2021-22 NFL Superbowl

AFC: Bengals 30-27 (OT) Chiefs

Well, the Chiefs were dominating this match until they just stopped playing. They rather easily scored TD's on their first three drives while holding the Bengals to a single hard fought FG. Then came the Perrine play (swing pass to the RB, he breaks one tackle, gets a nice block down field and goes 41 yards for the TD), and the Chiefs bumbled the rest of the game away. Right before the Half, the Chiefs got the ball to the 1-yard line--3 feet from a death blow!--and rather than taking the FG, they try a swing pass to Tyreke that goes nowhere, clock runs out. (WTF was that?) No worries, though, the Chiefs get the ball to start the 2nd half...but they go nowhere. And rather than getting back to their 1st half mastery--all they had to do was keep running the ball!--they floundered throughout and I've never seen Mahomes flail so badly. The Bengals, on the other hand, kept their game plan in order and even stole the lead before the Chiefs finally put together a good drive (though Mahomes inexplicably tried to fumble it away) to send the game to OT. Well, in perfect Chiefs fashion, they won the coin toss and then....went nowhere all over again. Bengals win. Weird, man. The Bengals made the necessary adjustments at halftime to fustigate Mahomes but the solution to the problem was to hand off to McKinnon and run up the middle for 4-5 yards every time, eat up the clock and pile up FG's. Yeah...the Chiefs did none of that. The Bengals are good and they did what they needed to do to win but the Chiefs were the better team when they felt like it. I have no idea why the Chiefs chose not to win this game but that's how it worked out.  

NFC: Niners 17-20 Rams 

Back and forth game, neither team took command, though the Niners finally gave it away with a late interception. Both teams had a few good drives but I'd say the Rams were the better offense, with a missed FG, an interception in the end zone and an ill-advised 4th down attempt mixed in with their punts. The Niners had the lead for most of the game but I never felt they were in control, nor that they would win. The Rams tend to start well and then wane late in the game, but here they played a complete game and were generally the better team. 

(Did anyone notice all the late hits, helmet-to-helmet, out of bounds hits, illegal shots after turnovers, etc., in both games? Dude, they even threw a flag on the Niners defense and then just picked it up--wtf? Weird, man, both games featured a number of what looked like illegal hits to me that did not get called, seems like the NFL is going full Rollerball to close out this season)

Super Bowl: Rams (-4) @ Bengals (o/u 48.5)

I've been watching the Bengals all season and though I think the Chiefs were better (oh, and I still believe Buffalo would've beaten the Bengals, too), the Bengals are not a fluke, they are legit good, that offense is really good and the defense has been getting better over the last 4-6 weeks or so; and if you haven't watched much Joe Burrow so far, I assure you that dude is fuckin' good (*). The Rams at their best are probably the best team in the league but they don't seem capable of 4 straight quarters of excellence, meaning the Bengals will have a shot at stealing the W. My basic take on these teams is that the Rams start well and finish poorly and that the Bengals start slow but get rolling by the end. Based on that I expect the Rams to be up at halftime and probably starting the 4th quarter, but that the Bengals will be in contention and could well steal this game late. In other words: the final 2 minutes or so should be good stuff. While I wouldn't be surprised to see Joe Burrow lead a comeback, I think the Rams will make the necessary defensive stand and seal the victory. (I like either Aaron Donald or Von Miller to win MVP) I'll go with the Rams 27-24 (Bengals and the over).  

(*) My favorite Joe Burrow quality: whatever happened five minutes ago don't matter, that guy thinks only of the next play. You can tell, too, that his teammates kinda worship him--a necessary condition, I would suggest, in a truly successful QB.