Post by spiderfan on Jan 30, 2022 23:20:33 GMT -8
Greetings SCtoC, it is I, Spiderfan the official NFL analyst of this great forum, and it is almost time for Super Bowl LVI. Before we get there, we have to talk about the conference championship games, so without further ado let us begin!
Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs
When Joe Burrow was drafted by the Bengals these were my thoughts:
No. 1 overall pick Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow QB, LSU
Quick thoughts: If you read my columns last year you will know that I talked about Burrow frequently. This has been expected for months and now we finally see it come to fruition. The kid from Athens, Ohio who played at Ohio State initially, makes his return to Ohio to play for the Bengals. As someone who watched most of the games he played in his time at LSU, I can say confidently that he absolutely deserves to be the no 1 overall pick in the draft.
He is cool under pressure, he can make all throws, and he won a lot of games against great competition. The jump in his play from year 1 to 2 at LSU was because LSU changed their offense from a old-school run based offense to a modern Saints style offense which fit the players better and resulted in an offense explosion that resulted in a national championship. Considering the Bengals have a young offensive minded head coach and building blocks like Joe Mixon and AJ Green (who has been on the Bengals for a while, but he isn't going anywhere) I see the Bengals turning things around and I see Burrow making them winners and bringing joy to the Bengals fanbase like he did for the Tigers fanbase... or at least I hope that happens. Take care of him of Cincinnati.
Quick thoughts: If you read my columns last year you will know that I talked about Burrow frequently. This has been expected for months and now we finally see it come to fruition. The kid from Athens, Ohio who played at Ohio State initially, makes his return to Ohio to play for the Bengals. As someone who watched most of the games he played in his time at LSU, I can say confidently that he absolutely deserves to be the no 1 overall pick in the draft.
He is cool under pressure, he can make all throws, and he won a lot of games against great competition. The jump in his play from year 1 to 2 at LSU was because LSU changed their offense from a old-school run based offense to a modern Saints style offense which fit the players better and resulted in an offense explosion that resulted in a national championship. Considering the Bengals have a young offensive minded head coach and building blocks like Joe Mixon and AJ Green (who has been on the Bengals for a while, but he isn't going anywhere) I see the Bengals turning things around and I see Burrow making them winners and bringing joy to the Bengals fanbase like he did for the Tigers fanbase... or at least I hope that happens. Take care of him of Cincinnati.
2. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals
This will come off as a homer pick, but hear me out. Despite decent success the LSU Tigers program was kinda stagnant and their was a general sense of dissatisfaction around the program. Joe Burrow's transfer from Ohio State to LSU led to a revival. A Fiesta Bowl win in his first year (ending UCF's famous win streak) and then a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship last year. The Cincinnati Bengals have talented players, guys like AJ Green, John Ross, and Joe Mixon. Can he help lead a revival of what was not long ago a decent successful kinda stagnant professional team that has a general sense of dissatisfaction around it? I think he can and that will make the Bengals surprisingly fun to watch this season.
This will come off as a homer pick, but hear me out. Despite decent success the LSU Tigers program was kinda stagnant and their was a general sense of dissatisfaction around the program. Joe Burrow's transfer from Ohio State to LSU led to a revival. A Fiesta Bowl win in his first year (ending UCF's famous win streak) and then a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship last year. The Cincinnati Bengals have talented players, guys like AJ Green, John Ross, and Joe Mixon. Can he help lead a revival of what was not long ago a decent successful kinda stagnant professional team that has a general sense of dissatisfaction around it? I think he can and that will make the Bengals surprisingly fun to watch this season.
3.) Cincinnati Bengals
Yes, Ja'Marr Chase had an awful preseason but he hadn't played football in a long time and as someone who watched a lot of LSU Tiger football, I can tell you that his and Burrow's connection is special. The Bengals will be improved this year.
Yes, Ja'Marr Chase had an awful preseason but he hadn't played football in a long time and as someone who watched a lot of LSU Tiger football, I can tell you that his and Burrow's connection is special. The Bengals will be improved this year.
The Chiefs offense was as efficient as ever to start the first half, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was making the Bengals defense look silly and Chiefs RB Jerrick McKinnon again showed that he should have been the starting RB prior to the postseason. The Chiefs defense shut down the high flying Bengals offense and played like their second half of the season form as opposed to their sucky earlier season postseason form. The Chiefs jumped up to a 21-3 lead and even after the Bengals scored a TD to make the game 21-10, the Chiefs went right down the field and ended up at the 1 yard line with 10 seconds left and no timeouts. The first play was an incomplete pass in the end zone that took 5 seconds off the clock. Instead of kicking a FG, Chiefs HC Andy Reid decided to be aggressive and go for the touchdown. I don't hate the decision, especially because 5 seconds is plenty of time for a quick play and if it isn't a TD, then you kick the FG... that is if you throw the ball in the end zone.
Andy Reid made the buffoonish decision to call a play where Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill was in bounds 5 yards away from the endzone. The play resulted in an bounds tackle and the Chiefs ending the half with no points. That would be the last time until the last 2 minutes of the game where the Chiefs were in scoring position. In the in between time the Chiefs offense struggled to get anything meaningful going. Mahomes was completely flustered and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce dropped a pass that would have kept a drive going. The Bengals managed to cut the deficit down to just 8 points, when Bengals DT broke through the Chiefs offensive line and intercepted a Mahomes dump off pass, setting up the Bengals inside the 30 yard line. The Bengals had no problem scoring a TD and the subsequent 2 point conversion to tie the game.
Even after a seemingly momentum killing interception thrown by Bengals QB Joe Burrow to Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed, the Chiefs offense still couldn't get anything going and the Bengals ended up having a long drive that resulted in a FG to give them the lead. Finally realizing that they might lose the game, the Chiefs offense woke up and went right down the field. They got inside the 5 yard line and even forced the Bengals to take all of their timeouts. A touchdown in all likelihood sends the Chiefs to their 3rd straight Super Bowl.
Instead of running the ball with Jerick McKinnon or a quarterback keeper or even trying one of the Chiefs' famous shovel passes, Andy Reid decided to call a play action pass play, a play which resulted in a sack. Then on 3rd and Goal another pass play is called and again results in a sack, except this sack was for far more yards and resulted in a fumble that nearly cost the Chiefs the game if not for a recovery by Chiefs C Joe Thuney. The Chiefs had completely botched their chance to win the game in regulation, but there was still overtime and lucky for the Chiefs they won the coin toss.
After an incomplete pass to start overtime, Bengals CB Eli Apple dropped what should have been a pick six for the win. On 3rd and 10 CBS color commentator Jim Nantz mentioned the dropped INT by Bengals CB Lewis Billups in Super Bowl 23 which was then followed by a touchdown by Jerry Rice. When Mahomes threw the ball deep down field, as the ball was in the air, my thought was "this ball is the walk off touchdown that is going to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl". Instead the ball was batted into the hands of Bengals S Vonn Bell and the feeling finally set in. The Chiefs were not going to the Super Bowl. After a bunch of successful runs by Bengals RB Joe Mixon, Bengals K Evan McPherson kicked the field goal to send the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI.
I hope the Chiefs resign McKinnon in the offseason and make him more of a focal point of their offense next season. The Chiefs were better with him than without him. Because the Chiefs became the one dimensional team that I talked about earlier in the season, they lost. You have to have some level of balance to win championships. The Chiefs have the best QB in football. They need a good RB to compliment him, whether that be McKinnon or someone else if they want to win another Super Bowl.
As for the Bengals they have achieved one of the great team turnarounds in NFL history. From one of the bottom feeders of the NFL, to what was seen as a up and coming team, to the cusp of the first ever Super Bowl championship in franchise history. Can these Bengals do what the '81 and '88 Bengals couldn't? We shall see.
San Francisco 49ers vs Los Angeles Rams
Last week I said:
-The 49ers are going to the Super Bowl aren't they? They already beat the Rams twice and nothing that the Rams showed Sunday leads me to think that the 49ers won't beat the Rams in SoFi in front of a bunch of 49ers fans once again.
As it turned out there were not nearly as many 49ers fans as I (and others) had thought there would be. It also turned out, that the 49ers are not going to the Super Bowl.
In what was a far less eventful game compared to the earlier AFC title game, the NFC title game reinforced Kyle Shanahan as the biggest choker in the NFL. Was the team's loss all his fault? No. At the same time, it is worth acknowledging that in the biggest games he has coached in, every time his team has blown a 4th quarter lead Super Bowl LI, LIV, and now this NFC title game.
The 49ers offense was playing well, 49ers QB Jimmy GQ was outplaying Rams QB Matthew Stafford, and Rams HC Sean McVay kept wasting timeouts, leaving the Rams vulnerable to late game clock chewing.
The seemingly game changing play was when with less than 10 minutes left to go in the game Stafford threw a horrible pass down field that should have been intercepted by 49ers S Jaquiski Tartt and was instead dropped. Had he caught the ball the 49ers likely would have started near midfield up 3. Because he dropped it, the drive was kept alive and the Rams kicked the game tying FG.
I say the play was seemingly game changing because the 49ers got the ball back not once, but twice and did absolutely nothing with it. Whether that was because Jimmy GQ is a scrub, the Rams D-line is elite, or because Kyle Shanahan is overrated is up for interpretation. My interpretation is that is a combination of all 3. Jimmy GQ is underrated, but he is not elite and is not someone who I want running around under pressure trying to make things happen. The Rams D-line completely obliterated the 49ers O-line late in the game and didn't give Jimmy GQ much of a chance to make something happen. Kyle Shanahan has shown that he is terrible creating a scheme that can set his players up to succeed in a high pressure playoff situation.
I will admit that I am hit or miss on my takes, but I want to go on record saying that the 49ers will regret trading Jimmy GQ. As I said, he isn't elite, but the 49ers winning percentage without him as the starting QB is abysmal and he has taken them far into the postseason. The pressure is on Trey Lance and more importantly Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch to show that they can win without Jimmy GQ. Somebody will be happy getting him in trade this offseason.
For all the talk about the 49ers, I do want to give credit to the Rams for making the plays they had to make to win the game. Stafford reinforced his clutch image and Rams WR Cooper Kupp showed why he is far and way the best WR in football. Although, I do want to say something that Heidi will appreciate: if the Rams don't win the Super Bowl was trading Jared Goff really worth it?
Hire this man!
Chicago Bears hire Matt Eberflus
I know a good way to build around Justin Fields! Hire a defensive coach of a team that was kept out of the playoffs, in part because the defense completely folded in the most important game of the season and who's premier accomplishment is coming up with the defensive game plan to beat the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football... in 2019. Look, I know the Colts defense has some good units and they have been better than the offense, but defense is not the Bears' issue. The Bears' issue is that their offense sucks. Eberflus is not fixing that problem and his OC pick is going to be massive in determine whether he will be a success as a HC.
Denver Broncos hire Nathaniel Hackett
It is only a matter of time before Aaron Rodgers becomes the QB of the Broncos at this point. Hackett wasn't calling plays for the Packers and the last time he called plays (for the Jaguars) he was fired, so it clear to me that the reason Hackett was hired was to please Aaron Rodgers. You want proof for my theory? Here ya go:
Broncos GM George Paton has denied that Hackett's hiring has anything to do with Aaron Rodgers, although might I remind everyone that then Jaguars HC Doug Marrone had similar sentiments after the Jaguars hired John DeFilippo to please Nick Foles, who at the time was an upcoming free agent. Nick Foles ended up becoming a Jaguar. I will be shocked if Aaron Rodgers doesn't become a Bronco. I won't be surprised if Davante Adams joins the Broncos too.
New York Football Tinys hire Brian Daboll
I said this last week:
The New York Football Tinys hired Bills Assistant General Manager Bill Schoen to be their new General Manager. Because of interoffice politics, this leads to me believe that either Bills DC Leslie Frazier or Bills OC Brian Daboll are going to be the next HC of the Tinys. I still think that Daboll with ultimately end up with the Dolphins, although I will not be surprised if he chooses the Tinys instead.
Daboll was scheduled for a second interview for the Dolphins (and a first interview with the Saints), but the Tinys made sure he didn't get on the plane. Daboll has shown himself to be a great offensive mind and even if he can't fix Daniel Jones this year, I would think that Daboll could groom another young QB in next year's draft, not to mention the things he could do with Saquon Barkley. I say I would think because this is the Tinys and they are cursed. Can Daboll defeat the curse? Well, he did call the plays in Alabama's epic comeback national championship game win over Georgia, he did fix Josh Allen, and was 13 seconds away from helping the Bills get to another AFC Championship Game, so if anyone has a shot, Daboll certainly does.
That is all for this week folks. As the other head coaching hires are officially announced I will add posts below to share my thoughts on each hire. Super Bowl 56 is next week and here at SCtoC we have you covered. We have a game capsule to get you prepared for the big game and next week, I will do my annual Best of Web of Football to look back at the 2021 NFL season. With all that said, as always I hope ya enjoyed and hope to see ya again next week! This is spiderfan out.
