Super Bowl LVII: The Right Team Won

Related: Stop whining, Eagles fans.

I should preface this entire post by stating that I was born in Philadelphia and lived there for seven years. My entire family is from Philadelphia, in fact. Even my mother-in-law is from there. I have roots there, and absolutely none to Kansas City.

I state all of this because everything else I’m going to say here could be interpreted as being anti-Eagles. Certainly, I had my doubts about them as they strolled into the Super Bowl after the 49ers essentially forfeited the NFCC. But there’s no denying that Philadelphia was an EXCELLENT football team. Jalen Hurts is clearly a top-10 quarterback, maybe top-5, and the offensive and defensive lines, A.J. Brown, etc., are all elite.

But Kansas City won, and no amount of whining about a defensive holding call matters. (For the few of you who didn’t watch the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes threw an incomplete on 3rd and 8, on the 15-yard line which would normally have led to a field goal attempt, but leave just under two minutes on the clock. But a holding call was thrown against Eagles DB James Bradberry - who acknowledged he DID grab JuJu Smith-Shuster’s jersey, and the Chiefs got a new set of downs, allowing them to run the clock down and score with 0:06 left.)

Eagles fans would like you to know this is the “worst call in Super Bowl history.” They need to chill.

It was a penalty. It hadn’t been called for most of the game and I do appreciate that it’s a tough time to throw a flag, but it was indeed a penalty. Eagles fans also complained that a catch by Devonta Smith was overturned earlier - which shocked me, because their game against the 49ers turned on a “catch” by Smith that was not challenged and wasn’t even close to a completion. So, turnabout is fair play on that one.

What’s more, the Eagles were the beneficiary of two huge calls earlier in the game - a fumble TD by Nick Bolton (which would have somehow been his second such TD of the game) was reversed, saying the player didn’t make a catch … but then saying Dallas Goedert DID make a catch on the sidelines. Both of those calls really helped the Eagles, and if they’d gone the other way (and I thought both should have), the game wouldn’t have been close.

What’s worse, calls that late in a game that impact the game, or earlier? The correct answer is … they’re the same. But we care more about what happens at the end of a game because the clock is running out.

Here’s a different question - what’s worse, a call like that - or a NON-call? I reference the 2012 Super Bowl with my 49ers against the Ravens. Should THIS have been called for pass interference or defensive holding? It’s MUCH more egregious than what happened with the Chiefs and Eagles. But no laundry was thrown for this. The 49ers would have had the ball on the 1-yard line. CLEARLY the game would have been different. But nobody talks about that anymore except the most obsessive 49ers fans. (Hi. It’s me.)

I hope Jimmy Smith sends the refs and Michael Crabtree a nice holiday card each year.

Strike up a conversation with a 49ers fan about the massive amount of holding against Nick Bosa in the 2019 Super Bowl against the Chiefs and you’ll get an earful. But it wasn’t called - so it’s not on the record and not something anyone really thinks about

Gosh, what a great job the Chiefs did keeping that pocket clean! However did they do it? Not called for holding.

The point here is NOT to actually relitigate these infractions but to recognize that there’s probably a call or three like this in every game, including the Super Bowl. The officiating is largely excellent but when it’s not, it’s BRUTAL. And it makes being a fan tough.

I know some folks didn’t dig the halftime show but it worked. Cool stuff.

Would the Eagles have driven down far enough to at least try and tie the game? MAYBE. But I can’t say that with certainty. It was a great game, and once again we need to talk about how to improve the officiating, but fans should recognize that the only “fair” outcome of this would be to call that penalty every time it happens, as well as holding on the offensive line and other infractions that pretty much happen all the time. The average NFL game would take six or seven hours and be slower than baseball. Nobody wants that. So the other option is to allow that to happen all the time without flags, and then nobody scores and games go back to being 10-3 affairs. Almost nobody wants that, either. Pick your poison, but that’s why we are here.

We need to come together on this, though, and I think I have what we need for this reconciliation. Who the FUCK came up with this logo?

Do you see the Super Bowl Logo that looks like it’s LIVII? That is NOT a roman numeral. It’s Super Bowl 57, or LVII. Why - WHY is there a trophy in the back looking like a number? We couldn’t turn one of those I’s into the trophy? This is unconscionable. Who’s with me?