Championship Game Notes heading into Super Bowl LVI

 The Super Bowl is set, Bengals-Rams, just like all the “experts” thought it would be in training camp! Mahomes wasn’t the same highlight-making, incredible throws, and the usual jaw-dropping signal caller that we’ve come to think is just a given, Cincinnati’s defense proved otherwise.

The play that is getting the most amount of criticism is Kansas City’s decision to try and go up 28-3 instead of 24-3 by getting greedy right before halftime. I disagree, while I do think that play is important, we’ll get to that later, it is not the biggest play of the game. To me, the biggest play is a combo of two plays, the second and third in goal on Kansas City’s final drive of regulation. Mahomes losing 22 yards on back-to-back plays is bigger than the non-score right before halftime. If Mahomes doesn’t run backwards for 20+ yards forcing Butker to make a harder field goal, having the ball on the nine yard-line for two plays gives the Chiefs a chance to score a touchdown and win the game at the end of regulation. Mahomes needs to learn how to throw the ball away. Crazy how one would think that the best quarterback in the league doesn’t know when he’s done all he can and give up on that play for the next one. Mahomes is insanely talented, but, as he runs around widely like a gazelle running away from a lion, he shows that he still has lessons to learn going into his 5^th year. All the talk today from every major publication will be that the Chiefs and Mahomes chocked away another trip to the Super Bowl. Some will also make a flashy headline about the “Chiefs dynasty,” don’t fall for that crap. The Chiefs are still a very good team with talent on both sides of the ball and the best play designer in the league in Eric Bieniemy (someone hirer him as a head coach please), and they will be back next year. It’s only year five of Patrick Mahomes, look at all great quarterbacks after year four, he’s amazing and just had a bad half, there is still time for him to continue greatness.

Let’s talk about the team that beat the Chiefs and are headed to the Super Bowl, for goodness sake. Cincinnati won the game and validated the OT rules by getting a stop and giving their offense a chance to try to win the game. They succeeded in that. Joe Burrow went into the loudest building in the NFL, and maybe all of US sports, and beat the best quarterback at home. Going into the game, I thought the Bengals were the classic team of being a year away. I believe in that old sport trope that a team needs to lose a big game to learn how to win and seize the opportunity. Joe Burrow proved me wrong. Burrow and the Bengals are in the same class that don’t know what they don’t know. Cincinnati is playing with house money at this point and has a legitimate shot to win the Super Bowl. After a week of talk about Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen being the next Peyton Manning-Tom Brady matchup, Joe Burrow has something to say about who belongs in the “next great crop of quarterbacks” conversation. If you don’t know by now, Jackpot Joey B is an absolute baller. I can’t wait for the cold blood killer to try to lead his team to a championship.

Moving to the NFC, but staying with the Super Bowl, the Super Rams are hosting the biggest game of the year. Like the Bengals there is a lot of good storylines with the L.A. Rams. Matthew Stafford after being the best quarterback on a bad team, the Rams put all their chips on Stafford being the difference maker, and he is one game away from making Sean McVay and the L.A. decision makers look like genius’. I’m happy for Stafford, want him to get a ring, and will still want him as the quarterback of the Jets (sorry Zach Wilson, no hard feelings).

Odell Beckham Jr. made Senior talk him out of Cleveland to give OBJ the opportunity to play for the best team that plays in Beckham Jr’s chosen second home. I have been a fan of OBJ since the Three-Finger Catch like the rest of America, and never hopped off the bandwagon. I think Beckham Jr. is uber talented and a winning player. OBJ had a huge game in the biggest game of his career and I’m happy as a fan of his.

I’m happy for Aaron Donald who is the best player nobody and everyone knows about. Football diehards can’t get enough of Donald, and casual fans look at their screens, look back to everyone they are watching with, and say “who the hell is this guy?” Donald has the biggest game wrecker potential of any player in the league and now has a chance to wreck the Super Bowl in the best way possible.

Lastly, we must talk about the coaching that we saw yesterday and will see two weeks from now. With Sean McVay, he wasted two second half timeouts on head-scratching challenges that if both challenges were successful weren’t worth the risk McVay was willing to take. The Rams boy-wonder has already been to a Super Bowl and got embarrassed to the highest degree by Bill Belichick—he has to have learned from that experience. With how willing he is to throw caution to the wind; I have my doubts when the Super Bowl gets to winning time if McVay has what it takes to make the right calls.

Andy Reid before he won his first ring a few years back—was the bud of a ton of jokes having to do with poor clock management time and time again. If you can’t remember those days, it’s like what’s going on with the jokes made about Mike McCarthy. Reid’s decision to not take the ball away from his quarterback and kick the field goal before halftime had a lot to do with the way his team played in the second half, and Reid should hold majority of the blame for that decision. Maybe it’s time to question whether or not Andy Reid belongs in the conversation of one of the best coaches in the league… again.

Finishing up the coaching questions heading into Super Bowl LVI, are we sure about Zach Taylor. During his tenor in Cincinnati, I have not been a fan of Taylor and for much of this season it seems like his team wins in spite of his coaching decisions. If you need a crash course of who Zach Taylor is as a head coach, go back to the Week 17 game that Cinci won to clinch the AFC North title against the Chiefs at won. Taylor at the end of the game tried to lose the game at least five different times. Watching a game that Zach Taylor is involved in is an experience that you have to watch through your fingers.

A team will win the Super Bowl in two weeks, but it won’t be because of incredible coaching, it’ll be where every game starts, with the players.