Super Bowl LV Data Points -- February 8, 2021

Probably the best game ever on so many levels. If you are a Brady fan. LOL. 

Brady:

• beat Taylor Heinicke, Aaron Rogers, beat Drew Brees, all in their home stadia
• beat Mahomes
• seventh ring
• not going to be repeated

Super Bowl LV memes:

• "running for his life"
• "passing the ball while horizontal"
• "this is not basketball; one player does not make the team"
  

Bottom line: KCC schooled. 

Owner, coaches, players:

• stayed in their lanes;
• no distractions (can one imagine the Jerry Jones distractions had Dallas been playing? Quick: name the owner of the TBB; for that matter, quick: name the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys this past season and the coach)
• if you can, good for you; if you can't it's because the only names we heard all season re: DC was Jerry Jones and Dak Prescott;
  

Handicap:

• not reported prior to the game to any great extent but perhaps biggest story was KCC's distractions off the field
• KCC losing two first string inside linemen due to injuries

Defensive line, TBB:

• under-reported
• think: "purple people-eaters"; 
• think: Chicago Bears
• does anyone think of the TB Bucs when talking about their defensive line
  

Defensive line, coaching, TBB:

• kept it simple, understood KCC: one-trick pony: a quarterback that could win by passing
• solution: advice to front four -- pay no attention to anyone else; just go after Mahomes on every play;
• learned that Mahomes preferred running to the right, then passing
• solution: force Mahomes out of his comfort zone; push him to the left
• even on a winning day, KCC had no running game
• once they fell behind (and stopped in the red zone three times), KCC then had only one game: the passing game
  

Offense, TBB:

• keep it simple, understood the concept of the "queen bee"; protect TB12 at all costs;
• sacked once?
• TB12 standing upright at end of 99% of all plays?
• never scrambled, except that one time going after a loose ball after a bad snap;
  
• multi-dimensional: strong running game when it counted
• passing: TB12 had only 200 passing yards

Offense, KCC:

• best (?) offense in the NFL going into the game;
• not one touchdown in this Super Bowl LV
• two "fails" in the red zone
• receivers dropping perfectly thrown balls

Franchise:

• KCC: Mahomes (quick: name four other players on the KCC team)
• TBB: the team (quick: name four other players on the TBB team)
• the media says the frachise was TB12
• it's TB12, only if one sees Brady as the conditioning coach, quarterback, spiritual leader, role model, and "tough love" boss;
• of all those, one wonders if "role model" was the most important; my hunch, despite being 43 years old, he pushed himself physically more than many players had seen before;
  

Special teams:

• absent, as far as I could tell; not needed
  
• long-distance field goals: kickers not getting the attention they deserve; valuable for two reasons
  

Penalties:

• 120 yards against the KCC; third-worst in Super Bowl history
  
• perhaps one or two should not have been called on the KCC and at least one was pivotal, favoring TBB, but "come on, man" -- a dozen penalties (or thereabout) on KCC and one on the TBBz

Composure:

• penalties lead us back to composure
• simply put: KCC lost their composure
• TB12's leadership would ensure TBB would not lose their composure

TB12:

• with all the above, Brady only had to play "smart." And he played very, very, very smart.
• no interceptions; technically one but called back due to penalty on defense;
• best TB play? high snap, ball sails over head; TB doesn't try to scoop it up and save the play; falls on it preventing a takeaway; how often have we seen a QB / running back try to scoop it up, only losing the ball in the process
• the way his defense played and the way his team played, one wonders if 90% of NFL quarterbacks could have won that game for the Bucs?
  

Biggest question:

• Really, how good was Belichick?

Occasionally someone mentions this:

• post-drink-driving KCC assistant coach leaves 5-year-old girl in coma; interestingly enough, the blood alcohol level has not been released; nor has the driven been charged? Only two to three drinks.