Patrick Mahomes Was Putrid, Chiefs Dynasty Is 'Dead,' And Everything Else I Can't Believe From Championship Weekend
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- I can't believe how bad Patrick Mahomes was. I cannot believe how inconceivably putrid, how shockingly abysmal Patrick Mahomes was with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
It was just so unnecessary.
Just be normal. Just play the way you normally play. Stay within yourself, be a normal quarterback, and you're going to the Super Bowl.
Yet instead of taking what the defense gave him, Mahomes was frenetic in the pocket. He created a pass rush by standing still and/or running in circles, looking like someone who simply had no idea what he was doing.
He got a second chance after throwing what should have been a pick-six in overtime. He threw an actual pick on the very next play.
He faced a first-and-goal from the Cincinnati 1-yard line before halftime and didn't get any points.
He faced a first-and-goal at the Cincinnati 5-yard line at the end of regulation; he lost 20 yards on sacks and would have lost the game right there if not for Joe Thuney's outstanding fumble recovery.
This was one of the worst plays in NFL history, given the circumstances:
That was just one play after doing this, too:
He led three touchdown drives to start the game, averaging 74 yards per drive in the first half.
He didn't lead a touchdown drive for the rest of the game, averaging 11.9 yards per drive in the second half and overtime.
He took zero sacks through three quarters, but was sacked four times in the fourth quarter.
He threw an interception to a defensive tackle.
After looking like his usual dynamic, dominant self in the first half, he was completely and inexplicably bad for the remainder of the game.
A three-man rush with a QB spy made the man's head explode. The man on the sideline -- a legitimate offensive genius -- didn't have the solution for his QB.
I can't believe it. I can ... but I can't. Here's the rest of what I can't believe from championship weekend.
--I can't believe how great the timing would be for someone to have written four days ago that even though it looks like Patrick Mahomes is well on his way to winning a million Super Bowls, he probably won't. I also can't believe how shameless that was. Moving on.
--I can't believe how freely the word "Dynasty" was thrown around regarding the Kansas City Chiefs. As soon as they won a single Super Bowl in 2019, the question was asked: Is this the NFL's next dynasty? Tyreek Hill spoke of winning seven Super Bowls because they were "chasing Jordan." That comment obviously disregarded Tom Brady winning six Super Bowls in the actual sport in which the Chiefs compete ... and Brady promptly smoked those Chiefs in last year's Super Bowl, earning his seventh and passing Jordan.
After beating the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, Travis Kelce said, "The dynasty is just starting, baby. It's just starting."
Chris Jones said, "This is the beginning of something big. This is a dynasty."
No it wasn't, man. And no it isn't.
Yet even last week, an AP headline asked the question, "Winning ways: Are the Chiefs suddenly the NFL's new dynasty?"
No!
A dynasty takes root when a team wins multiple championships -- at least three -- in a short period of time. Period. Why everyone was so quick to declare the Chiefs a dynasty after a single title is truly befuddling.
The Chiefs will always be contenders as long as Mahomes is the quarterback -- unless he really turned into a pumpkin on Sunday and will never be the same. Wouldn't bet on that one though. But Andy Reid is approaching 64. Travis Kelce's stats took a dip this year, and he will be 34 next year. They've got a couple of important players hitting free agency -- Tyrann Mathieu and Orlando Brown. Mahomes' cap number jumps to $35.79 million next year and $46.79 million the year after that. The Jordan-chasing Hill has a cap number that jumps up to $20.685 million next year, too.
They've come up short in three of the last four years at capturing a Lombardi. Given how quickly things change in the NFL, there's no guarantee that they'll have too many chances at securing this "dynasty."
--I can't believe how electric Joe Burrow was. Eeeeee-lectric. This play was just magnificent:
Incredible.
Prior to this year, the Bengals hadn't won a playoff game since 1990, six years before Burrow was born. The franchise had never won a road playoff game before Burrow won two. And now he has the chance to win the first Super Bowl in Cincinnati history, in just his second year.
There will be statues and monuments and city plazas named after him if he goes out there and wins Super Bowl MVP in a couple of weeks.
--I can't believe how bad this play call was.
But I also can't believe Eli Apple made that tackle.
--I can't believe Bill Vinovich's crew missed this obvious facemask on Burrow.
The crew just wasn't calling many penalties, which is fine, I guess. But when a franchise QB is carrying the ball and gets his neck twisted while going down, the flag has to fly. If they're not looking at the ball carrier, what are they looking at?
--I can't believe these calls were missed, too:
Sometimes penalties have to be called. Golly.
--I can't believe Sean McVay's team won despite the head coach having absolutely no regard for challenges or timeouts. McVay's second-half challenges were objectively dumb decisions.
Challenging the spot on a QB sneak had a zero-point-zero chance of succeeding. Challenging a ruling of a runner being down by contact (before a punt was coming anyway) likewise had a zero-point-zero chance of succeeding. But McVay didn't care. He chucked the challenge flags, losing both, and kicking away two second-half timeouts. The Rams had to burn their other timeout when they couldn't get a play off in time late in the third quarter after an 11-yard completion to set up a fresh set of downs at the Niners' 40-yard line.
Sometimes when a quarterback plays poorly but his team wins, football analysts and fans mock the concept of "QB wins." We ought to do the same for this "coach win" for McVay. Yeesh.
--I can't believe Kyle Shanahan managed to handle the moment even worse than his counterpart. I mean, I did witness Super Bowl LI, and Super Bowl LIV, so I can believe the San Francisco meltdown. Of course.
Still, this was bad. Real bad. So bad that I'm going to give the blow-by-blow.
After Cooper Kupp's second touchdown of the game cut the Niners' lead to 17-14, San Francisco faced a third-and-2 at the Rams' 45-yard line. Shanahan called the play where the massive Trent Williams goes in motion pre-snap ... and the handoff doesn't follow Williams for some reason.
Didn't work. Punt.
Turns out, that would be San Francisco's best drive of crunch time.
After the Rams tied the game at 17-17 with 6:49 left to play, the Niners faced a first-and-10 at their own 25. Jimmy Garoppolo throws incomplete short over the middle to Greg Kittle.
Second-and-10 ... delay of game. Niners were lined up with 10 seconds on the play clock. Jimmy just stood there. The line tried to make their calls. Garoppolo motioned Kyle Juszczyk with the play clock at zero. Delay of game. Stupid.
Second-and-15, Garoppolo escapes pressure rolls right, throws a pass at Jalen Ramsey's chest. The corner dropped the easy interception.
Third-and-15, the Niners get to the line with 2 seconds on the play clock. Center Alex Mack snapped the ball when the play clock hit zero. Nobody was ready. What ensued was a disaster.
Punt.
Then the Rams drove 49 yards on 10 plays over 4:40 to kick the go-ahead field goal and put the pressure back on Shanahan, Garoppolo and the Niners. They had plenty of time (1:49) and a timeout in their pocket, needing a field goal to tie the game or a touchdown to win.
Instead they vomited. Straight vomit. All over that beautiful SoFi carpet.
First-and-10, Garoppolo faced pressure up the middle from Von Miller. The QB's pass was batted at the line by defensive lineman Greg Gaines.
Second-and-10, Garoppolo fires to Jauan Jennings short of the line of scrimmage on the left side, losing three yards and keeping the clock rolling.
Then on third-and-13, this masterpiece:
Garoppolo was horrible in the fourth quarter, make no mistake about it:
But Shanahan deserves equal, if not more blame. Fourth-quarter meltdowns are kind of his calling card. This one was as bad as any.
--I can't believe a 15-year-old is perfect on field goals in the playoffs.
He drilled a 52-yard game-winner in Tennessee to beat the Titans, after nailing a 54-yarder and a 45-yarder earlier in that game. And he was nails from 52 yards to take a fourth quarter lead in Kansas City on Sunday. He's 12-for-12 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs. And he looks like he's prepping for his learner's permit test.
Good pick by Cincy there.
--I can't believe how good Cooper Kupp is. Imagine being so good that you lead the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns over the course of the season, thus alerting every postseason opponent that you are the guy to key on and try to stop. Yet you're so good that you managed to catch 25 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns in three postseason contests. It's absurd.
After the Rams fell behind by 10 points late in the third quarter, Matthew Stafford went to Kupp three times for 29 yards and a touchdown. Facing a third-and-10 at the San Francisco 41-yard line, Stafford went to Kupp for 16 yards to get into field goal range, allowing the Rams to the game midway through the fourth. And on the game-winning drive, Kupp had a 25-yard reception and an eight-yard reception to help set up the Matt Gay chip shot from the 12-yard line. That's after he had two catches for 64 yards on the Rams' game-winning drive last week in Tampa.
Incredible. Cooper Kupp, the seventh receiver drafted in 2017, a player who received no scholarship offers and had to play for FCS Eastern Washington University, just dominating the playoffs after dominating the regular season.
--I can't believe Jaquiski Tartt dropped this pick.
I bet he feels lousy about that one.
--I can't believe a team won a game after losing the overtime coin flip! I was told this was not possible! I was told the coin flip determines winners! What is this sorcery?
Honestly, seeing the Bengals make a stop was refreshing. It's a reminder that if you want to win football games -- and if you want to win playoff games -- you need to be competent on both sides of the ball. Possession has to go one way or the other, and you better be ready to defend if the flip doesn't go your way.
The Bengals were, and they're now heading to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs -- who proposed after their OT loss to New England in 2018 that both teams should be guaranteed a possession -- have no excuse to lean on this time around.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
