Ahead of Tomorrow’s Super Bowl 55

I’ve heard this phrase go around for a few days now, I and I think it’s really cool – this Super Bowl is going to be the GOAT of the Old Generation, Tom Brady (or every generation in my opinion, unless Patrick Mahomes or Trace McSorely has anything to say about that) versus the GOAT of the Next Generation, Patrick Mahomes, and their supporting cast – it’s like Mission: Impossible (except with a few more characters [players] on both sides).

Maybe now you can name the whole cast of Mission: Impossible but in some 7-10 years, after the franchise stops producing, you won’t be able to name the other characters, just the main one(s), Tom Cruise, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.

For tomorrow’s Super Bowl, I think that the Bucs need to come out firing because when you’re playing against not only the number one team in the AFC, but also the best and most unpredictable one. If the run game worked so well in the win against the Bills, then the Chiefs should use that as a crutch, but the main support, for both teams, should and will be the pass game. If I’m talking about blitzes (you might be thinking to yourself – when was this guy talking about blitzes? – you’re right, when?) then I would say that it would be horrible to blitz both QBs. One, because Tom Brady has the best pocket presence and awareness in the league and he will get rid of the football really quickly and for the opponent – when you blitz Patrick Mahomes, he will roll out of the pocket, or if that fails then he’ll find someone (ah hahaha, I’m entering your mind again, you’re thinking to yourself – hey kid, you know how stupid that sounds? – yeah, yeah I do, I don’t get it either) because we’ve seen SportsCenter lose control over themselves when it happened the first time and when history repeated itself.

Talking about playbooks and game plans, a game plan in the regular season is far different than one in the playoffs and I think both of them are far different than the one in the Super Bowl. So, I think that the viewers will see a game plan that’s tailored around combating what the other team did to the Bills and the Packers, respectively.

I know, choppy language, let me clear it up. The Chiefs will try to account for the run game and try to just PLAY better in the redzone than the Bucs. The Bucs will just play the pass, especially the deep zones and the mid zone, if it is a run, then the Bucs’ freakishly good Front 7 will stop it. I think it will be thrilling (Yes, I know I sound like a science teacher getting his/her blood pressure up by talking about the Water Cycle), seeing Andy Reid and Bruce Arians bounce off of each other’s play, but the matchup we’ve been waiting for, which might be a conspiracy orchestrated by the NFL by doing all sorts of science/tech-y things to make certain teams lose games and certain teams win games to perfectly create a matchup for Tom Brady to hand the torch of the NFL onto Patrick Mahomes, if you haven’t guessed it yet, the Bucs will win it.

Final Score: 27-21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Back to some unfinished business …

Packers vs. Bucs: This game looks easy on paper, the Bucs are playing with 5 above average players at their position and while the Jets have absolutely no one, we don’t even have a best player (me, a Jets fan, quietly crying reviewing the Bucs roster). The Bucs have the GOAT at QB, and he has so many more players to throw to than he had in New England. I thought that the Rodgers-Adams connection would be too much to handle. Factor in the run game with Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, and Jamaal Williams and a good defense and I thought that’s the recipe to beat the Bucs. But, the GOAT, in what may be his final season, defied all expectations – again. Not many people predicted a State Farm Super Bowl, but I was a black sheep, and my prediction just made sense. I thought the probable 2020-2021 MVP would throw for over 350 yards with four touchdowns and one pick, not really. It just didn’t come together, the Packers were always playing one step behind and were always treading a swamp, instead of plain water. The Bucs? Oh, they just walked, they didn’t need to tread anything. A nonexistent run game got going really well, using their tank, Leonard Fourtnette, more than my would-be choice, Ronald Jones II. And he produced, being their inside-the-10 running back, getting 55 yards on twelve carries and an impressive touchdown run where he stiff-armed and tore his way into the endzone. What won the game for the Bucs was not their defense, their passing game, or their coaching/decision making, no, it was their redzone play. Not one specific play, it was their play in general inside the 20. They would do a mix of passing and running in the redzone, more specifically fades to Mike Evans and Gronk and slants to Chris Godwin, and then outside zone runs to Fourtnette and that would work. Props to them.

Chiefs vs. Bills: The Chiefs were better, Patrick Mahomes and his curly hair are just unmatched. You have to give credit to Andy Reid, not just for being a great coach and leading a team to the Super Bowl for a second straight time but for incorporating a run game that’s virtually nonexistent. I’ll get to how, why, and with whom, but I just want to say one thing. Notice how both coaches incorporated the run game and something different than they did in the regular season. They caught the other team off guard and confused them, while still having a strategy and not running around like a chicken with its head off.  The Chiefs ran the ball more than they usually do, and get this, without their starting running backs even getting started. Andy Reid saw something in Darrel Williams pregame and he produced, 13 for 52 and one touchdown and the rookie Clyde Edwards Helaire got a touchdown on 7 carries and… and… and… 6 yards. Also, the Chiefs wanted to focus on the short or 9-12 yard passing game, and guess what? They put up 38 points. The Bills came in expecting deep passes (usually complete) and a minimal run game, the Chiefs did the extraordinary, they stretched time. What does my mother tell me all the time? There are only 24 hours in a day (or 48 minutes of football in a football game) and you can’t stretch them, at all. The Chiefs still took their deep shots and still took chances but also incorporated the medium passing game and the run game. Another thing I noticed was that the two (to say main here would be an understatement, so I’m going to say, well, only) only receivers, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce got (again, most would be an understatement, literally, they got 89% of the passing/receiving yards of the game, so, I’ll say all, but know it’s not really all) all of the receptions in the game, and that worked, expect more of the same, Bucs. On the flip side of the coin, the Bills played on the flip side of the coin. They didn’t run the ball, when they did, it was Josh Allen tucking it and running it. Josh Allen spread the ball around really well for a young QB who is pretty much only targeting his best friend, Stefon Diggs, both on and off the field. Cole Beasley, the definition of Swiss Army Knife, caught 7 passes for 88 yards while reportedly playing on a broken leg, yes, I wrote that correctly and you read that correctly. The Bills didn’t come in with a game plan as good as the Chiefs, but hey, with any game plan it’s hard to beat the Chiefs.

Final Note – on Baseball: Trevor Bauer is the biggest Diva in sports history, yes, even bigger than what Kevin Durant did, and is doing (he did, if you didn’t know joining teams to create super teams and virtually spitting on his old team). Trevor Bauer got Mets’ fans excited that he’s coming to New York, LA wasn’t even in the Trevor-Bauer-Media-Spotlight-Talks (keep in mind I said “spotlight,” hardcore baseball fans knew he was in talks just regular fans didn’t) until 2 or so days before he signed. Then, even though the Mets have built a great team under Uncle Steve Cohen and we offered him more money than the Dodgers, he spurs us and walks over to LA, wow, thanks, Bauer. Let’s see him go 8-7 with a 4.17 ERA this season because he was never really amazing. Yes, I know, this paragraph is a sad Mets fan crying but remember, numbers don’t lie, the people interpreting them do. And, we already didn’t really need him, we have a Top 5, or maybe even Top 3, starting rotation in the league, Jacob DeGoat, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, Joey Lucchesi, David Peterson, and more reinforcements coming.

So, bite me, Dodgers, Dodgers fans, and most importantly, Trevor “Biggest Diva in MLB and the guy who isn’t worth signing” Bauer.