Laddie Morse
Super Bowl Game Day is tomorrow and Super Bowl weekend is finally, finally here. The extra week the NFL owners have built into the festivities have proven to be a waste of time mainly. The extra week for Andy Reid to prepare could turn out to be a boon, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one. The Hype Pipe everyone seems to be smoking from must be because Marijuana is now legal in Missouri. It’s strange to think but, coming from a person who has never smoked the stuff, I was once hitch-hiking through the state of Texas and was picked up by a guy who said the back of his station wagon was full of the buds and if we’d have been pulled over while driving through Texas, I’d have spent the rest of our lives in jail… instead of teaching for 29 years, as I did. But… that’s another story.
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Ever since SB XXII winning QB Doug Williams was asked, “How long have you been a black quarterback?” we’ve known that idiotic questions always seem to rear their deranged heads on Super Bowl week. This year has in no way diverged from that crazy making illegitimacy of thought. Besides the fact that it makes all of us who write about football look bad, it is also a waste of time for everyone who enjoys a positive Super Bowl story. Even our own David Bell has taken the high road when it comes to Super Bowl hype:
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“There is too much hype stuff, even on the NFL
Channel. I am going to sit back and watch a film.”
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Watching a non-SB related film… hmm… that’s a great idea and I think I’ll do the same this evening. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the idiotic questions being asked of the Eagles and the Chiefs. This first one was asked of the Eagles HC, Nick Siriani:
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Sheesh. I may not want the Eagles to win, but that is over the top, no matter who is being asked the question. You may have heard this one before because it’s been asked in years past, but here’s one of the most deranged questions I’ve ever heard:
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“Is this a must-win game?”
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Oh my God! I should probably throw the F-word in the middle of that reaction but since I’ve heard that question in years past… that’s what I’ll do… let it pass. Next, let’s take a look at a question no one really wants to know the answer to:
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“… do you think Jason Kelce ever pinned
his brother Travis down and farted on him?”
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Another ignoramus question was:
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“Did you see the temperature
for game day on Sunday?”
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If you haven’t heard… the game is being played indoors at the Arizona Cardinals State Farm Stadium, which was chosen by the NFL for this Super Bowl years ago… BECAUSE IT’S AN INDOOR STADIUM! Sorry for yelling at you… preaching to the choir, I know. I just don’t get that question. At. All. These questions I’ve highlighted are only the tip of the iceberg too. What iceberg you ask? Hmm…. Maybe it was the same one that brought down the Titanic.
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Rocky Magana wrote a piece for ArrowheadPride called: “An Eagles writer gives 3 reasons the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl” in which he shared:
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1. Defense: Jonathan Gannon will have no answer for Patrick Mahomes.
2. Offense: Jalen Hurts will leave too many plays on the field.
3. X-Factor: This is a coin-flip game.
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His first reason is one I whole-heartedly agree with. The Eagles DC, Jonathan Gannon has a ton of tools (skilled players) to deal with but the skill-level and suddenness of Patrick Mahomes won’t allow him to run any kind of defense that will be able to stop him.
His second proposition is one he’d know more about than I would. Jalen Hurts must have left a lot of plays on the field in the past this season for him to say that.
Rocky Magana’s third proposition is one I dis agree with. Having witnessed first hand the legitimate progress of the Chiefs first, second and third year players, it’s just too high a bar to think any team has a chance against the Chiefs this year, especially in a Super Bowl that they lost just two year hence.
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Mark Schofield wrote a piece for SBNation called: “3 reasons the Eagles will win the Super Bowl” in which he shared:
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1. Haason Reddick and the Eagles’ defensive front
2. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert
3. The Eagles are the more complete team
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Schofield’s first point is going to be a challenge for Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy’s offense. They should be able to handle the Eagles front seven with RB’s and TE’s who will chip and run screens as safety values fro Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes mobility will be an issue we’ll all want to pay attention to early on. I don’t think it will be a problem.
Schofield lists Brown, Smith and Goedert as players who will give Steve Spagnuolo’s defense a complication he can’t solve. It seems far more likely that Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson, Jerick McKinnon, Skyy Moore, and the rest of the Chiefs TE’s will give the Eagles defense a challenge to cover.
While I see the Eagles may have a better top-to-bottom roster, they don’t have the MVP — Patrick Mahomes — to lead them. Other than that, the teams are very equal, skill-wise.
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Patrick Mahomes may have won the MVP — Most Valuable Player — Award on Thursday evening, but he wasn’t there to pick it up and had to accept his award over Skype. The confusion came when the Offensive Player of the Year award was given to Justin Jefferson. The other nominees were: Tyreek Hill, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes. If the Offensive Player of the Year award is solely a WR award, why even nominate a QB. Silly. Or… crazy. Mahomes got all but two of the MVP votes. Now who on this green earth did not vote for Mahomes? That is just nonsense.
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“He. Could. Go. All. The. Way….”
Chris Berman’s axioms will live long in the realm of sportscasters catchphrases… and consequently in fans minds. Paint a picture with words and you’re half the way home. ESPN has published an article called: “Chris Berman picks the winner of Super Bowl 2023” in which Berman says:
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“Both teams have three offensive lineman who were named to the Pro Bowl. Mahomes and Hurts, who finished 1-2 in the MVP race, are front and center, though neither is 100 percent healthy. They are more like 85 percent, but you would take that for your team in a heartbeat. When Philly beat the Niners in the championship game, the Eagles were the first to beat San Francisco since the Chiefs did way back in October. Yep, we indeed have the Roaster in the Toaster [Berman’s nickname for State Farm Stadium]. I see a game decided by a field goal. The Chiefs have had much more experience than the Eagles in such games this year, which may ultimately play a big role in the outcome. As will Reid and Mahomes.
KC 29, Philly 26″
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Go Chiefs!
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Laddie Morse
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