Feb 1312 min read

Back-To-Back

A dynasty has found it's form. The Kansas City Chiefs are goin' baaaack to back.

Chiefs have slayed the 49ers once again on the grandest stage to complete their quest for back-to-back Lombardi trophies. Kansas City, the coveted prize is coming back home for another 365. Chiefs became the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since the Patriots conquered the feat in 2003-2004, and became just the 8th franchise in NFL history to reach that prestige (Steelers have done it twice).

The game found it's thrills late, as the first half of action was summarized by extreme sloppiness, turnovers, and a slew of penalties on both sides. We had a 10-3 score at halftime with 10 of the 13 points coming on the final two drives of the half. Five punts with two wasted fumble takeaways (offense punted after) made up the rest of the half that had penalties sprinkled on top. We saw some solid defense and gameplan, don't misread my rant, but all-in-all the sloppiness wrote the narrative. Usher performing Yeah! with Luda and Lil Jon definitely got the juices flowin' in the Chiefs' blood as they turned things around to outscore San Francisco 10-nil in the 3rd Quarter to reclaim the lead and momentum. From there Mahomes, Spagnuolo, and the defense did the rest.

Despite a sloppy and uncharacteristic first half of play by KC, the Chiefs took over the biggest moments of the game and depleted the 49ers to complete their kill in overtime. Spagz won a monster 3rd & 5 with two minutes remaining of regulation to hold the 49ers to a field-goal; Chris Jones broke Brock Purdy's pocket to force him to miss a go-ahead tuddy in OT to Jauan Jennings (shoutout to Jennings he balled out); and Mahomes being Mahomes, of course. My prediction came true as Mahomes once again stepped up in the brightest spotlight. His performance in the 4th quarter and in overtime was spectacular to watch as he claimed his third Super Bowl MVP award tying the great Joe Montana for second most all-time. Mahomes only trails Tom Brady's five, but has accomplished his three in a quicker pace. There is no more denying. No more doubting. Mahomes is the best player on the planet as he looks to chase Brady for the GOAT proclamation in his years to come. He still has a ways to go, but his legacy pace speaks volumes.

Mahomes joins Brady as the only two players in my lifetime to be automatic game-breakers on the grandest stage. The only two cats I have seen that can single handily push their team to a win rather it's the playoffs or the Super Bowl. If Mahomes has a chance to win in the final minutes, he will win. I will bet on that fact every time. I think Kyle Shanahan will too as he will relive the nightmare of receiving the rock first in OT for the rest of his existence. Shanahan will also see Big Red in those nightmares as the main villain. You can't talk about legacy without talkin' Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo. What another spectacular coaching performance by the power duo. Spagz proved once again with his blitz packages and unreal adjustments that he is one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history as well as one of the greatest big-game play callers we have ever seen. Spagz showed Shanahan you can't win with a scared and limitless quarterback. You can't win when you go away from your gameplan. Everyone take a second and virtually bow to the man they call Spagz. Do the same for Big Red, cha heard. Andy Reid is now the 5th head coach in NFL history to win 3+ Super Bowl titles (yeah I know, none for Philly..) joining Bill Belichick, Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh, and Chuck Noll. Big Red continues to be on a level above Shanahan.

Reid and Nagy's game-winning play to Mecole Hardman had me toss off my hat like Bobby Shmurda. This dude Reid did baby Shanahan dirty! He went DEEP into his bag to straight AI walk over Shanahan. Knowing the new camouflaged OT rule (get to that momentarily), Reid did a motion reverse with a running clock as time was running out of OT to bamboozle the 49ers' defense. It was pure perfection. The draw up:

Oh talk to me nicely. Lines up Kelce to be the decoy, motions Hardman with a motion-back, and then fakes handoff to the left to hit the motion back in open space... and into football galore. Man! Too nice. Running the play on a running clock made it oh so effective. Steve Wilks and the D didn't know what the hell was going on. The three question marks didn't have time to understand what their responsibility was- the quickness and unpredictability threw those three in a limbo which led the play to come down to Charvarius Ward, who fell into the Kelce trap givin' Hardman the walk off. Sexy play-design. Kelce knew it was game the moment Ward stuck to him. Watch the play in full speed and adore the Reid magic:

video via NFL//X

The moment the camera cuts to Shanahan... he knew he just got GOT. Bravo Andy Reid. Bravo. Chiefs made it happen. As Travis Kelce (and the Beastie Boys) would say: they fought for the right to party. I was down in KC for the draft last year, I already know the city is about to get down. Good people, and great fans. Live it up KC, your team remains the champions. Chiefs now start the grandest quest of 'em all- a three-peat. For now though, they are going to party like champions.

The confetti sorrow for the 49ers felt even worse than the sorrow from LIV. They had a grasp on the prize. They could feel their nails scraping the Lombardi... and then Mahomes and co. RIPPED it from their reach and left them lookin' up to red and yellow confetti in anger and heartache. Kyle Shanahan once again blew a lead in the Super Bowl. As great as Mahomes and Reid were late in the game- this loss is strictly on the 49ers. Miscue after miscue. Going away from the game-plan. Not executing. They shot several rounds of ammunition into their own feet. Plaxico Burress'd the Super Bowl away. What happened?

It may not have been a 28-3 collapse like the one Shanahan felt as an OC for Atlanta, but this collapse hurt just as bad and then some. Shanahan has now been a part of a double-digit collapse on three separate occasions in the Super Bowl. To the hands of Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. This one was the worst in my opinion. Chiefs played one of the worst first halves of football of their season. This was the game to beat them & Shanahan choked. The game-plan in the first half was clicking as they ran the ball with CMC to control the time of possession, game pace, and first down department. Instead of continuing to run the rock out of the halftime intermission, Shanahan completely went away from his gameplan. Not sure if he wanted to prove that Purdy was a game-breaker or what, but all he proved was that he, Shanahan, is a certified choke artist under the headset on the grandest football stage. I don't care on sounding harsh. Shanahan stunk the bed and then some. He only ran McCaffrey THREE times in four 3rd-Q drives. The Offensive Player of the Year who set up the team's first half lead. Instead, this clown had Purdy throw the ball on 1st-down on all four of the drives which resulted in three incompletions to make 2nd & 10, as well as a negative eight yard completion due to the fact Purdy didn't throw the ball away. As bone headed a play-caller as you can be.

While Spagnuolo made all the right adjustments at halftime; Shanahan made all the wrong adjustments. There was several plays deep in the game that Shanahan and Steve Wilks just botched. Wilks gets just as much smoke as Shanahan. Three plays stuck out to me the most. All three were in mega-important spots in the game. I touched on the first one already with the game-winning play. My graphic gives you a visual image of the assignments from the Niners defense; the video shows you the confusion among the back end. I think Shanahan should have noticed the confusion and called a timeout to regroup, despite it doing the same for Kansas City. You're up three points with the game clock runnin' down to five seconds; Kyle should have noticed the obvious confidence by the Chiefs' offense and the obvious mismatch in formations. You call a timeout. Who cares about the new rule extending the OT. I will elaborate on that in the final section of my piece here, but call a timeout. Allow yourselves to take a breath and draw up a better matching formation. The decision to not call a timeout made the game-winner an easy layup for the Chiefs.

Wilks' defense made a big error on a pivotal 4th & 1 on the game-winning drive that set up the win. I don't know how many reps need to be done for teams to understand that Mahomes is the man running the ball for the Chiefs on 3rd/4th & short with the game on the line. Not Pacheco. Tape shows that! When you face this Chiefs formation on 4th and short: ...

...you must know the ball will be in Mahomes' hands to convert. They motion back Kelce to set up the check down as Pacheco is used as the main decoy with the fake handoff. The decoy worked to perfection; this was one of many instances across the game where Dre Greenlaw's absence was felt (injured early in game), but the guys need to know Mahomes is running this... especially the two best players on the defense in Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. Both cats fell for the decoy. Checkout the play in full speed:

video via NFL//X

Warner needed to stick with Mahomes. The back motion of Kelce should have gave him the read to move up behind Bosa to be in the right area to make a play. Instead, the decoy grabbed his attention just enough to force Warner to hesitate and fall into coverage against the slot as a last resort. Then you have Bosa, who for whatever reason, fell for the decoy the most, which freed the gap for Mahomes to exploit. Bosa fell for it hard. A huge miscue, especially when you consider the game Pacheco had. Not a chance in hell Reid and co. was going to put the season on the line running left with Pacheco after his struggles. It's always in the hands of Patrick Mahomes when the game is on the line. Tape matters. Now they can watch the tape in their dome every night they sleep for the foreseeable future.

Another clip that will be in their nightmares is the incompletion that led to their field-goal in overtime. An incompletion that was drawn up to be an easy six:

You see good design by both Spagz and Shanahan here. Chess match to it's fullest. Spagnuolo has the defense running man on each target while blitzing six. A prime example on how Spagz wins the big moments with his blitz packages. This instance however, Purdy just lost the moment. The design is great by Shanahan. The problem wasn't the design, but the offensive line shifting to the left (all but RT). This is where light sheds on Purdy. If he reads the blitz correctly, he can hit the attended route to Jennings or hit a wide-open Aiyuk up the middle for six. Look at the LOS from behind the QB:

Purdy knows the direction the o-line is going upon the snap; he needs to read that big red circle aka Chris Jones coming to create destruction. Purdy either needs to bypass the fake to CMC to create an extra second or more importantly, he addresses Jones to his right guard and tackle prior to hiking the ball. With the design going to the right to Jennings, the line had no reason to shift their block to the left to follow the CMC decoy. A strong RPO doesn't work there against a Spagnuolo blitz centered around Chris Jones. Read the blitz; adjust the line protection. Purdy doesn't and he folds to the immediate pressure by Jones. You can do this with a Mahomes... not with a Purdy. Facts are facts.

49ers created their own demise. They have no one to blame, but themselves. Shanahan once again fell apart in the second half. Went away from his gameplan and then got outclassed and outsmarted in the grand moments of crunch time. Louis Riddick said it best:

Heartbreaking loss for San Francisco, but I won't feel bad for them. Not sure why you put your season on the back of Brock Purdy instead of Christian McCaffrey. Not sure why you cover-zero and blitz Mahomes on pivotal downs. Mahomes was 6/9 with 74 yards, two tuddys, and two first downs when facing the blitz. I mean, ha, I don't get it! Explain it to me Wilks and Shanahan... I just don't get it! Tough way to end your season. Tough way for the franchise to lose their third straight Super Bowl appearance.

The awkward tandem of Tony Romo and Jim Nantz struck announcer hell once again. I say this as direct and blunt as I can: Romo needs to learn when to shut the hell up. Someone needs to sit him down and reiterate his job duties. Reiterate the differences of the color analyst position (Romo) and the play-by-play position (Nantz). For my readers here, the play-by-play announcers are the primary speakers, valued for their articulateness and ability to describe the events of an often fast-moving contest. Color commentators are valued for experience and insight into the game, and are often asked questions by the play-by-play announcer to give them a topic for analysis. Romo just TALKS and TALKS. He constantly predicts plays as they are starting and talks over them in turn. The cat needs to figure out if he wants to coach; be an analyst; or be a color commentator analyst. There is a distinct difference between the three of those career positions. Romo seems to try and do them all in one and it's anarchy.

Look, Romo has great insight and football IQ. I would love if he properly analyzed after the play or during a game break. You know... what his job entails. He is not the play-by-play for a reason. He is an awkward speaker and can't stay on point. The Super Bowl broadcasting performance was treacherous. The final play being my biggest negative takeback. Romo was awful and caused extreme confusion when there should have been silence on the mic. As the game winning play is starting, he takes the time to talk about a branch of the new playoff overtime rules. A branch that for many was never sought to be a reality. Romo should have spoken on this at the beginning of the final drive not on the final play. He confused many and took the attention away from the moment. Bad work. I like Romo in spurts, but he has got to understand his job duties or be demoted until he does. I also would like Nantz and Romo to end as a duo. They are so awkward together. So awkward. Time for a change. Greg Olsen proved to be exactly what a color analyst should be. It's going to be sick when we see Romo (CBS) again next year and not Olsen (FOX). Just saying.

My Romo rant is over, but I do want to touch on that rule before logging off on this piece. Apparently in Article 4 with the new playoff overtime rule, if the team who has the ball second doesn't complete their initial drive in the 15-minute period, then the game will move to a second overtime period with a new game clock while resuming the drive from the current spot of the previously ended period. That is a HUGE f'n deal and I know for a fact, I am with millions when I say I didn't know that until Romo's random a** "Second Quarter of OT" remark during the final play. I was losin' my wits on the final play thinkin' them cats didn't give a rats' tail about the clock. I just thought Big Red and Mahomes had balls of steel and KNEW they were scoring, ha! The play-design helped with that, but man; does that make sense. They never had a will to care for the clock, because Reid was the only NFL staff member and person (besides his team) on that field that knew this camouflaged rule:

Does it make sense that the clarification is there due to the fact each team MUST receive a possession? Yes, it does, but this is America in 2024 we need extra attention to clarification on things. I won't just assume that section (d) of the article was a thing, the league should have made that a clear note to the masses. Even the OT rules graphic on the broadcast didn't state that:

It makes sense, but at the same time if I was Reid and didn't know about getting more time, I am playing against the clock. The clock has always been a factor. If my team is losing, I am figuring I must tie or win the game before time runs out. They should have clarified the full rule and it's section clauses. Not f'n Tony Romo on the final play! Oh well. I do find it hilarious that Shanahan and the 49ers were not aware on ANY portion of the new OT rules, while Reid and the Chiefs have game-planned it weekly. That's classical.

Despite the sloppy three quarters of ball, we received unreal thrills at the tail end in just the second Super Bowl overtime in 48 clashes. That saved what was an awful Super Bowl in a matchup that had two of the best executing teams in the league have the worst execution of their seasons. On the winning side, you have a back-to-back champion returning the hardware to their kingdom with a chance to conquer the first ever three-peat. On the losing side, you have complete disgust and anger, knowing they played a formed dynasty in their worst shell with many chances to kill. Hopefully Kyle Shanahan doesn't turn into White Goodman at the end of Dodgeball.

The book is closed. Chapter '23-24 of the NFL has turned to history. Chiefs will get down with their fans in a parade and then we flip to the new chapter. Draft is right around the corner and so is free agency. With the coaching vacancies all but filled, we have a quick intermission, but then it's back to business on the gridiron and in fast and furious action. Cheers to another great season.

Back-To-Back

Related Posts

コメント

subscribe to spittin' cap