From the Shotgun Formation: Urban Meyer Wins Despite Himself – Week 7 NFL Season 2021

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Six weeks into the 2021 NFL Season one thing is clear: Urban Meyer lives outside the reality of an NFL head coach. On top of that, I have other impressions of the week, all from the Shotgun Formation.

The NFL according to Urban Meyer

If you see NFL stories to say WOW! in the channel YouTube First and TenYou will know that I have a very particular opinion about Urban Meyer. And by “particular” I mean that I see it as one of the worst hires that have been made in the last twenty years. Meyer has shown time and again that he lives outside the reality of the NFL, and I’ll just give a couple of examples:

  • During the offseason he complained that Free Agency is done “very fast, all over the phone”, since he would like to have the opportunity to talk with each player, get to know him and understand how he watches football. That sounds great if your plan is to recruit him to play at your college, but the NFL is a business and you should consider that every free agent has at least three or four offers. Either you move fast or you lose it.
  • When the whole subject of Tim Tebow and his eventual discharge came up, Meyer complained that the NFL rosters were “only” 53 players, as that limited his field of action. True, in the NCAA you can have about 90 players, which allows you to have 7 QBs, 6 tight ends and things like that, but Meyer seems to forget that in the NFL players get paid.
  • In one of his most recent statements, he explained to the media that the Jaguars did not attempt a QB sneak because “I wasn’t sure they had trained him,” as Trevor Lawrence has never done one in a game. The biggest problem with this whole topic (which we discussed last week in our “Story to tell … WEY”), is that Meyer does not know what his team trains and what not.

All of that brings us to this week, when in preparation for the Jaguars game in London, Meyer explained that his intention is for the offense to have a balance of “250 passing yards, 250 rushing yards.”

This statement should be considered the clearest example of how disconnected Meyer is from the NFL. Because it is one thing to want your team to be balanced on the attack (something that all coaches look for) and another thing is to want the Jaguars to do something that has never been done in the NFL.

What should I talk about? Easy: Never in NFL history has a team averaged 250 rushing yards. Come on, producing 250 passing yards and rushing is something that has happened 33 times in the last 52 years, especially since adding 250 rushing yards consistently is basically impossible at this level. The best running team of all time, the 2019 Ravens, averaged 206 yards per game. And they are the only team that has averaged more than 200 rushing yards in the last ten years.

So Urban Meyer’s solution is for your team to do something that is simply impossible to achieve. This is irrefutable evidence that Meyer took over as head coach of the Jaguars without having the slightest idea of ​​the differences between the NFL and the NCAA.

The most curious thing is that, in Sunday’s victory against the Dolphins, the Jaguars won with 319 passing yards and 84 rushing yards. That is far from the balance he wants (and which is impossible to achieve). Mind you, the Jaguars’ offensive production was much better, so maybe the key would be for Urban Meyer to focus on understanding how professional football works and then setting his goals.

Quick impressions from Week 6

This week many things happened: the Jaguars finally won, the Lions still do not know the victory, the Rams passed the Giants over the top … but among everything we saw these are three things that caught my attention:

1. Of madness. If anyone can predict how the AFC teams will rank for the playoffs, I would appreciate your guidance. The Ravens, who until last week we saw as inferior to Bills, Chargers or Browns, beat the Chargers and at the same time the Browns looked bad against the Cardinals. All while the Chiefs continue to fight to return to the fight. There is a long way to go in the 2021 NFL Season and it seems that there will be no way of knowing who will arrive better until well ahead of the schedule.

2. They raise their hands. The Vikings’ win over the Panthers is starting to cast them as a postseason contender, or so they seem right now. It seems that NFC East will only send one team and NFC West seems reduced to two hopefuls (Rams and Cardinals), while in NFC South the Buccaneers and Saints are the only contenders for a ticket. At the moment it does not seem strange to think that Minnesota, despite its poor start, could turn things around and end up playing the postseason.

3. They were left to duty. I’ll be honest: this season we had extremely memorable games week after week, and of all styles: from the super painful losses of the Lions to almost every night game, but this week we were left with more emotions. Except for Vikings vs. Panthers and Cowboys vs. Patriots, everyone else was decided more or less easily. Definitely week 6 was not the best of all this year.

The things that I think I know

After what happened in the sixth week of the 2021 NFL Season, here are some things I think I know:

1. On the little board. Miami’s loss to the Jaguars represents a serious setback for Dolphins coach Brian Flores, so I think it’s pretty safe to think he’s at risk of losing his job. So apparently the rest of the season will be an attempt to save his position.

2. His way. The “Brady vs Belichick” discussion has many edges, but I think something we must recognize is that Belichick has moments of genius where he proves how good a coach he is. Controlling the Buccaneers was one, and preparing the game plan to face the Cowboys is another. As the good Luis Obregón says, Belichick knows how to make the best offenses uncomfortable.

3. I almost know. After watching this NFL Sunday I think I know who will be the No. 1 team in this week’s Power Rankings, but I would like to wait for Monday Night Football. But I’m pretty sure what the upper part will look like.

Thinking about the MNF

To confirm the suspicions. For two weeks the Bills have been in the first place in the Power Rankings of First and Ten (which I elaborate), and it is because I have been saying that they are the best team in the NFL. This Monday, those suspicions should be confirmed when they face the Titans, a team with serious postseason aspirations (compounded by the ineffectiveness of the rest of their division).

I think the Bills will do their part and dominate the game, making it clear that there are not many teams that can keep up with the pace they are handling right now. Give me the Bills with a score of 31-14.

the song of the week

After the Jaguars’ first win in the 2021 NFL Season, remember that moment with a song for them.

Because apparently London is the best place for the Jaguars to play.

Talking about college football

Every week there are many things to talk about college football, and now we will focus a little attention on the teams that reached Saturday as the best in the rankings.

1. Georgia keeps pace. The Bulldogs entered this week as No. 1 in the rankings and proved worthy of the spot by dominating Kentucky, the nation’s 11th team, 30-13. Georgia’s defense left the Wildcats at 249 yards, posting 8 tackles for loss of yardage and limiting their rushing production to 51 yards. With this the Bulldogs are already 7-0 (5-0 in the SEC) and are in control of the race in their division.

2. Iowa lost it. While Georgia managed to stay undefeated, the Hawkeyes were totally controlled by Purdue in what ended up being the big surprise of the week. The Boilermakers beat the nation’s No. 2 team 24-7 until yesterday, and they did so with a great contribution from two of their stars: WR David Bell (11 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown) and DE George Karlaftis, who it was a headache for the Iowa offensive line.

3. Again there is high tide. After losing to Texas A&M last week, Alabama needed a decisive victory and that’s just what they got. The Crimson Tide rolled over Mississippi State 49-9 to stay at the top of SEC West and regain its status as a national title contender. Bryce Young threw for 348 yards and 4 TDs while Brian Robinson Jr. had three total touchdowns. This was precisely the performance Alabama needed to quell any doubts surrounding them.

The data of the week

Georgia’s defensive work in 2021 has been sublime, and to show this data.

The unnecessary rudeness of the week

I honestly do not know what game it is or any context, but this play deserves a special mention. In fact instead of thinking about unnecessary rudeness the expression “the rude, the rude, the rude!” came to mind.

The 99-yard haul of the week

Ohio QB Armani Rogers hit a 99-yard TD this week, setting the mark for the longest running TD by a quarterback:

The video of trash talk of the week

Aaron Rodgers has been very successful against the Bears in his career. So he decided to remind Chicago fans of the status of the rivalry.

Here we end this installment of this column. You already know that you can leave me here below this article in the comments or on my Twitter account your suggestions for topics to be covered From the Shotgun Formation. You can also share videos that you think should appear in one of the weekly sections.

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