Initially, I didn't care much about the Super Bowl since my Chicago Bears were cheated out of their rightful place in the contest.
Just kidding. My Chicago Bears totally SUCKED!
But I didn't care initially and then I began to care as the day drew near. While I thought it was cool that the Kansas City Chiefs had a shot at the "first" NFL 3-Peat (had they officially began holding Super Bowl contests prior to the two-in-a-row the Green Bay Packers won in Super Bowls I & II, the Pack would already have had a 3-PEAT given they won it all the year prior to the start of this great tradition), at least their failure to achieve that goal relieves me from hearing about it ad nauseum for an unknown period of time, which would feel like forever regardless of how long it actually went on. That crap's only enjoyable when it's a Chicago team getting the praise. That's just the way it is and it can't be changed.
But this particular game became more fascinating to me because of both that 3-Peat potential and also for how much of a monster year (and playoffs) Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had. KC must have had a bye in the playoff, for they had one less loss, according to what my phone showed, but they were both dominant in their respective conferences. I seem to recall KC having had a shaky start, but in any case, their track record could not be set aside. They had been a team which established their bona fides beyond question and to pick them as favorites was an easy bet for most. I don't think anyone, even the most rabid Eagles fan, could have had real confidence that they would lose. I know I didn't, regardless of how much I thought Barkley would continue his great year in this final contest.
The day before the game, I posted a comment on FB that I thought the real match-up to watch would be between Eagles Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, and Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The Chiefs succeeded in keeping Barkley under 100 yards total rushing/receiving. But clearly Fang won that contest in convincing fashion. The score of the game was approaching that of the shellacking given the New England Patriots by Da Bearsss in SB 20 (46-10), which was the result of Da Bearsss' other-worldly defense (the vaunted 4-6 Defense...named for Doug Plank). The Eagles were swarming with mostly their front four. It was a thing to behold!
Vic Fangio was the Bears DC not long ago, before moving on to failure as Head Coach of the Denver Broncos. DC is his thing. It's where he serves best. As long as he remains DC in Philly, I think their defense will always be really, really good.
There's a chance that Chicago could entice Chiefs Guard, Trey Smith, touted by many as the best at his position, and everyone knows the Bears O-Line needs him. The thought of it excited. After watching the Eagles D, it seems an absolute necessity to get this guy, but it doesn't excite as it did prior to this game. Good gosh! What a defensive display!
Eagles 40-Chiefs 22
5 comments:
Eagles D line played really well. KC's O line didn't. That seems to be the conclusion. Mahomes needs either time in the pocket or a running lane, he had neither. The fact that they accomplished this with a 4 man rush was impressive and didn't give up the mismatches in the secondary KC has exploited.
The question about next year is whether or not this game spurs Veach to spend the money to keep Smith around or goes a different direction. It's going to be a big offseason for KC.
Truly. If Smith is considered the best at his position, and the best wasn't good enough to keep four guys off of Mahomes, KC would be truly moronic to not pay him their first born along with big bucks to keep him.
KC's defense did fine as far as negating Barkley...and that ain't nothin'. They obviously put all their attention there. But given the size of the Philly O-linemen, it was pretty impressive. I'd say it was surprisingly incomplete an action plan, and between both sides of the ball, more surprising was Reid uncharacteristically, was unable to adjust effectively.
You have my sympathies. That 3-Peat joy lasts a long time!
Smith will get paid in the off season, it's just a question of where. Personally, I'd prefer to keep him, but that'll depend on what he wants.
Philly's lines were both great and they schemed things perfectly. They'll likely have the same trouble as anyone else keeping people, and their opponents will learn from this, but they played really well on both sides of the line.
Controlling Barkley was nice, but it allowed Hurts the opportunity to throw. As always it's a trade off.
I went into the game skeptical, because that's kind of how I roll, but it was worse than I thought.
Mahomes is young, he's had a phenomenal career to this point and I have no doubt they'll be in the mix next year. Just making it to the SB three straight years is pretty amazing, and it's been a blast over the past few years. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about them.
For the first time in a while, the off season will be bigger than we're used to. Veach will have to hit some home runs in the draft and FA.
I know it isn't anything important, but I am curious. How many views has your blog gotten since you first started it? I mean, you have had lots of different commenters, and even debates, over the years here.
According to the blog's data, not a lot...683444 total views since inception, if I'm understanding the data properly. I've been on since April of 2007, so I'm gonna say that's a really low number. Feel free to ad to that number by visiting and submitting opinion at your leisure. Snark is allowed, but not in place of legitimate arguments.
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