rozomaldini NFL, SuperBowl

Monday Morning SuperBowl Report

By David McDonnell 

As Super Bowls go, this was an absolute classic. 

This game had many twists and turns and those that lapped up the late night coffee were rewarded with a game for the ages

If you went to bed and missed watching America’s greatest export into the wee hours of morning, here is how SuperBowl 57 unfolded.  

First Half 

In hindsight, we were given a glimpse of what was to come when both the Eagles and Chiefs scored touchdowns on their opening possessions. Jalen Hurts first punched it in from one yard, before Mahomes responded by finding Travis Kelce for their usual touchdown. 

Second Quarter 

The Eagles dominated possession in the opening two quarters and they were winning the battle in the trenches by running the ball behind their O-Line. Hurts was outstanding and dictated the action from the pocket and soon put to sleep any worries about his recent shoulder injury. In the second quarter he found AJ Brown with a deep ball for a touchdown. 

When the Eagles forced a three and out and got the ball back, they looked to add to their lead but a fumble by Hurts resulted in Nick Bolton returning the ball to level the scores at 14-14. 

Hurts responded to his mistake by leading his team up the field and he took off on a run to give Philly first and goal. One play later he ran into the endzone, after getting a great block by Jason Kelce, for his second rushing touchdown of the game. 

Mahomes tried to respond in a two minute drill, but after getting tackled on a third down, he limped off the field and looked in pain on the sideline. 

At this point everything seemed to be going Philly’s way and Jake Elliot added a field goal to give the Eagles a 10-point lead at half-time. 

Second Half 

After Rhianna’s performance, the Chiefs changed strategy as they only had just over eight minutes of possession from the allotted 30 in the opening half. It became obvious from the opening drive of the second half that they were going to commit more to their rushing attack.

Rookie running back Isiah Pacheco ran hard every chance he got and finished that first drive of the third quarter with a touchdown. 

Nick Bolton then looked to have recovered another fumble for a touchdown but the score was chalked off somewhat controversially in my opinion. 

Hurts responded with his best drive of the game, which included his best pass of the contest to Dallas Goedert on third and 14, which was ruled a catch even after a challenge flag was thrown by Andy Reid.

The Chiefs defence got a big stop on third down in the red zone and the Eagles had to settle for a kick at goal, which gave Philly a six-point lead at the end of the third quarter. 

Fourth Quarter 

Kansas City responded by throwing to Jerrick McKinnon in the backfield which gave Mahomes shorter third downs to complete, which he converted by throwing quick strikes to Juju Smith-Schuster.  

The Chiefs then took the lead with 12 minutes remaining when Kadarius Toney, a mid season pick up from the Giants, was left on his own for a simple touchdown as the Eagles swallowed the bait of too many DBs trying to cover Travis Kelce. 

Ninety seconds later, a huge punt return by Toney saw the Chiefs knocking on the door once again. This was the paly of the game.

This time Mahomes found rookie Skyy Moore for a very similar touchdown to the previous one but on the other side of the hashes. 

Hurts got the ball trailing by eight points and led another magnificent drive which saw him connect with a deep ball to Devonta Smith. Hurts then ran in for another touchdown from close range and also ran in for the two point conversion to tie the game 35-35 with just over five minutes remaining. 

The game was in the melting pot and two minutes later, Mahomes caught everyone by surprise when he took off on a run upfield on his injured foot. 

Soon after on third down, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass towards Smith-Schuster but corner-back James Bradberry was flagged for a tug on Juju, which gave the Chiefs a fresh set of downs with under two minutes to play.

On first and goal, McKinnon then had a chance to score a touchdown but knowing the Eagles were out of timeouts, grounded the ball at the one yard line. 

This was a great example of situational awareness as it took almost 90 seconds off the clock and gave his teammate Harrison Butker a chance to win the Superbowl with a chip shot field goal. 

Butker did his duty and with it the Kansas City Chiefs won the Superbowl with Patrick Mahomes named as SuperBowl MVP.

To the victor go the spoils. 

This SuperBowl will be talked about for a long time to come. Overall, it was the highly entertaining game that the 38-35 scoreline suggests.

A lot of the credit has to go to Head Coach Andy Reid and Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who adjusted their game plan at half time. By getting the Eagles defence to run from sideline to sideline, in the end they couldn’t put enough pressure on Mahomes on passing downs. 

The much vaunted Eagles defence, who led the NFL in sacks this season,  didn’t record one in the Super Bowl and it was a major factor in them losing a game. 

Huge credit must also go to the Chiefs O-Line who gave Mahomes a clean pocket all game and in the end the Chiefs QB brought home the bacon. 

rozomaldini NFL Preview, SuperBowl

SuperBowl 58 Preview: Chiefs vs Eagles

By Conor Perrett 

The SuperBowl is the biggest event in North America, and this year both No. 1 seeds from the AFC and NFC will take each other on.

This match-up is an interesting one, with the MVP Patrick Mahomes being an underdog for the first time in his 10th playoff game. We know both teams have high powered offences, but it may be a battle on defence that wins their team a new ring.

With kick-off scheduled for 11.30pm tonight (GMT) for folks in Ireland and the UK , prepare yourself for a late one as it should be a battle throughout.

No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia has been the most impressive team throughout the regular season and deserve their place in the SuperBowl. On paper their roster is superior, with an array of talent all over the offence and defence.

With injuries to Jalen Hurts and Lane Johnson I thought this offence would struggle to maintain the consistency we saw previously, but it hasn’t been too much of a problem. If I wanted to nit-pick then the passing game has looked a bit weak, but with their two previous matchups basically being over after the first quarter, I can’t blame them for turning to the run game.

The run game has been the catalyst to the Eagles success, with the ability to run many options due to the athleticism they have at the QB position. Philly lacks an out-and-out No. 1 running back, but with different kinds of talent in their room, they can put themselves in the right position to succeed.

Matchup to keep an eye on – Philly’s D-Line: The Eagles’ defensive line was a force against the 49ers two weeks ago and Haason Reddick’s sack to force a fumble, and destroy Brock Purdy’s elbow, may have been what won them the game.

Philly has depth all over the line and with 70 sacks this season, that’s the third most in NFL history since the league started counting sacks in 1982. 

Philly’s defensive line has wreaked havoc during the playoffs and the only time Mahomes has lost in the playoffs was when he faced a Buccaneers D-line that caused him issues.  

No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are no strangers to playing in the Super Bowl these days, but like I mentioned earlier this is the first time Patrick Mahomes will be an underdog in a playoff game. Kansas has always had the luxury of being an offence that overpowers everybody but this matchup in particular will be a test.

Mahomes is the best player in football and Andy Reid may also own that title for play-calling, but with the talent that this Eagles defence have, it’s hard to see where this Chiefs’ offence will take advantage.

As for the defence, they put on a great showing in the Conference Championship that no one really saw coming. They contained Joe Burrow all night with a strong defensive line performance and when they needed to get a stop at the end, they did so. It will be a struggle to get past this Philly O-line that is the best in football, but stopping that run will be their best chance at it.

Matchup to keep an eye on – Travis Kelce vs Philly’s pass defence: Travis Kelce is one half of the Kelce brothers in this game and he may be Mahomes’ only weapon. Kelce is regarded as the best tight-end in the league and it’s thanks to his receiving ability from the position that makes him so good.

With 21 catches and three touchdowns in just the two playoff appearances so far, Kelce has dominated his matchups against the Jaguars and Bengals. But now he will face the best pass defence in the country. The Eagles have members all over the secondary, but with their best two corners Darius Slay and James Bradberry playing on the outside, they may have to get creative to stop this future hall of famer.

Previous Matchups

2021 Season:

Week 4 – Chiefs @ Eagles, 42-30 Chiefs Win

These two last met during Week 4 of last season in a high scoring shootout game. Back then Nick Sirianni was in his first year with the team and this loss put them 1-3 for the season. A lot has changed in that year though, with general manager Howie Roseman transforming the team. The Eagles at the start of this season had been leaking points on defence, but now find themselves a year on in the Super Bowl with a top-2 defence in the league.

Super Bowl Prediction

We’ve finally got here and with this being the last prediction of the season it’s not a simple one. 

Both teams have had a hell of a journey to get to this point but only one can win so let me give you my thoughts.

The Chiefs have always been strong offensively, and after seeing their defensive performance two weeks ago it makes it even tougher to not back the MVP winner. 

I like how the Chiefs are looking on both sides of the trenches and Isiash Pacheco looks like an incredible weapon despite being a 7th-round pick less than a year ago. What I worry about for this team is how they will fare in the passing game. 

Their wide-receivers in particular look a bit weaker than we are used to, yet saying that; this team was still comfortably the No. 1 offence in the league during the regular season. Travis Kelce is the main threat but Kansas will need another receiver to step up and cause some trouble if they want to break Philly’s defence.

While on the other side in Philadelphia, on paper everything looks in their favour. They have the better roster, been better consistently and even the more impressive wins during the playoffs. The only real knock you can make for this side is the path they have had to face to get here. Many with me included will look at the Giants and a quarter-backless 49ers’ as a walk in the park for them, with some in the national media calling it a ‘Big 12’ schedule. 

Granted in the playoffs that seems the case, but during the regular season they had no easy ride. On strength of schedule they ranked 1st in ‘opponents win percentage’ and before their injuries late on that caused a speed bump, they were the best regular season team throughout. 

So as you can imagine in a grand final, both teams are extremely talented in their craft. If we want to look at the superstitions surrounding the ‘white jersey conspiracy’ then the Chiefs will hold that in their favour.

I believe this game will be slightly dominated by the defences with it being on the lower side of scoring, so if you’re looking for a bet go for the under on total points scored.

As for my final prediction, I feel more confident in this Eagles roster but it’s hard to go against the best player and coach in this game. At the end of the day I could go back and forth on the winner, however I see more scenarios in which this Eagles’ defence will win the game.

I believe they will be disruptive in both trenches and while they may not be consistent on offence, will make enough plays to get themselves in scoring positions and let the defence work its magic.

Chiefs 20-24 Eagles

rozomaldini NFL Column, Six Points for a Touchdown

Six points for a Touchdown Column

By David McDonnell

I’m trying out a new column format this week to muse about last weekend’s AFC and NFC Championship games. 

  1. Bengals v Chiefs

The Bengals O-line got a lot of credit in the divisional round against the Bills for their ability to run the ball and I expected Cincinnati to take a similar approach last Sunday. But credit must go to the Kansas City rush defence. Even now I can’t remember Joe Mixon or Samaje Perine getting much traction with their ground game and that is simply because they didn’t.

With their run game stifled, we also found out on Sunday that down three starting linemen, the Bengals O-line couldn’t protect Burrow in the pocket against the Chiefs pass rush. I suggest that this was the reason why the three players who came in hadn’t been starting all season and this was evident from the first quarter. The Chiefs had five sacks on Burrow, which hugely influenced the game both at the start and at the end of this contest. 

With less time under centre, Burrow adjusted by getting the ball out quicker and the lack of the rushing game limited the threat of play action for Burrow to hit deep balls down the field.  

2. Chris Jones

Chris Jones beat the banged up Bengal offensive line almost on his own last night.

Credit must go to Steve Spagnuolo for putting his best linemen directly against the backups and Jones was difficult to pick up by coming at Joe Burrow from the right and left Defensive End positions on that last drive when they needed him to make a play.  

In hindsight, Cincinnati will be kicking themselves that Jones wasn’t double teamed on those passing plays, especially in that fourth quarter, and he was the difference that made the difference helping the Chiefs to the conference title.

There will be a huge amount of pressure on Chris Jones to replicate this performance in the Super Bowl and he will need to if Kansas City wants to give themselves a chance to stop this Philly attack. If the Eagles can double team him on passing downs, I don’t see anyone else on the Chiefs D-Line routinely beating a blocker and getting to Hurts on a regular basis.

3. Kansas O-Line

The Chiefs offensive line was outstanding on the night and provided Patrick Mahomes with a clean pocket throughout the game.

Kansas O-line gave Mahomes a clean pocket all night.

The only time the Bengals got a turnover was when Mahomes fumbled the ball in the third quarter, which I believe he would have recovered if his leg sprain wasn’t an issue.

Mahomes was down a number of receiving options but when he couldn’t go to Kelce, he had the time to pick out Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who stepped up in a major way when the team really needed him. 

The Bengals defence is full of top competitors and for the most part they didn’t give up many big plays to the Chiefs rushing attack although Isaiah Pacheco ran angry every time he got the ball. However, the Bengals D-Line didn’t come close to getting a sack on a limping Mahomes throughout the contest. In my opinion, this more than anything else cost them the game and adding pass-rushing talent is an area where Cincinnati should upgrade in the off-season, possibly in free agency while Burrow is still on his rookie contract.

49ers v Eagles 

4. Eagles O-Line

Pregame I was very excited by the prospect of Philly O-Line and the San Fran D-Line going toe-to-toe. The Philly front five have bullied almost all comers this season but I thought that this 49ers defence would really test this dominant Eagles run game.

In the first half, the 49ers conceded three rushing touchdowns. The Eagles O-Line especially in the red zone were supremely dominant and Miles Sanders ran in almost untouched for the first two scores. It showed every what a behemoth this offensive line has become. 

However, upon closer inspection the 49ers defence made a better fist of it as they held all three of the Eagles running backs under four yards per carry throughout the game. Two of the Philly touchdowns came from preventable field positions.

The first was Devonta Smith’s unbelievable one-handed catch that brought play inside the 10-yard line in the first quarter. If Kyle Shanahan had thrown the red flag then that catch would have been negated as he lost control bringing it to the ground. The third touchdown was when Josh Johnson fumbled the snap, which again put the Eagles in the Redzone for a touchdown before half time. 

5. Hurts Hurt

Although Jalen Hurts directed traffic, it looked to me like that shoulder injury is bothering him a lot more than he is letting on. I think you can tell from his demeanor and body language and the fact that he attempted to throw the ball less than he has all season.His only throw of note was that deep ball ‘caught’ spectacularly by Smith and I suspect he was running into traffic late in the game because it hurt him to throw the ball.

With the Chiefs having two rookies playing at corner against the Bengals and the Eagles should have a matchup advantage with the caliber of Smith and AJ Brown at wideout.

However, Hurts shoulder, just like Patrick Mahomes leg, seemed to bother him more later in game. I hope the two weeks are enough for both QBs to rest and rehab their injuries, so we will see the best of them in the Superbowl.

6. QB’s Injury

There is no way of knowing what difference Brock Purdy would have made had he stayed injury free, but the game would certainly have been more of a contest.

If you look at the injury to both Purdy and Josh Johnson, they came off similar plays where the impressive Hassan Reddick blocked down on the throwing arm of the QB.

This kind of play is being coached more in my opinion as a result of flags being thrown when a defensive player gets a proper hit on the quarterback, and I suspect we will see more of these types of injuries going forward. 

This week I’ll go for a two-point conversion:

7. Playing Politics

Being on the Non-American side of the Atlantic, I wasn’t aware that the Mayor of Cincinnati had said anything derogatory about the Chiefs until he was name dropped by Travis Kelce at the trophy presentation for the AFC Championship, where he told the politician to “know your role and shut your mouth.”

This coming from Travis Kelce whose roles include playing tight end and podcasting every week. 

So curiosity got the better of me and I looked it up.

Mayor Aftab Pureval said: “Joseph Lee Burrow, who’s 3-0 against Mahomes, has been asked by officials to take a paternity test confirming whether or not he’s his father.”

Okay as jokes go, it was poorly timed and maybe Kelce had a point.

One thing for certain is that the Chiefs players used every bit of fuel they were fed all week, including Mike Hilton telling the Chiefs fans they would see them in ‘Burrowhead.’ 

I have never seen a group of players taking a joke about the name of a stadium so personally but it goes to show that even at the highest level of sport, players will use every bit of fuel in order to get the best out of themselves. This is true even for the biggest games that you would assume requires no bulletin board motivation.  

It was also interesting that as the week went on, that there was a turning of the tide of public opinion in the bookies.  The Chiefs, having started the week as underdogs became favourites. and I believe it was because people could sense that showing a lack of respect to your opponent would come back to bite you on the ass. As it did.

8. The Kelce Family

Speaking of Travis Kelce, it is an amazing achievement that both he and his older brother Jason are playing each other in the Super Bowl. What a proud moment  for the Kelce family.

The fact that they are both two of the standout players for their respective teams and both coming off their best seasons of their careers makes the story and achievement all the more noteworthy.

I don’t believe it has ever happened before and I doubt we will see this again for a very long time. 

As I mentioned earlier, they have a weekly podcast, @newheightshow, which we often retweet on our twitter feed, @Smingfootball, and it should be worth checking out this week of all weeks as the brothers focus on the Super Bowl and entertain with tales of football and their sibling rivalry.

rozomaldini NFL Preview, Play-offs

AFC Championship: Bengals v Chiefs 

By David McDonnell

It’s no great surprise to me that the AFC Championship game has come down once again to the Bengals versus the Chiefs.  (kickoff 11.30 pm GMT)

There are plenty of good teams in the AFC but what separates these two from the rest of the pretenders is their quarterbacks, Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. Both have the ability to throw the ball accurately and consistently beat the opposition from the pocket when the pressure is greatest, which is where Josh Allen came unstuck last weekend in my opinion.

I cannot wait for this game to begin and I really can’t say with any authority which way this game will go, but I’ll give it a try all the same. 

The Bengals certainly caught the Bills defence off guard last weekend with their ability to run the ball, while down three of their starting linemen and the front office in Cincinnati deserve recognition for their forward thinking in reinforcing their O-Line with talent in addition to the number of costly acquisitions during the off-season. 

The Bills defence struggled all day trying to stop Joe Mixon and it gave Burrow the platform to dictate their offence. This worked especially well as the Bengals had gotten themselves into an early lead with two early touchdowns and they will intend for a similar approach this weekend. If this happens we could have a shootout on our hands.

However, fore-warned is fore-armed and I would expect the Chiefs defence to be ready to defend against the run and try to force the Bengals into longer third downs. Nick Bolton is a hard hitting linebacker in Kansas and it will be interesting if they can take him away from the box on early running downs by making him pick up a slot receiver or Hayden Hurst at tight-end. 

Having a plan in one thing, but the difficulty with these Bengals is that they have an array of weapons to choose from if Burrow is given time in the pocket. 

He has two outstanding receivers in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and with it, the Bengals have a match-up advantage in both speed, height and athleticism on both sides of their attack. I expect Burrow will go to both at key stages, especially if and when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter. 

If the Chiefs can’t get pressure on Burrow in the pocket, they are unlikely to win but with an average of 3.2 sacks per game, they are certainly equipped to do so. 

With both their starting tackles, Jonah Williams and La’el Collins, in Cincinnati out, you would presume this pair of starters are better than the current incumbents at pass protection, so maybe Kansas City will be able to get pressure on Burrow on key third downs through Frank Clark, Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.

Chiefs offence v Bengals Defence

On the other side of the ball, I can see the Bengals defence operating very similarly to how they did against the Bills last week, where they had Mike Hilton playing spy to stop Josh Allen taking off on runs and picking up first downs on key plays and third downs. He was also very damaging in breaking down some of the Bills screen plays. 

Similar to Buffalo, Kansas do not have a terrific running game because they haven’t needed one as Mahomes has been majestic at quarterback all season. He has undoubtedly been the best player in the NFL this season and I hope his leg sprain injury from last week has cleared up in the seven days. 

He has the best tight end in the game in Travis Kelce at his disposal and it will be very interesting what plan Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo puts in place to stop Kelce, especially in the red zone, which should be his top priority going into this game. It was very noticeable to me that when Mahomes was carrying the injury last week, he seemed to overly indulge in getting the ball to Kelce in that second half.

Although the Kansas City QB has some excellent receiving options and a lot of speed, he does not have blue chip talents that Burrow enjoys with receivers who can win contested catches. Certainly, no one has the level of trust that he enjoys with Kelce and Cincinnati will do all they can to curb Kelce influence. Logan Wilson is a very smart linebacker and I presume this job will come under his responsibility. 

Although Mahomes doesn’t have receivers that Burrow has at his disposal, he still has a lot of talent and speed and if he is afforded time in the pocket, he will be able to dissect any defence. This could be a big game for Juju Smith-Schuster who has been quiet of late.

There will be a lot of pressure on Sam Hubbard and especially Trey Hendrickson, their best pass rusher to put Mahomes under pressure. Although the Bengals have forced a turnover in every game this season, they are coming up against an excellent O-line at Kansas City as well. 

This is a tough one to call and I expect a high scoring game that will go to the wire. It could very much be one of those where the quarterback who has the ball last, will have the chance to win the game.

If Mahomes is hindered by his injury anywhere close to how he was last week then I don’t see the Chiefs winning. 

But my gut feeling is that the Chiefs are more likely able to provide Mahomes with a cleaner pocket than the visiting Bengals and if Mahomes is operating close to or at 100% capacity, then I’ll tip the balance in favour of a Kansas City victory.

Bengals 27-30 Chiefs 

rozomaldini Monday Night Football, Week 5

Kelce and Mahomes beat Raiders

By David McDonnell

One thing Raiders coach Josh McDaniels didn’t learn in New England was not to say anything to the media.

At half time, he told on prime time Monday Night Football that plan was to stop Travis Kelce and let the Chiefs find someone else to beat us.

Twenty minutes later, Kelce was celebrating his fourth touchdown catch of the contest from Patrick Mahomes.

What makes McDaniels assertion all the more hilarious was that there was nobody in Silver and Black within an asses roar of the big guy wearing number 87 on any of the TD catches.

Raiders lead early

This was an exciting game as the visiting Raiders went into a 17-0 lead after Josh Jacobs ran in from close range. In the first quarter, quarterback Derek Carr found his old Fresno College teammate Devante Adams for a 57-yard TD.

Kansas responded with there scores from Mahommes to Kelce during the second and third quarters, the pick of which was the third TD.

They then teamed up again when Kelce set a Monday Night Football record with four TDs.

We got a grandstand finish when Carr found Devante Adams for the second time in the contest to leave the score 29-30 after a missed two-point conversion.

Carr has a late drive to earn the victory but he was stopped by the Chiefs defence.

Final Score: Raiders 29-30 Chiefs