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.
