There are certain phrases that crop up when people talk about football. They typically are not based in reality but nonetheless persist to the point of being cliches. I am suggesting that we, a fairly reasonable assortment of football fans, make a stand and choose not to utter these annoying place fillers anymore.

Go ahead and jump.

1. "Barring injury"

I don't think people say this with any ill intent. Really, I think it's just a matter of heading off idiots at the pass. But should we have to use this pointless phrase just to try and prevent idiots from saying "Ha ha, you were wrong. He didn't have a good season. He got hurt."? I say no. "Barring injury" should be assumed. Just like "if he doesn't get arrested/outplayed/jettisoned into space" should be assumed.

2. "That 6th round pick was a total bust."

No. He wasn't. He was a 6th round pick. They can work out now and then (Antonio Brown springs immediately to mind) but they aren't expected to be day 1 starters. I don't think any player taken after the 3rd round should be labeled a bust. If you work for an organization and 100 or so people are expected to be better than you and then are that isn't surprising. I'm fine with calling later picks who work out "gems" but can we please stop pretending that the 273rd guy picked was a bust because he was in the league for four years and never set the world on fire?

3. "It's a passing league now."

Plenty of people who know football better than I do have tried to take down this monster. All I'll say is this: the record that Drew Brees broke last year for the most passing yards in a season? It was originally set in 1984.

4. "If it weren't for the turnovers..."

If it was one play and it happened late, fine. A friend of mine (an Eagle fan - I know) is notorious for this. "Well, the first pick was a deep ball so if he had caught that it's seven points closer, then the last pick was underneath and it was pretty much pass interference and they were moving the ball well so that's at least a field goal..." And so on. We're all guilty of this. We hate to admit that our team just got outplayed, especially when we KNOW that they didn't. But stop and think about what you're saying when that nonsense comes out of your mouth "We would have won the game if the things that made us lose didn't happen."

That's all for now. Thanks and please join the fight.