For a couple of years now, the injury argument has been used to justify the 49ers’ problems, but when the excuse used with your team doesn’t apply to everyone else, you know you’re in trouble. We talked about this and other things, everything from the Shotgun Formation.
Isn’t there a stand-in excuse?
Coming to the Super Bowl in 2019, the 49ers have had their fair share of injuries. In 2020 they were one of the teams with the most players on injured reserve and with names like Nick Bosa out, it was logical that losses would occur. This year, things are more or less in the same vein, and the Niners are again justifying their losses in the absence of several players.
That doesn’t sound so good after the game against Arizona in Week 9.
The Cardinals played without their starting quarterback, catcher and running back, as well as losing one of their defensive leaders, JJ Watt, for more than a week. And it wasn’t a close game, because the Cards ended up winning 31-17. If Arizona could play well without its top three pieces on offense (among others), why can’t the 49ers do the same?
The answer is increasingly evident: Kyle Shanahan isn’t doing a good job as the Niners’ head coach, and it’s time for the team to realize that.
Yes, I know he took them to the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, but… what can you brag about the Shanahan era that didn’t happen in 2019? Shanahan’s record as a San Francisco coach is 32-40 at this point, and if we take the season out of the Super Bowl then the number becomes 19-37. Many coaches have lost their jobs long before accumulating that mark.
So please 49ers see what other options you have, because unless you make it back to 2019, things are not going to get better.
Quick impressions from Week 9
This week was full of surprises, striking results and many things to comment on. Here I share some of the ones that caught my attention the most:
1. Josh Allen’s great game … but not that Josh Allen … the other Josh Allen. In a rather curious situation, the Jaguars defender ended up being the “best Josh Allen” in the Bills-Jaguars game, helping his team to its second win of the season in the process. The most striking thing about this is that Buffalo has stayed at six points, giving one of its worst performances in recent times. This loss for the Bills makes the AFC race even more interesting, as there are no clear favorites.
2. Moment of weakness. The Dallas Cowboys had their worst game of the 2021 NFL Season against the Denver Broncos, and this result will cause two types of reactions to emerge: those who are ready to totally rule out the Cowboys – arguing that this result is a reflection of their reality – and those who see it as a bad game for a good team. Personally, I am inclined towards the second option. Obviously how they react in the coming weeks will be very helpful to know how correct my opinion is.
3. More of the same? The last twenty years of the Chargers have been carried on with the narrative of “high talent, few results”, and this year things are starting to look more or less like this. This team has a great roster and a lot of talent at their disposal, but they are not quite convincing. Unless something radical happens in the second half of the season, the Chargers are headed for another brief postseason appearance.
The things that I think I know
After what happened in the ninth week of the 2021 NFL Season, here are some things I think I know:
1. There are no longer favorites. With this week’s results in the AFC, it is clear that it is not possible to give favorites at the moment. There are a lot of good teams that will be fighting the rest of the year for a playoff spot, however it is very risky to come up with a strong candidate to win the conference.
2. Tom Brady won. What a week to have rest. The Buccaneers came out as big winners this week with losses to the Rams, Cowboys and Packers, and remain the NFC favorite for the time being. Of course, they must be careful with the Cardinals, who are still in good position.
3. Much to think about. If anyone is clear about who should be the best team in the NFL for our Power Rankings, I would love to hear your suggestions. Honestly, I have to seriously ponder who should be in the Top 5 this week.
Thinking about the MNF
To continue in the fight. The defeat of the Bengals opens the door for the Steelers to continue to make up ground in the AFC North, and they can do so against some Bears who are going through a lot of problems. Another loss would see Matt Nagy officially join the list of coaches in the hot seat. It looks like a game with many interesting stories, although it is not a game from which we can expect a lot of points. If you like defensive duels this may be your Monday Night.
I think the Steelers are coming at a better time and they should be able to take advantage of the Bears and all their offensive problems. I go with Pittsburgh 17-13.
the song of the week
This week there were many surprises, and one of the biggest was the Broncos over the Cowboys. Today we can say that the cowboys could not dominate the wild horses, and that is why we will use this song:
Talking about college football
Every week there are many things to talk about college football, so we open a space to do that. Let’s see what was the most striking thing about this day in the NCAA:
1. Georgia is unstoppable. The Bulldogs have had a great defense all year, and this week’s game against Missouri was no exception. The Tigers were limited to 273 total yards and Georgia’s defense left the opposition to 10 points or less for the seventh time this season. Things are still going smoothly for the Bulldogs, and the playoff is looking closer and closer.
2. Another surprise in the heights. Michigan State entered this weekend ranked third in the rankings and in a position to think about the College Football Playoff, but Saturday’s 40-29 loss to Purdue makes things very difficult. In fact, the Big Ten East is very close, as there are three teams with a single loss and only three weeks left to play, so the Spartans are far from being able to think about the CFP.
3. They keep building their case. Cincinnati was not placed in the initial College Football Playoff, but their victory this week coupled with the loss of the Spartans could elevate them in the second installment. Desmond Ridder completed 15 of 23 passes for 274 yards with two touchdowns and also contributed 43 rushing yards for the Bearcats to reach 9-0 and continue to build their case to enter the list of four teams that will have the right to fight for the National Championship .
ONEFA returned
If you read this column in 2019, you will surely remember that in addition to talking about NCAA college football we gave a space to talk about the Mexican college, so now that the student league has returned, it is time to retake this space.
This weekend was the full start of the Conference of the 14 greats and also marked the reintegration of college football in our country, since the teams that made up the CONADEIP returned to the ONEFA. That gave us duels like Borregos Monterrey against Pumas Acatlán or Pumas UNAM against Borregos Guadalajara.
The most remarkable thing was Monterrey’s dominance over Acatlán (a program that, worth mentioning, is doing a great job of generating an image of its own that distinguishes them from Pumas CU) and the tight victory of Pumas UNAM over Tec Guadalajara . I would also highlight the triumphant return of Tec CEM, which defeated Borregos Puebla.
That being said, the initial table looks like this:
Table of positions after two rounds in # CN2021 and first day in Conference # 14G and #CNCS from @OnefaOficial # LigaMayor2021
🏈🏈🏈🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🏈🏈🏈 pic.twitter.com/P5rXDM5K7B– ONEFA Official (@OnefaOficial) November 7, 2021
And in this space we will give some lines to talk about what happens with this league on its return to action.
The data of the week
Last week we talked about the Cooper Rush – Amari Cooper connection, but now we have to talk about Josh Allen’s sack on Josh Allen:
Before halftime, Jaguars LB Josh Allen sacked Bills QB Josh Allen
This was the first time an NFL player sacked a QB with the exact same listed name (since individual sacks were first tracked in 1982)#BUFvsJAX
– NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 7, 2021
Coopers Video of the Week
Tuesday on “NFL Stories to Say WOW!” Luis and I talked about Cooper Rush and his touchdown pass to Amari Cooper. Well, our friend Pumaniaco was listening to the podcast of that chapter and this happened:
#HistoryToTellWey Here listening to the story of the “Cooper” of @elbuenluigi and @miguelesses from @Firstydiez and suddenly a Mini Cooper passes pic.twitter.com/kS7Epvk89W
– █ ● █ PuMaNiAcO █ ● █ (@ Pumaniaco2010) November 6, 2021
The “Wentz moment” of the week
Last week there was a “Wentz moment” where Carson Wentz threw a completely absurd interception against the Titans. This week Matthew Stafford, playing against Tennessee, decided to repeat the “feat”:
The INT that set up the @titans touchdown!
📺: #TENvsLAR on NBC
📱: https://t.co/ZIukbFRRGH pic.twitter.com/0k8TYpNBmz– NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2021
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.
We would like to say thanks to the writer of this write-up for this outstanding material
From the Shotgun Formation: What’s Next for Kyle Shanahan? – Week 10 NFL Season 2021