On February 3, 2019, Super Bowl 53 will be played in Atlanta, Georgia. The New England Patriots (my favorite team) will be playing in their 9th Super Bowl of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. They’ll be going up against the Los Angeles (sorry St. Louis) Rams. These two teams played in Super Bowl 36 which was the first Super Bowl the Patriots won in franchise history and back when the Rams were still located in St. Louis. Since there’s only one game being played this weekend, I realized just making a single pick would be too short of a column. Therefore, I decided to text people I know to send questions regarding the Super Bowl or other NFL topics for me to answer on this Q&A column.
Question: How important is this Super Bowl for the Brady-Belichick dynasty? – Stuart A.
Answer: The Super Bowl is obviously important, but there’s no legacy stuff on the line here for Brady and Belichick. All of that was settled in Super Bowl 51 when they beat the Falcons. That championship gave them both the most Super Bowl titles as a quarterback and head coach respectively. After the fifth title, any other future accomplishments would just be icing on the cake. Last year’s loss to Philadelphia had no negative impact on anyone’s legacy (except maybe Eli Manning). This isn’t a situation like LeBron trying to chase Michael Jordan’s six rings or Tiger trying to reach Nicklaus’ majors count. Brady and Belichick are only trying to top themselves, so there is no real pressure here. That being said, it’d really suck if they lose two Super Bowls in a row. I’m hoping that’s not the case.
Question: If Tom Brady gets four Super Bowl losses, should it count against his legacy? – Chris W.
Answer: No. That wouldn’t make any sense. This argument basically says it would’ve been better for Brady to lose in the AFC Championship than to win it.
Question: Based on statistical analysis is Tom Brady a robot? – Griffin G.
Answer: I can neither confirm nor deny this.
Question: Will Super Bowl 53 be Gronk’s last game in the NFL? – Matthew D.
Answer: Win or lose I’d say yes. He was close to retiring last year after a Super Bowl loss, so I’d imagine with another one this year he will walk away from the game. If the Pats win, I’d say there’s less of a chance that it’s his last game. However, when you factor in the failed Detroit trade, leaving on a high note, the injury toll he’s taken, how close he seemed to be to retiring last year, and the contract the WWE will probably offer him it all seems like his last football game will be this Sunday. I’ll miss watching him if that’s the case.
Question: Where will Antonio Brown play next year? – Matty V.
Answer: The 49ers would be the obvious team to trade for him since they don’t have a “number one” receiver for Jimmy G. However, I like his chances of being on the Jets more. The Jets need to take advantage of having Darnold on a rookie deal by acquiring established talent and spending money on offense to help their young quarterback. Getting a receiver like Antonio Brown, who was first team All-Pro from 2014-2017, would be great on paper. It could also be a disaster on the count of he’ll be 31 next season and has already “Jimmy Butlered” (new verb) one situation. The Jets should still go all in on a trade for Brown. What do they have to lose?!?!?!?!
Question: If the Rams win, could this be the beginning of a ‘legacy’ for Sean McVay? – Bryce T.
Answer: All right let’s not start appointing legacies or dynasties based off one possible championship. By now, most people who watch football are aware that Sean McVay is an offensive genius. He’s been so successful his first two years as a head coach (24-8 regular season record, 2-1 postseason record, two NFC West division titles, and a Super Bowl appearance with a chance to win it) that it has resulted in teams like the Bengals and Packers trying to get their version of McVay by hiring his assistant and former assistant. He’s obviously a good head coach who can provide stability for a team, but we should pump the breaks a little. This is the NFL where a team can go from a contender one year to missing the playoffs the following year. The Rams are going to lose the advantage of having Jared Goff on a rookie deal after the 2019 season. Once the Rams give him a big contract, they’ll lose depth on other parts of their roster especially while paying top dollar to Gurley, Cooks, and Donald. The bottom line is McVay’s had a great start, but this is the NFL so we shouldn’t be surprised if things do turn sour for him and the Rams at some point down the road.
Question: Was KC a one season wonder or a dynasty in the making? – Devon H.
Answer: I’m afraid everyone’s becoming too casual with the word dynasty. Kansas City just had Pat Mahomes throw for 50 touchdowns and 5000 yards in his first season as the starting quarterback for them. Their future with him is bright. Let’s just enjoy what Mahomes did without having to use the word ‘dynasty’.
Question: from CJ E. – What is/was Tony Romo’s best career route broadcaster, player, or coach? He seems to know almost too much to be in the booth. No other ex QBs who calls games has his eye for the sport and if they do, it’s not evident in the broadcast booth.
Answer: Can we all stop with this whole Romo should be a coach thing? Why would he leave the broadcast booth to make less money being an assistant trying to work his way up to eventually land a head-coaching job. He has no experience, and he’s not going to get a HC job without being an assistant first. Romo as a player was fine. He’s not a Hall of Famer or an “elite” QB like Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rodgers, but he was a good starting quarterback in the NFL for about a decade.
We need Romo to stick to broadcasting. He’s the perfect blend of intelligence and charisma. It’s great having a broadcaster breaking down plays instead of one that does nothing besides speak in clichés and tell us when the big drives are (as if we don’t already know). Part of what I believe has helped Romo during his first two years in the booth is that he hasn’t been away from the game too long, so he’s still familiar with the players and style. He has a real chance to be one of the best color commentators of all time. If Jon Gruden was making $10 million at ESPN, who knows what Romo will make once his CBS contract is up.
Question: Do you think coaches should be able to challenge judgement calls on penalties? If yes, how should it be handled? – Eric B. (many others asked a similar question)
Answer: First off, I’m so exhausted from hearing the Saints and their fans complain about the missed pass interference call. They got the ball in the red zone under two minutes and threw two passes instead of running the ball to drain the clock before kicking a FG to take the lead. After that, they couldn’t stop the Rams from moving the ball down the field to kick a game tying FG that forced overtime. Finally, the Saints won the coin toss to have the ball to start overtime, and Drew Brees threw an interception. Yes, the no-call hurt their chances of winning that game, but there were plenty of other opportunities.
All of that said a situation such as the one in the NFC Championship Game should never happen again. In a world where instant replay exists officials should have the ability to go to a monitor to make sure a call or no call as egregious as that one doesn’t occur. My suggestion is to allow the coaches to be able to challenge them but punish them more if they get the challenge wrong. The increased punishment could be forfeiting two timeouts instead of one. I’m sure there are plenty of other kinks that need to be worked out for this rule change. For now, it’s time to get to the pick.
Patriots -2.5 over Rams
Now before you call me a biased fan who is just picking his favorite team, I picked the Eagles last year. This year I feel much more confident about New England’s chances to win. The team that they’ve been in the playoffs is entirely different from the team we saw in the regular season. It’s becoming more and more apparent that the Pats were just trying to get through the regular season (like a lot of experienced NBA teams do) and save their best for the playoffs. When you factor that in along with their experience, Gurley’s (possible?) injury, having more fans at the game, and trying to avenge their Super Bowl loss from last year, I feel even more confident about their chances to win this one.
My biggest fear for the Patriots in this game is that Wade Phillips will do what he did in the 2016 AFC Championship game when he was the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. I’m afraid his defensive line is going to able to apply pressure and get to Tom Brady. People are high on the Pats’ offensive line right now, and the Rams’ defense has been considered overhyped this season. I can see a scenario where these two narratives are flipped with Donald, Suh, and Fowler just wreaking havoc in Wade Phillips’ defensive schemes.
I see the Patriots starting this game strong by running the ball and utilizing the short passing game to dominate time of possession and get ahead early as they did in the previous two playoff games. I think the Rams are going to struggle early with playing on this big of a stage just like they did against the Saints but get their offense going after some early hiccups. There’s also going to be a stretch in this game where New England’s defense looks like absolute crap just as there was similar stretches in the last three Super Bowls against Seattle, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. However, in the end I’m a believer that Brady and Belichick will prevail and get a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put them up ahead and essentially seal the game.
All in all, it’s the Patriots in the playoffs where they’ve achieved an incredible amount of success. I picked against them in the Divisional Round, and I’m not going to do it again considering how dramatically different they’ve looked in the playoffs compared to the regular season. I’m just hoping they can finish the job this year because I don’t want to hear about whatever could be this game’s version of the Tyree catch, Manningham catch, or Philly special. We’re still here. LETS GO PATS!!!!
Prediction: Patriots 24 – Rams 20
Last Round: 1-1
Playoffs: 5-4-1