Ok, not a player, but this Chiefs season is defined by Spags and his defense every bit as much as Mahomes. In the AFC Championship Game on the road and then the Super Bowl, the Chiefs went 17 straight possessions without a TD. In that time, their defense gave up 13 points. That is absurd. Spags's defense was brilliant all game. His blitzes in the closing downs at the end of regulation and then OT won them that game. Period. Every bit as much as Mahomes. He's now the first coordinator to win 4 Super Bowls. His magnum opus will always be Super Bowl XLII, but 1% behind is what his defense did these last four games against four of the best offenses in the NFL. Masterful stuff from top to bottom.
Runner-Up: Patrick Mahomes (QB, KC)
Mahomes was damn good though. It took a while to realize it, but the second that the 49ers front finally slowed down in the 3rd quarter, Mahomes exploded. Game ended TD-FG-FG-TD, with some incredible late down moments. Mahomes read each blitz perfectly. He used his legs excellently. He had a few fuck you throws like the 52-yard bullet to Hardman. He was in total control. He hadn't yet had a great Super Bowl - last year's came close but also involved big punt returns and defensive TDs. His first win was arguably his 2nd worst playoff game of his career except for that 3rd and 15 and like two other throws. This was about as good as it gets.
Goat of the Game: 49ers OL
For maybe the fourth time in five years, the Super Bowl really didn't have a true goat (the exception was the Bucs win over the Chiefs). Every unit played reasonably well. Why I'll single out the 49ers OL is they lost all day against the Chiefs front, and then the times Spags dialed up blitzes, in clear blitz situations, they left unblocked man after unblocked man. Yes, it is tough to read through the muck at times, and Spags unleashes some diabolical shit, but they were overmatched at key moments. Also, while people will point to the 49ers "abandoning the run", in reality they were getting very little push.
Runner-Up: Kyle Shanahan's Game Management
I don't even think the biggest issue is his decision to take the ball first in OT. By all analysis the choices is basically 50/50. But this was not Kyle's best effort otherwise in some game decisions. It isn't surprising he basically threw in the towel on the drive right before the half - but 20 seconds and two timeouts is absolutely enough time to get a FG opportunity. The Chiefs, quite memorably, did it with 13 seconds and two timeouts. Then was his inability to adjust to the blitzes which lead to the play that would've probably won them the game - had they picked up the 3rd and 4 at the 2:00. Honestly, I think maybe they should've run the ball twice in that spot, as the 53-yarder wasn't a gimme either. Would force the Chiefs to take one of their remaining timeouts anyway. Then there's the call to kick the field goal on 4th and 4 in the OT drive. Arguably you should go for it there, being the downside leaving the Chiefs just needing a FG, but backed up at their own 9.
Surprise of the Game: Chiefs Receivers
They weren't great, but other than MVS's weird dance to turn a 6 yard gain into a 4-yard loss, that was about the cleanest, best game the receiving core has played in a long time. MVS caught his other targets. Hardman caught deep balls and the game winner. Rashee Rice continued to be dependable. No drops, no misread routes. The receivers were certainly capable enough, and gave just enough more to add to Kelce's great 2nd half to pull it out. There's something so poetic that the two TDs were by MVS and Hardman.
Runner-Up: Chiefs Linebackers
The Chiefs defense is great. Their front is great (more to come on that), with guys like Pennel stepping up alongside the constant of Chris Jones. The secondary is dominant (more to come on that). The forgotten unit is the linebacker core, but they were amazing today. Nick Bolton led the team in tackles and was a side by side force. He picked up Kittle well in coverage. Leo Chenal forced the fumble on the first drive, after the 49ers had to that point gone right down the field. They were great agaisnt the run all day. Understandably so other parts of the defense are more hyped, but this was a solid game by the entire 11.
Disappointment of the Game: 49ers Injuries
Let's rewind to the moment Dre Greenlaw took that ill-fated step that cost him his achilles. It was right after the 49ers downed the ball to the 2-yard line up 10-3 with the Chiefs not doing much and Travis Kelce having one catch for one yard. Immediately on the next play Kelce goes for 9 yards. They abused anyone who wasn't Dre Greenlaw, after he and Warner were flying around all over. It was beyond Greenlaw though, with Kittle hurt midway through and seemingly playing teh entire game at half pace. Deebo missed some moments. The 49ers were supremely healthy coming into the game, playing basically every expected starter back from Week 1. Their injury luck turned at the worst moment.
Runner-Up: The OT Coin Toss Discourse
I don't get the criticism here at all other than just relying on tropes like "Mahomes is guaranteed to get a TD" or whatever. All the analysis says it's about a 50/50 call, and in thsi game will the Chiefs had scored on three straight drives, two of those were field goals. The 49ers defense had just been on the field for a long time. It was defensible. The only thing I'll note is the logic of "we'll get the ball 3rd" isn't super true if both teams score TDs - in that case the Chiefs should go for 2 for the win (or loss). But this is a 50/50 call, though I'm sure because of this huge failure the next few times a team is in this spot in the playoffs, I'm sure they'll choose to kick.
Team Performance of the Week: Both DLs
Both teams fronts were dominant - though each notably slowed late in the game after a draining five quarters of football. The only real separator is when teams had to turn to the blitz, the Chiefs shredded the 49ers blitzes and the 49ers couldn't handle the Chiefs. But back to the lines. Chris Jones was dominant, but Karlaftis was excellent and Pennel stuffed a ton of running plays. The other side though was even more shocking for three quarters - this was the 49ers DL we expected when we see Bosa-Hargrave-Armstead-Young. All four were dominant at times, locking down the Chiefs in the red zone, forcing Mahomes off his spot. Rushing with so much discipline. It wore out in the 5th quarter, but can't blame them for that.
Runner-Up: Chiefs Secondary
Finally let's get to the last element of the Chiefs defensive brilliance - their secondary which was great apart from basically two plays (Sneed's personal foul, and McDuffie's holding penalty). The Chiefs secondary was amazing, locking down Deebo and Aiyuk, doing a number on Kittle, and only beaten by surprising games from Jauan Jennings on the depth players. McDuffie and Sneed were incredible. One of my favorite clips was McDuffie basically running a Deebo inbreaking route for him, requiring Samuel to very clearly interfere with McDuffie to avoid a pick. Just an incredible performance by probably easily the league's best secondary.
Team Laydown of the Week: The non-specialist parts of the 49ers Special Teams
When we think about Special Teams, we fixate on the kicker, punter, gunner and return guys. Those guys were all good. Wishnowsky punted great. Moody drilled two 50-yard field goals, including for a moment the Super Bowl record. Chris Conley as the gunner was exceptional, with the coolly downed punt at the two, and a blistering hit on another punt. But the other parts? Disasters. The blocker that had the ball hit his leg to fumble it back to the Chiefs was bad enough. The blocked extra point was even worse. There was no outright bad unit, but half of this unit was truly awful.
Runner-Up: Nothing...
Truly, I have nothing for you here. Overall just a great game, even if it took a while.
Storyline that will be Beat Into the Ground: Mahomes GOAT Talks
You would think, one of teh leading Brady haters, would love the fact that people are starting to ask the question in real terms. And yes, Patrick Mahomes is very much on the track. But also, I'm more annoyed because it's becoming a quick distillation of "The Ringz" argument again, with Patriots fans and idiots staking ground on the "Brady won 7!" position. But can't we just enjoy Mahomes without having to make GOAT comparisons already? He's an insane player, he's way better than Brady was at this same stage of having three rings in their career. He has put together the best 6-year stretch of QB-ing ever. These things are not debateable. The GOAT claim won't be certain for another 8 years at minimum, so let's just enjoy the damn ride.
Storyline that Should be Beat Into the Ground: Andy's Place on Mt. Rushmore
Andy Reid is 4th all time in wins for coaches, behind just Shula, Halas and Belichick, with 284 wins (Belichick is at 334, Shula at 347, Halas at 324). This is a ridiculous run, which was well aided a long time before he got Mahomes that kicked his legacy into overdrive. But more than the wins, and now the rings (tied with Walsh and Gibbs, with just Noll and Belichick with more), we should remember all of it. The offensive innovation that was clear from his Eagles days. The incredibly deep, strong, successful coaching tree he has. And yes, now those three rings. Andy Reid is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. On rings alone he'll probably never match Belichick, who certainly had higher highs, but it's really hard to make the case for anyone other than maybe Don Shula as being better than Reid in teh Super Bowl era. Others had similar playoff success (Walsh, Noll) but not the sustained run. Where Andy Reid is now is incredible.
Storyline that Should be Beat Into the Ground, Pt. 2: The Snakebit 49ers
Finally, Andy Reid should give Kyle Shanahan hope that there may be better days ahead - as his reputation now is quite similar in a way to where Andy Reid was in the Eagles days - a guy who lost all teh big games, had memorable coaching issues in big spots. He found his talisman in Mahomes. Shanahan still needs that. But more tahn anything, this run for the 49ers is so tough to look through. If we go back five years, we have two Super Bowl losses where they led by 10 in each game. Two more NFC Championship losses, of which they led by 10 in one of them, and had their QB injured on the first drive in the other. Extend further back and the 49ers get three straight years of making the NFC Championship in 2011-13 only to lose twice in heartbreaking fashion, and lose the other year in the Super Bowl by three. Yes, they were rough in the middle, but that's 13 years with seven trips to the NFC Championship Game, going 3-4, and 0-3 in the subsequent Super Bowls. No team has gone so deep so often in a sustained period without winning a title. It's shockingly now been 29 years since their last ring. Longer than the much more mocked Cowboys. Yes, they've gone deeper way more often (going back that far adds another NFC Title Game loss in 1997), but it's been three decades and a bunch of heartbreak along the way.
Insanely Early Super Bowl LIX Prediction: Ravens 27 Packers 21
