Month: January 2021

F1 2020 Retrospective: Pierre Gasly wins the Italian Grand Prix

A red flag period midway through the race shuffled the order of the pack, placing some of Formula 1’s young talents to the front. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly emerged to the lead a few laps after the restart, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz in close pursuit.

Much like last year’s Italian Grand Prix battle for the lead between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, Gasly vs Sainz was just as tense. Gasly was driving for redemption. Sainz was driving for recognition.

Sainz was set to be Ferrari’s newest driver next season, and he wanted to be a race-winner before officially becoming part of the Scuderia. The intensity of Sainz’s voice over the team radio with his engineer Tom Stallard was palpable: “I want this win, Tom.”

Meanwhile, Gasly was out to prove that he was still a worthy driver. 2019 was a rough year for him. A lackluster tenure at the senior Red Bull team saw him demoted back to the junior team in the middle of the season. Shortly after, his close friend Anthoine Hubert passed away in a Formula 2 accident.

Towards the end of the year, however, things started to look up for the young Frenchman, with his improbable second-place finish in last year’s Brazilian GP. Almost a year later, an even greater achievement was within his grasp.

Gasly held on to the lead until he saw the checkered flag, becoming the first French driver to win a Formula 1 race since 1996. After the celebrations, an emotional Gasly sat down on the podium, alone, soaking in his beautiful moment.

It was also a home race win for the Alpha Tauri squad. The last time the Italian team won was also in Monza, when they were under the Toro Rosso name, with a young Sebastian Vettel taking his maiden victory in 2008.

 

NFL Wild Card Round: The Cleveland Browns attack fast and early against the Pittsburgh Steelers

For the first time since the 1994 season, the Cleveland Browns are victorious in a playoff game after shocking the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round.

The Browns took quick advantage of the Steelers offense’s nightmare start. On the very first play of the game, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey sailed a snap over quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, allowing the Browns to make a recovery in the endzone for a defensive touchdown. It only got worse for the Steelers, who would be down 28-0 by the end of the first quarter.

Roethlisberger was overthrowing some passes early in the game, which led to three interceptions in the first half. Including the fumble recovery touchdown on the first play, the opportunistic Browns defense collected takeaways on four of the first six Steelers drives.

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and his offense capitalized on Pittsburgh’s turnovers. Running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and wide receiver Jarvis Landry helped the Browns move the ball downfield effectively. Cleveland racked up 28 first quarter points, the most ever scored by a team in the first quarter of an NFL playoff game.

Pittsburgh wouldn’t score until just before halftime. Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense found a groove in the third quarter. Big Ben connected with receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson for the most part. Chase Claypool hauled in two touchdown catches. The Steelers cut the Browns lead to 12 points, but Cleveland held their ground. Mayfield and Chubb had answers to Pittsburgh’s late scores.

The game was sealed when Roethlisberger threw his fourth interception, directly at Browns defender Sione Takitaki.

The Browns’ 48-37 victory marked their first playoff win since 1994, on their first playoff appearance since 2002.

A once promising season for the Steelers, which began 11-0, met a disastrous end at the first round of the playoffs. Roethlisberger’s performance at the start of the game was shocking, but he later gave his team a chance to come back, even though they didn’t get close enough.

Expectations for the Browns were generally low, but they stood tall against their division rivals, proving their capability of advancing in the playoffs.

The Browns’ Divisional Round matchup will be against the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs.

The Washington Football Team clinch playoff berth in win against the Philadelphia Eagles

Of course, a pandemic football season would meet a weird culmination, where a 7-9 team made the playoffs after its opponent stopped being competitive in the fourth quarter.

The final game of the regular season saw a playoff berth on the line for one team. The Washington Football Team simply needed to win against the Philadelphia Eagles to clinch the NFC East title and punch their ticket to the playoffs. If they lost, the New York Giants would’ve made it.

Ironically, the Giants had to root for their bitter division rival Eagles to help them into the playoffs. The Eagles were already eliminated from playoff contention and had no real incentive to win—a loss only meant a higher draft pick for them.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles stopped trying to win. Down by only 3 points, quarterback Jalen Hurts was benched in favor of Nate Sudfeld. Head coach Doug Pederson’s baffling decision essentially turned a competitive game into a practice scrimmage evaluating the third-string quarterback.

Though Hurts struggled to complete passes, he’s a mobile quarterback who threatened to catch the Washington defense off guard anytime with an explosive play. When Sudfeld came in, it was evident that he was no better than the dynamic Hurts.

It really was not a good look for the Eagles deciding to tank in the fourth quarter of a game they still had a legitimate chance of winning, but not trying to win was a business decision. Good for them that they now have the 6th overall pick in the draft.

Giants fans hate the Eagles even more now, but ultimately, it was never Philly’s business to nudge the Giants into the playoffs. Eagles players were confused and frustrated at Hurts’s benching—they wanted to win—but the Eagles organization was looking out for itself.

Take no credit away from the Washington Football Team. Theirs was a season of overcoming. They started 1-5, but clawed their way to a 7-9 record to finish strong. Head coach Ron Rivera completed cancer treatment in the middle of the season.

Quarterback Alex Smith has made a triumphant comeback from a two-year journey rehabbing a life-threatening leg injury, going 5-1 on games that he started this season.

Rookie phenom defensive end Chase Young stepped up as a leader in Washington’s young defensive front. He was named a team captain in December.

The Washington Football Team will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.