From Shotgun Formation – Week 17 2020 NFL Season

The NFL playoffs were defined and we have a National Final in the NCAA. We are going to talk about everything from the Shotgun Formation.

The weekend that he left

After 17 weeks of the regular season, the 14 teams that will fight to reach Super Bowl LV have finally been defined. In the process, Miami was slaughtered by the Bills, the Steelers fought with their backups and the Cowboys were eliminated by a team that had (thus far) five wins. Here are three quick prints:

1. The Dolphins needed Tua to go through this. True, the playoffs were at hand, but things had been too weird in Miami: Tua took the starting job during the season and in times of crisis he was taken off the field to let Ryan Fitzpatrick do the “closer” work, in the purest style of baseball. That helped the Dolphins in the present, but it affected Tua in the long run. We are talking about a young QB who needs to learn, and mistakes also make you grow. If the Dolphins are serious about Tua going forward, then what happened today should be viewed as an opportunity for growth, not a massive failure.

2. NFC East closed its 2020 season in good shape. Throughout the year we talked about how bad this division was, and in week 17 came a big climax: the Giants beat the Cowboys at noon to go 6-10. That was enough to win the division if the eliminated Eagles beat Washington. The problem is that apparently Philadelphia decided not get involved on the subject and it was out of his own interests, which generated enormous annoyance among the players and fans of the Giants. Hopefully that will lead to a couple of very intense games next season.

3. Derrick Henry deserves at least a few MVP votes. I know the MVP of the season award usually goes to a quarterback, and Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Josh Allen are likely to split the vote, but Henry deserves, if nothing else, consideration. In addition to being the eighth RB in history to exceed two thousand yards in one yearIt’s a fact that the Titans wouldn’t be the fourth seed in the AFC without him. What’s more, they probably wouldn’t be in the postseason. When a player makes such a difference in his team, he deserves to be considered an MVP candidate, so I would love to see some votes in favor of Derrick Henry.

The things that I think I know

After what I have seen this week, there are some things that are becoming increasingly clear to me. I will tell you about that below:

1. The WFT must win at least one pair of prizes. While his postseason stint is likely to be short, this team is highly likely to have a couple of individual awards: Chase Young should be Defensive Rookie of the Year and Alex Smith should receive the Comeback of the Year award. What’s more, we’ve said it before: that award should be renamed the “Alex Smith Comeback Player of the Year Award.”

2. Matthew Stafford deserves better luck. After another very bad year for the Lions, their veteran QB deserves a chance to look elsewhere for some success, and the Lions should offer it to him. With a new head coach on the way, the best thing for Stafford would be to get to a place where there are many more pieces and he can aim for the postseason, not five wins.

3. Beyond it all, the NFL did it. Yes, games had to be postponed. Yes, some teams were without multiple players for some matches, but the 2020 NFL Season started and ended with no canceled games. Now it will be very interesting to see what happens during the playoffs, especially in case of a case like the Broncos (who ran out of QB for the game against the Saints) or the Browns (who did not have WR to face the Jets).

the song of the week

This week the 14 teams that will fight for a ticket to the Super Bowl were decided. It’s also the week 18 teams said goodbye to the 2020 NFL Season and now go into “offseason mode.” We dedicate the song of the week to them.

We say goodbye, for now. The time will come to see them again.

College football notes

The NCAA reached its crucial moment and after the college semifinals we have defined the two teams that will seek the National Championship in this strange 2020. So it is normal that our talk this week revolves around what we have seen in those two games.

Alabama had no problems. In the first semifinal, which was played in the Rose Bowl (which, due to COVID-19 issues, was played in Texas), the Crimson Tide had no problem dispatching a Fighting Irish who were widely outmatched. This game, by the way, served to make Alabama’s offensive stars shine once again: Mac Jones completed 25 of 30 passes for 297 yards with 4 TDs, Najee Harris rushed for 135 yards and Devonta Smith had 7 receptions for 130 yards with 3. touchdowns.

Clemson was surprised. The Tigers seemed convinced that the National Final would be between them and Alabama, but there was a small problem: No one told Ohio State of those plans. The Buckeyes played a very good game against Clemson and gave the big surprise of the year by beating them 49-28. Justin Field completed 22 of 28 passes for 385 yards with 6 TDs (could have been 7, but was intercepted in the end zone on one occasion), Trey Sermon rushed for 193 yards with a touchdown and Chris Olave had 6 receptions for 132 yards with 2 TD.

The incredible stat of the week

Each week we will bring an interesting statistic, somewhat strange or simply incredible. Here’s this week’s:

Notre Dame is now 0-7 in BCS or New Year’s Six bowl games since 1998.

They have been outscored by 161 points, with all seven losses by at least 14 points each. pic.twitter.com/ZfTp8wtnvZ

– ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 2, 2021

Needless to say, the last 22 years have not been anything positive for Notre Dame.

The punters video of the week

In what is unusual, a punter made a play that deserves to be in this space. It turns out that Max Duffy, the Kentucky punter, made a great play to avoid being blocked from a punt:

THE PUNTER GOT HIM WITH THE OKIE-DOKEpic.twitter.com/EUjLwyU2Ft

— Cover 3 Podcast (@Cover3Podcast) January 2, 2021

By the way, the NC State player was very bad in that video, because it is not something of every day that a punter makes you such an impressive feint.

Before we go

This space gives us some freedom, so I leave you a proposal: if you want me to talk about something in particular in the following week (for example, to mention my impressions of such a game or to talk about such a player) leave it in the comments of this column or send your proposal to me twitter account. I promise to play as many songs as possible, all from the Shotgun Formation.

You may also like:

From Shotgun Formation – Week 14 2020 NFL Season
From Shotgun Formation – Week 15 2020 NFL Season
From Shotgun Formation – Week 16 2020 NFL Season