NFL 100: A Spotlight
The number 13, a rather unlucky number to most people, is a rather lucky number when it came to the Super Bowl. The game had quite a few things right by it. It had high-scoring, drama, as well as hall-of-famers playing in it.
The Super Bowl pitted two teams that had won two previous Super Bowls in the 1970s. The Dallas Cowboys had won Super Bowl VI and XII, the Cowboys were the defending champions. The other team was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had won Super Bowl IX and X. Both teams were fighting for their place as "Team of the Decade."
Both teams had ridiculous amount of talent on both sides. The Cowboys had Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson on offense and Randy White, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, and Charlie Waters. The Pittsburgh Steelers had Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Lynn Swan on offense and Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, and Joe Green on defense.
Super Bowl XIII had loads of future Hall-of-Famers in the game. Both teams combined for 25 Hall-of-Famers (including owners, administrators, coaches, players who would later be elected as head coach). Donnie Shell is the latest Hall of Famer that played in the game.
Both teams would combine for 64 points, certainly an unheard of amount prior to the game. The 2nd closest prior to that game was 47 in Super Bowl II. Certainly the rule changes prior to the 1978 season made the difference, for example the "Mel Blount Rule" which limited the amount of contact defenders could put on wide receivers.
The game wasn't without drama as well. The most dramatic player was Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson who made controversial statements like questioning Terry Bradshaw's intelligence, or how Steelers tight end Randy Grossman was only playing when someone "died or injured." Certainly Bradshaw and Grossman were ready to prove him wrong.
Ultimately, the Steelers would prevail in the contest. Most people forgot that the Cowboys would've made it a game when tight end Jackie Smith almost caught a pass in the endzone, but dropped it. Pittsburgh had won the war for "Team of the Decade." It was the first time that Terry Bradshaw threw for more than 300 yards.
The Steelers would win another Super Bowl a year later beating the Los Angeles Rams to win their 4th Super Bowl in six seasons. They wouldn't make it back to a Super Bowl until they faced off against the same Dallas Cowboys team in Super Bowl XXX, which ended in a loss for Pittsburgh.
The Dallas Cowboys would continue to have playoff success but wouldn't make it back to the Super Bowl for the rest of Tom Landry's tenure as head coach. Landry would be fired shortly after Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys in January 1989. After many successful drafts the Cowboys would win the Super Bowl three out of four years, becoming the Team of the 1990s. They haven't made it back to a Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXX.
It certainly has been fun looking back and researching the topics for these NFL 100 Spotlights. I plan on doing them well into next year and beyond. The NFL has been around for 100 years and there are many stories left to tell. Hopefully you've enjoyed reading these as well.
Looking back after a few days of digesting the game, I felt the game was pretty solid despite the turnovers. I felt the game was going to be more points scored than last year and that was evidence as both teams combined for 51 points, just lightly under the over/under of 53. The coach that was the more aggressive playcaller ended up winning the game.
Jimmy Garoppolo finished the game with 20 of 31 passes completed with 219 yards and a touchdown while throwing two interceptions. Raheem Mostert had a decent game with 58 yards rushing with a touchdown. Deebo Samuel had 53 yards in the game. What really shocked me other than the 49ers poor clock management was that how bad the Chiefs rush defense was when it came to the 49ers running the ball. It's almost like the 49ers forgot the players that really got them there. Of course poor clock management, bad playcalling, and blowing leads is something that Kyle Shanahan has yet to learn from. After all he was the offensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons when they blew a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. Robbie Gould would hit two field goals, with the longest coming from 42 yards.
For the Chiefs it was solid performance. Patrick Mahomes finished the game with 26 of 42 passes completed for 286 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Mahomes would also get 29 yards rushing with a touchdown as well. Damien Williams rushed the ball for 104 yards with a touchdown in the game, his longest was the game-sealing 38-yard run for a touchdown that would give the Chiefs the 31-20 win. It wasn't Patrick Mahomes greatest game but he was tough fighting threw adversity and having a short-term memory about the interceptions. Mahomes deserved the MVP but I felt that Damien Williams should've been MVP as well. In the keys to the game, I had the Chiefs playcalling to be more aggressive as Andy Reid had made a reputation of himself to play conservative when it mattered most. In the game, the guy took chances and made the best of opportunities when it mattered most.
The Halftime Performance
If I had to grade it, I'd give it a B-. I thought last year's performance was not that great as I felt Maroon 5 was a bit past their prime. The idea of having two performers was alright. I liked that they had Shakira doing her bit and then J Lo doing hers and then the two performing together in a climax. I still consider Prince's halftime performance in Super Bowl XLI as the best. One thing is for sure... hips definitely don't lie.
The Best Commercial
The Super Bowl had its share of good, bad and ugly commercials. I felt the ugly was the political commercials that Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg put up (I mean put politics aside and try to enjoy the game). The bad was probably the Mountain Dew commercial, because it was a commercial that I had already seen before the game (probably on Youtube). The good was the Bill Murray-Jeep commercial. Definitely some honorable mentions are the Rocket Mortgage (with Jason Momoa) and the Pringles commercial (with Rick and Morty). I'd give it a grade of B.
What next?
Well, I'm not entirely sure exactly. I'm sure if something does pop up in the offseason, I'll write about it. You can expect the preseason prediction posts to come shortly before the regular season starts. That wouldn't happen for nearly 7 months though. Just keep an eye on the blog whenever something happens. I enjoy doing these and hopefully you've enjoyed reading them. Thank you!
-Tom
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