Spiderfan's Web of Football Super Bowl LIV Edition

[spiderfan]

SCtoC, after much anticipation the 54th edition of the Super Bowl has come and gone, along with the 100th season of the National Football League proper. We have a lot to get into, so I am Spiderfan the official NFL analyst for Sports Coast to Coast, and this is the Super Bowl 54 edition of Web of Football (you already knew that clicking on this, but I'm gonna repeat it again for dramatic effect).

Super Bowl 54

The game started out with the 49ers winning the toss and deferring to the Chiefs (might I also add the honorary captains being World War II veterans was pretty cool). The Chiefs getting the ball first was actually a big deal, because on their first series Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes missed on 2 open passes in the flat and despite a 7 yard run by Chiefs RB Damien Williams, the Chiefs went 3 and out and punted the ball to the 49ers quick.

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan decided to run an offensive series that was almost nothing but trick plays. Ya had double reverses, attempted WR passes, funky play action stuff, it was really something to see. The trick filled series led to the 49ers being in the redzone, where apparently after running all the trick plays in the playbook and being forced to run real plays, the 49ers offense stalled out and settled for a FG. 3-0 49ers.

Interestingly enough, the key player for the Chiefs on their next series was not any of their talented receivers, it was actually RB Damien Williams. See, the way things went Mahomes would throw a pass to Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelce or Sammy Watkins which would set up a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th and short all of which would be converted by Damien Williams and keep the Chiefs drive alive. A drive which resulted in a TD run by Patrick Mahomes. 7-3 Chiefs.

The 49ers didn't have much of a next series because 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo threw a Howard the Duck pass which was intercepted by Chiefs CB Bashaud Breeland and luckily for the 49ers wasn't a pick six because Breeland's momentum carried him out of bounds. The Chiefs got decent field position and after some short runs by Williams and short passes by Mahomes, the Chiefs kicked a FG and went up 10-3.

The Chiefs lead didn't last long, because despite the 49ers offensive struggles earlier on, they kicked into gear late in the 2nd quarter. The 49ers RB duo of Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman gashed the Chiefs defense and Jimmy G had excellent chemisty with 49ers WR Deebo Samuel and then with 49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk who caught a TD pass after a missed tackle by Chiefs S Daniel Sorensen. Score now 10-10. No more points were scored by either team for the rest of the 1st half, although it is worth mentioning that after a Chiefs punt, the 49ers got the ball and looked like they were going to let the game go into half, and then for some reason decided not to, it was some of the more bizzare clock management I've ever seen.

Anyways, after a mediocre halftime show the 49ers got the ball with the game tied and after another series of the 49ers run and pass game giving the Chiefs defense problems, the 49ers offense stalled out again and the score was 13-10 49ers and that lead would quickly increase because Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes threw an absolutely atrocious pass that was intercepted by 49ers CB Fred Warner. Jimmy G threw some great passes and in the blink of an eye, the Super Bowl went from tied to the 49ers having a 10 point lead after a Raheem Mostert TD run.

It would get worse for the Chiefs too because Mahomes missed an open Tyreek Hill and was intercepted again this time by 49ers CB Tarvarius Moore. What made this interception worse than the last one was that the Chiefs were actually in the redzone and needed to take the momentum away from the 49ers. After Mahomes' second INT I was thinking "This game is going downhill for the Chiefs FAST, this sure is looking like the 49ers night tonight". But if we've learned anything this postseason it is that the game is never over... especially with the Chiefs.

The Chiefs shut down the 49ers offense and it looked like the 49ers were going to return the favor, until Mahomes chucked a pass WAY down field to Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill (who BTW had a catch overturned by a coaches challenge on the previous play). The Chiefs were then in the redzone and after one of the most blatant defensive pass interferences ever by 49ers CB Tarvarius Moore on Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs were then at the 1 yard line. Mahomes to Kelce on a play action fake resulted in a 20-17 score in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

At this point I'm thinking "if the 49ers want to win this game they NEED to score a TD here. If they don't score a TD, the Chiefs are going to take the lead and the 49ers are going to have to comeback themselves to win this". What happened? The 49ers went 3 and out at the worst possible time. The Chiefs got the ball back and Patrick Mahomes went 5 for 5 including a spectacular deep pass to Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins and a TD pass to Damien Williams. Chiefs now up 24-20 with around 2 minutes to go.

Were the Patriots right to trade Jimmy G? That was the question that was going through my mind as the 49ers final important drive started. The Chiefs defense put up little resistance though most of it, and the 49ers actually got near midfield. That is when on 3rd and 10 at the 49 yard line, 49ers WR Emmanuel Sanders who had been the 49ers big midseason acquisition and had been a good contributor during the season up to this point, got open, streaking down the field. Garoppolo goes back to pass and overthrows Sanders by a MILE. This would ultimately be the last meaningful chance the 49ers had because on 4th down Garoppolo was sacked and then Chiefs RB Damien Williams sealed the Super Bowl. (Click Watch on YouTube to see the clip)



Chiefs win 31-20. Scoring 21 unanswered after being down 10 in the 4th quarter and becoming the first team in NFL history to overcome a 10 point or more deficit in 3 consecutive postseason games and winning their first Super Bowl in 50 years.

Look, I like Patrick Mahomes as much if not more than most people (I scouted him coming out of college and became a fan of his before the draft process). Long time readers will know I have been a proponent of his for years. With that said, he should have not won Super Bowl MVP. This wasn't even his best game this postseason. Damien Williams on the other hand had 133 total yards, 2 TDs, and was the best player on the field for the Kansas City Chiefs. If it weren't for his efforts, I'm not so sure the Chiefs would have won and I felt bad for Williams that he didn't get his moment to shine. Just think, Adam Gase cut him because he didn't think Williams was good enough.

I've said for years that Kyle Shanahan is overrated and this game showed that he is. When your team runs out of gas early in the 4th quarter while having all the momentum possible, that is on the head coach. You can't let that happen, but keep in mind, Shanahan was the offensive mastermind behind one of the worst collapses in NFL history before. Looking at you Falcons. 

Despite my criticism of Kyle Shanahan, I have to give the Chiefs defense a lot of credit. Frank Clark and those guys made plays when they had to. They bent and bent, but they never truly broke and the hiring of Steve Spagnuolo by the Chiefs to be their defensive coordinator paid great dividends.

Congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs players, coaches, management, training staff, and fan base on winning the Super Bowl. Here is hoping they become a dynasty!

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial



Baby Yoda took the world by storm, now we have Baby Peanut. Need I say more?

Random Eurobeat Recommendation of the Week

What is Eurobeat? It is basically European disco pop music. It was made most famous by the anime series Initial D and Initial D is my favorite anime of all time in part because of the Eurobeat music throughout it. My final eurobeat recommendation of the season wasn't in Initial D. It is We are the Champions by Dave & Friends. Enjoy!




I'm not technically done yet, because I still need to do my season awards and do my best of column and those will come soon. But, I would just like to take a moment to thank Jessica for being my producer/editor of sorts this season. I would also like to give a huge thanks to Monika for coming up with the awesome Web of Football graphic that has been used this whole season and made this column better. Special thanks to the big boss Kasey for allowing me to be the official NFL analyst of this great website. Thanks to Angi for bringing me here in the first place. Thanks to everyone who has read my column throughout this season and has supported me. I appreciate you all. This is spiderfan out.

[Yeseeka]

This was really the type of game I was hoping for, albeit it was streaky. Both teams made a couple of mistakes, but Mahomes and KC's defense really came in and stepped up when they needed to. Really fun game to watch, and I'm happy for the Chiefs for winning their first Super Bowl in half a century. The 49ers had a terrific season so they should be proud of the steps forward that they made. We sent this out on our twitter account after the game and I think it bears repeating: Both teams are young and are going to be in the Super Bowl fight for several years to come.

Thank you for the kind words. I know you had a great working relationship with Julie. I'm glad I could step in and help. It made the season all the more fun and interesting.