Tag: Super Bowl (Page 1 of 3)

A pretty decent game, unless you live in Cincinnati. And even then, it was solid until the last five minutes or so. It had a game-winning score in the final 2:00, which always elevates a game. Only one traditionally spectacular play – Tee Higgins’ 75-yard touchdown catch to open the second half – and that came because of a pretty egregious officiating error. I think my generation still expects Super Bowls to be terrible because so many of them in the 80s and 90s were, so any time a game is close still feels like a win even if it wasn’t a classic game.

I was leaning Bengals for a variety of reasons, but fine with the Rams winning. It is easy to make fun of the Rams for having no real fan base, or LA fans in general for being the ultimate front-runners. But I have no real hate for the team itself.

I’m even ok with how the Rams won this title. They made an organization-wide decision to throw everything at winning a Super Bowl this year. They sacrificed pretty much every meaningful draft pick for the next 25 years (give-or-take) to load up their roster for this run. Isn’t that what a team is supposed to do, use whatever capital they have to maximize their championship odds? They made a decision and will pay a price down the road for it. Although it’s easier to turn a franchise around than it used to be – look at the Bengals – the Rams probably have a long stretch coming up quick where their fancy new stadium will be dominated by visiting fans because the home team is going 4–13. Flags fly forever.

One reason I was pro-Bengals was because of the KU connection. Hakeem Adeniji started. He got manhandled by Aaron Donald much of the night, so I was just glad it wasn’t him that gave up the game-clinching sack. Pooka Williams is on the practice squad. Darrin Simmons, who played for KU when I lived in Lawrence, has been a Bengals coach for nearly 20 years. And, of course, Ja’Marr Chase was committed to KU for five days, so I could him as a Jayhawk!

I’m sure Bengals fans are stewing about how the Rams last drive was aided by multiple penalties on the Bengals after a largely penalty-free game. I get it, but, come on. The Bengals took the lead because of a horrible missed call. You can’t complain too much. But it was disappointing that a game that was called differently than pretty much every other NFL game this year suddenly changed in the last 2:00. If you’re going to swallow the whistle all night, don’t suddenly start blowing it at the end.

The win cements the Rams move to get Matthew Stafford lat year, and provides a measure of redemption for him after spending his whole career in the pit of despair that is the Detroit Lions franchise. He was nails on the final possession. But I found it interesting that the Rams won largely because the Bengals defense took away the big play, and Stafford had to be patient and manage the game. That eliminated his propensity for making mistakes in big moments. His only interception was a flukey one. I kept waiting for him to throw a bad pick, but by taking away the deep ball, the Bengals also reduced the odds that Stafford would do something dumb to help them. The Bengals played really good defense the entire game. And in doing so they reduced the chances that their defense could help them win. Sports are strange.

Commercials. I didn’t do much tracking of them this year. I guess the Larry David crypto one was my favorite. I think celebs doing cryptocurrency ads is dumb; I guarantee most of the people in these commercials don’t understand the concept any better than the average person. David’s ad seemed like kind of a send-up of that concept. Plus his line about even letting “the stupid people” vote was brilliant.

I laughed a few times. I was confused a few times. But other than the QR code ad, not sure we’ll be talking about many of these six months from now.

The halftime performance? Really good. But it missed out on being great. For starters, neither Dre, Snoop, nor Mary J. Blige performed their best songs. There were radio versions of “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?),” and “Gin and Juice” 30 years ago, so I know they could have been performed at the Super Bowl in 2022. And for Mary J not to sing “Real Love” was a travesty.

All-in-all, though, an entertaining performance. And as the first-ever, all hip hop halftime, it will go down in history. It wasn’t Prince, but I’m not sure anyone ever will be.

My question as I watched was will this be the last Super Bowl halftime show where the featured artists are all roughly my age? Dre is 56, Mary 51, Snoop 50, Fiddy is fiddy, and Eminem 49.

I was trying to think of artists either in their 50s or approaching 50 who have not done the halftime show yet and are still culturally relevant. Foo Fighters is the most obvious, and they were doing an alternate halftime show last night so they might be blacklisted by the NFL. Pearl Jam would be another big get, but as well-known as they are, they don’t really move the national needle anymore.

With the show being focused primarily on danceable pop music, and now moving into straight hip hop, the future focus will likely be on younger artists, and more shows like last night that feature a collection of acts to fill the 20 minutes rather than a single, greatest hits-style performance. Which means last night might have been Generation X’s last night as the featured act(s).

Some thoughts on Sunday’s Big Game

The Game

I was certainly surprised by the result. Even though I had watched Tampa’s defense stifle Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, I never expected them to do the same to Patrick Mahomes and all of his weapons. That was a ferocious, courageous performance by the Bucs’ D. They got consistent pressure to Mahomes, something every other team the Chiefs played this year struggled to do, while still bottling up Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. They kept the Chiefs from ever getting a consistent running attack going. In the fourth quarter, when you expect the team the Chiefs have been carving up through the first 45 minutes start to wilt, it was KC that looked gassed and Tampa that looked energized.

To me that was the key to the game. But obviously a lot of credit is due to Tom Brady. Once again he made many of us look dumb. If you told me that Tampa’s D would play that well, I could understand him having a workman-like, late Peyton Manning performance and guiding the Bucs to the win. But he was fantastic. It’s really mind-boggling how he can continue to do this, ESPECIALLY in his first year on a new team, in a new system, with new teammates. He sure picked the right demon to sell his soul to.

The biggest question to me this morning is how do we begin to separate Brady from Bill Belichick. It’s impossible to say that Belichick deserves no credit for coaching Brady to his first six Super Bowl wins. But last night’s result sure shifts the balance of power in that relationship.

Brady has been firmly established as the GOAT QB for a few years now. Last night he put the bar so far out into the stratosphere it’s difficult to imagine anyone catching him, at least in terms of Super Bowl wins.

The GOAT QB debate is such a tough one. Tom Brady is not the most gifted man to ever play his position. He’s not the most physically impressive. He’s not the most complete. He doesn’t possess the biggest arm. For much of his career Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were better than him. Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers are better than him today. But the fucker has seven Super Bowl titles and there is no amount of arguing that can dethrone him from the top of the quarterback mountain.

As it became more apparent that the Bucs would win, I started thinking about what this meant for Mahomes and the Chiefs. At first glance, this is a blip. In fact, I’m going on record to say, as long as he is healthy next year, Mahomes is going to go medieval on the NFL, break just about every single season QB record, and lead the Chiefs to a 16–0 regular season. The great ones harvest more anger from losing than happiness from winning, and I think he’s going to destroy everything in his path next year.

However, this is another missed opportunity in whatever window the Chiefs have to surround Mahomes with top tier talent. Anyone who has watched the Chiefs the last three years understands that the Chiefs will be Super Bowl contenders as long as Mahomes is healthy. The question is how long can the Chiefs keep top-tier talent around him?

I’m not familiar enough with the Chiefs roster to know who is set to become a free agent either this spring or next, but these windows of opportunity can close faster than expected. NFL careers tend to go from peak to mediocre quickly. Mahomes should be great for another decade-plus. Will the parts around him last as long?

The Chiefs have an excellent front office, so they seem well situated to draft smartly to replace outgoing, expensive talent with younger, cheaper players. Mahomes elevates those around him, which is a huge bonus. But it is insanely tough to hit in the draft over-and-over.

Maybe I’m an idiot and the Chiefs are going to manage the roster around Mahomes just fine, keeping the o-line stout, keeping the offense stocked with explosive backs and receivers, and fielding a defense that can prevent games from turning into stressful 48–45 track meets every week.

I expect Mahomes to win at least one more Super Bowl in Kansas City. Which, when you look at the history of the franchise, is pretty freaking great.

Losing last night, along with two years ago in the AFC title game, could be the difference between Mahomes getting a chance to challenge Brady’s Super Bowl record, and topping out somewhere in the Manning(s), Elway, Montana range. Which is still rarified air, but would, unfairly, feel like a bit of a letdown.

I was neutral last night. I was actually rooting for both teams to lose. But, holy crap did the Chiefs get a bad whistle, especially in the first half. It’s not that every call against the Chiefs was awful; upon review almost all were legit. It’s that they always came in huge moments and there weren’t corresponding calls against the Bucs. Yet it still felt like the Chiefs were very much in the game until late in the fourth quarter.

Upset of the night: Andy Reid making dumb clock decisions. It was hilarious seeing my Twitter feed fill up with Eagles fan reliving stupid time management moments from his years in Philly. Seriously, he’s one of the best offensive coaches ever, but still hasn’t figured out how to make the most basic decisions about time.

One more legacy note. Maybe I’m having a moment of selective memory, but I don’t think people hated Joe Montana the way they do Brady. Montana had an Aaron Rodgers quality to him: he was everyone’s second favorite QB. Even if he beat your team there was something cool about him that made you admire him.

But maybe that’s just because 30 years have passed since Joe played and I’m forgetting how people were sick of him, too.

How sadly ironic it was for the same league that blackballed Colin Kaepernick to display “criminal justice reform” banners at their championship game.

Finally, what the fuck kind of sports jacket was Peyton Manning wearing? Some shit you can only get away with if you’re super rich and from the south. Or was this a hint that he’s going into the Hall of Fame as a Bronco? That will cause a ruckus around here if it happens.

Commercials!

Will Ferrell’s GM commercial was my favorite. The Michael B. Jordan Alexa commercial was outstanding, too. The Jason Alexander hoodie ad for Tide rounded out my top three.

Springsteen in Kansas was pretty fresh.

I generally do not like the light beer seltzer fad, and think people who drink them are horrible human beings. But the lemons to lemonade ad by Bud Light seltzer was appropriate for the moment.

Worst commercial of the night: the oat milk guy singing in his oat field.

And I did not get why Vince Lombardi, who has been dead longer than I’ve been alive, needs to be re-animated to talk about the state of the world.

Halftime show

I thought The Weeknd was an odd choice. Sure, you couldn’t go 90 seconds without hearing “Blinding Lights” over the past year, and it never got old, which is a sign of a genius song. But he’s not like a universally beloved artist with a huge swath of hits everyone knows. At least Bruno Mars had a handful of songs that you either knew or sounded like songs you knew. Plus, The Weeknd might be a little too artsy for the Super Bowl audience.

I thought his performance was fine. Not great, not terrible, and definitely not memorable. The audio being awful didn’t help.

I was explaining to the girls how who performs gets selected, and how sometimes artists are asked and decline. We all agreed that Ariana Grande is the most obvious youngish artist who should be on stage next. Bieber is probably on that list. I’m sure Pearl Jam has been asked and declined multiple times. There seems to be building momentum for Foo Fighters to get a turn. Maybe we can re-animate Prince and try him again.

There’s been a discussion in my Twitter feed today about whether Super Bowl Sunday is an overrated sports day. I’m 100% on board with this take.

The actual sports side of Super Bowl Sunday kind of sucks, as the game is always secondary to all the other things that surround it. The parties, the pregame show, the halftime show, the commercials. Unless your team is playing, the football is kind of a letdown. And even then the game’s cadence is so unlike any other NFL game, that it can make you crazy if you care who wins.

Within that discussion were some folks sharing their memories of Super Bowls past. My kids are all either working or babysitting, the wife is traveling back from a weekend away, and I refuse to watch any of the early, early pregame stuff. So, here are my Super Bowl memories.

Super Bowl XII, Jan 15, 1978. Cowboys beat the Broncos.
A transformative moment in my life. For years I faced the question, “Why are you a Cowboys fan?” This is the game that explains it. Six-year-old me watched my first Super Bowl and thought it was cool both teams were from cities that started with D’s. The Cowboys won, and I became a Cowboys fan until Jerry Jones pissed me off.

SB XIII, Jan 21, 1979. This was a doozy for kids of the 70s, the second meeting between the Steelers and Cowboys. Jackie Smith dropped a sure touchdown, the Cowboys lost by four, and I cried.

SB XVI, Jan 24, 1982. I was still bitter after the 49ers beat the Cowboys in the NFC title game. My aunt and uncle hosted a party and one of my good friends was with me, along with another kid our age we did not know. When the national anthem played, this other kid stood, put his hand over his heart, and sang along. My buddy and I about shit ourselves.

SB XXIV, Jan 28, 1990. I watched this in the lobby of my dorm. One of the most perfect games ever played, done by the Niners at their absolute peak.

SB XXVII, Jan 31, 1993. My Cowboys finally made it back. I had to work and missed the first half. My roommates all messed with me when I got home at halftime, claiming the Bills were shellacking Dallas. Boy the look on my face when the second half started and I saw the score! Also, Leon Lett.

SB XXX, Jan 28, 1996. The Cowboys finally beat the Steelers. My bigger memory of the day is that KU played at Colorado before the Super Bowl. This was Chauncey Billups’ single year in Boulder, so it was a solid Buffs team, but KU got the W.

SB XXXII, Jan 25, 1998. Jewel sang the national anthem. This was right when she was busting out as one of the brightest stars in music. With her rise came the story of how she lived in her car for a stretch in her starving artist days. I was at a party, and folks were correctly solemn during her performance. Responding to her attire, which accentuated her curves, I said, “Wow, hard to believe she was ever homeless,” a little too loud after she was done. There was a moment of silence before everyone lost it. I felt a little sheepish about my statement, but was thankful the room was with me and I was not asked to leave.

SB XXXV, Jan 28, 2001. I remember S and I getting into an argument on the way to the game and us not talking the entire game. Fortunately we were at a party and could avoid each other, but I did wonder if she was going to break up with me on the way home. We didn’t talk for a few days before she sent me an email saying she was sorry. Dating a pediatric resident who got short-tempered when she didn’t get much sleep was a delight.

SB XXXVI, Feb 3, 2002. Another doozy with the ghost of 9/11 looming large. A great game. The beginning of the Patriots dynasty, when we all thought Tom Brady was a plucky underdog and Belichick’s team over individual stuff wasn’t sociopathic. Adam Vinatieri’s first kick into legend. U2 at halftime. And going to a party where I ran into an old college friend and offended him by loudly greeting him with his college nickname, which he did not want his adult-life friends to know about. A couple other college buddies and I still laugh about that a few times a year.

SB XXXVII, Jan 26, 2003. I won like $220 in the square game. My biggest sports gambling win ever!

SB XXXIII, Feb 1, 2004. Wardrobe malfunction!

SB XLI, Feb 4, 2007. The Colts win, but Prince’s greatest ever halftime show overshadowed the game. It was also so cold here in Indy that a man literally froze to death a couple miles from our house.

SB XLIV, Feb 7, 2010. The Colts lose a game they should have won, mostly because Peyton played terribly and Dwight Freeney had blown up his ankle late in the AFC title game. When Peyton threw a pick six, I, after having several drinks, said, “Well, fuck!” in a room filled with kids under the age of six. I was just saying what all the other parents were thinking.

SB XLVI, Feb 5, 2012. Indianapolis’ Super Bowl came off without any hitches, weather or otherwise. Seriously, it was a miracle it wasn’t 10 below all week. Our girls thought it was great that Peyton’s brother was the quarterback for the Giants and made Eli masks at school.

SB LI, Feb 5, 2017. Furiously texting with friends as the Falcons jumped out to a huge lead over the Patriots. Then furiously texting later wondering “They’re going to blow this, aren’t they?”

SB LIV, Feb 2, 2020. Two weeks of me explaining to people that (and why) I’m not a Chiefs fan.