category. I’d be willing to bet that 99% of people watching the U2 halftime show during that number either shed a tear or got goose-bumps when the names went up, when Bono held out the long note as the guitar solo picked up, and/or when Bono lifted his jacket to reveal the American flag. Other halftime shows have given me goose-bumps, but none to that extent. It was an emotional and powerful moment, and I don’t think that anything will ever top it; you’d need another national tragedy to top it, and obviously, none of us want that to happen.
Best American Moment: “Where The Streets Have No Name”- Super Bowl XXXVI
No point in repeating myself here. Look above at the “Best Goosebumps Moment” category, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Worst American Moment: Stopping the Super Bowl XXV halftime show
There were tons of possible options for this one. I could’ve gone with Kid Rock wearing an American flag poncho at Super Bowl XXXVIII, and I could’ve gone with the military thing at the Super Bowl XIX halftime show with the barbershop quartet singing “This Is My Country.” However, there was only one thing that was going to win this, and it was when the Super Bowl XXV halftime show literally stopped to reveal a two-minute message from the President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Re-watch that halftime show if you have to; the show literally stops for that. There were some great American moments at Super Bowl XXV, including the Whitney Houston national anthem. However, this entire halftime show was overkill, and no moment exemplified that more than this one.
Funniest Good Moment: Left Shark- Super Bowl XLIX
Left Shark is love. Left Shark is life. Kneel before Left Shark.
Funniest Bad Moment: Elvis Presto- Super Bowl XXIII
I’ve watched the entire Super Bowl XXIII halftime show multiple times (I think I’ve watched it five times, which is about five times too many). The show is really bad. Elvis Presto does one Elvis song and does two songs from “Grease.” He’s just running around the field or riding on his motorcycle half of the time. It’s a surprisingly boring halftime show. However, the magic trick that Elvis Presto does with the card trick around the entire stadium is legitimately so bad that it good and hilarious. From the lyrics to the apathy in the crowd to the fact that the trick did not work, it was absolutely hysterical. I still watch that moment a lot on my own because of how funny it was. Remember that at this point in halftime history, a lot of shows were either really bad, really boring, or both. This, at least, was something interesting.
Best Song Choice of an Unknown Song: “Runaway Baby”- Super Bowl XLVIII
From an entertainment perspective, Bruno Mars doing “Runaway Baby” at Super Bowl XLVIII is the best number in the history of the halftime show. The vocals are incredible, the mash-up with “Shout” is incredible, the energy is incredible, and the James Brown-esque dance moves are incredible. This was the peak of the halftime show, and it really is a shame that the Red Hot Chili Peppers came in afterwards to ruin the show’s momentum. “Runaway Baby” is one of those songs that’s good as a studio recording, but as a live song, is unbelievable.
Worst Song Choice of an Unknown Song: “Rough Justice”- Super Bowl XL
Does anybody know what “Rough Justice” is? You’ve got The Rolling Stones, a group with a discography spanning more than forty years, and a group that’s one of the most iconic rock bands of all-time. Not only does the band only perform three songs at the halftime show, but one of them is a completely new and unknown song called “Rough Justice.” Lots of artists have performed new or unknown songs at the halftime show of the Super Bowl before, but what separates this one from the pack is that they do the entire song. It’s the full-length version. On all accounts, this was a horrible idea.
Most Ironic Song Choice: “Born in the USA”- Super Bowl XX
Remember what I said about the Super Bowl XX halftime show and how it was celebrating how the USA was riding the wave of the future, and was essentially honoring the USA and Martin Luther King Jr.? The transitional song was this one, which is a Bruce Springsteen song that criticizes America. It’s not this pro-American anthem that a lot of people seem to think it is. Yet, Up with People decided to use it at this halftime show to transition from one idea to the next. Clearly, it didn’t work.
Best Self-Promotion: “Up” by Shania Twain- Super Bowl XXXVII
I’m not a fan of self-promotion at the Super Bowl halftime show. However, of all the self-promotion songs, this one worked the best. It’s fast-paced, and the ending to the song where she rises up on a platform full of balloons and fireworks was really good. The pacing could’ve been better, and I would’ve preferred if she sang live instead of mimed her vocals; that being said, of all the self-promotional songs, this was the best one.
Worst Self-Promotion: “Rough Justice” by The Rolling Stones- Super Bowl XL
See above with the “Worst Choice of an Unknown Song” category. When you do an unknown song when you have an entire catalogue of material that you’re excluding because of it, and when you’re doing the full-length song, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Best Closing: Diana Ross- Super Bowl XXX
Considering the amount of regulations with flights nowadays, this is something that’s never going to happen again. However, Diana Ross left the show in a helicopter. A helicopter literally came onto the field, then she entered the helicopter and left the stadium, which concluded the halftime show. How can you possibly top that?
Worst Closing: Rolling Stones- Super Bowl XL
Here’s how you don’t do a closing number. You don’t close the show by performing the same song for six minutes. Maybe you do that at a live show; by all means, go right ahead when you have two or three hours to yourself. However, when you have a twelve-minute set at halftime of the Super Bowl, you don’t spend six minutes playing one song. That’s exactly what The Rolling Stones did at this halftime show, and the more I think about it, the more I think I should’ve ranked The Stones lower on the list, even below some of the Disney halftime shows (and I already ranked it low enough). It was that bad.
Best Card Stunt- Super Bowl XXVI
Yes, Winter Magic actually did something right. The horribly panned halftime show with a rap version of “Frosty the Snowman” and figure skating actually had some good elements to it, with the most notable one being the card stunts (something that you don’t see often at halftime shows anymore). I love the card stunt here with the Olympic torch, Olympic rings, and the snowflakes. The card stunt actually adds background to the halftime show, and enhances the scene in a way that on-field props could not. This halftime show was bad, don’t get me wrong on that; however, this part was genuinely good.
Worst Card Stunt- Super Bowl XXV
Honorable mention goes out to Super Bowl XXX here, but I decided to go with Super Bowl XXV, because you could actually hear when the announcers wanted you to put up the cards. There was actually a part of the halftime show at the end where the PA announcer said to put the cards up; not only that, but he said what side they should be facing. There’s something called a scoreboard that can help you do that without interrupting the flow of the halftime show.
Best Vocal Performance- Individual Song: “Love on Top” by Beyonce- Super Bowl XLVII
Remember everything that Beyonce was dealing with at this time. Two weeks before the Super Bowl, there was the lip-synching controversy at the inauguration while she was performing the national anthem. There hadn’t been a strong female vocal performance at the Super Bowl halftime show since Diana Ross at Super Bowl XXX. If this show bombed, considering the last three halftime shows with females were Janet Jackson, Fergie, and MIA, we’d be in serious trouble. She starts the show off with an incredibly powerful a cappella rendition of “Love on Top,” where she changes keys seamlessly and has the Superdome in silence. That moment gave me goosebumps when I saw it for the first time, and for good reason.
Worst Vocal Performance- Individual Song: “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave” by Martha Reeves- Super Bowl XXXII
The Super Bowl XXXII halftime show was ok. It could’ve been a lot better, but there were some artist choices and some setlist choices that just did not make sense in the grand scheme of things. However, the worst thing about this show was not Queen Latifah’s awful song, and was not Boyz II Men slowing things down with “A Song for Mama.” It was Martha Reeves failing to hit a note during her number. Her voice sounded downright atrocious here. After some great performances by The Temptations, Martha Reeves comes in to destroy the momentum that the show was building up.
Best Vocal Performance- Entire Show: Bruno Mars- Super Bowl XLVIII
Bruno Mars absolutely killed it at halftime of Super Bowl XLVIII. He did the entire thing live, and hit practically every note. He nailed it with the fast songs, and then nailed it when the spotlight was completely on him (“Just The Way You Are”). There’s not much else to say about this one, other than I highly recommend that you watch this halftime show if you have not done so already. If you think that Bruno Mars is just another pop singer that’s a product of autotune, then prepare to have your opinion changed after watching this show.
Worst Vocal Performance- Entire Show: The Rolling Stones- Super Bowl XL
The fact that Mick Jagger actually is worse than any vocal performances by The Black Eyed Peas truly shows how awful this halftime show was. If you re-watch this halftime show, though, you’ll know exactly what I mean; at least with The Black Eyed Peas, you could understand what they were saying. Mick Jagger, on the other hand, is slurring every word, and sounds completely out of breath at times in the show. You can’t understand what he’s possibly saying. Out of all of the shows from the Classic Rock Era, this one was, without a doubt, the worst.
Best Pacing: Katy Perry- Super Bowl XLIX
Katy Perry’s halftime show consisted of nine separate songs. That, in itself, is remarkable. What made this win, though, was the quality of the songs. Each song was done for an appropriate amount of time, and I never thought that an individual song went on for too long. On top of that, even though there were nine separate songs, there was a different theme for most of them, and yet, it still worked. She was able to fit a mini-concert inside twelve minutes, and the pacing worked perfectly here.
Worst Pacing: The Rolling Stones- Super Bowl XL
I’m showing The Rolling Stones no mercy here. This halftime show was genuinely awful, and the pacing was a big reason why. The band only performed three songs, and all three of those songs were full-length versions. The transitions between songs were bad, as Mick Jagger was interacting with the crowd in between songs (something you never do when you only have twelve minutes). And, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” lasted for an entire six minutes. You don’t play a song for six minutes at the halftime show, and you don’t double the length of the studio recording to get to that point.
Best Choice for the Elements: Prince- Super Bowl XLI
Who else could’ve won this award? Prince literally performed “Purple Rain” in the rain. Does it get more fitting than that? When people put this halftime show near the top of the list, it clearly deserves to be. However, a big reason why is because of the setting of playing that song in the rain, and performing it with a marching band to perfection. One of my favorite moments at any halftime show; clearly, it’s the most iconic moment from that halftime show.
Worst Choice for the Elements: Gloria Estefan- Super Bowl XXVI
Super Bowl XXVI’s show was called Winter Magic. It was about winter. So, who do you get to follow up some winteChristmas themed songs and some figure skating? Let’s get the lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine that’s a Cuban-American. I like Gloria Estefan, but having her do a halftime show and sing a song in the halftime show about winter was a giant mistake. Fortunately, she was invited to do the Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show in Miami, where she was much more in her element. Still, the fact that she was a part of the Super Bowl XXVI mess is saying something.
Best Lip-Synching: Katy Perry- Super Bowl XLIX
The best lip-synching is done when you can’t even tell that the person is lip-synching. Katy Perry said that she was going to mime some of her vocals. However, after watching that halftime show over and over again, I can’t tell when she’s miming and when she’s singing live. They sound exactly the same, and they don’t sound like they come directly off of the studio album. I think Katy Perry’s vocals have improved dramatically in recent years, and credit to her for that.
Worst Lip-Synching: Patti LaBelle- Super Bowl XXIX
Patti LaBelle cannot lip-synch to save her life. If you re-watch that Super Bowl halftime show, she tries to lip-synch, but fails miserably at it. Her lip movements don’t match up to the audio, and she misses practically every single entrance. For some reason, Disney wanted every halftime show to be pre-recorded (a decision that I hated), but some artists are better at lip-synching than others. Patti LaBelle is not one of them. You can tell that she’s never done a mimed performance in her life before that halftime show, and boy, did it show.
Worst Super Bowl Halftime Show: Super Bowl XXV
I’ve seen all of the good halftime shows, and I’ve seen all of the bad halftime shows. There have been times where I have paused the show to laugh or just shake my head in disbelief. However, there was only one halftime show where I actually yelled at my computer screen while watching because of how bad it was, and that was the Super Bowl XXV halftime show. Let’s recap everything wrong with this show. You’ve got awful choreography, an awful song with a horrible message, some poor lyrics about football teams, a random appearance by Warren Moon out of nowhere, a six-year old kid singing “Wind Beneath My Wings” really poorly, a message from the President of the United States which interrupts the show, “it’s a small world” being performed three times, New Kids on the Block appearing for all of one minute, and a card stunt that actually has to be announced over the public address system. Watch this show if you want to lose your eardrums, and read the review if you want to see my full frustration. It’s bad.
Best Super Bowl Halftime Show: Super Bowl XXXVI
And finally, we’re at the top award- the best halftime show. This one takes the cake because of the circumstances around the event at the time. U2 does an incredible remembrance to the victims of 9/11 here. “Beautiful Day” is a great song, and it’s performed perfectly. However, it’s what happened after the opening number that puts this show at the #1 spot. Everything about U2’s tribute is perfect, from the song choice to the wall of names to the vocals to the heart-shaped stage to the American flag jacket to everything in between. This was a powerful moment that brought people to tears; no other halftime show has ever had that ability. Is it the best halftime show if you want to be entertained for twelve minutes? No. However, it’s the best halftime show because of the emotion surrounding it, and because it combines both feelings of entertainment (“Beautiful Day”) with sorrow and remembrance (the ending). This halftime show will be very hard to top.
Rankings
1) Super Bowl XXXVI- U2
2) Super Bowl XLIX- Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott
3) Super Bowl XLVIII- Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers
4) Super Bowl XLI- Prince
5) Super Bowl XXVII- Michael Jackson
6) Super Bowl XLVII- Beyonce, Destiny’s Child
7) Super Bowl XXXV- *NSYNC, Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J Blige
8) Super Bowl XLIII- Bruce Springsteen
9) Super Bowl XXXIV- Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton
10) Super Bowl XLVI- Madonna
11) Super Bowl XXXIX- Paul McCartney
12) Super Bowl XXXIII- Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
13) Super Bowl XXX- Diana Ross
14) Super Bowl XLII- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
15) Super Bowl XXXVII- Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting
16) Super Bowl XLV- The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash
17) Super Bowl XXXII- The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, Queen Latifah, Boyz II Men
18) Super Bowl XLIV- The Who
19) Super Bowl XXII- Chubby Checker, The Rockettes
20) Super Bowl XXXVIII- Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Kid Rock, Nelly, P Diddy
21) Super Bowl XXVIII- Tanya Tucker, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, The Judds
22) Super Bowl XXXI- Blues Brothers, ZZ Top, James Brown
23) Super Bowl XXVI- Winter Magic, Gloria Estefan
24) Super Bowl XL- The Rolling Stones
25) Super Bowl XXIX- Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Indiana Jones
26) Super Bowl XXI- Disney
27) Super Bowl XVIII- Disney
28) Super Bowl XXIII- Elvis Presto
29) Super Bowl XXIV- Salute to New Orleans & The Peanuts
30) Super Bowl XX- Up With People
31) Super Bowl XIX- Tops in Blue
32) Super Bowl XXV- Disney, New Kids on the Block
Super Bowl Database
Later today, I’m going to dive into my predictions for the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. Stay tuned for that one either later today or tonight.

For those of you who didn’t watch the game and then spent today in a cave, THE BRONCOS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!! WOOOOO!!!
OK, now that I have that out of my system, let’s talk prop bets. I was able to successfully keep track of most events during the game. For the couple I was unsure of (noted below) I used this SBNation article for the answers. After my initial tabulation of scores I was surprised to find one stand alone winner who blew everyone away. Not only blew everyone away, but got every single one right. I then realized that entry was my answer entry that I filled out during the game to track results. Leave me alone, it’s Monday.
Now the actual results were more what I expected when 104 of you filled out a ballot with only 23 bets: a 3 way tie. I am pleased to announce The_Tic-Tac_Kid, bullmoose_atx, and puffadda as the winners of the Super Bowl Prop Bet Pick ‘em!!! The three all tied with 15 correct answers.
Answers and Data and stuff It was suggested in the game thread to post some info on how people voted and I liked the idea so all that info is down below. The questions marked with an asterisk are the ones I used the above article to find an answer. Correct answers are in italics.
The Coin Toss Will Be… Heads 64 Tails 40
Which team will win the coin toss? Broncos 54 Panthers 50
How long will the National Anthem take? Under 2:20 36 Over 2:20 68
The first score of the game Broncos field goal 20 Broncos safety 2 Broncos touchdown 4 Panthers field goal 27 Panthers safety 2 Panthers touchdown 45
Longest field goal Under 42.5 36 Over 42.5 68
Total touchdowns Under 4.5 29 Over 4.5 79
Will there be an extra point missed? Yes 19 No 85 Most agreed upon answer!
The first Panther TD ball will be given to a... Boy 65 Girl 27 Neither 12
Number of John Fox mentions?* Under 1.5 21 Over 1.5 83
Will Mike Carey be wrong on a challenge? Yes 62 No 42
Will they mention Kubiak was Elway's backup?* Yes 92 No 12 Most commonly missed answer!
What color will the liquid dumped on the coach be? Blue 45 Green 6 Red 3 Yellow 12 Orange 29 None of the above 6
Who will the MVP thank first? God 42 Teammates 37 Fans/city 16 Coaches 2 Family 3 None of the above 0
What color will Beyonce's shoes be? Black 32 Silvegray 25 White 7 Brown/gold 25 Any other color 12
Will the winner of the coin toss win the game? Yes 58 No 46
Will a backup QB take a snap? Yes 29 No 75
Will Peyton announce his retirement on the field? Yes 68 No 36
Will Peyton be seen crying? Yes 55 No 49
Total turnovers? Under 3.5 82 Over 3.5 22
Who will the Super Bowl? Broncos 27 Panthers 77
What will be the first turnover? Broncos fumble 13 Broncos interception 58 Panthers fumble 15 Panthers interception 15 There won't be any 1
Who will win the MVP? Cam Newton 70 Peyton Manning 16 Luke Kuechly 3 Von Miller 4 Ted Ginn Jr. 1 C.J. Anderson 0 Greg Olsen 1 Jonathan Stewart 0 Josh Norman 0 Demarcus Ware 0 Anyone else 6 Question with the fewest correct answers!