21 Major takeaways from the 2020 NFL season so far
By Zach Cohen
15. The Tom Brady-Bill Belichick divorce isn’t going as planned
Before I begin, let it be known that both teams could still make the playoffs, with Tampa Bay having a better shot than New England. But let’s be real: Both teams have fallen short of expectations so far in 2020. Tom Brady and the Bucs are 7-5 and have had an up and down season.
There’s no question that Brady makes Tampa Bay better than they were with Jameis Winston, especially from a leadership standpoint. However, it’s clear that Brady‘s MVP days are long behind him. Pro Football Reference lists Brady as the most inaccurate quarterback of those eligible for the stat. If you’ve watched Brady this season, that makes a bit of sense as his downfield inaccuracy has been pretty well-documented.
On the flipside, Brady‘s former employer is 5-6, a far cry from the New England teams of the past two decades. Their new quarterback, Cam Newton, hasn’t been too great, either. He only has four passing touchdowns to go with nine interceptions. While he is tied for the fifth-most rushing touchdowns among all players, I don’t think anyone’s buying into Newton long-term. Interestingly enough, I think this split had to happen.
Rough patches should’ve been expected. There is little reason to suggest either team made the wrong move long-term here.
14. It’s too soon to call the Kyler Murray Experiment a success
…but it’s certainly trending that way. Murray has had no shortage of highlight-reel plays in his first two seasons. This season he has the fourth-most rushing touchdowns among all players, which is also the most for a quarterback. While his flashes of brilliance have dropped many jaws to the ground, Murray has cooled off a bit in previous weeks.
I’m also not one to judge a quarterback based on two seasons, let alone one good one. However, like with Tagovailoa in Miami, there are lots of reasons for optimism in Arizona. Keep in mind the Murray finished strong in his rookie companion, and with a similar finish this year, he could be in the running for MVP.
13. Who the heck is winning MVP?
I don’t know, do you know? It’s nearly a foregone conclusion that MVP will be a quarterback. All the top teams — except for Pittsburgh and New Orleans — have a top quarterback. At first, it looked like Russell Wilson’s award to lose, especially since he hasn’t won it yet. Like Murray, though, Wilson has also taken a couple of steps back recently.
Murray definitely deserves consideration, as does Josh Allen. But again, the star quarterbacks must have agreed in their group chat to tone it down; there hasn’t been a dominant passer over the last few weeks.
Patrick Mahomes could easily be the favorite to win his second award, though that seems a little boring. It’d be like picking LeBron James to win MVP every single year, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Perhaps it’s time to give Aaron Rodgers some more hardware. He does lead the NFL in touchdown passes while posting the best touchdown-to-interception ratio among eligible quarterbacks.
As for non-quarterbacks, Alvin Kamara was on a tear until Taysom Hill stole his flare. Dalvin Cook and Davante Adams have been so valuable to their respective teams as well. So has Aaron Donald, though I doubt any of those guys would get more consideration than a quarterback. Maybe they could win other top awards instead…