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It’s the time of year again where I give my unsolicited opinions on all of the things that happened with the Super Bowl. I did a similar blog several years ago and it seemed to be controversial so I figured I would come back with more hot takes and deliver my stream of consciousness for America’s biggest game.
As a lifelong die-hard Patriots fan, I certainly know a lot about Super Bowls. I’ve been fortunate enough to go to several Patriots Super Bowls, including the legendary 28-3 comeback led by Tom Brady. No game will ever beat that one, but the fanfare surrounding the game is always a lot of fun. Let’s dig in.
Two Detestable Teams
I’ll start by admitting what I believe to be true for most people watching this game, which is that you could not pick two teams I wanted to root against more than the Chiefs and the Eagles. However, it is not for the reasons you expect. You’re probably thinking “You just don’t want the Chiefs to be like the Patriots dynasty” or “You don’t want Mahomes to catch Brady” or “You don’t want Andy Reid to catch Belichick.” You might also be thinking “Well the Eagles beat the Patriots in a Super Bowl recently.” While to some degree all of those things are true, they are not the core reasons why these teams are so unlikeable.
In the case of the Chiefs I believe it is fairly obvious that all the fanfare surrounding the team with Taylor Swift and the refs and Jackson and Brittany Mahomes just makes them not-so-cool any more. It feels more like a reality TV show – which has basically what the NBA has become lately – when you tune in to watch the Chiefs. While I think quite highly of Patrick Mahomes, the way he dives for calls and complains to the refs is akin to LeBron James in a debate about who is better between him and Michael Jordan. With that being said, Chiefs fans are wonderful and loud and I am happy for them that they have had something to cheer for over the last decade or so.
The same cannot be said for Philadelphia Eagles fans. Stories of my personal encounters with Eagles fans in my lifetime are NSFW so you will just have to take my word for it. For now, let’s just refer to this publicly available story about a Philadelphia Phillies fan vomiting (on purpose) on a little girl at a baseball game.
With all of this being said, I had to swallow my pride and root for the Eagles. And in large part that is because I gambled on them to win.
The Game
Of course, the most important part of the Super Bowl is the actual football game. It is easy to say this in hindsight, but I had a feeling all along this game would not be close. The Chiefs are obviously an elite football team but anyone who closely watches the NFL understood through the eyeball test that they were not nearly as dominant as they had been in past seasons. Mahomes took a big step back, they never scored more than 30 points in a game, and all year long there was all sorts of chatter about how they had like a dozen one score games.
Meanwhile, if you watched the Eagles throughout the playoffs, it was pretty evident that they were just an absolute juggernaut and well-rounded across the entire roster. They had perhaps the best offensive and defensive lines in football, the best secondary, the best running back, two elite wide receivers, a great tight end, and a top 5 or 10 quarterback in MVP Jalen Hurts. They simply had too many ways to beat an opponent. Frankly the only thing I was truly worried about was the refs figuring out a way to rig the season’s biggest game, but it seems like enough people whined about it leading up to the game that the refs had to take a season off from rigging it for KC.
Brady vs. Mahomes
Can we be done with this now? This isn’t even the Patriots homer in me talking here but I simply cannot believe that these comparisons are happening.
Look, at this point in Mahomes’s career compared to where Brady was at this juncture, you could certainly make a strong case that he is pacing to surpass Brady. But what made Brady great is his sustained excellence over a very long period of time. The Chiefs have had one dynasty…the Patriots had two. And you could break Brady’s career into three different chunks and each of those chunks could have its own Hall of Fame career. I am not saying that Mahomes will never get there. But we should let his body of work run its course before we have a proper debate about it.
Also, Brady was 2-0 against Mahomes and absolutely mauled him in their last head-to-head in the Super Bowl when he was 43 years old. Brady also never threw up all over himself in a Super Bowl and he played in 10 of them. Let’s just slow down with the hyperbolic talking heads. And the same goes for Gronk vs. Kelce. Enough.
The Halftime Show
Every year, people get bent out of shape about the halftime show. If it’s not Megyn Kelly being offended by it or woke people being offended by it then it is someone being offended by it or thinking that it was bad or the performers were too old or this or that. I honestly do not know what kind of theatrical production needs to take place that will satisfy anyone any more. If you do not like the halftime show, I have an idea for you: don’t watch it. Or maybe do your own halftime show at home with your family.
I liked the halftime show. Everyone is saying Kendrick Lamar was bad. He was? Seemed like he just sang his songs to me. Am I missing something? Should there have been 800 performers instead of 400? Did we need two tennis superstars and not just Serena Williams? Was it not enough that he performed the most hateful song of all time against his rival who is suing him for writing said song?
All I know is this…Big Ketchup is behind this. They did not like the free advertising for MUSTAAAAARD!!!
Mahomes Throwing Up All Over Himself
Did I mention Mahomes threw up all over himself? Pathetic.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift was booed when she was on the Jumbotron before the game. Some people tried to politicize this. That is not where I am going.
Look, Taylor Swift is one of the most talented people on planet Earth. I don’t particularly care for her but my wife does (a lot) and we went to see her in concert a year and a half ago. It was an absolute spectacle, even for a shmo like me who does not really listen to Taylor Swift.
Now, is it true that the hoopla behind Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce is really annoying? Of course, especially for real football fans who just want to focus on football and not the media circus around their relationship. But remember what I said about Philly fans earlier in this blog? Doesn’t it seem pretty accurate in hindsight? Considering that they boo’ed Santa Claus and now Taylor Swift?
Brady Announcing
You are going to notice a trend here, which is that all of the negativity and pessimism that emanates from people after the Super Bowl is pretty irritating. Frankly, I think no matter what Tom Brady did in the booth last night, people were going to criticize him. Why would they do that, you ask?
Well, when he was in the height of being the best football player of all time, a lot of people decided they hated him because they are jealous of winners. So naturally I expect many of those same people have an antipathy towards him and therefore a bias about whatever he says and does.
Brady’s announcing was fine and just as if anyone else was doing it. People need to relax.
Jameis Winston
National treasure. We don’t deserve him.
Jeff Kirchick 